Vlado Dapcevic
Encyclopedia
Vladimir "Vlado" Dapčević (1917–12 July 2001) was a Montenegrin and Yugoslav communist and founder of Party of Labour
.
, he attended Secondary school in Cetinje
, where he was expelled because of organizing a student strike.
At 16, in 1933, he became a member of the Alliance of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia (SKOJ
). That very same year he was arrested for the first time because of spreading of communist leaflets. He was accepted into Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ) in 1934.
In Cetinje
, 1935, during Party demonstrations and clash with the police he was arrested and brutally beaten. He spent a month in jail, after which he continued his education in Podgorica
, Nikšić
, and Prizren
. He was eventually expelled from all these schools.
Because of a break within KPJ in 1936 and the following mass arrests of Party members, the Party in Montenegro organized (dangerous) manifestations causing clashes with the police. Vlado was arrested and spent four months in the Sarajevo
jail.
In 1937, he was promoted to the post of Organizing Party Secretary in Cetinje. At the same time he signed up as a volunteer in the Spanish Civil War
, on the Republican side. But police discovered the plot and arrested a large group of volunteers, including Vlado.
After his release in 1939, he was accepted for studies at the School of Chemical Engineering in Belgrade
. At Belgrade University he took a part in struggles for University autonomy from the Royal Government. In a clash with pro-royalist youths he gained a serious head injury.
During 1940, he went on a Party assignment to Boka Kotorska in Montenegro, where he worked on organizing Party cells. But the local KPJ committee dissolved due to internal misunderstandings and Vlado headed back to Belgrade.
As a fighter of the Lovćen Partisan Battalion he took part in the assault on Pljevlja
, in which he was wounded, and played a part in the founding of the First Proletarian Brigade in Rudo, and crossed Mount Igman at Sarajevo.
At Foča, beginning of 1942, he was re-admitted into the Party, and placed as political commissar for the Drina Volunteer (Partisan) Detachment. By mid-1942, he was promoted to commander of the First Detachment of the Lovcen Battalion. However, due to criticism he was expelled from the Party once again.
As a commander of a bombing squad he took part in many actions until he was wounded at the end of 1942. He also took part in battles on Neretva
and Sutjeska
. After these he was accepted yet again into the Party and assigned as the Party Commissar
for the Seventh Krajina Brigade.
During first half of 1944, he was promoted to the Headquarters Officer School, and then to commissar of the Tenth Division of NOVJ
. He was caught by the wars ended as a lieutenant colonel in the Yugoslav Peoples Army
.
At war's end he was a professor at the Higher Party School, and then, in 1947, was promoted to JNA Chief of Administration for Agitation and Propaganda (Agitprop).
Information Bureau
, he tried to flee the country. On the Romania
n border, the chief of Army Headquarters, General Arso Jovanović
, Vlado's companion in the attempt to flee, lost his life in armed clashes with the border guard. Vlado himself escaped unscathed and for a time hid in Belgrade. He was arrested during his attempt to escape to Communist Hungary
, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
From June 1950 until December 6, 1956, he spent time in concentration camps at Stara Gradiska, Bileca, and Goli Otok
, each time being exposed to brutal torture.
After his release and due to the possibility for re-arrest, with a group of comrades, he escaped to Albania in 1958. After couple of months the Albanian government deported them to the USSR
.
Upon arrival in USSR he was offered to continue education or to accept a corresponding job; he refused and continued with political work. During 1961, he organized strong propaganda at the Conference of Communist Parties in Moscow
. Partly as a result the Conference adopted the resolution of condemnation of the Yugoslav Communist Alliance (SKJ) as revisionist and an Anti-Marxist Party.
During the Cuban missile crisis
, Vlado with other émigrés organized volunteer groups to Cuba. However, they were prevented from departing by the Soviet authorities.
Living in Odessa
during 1964 and 1965, Vlado worked on a doctoral dissertation about the Yugoslav workers movement. In early 1965, he tried to volunteer to Vietnam
, but was once again prevented.
He left the USSR in 1966, and emigrated (illegally) to Western Europe
. For survival in Belgium
, France
, Switzerland
and the Netherlands
, he was a physical laborer. At the same time he tried to develop political dissent among the Yugoslav (economic) emigration, but with no results. West European police arrested him several times and expelled him from each country. At last in 1969, he received permanent residence in Belgium.
From Belgium, he was in contact with West European Marxist-Leninist groups and took part in their activities. In 1973, he survived an assassination attempt by the UDBA
.
The Romanian and Yugoslav secret services, in Bucharest
, 1975, organized the successful kidnapping and extradition of Vlado to Yugoslavia. He was sentenced to death in absentia, but the punishment was commuted to 20 years hard labor (not in small part due to his being the brother of the renowned JNA General and W.W. II hero Peko Dapčević
). He was released from the Požarevac
jail in 1988, and promptly expelled from Yugoslavia.
Following improving political conditions in the country and the abolition for the prohibition to return, Vlado came back in September 1990. In many interviews and public appearances he argued about the imminent danger of civil war and dissolution of Yugoslavia.
After a year he was at the front of the 'new' KPJ, but because of his struggle against nationalism, this party split off. On March 27, 1992, he founded the Party of Labour
.
During civil war in the former Yugoslavia, he actively worked on the strengthening of democracy and brotherhood and unity, against the Milošević
regime in Belgrade.
From 1992, and until 1996, he attended Marxist-Leninist party conferences and meetings. During the First Party of Work Congress, in 1997, Vlado set the 'Party Program' and political aims, putting the foundation for real revolutionary party in Yugoslavia.
Until his death, July 12, 2001, Vlado continued with political activities. Vlado was for an independent Montenegro
http://www.montenegro-canada.com/articles/article/2509423/73885.htm.
Party of Labour (Serbia)
The Party of Labour revolutionary communist, Marxist-Leninist party in Serbia.The party was founded in March 1992 by Vlado Dapčević, an anti-revisionist Marxist-Leninist who was a long-time political prisoner in SFR Yugoslavia...
.
Early life
Dapčević was born 1917 in the village Ljubotinj in MontenegroMontenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
, he attended Secondary school in Cetinje
Cetinje
Cetinje , Цетиње / Cetinje , Italian: Cettigne, Greek: Κετίγνη, Ketígni) is a town and Old Royal Capital of Montenegro. It is also a historical and the secondary capital of Montenegro , with the official residence of the President of Montenegro...
, where he was expelled because of organizing a student strike.
At 16, in 1933, he became a member of the Alliance of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia (SKOJ
Skoj
Skoj is a cider-based soft drink, manufactured by the Swedish Skoj Beverage Group. Skoj is the Swedish word for fun.Skoj is 15 percent fruit juice sweetened with sugar...
). That very same year he was arrested for the first time because of spreading of communist leaflets. He was accepted into Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ) in 1934.
In Cetinje
Cetinje
Cetinje , Цетиње / Cetinje , Italian: Cettigne, Greek: Κετίγνη, Ketígni) is a town and Old Royal Capital of Montenegro. It is also a historical and the secondary capital of Montenegro , with the official residence of the President of Montenegro...
, 1935, during Party demonstrations and clash with the police he was arrested and brutally beaten. He spent a month in jail, after which he continued his education in Podgorica
Podgorica
Podgorica , is the capital and largest city of Montenegro.Podgorica's favourable position at the confluence of the Ribnica and Morača rivers and the meeting point of the fertile Zeta Plain and Bjelopavlići Valley has encouraged settlement...
, Nikšić
Nikšić
Nikšić is a city in Montenegro . In 2003 the city had a total population about 75,000.Nikšić is located in Nikšić plain, at the foot of Mount Trebjesa. It is the center of the municipality , which is the largest in Montenegro by area...
, and Prizren
Prizren
Prizren is a historical city located in southern Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and district.The city has a population of around 131,247 , mostly Albanians...
. He was eventually expelled from all these schools.
Because of a break within KPJ in 1936 and the following mass arrests of Party members, the Party in Montenegro organized (dangerous) manifestations causing clashes with the police. Vlado was arrested and spent four months in the Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
jail.
In 1937, he was promoted to the post of Organizing Party Secretary in Cetinje. At the same time he signed up as a volunteer in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, on the Republican side. But police discovered the plot and arrested a large group of volunteers, including Vlado.
After his release in 1939, he was accepted for studies at the School of Chemical Engineering in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
. At Belgrade University he took a part in struggles for University autonomy from the Royal Government. In a clash with pro-royalist youths he gained a serious head injury.
During 1940, he went on a Party assignment to Boka Kotorska in Montenegro, where he worked on organizing Party cells. But the local KPJ committee dissolved due to internal misunderstandings and Vlado headed back to Belgrade.
World War II
The German bombing of Belgrade on April 6, 1941, caught Vlado as well. He moved from Belgrade back to Montenegro where he was active in the organization of resistance. However, shortly after a rebellion initiating attack on Čevo, July 13, 1941, he was expelled from the Party.As a fighter of the Lovćen Partisan Battalion he took part in the assault on Pljevlja
Pljevlja
Pljevlja is a town and municipality located in the northern part of Montenegro. The city lies at an altitude of...
, in which he was wounded, and played a part in the founding of the First Proletarian Brigade in Rudo, and crossed Mount Igman at Sarajevo.
At Foča, beginning of 1942, he was re-admitted into the Party, and placed as political commissar for the Drina Volunteer (Partisan) Detachment. By mid-1942, he was promoted to commander of the First Detachment of the Lovcen Battalion. However, due to criticism he was expelled from the Party once again.
As a commander of a bombing squad he took part in many actions until he was wounded at the end of 1942. He also took part in battles on Neretva
Neretva
Neretva is the largest river of the eastern part of the Adriatic basin. It has been harnessed and controlled to a large extent by four HE power-plants with large dams and their storage lakes, but it is still recognized for its natural beauty, diversity of its landscape and visual...
and Sutjeska
Sutjeska
Sutjeska can refer to:* Sutjeska , a river in Bosnia and Herzegovina* Sutjeska National Park, a national park in Bosnia and Herzegovina* Sutjeska , a village in Serbia* Battle of Sutjeska, a second world war battle in Yugoslavia...
. After these he was accepted yet again into the Party and assigned as the Party Commissar
Commissar
Commissar is the English transliteration of an official title used in Russia from the time of Peter the Great.The title was used during the Provisional Government for regional heads of administration, but it is mostly associated with a number of Cheka and military functions in Bolshevik and Soviet...
for the Seventh Krajina Brigade.
During first half of 1944, he was promoted to the Headquarters Officer School, and then to commissar of the Tenth Division of NOVJ
Partisans (Yugoslavia)
The Yugoslav Partisans, or simply the Partisans were a Communist-led World War II anti-fascist resistance movement in Yugoslavia...
. He was caught by the wars ended as a lieutenant colonel in the Yugoslav Peoples Army
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army , also referred to as the Yugoslav National Army , was the military of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.-Origins:The origins of the JNA can...
.
At war's end he was a professor at the Higher Party School, and then, in 1947, was promoted to JNA Chief of Administration for Agitation and Propaganda (Agitprop).
After the war
In 1948, he attended the Fifth Party Congress. However, due to accepting the Resolutions of theInformation Bureau
Informbiro
Informbiro was a period in the history of Yugoslavia characterized by conflict and schism with the Soviet Union...
, he tried to flee the country. On the Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n border, the chief of Army Headquarters, General Arso Jovanović
Arso Jovanovic
Arso R. Jovanović was a Yugoslav partisan and the foremost military commander to participate in the People's Liberation Struggle in Yugoslavia .Educated through the Yugoslav Royal Army academies, General Jovanović was one...
, Vlado's companion in the attempt to flee, lost his life in armed clashes with the border guard. Vlado himself escaped unscathed and for a time hid in Belgrade. He was arrested during his attempt to escape to Communist Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
From June 1950 until December 6, 1956, he spent time in concentration camps at Stara Gradiska, Bileca, and Goli Otok
Goli otok
Goli otok is an island off the northern Adriatic coast, located between Rab's northeastern shore and the mainland, in what is today Croatia's Primorje-Gorski Kotar county. The island is barren and uninhabited...
, each time being exposed to brutal torture.
After his release and due to the possibility for re-arrest, with a group of comrades, he escaped to Albania in 1958. After couple of months the Albanian government deported them to the USSR
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
Upon arrival in USSR he was offered to continue education or to accept a corresponding job; he refused and continued with political work. During 1961, he organized strong propaganda at the Conference of Communist Parties in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. Partly as a result the Conference adopted the resolution of condemnation of the Yugoslav Communist Alliance (SKJ) as revisionist and an Anti-Marxist Party.
During the Cuban missile crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
, Vlado with other émigrés organized volunteer groups to Cuba. However, they were prevented from departing by the Soviet authorities.
Living in Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
during 1964 and 1965, Vlado worked on a doctoral dissertation about the Yugoslav workers movement. In early 1965, he tried to volunteer to Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, but was once again prevented.
He left the USSR in 1966, and emigrated (illegally) to Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
. For survival in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, he was a physical laborer. At the same time he tried to develop political dissent among the Yugoslav (economic) emigration, but with no results. West European police arrested him several times and expelled him from each country. At last in 1969, he received permanent residence in Belgium.
From Belgium, he was in contact with West European Marxist-Leninist groups and took part in their activities. In 1973, he survived an assassination attempt by the UDBA
UDBA
The Department of State Security was the secret police organization of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.Although it operated with more restraint than other secret...
.
The Romanian and Yugoslav secret services, in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, 1975, organized the successful kidnapping and extradition of Vlado to Yugoslavia. He was sentenced to death in absentia, but the punishment was commuted to 20 years hard labor (not in small part due to his being the brother of the renowned JNA General and W.W. II hero Peko Dapčević
Peko Dapcevic
Colonel General Peko Dapčević was a famous Yugoslav communist who fought in the Spanish Civil War, joined the Partisan uprising in Montenegro, and became commander of the Yugoslav 1st and 4th Armies....
). He was released from the Požarevac
Požarevac
Požarevac is a city and municipality in eastern Serbia. It is the administrative center of the Braničevo District of Serbia...
jail in 1988, and promptly expelled from Yugoslavia.
Following improving political conditions in the country and the abolition for the prohibition to return, Vlado came back in September 1990. In many interviews and public appearances he argued about the imminent danger of civil war and dissolution of Yugoslavia.
After a year he was at the front of the 'new' KPJ, but because of his struggle against nationalism, this party split off. On March 27, 1992, he founded the Party of Labour
Party of Labour (Serbia)
The Party of Labour revolutionary communist, Marxist-Leninist party in Serbia.The party was founded in March 1992 by Vlado Dapčević, an anti-revisionist Marxist-Leninist who was a long-time political prisoner in SFR Yugoslavia...
.
During civil war in the former Yugoslavia, he actively worked on the strengthening of democracy and brotherhood and unity, against the Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
regime in Belgrade.
From 1992, and until 1996, he attended Marxist-Leninist party conferences and meetings. During the First Party of Work Congress, in 1997, Vlado set the 'Party Program' and political aims, putting the foundation for real revolutionary party in Yugoslavia.
Until his death, July 12, 2001, Vlado continued with political activities. Vlado was for an independent Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
http://www.montenegro-canada.com/articles/article/2509423/73885.htm.
See also
- Yugoslavia
- Josip Broz TitoJosip Broz TitoMarshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
- InformbiroInformbiroInformbiro was a period in the history of Yugoslavia characterized by conflict and schism with the Soviet Union...
- Peko DapčevićPeko DapcevicColonel General Peko Dapčević was a famous Yugoslav communist who fought in the Spanish Civil War, joined the Partisan uprising in Montenegro, and became commander of the Yugoslav 1st and 4th Armies....
- Arso JovanovićArso JovanovicArso R. Jovanović was a Yugoslav partisan and the foremost military commander to participate in the People's Liberation Struggle in Yugoslavia .Educated through the Yugoslav Royal Army academies, General Jovanović was one...
- Milovan Đilas
- UDBAUDBAThe Department of State Security was the secret police organization of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.Although it operated with more restraint than other secret...
- JNAYugoslav People's ArmyThe Yugoslav People's Army , also referred to as the Yugoslav National Army , was the military of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.-Origins:The origins of the JNA can...
- Yugoslav PartisansPartisans (Yugoslavia)The Yugoslav Partisans, or simply the Partisans were a Communist-led World War II anti-fascist resistance movement in Yugoslavia...
External links
- Memoirs of Vlado Dapčević (in Serbo-Croatian)
- Partija Rada (The Party of Labour)