Vladislav I

Vladislav I, (real name: Vladislav Mladen Tripimirović) is a Croatian politician and a Field Marshal in the army of Croatia, who is serving as the King of Croatia and the head of the house of Tripimirović.

The house of Tripimirović had also been on the throne of Croatia from 1483-1522, meaning Vladislav technically has a right to become the King of Croatia and has used this excuse to gain more supporters for the movement.

History:

Vladislav was born on the 17th of April, 1895, in the city of Rijeka, to Marko and Petra Tripimirović. Marko Tripimirović was a succesful politician who had joined a united South Slavic movement in 1888 and had been advocating for Croatian unification into the Kingdom of Serbia since 1890. Vladislav himself was educated well, being part of a noble family.

Vladislav learned about Croatian history and eventually started researching his family name. Vladislav eventually found out that one of his ancestors, Krunoslav III, had been king of Croatia from 1483 to 1496. Vladislav was eventually enlisted in the Austro-Hungarian army at the age of 18 in 1913. Vladislav was forced to fight in The First World War in 1914 but eventually deserted in November of 1914 and was forced to go into hiding in Bosnia due to this.

Yugoslavia:

Vladislav joined the Royal Yugoslav Army in May of 1919 and started rising through it's ranks, becoming a Major by 1924, when he decided to take a break from the army. Vladislav went back into politics and eventually got elected into the Yugoslav Parliament in 1926. Vladislav became a Croatian nationalist and a skeptic of the government after King Alexander I set up a royal dictatorship on the 6th of January, 1929.

Vladislav gained a job as a diplomat on the 17th of March, 1929 and started making visits to many different countries from 1929-1932, some of which include: Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and France.

Vladislav became an advocate for the Croatian independence movement by 1931, supporting underground targeted beatings against pro-Serb politicians. Eventually, Vladislav created a secret paramilitary force called the "People of the Croatian Crown." Vladislav eventually made a deal with the future ban of Croatia, Aleksandar Majstorović on the 8th of August, 1932, making sure he'd help in a future rebellion against the pro-Serb government.

Croatian Revolution:

The Croatian Revolution started on the 11th of September, 1932, when Aleksandar Majstorović staged an uprising with over 4 000 Catholic Croatians of the army in Zagreb. The revolution spread all around the territory of Croatia with different officers of the army such as Major General Jakob Stojanović and Admiral Dušan Hočevak joining the revolution.

   Vladislav eventually staged an uprising in his home city of Rijeka with around 4 500 soldiers. Eventually, he defeated the Yugoslav police and reserve troops stationed in Rijeka and started moving across all of Istria, gaining more and more supporters along the way. By January of 1933, all of Istria, Dalmatia and Herzegovina had been occupied by the effective revolutionary force.

Vladislav was eventually made the Minister of Foreign Affairs for a short time during Majstorović's first cabinet of ministers from the 3rd of February, 1933 all the way to the 7th of March, 1933. During his short time as the minister, he had negotiated peace with Yugoslavia and the newly formed Republic of Slovenia using his diplomatic skill.

Croatian Civil War:

A bit before the start of the Croatian Civil War, Vladislav had met with Goran David Tito and Jaroslav Janković in Rijeka to discuss their thoughts about the Croatian government on the 2nd of March, 1936. They all decided that they should start a civil war to overthrow the authoritarian government, despite Vladislav initially being hesitant.

Vladislav and Jaroslav staged an uprising in Mostar, while Goran staged one in Rijeka. Vladislav and Jaroslav captured the city by the 9th of March, 1936 and Vladislav then ordered Jaroslav to move up through Dalmatia. Vladislav later traveled to the front as the Monarchist forces came closer to liberating Zagreb on the 22nd of February, 1937.

Vladislav eventually oversaw the liberation of Zagreb first hand on the 13th of April, 1937, as him and Jaroslav's soldiers marched into the city and captured the remaining soldiers of the former regime.

Early reign as the King of Croatia:

Vladislav was coronated as the King of Croatia later on the 19th of April, 1937 and right after it started reversing the policies of the former government, such as removing many underage and overage soldiers who had been conscripted into the army during the last few weeks. Vladislav oversaw the conviction of war criminals during the Osijek trial, while being as respectful as possible to the defendants on the 17th of September, 1937.

On the 15th of October, 1938, the Kingdom of Serbia declared war on the Kingdom of Croatia, which sent the general staff into a panic. Vladislav ordered Generals Goran Tito and Jaroslav Janković to the front to fight against the Serbian invasion. The Serbs were eventually encircled by the Croats in the entire province of Bosnia and were forced to sue for peace on the 7th of May, 1939.

A bit later, in May of 1940, Serbia and Croatia ended up uniting into a federation, making Vladislav the king of Yugoslavia as well.

Second world war:

The Kingdom of Croatia ended up joining the Second World War after declaring war on the Kingdom of Italy on the 27th of March, 1941, to help the Kingdom of Greece in their war against Italy. Vladislav was initially hesitant about declaring war, worried that the war would bring destruction and the overthrow of the Croatian government by the Axis powers.

His cabinet convinced him that war would be inevitable even if they didn't declare it to help the Greeks at that very moment, so he obliged and sent the message to the Italian Prime Minister, Benito Mussolini. Nazi Germany ended up sending their declaration of war to the Kingdom of Croatia on the 30th of March, 1941, opening up a new front.

The combined Croatian and Greek forces pushed the Italians out of Albania by February of the next year, but the German forces kept pushing in to Croatia, with the Wehrmacht, under Field Marshal Franz Köhler reaching Zagreb by April of the same year, only to find it abandoned, as Vladislav had ordered him and his cabinet to flee to Belgrade in February.

Vladislav was pressed by the defeats Croatia was suffering, becoming more and more doubtful of his own armed forces and general staff as the war went on. His hope was restored after Goran David Tito's Zagreb Mostar offensive in June of 1943, sending the Germans running and killing Field Marshal Franz Köhler during the battle of Mostar, dealing a massive blow to the German morale.

The Germans retreated further and further towards their own land, with Zagreb being liberated in late November of 1943. Vladislav returned to the city in January of 1944, declaring that the Germans shall be punished for destroying the city of Zagreb, as the city was heavily damaged. Eventually, Vladislav was allowed to sit at the table during the Paris peace treaties, specifically the treaty which punished Italy, where Croatia was allowed to annex Istria from the Kingdom of Italy.

* Order of the Crown of King Krunoslav, 1st class (Awarded: 26th of July, 1937)
* Medal for the Independence of Croatia, gold, with a crown (Awarded: 15th of May, 1945)

Foreign:

* Order of the White Eagle, 2nd class (Serbia) (Awarded: 9th of July, 1929)
* Iron Cross (Weimar Republic) (Awarded: 6th of May, 1930)
* Gold Medal For Merit With Crown (Bulgaria) (Awarded: 21st of January, 1932)
* Military Virtue Medal (Romania) (Awarded: 17th of June, 1937)
* Order of Saint Alexander, 3rd class (Bulgaria) (Awarded: 15th of August, 1939)
* Medal for merits in Foreign Affairs (France) (Awarded: 9th of January, 1946)