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The leader of the state was Ante Pavelić. The state included all of today's Bosnia-Herzegovina and most of Croatia, with Northern Dalmatia allocated to Italy, and Međimurje and southern Baranja annexed by Hungary. Its northern half was under the so-called German zone of influence (with the Wehrmacht making its presence), and the southern by the Fascist army. After the capitulation of Italy in 1943, Croatia acquired Northern Dalmatia (Split and Šibenik).
The State was officially a Kingdom with its ruler, Tomislav II, of the House of Savoy. Most of its population was non-Croat, with significant populations of Orthodox Serbs, Slav Muslims (Bosniaks), Germans and Hungarians, thus some historians scough at its ironic name. Furthermore, the state attempted to carry out a mass scale genocide trying to rid itself of some 2.2 million Orthodox Serbs and 100,000 other undesirables (Jews, Gypsies).
The Independent State of Croatia effectively ceased to exist in May 1945, with the advance of Tito's partisan forces, joined by the Soviet Red Army. The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia came into being later that year, with the same territory as the preceding Kingdom.