Draža Mihailović

Draža Mihailović, born on April 14, 1893, in Ivanjica, was a prominent Yugoslav Serb general during World War II. Raised in Belgrade, he distinguished himself in the Balkan Wars and the First World War, showcasing his military prowess. Following the German invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941, Mihailović emerged as the leader of the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, a royalist and nationalist guerrilla force.

In the wake of Yugoslavia's fall, Mihailović organized the Chetniks at Ravna Gora, engaging in guerrilla warfare against the occupying German forces. However, ideological differences and mutual distrust led to a rift between his forces and those of Josip Broz Tito's Partisans, culminating in open conflict by late 1941. The Chetniks' collaboration with Axis powers and British dissatisfaction with Mihailović's strategies resulted in a shift of Allied support towards Tito in 1944.

As the war drew to a close, Mihailović found himself collaborating with fascist figures such as Milan Nedić and Dimitrije Ljotić. After the war, he went into hiding but was captured in March 1946. The communist authorities of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia tried him for high treason and war crimes, leading to his execution by firing squad in Belgrade in July of the same year. The extent of his responsibility for collaboration and ethnic massacres remains a subject of controversy.

In a significant turn of events, Mihailović's conviction was overturned in May 2015 by the Supreme Court of Cassation of Serbia, which cited the politically and ideologically motivated nature of his trial and conviction.