Native name Љubo Novakoviћ Rank Brigadier General | Years of service 1912–43 Name Ljubo Novakovic | |
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Died Late 1943 (aged c. 60)
German occupied territory of Montenegro Allegiance Yugoslavia (–1941)
Chetniks (1941–43) Battles/wars World War II in Yugoslavia | ||
Ljubo Novakovic (Serbian Cyrillic: Љubo Novakoviћ; 1883–1943) was a Montenegrin officer in the Royal Yugoslav Army who became a Chetnik commander during World War II. He initially fought for the Chetniks of Draza Mihailovic and those of Kosta Pecanac, but became disillusioned with both movements. He went to eastern Bosnia in late 1941, and raised Chetnik bands to fight Yugoslav Partisans there. He was captured by the Partisans in January 1942 and taken to Foca, where he was kept under constant surveillance. Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito likely believed that Novakovic could be used to counteract Mihailovic's influence among Chetniks in eastern Bosnia. Novakovic left Foca with a British mission in April 1942 and returned to Montenegro with the intention of reassembling the disorganized Chetnik formations there. He was killed in late 1943, either by the Partisans or Mihailovic's Chetniks.
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Early life
Ljubo Novakovic was born in the Principality of Montenegro in 1883. He was married to the sister of Major Zaharije Ostojic, an officer in the Royal Yugoslav Air Force. In early 1935, he helped reverend Momcilo Dujic establish a Chetnik band near the town of Knin.
Activities in occupied Serbia
An artillery officer, Novakovic held the rank of Brigadier General during the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941. He led the 3rd Army's Komski Cavalry Detachment, which consisted of the 48th Infantry Regiment and a mountain artillery division. Between 7 and 12 April, his forces engaged the Royal Italian Army on the Yugoslav–Albanian border near the town of Gusinje. Following the collapse of Yugoslavia, Novakovic was captured by the Germans and detained inside a military hospital in Valjevo.
Novakovic was smuggled out of the Valjevo hospital by Chetnik sympathizers in late May 1941. He then went to Ravna Gora, and arrived at the headquarters of Chetnik leader Draza Mihailovic in June. Mihailovic and his advisors were deeply suspicious of Novakovic because of his high military rank and worried that he might wish to usurp Mihailovic as commander of the Chetniks. When Novakovic suggested that the Chetniks establish three separate commands, in Montenegro, eastern Serbia and northwest Macedonia, and begin immediately attacking the Germans he was asked to leave Mihailovic's headquarters. Novakovic left Ravna Gora and soon joined the Chetniks of Kosta Pecanac. Pecanac gave Novakovic command over several detachments in Sumadija, in an area not far from Mihailovic's headquarters. Novakovic quickly realized that Pecanac was collaborating with the Germans and that Mihailovic was not engaging in resistance, but merely waiting for an Allied invasion of Yugoslavia. Consequently, he entered into negotiations with the communist Partisans. These talks failed, likely because Novakovic insisted on assuming complete control of joint operations. On 18 September 1941, Novakovic issued an appeal for a general uprising in and around the town of Arandelovac, explaining his primary objectives and calling on Chetnik commanders and their detachments to assemble for action against the Germans in four days' time. Though the negotiations with the Partisans had stalled, Novakovic still called for "brotherly ... collaboration with all other armed groups who are willing to work with the Chetniks for the national liberation of the Fatherland." Very few band leaders abided by the order. In late September, Novakovic gathered about 3,000 under-equipped men, some armed only with scythes and picks, to participate in the attack on Arandelovac. A sizeable number deserted before seeing any combat, and the remainder dispersed and fled when troops from a small German garrison opened fire. When Pecanac found out about Novakovic's actions, he relieved him of his command. Thoroughly discredited, Novakovic lost virtually all his followers.
Move to eastern Bosnia, retreat to Montenegro and death
Disillusioned with the Chetniks, Novakovic left Serbia and went to eastern Bosnia and fought briefly against the Partisans there. In late January 1942, he was captured by some local Partisans and taken to their headquarters in Foca. He stayed there for some time and was kept under constant surveillance, likely because Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito believed that he could be used to counteract Mihailovic's influence among Chetniks in eastern Bosnia. In March 1942, a British military mission stopped by the Partisan headquarters in Foca on its way to a meeting with Mihailovic. On 15 April 1942, the British left without telling Tito of their intention to meet with Mihailovic and Novakovic went along. Before leaving, he left Tito a note in which he threatened to raise 5,000 Chetniks to fight the Partisans in eastern Bosnia. Furious, Tito became convinced that the British had devised an elaborate plot to disadvantage the Partisans by strengthening the Chetniks. He wrote to the League of Communists of Croatia: "We now have certain proof that the British, through their agents in Yugoslavia, are working not to remove but rather to intensify the differences between ourselves and other groups such as the Chetniks. England is supporting different Chetnik bands, just as the Germans are doing, and egging them on."
Novakovic appeared in Montenegro in 1943 and began reassembling the disorganized Chetnik formations there. He was killed in Montenegro in late 1943. Author Marcia Kurapovna writes that he was shot and killed by the Chetnik 5th Mountain Brigade, on orders from Mihailovic. Historian Jozo Tomasevich states that he was captured by the Partisans, tried as an "enemy of the people", and shot.