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commander-in-chief:

josip broz tito (prime minister of yugoslavia/commander-in-chief of the yugoslav people's army)

tito (1982-1980)

on april 6, 1941, germany invaded yugoslavia with the assistance of hungary and italy. on april 10, slavko kvatnik declared the independence of croatia. yugoslavia's armed forces quickly disintegrated, and the yugoslav government reached an armistice agreement with germany in belgrade on april 17. on may 1, tito called on the people to unite and resist the occupation. on june 27, tito was appointed commander-in-chief of the national liberation army, and the comintern subsequently called for immediate action. despite the conflict with chetniks, tito's guerrillas liberated part of the territory and established the uzice republic. in december 1941, tito established the first proletarian brigade, and in march 1942, he established the second proletarian brigade. in the liberated areas, guerrillas organized people's committees, and the protest movement laid the foundation for postwar state organization. in may 1944, tito escaped a german attack at his headquarters in delaware. the allies then turned to support tito's guerrillas, and signed the treaty of vis on june 17 in an attempt to merge tito's government with the exiled yugoslav monarchy. . in september, tito was appointed prime minister of yugoslavia and signed an agreement allowing soviet troops to enter yugoslav territory to assist in operations. the allied advance forced germany to retreat, and the partisans succeeded in liberating yugoslavia. in 1945, tito formed the provisional government of the democratic federal republic of yugoslavia and won the november election, deposing the king and establishing the federal people's republic of yugoslavia. yugoslavia established a strong military and national security apparatus, quickly quelled nationalism after the war, and successfully stabilized the country.

deputy commander-in-chief:

ivan goshniak

admiral

arso yovanovich (chief of general staff)

also jovanovic (1907-1948) was born on march 24, 1907 in the village of zavala near podgorica in montenegro. he was born into a family with a strong military tradition and belonged to the piperi family. his father was an officer in the army of the kingdom of serbia until 1910, stationed in the artillery regiment in topchide, a suburb of belgrade. jovanovic attended school in nikšić and then entered the royal yugoslav army military academy in belgrade in 1924. there he was a contemporary of velimir terzic and petar chetkovic, who were also his subordinates during the partisan period. he graduated at the top of his class and was recommended to france for "professional refinement." he graduated from the military academy with honors. on the recommendation of military experts and defense minister milan nedic, as well as recognition of his abilities, yovanovich was transferred to unit commander of the reserve infantry officer school. shortly before nazi germany invaded yugoslavia in 1941, he was appointed commander of the school battalion of the active officers infantry school. since the guerrillas officially entered the war against the german army, yovanovich has directed the guerrilla combat operations as the actual military leader of the guerrillas. he planned more than half of the important operations in the seven battles. tito broke with moscow and stalin in 1948, general yovanovich openly sided with the soviet union, and he was killed (doubtfully) by yugoslav border guards while trying to escape to romania. at the same time, yugoslavia's official history erased yovanovitch's achievements in the war, and former subordinates began to publicly slander him.

costa-nader (commander of the third army)

（1911-1986）

in 1937 costa went to spain as a volunteer to join the international brigade. while with the international brigade, costa served as a platoon, company and battalion commander. in late january 1939, in order to protect thousands of spanish refugees as they retreated, he took command of one of the last brigades to retreat north through the pyrenees. he was seriously wounded three times in spain and joined the communist party in 1937.

since the kingdom of yugoslavia did not allow members of the international brigade to return to the country, costa and hundreds of his compatriots were imprisoned in the saint-cyprian, gilles and verne concentration camps in france from february 1939 to may 1941. in all three concentration camps, he was selected by his comrades as the commander of the balkan group.

in may 1941, costa and other comrades left the verne concentration camp on the party's advice and went to the dessau labor camp in germany to make it easier for the "spaniards" to escape back to occupied yugoslavia. the escape was organized by the "spaniard" vigeslav tsviyetko under the direction of the party.

on july 16, 1941, costa arrived in zagreb with the first group of "spaniards" who escaped from the german concentration camps. rade konchar and vlado popovich kept him in zagreb until august 5, when he was sent to karlovac to help organize the uprising. during august he was active in the villages of topuska velika kladuša, mošća and dreznica. on september 5, costa, along with military leaders from popovich and kortun, went to krbavitsa to conduct military and political consultations with the uprising leadership. from september 9 to the end of october, costa was ordered by the general headquarters of the yugoslav national army to carry out operations in krajina, bosnia. at the same time, at a meeting in stolice, he was appointed to the newly formed main staff of bosnia and herzegovina.

from november 6, 1941 to february 9, 1942, costa commanded the romanian and yahorin forces in eastern bosnia. in february 1942, the supreme commander reorganized the leadership of the guerrilla forces in bosnia and herzegovina, and costa was assigned to command the troops in western bosnia, responsible for the area from the bosnia river to the una river. from february 23 to the end of july, the troops under his command (about 14,000 fighters) created a huge freedom in western bosnia connecting dalmatia, lika, koldun, banja and slavonia territory.

in 1942, costa's troops liberated prijedor, krupa, petrovac, jajce and other places under his command. from november 2 to 4, he led the largest operation in the national liberation war - the battle of bihac. his wedge-shaped siege tactics caught the enemy off guard. on november 6, tito expressed his appreciation to costa's troops, saying that they were the glorious descendants of the motherland liberation army.

in november 1942, the national liberation army of yugoslavia (nov) and the partisans (po) were established, and costa became the commander of the first army. he was the only guerrilla commander elected, together with the supreme commander, as honorary chairman of the first congress of the united states army. in the summer of 1943, costa's troops reunited with the high command after the fourth and fifth offensives, liberating even more territory than during the neretva offensive launched by the proletariat in january 1943. costa has shown excellent command skills in many battles, especially during the fourth attack. on august 10, 1943, tito awarded costa the rank of officer and was promoted to general 20 days later. en route to eastern bosnia, costa was sent there to form a new division and achieved victory at tuzla in the shortest possible time.

since the autumn of 1943, the troops under costa's command ensured that the yugoslav national liberation army penetrated serbia as planned. in 1944, when the operation to liberate yugoslavia began, general costa was entrusted with command of the main staff in vojvodina to defend the northern front in cooperation with the third ukrainian front. at the end of 1944, costa's troops developed into the third army of the republic of serbia.

refusal of promotion to general:

peko dapcevic (commander of the 1st/3rd army)

（1913-1999）

peko dapcevic was born in cetinje, montenegro on june 25, 1913. dapcevic volunteered to join the international brigades during the spanish civil war. on june 11, 1942, the fourth strike brigade of the montenegrin proletariat was established, and peko was appointed brigade commander. under his command, the brigade took part in the battle of krajina in bosnia. by mid-july, it had captured hadice (on the sarajevo-mostar railway), upper vakuv, and was fighting in the bugojno area. in august, two fierce attacks were launched on the heavily guarded kupres, resulting in heavy losses. thereafter she fought against strong german forces at manhaca, then took part in the attack on jajce in september, and subsequently took part in the heavy fighting on the jajce-donjivaków and jajce-travnik routes . in october, she participated in the liberation activities of mkonichgrad.

on november 1, 1942, the first novj division was formed and peko dapcevic was appointed commander of the 2nd proletarian division. from then until mid-september 1943, the 2nd division participated in the toughest battle on the battlefield in yugoslavia under his command. from november 1942 to february 1943, the division fought on the border between bosnia and dalmatia. in november, defeated the enemy forces in the knin-bosansk grahovo area, liberated livno on december 14, then attacked kupres, liberated suica and duvno, and moved towards duvno-imotz fight in the base direction. at the end of december 1942 and early january 1943, the division carried out successful offensive operations in cetinje krajina.

during the battle of the neretva river, the 2nd division played an important role. in february 1943, he participated in the liberation of posushye and imotsky, went deep into the neretva valley, liberated dreznica and jabranica, and part of his troops participated in the attack on konich. the heroic spirit of the soldiers and the victory of the headquarters and commanders were especially evident in the hard battles in late february and early march. the main force of the division participated in the defensive battles on the upper vakuf-prozor route and the famous counterattack near upper vakuf, while another part of the division fought fierce defensive battles on the neretva river. in march, the 2nd proletarian division first forced neretva and severely damaged the chetniks. after that, the offensive operation to the east began, the gravina division moved in the direction of chichevo-gravatichevo-kalinovik-foca, participated in several fierce battles and destroyed the powerful chetnik group, others the troops are fighting in herzegovina.

the second division cooperated with the first division to forcibly cross the drina river, defeated the italian chetnik army, and liberated northern montenegro; in cooperation with the third division, they defeated thousands of people in the battles of yavork and biochi. italian chetnik army. during the enemy's fifth offensive, the 2nd division first fought hard against the german 1st mountain division in the mojkovac and kolasin areas, and then participated in the battle to establish a bridgehead at vucevo, and at yavor co. pivsko fought fiercely. during the fighting in the sutjeska valley, the brigade played a decisive role in the attack on koshir and the defense of bari. during the breakthrough battle at zelengora, the defensive battles at ljubina grob and kosuta and the breakthrough to the foca-kalinovik road were extremely important.

in october 1943, peko became commander of the second attack army. under his command, the corps became one of the most powerful units of the novj. in the autumn of 1943, he participated in the campaign to liberate large areas of montenegro, herzegovina and sandzak. the regiment then fought hard during operation lin-drina.

in 1943, peko was promoted to major general and in 1944 to lieutenant general. in the spring of 1944, the 2nd attack army carried out operation mojkovac and other missions to defend the free territories of montenegro and sandzak, and in the summer participated in operation andrievica. in july 1944, peko was appointed commander of the division combat group and led the group deep into serbia and liberated large areas of the south morava basin and west morava basin. in september 1944, he commanded the 1st army group during the operations to liberate western serbia and sumadia and the battle of belgrade.

konstantin kocha popovich (commander of the second army)

（1908-1992）

popovich arrived in spain in 1937 as a volunteer to join the international brigades. after the collapse of the spanish republican army, kocha popovich traveled to france with other international brigade fighters. due to his participation in the spanish civil war, he was interned and held in the saint cyprien camp from march to april 1939. he served on the council of spanish fighters in paris. in september 1939, through party connections, he returned to yugoslavia from france to continue his revolutionary activities and carry out tasks assigned by the communist party of yugoslavia. in the army of the kingdom of yugoslavia, he continued the anti-fascist struggle as an artillery lieutenant commander. in april 1941, he was captured in ivanica, but soon escaped.

from july 1941, popovich participated in the national liberation struggle of yugoslavia. he served as commander of the kosmayi partisans and later the posav partisans. these teams achieved many victories in the summer and autumn of 1941. later, he was appointed commander of the shumadiya and western serbian partisans.

in november 1941, he commanded a convoy to protect the supreme headquarters and most of the guerrillas as they retreated towards sandzak. when the 1st proletarian shock brigade was formed on december 21, 1941, popovich was appointed as the first brigade commander. under his command, the brigade conducted the famous march of igman, successfully avoided being wiped out, and participated in the battle of krajina in bosnia. in november 1942, popovich was appointed commander of the 1st proletarian division, a position he held until october 5, 1943.

the division distinguished itself during the fourth enemy offensive, playing an important role in the battle of mount ivan, the gorny vakuv counterattack and the defense of the central hospital. in the fifth enemy offensive, the 1st proletarian division broke through the encirclement of the german 369th division, but suffered heavy losses. although popovich almost faced a court-martial for making decisions on his own, the issue was ultimately resolved.

on may 1, 1943, the yugoslav national liberation army established the first batch of military ranks. popovich was awarded the rank of major general and was promoted to lieutenant general in november. in october 1943, he was appointed commander of the first proletarian legion, a position he held until july 1944. during this period, he commanded the battle against the german 15th mountain army, and performed particularly well in the battles of banja luka and delvar. in july 1944, popovich was appointed commander of the serbian headquarters of the yugoslav national liberation army and partisans, and in january 1945 became commander of the second army. the army played an important role in the final stages of the liberation of yugoslavia, especially in the liberation of belgrade.

during world war ii, popovich was also a member of new yugoslavia's highest political representative body and participated in the first avnoj conference in 1942 and the second avnoj conference in 1943.

lieutenant general

milovan gilas (vice president of tito's government)

in april 1941, as nazi germany, fascist italy and their allies defeated the royal yugoslav army and disbanded the kingdom of yugoslavia, gilas (1911-1995) assisted tito in establishing the guerrilla resistance and served as a commander during the war. after germany attacked the soviet union on june 22, 1941, the yugoslav communist party decided to launch an armed struggle and passed a resolution on july 4 to launch an uprising. dilas was sent to montenegro to organize the struggle against the italian occupation forces. the uprising that broke out on july 13 quickly liberated most of montenegro. dilas stayed in montenegro until november, and then went to užice, serbia, to participate in the work of "battle report". as tito and other leaders retreated to bosnia, dilas led his troops to join the high command in harsh winter conditions. in march 1944, he traveled to the soviet union as part of a military and party delegation, during which he met dimitrov, molotov and stalin. after the war, he distinguished himself in the battle to liberate belgrade and became vice president of tito's government. in 1945-1946, diras was sent to istria to organize the evacuation of italians and trigger the evacuation of istria.

petar-drapsin

（1914-1945）

in 1937, drapucin went to fight in andalusia and performed heroically, especially on the almanza and madrid fronts. after franco's victory, drapucin and other international brigade fighters were forced to retreat to france and were imprisoned in concentration camps. he managed to escape to zagreb with the help of the yugoslav communist party, and then went to herzegovina, where he became one of the organizers of the early uprising.

during the spanish civil war, drapucin served as a captain in the spanish republic's army. after returning to yugoslavia, he became deputy commander of the combat zone in herzegovina and was appointed commander after outstanding performance. due to factional struggles within the party, he was punished by the party and was sent to slavonia as the commander of the 12th slavonian division.

in the summer of 1944, drapsin was appointed deputy commander of the croatian headquarters of the yugoslav people's liberation army and partisans. at the end of 1944, he was sent to dalmatia as commander of the 8th dalmatian army. in february 1945, drapsin became commander of the newly formed yugoslav fourth army, tasked with liberating the croatian coastal areas, istria and trieste. his troops achieved great success at the battle of trieste, capturing and destroying large numbers of enemy troops. in subsequent operations, drapsin's forces liberated istria, terzic, and gorica and sealed the italian border.

on november 2, 1945, drapsin died in an accident in belgrade and was buried in the national heroes cemetery in belgrade's new cemetery. there is ongoing debate about the cause of death. was it caused by the official claim that the pistol misfired, or was it caused by long-term positioning errors? there is no reasonable conclusion yet.

alexander rankovich (supreme staff)

rankovich served as a member of the politburo from 1940. in 1941, he was captured and tortured by the german gestapo before being rescued by a yugoslav partisan raid. the rest of the time rankovich served in the supreme staff.

some other officers will be introduced later, such as sava-cevakovic and others, so stay tuned.