 On 17 and 18 June , <unk> and Lieutenant Colonel <unk> , gendarmerie commander for eastern Herzegovina , made an attempt to calm the situation by visiting villages east of the Gacko – Avtovac road to re @-@ establish peace in the area . They received a written message from four villages that they did not acknowledge the NDH authorities , and wanted the message to be passed on to the Italians . The residents of the villages of <unk> and <unk> were willing to talk and return to work , but they asked that the gendarmerie not visit their villages , as this would <unk> the Montenegrins to attack . <unk> assessed that while this was probably true , their request was <unk> . The gendarmerie commander in Bileća believed that the reason for the rebellion was that the local Serbs were <unk> to the idea of Greater Serbia , and did not accept that their villages were part of the NDH . This approach essentially meant that local Serbs wanted the NDH authorities to leave them alone and not impose on their lives . According to the historian <unk> Marijan , this was a poor choice that gave the Ustaše an excuse to take radical action . 
