Vasich, Milos (General)

Origin and Family

Born on February 27, 1859 in the village of Nemenikuche, Kosmay District. Parents: Dear, the headman of the district, and Milica, whose ancestor was the voivode of the First Serbian Uprising Janko Katic . He graduated from primary school in Nemenikuche, seven classes of the Belgrade gymnasium. One year he studied at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Higher School (now Belgrade University ). He was an excellent student, but after the death of his father, he left High School due to a lack of funds for further education ^{[1] [2]} .

He was married to Zorka Karabiberovich, daughter of Zivko Karabiberovich, who was the chairman of the National Assembly and came from the Baba Dudichi clan. There were no children in marriage ^[1] .

Training

Miloš Vasić accepted his baptism of fire in the Serbian-Turkish war, which ran from 1876 to 1878 and in which he participated as a volunteer. Later he entered the Military Academy on September 1, 1880, as a pupil of the 13th grade. On March 1, 1881, he was promoted to corporal of the Army of Serbia , six months later he was promoted to sub-employee (September 1). A year later, on September 1, 1882, he was promoted as a badger. On August 2, 1883, he graduated with honors from the Academy (3rd in academic performance) and promoted to lieutenant infantry ^[1] .

In October 1884 he became a student of the Higher Course of the Military Academy. In 1885, due to the outbreak of war between Serbia and Bulgaria, the course was interrupted and continued in October 1886. On August 22, 1887 Vasich was promoted to lieutenant, and on October 1 of the same year he graduated from the Higher Course of the Military Academy ^[1] .

Start of military service

Until October 1884, Vasich was a platoon commander in the 2nd company of the 7th battalion of the Danube Infantry Regiment. In September 1885 he was appointed acting commander of the company of the 3rd battalion of the 2nd infantry regiment named after Prince Mikhail. At the head of this unit participated in the Serbian-Bulgarian war . For military differences in the case at Breznik (November 6) and on the border of Serbia (from 13 to 16 November), he was awarded the gold military medal of Milos Obilic ^[1] .

Interwar years

After the war in March 1886, Vasich was appointed platoon commander in the 7th battalion of the Danube Infantry Regiment. Until 1887 he commanded a company of students of the Military Academy, in early December 1887 he was sent to serve in the general military department of the Ministry of War. Upon completion of his military education, Vasich was sent to France for an internship, but he did not want to do practical work in the armed forces of Austria-Hungary. In Linz, he was assigned to the headquarters of the 3rd Austrian division, with which he participated in the imperial teachings. He served from October 1887 to January 1889 in the Austrian army ^[1] .

After returning from Austria-Hungary, Vasich was appointed acting company commander in the 4th guards battalion. On November 1, 1889, he was appointed a teacher of geography and history of the Serbian people in the school of junior infantry officers. At the end of the year, he was transferred to the General Staff Headquarters and became an officer there. January 1, 1891 promoted to captain of the 2nd class, in May of the same year he was appointed commander of a detachment of students of the third year of graduation from the Military Academy. In October, he returned to headquarters, October 15, was assigned to serve in the Danube divisional area. From July 1, 1892 - Assistant for the General Staff of the Timok Divisional Division, from April 9, 1893 - Acting Chief of Staff of the region. On August 2, he was sent to the General Staff office at the general military department of the Military Ministry as an officer for the instructions of King Alexander Obrenovic ^{[1] [2]} . From September 26, 1893 - Captain Class I ^[1] .

From September 28 to December 24, 1894, Vasich was again the acting chief of staff of the Danube Division Region, as well as the commander of the 2nd Squadron of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment. In October 1895, he was sent to serve in the General Staff Headquarters, as a staff officer, traveled to Vienna with a diplomatic mission to discuss the so-called "Drinsky Question". March 22, 1896, was promoted to the Majors of the General Staff and appointed Chief of the Internal Division of the Operations Division of the General Staff ^[1] . From February 1897 - military attache in Bulgaria , in October due to the tense relations between the countries recalled to Belgrade. In October 1898 he was appointed acting commander of the 7th Infantry Regiment, from March 10, 1899 - adjutant to King Alexander Obrenovic. On February 22, 1900, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel ^[1] , and on March 26 of the same year, he was appointed as an assistant to the infantry of the command of the army ^{[1] [2]} .

War Minister and Diplomat

On July 12, 1900, Miloš Vasić was appointed Serbian Minister of War in the Cabinet of Ministers of Aleksa Jovanovic . Until February 5, 1901, he formally held this position, but before March 20, 1901, he actually remained at the post of Minister of War. Until April 27, 1901, Miloš Vasić was Minister of War and in the cabinet of ministers of Mikhail Vujich , until he was replaced by Colonel Bozhidar Janković . April 6, before his departure from the post of minister, Vasich was promoted to colonel of the General Staff ^[1] . In February 1902, Vasic was appointed plenipotentiary ambassador to Montenegro, and on June 20, 1903, he left this post after the overthrow of the Obrenovic dynasty in May of the same year . In July 1903 he was sent to retire ^{[1] [2]} .

Balkan Wars and World War I

At the end of November 1912, Milos Vasic returned from the reserve: he was appointed representative of the Serbian army under the command of the Greek armed forces during both Balkan wars. Demobilized after the end of the Second Balkan War, but on July 12, 1914 he returned to service. He headed the Branichevsky detachment, and on August 30 he led the 2nd Danube Division, which he commanded in 1914-15. From January 1 to April 1916, he was deputy commander of the 1st Army until the Serbian troops retreated to Corfu. On June 29, 1916, he was promoted to major general ^[1] , on August 14 he led the 3rd Army, with which he fought on Kaimakchalan and took Bitola. In early 1917, he again became commander of the 1st Army, in April 1917 he went to Italy as a representative of Serbia under the Italian command. He remained in Italy until the end of the war. ^{[1] [2]} .

Service in Yugoslavia

After the war, Vasich was sent to Split as a delegate to the new Yugoslav state to resolve the territorial issue, namely the division of Dalmatia with Italy. April 12, 1919 headed the 3rd Military Region, April 15, 1920 - 4th Military Region, March 10, 1921 - 1st Military Region of the Royal Army . From January 3 to November 4, 1922, he served as Minister of Defense of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes in the office of Nikola Pasic . In October 1923 he was promoted to divisional generals, and on November 9, 1923 he finally retired ^{[1] [2]} .

October 20, 1935 Milos Vasich died. He is buried in the Alley of Giants of the New Cemetery in Belgrade ^[3] . He bequeathed his rich library of books on military and other topics to the Military Museum of Belgrade and the Military Academy. He was considered one of the soldiers of the Serbian and Yugoslav army with the greatest experience of military service ^[1] .

Vasich was an educated officer who spoke English, German, French, Italian, Greek, Bulgarian and Russian. He was the author of several works on military affairs, published articles in the journal "Warrior". As a military figure, Vasich introduced the law on the compulsory service of reserve troops and reduced the term of service. In 1912–1918, Vasich worked on the Law on the Organization of the Troops, thanks to which the highest military rank appeared in the Yugoslav Army, the voivode appropriated for exceptional military merit ^{[2] [4]} .

Vasich is the author of important books for military history: “War Memories and Notes” (1891), “Military Library” (1893), “Fundamentals of Strategy” (1894), “From the Organization of the Army” (1906), “Higher Military Discipline” (1909), “The Last Breath of General Jovan Mishkovich” (1909), “Army and Politics” (1910). He also wrote memoirs that were not published ^[3] . He also assembled the first Serbian hand grenade with a percussion fuse, which became known as the Vasic grenade, the Kragujevac grenade or the 1904 grenade. In shape, it resembled a square-shaped perfume bottle. Nedelko Chabrinovich used this grenade when attempting to assassinate Franz Ferdinand: she exploded, bounced off the roof of Franz Ferdinand’s car, and wounded 20 people with fragments. In the Serbian army, it was popular because of its square shape ^[5] .

Serbia and Yugoslavia

• Order of the Star of Karageorgiya with swords of III and IV degrees
• Order of Milos the Great III degree
• Order of the White Eagle with swords of I and II degrees
• Order of the White Eagle, I, IV and V degrees
• Order of the Takovo cross of I and V degrees
• Gold medal of Milos Obilich for courage
• Commemorative Medal of the Serbian-Bulgarian War of 1885–1886
• The commemorative medal of the Balkan Wars 1912–1913
• Commemorative Medal of the First World War 1914–1918
• Albanian Commemorative Medal

Other countries

•   Order of the Legion of Honor III degree
•   Order of St. Michael and St. George, II degree
•   Order of Franz Joseph III degree
•   Order of St. Alexander III degree
•   Order of Medgid I degree with ribbon
•   Order of the Savior II degree
•   Order of the Crown of Italy I degree
•   Order of Leo and the Sun I degree
•   Order of St. Olaf III degree
•   Medal of Bravery
•   Silver Medal of Bravery

• Biography of Milos Vasich on the site of Kronos (Rus.)