Kosta Pećanac
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vojvoda Kosta Pećanac |
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| Native name | Константин Миловановиһ |
| Birth name | Konstantin Milovanović |
| Nickname(s) | Pećanac |
| Born | 1879 Dečani, Kosovo Vilayet, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | May–June 1944 (aged 65) Nikolinac, Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia |
| Place of burial | On the road between Soko Banja – Knjaževac. |
| Allegiance |
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| Years of service | 1903–12 1912–18 1941–44 |
| Rank | Commander |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | |
Konstantin "Kosta" Milovanović Pećanac (Serbian Cyrillic: Коста Миловановић Пећанац; 1879–1944) was a Serbian Chetnik commander (vojvoda) during the Balkan Wars, World War I and World War II. Pećanac fought on the Serbian side in both Balkan Wars and World War I, joining the forces of Kosta Vojinović during the Toplica uprising of 1917. Between the wars he was an important leader of Chetnik veteran associations, and was known for his strong hostility to the Yugoslav Communist Party, which made him popular in conservative circles. As president of the Chetnik Association, he transformed the association during the 1930s into an aggressively partisan Serb political organisation with over half a million members. During World War II, Pećanac collaborated with both the German military administration and their Serbian puppet government in the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia.
Just before the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, the Yugoslav government provided Pećanac with funds and arms to raise guerrilla units in southern Serbia, Macedonia and Kosovo. He formed a detachment of about 300 men, mostly in the Toplica river valley in southern Serbia, which avoided destruction during the invasion. In the first three months after the surrender, Pećanac gathered more troops from Serb refugees fleeing Macedonia and Kosovo. However, his Chetniks fought only Albanian groups in the region, and did not engage the Germans. Following the uprising in the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia in early July 1941, Pećanac quickly resolved to abandon resistance against the Axis, and by the end of August had concluded agreements with the German occupation forces and the puppet government of Milan Nedić to collaborate with them and fight the communist-led Partisans. In July 1942, rival Chetnik leader Draža Mihailović arranged for the Yugoslav government-in-exile to denounce Pećanac as a traitor, and his continuing collaboration with the Germans ruined what remained of the reputation he had developed in the Balkan Wars and World War I.
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