Stefan Borislav I

Stefan Borislav I, (real name: Stefan Zivko Franjo Borislav) was a Serbian politician who served as the Emperor of the Serbian empire.

## Stefan Borislav I

Emperor Borislav I as heir to the throne in 1949.

## Emperor of Serbia

### Prime minister

Stefan Đorđević, Dragan Stojanović, Dušan Pavlović, Bogdanoff Stojanovska, Branimir Grgurević

## Personal details

### Died

October 15th, 1977, Belgrade, Empire of Serbia

### Military rank

Field marshal

He was the son of the first emperor Franjo I, meaning that he was the grandson of the last King of Serbia, Zivko I.

## History

Stefan was born on the 19th of April, 1903 in the city of Skopje, located in the Ottoman empire at the time. After this, Stefan's mother moved back to Belgrade along with Stefan. Stefan started studying in private school at the age of 6 in September of 1909.

But on the 28th of July, 1914, the first world war broke out, eventually causing Borislav to have to move to Tirana with his father in 1916 when Stefan was only 13. Here, he would spend the next few months hoping for the best for Serbia. Alas, his prayers were answered when he moved back to Belgrade in 1918 with his father at the age of 15.

Stefan started his training in the military by the age of 17 and finally finishing the training by the age of 19, when he would then go to study in military school, where he slowly rose through the ranks until he became a Sergeant of the army.

### Interwar period

His training would be put to the test once the Serbo-Croatian war broke out, but Franjo did not let Stefan go to the front himself, as Stefan was and still is his only son. Instead, Stefan was put in duty to train the soldiers who would be fighting in the war. Many soldiers had said that he was a fierce trainer, who was very keen on training the troops for war and very patriotic about Serbia in general.

After the war, he decided to take a break from the army to focus on politics. He visited Ljubljana in 1928 with his grandfather when they were going to announce the annexation verdict to the president. During the Yermanian independence rebellion, he started speaking out against the generals of the rebel side in hour-long speeches during Parliament meetings. He was a great propagandist, shown by the fact that the other deputies started to think like Stefan after his rambling speeches.

However, he would return to the military in February of 1934, as Zivko had announced that the invasion of Albania would begin soon and sure enough, in June of 1934, Zivko declared war on the Kingdom of Albania, so that they could secure it's territory before the Italians would. Stefan would finally be allowed to fight in the front during this war, where he was deployed to the front from October 1934 all the way to the end of the war in July of 1935, he had also been promoted during the war to Sergeant major.

## Second world war

In February of 1940, the Serbian government declared war on the Third German Reich. Stefan was soon deployed in the Austrian front in early March of the same year. Here he saw some of the most brutal fighting that he had to endure along with the most brutal atrocities he had seen both his men and the enemy inflict.

Borislav was wounded in action on the 18th of July, 1940 when he was shot in the arm during the first battle of Graz, causing him to have to retire from the battlefield for a bit until he eventually returned to the front in April of 1941, but now he was much more cautious when he was near the enemy.

   Soon, Stefan would be promoted to Lieutenant and finally in December of 1944, he became a Brigadier general of the army, as he became the main commander of the King's royal Belgrade battalion, an elite battalion which had around 2 000 men in it. He wouldn't see much more action however, as the war was almost over. In April of 1945, he barely evaded capture by leaving the city which he was supposed to protect from encirclement only 2 hours before it was encircled.

### Post-second world war

By the end of the war, Borislav was only 9 kilometers away from Subotica, his destination. In September of 1945, he made it to the city and immediately started making speeches in the city square criticizing the government. He was never arrested for this however, as the city itself wasn't very loyal to the Communist government either.

In January of 1946, Stefan was elected as the governor of the city of Subotica, making him have full control of the city. He used his newfound position to spread more propaganda around which supported his father.

After Franjo became the King of Yugoslavia and later, the emperor of Serbia, Stefan became the Naslednik (Heir) to the throne of the Serbian empire. He kept this title until he was coronated as the emperor on the 7th of April, 1952.

## Bosnian and Romanian revolutions, crowning as emperor

When the Bosnian revolution broke out on the 4th of March, 1951, Stefan was advised by his officers, fellow politicians and his own father to stay out of the war, for the sake of his image among Serbs and Bosniaks. Stefan listened to the advise and stayed out of creating propaganda or participating in the war itself as a commander.

When the Romanian revolution started on the 23rd of February, Stefan decided to do the same thing and stayed out of the war, living in his palace in Belgrade. However, it all changed when his father was murdered by Romanian soldiers while he was inspecting troops at the outskirts of Lipova, on the 27th of March, 1952.

Stefan was coronated as the emperor of the Serbian empire on the 7th of April, 1952, a few days after his father's funeral. He was also now the main commander-in-chief of the armed forces, meaning he had to interfere in the Romanian revolution. On the 16th of June, 1952, Borislav started operation destructive storm and on the 17th of June, the Romanians surrendered to Borislav's forces.

### Expansionism

After the Romanian revolution, the nation's factories in the Banat region were mostly defunct due to the battling that was going on in the region, meaning that Borislav would look to other nations to gain more industry and make his nation stronger.

The tensions finally broke out in conflict in August of 1953, when Stefan decided to wage war against the Kingdom of Bulgaria. After the war ended in December of the same year, Stefan was visited by Heinrich Himmler on the 17th of January, 1954, who told him that if the nation of Serbia expands once again, there would be dire consequences.

Stefan decided to not listen to the warning, declaring war on Romania on the 15th of April, 1955 and later annexing it on the 19th of January, 1956. In February of 1957, Borislav started writing up war plans on invading the Republic of Turkey and has since then appointed Petar I and Dobroslav II to the two leading generals in the conflict.

## The Great European War (1963-1966)

On the 15th of March, 1963, the Serbian empire was given a list of demands by the 4th Reich and if the Serbian empire wouldn't give into them, the Reich would declare war on the empire. The Serbian empire rejected the demands on the 30th of March, 1963.

On the 4th of April, 1963, the Germans sneak attacked them in Yermania, a day before the Serbs would start their sneak attack in Austria. It turned out that the Germans had deployed spies in Belgrade, with some of the spies being the guards to the war planning room. Borislav yelled out that his empire will crumble after hearing the news and went into his palace.

Borislav was infuriated with the fact that the Germans were breezing through their territory, hearing about the crimes that the Waffen SS had committed on his people. Borislav made an address to the parliament on the 19th of May, 1963, where he announced that: "The empire has lasted for decades and I shall make sure it’ll last for centuries!" This speech made the nation rise up in support for their emperor and the soldiers' morale was greatly increased.

Borislav was present during the siege of Ljubljana, the Battle of Maribor (1965), the battle of Vienna and the Siege of Berlin. In all of these battles, the soldiers were rallying in support for their emperor and their morale increased even higher. All of these battles were also part of the final victory for the Allies.

## Third World War

On the 19th of May, 1973, when the Third World War started, Borislav was furious at his generals for not mobilizing fast enough. Petar I argued that Borislav hadn't told them to mobilize until the 14th of May, giving them very little time to do so. Borislav told Petar to not speak up against him and to bring his men to the front as quickly as possible.

Borislav showed that he was incapable of ruling on the 23rd of November, 1973, when he caused a crack in a table by slamming his fist on it in parliament. This showed that Borislav's mental health had tumbled down and that he would need to control his rage before he hurt himself. His brother, Mihailo, said to Borislav that he could become the regent of the empire if Borislav would step down to work on his health, which he proceeded to do.

Little is known about this period of his life, but it is speculated that he spent his time in a small Chateau in the ravna gora highland, sending letters to his son, Borislav II and getting frequent visits from his generals, along with his second son, Stefan Dragoljub Borislav Karađorđević who visited him each Friday and Saturday.

Borislav eventually returned to politics on the 19th of July, 1975 and traveled to the Russian front on the 23rd of March, 1976, where he commanded the 4th field army in the battles of Constanta and Chisinau. Borislav eventually returned back home in January of 1977 and visited Berlin in April of 1977, after it had recently been captured and made into the capital of the third German empire.

## Death

On the 15th of October, 1977, Borislav was pronounced dead after a long battle with tuberculosis. He had caught the disease from an unknown source and showed symptoms around the 4th of October, 1977. He had seemed to be getting better by the 11th, but two days later on the 13th, the tuberculosis had brought on pneumonia as well and Borislav was too sick to keep going. He died surrounded by his children and most important ministers.

## Badges and Awards

* Order of Karađorđe's star (Awarded: 14th of July, 1922)
* Order of St. Sava (Awarded: 19th of May, 1935)
* Sretenje order, 1st class (Awarded: 16th of June, 1943)
* Order of St. Prince Lazarus (Awarded: 28th of December, 1949)
* Order of Franjo the Great (Awarded: 19th of May, 1952)
* Order for Merits in Defense and Security, 1st class (Awarded: 29th of July, 1952)
* Order of the Empire of Serbia, 1st class (Awarded: 11th of March, 1954)
* Order of Zivko the martyr (Awarded: 1st of January, 1959)
* Order of the Cross of Takovo (Awarded: 5th of May, 1966)
* Cross of War, 1st class (Awarded: 20th of February, 1977)