Radovan Ratković

Radovan Ratković (Full name: Radovan Milivoje Ilija Ratković), was a Serbian politician who served as the 10th Prime Minister of the Empire of Serbia from the 19th of March, 1984 to the 6th of July, 1990, when he was overthrown and killed during a speech in parliament.

## History

Radovan Ratković was born on the 8th of February, 1938, in the city of Leskovac, which was located in the Kingdom of Serbia under King Zivko I at the time. Ratković's father, Milovan Ratković, was a Serbian nationalist politician, which influenced his son's views from a young age. Ratković grew up in a Conservative, Orthodox Serbian family.

Ratković showed massive support for Emperor Franjo I at a young age for creating the Serbian empire, as he blamed Muslims for bringing Serbia down from it's "glory" during the first Serbian Empire of the medieval ages. Ratković eventually ended up joining the Imperial Serbian army on the 15th of April, 1956, at the age of 18.

Ratković rose through the ranks quite slowly, but during the Marmara war in 1960, Ratković was promoted to Major for his services in the battle of Izmit and was placed in charge of an artillery battery.

### Great European War

When the Great European War broke out on the 30th of March, 1963, Ratković was deployed at the front as a Lieutenant Colonel of the army. Ratković fought in the war against the Kingdom of Hungary on the Hungarian front under general Bogdan Petrović. Ratković rose through the ranks during his service at the front, becoming a well respected officer among the soldiers.

   Ratković fought in the battle of Székesfehérvár, where he would eventually be promoted to Major General for his services during the battle.

### Early Political career

After the war, Ratković would focus on his political career for a bit, getting himself elected into parliament during the 1967 general elections with around 9.8% of the vote. In parliament, he represented the Nationalist Party, where he became a famous party member, eventually being made the General Secretary of the party in June of 1972.

Ratković would take a break from politics to fight in the Third World War in 1973, but would later return after a disastrous defeat at Koper for him. Ratković was appointed the President of Parliament by Prime Minister and regent Mihailo Karađorđević, but was later demoted due to his radical views. After the war, Ratković became started heavy opposition to Muslim Prime Minister Alija Stojanović due to his liberal views on the Empire.

## Premiership

Ratković came to power via a coup which was staged on the 12th of March, 1984, with secret support from the Police force and the Emperor himself. By the 19th, Ratković had taken power and Stojanović was ousted. After becoming Prime Minister, him and the Emperor created a Totalitarian dictatorship which was heavily Conservative and Anti-Muslim.

The creation of the dictatorship was finalized when the Belgrade Secretary building was transformed into the headquarters of the CBA, a secret police organization meant to deport and kill "traitors" to the empire on the 29th of April, 1984. Ratković's friend, Brigadier General Slavko Karadžić, became the head of the organization, giving Ratković even more power over governance.

Ratković's regime started setting up prison camps, where mostly Albanian and Bosnian Muslims were being taken to do forced labor. Ratković's CBA force also started walking around cities in Bosnia, Turkey and Albania to beat up or even kill Muslims on some cases. It is estimated that around 60 000 to 90 000 deaths were caused by the regime and that over 150 000 people were kept in prison camps by April of 1990.

   Ratković also advocated for the removal of Draža III as the Secretary of State due to his negative views on the government.

## Fall from power and death

In late May of 1990, the Turkish revolution broke out in Ankara and quickly spread around the province of Turkey. Ratković was heavily displeased by the actions of the revolutionaries and sent many of his secret police to kill Turkish civilians in cities such as Istanbul, Edirne and Bursa as reprisals against the revolutionaries.

Stefan Borislav III visited the front in Ankara in the early morning of the 15th of June, 1990. Borislav was later killed after getting struck by an artillery shell at 11 AM on the same day. After hearing the news, Ratković became extremely nervous, knowing that his regime could collapse as fast as he built it up due to the death of the Emperor.

Ratković quickly contacted Slavko Karadžić, telling him to leave Belgrade as quick as he could on the 4th of July, 1990. On the 6th of July, Ratković came back to parliament after having been abscent for two weeks and made a speech ensuring the parliament that the war would be won and the revolutionaries would be punished. Only a few deputies clapped, followed by the majority of the deputies attacking Ratković, beating him up and throwing him from a staircase, before shooting him and throwing his corpse out of an open window into a mud puddle outside, effectively ending his regime for good.

## Legacy

### Ratković corpse

A few hours after the incident, his body was found by guards who were patrolling around the parliament building. They had heard sounds inside of the building but were too afraid to even check, as they feared they would cause the deaths of the deputies inside the parliament. Radovan Ratković was buried in a common grave in Kragujevac after a secret funeral was held in the city on the 9th of July, 1990. His body was discovered in the grave a year later in August of 1991 and it was exhumed by grave robbers.

Ratković's remains were missing for a long time until they were found in the house of a grave robber, who had kept his coffin in their house. The grave robber, named Milutin Simović, had been holding on to the remains as he was a fanatical nationalist and a former member of the CBA. The remains were then promptly cremated and the ashes were scattered in the Danube river, apart from his head and heart, which were buried two days after the cremation on the 11th of April, 1994.

### Views on Ratković today

Views on the deceased prime minister vary, with radical nationalists and fascists claiming him to be the last great martyr for the nationalist cause and the centralization of the government, along with emperor Borislav III. However, a majority of the empire and the outside countries declare him to be a tyrant and a criminal who usurped the position of prime minister with the help of the dictatorial emperor at the time. Many also consider him to simply be a tool used by the emperor, a pawn on a chessboard, although it is unclear how much he was actually influenced by the emperor.

Radovan Ratković is seen as "the Hitler of Serbia" and therefore his private properties were confiscated and a majority of them destroyed, except for his summer residence in Dalmatia, which serves as a museum, as well as his childhood home, which serves the same purpose as the former.

### Descendants

Ratković had two children, Ilija Ratković (1967-) and Maria Ratković (1969-). Maria advocates for greater human rights across the world and the peace between all nations, a movement which has been propelled into fame after the 2011 Belgrade conference. Ilija, however, wants his father to be rehabilitated and is running for the position of Minister of the interior of Serbia, which could have disastrous consequences.

Radovan Ratković himself was the head of the house of Kragujevac-Kraljevo, a noble family which has existed since the late 18th century. The family had taken the name of "Ratković" to make sure they wouldn't be purged by the communist authorities in 1945. The name has stuck through the years, although they still are nobles. Ratković's son Ilija is currently the head of the house of Kragujevac-Kraljevo, being the titular count of Kraljevo as well.

## Medals and Awards

* Order of the Serbian Flag, 2nd class (Awarded: 5th of April, 1966)
* Order of Merits in Defense and Security, 3rd class (Awarded: 30th of October, 1973)
* Sretenje Order, 1st class (Awarded: 23rd of June, 1984)
* Order of Karađorđe's Star (Awarded: 2nd of January, 1990)