Preustroj sigurnosnoga sustava banske Hrvatske 1915. godine
The Restructuring of Banal Croatia’s State Security System in 1915

Summary/Abstract: During the second year of the Great War, the state security system of Banal Croatia was restructured to include the Central Counterintelligence Service (SDDS), which had previously functioned as a secret police, as an independent body of the Land Government. The SDDS became part of the newly established Department IV-B, responsible for border patrol units, under the Land Government’s Internal Affairs Section. The reasons for this restructuring were of a political nature, specifically related to the conflict between military and civilian authorities, but also due to various functional reasons. Political reasons for the 1915 restructuring of Banal Croatia’s security system reflected the aspirations of both its Croatian civilian authorities and Hungary to gain greater control over the SDDS, as it was growing too familiar with the military authorities, which put the work of the Croat-Serb Coalition, and therefore the Hungarian dominance over Banal Croatia, in jeopardy. In fact, a majority of the Coalition’s distinguished members were illegally connected to the institutions that were unquestionably built on Greater Serbian ideals. The war itself was partially caused by Serbian aspirations to implement a Greater Serbian national-political programme. The Croatian civilian executive authorities not only avoided taking legal action against high treason, but also hesitated to bring the accused before the law for fear of losing the compromised Coalition. Instead, the civilian authorities would intervene in favour of the accused so as to prevent the crumbling of the Coalition, which was a guarantee to the regime that Banal Croatia would remain under Hungarian economic and political control, even if this endangered the entire Monarchy. The functional reasons for the restructuring were related to the aspirations of the military leaders to improve the security system, make the functioning of the SDDS better hidden within government institutions, and offer assistance to the SDDS via border police detectives and city police. It also wished to have the Service’s work financed from the national budget and its operative work subsidised by the military. During the restructuring, the military commander of Zagreb was also replaced, but the Croat-Serb Coalition, acting in cooperation with the Hungarian authorities, was only partially successful in achieving their goals. The SDDS maintained its functional autonomy, i.e. dual responsibility to the ban (viceroy) and the Evidenzbureau, and started receiving military subsidies. Furthermore, due to the necessities of defence, the Land Government gained access to financial information that was previously unavailable as it fell outside the autonomy of Banal Croatia.

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