Maks Baće Milić

Who was Maks Baće Milić?

Maksimilijan "Maks" Baće, also known as Milić, was a Croatian and Yugoslav revolutionary.

Born in Pakoštane and raised in Split, he studied philosophy in Zagreb, became a student organizer and a member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in 1934. While a student, for his anti-state activities, he was convicted and imprisoned for six months in Belgrade. After graduating in 1937 he left for Spain where he took part in the Spanish Civil War on the Republican side until its conclusion. He was wounded twice, and after the republican defeat interned in Southern France and Germany where he worked in a Nazi airplane factory. He escaped and returned to Zagreb in the summer of 1941.

Experience gained in Spain proved valuable after the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941. His native Croatia was carved up between Italy and the Independent State of Croatia, with Italy fielding a strong occupation force in Dalmatia and Istria. Italian forces were supported by the pro-royal Chetniks in Serb-populated areas. The occupation led many Dalmatians to join the resistance organized by Tito's Partisans.