 On 17 and 18 June , Tonogal and Lieutenant Colonel Aganović , 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 Jasenik and Lipnik were willing to talk and return to work , but they asked that the gendarmerie not visit their villages , as this would tempt the Montenegrins to attack . Aganović assessed that while this was probably true , their request was insincere . The gendarmerie commander in Bileća believed that the reason for the rebellion was that the local Serbs were wedded 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 Davor Marijan , this was a poor choice that gave the Ustaše an excuse to take radical action . 
