Petar Bojović (, ; 16 July 1858 – 19 January 1945) was a Serbian and Yugoslav military commander who fought in the Serbo-Turkish War, the Serbo-Bulgarian War, the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...

, the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict that broke out when Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia and Kingdom of Greece, Greece, on 1 ...

, 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 was briefly the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Yugoslav Royal Army in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, but played no real part in the conduct of the defence of Yugoslavia when it was invaded by the Axis powers in April 1941. Following the breakthrough on the Thessaloniki Front of World War I, he became the fourth Serbian officer promoted to

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

Life

Early life

Bojović was born on 16 July 1858 in Miševići,

Nova Varoš Nova Varoš ( sr-cyr, Нова Варош, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of southwestern Serbia. The municipality of Nova Varoš has a population of 13,507, while the town of Nova Varoš itself has a population of ...

. He fought in Serbian-Ottoman Wars from 1876 to 1878 as a cadet of the Artillery school, as well as in wars that Serbia waged at the beginning of the 20th century. He was Chief of the General Staff for the first time from 1905 to 1908.

Balkan Wars

In 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 ...

, he was the Chief of Staff of the 1st Army, which scored huge success in battles of

Kumanovo Kumanovo ( ; , sq-definite, Kumanova; also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is the second-largest city in North Macedonia after the capital Skopje and the seat of Kumanovo Municipality, the List of municipalities in the Republic ...

Bitola Bitola (; ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki border crossing ...

(

) and

Bregalnica Bregalnica (, ) is the second largest river in North Macedonia. It starts as a spring near the mountain city of Pehchevo and it passes through Berovo, Delchevo, near the cities of Makedonska Kamenica, Kočani, Vinica and Štip, before join ...

(

). He took part in peace negotiations with Turkey, held in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1913, as a military expert in the Serbian Government delegation.

World War I

At the start of World War I, he was given command of the 1st Army. His army suffered huge losses at the

Battle of Drina The Battle of the Drina ( Serbian: , ) was fought between Serbian and Austro-Hungarian armies in September 1914, near Loznica, Serbia, during the First Serbian campaign of World War I. After a first failed invasion of Serbia where he lost 40 ...

in 1914, but managed to stop the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

offensive. Bojović was wounded in the battle, and was replaced at the army general position by Živojin Mišić. In January 1916, he was appointed Chief of General Staff for a second time in place of the ailing vojvoda Radomir Putnik, who was carried by his soldiers to the city of Skadar. He held that position until June 1918, when he resigned because of disputes with the allied generals on the issue of widening the Thessaloniki Front. He returned to his position Commander of the 1st Army, which broke the enemy lines and advanced deep into the occupied territory. He received the title of

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

on for his contribution during the war.

Inter-war years and World War II

In 1921, he was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav Army, and in 1922 he withdrew from active service. At the very beginning of World War II, Petar Bojovic was appointed Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Yugoslavian Armed Forces by the young King Petar II Karađorđević. However, because of his old age, he did not participate in the events that followed.

Death

One of the most famous historical myths in Serbia is that Bojović was tortured by the new communist authorities following the liberation of Belgrade in October 1944 and that he died from the consequences of that torture. Bojović was indeed questioned by the new authorities for three days, however according to Kosta Rakić, a close family friend of Bojović, the elderly commander was not harmed in any way during the interrogation. Two months passed between the questioning and Bojović's death. Later two members of the

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

, including an officer, broke into his home, insulted him and stole his sabre. Bojović's son Dobrica then hit the officer who fell down the stairs, and then both Partisans ran away. Bojović was disturbed by the incident, but wasn't physically harmed during it. Bojović died during on January 19 1945 from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

. Bojović was not buried with military and state honors, but privately. This was expected as Bojović was a commander of the Yugoslav Royal Army that capitulated in 1941 and

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

that didn't exist anymore. Two members of

OZNA The Department for Protection of the People, commonly known under its Serbo-Croatian acronym as OZNA, was the secret police of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Communist Yugoslavia that existed between 1944 and 1946. Founding The OZNA w ...

were present at his funeral.

Awards and decorations

References

Literature

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bojovic, Petar 1858 births 1945 deaths People from Nova Varoš Vasojevići Serbian soldiers Serbian military personnel of World War I Serbian military personnel of the Balkan Wars Field marshals Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Recipients of the Order of the Yugoslav Crown Royal Serbian Army soldiers Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Takovo People from the Ottoman Empire