Arso Radivojev Jovanović
Арсо Радивојев Јовановић
Military command
Communist Party / League of Communists of Yugoslavia (KPJ/SKJ)
1907–1948
✕ Disputed circumstances
1907–1948
✕ Disputed circumstances
The staff officer who organized the Partisan war
In August 1948, his wartime career ended at the border as he tried to reach Romania.
Arso Jovanović was a highly educated officer of the Royal Yugoslav Army who became chief of staff of the Partisan Supreme Headquarters and exercised major operational authority during the Second World War. He became the first Chief of the General Staff of the postwar Yugoslav Army, but sided with the Soviet position in the 1948 Tito–Stalin split and was politically isolated. He died while attempting to cross into Romania, although the official border account and later testimony have left the circumstances contested.
Career timeline
- 1925–1928Cadet, Royal Military Academy lower school, Belgrade
- 1932–1934Student, Royal Military Academy higher school
- 1939Published Tactics of the Infantry Battalion; instructor and commander at the Infantry School
- 1941Commander, Provisional Supreme Command of the Montenegrin uprising
- 1942–1945Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters of the Yugoslav Partisan forces
- 1945First Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav Army
- 1946–1948Studied at the Voroshilov Higher Military Academy in Moscow
- 1948Supported the Informbiro Resolution; killed while attempting to escape to Romania