On April 9, 1936, The Serb Stipan Pejnović, member of the Chetnik association, seeking a Greater Serbia, murdered the Croat and HSS representative Karlo Brkljačić, in the village of Trnovec near Gospić.
Abstract
On April 9, 1936, Karlo Brkljačić-Kacan (1869–1936), a prominent Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) politician, popular local tribune, and former member of the Croatian Parliament (Sabor), was assassinated in an ambush in his native village of Trnovac near Gospić, Lika. While returning home after a meeting with fellow HSS figures, he was shot twice with a revolver by Stipan (Stevo) Pejnović, known as “Pejina,” a Chetnik from the nearby village of Smiljan.
Contemporary and later Croatian sources describe the murder as a politically motivated act ordered by a Greater Serbian Chetnik organization based in Gospić. The assassination formed part of a broader planned terrorist campaign targeting several leading HSS representatives in the region, including Ivan Murković and Andrija Artuković.
Following the killing, the local branch of the Chetnik association “Udruženje četnika za slobodu i čast otadžbine” was officially banned by the authorities of the Sava Banovina. The event triggered strong reactions among the Croatian population and contributed to heightened ethnic and political tensions in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia during the 1930s.
This paper examines the circumstances of Brkljačić’s assassination, its immediate context within interwar Yugoslav politics, the role of Chetnik associations, and the subsequent repercussions, including armed clashes between Croatian peasants and Chetniks.
Drawing on Croatian Wikipedia entries, parish registers, local historical publications, and period accounts, the study highlights the incident as a notable example of political violence against Croatian opposition figures under the Yugoslav monarchy.
References
Brkljačić, Karlo. n.d. Croatian Wikipedia. Accessed April 2026.
(Describes the murder as carried out by Stipan Pejnović, a Chetnik from Smiljan, on orders from a Greater Serbian Chetnik organization in Gospić; the local Chetnik association was later banned.)
Ličke novine. n.d. “Vremeplov – Karlo Brkljačić Kacan.” http://www.licke-novine.hr/vremeplov/04/kacan_221113.doc.
(Parish register note: killed by Chetniks with a revolver shot; identifies the perpetrator as četnik Stipan Pejnović.)
Hrvatski biografski leksikon. n.d. “Brkljačić, Karlo.” Leksikografski zavod Miroslav Krleža. https://hbl.lzmk.hr/clanak/brkljacic-karlo.
(Short biography confirming death in Trnovac in 1936.)
Kamenjar. 2013. “U potrazi za istinom III. dio.” https://kamenjar.com/u-potrazi-za-istinom-iii-dio/.
(States that HSS deputy Karlo Brkljačić was killed in the village of Trnovac near Gospić on April 9, 1936.)
Crne Mambe. 2017. “Povijesne stranputice: Prva Jugoslavija (18. dio).” https://crnemambe.hr/… (full URL in Croatian archives).
(Reports the killing of HSS representative Karlo Brkljačić in Trnovac near Gospić, April 9, 1936.)
Hrvatski fokus. 2020. Article on Serbian terror against Croats in the interwar period. https://www.hrvatski-fokus.hr/2020/08/26273/.
(Describes the ambush killing of the popular HSS politician Karlo Brkljačić Kacan in Trnovac as part of broader violence.)
Tragovi (journal). 2020. Scientific article on Gospić and local history (Hrčak portal). https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/358100 or related PDF.
(Confirms he was elected to parliament in 1927 and killed in an ambush in Trnovac in 1936.)
