Ademaga Mešić

Ademaga Mešić or Adem Agha Mešić (1868—1945) was politician from Bosnia and Herzegovina and military officer in Schutzkorps and Ustaše.

Ottoman Bosnia
Mešić was married, without children, and self-declared as being of Croatian ethnicity.

Mešić was the owner of Behar, the first political journal of Bosnian Muslims which was published in the period 1900—1910.

Austrian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mešić belonged to a Croatian-Muslim block which was installed by the government of Austria-Hungary to support annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908. As a Germanophile, Mešić was a leader of the Muslim supporters of the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina who renounced any kind of its autonomy, including the religious one. In the same year he established the Muslim Progressive Party with pro-Croat orientation. He wrote and published his work titled "Moj odgovor bezimenim klevetnicima".

First World War
At the beginning of the First World War he was military commander of Schutzkorps organized also by him. The unit organized and commanded by him was also known as Ademaga's Army (Ademagina vojska).

After the war Mešić was a poultry trader in Tešanj.

Second World War
During the Second World War he belonged to a narrow circle of Muslims who were supporters of the Independent State of Croatia and was vice-president of its government (Doglavnik) with a seat in Banja Luka. At the end of the war he escaped to Austria, only to be imprisoned by British forces that extradited him to new Yugoslav communist forces.

Trial and death
After the war he was tried. In his closing statement he stated that he was only a loyal citizen of the Ottoman sultan, Austrian emperor, Yugoslav king Karađorđević, emphasizing his willingness to continue his loyal service, now to the new communist government. Mešić was sentenced to life in prison where he died in 1945.