Green cadres consisted of Croatian deserters from the Austro-Hungarian Army

Austro-Hungarian Army

The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .In the wake of fighting between the...

 who, during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 due to the harsh conditions of warfare and poor motivation, hid in the woods, as outlaw

Outlaw

In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...

s. In the villages they had supporters who have sent them food and clothing, and they often robbed traders and rich farmers in order to have any income. Their number was several tenthousands and they acted on Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

n territory and Syrmia

Syrmia

Syrmia is a fertile region of the Pannonian Plain in Europe, between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia in the east and Croatia in the west....

. General Stjepan Sarkotić got in February 1918 the order to get involved with the "Green cadres". The term Green cadres was previously unknown in the Austro-Hungarian army ! (As Green cadres was known the bodyguards of the Emperor of Russia.) The Croatian Committee

Croatian Committee

The Croatian Committee was a Croatian emigrant organization formed in 1919 in opposition to the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes by the Yugoslav Committee. It was formed by former Austro-Hungarian general and administrator of Bosnia and Herzegovina Stjepan Sarkotić and was led...

 was formed opposed to the Yugoslav Committee

Yugoslav Committee

Yugoslav Committee was a political interest group formed by South Slavs from Austria-Hungary during World War I aimed at joining the existing south Slavic nations in an independent state.Founding members included:* Frano Supilo* Ante Trumbić...

. Toward the end of the war was their number over 50,000 armed deserters in the woods.

Afterwards some of them claimed that they had only followed the orders of General Boroević

Svetozar Boroevic

Svetozar Boroević von Bojna was an Austro-Hungarian field marshal who was described as one of the finest defensive strategists of the First World War....

 and would therefore not have been outlaws.

As Green cadres was known a paramilitary

Paramilitary

A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....

 organization of Bosniaks

Bosniaks

The Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.