Petar Šimić (1932 – 12 April 1990) was an

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

of the

Yugoslav Navy The Yugoslav Navy ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска ратна морнарица, Jugoslavenska ratna mornarica, Yugoslav War Navy), was the navy of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1992. It was essentially a coastal defense force with the miss ...

, Commander of the Split Military Area and Assistant Commander of the Military Naval Area for political-legal sector.

Early life

Šimić's family hailed from the village of Drivenik near

Novi Vinodolski Novi Vinodolski (, often also called Novi or ''Novi del Vinodol'' o ''Novi in Valdivino'' in Italian) is a town on the Adriatic Sea coast in Croatia, located south of Crikvenica, Selce and Bribir and north of Senj. The population of Novi is 3,988 ...

Role in SKJ

Before his death, Šimić served as the President of the

Organization of the League of Communists in the Yugoslav People's Army The Organization of the League of Communists in the Yugoslav People's Army was the branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ) for members of the Yugoslav People's Army. Description The Organization of the League of Communists general ...

, thereby acting as head of the

League of Communists of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, mk, Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na komunistite na Jugoslavija known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, sl, Komunistična partija Jugoslavije mk ...

(SKJ) in the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska a ...

(JNA). In the late 1980s, he represented hardliners within JNA in public appearances. On 31 January 1989, he issued an announcement in which he accused some politicians of "pushing the Yugoslav ship on the rocks". Although he didn't name them at the time, it was clear that the announcement was directed at Croat and Slovene politicians, especially at

Stipe Šuvar Stipe Šuvar (17 February 1936 – 29 June 2004) was a Croatian politician and sociologist who was regarded to have been one of the most influential communist politicians in the League of Communists of Croatia in Socialist Republic of Croatia d ...

, the President of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia at the time.Yugoslav Military Warns Feuding Politicians
/ref> Šimić also added that "JNA will oppose, with all its might, anybody who wants to play dangerous games with achievements of our struggle and the socialist revolution". At one of the sessions where fierce discussions occurred, according to official version, he suffered a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

and died. After the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia from ...

had ended, Croatian journalist Franjo Deranja published a book, sourced mainly to Antun Tus, saying that it was probable that the Yugoslav People's Army leadership was at fault for Šimić's death.

References

Sources

* Franjo Deranja: Slučaj admirala Petra Šimića – Strogo povjerljivo (Glosa d.o.o., Rijeka, 2015.; 60 stranica, tvrdi uvez) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Šimić, Petar 1932 births 1990 deaths People from Bihać Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina Yugoslav communists Admirals of the Yugoslav People's Army