sentences:  In November 1940, as a member of the Croatian Peasant Party, he became the mayor of Bjelovar.Here he played an important role in the Bjelovar rebellion of 8 April that year when, after the revolt by Croats in the Royal Yugoslav Army during the early days of invasion of Yugoslavia, he declared the "resurrection of the Croatian state".By his own account, Makanec swore the Ustaše oath in April 1941, days after the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia, but historians believe Makanec may have joined the Ustaše much earlier, in late 1939 or early 1940.