<p>The Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH) was constructed as a Nazi-puppet state, which spanned across a large part of what is now Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, after the occupation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in April 1941. Because of its close relationship to the Nazi Party, Ustasha—a notorious Croatian political organization—attained power over NDH. Core members of the group emulated the fascist movements during WWI and WWII in Europe and forged ahead with a similar totalitarian policy in NDH, revising previous systems of governance.</p><p>The highest aim of these reforms was the achievement of national unity, implanting the ‘Ustasha spirit’ throughout the nation. Considering the nationalistic character of the Ustasha movement, it seems reasonable to suppose that ideological discourses on nationalization were consistent inside the regime. However, previous studies have argued that the relationship between Ustasha and Tias Mortigjija—the chief editor of the major weekly newspaper Spremnost from May 1943 to the end of 1944—became tense due to disagreements regarding the editorial policy. Considering the variable nature of Croatian nationalism at that time, which was caused by increasing communist resistance and tangled relations with the Axis powers, the specific course of action of nationalization under the NDH regime must be investigated.</p><p>This article analyses how Spremnost carried on propaganda work about Croatian nationalism during the period when Mortigjija was the chief director. Regarding the ideology of the Ustasha movement, it must be noticed that the leadership coped with the mobilization of the youth from the outset of NDH, training them as ‘elites’ who would conduct state affairs in the future. Ustasha thus implemented various educational policy measures to establish elitism in the mind of the younger generation (founding the Ustasha Youth, ‘purifying’ the school and the university and so on). As a result of this fascistic attempt, Zagreb University students were encouraged to develop their own political consciousness and became radicalized to adopt a resolution in April 1944 that asserted their loyalty to the Ustasha movement. Despite the discordance with the regime, Mortigjija seemed to sympathize with the appearance of the ‘elite’. The propaganda of Spremnost thus began to feature content associated with the Zagreb University students’ resolution and the student journal Plug, which was published in 1944.</p><p>Initially, Ustasha defined the image of the Croatian state as one that belonged to the ‘West’, including it in the cultural circle of Europe, and one that had a vital role as a bulwark against the ‘East’. However, through the political rhetoric of Spremnost and Plug, this image was transformed, arguing that the Croatian state was a guardian of the Balkan States and emphasizing the cultural legacy of the ‘West’. On the other hand, the image of Croats was modified to reflect changing religious policies. The leadership reinterpreted Orthodoxy as a traditional faith in Croatia and instituted the Croatian Orthodox Church in June 1942 to assimilate Serbs to NDH.</p><p>Following this ‘political tolerance’, an article of Spremnost advocated that Croats must possess three types of faith: Catholic, Islam and Orthodoxy. Moreover, it was highlighted and reiterated that the integrated nationalism of Croats was a Balkan-oriented one. In conclusion, the ideological discourse on nationalization in NDH was obviously altered to include religious pluralism during WWII in response to the international environment and to internal conflicts. ‘Balkan’ thus became a symbol of the nation.</p>