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Wikipedia talk:Requests for mediation/Draza Mihailovic/Archive12

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Early life and military career (JJG's version)

Born in Ivanjica, Kingdom of Serbia, Mihailović was the son of a Court clerk. Orphaned at seven, he was raised by his paternal uncle in Belgrade[1]. Both his uncles were military officers and he himself joined the Serbian military academy in October 1910. He fought as a cadet in the Balkan Wars 1912–1913. At the end of the First Balkan War, he was awarded the Silver Medal of valor. At the end of the Second Balkan War, during which he mainly led operations along the Albanian border, he was given rank of Second Lieutenant as the top soldier in his class, ranked sixth at the Serbian military academy[2]. He served in World War I and together with the Serbian Army marched through Albania in 1915 during the long retreat. He later received several decorations for his achievements on the Salonica front. He was appointed to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes' Royal guard but had to leave his position in 1920 after taking part in a public argument between Communist and nationalist sympathizers. He was affected to Skopje. In 1921, he was admitted to the Superior Military Academy of Belgrade. In 1923, having finished his studies, he was promoted as an assistant to the military staff, along with the fifteen other best alumni of his promotion[3]. In 1930, he was made a Lieutenant Colonel : that same year, he spent three months in Paris, France, following classes at the École Militaire. Some authors have asserted that he met and befriended Charles de Gaulle during his stay, although there is no proof of this[4]. He was appointed in 1935 in Sofia, as a military attaché to the Kingdom of Bulgaria. On september 6, 1935, he achieved the rank of Colonel. Mihailović then came in contact with members of Zveno and considered taking part in a plot aiming to provoke Boris III's abdication and set up an alliance between Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. But, being untrained as a spy, he was soon identified by Bulgarian authorities and was asked to leave the country. He was then appointed as an attaché in Prague, Czechoslovakia[5].

His military career almost came to an abrupt end in 1937, when he submitted a report strongly criticizing the Yugoslav Royal Army's organization. Among his most important proposals were the idea of dividing the Yugoslav Royal Army along national lines, into (Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes), and the use of mobile Chetnik units along the borders. Milan Nedić, Minister of the Army, was incensed by Mihailović's report and sentenced him to 30 days imprisonment. Afterwards, Mihailović was appointed as professor to Belgrade's staff college[6]. For a time, Colonel Mihailović occupied the position of assistant to chief of staff of the Second Army. In the last years before World War II, he was stationed in Celje, Slovenia (then Drava Banovina). In April 1941, he was chief of staff of the Yugoslav Second Army in northern Bosnia[7].

Notes

  1. ^ Jean-Christophe Buisson, Le Général Mihailovic : héros trahi par les Alliés 1893-1946, Perrin, Paris, 1999, page 13
  2. ^ Jean-Christophe Buisson, Le Général Mihailovic : héros trahi par les Alliés 1893-1946, Perrin, Paris, 1999, page 26-27
  3. ^ Jean-Christophe Buisson, Le Général Mihailovic : héros trahi par les Alliés 1893-1946, Perrin, Paris, 1999, pages 45-49
  4. ^ Jean-Christophe Buisson, Le Général Mihailovic : héros trahi par les Alliés 1893-1946, Perrin, Paris, 1999, pages 55-56
  5. ^ Jean-Christophe Buisson, Le Général Mihailovic : héros trahi par les Alliés 1893-1946, Perrin, Paris, 1999, pages 63-65
  6. ^ Jean-Christophe Buisson, Le Général Mihailovic : héros trahi par les Alliés 1893-1946, Perrin, Paris, 1999, pages 66-68
  7. ^ Stevan K.Pavlowitch, Hitler's new disorder : the Second World War in Yugoslavia, Columbia University Press, New York, 2007, page 53

Suggested changes

  • I cannot find anything wrong with the section. Its high-quality and unbiased. This point, however, be elaborated upon:
    Draža Mihailović was opposed to the policy of the Yugoslav state in that he did not view Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes as one nation (Yugoslavs). After January 6 1931, the policy of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was that those three ethnic groups were Yugoslavs (Montenegrins, Macedonians, and Bosniaks were not yet recognized). Draža Mihailović felt this was false, and that "Serbs" (which supposedly included Montenegrins, Macedonians, and Bosniaks) should openly "declare" themselves as such and openly control the country, with Croats and Slovenes as separate minority nations. A typical view among Serb nationalists at the time.
    For openly propagating such views contrary to state (and army) policy, he was imprisoned and marginalized. --DIREKTOR (TALK) 20:01, 2 July 2010 (UTC)
Apologies for my abscence, but I was on hollydays and I didn´t said anything thinking that I will have time to contribute in meantime, but (un)fortunatelly, I was having much fun and the laptop was unecessary undesirable object while travelling, so I only returned a couple a days ago. I´ll try to catch up... I supose you all missed me quite a lot! FkpCascais (talk) 20:20, 2 July 2010 (UTC)
I imagine you were/are enjoying the World Cup? :) The Serbia-Germany game was particularly interesting in that polls show that most Croats actually supported Germany rather than Serbia, in spite of the overwhelming similarity and shared history of the two nations. I myself differed in that I preferred that side who's shouting I could actually understand. :D


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