TheSupreme Headquarters was created in June 1941 by theCentral Committee of theYugoslav Communist Party after theGerman-ledAxisinvasion of Yugoslavia of 6 April 1941. It was the maincommand andstaff body of theYugoslav Partisans, withJosip Broz Tito at its head.
Initially titledPartisan Chief Headquarters when it was created on 27 June 1941, it was renamed at theStolice conference of 26–27 September 1941. Its full name became theSupreme Headquarters of the People's Liberation Partisan Detachments. From January 1942, the headquarters became theSupreme Headquarters of the People's Liberation Partisan and Volunteer Army of Yugoslavia to allow for the incorporation of "Volunteer Detachments" consisting of insurgents that were not willing to formally become Partisans,[1] most of whom wereSerb nationalistChetniks. By November 1942, this experiment had clearly failed, and it was again renamed theSupreme Headquarters of the People's Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia. Finally, on 1 March 1945, it became the General Staff of the Yugoslav Army (renamedYugoslav People's Army in 1951).
The composition of the Supreme Headquarters during the war was successively supplemented, as few members died. Members of Supreme Headquarters throughout the war were:Josip Broz Tito (supreme commander),Arso Jovanović (chief of Supreme Headquarters),Velimir Terzić (deputy chief of Supreme Headquarters),Sreten Žujović,Edvard Kardelj,Aleksandar Ranković,Ivo Lola Ribar (died in November 1943),Svetozar Vukmanović,Milovan Đilas,Ivan Milutinović (died in October 1944),Peko Dapčević,Savo Orović,Sava Kovačević (died in June 1943),Vladimir Popović,Radivoje Jovanović,Vlada Zečević,Petar Drapšin,Rade Hamović,Vojislav Đokić,Franc Leskošek,Uglješa Danilović,Mihailo Apostolski,Nikola Grulović,Pavle Ilić,Moša Pijade,Rade Končar (died in May 1942),Gojko Nikoliš,Izidor Papo,Ivan Rukavina,Pavle Savić,Vladimir Smirnov andIvan Maček.