Kingdom of Croatia

### Ruler(s)

Vladislav I (1937-1968)Vladislav II (1968-1993)Vladislav III (1993-2014)Vladislav IV (2014-)

### GDP

186.5 billion USD

Croatia, officially the Kingdom of Croatia, is a nation located in the Balkan peninsula of Europe. The country was formed after Vladislav I was crowned as the King of Croatia on the 17th of April, 1937, right after the end of the Croatian civil war, which ended the ultra-nationalist Ustaše party's rule over Croatia.

History:

The country was established on the 11th of February, 1933, when the Croatian Revolution ended and the radical ultra-nationalist Ustaše party came to power. The party's capability of ruling was questioned after multiple intolerant policies were made and the nation started declaring wars of agression against it's neighbors.

A revolution later broke out in Rijeka, which is now the fifth largest city in the nation on the 5th of March, 1936. The revolution swept across Dalmatia and Herzegovina, due to the two provinces being cut off from the rest of Croatia because of the revolutionary occupation of the narrow corridor from Istria to the rest of the nation.

Croatia was attacked by the Kingdom of Serbia later on in October of 1938, but they managed to cut off a large part of the Serbian army in the province of Bosnia, which forced the Serbs to sue for peace. Soon after, the two nations entered into a personal union to fix their relations, creating the Federal Kingdom of Yugoslavia, although on most maps made outside of Yugoslavia, it showcased the two territories as separate entities.

Yugoslavia later declared war on the Kingdom of Italy, to help the Kingdom of Greece in March of 1941, as the two nations had entered into a non-agression pact in September of 1940. A bit later, on the 6th of April, 1941, the German Reich, led by Führer Adolf Hitler declared war on the Federal Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

For the next 4 years, the Federal Kingdom was heavily involved in the war, recieving help from the Western Allies in their struggle against the Axis powers. The Kingdom would eventually manage to push the Axis out of the Balkans by November of 1944 with the help of the Soviet Union and the Kingdom of Bulgaria, which joined the Allies in February of 1944.

As part of the Allied nations, 2 diplomats were present during the Paris peace treaties which determined the fate of Italy, Germany and the Empire of Japan in 1947. The nation became a part of the western bloc during the cold war, with the Kingdom of Croatia joining NATO in 1955 and the General Governorate of Serbia joining the organization just two years later.

The nation sent aid to Romania and Bulgaria during their revolutions, with the General Governorate of Serbia directly joining the Bulgar-Romanian war on the 29th of April, 1957. Later, Croatia's borders were threatened by Communist Greece, which caused the nation to declare war on it, starting a two year long war from 1968-1970, with Bulgaria joining in the second half.

In 1989, the nationalist, absolutist king Vladislav II declared that the nation would no longer be a federation anymore, officially incorporating the General Governorate of Serbia as 3 different provinces (Serbia, Montenegro and Vardar Macedonia) into the Kingdom of Croatia, despite protests from Serbs. This would eventually prove to be a mistake, as the anger in Serbia eventually spilled over into a full blown revolution on the 9th of January, 1992.

A bit after the Croats agreed to let Serbia be a free nation on the 23rd of March, 1992, due to pressure from outside nations, the Kingdom of Bosnia declared it's independence on the 15th of May, 1992. The declaration sent Yugoslavia into a full on civil war, with the Federal Kingdom of Yugoslavia formally being dissolved on the 19th of February, 1993.

The Serbs asked to help the Croatian Kingdom in the war, as long as they got Bosnian-Serb territories after it. The Kingdom of Croatia accepted the deal, as they would rather give Serbia the land instead of having to take care of hundreds of thousands of Serbian refugees from the war moving in to undamaged Croatian lands after the war.

The three nations eventually came to an agreement during the Berlin peace accords, where it would be decided that Bosnia would be annexed into Croatia, but King Tvrtko II of Bosnia would be made into the titular Duke of the Grand Duchy of Bosnia inside of Croatia, while Serbia annexes the Serbian lands to the east in August of 1995.

Demographics:

At 8,59 million people, the Kingdom of Croatia stands as the 100th largest country in the world by population, which makes it account for around 0.1% of the world population. The Kingdom is made up of three main ethnic groups, Croats, Slovenes and Bosniaks. These are the percentages of the populations in the kingdom:

* Croats (50.5%)
* Slovenes (25%)
* Bosniaks (19%)
* Serbs (4.7%)
* Others (0.8%)

Largest cities in the nation:

1. Zagreb (population: 1 153 255)
2. Sarajevo (population: 555 210)
3. Ljubljana (population: 524 210)
4. Split (population: 344 314)
5. Rijeka (population: 245 054)
6. Mostar (population: 115 797)
7. Maribor (population: 113 778)
8. Zenica (population: 110 663)
9. Osijek (population: 108 088)
10. Pula (population: 105 000)

Government:

Since the creation of the June constitution in 1996, the country has been a constitutional monarchy. The nation has been ruled by King Vladislav IV since his coronation on the 3rd of June, 2014, but the real power is held by the Prime Minister and the cabinet, which is appointed by the King. The Prime Minister of Croatia currently is Stjepan Krajinović, a member of the Croatian Monarchist Party and a former Lieutenant Colonel of the army who is known as a veteran of the Yugoslav wars. Krajinović has served as Prime Minister since February of 2018.

The position of the King has weakened ever since the death of Vladislav II on the 4th of September, 1993, as King Vladislav III tried to make sure that the country would not fall in to instability over the authoritarian rule of the King. The King of Croatia however, has full control over foreign affairs, ceremonial control of the army and can appoint and dismiss his ministers at will, except for the Prime Minister.

Geography:

The country has a very large coast on the Adriatic, meaning it controls most of the trade which goes through the sea. The country is bordered by Austria in the north, Hungary in the north east, Serbia in the east and Italy in the west. The nation is very mountainous in the region of Herzegovina and very flat in the east of Slavonia.

The highest peak in the country is mount Triglav, which at 2 864 meters, is located in the Alpine mountain region in the north west part of Slovenia. The nation covers a total of 102 975 square kilometers as well, making it the 107th largest country in the world by area.

Religion:

Most of the population of Croatia are a part of the Christian faith, with the majority of them being Catholics at around 66% of the population hearing to the Catholic church. Another 17% are a part of the Muslim faith and 6% are a part of the Orthodox church. The Catholic church has a lot of influence in the nation, as the King himself is always Catholic.

Administrative divisions and regions:

The Kingdom is split into 6 administrative divisions. These are the following divisions:

1. Croatia proper (Croatian: Uže Hrvatske)
2. Slovenia (Croatian/Slovene: Slovenija)
3. Krajina
4. Sarajevo district (Croatian/Bosnian: okrug Sarajevo)
5. Croatian Herzegovina (Croatian/Bosnian: Hrvatska Hercegovina)
6. Dalmatia (Croatian: Dalmacije)