Chetniks in the Balkan Wars
| Chetniks in the Balkan Wars | |
|---|---|
Balkan wars |
The Chetniks in the Balkan Wars, were
Background
The Chetniks were members of Serbian irregular units that were active following Serbia's struggle for independence against the Turks in the nineteenth century starting with the Macedonian Struggle. Those guerrilla detachments, known to the Ottomans as Komitadji, first fought for the liberation of Christian territories from imperial Ottoman rule then mostly against rival komitadji bands in Ottoman Macedonia such as the Bulgarian IMRO as both group aimed to maintain and assert their respective national interests in Macedonia. The Chetniks were territorially based fighting forces, organised into small bands and under the command of a Vojvoda (Field Marshal).[2]
Operational history
At the outbreak of the
During the Serbian mobilization, the Chetnik detachments of the Serbian 3rd Army included: Medveđa, detachment headed by captain Dušan Sekulić, Ljubomir Vulović and Nikodim Racić (Lisica-Prapaštice-Priština), and detachment headed by Božin Simić (Svirci-Novo Brdo-Kačanik); Kuršumlija, under the command of captain and Chetnik vojvoda Vojislav Tankosić and captain Dragutin Nikolić (Kuršumlija-Merdare-Malo Kosovo-Štimlje-Crnoljeva-Prizren-Ljuma); Lukovo, under the command of captain Pavle Blažarić (Lukovo-Madljika-Drenica); and Kolašin, under the command of prota Vukajlo Božović.[4] Alongside these detachments, were two smaller ones located at the front of the Ibar Army, the first headed by reserve lieutenant Panta Miladinović, the second headed by Chetnik vojvoda Živko Gvozdić.[4] The commander of all these detachments was major Marjanović.[4]
Other notable detachments:
- Laplje Detachment, commanded by Vojislav Tankosić
- Third Army Detachments of Major Alimpije Marjanović
Images
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Mirko Đupić's unit, 1912 -
Vojislav Tankosić's unit, 1912 -
Stefan Nedić-Ćela's unit, 1912–13
References
- ^ a b Tomasevich 1975, p. 117.
- ^ Schurman 2009, p. 51.
- ^ Rudić, Milkić & Institute of History 2013, p. 85.
- ^ a b c Trifunović 1933, pp. 97–98
Sources
- Rudić, S.; Milkić, M.; Institute of History, B.I.B. (2013). The Balkan Wars 1912/1913 : New Views and Interpretations. Institute of History, Institute for Strategic Research. p. 85. ISBN 978-86-7743-103-7.
- Schurman, J.G. (2009). The Balkan Wars: 1912-1913, Third Edition. Floating Press. ISBN 978-1-77541-166-6.
- Tomasevich, Jozo (1975). The Chetniks. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-0857-9.
- Trifunović, Ilija (1933). Trnotivim stazama (in Serbian). Belgrade.
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