Živojin Mišić

Živojin Mišić was a field marshal who participated in all of Serbia's wars from 1876 to 1918. He directly commanded the First Serbian army in the Battle of Kolubara and in breach of the Thessaloniki Front was the Chief of the Supreme Command. He is the most decorated Serbian military officer in history.

Early years

Mišić was born in Struganik near Mionica. His parents Radovan and Anđelija had thirteen children. Živojin was the youngest child, and when he was born, only eight of his brothers and sisters were still alive.
When he turned six, he became a shepherd. He finished primary school in Kragujevac. In 1868, he started his gymnasium education in Kragujevac, where he finished his primary schooling and part of his secondary, before completing the rest in Belgrade. He was admitted to the Military Academy in 1874.
In late 1884, he married a German woman, Louise Krikner, at Ascension Church in Belgrade, and they had six children, three sons and three daughters.
He participated with distinction in the Serbo-Turkish wars of 1876 and 1878 with the rank of lieutenant JG of the infantry and in the Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885 as a full lieutenant - a company commander in the 5th infantry regiment of Drinska division.
He subsequently studied in Austria. In 1891, he joined the Serbian General Staff and from 1898 to 1904, he taught at the Military Academy in Belgrade.
Sometime after the assassination of King Aleksandar Obrenović, he was forced to retire, supposedly through the influence of the "Black Hand" as he was considered too close to the Obrenović dynasty, but was reactivated on the personal insistence of the Chief of Staff of the High command of the Serbian Army, General Radomir Putnik who made him his aide.

Military career

In the Balkan Wars, Mišić was the assistant chief of staff of the Supreme Command of vojvode Radomir Putnik, his right-hand man. After the Battle of Kumanovo of the First Balkan War, he was promoted to General. During the critical moments of the Bulgarian surprise offensive at the Battle of Bregalnica of the Second Balkan War, Mišić persuaded Putnik to order the army to repel the attack on the first line, thus contributing greatly to the Serbian victory in the battle.
During the July Crisis of 1914 Mišić effectively deputised for the ailing Putnik. Defending against the Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia, Mišić was placed in command of the Serbian First Army; in December 1914, he won a decisive victory at the Battle of Kolubara that resulted in the humiliating expulsion of Austro-Hungarian forces from Serbia. He was subsequently promoted to the rank of Field Marshal in recognition of his efforts.
Although Mišić participated in the great retreat of the Serbian Army through the winter mountains of Albania during the winter of 1915–16, harried by the second combined German and Austro-Hungarian invasion force, he remained in favour of halting and making a final stand against Serbia's combined enemies. He was over-ridden however by both King Peter and the other Army commanders at a meeting in Peć, and was followed by the withdrawal of the Serbian army through Montenegro and Albania.
Having suffered badly from exposure during the epic retreat, Mišić recovered. At the Thessaloniki front in 1916, Mišić commanded the First Army, which stopped and forced the withdrawal of the Bulgarian army at the Battle of Gornicevo. Towards the end of the war in June 1918 Mišić was appointed Chief of the Supreme Command and commanded the Serbian army during the breakthrough of the Salonika front in September 1918. He was a lecturer at the Military Academy in Belgrade, and the end of his military career was greeted in 1918 with appointment as the Chief of General Staff of Army of The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

Death and legacy

Mišić died in a Belgrade hospital of lung cancer in 1921.
During his hospitalization in France prior to his death Mišić began writing his memoirs, titled Moje uspomene. He managed to cover his entire life up to the start of the Second Balkan War but died before he could cover it and the First World War.
He is included in The 100 most prominent Serbs.