Draža Mihailović
A Serbian royalist officer whose Chetnik guerrillas fought both Axis occupators and communist partisans in the brutal civil war within World War II.
1893–1946 (age 53)·Leader of the Chetniks in WWII·Birthday: April 27·The Lost Generation
Biography
Dragoljub 'Draža' Mihailović, a colonel in the Yugoslav Royal Army, found himself a leader without a state after the swift Nazi invasion in 1941. Refusing to surrender, he retreated into the Serbian mountains and formed the Chetnik Detachments, a guerrilla force loyal to the exiled king. Initially celebrated by the Allies as the first resistance movement in Europe, his story quickly darkened. Facing a brutal German occupation policy that executed 100 civilians for every soldier killed, Mihailović prioritized preserving his Serbian forces for a final uprising, a strategy that led to passivity and, fatefully, tactical collaborations with Axis forces to fight his primary domestic enemy: Josip Broz Tito's communist Partisans. This placed him at the heart of a vicious multi-sided war. As the Partisans gained Allied recognition, Mihailović was abandoned. Captured by Tito's new government after the war, he was tried for treason and collaboration in a show trial and executed, leaving a legacy that remains fiercely contested between views of him as a tragic patriot and a compromised collaborator.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Draža was born in 1893, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Draža Was Born
The biggest hits of 1893
Draža's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1893Born
World's Columbian Exposition dazzles Chicago
President: Grover Cleveland
1898Started school
Spanish-American War; US emerges as a world power
President: William McKinley
1906Became a teenager
San Francisco earthquake devastates the city
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1909Could drive
Robert Peary claims to reach the North Pole
President: William Howard Taft
1911Could vote
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire kills 146 in New York
President: William Howard Taft
1914Turned 21
World War I begins
President: Woodrow Wilson
1923Turned 30
The Great Kanto earthquake devastates Tokyo
President: Calvin Coolidge"Yes! We Have No Bananas" — Billy Jones
1933Turned 40
FDR's New Deal launches; Prohibition ends
Gas: $0.18/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Stormy Weather" — Ethel WatersBest Picture: Cavalcade
1943Turned 50
Allies invade Sicily; Battle of Stalingrad ends
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $3,290Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"I've Heard That Song Before" — Harry JamesBest Picture: Casablanca
1946Died at 53
United Nations holds its first General Assembly
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $5,150Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Prisoner of Love" — Perry ComoBest Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives
Key Achievements
- Organized the first large-scale resistance army in occupied Europe following the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia.
- Was appointed Minister of War of the Yugoslav government-in-exile and promoted to General.
- His Chetnik forces controlled significant areas of rural Serbia and Montenegro for much of the war.
- Became a central, polarizing figure in the complex Yugoslav civil war that ran parallel to World War II.
Did You Know?
He was posthumously awarded the Legion of Merit by U.S. President Harry Truman in 1948, a fact kept secret for years.
Mihailović's last words before execution were reportedly, 'I fought for a greater Yugoslavia. Long live Yugoslavia!'
He was a decorated officer in the Balkan Wars and World War I.
In 2015, a Serbian court rehabilitated him, posthumously overturning his 1946 conviction.
“I am fighting for a free and democratic Yugoslavia under our constitutional King.”
