Dusan Simović ( Serb. Dusan Simoviћ , October 28, 1882 , Kragujevac - August 26, 1962 , Belgrade ) - Yugoslav military leader, Prime Minister of Yugoslavia ( March 27, 1941 - January 12, 1942 ; from April 1941 in exile) .
| Dusan Simovich | |||||||
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| Monarch | Peter II Pavel Karageorgievich (regent) | ||||||
| Predecessor | Dragisa Tsvetkovich | ||||||
| Successor | Slobodan Jovanovic | ||||||
| Birth | October 28, 1882 Kragujevac , Kingdom of Serbia | ||||||
| Death | August 26, 1962 (aged 79) Belgrade , NR Serbia , SFRY | ||||||
| The consignment | |||||||
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| Military service | |||||||
| Years of service | 1900 - 1941 | ||||||
| Affiliation |  Kingdom of Serbia Kingdom of Yugoslavia | ||||||
| Rank | General aviation | ||||||
| Battles | First Balkan War Second Balkan War World War I The Second World War | ||||||
Content
Military career
He graduated from a military school in 1900. He participated in the Balkan Wars and in the First World War. Then he served in the Air Force, in 1936 he became commander of the Air Force of Yugoslavia . In 1938 he received the rank of general of aviation, in May of that year he was appointed chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav Royal Army. In January 1940, due to objections to the military cooperation of Yugoslavia with Germany, he was removed from the post of chief of the General Staff and was replaced by Peter Kosich .
The coup and the war with Germany
On the night of March 27, 1941, relying on like-minded officers and part of the air force, he carried out a coup d'etat in Yugoslavia, ousted Prince Regent Pavel from power and placed the 17-year-old Peter II on the royal throne. Simovich himself took the post of prime minister of Yugoslavia, as well as the post of chief of the General Staff. Terminated the Tripartite Pact agreement, where Yugoslavia was an object, not a subject. These actions aroused the anger of Hitler, and in the evening of March 27, 1941, he signed a directive on the war against Yugoslavia with the aim of eliminating it as a state.
The German invasion began on April 6, 1941 - on the wedding day of Simovich’s daughter. On April 15, Simovich, together with his wife and brother, flew by plane to Athens and further to London.
After the war
He returned to Yugoslavia in 1945, recognized the power of Tito and sided with the prosecution of the trial of D. Mikhailovich . He wrote several books on military subjects. He died in Belgrade.
Literature
- Encyclopedia of heads of states and governments 1900 through 1945 , Harris M. Lentz III., 1999. ISBN 0-7864-0500-7