Stevan Moljević
| Stevan Moljević | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 6, 1888 |
| Died | November 15, 1959 (aged 71) Sremska Mitrovica prison, Sremska Mitrovica, Yugoslavia |
| Nationality | Serbian |
| Citizenship | Austrian, Yugoslavian |
| Occupation | politician, lawyer and publicist |
| Known for | being a member of the Central National Committee of Yugoslavia in World War II |
Stevan Moljević (6 January 1888 – 15 November 1959) was a Serbian and Yugoslav politician, lawyer and publicist, president of the Yugoslav-French Club, president of the Yugoslav-British Club, president of Rotary International Club of Yugoslavia and member of the Central National Committee of Yugoslavia in World War II.
Stevan Moljević was born to Jovan and Mitra Moljević (née Babić) on 6 January 1888 in Rudo, Austria-Hungary. He finished primary school in the town and later joined Young Bosnia, a revolutionary movement which aimed to unite all South Slavs into one common state. He was arrested by Austro-Hungarian authorities in 1910 after a member of Young Bosnia attempted to assassinate Marijan Varešanin, the region's governor. In 1915, Moljević was arrested and charged with treason by Austro-Hungarian authorities. He was found guilty of treason and sentenced to ten years of hard labour. He was released from prison after Austria-Hungary's collapse in 1918, and was later awarded the French Legion of Honour and Serbian Order of St. Sava.
Moljević obtained a law degree at the University of Zagreb before moving to Banja Luka, where he worked as an attorney prior to the outbreak of World War II. He was also the head of the local branch of the Serbian Cultural Club. Moljević was married and had two children.
Moljević left Banja Luka on 10 April 1941, the day that the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) was proclaimed, and fled to Montenegro. On 30 June, he wrote a memorandum in Montenegro calling for the creation of Homogeneous Serbia. This enlarged Serbian state was to include Central Serbia, Vojvodina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Dalmatia, Slavonia and northern Albania, as well as parts of Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary. Moljević proposed dividing a rump Croatia into two parts and enlarging Slovenia with territories annexed from Italy and Austria. He believed that Serbs should not repeat the mistakes of World War I by failing to define the borders of Serbia, and proposed that at the end of World War II they should take control of all territories to which they laid claim, and from that position negotiate the form of a federally organized Yugoslavia. This plan required the relocation of non-Serbs from Serb-controlled territories and other shifts of populations. Moljević proposed that Greater Serbia consist of 65–70% of the total Yugoslav territory and population. He based his plan on the expulsion of the non-Serb population in different areas and on population exchanges, but did not provide any figures. Moljević's proposals were very similar to those later formulated by the Belgrade Chetnik Committee and presented to the government-in-exile in September 1941, in which the Chetniks set forth specific figures in regard to population shifts.
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