Draža III

Draža III was the former Secretary of State of the Serbian Empire and a general of it's armed forces. He was also the son of former Secretary Dobroslav II, meaning he was a part of the Božidar noble family, which is originally Yermanian.

His son was the former prime minister of Serbia, Dobroslav III.

## History

Draža was born on the 10th of February, 1922, in the city of Ljubljana, which was then located in the Republic of Yermania. Draža was forced to move from Ljubljana to Kragujevac at the young age of 7 in October of 1929. From the very beginning, Dobroslav wanted his son to become a great general in the future, causing him to train him at a young age in the mid to late 1930s.

Right after Draža finished school, he was conscripted into the Serbian army in March of 1939, where he served in his father's battalion. His first action in warfare was during the second world war, as Serbia declared war on Germany in 1940. Draža and his father would fight side-by-side during the war, but eventually the Serbian Kingdom was defeated and Dobroslav and Draža had to go into hiding along with his grandfather.

### Serbian empire and rise through the ranks

After the Serbian Empire rose through the ashes of the doomed Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Draža set his eyes on trying to rise through the ranks of the Empire. Draža begun by going back to Ljubljana and joining the 3rd artillery brigade of Ljubljana in March of 1951, at the age of 29. Draža soon met a young Colonel in the army by the name of Jožef Župančič, who became important in Draža's slow rise through the ranks.

Župančič saw that Draža had the bravery and courage to become a great general, so he started training him in both regular military service, but he also trained him in tactics, which Jožef also had experience in, as he had lead the 1st infantry battalion of the 3rd artillery brigade of Ljubljana during the Second World War. Draža was eventually promoted to Major, as he would lead the 2nd battalion of the 3rd infantry division during the Serbo-Bulgarian war.

After the war, Draža kept rising through the ranks, until he eventually reached the rank of Lieutenant general during the Marmara war, which he participated in, helping his father defeat the Turks in Bursa.

### Dobroslav's death and rise to a new position

Draža hadn't done much during the Great European War, but he was promoted to Major General in the middle of it as he lead the charge into southern Hungary in 1965. Draža gained notoriety from Borislav, however, who saw him as a capable military leader. Borislav decided to give him a battalion of 1000 men to train and call his own. This battalion later grew in numbers until it reached to the strength of 30 000 men by May of 1969, when it was named the Chetnik infantry corps.

On the 23rd of January, 1970, Dobroslav II passed away from lung cancer at 11 AM in the hospital. Soon after, Draža went to parliament on the 24th to inform the emperor and the rest of the government of his passing. Draža was then promoted to Secretary of State of the Serbian empire.

## Third world war

On the 19th of May, 1973, the Third World War started and Draža, along with Petar I and Rodavan Jovanovic was deployed at the front in Yermania, where he would try and defend against the German invaders. Early efforts were useless, however, as the Serbian army was so unorganized that the Germans were able to breeze through Yermania, capturing the important city of Ljubljana on the 26th of October, 1973.

By now, Draža's Chetnik corps had increased to a number of 118 000 men, making it the size of a field army. Draža split his army into 3 corps, 2 of them having an equal amount of 40 000 men and the 3rd having 38 000. The army was considered as a paramilitary force by many, but a force which had very strong ties with the Borislav cabinet.

Draža's forces were pushed back during the Krajina offensive, where the Germans eventually captured Zagreb on the 5th of September, 1974. But little did they know, Rodavan had been burning and taking all supplies with him as he retreated all the way to Zenica, where a third of field marshal Alfred Jodl's force was wiped out in a quick battle. This made the Germans, who were already low on resources such as oil, to retreat back to Yermania.

Draža's Chetniks eventually beat Gerd Von Rundstedt's force in the famous battle of Ljubljana in January of 1976, the battle which made Draža one of the most famous Serbian generals to date. Draža would eventually become lost while on his way to Vienna in July of 1976, but was found on the 5th of May by Bogdan Petrovic and his force, who then escorted Draža to Vienna, where the Serbs landed a decisive blow on the German army, causing them to retreat further and further into Germany.

Draža and Petrovic eventually discovered the Buchenwald concentration camp in January of 1977, where the former Kaiser, Josef III, was then freed and made the Kaiser once more as Draža, Petrovic and Borislav all came to Berlin on the 13th of April, 1977, officially ending the war in Germany. The war later ended on the 5th of May, 1977, when the USSR surrendered to the allies. Draža then shortly returned home on the 8th of May, 1977, where he would then carry on in recruiting more and more people into the Chetnik force, which stood at 180 000 strong by the 1st of June, 1977.

Draža fought in the Croatian revolution of 1980, defeating the final force of Pavelic's Ustasha in Zagreb, which ended the revolution.

## Reign of Borislav III

After Borislav II died on the 17th of May, 1984, the emperor's brother, Stefan Dragoljub Borislav, became the new emperor of Serbia, as Borislav II didn't have any kids due to being diagnosed with gonorrhea. Borislav III's rule started off well, but worsened after a new nationalist cabinet came to power under Prime Minister Radovan Ratkovic.

On the 19th of August, 1988, the parliament became heated as Borislav III revealed his new policy, where he excluded the majority of the population of being able to be elected into parliament, except for Serbs and Bulgarians. Draža started a heated argument with the nationalists in the parliament, which caused Ratkovic to call for his demotion, as Draža yelled at him calling him a puppet of the emperor. Eventually, the emperor snapped and demoted Draža from his position.

Draža later met up with Archchancellor Milutin Živković and minister of war Petar II, to discuss the idea of creating a coalition government in opposition of the Nationalist led parliament. The government would be led by Milutin and Draža and was made up of the Conservatist, Monarchist, Communist and Democratic parties.

## Death and legacy

Draža passed away on the night of the 7th of June, 1990, after having a stroke and collapsing onto the ground. His funeral would be held 2 days later by his own Chetnik force as a last tribute to the great war hero.

Draža is remembered as a strong general and politician, a leader figure for the Serbs during their triumphant offensive against the 5th Reich in the third world war. Draža's political policies still live on today in the form of his grandson, Draža IV.

## Medals and Awards

* Medal for bravery of Miloš Obilić (Awarded: 5th of October, 1953)
* Order of the Cross of Takovo (Awarded: 24th of July, 1960)
* Order of St. Sava (Awarded: 15th of April, 1966)
* Order of the White Eagle (Awarded: 30th of August, 1970)
* Order of Karađorđe's Star (Awarded: 9th of March, 1976)
* Sretenje order, 1st class (Awarded: 13th of May, 1977)
* Order of the Empire of Serbia, 1st class (Awarded: 6th of June, 1977)
* Order of the Serbian Flag, 2nd class (Awarded: 5th of December, 1980)