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Title: Dragiša Nikola Ristić papers
Date (inclusive): 1941-1980
Collection Number: 92077
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: In Serbo-Croatian and English
Physical Description:
7 manuscript boxes, 1 painting
(5.2 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence and writings, relating primarily to Yugoslav military operations and diplomacy during World War II, and to
postwar Yugoslav émigré affairs. Includes postwar correspondence between D. T. Simović and Winston Churchill, and a book-length
study by D. N. Ristić relating to Nadezhda Krupskaya and V. I. Lenin.
Creator:
Churchill, Winston, 1874-1965
Creator:
Simović, Dušan, 1882-1962
Creator:
Ristić, Dragiša Nikola, 1909-
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in increments between 1972 and 2004.
[Identification of item], Dragiša N. Ristić Papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
| 1909 January 9 | Born, Veliko Bonjice, Serbia |
| 1928 | Graduated, Belgrade Military Academy, rank of second lieutenant, assigned to Yugoslavian air force |
| 1932 | Promoted to first lieutenant, Yugoslavian air force |
| 1935 | Instructor, non-commissioned officers school |
| 1936 | Promoted to second captain, squadron commander |
| 1936-1938, 1940-1941 | Aide-de-camp to General Dušan Simović, commander of Yugoslavian air force |
| 1939 | Promoted to first captain |
| 1941 January 23 | Accompanied General Dušan Simović to a meeting in Belgrade with Colonel William J. Donovan, Franklin D. Roosevelt's representative in Europe |
| 1941 March 23 | Yugoslav Prime Minister Cvetković signed the Tripartite Pact with Nazi Germany |
| 1941 March 27 | Took part in the coup led by General Dušan Simović to overthrow the government of Prince Paul and Cvetković. The 17-year-old Peter II was appointed king, and Simović became the new prime minister |
| 1941 April 6 | Germans bombarded Belgrade, began invasion of Yugoslavia |
| 1941 April 14 | Received assignment to escort King Peter II out of Yugoslavia to safety, and flew him to Athens. Two days later, Simović, Ristić, and the King flew to Alexandria |
| 1941 April-June | In Jerusalem, where Yugoslavian government-in-exile was based until it moved to London |
| 1942 March | Transferred to the Yugoslav military mission in Canada and the United States, and was based variously at Ottawa, Washington, Nashville, and Windsor, Ontario. While in Windsor, enrolled at Wayne State University in Detroit |
| 1943-1945 | Transferred to Yugoslavian forces based in Cairo, and while there, enrolled in the American University |
| 1945 May 26 | Honorable discharge from the Yugoslavian armed forces, rank of major |
| 1946-1948 | Returned to the United States, employed by U.S. Steel Products Company, Los Angeles, and enrolled at University of California, Los Angeles |
| 1950 | Graduated, bachelor's degree in political science, University of California, Los Angeles |
| 1951 | Employed as instructor of Serbo-Croatian language at the U.S. Army Language School, Presidio of Monterey, California |
| 1953 | Graduated, master's degree in political science, University of California, Los Angeles |
| 1955 | Studied at the Faculté de Droit, University of Paris, while researching book on the Yugoslavian revolution of 1941 |
| 1966 | Published Yugoslavia's Revolution of 1941 (Pennsylvania State University Press) |
| 1972-1973 | Studied in doctoral program for political science, Western Colorado University |
| 2004 | Died, Monterey, California |
Scope and Content of Collection
The papers of Dragiša N. Ristić, acquired in increments between 1972 and 2004, document his military career in the Yugoslavian
air force, with a special emphasis on his role as a protégé of General Dušan Simović. Simović was one of the leaders of the
coup of March 27, 1941, which overthrew the pro-German government in Belgrade. Ristić was an aide-de-camp to General Simović,
and as such, was both a participant in and eyewitness to the events surrounding the coup.
In the years following the war, Ristić sought to document the events of this period, with an eye to defending the reputation
of his mentor. Having spent the war years in London, Simović returned to Yugoslavia in 1945, and lived in Belgrade until his
death in 1962. During the 1950s, Simović maintained a steady correspondence with Ristić, who by then had settled in Monterey,
California, and designated him to write his biography. To facilitate this, Simović transferred his wartime diary and manuscript
memoir to Ristić, both of which can be found in a separate collection under Simović's name at the Hoover Institution Library
& Archives. During that period, Ristić began corresponding with and interviewing many of the surviving key figures from the
Yugoslavian government before the coup, including Vladko Maćek, Slobodan Jovanović, Prince Paul, and others.
The Biographical File contains various personal documents, but also includes fairly extensive wartime diaries of Ristić from
his period in North America and Egypt. These diaries were written initially in Serbian, but Ristić switched to using English
in 1942, when he began studying English at Wayne State University in Detroit. Fragments of a never-completed memoir can also
be found in this series.
The Correspondence contains the bulk of the surviving research material for his book on the 1941 coup. It consists of correspondence
and interviews primarily from the 1950s, including his extensive correspondence with Simović. The Writings contains various
fragmentary works and essays, but also a lengthy unpublished history of the Russian Revolution, a topic that greatly interested
Ristić over the years. Also included in this series are theses from his academic career at the University of California, Los
Angeles and Western Colorado University, works that also are connected to the history of the 1941 coup. The Subject File and
Printed Material contain additional material that he used in his research. The collection also contains an oil Painting depicting
General Dušan Simović, by Yugoslavian artist Veljko Stanojevic, which Ristić displayed in his home in Monterey.
Arranged in six series, Biographical File, Correspondence and Interview Notes, Writings, Subject File, Printed Material, and
Painting.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Soviet Union -- History -- Revolution, 1917-1921
World War, 1939-1945 -- Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia -- History -- Axis occupation, 1941-1945
World War, 1939-1945 -- Diplomatic history
Yugoslavs -- United States
Lenin, Vladimir Ilʹich, 1870-1924
Krupskaya, Nadezhda Konstantinovna, 1869-1939