Croatian Defence Forces

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The Croatian Defence Forces (Croatian Hrvatske obrambene snage or HOS) was one of the first armed forces assembled by the Croats during the Croatian War of Independence and the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina. HOS was eventually absorbed into the Croatian ground army.

HOS was formed by the Croatian Party of Rights' leadership, Dobroslav Paraga and Ante Paradžik.

HOS's goal was to create a political union between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. This soon put the forces at conflict with the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia and its own forces, the HVO. The Herzeg-Bosnia leadership preferred a division of Bosnia and Herzegovina into ethnic enclaves which had already been carried out by the Serbs with their Republika Srpska, as did the Croatian government led by President Franjo Tuđman. Because of these disagreements HOS eventually lost influence and merged into the Croatian Army in 1992.