Milan Milovanović was a
Yugoslav Army general (Kingdom of Yugoslavia) ''Armijski đeneral'' who was acting
Chief of the General Staff of the
Royal Yugoslav Army from 1922 to 1924 and Chief of the General Staff between 1929 and 1934. He was briefly Minister for Army and Navy between April and October 1934, and was appointed as senior member of the
Military Council in 1935.
Career
Milovanović was born in
Šetonje
Šetonje is a village situated in Petrovac na Mlavi municipality in Serbia. Significant number of residents historically moved to Innsbruck in Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, ...
in the
Požarevac
Požarevac ( sr-cyr, Пожаревац, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the Braničevo District in eastern Serbia. It is located between three rivers: Danube, Great Morava and Mlava and below the hill Čač ...
region of
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
in 1874. He entered the Military Academy in 1891 and was commissioned into the infantry in 1894. He attended training in France in 1903. In August 1912, he joined a secret society called the
Black Hand.
From 1910 to 1912 he was chief of the intelligence section of the Serbian General Staff, and he was a professor of tactics at the
Serbian Military Academy until 1919. During the
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...
and
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
he held several staff positions and was attached to the French Supreme Command as the Serbian representative during 1917 and 1918. In 1922 he became the first assistant to the
Chief of the General Staff of the
Royal Yugoslav Army,
Petar Pešić. Between 1922 and 1924, he acted as Chief of the General Staff while Pešić was Minister for the Army and Navy, and later commanded the
5th Army at
Niš
Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names of European cities in different languages (M–P)#N, names in other languages), less often spelled in English as Nish, is the list of cities in Serbia, third largest city in Serbia and the administrative cente ...
. In April 1929 he was appointed as Chief of the General Staff but relinquished this position when he was appointed as Minister for Army and Navy in April 1934. In October 1934, he was replaced by
Petar Živković as Minister for Army and Navy after the assassination of
King Alexander, as he was not considered strong enough to perform the role. He was appointed as the senior member of the
Military Council in 1935. He was considered a particularly capable officer when he was younger.
References
Sources
Books
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Milovanovic, Milan
1874 births
1942 deaths
Serbian military personnel of World War I
20th-century Serbian military personnel
People from Petrovac, Serbia
Serbian generals
People from the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Royal Serbian Army soldiers
Army general (Kingdom of Yugoslavia)