Green Cadres

The Green Cadres, or sometimes referred to as Green Brigades or Green Guards, were outlaw paramilitary groups that existed in Austria-Hungary from 1914 to 1918 and its successor states from 1918 to 1919. They were present in nearly all areas of Austria-Hungary, but particularly large numbers were found in Croatia-Slavonia, Bosnia, Western Slovakia, Moravia, and Galicia.

The Green Cadres were originally groups of deserters from the Austro-Hungarian Army during the First World War which were later joined by peasants discontented with wartime requisitioning, taxation, and poverty. A substantial number of desertions occurred as early as 1914 and their numbers peaking in the summer of 1918 as Austria-Hungary collapsed. The Green Cadres had no centralised structure, and relied on peasants and banditry for food and shelter. The dissolution of Austria-Hungary in October 1918 saw a peak in violent outbreaks associated with the Green Cadres, particularly in Croatia-Slavonia, Slovakia and Galicia.

The Green Cadres were often nationalistic and initially portrayed as desirable partners to the national movements working to achieve independence of Slavic peoples from Austria-Hungary. The new authorities of independent Czechoslovakia and the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs found the Green Cadres problematic because of lack of discipline and suspected Bolshevik influence. The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, faced with large-scale unrest in the countryside had to resort to inviting the Royal Serbian Army to restore order. The move significantly limited options available to the newly declared state, and gave the Kingdom of Serbia considerable advantage during the process of creating Yugoslavia. In Galicia, the short-lived Republic of Tarnobrzeg was established, with the help of the Green Cadres, until intervention by the Polish Army. From October to November 1918, violence was primarily directed against government officials and administration, landowners, and merchants – especially the Jews. The Green Cadres were largely dissolved by 1919.