Ivan Gošnjak
| Ivan Gošnjak Иван Гошњак |
|
|---|---|
Ivan Gošnjak, 1966.
|
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| 2nd Federal Secretary of People's Defense of Yugoslavia | |
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In office 14 January 1953 – 18 May 1967 |
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| Preceded by | Josip Broz Tito |
| Succeeded by | Nikola Ljubičić |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
10 June 1909 Ogulin, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 8 February 1980 (aged 70) Belgrade, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia |
| Nationality | Croat |
| Political party | SKJ |
| Spouse(s) | Tea Gošnjak |
| Awards |
Order of Freedom Order of National Hero of Yugoslavia |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia |
| Service/branch |
International Brigades Yugoslav People's Army |
| Years of service | 1936–1939 1942–1974 |
| Rank | General of the Army |
| Commands | Yugoslav People's Army |
| Battles/wars |
Spanish civil war World War II |
Ivan Gošnjak (Serbian Cyrillic: Иван Гошњак; 10 June 1909 – 8 February 1980) was a Croatian communist who held numerous important offices in Yugoslavia during and after World War II, serving as the Minister of Defence from 1953 to 1967.
Ivan Gošnjak was a carpenter by profession and joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in 1933. In 1935 Gošnjak was sent to Moscow and was enrolled for one year at the Lenin School where he also attended lectures by "comrade Walter", better known by his World War II-era codename Tito. In 1936 Gošnjak was sent to a military barracks in Ryazan where he was given the designation "Number 36", instead of his real name and was given military instruction before being sent as a volunteer to the Spanish Civil War in January 1937. A great admirer of Joseph Stalin, Gošnjak was appointed captain in the International Brigades. After the defeat of the republican forces in Spain, Gošnjak was detained in France in 1939. After the capitulation of France in 1940 Gošnjak escaped from the camp, going in 1941 to Germany as a worker. In Germany he used a fake passport, and in July 1942 returned to Croatia and immediately joined Tito's partisans.
As a Spanish civil war veteran, he was given command of all Croatian partisan units in 1943. Gošnjak was appointed as deputy commander-in-chief at the end of the war, a post which he held until 1950.
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