Blagoje Adžić ( sr-Cyrl, Благоје Аџић, (); 2 September 1932 – 1 March 2012) was a Serbian

colonel general Colonel general is a three- or four-star military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and was a ra ...

who served as an acting

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

of the

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

government.

Biography

Adžić was born into a

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

family in the village of Pridvorica (near

Gacko Gacko ( sr-cyrl, Гацко) is a town and municipality located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the region of East Herzegovina. As of 2013, the town has a population of 5,784 inhabitants, while the m ...

Zeta Banovina The Zeta Banovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Zetska banovina, Зетска бановина), was a province ( banovina) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1929 and 1941. This province consisted of all of present-day Montenegro as well as ...

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 191 ...

in what is now

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

. As a child, he witnessed the slaughter of his family by

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

members of the Croatian fascist

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian Fascism, fascist and ultranationalism, ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaš ...

movement rampaging through his village while he was hiding in a tree. Forty-two members of the Adžić family, including Blagoje's parents, sister and two brothers, were killed by his neighbors. After his third year in industrial school, he graduated from officer training school in 1953. After he had graduated, he also received a diploma in foreign languages from the JNA military school. He traveled to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and graduated from the Frunze Military Academy in 1969, and then graduated from JNA War College in 1973. He became Deputy Commander of the 7th Army in 1986 and held that position until 1987, when he was promoted to

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on th ...

. Adžić then graduated from the People's Defence School in 1987. He held a number of posts in the JNA including commander of the 1st and 3rd battalions of the 4th Proletariat Infantry Regiment, commander of the 25th and 26th Infantry Division and commander of 52nd Corps. He served ten other smaller posts all throughout his military career. He held the position of Deputy

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

in the Yugoslav Army Headquarters until 29 September 1989 when he was promoted to

Colonel General Colonel general is a three- or four-star military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and was a ra ...

and to the post of

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ( United States) * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Af ...

. He held office until 8 May 1992, when he resigned, and was succeeded by

Života Panić Života Panić ( sr-cyr, Живота Панић; 3 November 1933 – 19 November 2003) was a Yugoslav military officer who served as the last acting Minister of Defense of Yugoslavia and the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of ...

. After

Veljko Kadijević Veljko Kadijević ( sr-Cyrl, Вељко Кадијевић; 21 November 1925 – 2 November 2014) was a Serbian general of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). He was the Minister of Defence in the Yugoslav government from 1988 until his resignatio ...

resigned from his post, Adžić also served as the acting Federal Secretary of People's Defence from 8 January 1992 until 27 February 1992. According to

Marko Hoare Marko Attila Hoare (born 1972) is a British historian of the former Yugoslavia who also writes about current affairs, especially Southeast Europe, including Turkey and the Caucasus. Biography Hoare is the son of the British translator Quint ...

, a former employee at the ICTY, an investigative team worked on indictments of persons whom they labelled a '

joint criminal enterprise Joint criminal enterprise (JCE) is a legal doctrine used during war crimes tribunals to allow the prosecution of members of a group for the actions of the group. This doctrine considers each member of an organized group individually responsib ...

', including Adžić,

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević (, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the president of Serbia within Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1997 (originally the Socialist Republic of Serbia, a constituent republic of ...

Borisav Jović Borisav Jović ( sr-Cyrl, Борисав Јовић, ; 19 October 1928 – 13 September 2021) was a Serbian economist, diplomat and politician who served as the President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia from 1990 to 1991. He was Yugoslavia's am ...

, Branko Kostić,

Momir Bulatović Momir Bulatović ( sr-cyr, Момир Булатовић; 21 September 1956 – 30 June 2019) was a Yugoslav and Montenegrin politician. He was the first President of the Republic of Montenegro from 1990 to 1998, after which he served as the Prim ...

and others. Hoare claims that, due to

Carla del Ponte Carla Del Ponte (born February 9, 1947) is a former Chief Prosecutor of two United Nations international criminal law tribunals. A former Swiss attorney general, she was appointed prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former ...

's intervention, these drafts were rejected, and the indictment limited to Milošević alone, as a result of which most of these individuals were never indicted. Adžić died on 1 March 2012, aged 79, in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...

. He was buried on 3 March 2012 at the Central Cemetery in Voždovac, Belgrade with full military honours.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adzic, Blagoje 1932 births 2012 deaths People from Gacko Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Military personnel of the Croatian War of Independence Serbian generals Chiefs of Staff of the Yugoslav People's Army Defense ministers of Yugoslavia Frunze Military Academy alumni Generals of the Yugoslav People's Army