The Empire Never Ended

TENE tackles the Ustaša movement of wartime Croatia and their bloody wake. Boris begins with the establishment of the so-called Independent State of Croatia (NDH) with German tanks in Zagreb and their poglavnik (fuhrer), Ante Pavelić chilling out of the country... and it pretty much goes right downhill from there. Much to their surprise, creating extermination camps for children did not endear the fanatically murderous Ustaša to their countrymen and thus the Partisan movement was fully formed. Boris narrates the downfall of the short-lived Ustaša State, which by the end of the war was essentially Zagreb. The crew reflects on the brutalities of the Ustasha methods and concentration camps and marvel at the absurd attempts to attract Serbs into the new State as 'Catholic Serbs' and, failing to win anyone over what with all the massacring and such, inventing the ridiculous Orthodox Croatian Church run by the White Russian, Germogen. Boris also recounts the Bleiburg massacre of escaping Ustaša, as well as their traveling companions, and he introduces the Cossack SS. Finally, Rey and Boris discuss contemporary reverberations of the Ustaša's psychotic reign and tease a future arc. This is The Empire Never Ended, the Antifascist Amerikanski-Balkan podcast about (neo) fascist terror, the (deep) state and the alienation, nihilism and desperation produced by the capitalist system. And how to get rid of all that. Something like that... Subscribe to our Patreon for weekly premium episodes! And check out our social media for updates and whatnot: Twitter + Facebook + Instagram + YouTube

TEASER Straight from the archives of UDBA, Socialist Yugoslavia's state security agency, this episode follows Lazar Prokic (law student turned Nazi intelligence agent) and Strahinja Janić (all-around psychopath and founder of the Serbian Gestapo). Rey explains how Prokić found himself at the confluence of several fascist intelligence streams, returning to Belgrade first as a Nazi propagandist and second with the Ustaša invasion forces, only to end up as a valuable asset for Tito's Yugoslavia. Compare his career to ultraviolent bandit and official arm of the Nazis in Serbia, Janjić, "one of the worst pieces of shit covered so far", who gets himself booted out of the royal Yugoslav army for being a drunken idiot and calling everyone "gay" only to find himself pillaging Serbian cities for the Nazis. Rey recounts some of Janjić's worst deeds, including his participation in the massacre at Kragujevac and subsequent appointment as its mayor, and his ultimate escape from justice. Also featured: the bizarre Anti-Masonic Exhibition in 1941, some bonus tidbits from the OSS, and some surprising revelations from the UDBA archives concerning some very successful Nazi infiltrators in the Partisan movement and Tito's fledgling state. This is The Empire Never Ended, the Antifascist Amerikanski-Balkan podcast about (neo) fascist terror, the (deep) state and the alienation, nihilism and desperation produced by the capitalist system. And how to get rid of all that. Something like that... Subscribe to our Patreon for weekly premium episodes! And check out our social media for updates and whatnot: Twitter + Facebook + Instagram + YouTube

In TENE's 28th episode, Rey gives a detailed look at the collaborationist regime of Nazi-occupied Serbia (1941-1944). The regime was led by Milan Nedić, a former general and Yugoslav government minister, close to the fascist politics of his relative Dimtrije Ljotić, leader of the Zbor movement. The boys discuss various collaborationist armed forces, such as the Serbian Volunteer Corps (Ljotić's ideological army), the Serbian State Guard (formed out of gendarmerie loyal to Nedić), Chetniks of Kosta Pećanac (a veteran chetnik leader, tight with fascists since the '20s), and the Special Police (a former Belgrade anti-communist police unit that effectively joined the Nedić regime). The crew also mentions the relationship these forces had with the royalist Chetniks of Draža Mihailović, as well as their role in the Holocaust and other reprisals against the civilian population. To conclude, Rey covers how the regime tried to implement the "Ljotić plan", gathering all of the collaborationist forces in Slovenia, to establish a kind of "white", anticommunist Yugoslavia there. This is The Empire Never Ended, the Antifascist Amerikanski-Balkan podcast about (neo) fascist terror, the (deep) state and the alienation, nihilism and desperation produced by the capitalist system. And how to get rid of all that. Something like that... Subscribe to our Patreon for weekly premium episodes! And check out our social media for updates and whatnot: Twitter + Facebook + Instagram + YouTube

Boris guides TENE through the twists and turns of Montenegrin nationalism and fascist collaboration in the 20th century. He tells how politician and general Krsto Popović turned rebel in support of Montenegrin King Nikola, only to be exiled himself in Italy, forms the inept Lovćen Brigade for the fascists. Boris introduces quisling leader of the occupied Montenegrin state, Sekula Drljević and his ideological inspiration, Savić Marković Štedimlija to our collection of fascist weirdos and their bizarre race theory transforming Montenegrins from a "special kind of Serb" into a "special kind of Croat". The boys follow the convoluted attempts of Mussolini and Hitler to get shit under control by, in the latter case, combining Montenegrin super Serbian Četniks with Montenegrin Serbian-hating Ustaša only to get stomped by the partisans and devour each other. Boris and Rey remind the listener that the legacy of these misadventures which pitted family members against each other in opposing nationalist identities continues to guide politics in Montenegro today. This is The Empire Never Ended, the Antifascist Amerikanski-Balkan podcast about (neo) fascist terror, the (deep) state and the alienation, nihilism and desperation produced by the capitalist system. And how to get rid of all that. Something like that... Subscribe to our Patreon for weekly premium episodes! And check out our social media for updates and whatnot: Twitter + Facebook + Instagram + YouTube

Returning to Croatia once again, Boris fills in the gaps between the invention of Croatian nationalism and the rise of the bloodthirsty Ustaša. He follows the career of Ante Pavelić from devoted legal counsel to arrested nationalists, through his brief stint as a parliamentarian, to his fateful trip to Italy where he developed the Ustaša's paltry ideology. The crew discusses some of the whackier local socialist politics of the time where nationalism was labeled "Left" and internationalism "Right". Boris also talks about the battles between anti-fascist and Frankist students at the University of Zagreb, attitudes towards Slavic Muslims, and all the Ustaša race theory you can stomach. The boys also introduce the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (VMRO) and the role the Ustaša were supposed to play in the assassination of King Aleksandar in Marsailles. This is The Empire Never Ended, the Antifascist Amerikanski-Balkan podcast about (neo) fascist terror, the (deep) state and the alienation, nihilism and desperation produced by the capitalist system. And how to get rid of all that. Something like that... Subscribe to our Patreon for weekly premium episodes! And check out our social media for updates and whatnot: Twitter + Facebook + Instagram + YouTube

In TENE's effort to "catch 'em all", Rey introduces saint and stench wizard, Nikolaj Velimirović, one of Serbian Orthodoxy's most important bishops and the gray eminence of Serbian Fascism. Once a government emissary beloved by Serbian liberals, he took a turn towards the fashy in the 1920s, catching the eye of Adolf Hitler, whom Velimirović compares to none other than Saint Sava himself. From this fun idea, Velimirović creates Svetosavlje, or 'Saint-Sava-hood', reimagining Saint Sava as a sort of Nazi Buddha. However, claiming Dimitrije Ljotić as his follower, claiming Hitler's endeavour was "worthy of a saint and a hero", turning the 'Bogomojlci' evangelical orthodox worshippers into a fascist propaganda outlet, and poor hygeine were not enough to stop this man from being canonized! Rey brings some other fascist intellectuals from inter-war Yugoslavia into the picture as well, particularly celebrated novelist Miloš Crnjanski who, when not pleasing his readership with classic prose, was editing his own fascist journal and developing some very bad ideas about race. Also featured, the red panic in 30s Yugoslavia, "Cultural Bolshevism", Dinaric Nemanjići, and a Serbian Orthodox response to the Übermensch. This is The Empire Never Ended, the Antifascist Amerikanski-Balkan podcast about (neo) fascist terror, the (deep) state and the alienation, nihilism and desperation produced by the capitalist system. And how to get rid of all that. Something like that... Subscribe to our Patreon for weekly premium episodes! And check out our social media for updates and whatnot: Twitter + Facebook + Instagram + YouTube

Rey takes the Empire Never Ended down an awkward road called 'Early Serbian and Yugoslav Fascism'. This is a period of street fighting that shaped the pan-slavic fascists known as 'ORJUNA', and of the inter-war antifascist battle of Trbovlje in Slovenia. Follow Dimitrije Ljotić (1891-1945), wannabe führer and Bible nerd, as he annoys the shit out of everyone before getting politically stomped on by rich rival, Milan Stojadinović (1888-1961) in a pathetic bid to become Hitler's boy in Serbia. Also discussed, O.G. Yugoslav communists coming home from the Russian Revolution, Proletarian Action Squads, the Arditi del Popolo, and the awesomely-named 'Red Justice'! If that wasn't enough, Rey also elucidates the origins of the name "Yugoslavia", recounts the chaotic tale of Račić's mass shooting in the Yugoslav Parliament, and presents the bizarre 'Diamantstein Affair'. Finally, the boys get theoretical about workerism and the "parasite" framework adopted by many anti-capitalists as well as about certain orifices of the body of the fascist state. This is The Empire Never Ended, the Antifascist Amerikanski-Balkan podcast about (neo) fascist terror, the (deep) state and the alienation, nihilism and desperation produced by the capitalist system. And how to get rid of all that. Something like that... Subscribe to our Patreon for weekly premium episodes! And check out our social media for updates and whatnot: Twitter + Facebook + Instagram + YouTube

TENE pod welcomes Kemal back to narrate some truly crazy shit that went down in the port town of Fiume, also known as Rijeka in today's Croatia, a little more than a century ago. Watch the fundaments of fascism flower from the cocaine-addled brain of celebrated war hero, poet, and daredevil, Gabriele D'Annunzio! Marvel at the sense-defying stunts of his nudist right-hand man and pig-thieving air pirate, Guido Keller! Weep at the tragic tale of shotgun-riding futurist donkey, Camellino! Somewhere between Porco Rosso and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the story of the Italian Regency of Carnaro and its flamboyant Comandante is not one to miss! Opening song: "Alba Separa Dalla Luce L'Ombra" written by Gabriele D'Annunzio, composed by Paolo Tosti, and sung by Enrico Caruso. English translation, "Day Man, (uwaa-aahhh) Master of the Night Man". This is The Empire Never Ended, the Antifascist Amerikanski-Balkan podcast about (neo) fascist terror, the (deep) state and the alienation, nihilism and desperation produced by the capitalist system. And how to get rid of all that. Something like that... Subscribe to our Patreon for weekly premium episodes! And check out our social media for updates and whatnot: Twitter + Facebook + Instagram + YouTube

In this discussion, Kemal Madžerak, an expert on the Croatian national project, unpacks the evolution of Croatian identity from the Illyrian movement to the 20th century. He navigates the linguistic battles between Serbs and Croats, highlighting key figures like Ljudevit Gaj and Ante Starčević. The impact of Hungarianization is explored, along with the cultural significance of Dubrovnik and Bosnia. Madžerak also critiques the legacies of nationalist leaders and addresses the complexities of identity in a historically tumultuous region.

The crew slows down for a 'kaffeeklatsch' to elaborate on some themes in the previous episode. Rey expands on some surprising connections of Karađorđe Petrović and Boris brings us up to date on his American and British royal heirs today. They discuss the origin of vampires in the 'Western' imagination and the effort to invent new traditions during the Serbian national project. The boys then spend some time on the significance of anarchism in the 19th century, specifically in Serbia, and talk about Bakunin's broad influence and his struggles with Marx. Also included: Young Bosnia and Gavrilo Princip, Bolsheviks riding anarchist coattails, and a scandalous royal burrito shop incident. This is The Empire Never Ended, the Antifascist Amerikanski-Balkan podcast about (neo) fascist terror, the (deep) state and the alienation, nihilism and desperation produced by the capitalist system. And how to get rid of all that. Something like that... Subscribe to our Patreon for weekly premium episodes! And check out our social media for updates and whatnot: Twitter + Facebook + Instagram + YouTube