Žikica Jovanović Španac

He enjoyed enormous prestige in Yugoslav communist ranks, and in 1941 he even disobeyed direct orders of Josip Broz Tito to leave from Serbia to Bosnia with his units.

In April 1941 following the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece, Jovanović wanted to join the army, but was rejected under suspicion of anti-state activities having been a Revolutionary suspect in the so-called White Terror of King Alexander during the 1930s, and later, Prince Regent Pavle.

[citation needed] Three months later, after joining the Partisan movement led by Josip Broz Tito, he is reputed to have started the war against fascist occupiers.

In the days and weeks that followed, a massive provincial revolt grew which is referred to as "the Uprising" (Ustanak), coinciding with the Yugoslav Communist Party instruction from the Comintern following the Axis invasion of the USSR.

Žikica Jovanović "Španac" died in the village of Radanovci (Serbia) on 13 March 1942,[3] in a battle against the Chetniks, Yugoslav royalists, and a German police battalion after having covered the retreat of a group of Partisans whose positions had been betrayed by their fellow countrymen.

Before the 1990s, the Yugoslav regime often cited him as a role model, regularly celebrated his life by dedicating monuments and public venues to the warrior of the Spanish Revolution.