Jaroslav Janković

Jaroslav Janković, (full name: Jaroslav Milivoje Janković) is a Croatian politician who is currently serving as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Croatia and is also a military officer serving as a General in the army.

History:

Janković was born on the 23rd of August, 1897, in a very small village in northern Croatia named Prnjarovac. Janković was born into a relatively poor family, as his father was a worker in a nearby factory and rarely stayed at home. Janković was forced to work as a young child to help his family gain money, working numerous jobs from 1911 to 1913 from the age of 13 to 16.

Janković eventually saved up money to let him and his family move to Serbia, where he conscripted himself into the army in January of 1915, fighting against the Austro-Hungarian army during the First World War. Janković fought in multiple battles throughout the war and by the end of it, he had become a second Lieutenant in the army of Serbia.

Early Political career:

Around 1928, Janković met another politician named Vladislav Tripimirović and they both became good acquaintences. Janković and Vladislav were both interested in Croatian history and they started looking into all kinds of Croatian history books together. After Vladislav became a diplomat for Yugoslavia in March of 1929, Janković became Vladislav's official deputy.

   By 1931, the two politicians were getting skeptical about the Yugoslav government and it's rule over Croatia and started advocating for the independence of Croatia. Vladislav told Janković on the 5th of December, 1931, that he did indeed descend from Croatian royalty, which directly led to Janković establishing the People of the Croatian Crown movement with Vladislav in early January of 1932.

Croatian revolution:

Janković fought in the Croatian revolution under Vladislav, as he led the 1st infantry brigade of the Croatian Crown from May, 1932 to March, 1933. Janković and Vladislav advanced quickly throughout Istria in the early days of the war and in October of 1932, Janković planned a large offensive with Major General Jakob Stojanović to push the Yugoslav army out of Dalmatia.

Janković, Vladislav and Stojanović's armies started moving towards each other, cutting off the Yugoslav army from Dalmatia by January of 1933. Eventually, after the war ended, Janković got elected into the parliament of Croatia on the 17th of March, 1933, during the 1933 general elections.

Croatian Civil War:

Janković had staged an uprising with Vladislav I in Mostar on the 7th of March, 1936, two days after Goran David Tito had started the civil war by staging an uprising in Rijeka. They later managed to capture the entire city in just two days. Janković was then made the commander of the Herzegovina Corps on the 19th of March, 1936, which was made from civilian and military volunteers to the movement.

The Herzegovina Corps advanced through Herzegovina and Dalmatia relatively easily, except for some setbacks during the attempted captures of Zadar and Dubrovnik. Eventually, Janković and his force arrived to Rijeka to help Goran in his battle against the forces of the Banovina on the 26th of October, 1936. Janković and Goran's force were pushed back by the forces of Field Marshal Jakob Stojanović in late December of 1936 in Karlovac, causing them to have to wait out the Winter.

Eventually, Janković and his force marched into Zagreb after a long battle for the city with Vladislav I leading a parade of the Monarchist forces on the 13th of April, 1937, officially ending the Croatian Civil War.

Kingdom of Croatia:

After the war, Janković became a popular figure in the government of Croatia. Janković was promoted to general of the armed forces on the 20th of April, 1937 by the recently coronated Vladislav I. Janković became the president of parliament on the 16th of July, 1937, after being promoted by Vladislav I to the position.

Janković fought during the Serbo-Croatian war from 1938-1939, pushing back Serbian forces after the Battle of Brčko in late January of 1939. After the war, Janković ran for the post of Prime Minister in December of 1939, winning the elections by beating the sitting Prime Minister at the time, Bogdan Marković.

Janković supported the idea of the Federal Kingdom of Yugoslavia after it was formed on the 4th of May, 1940, publicly claiming that it could fix the relations of Serbia and Croatia as well as improve the infrastructure and economy of the two united nations.

Second World War:

Janković was sent to the front line by Vladislav I after they declared war on the Kingdom of Italy, where he fought against the Italian forces with Greek forces, trying to push them out of Albania. Janković's campaign proved to be succesful, with the Italian forces being all but wiped out after the decisive battle of Tirana ended on the 23rd of January, 1942.

His force then started their march back up towards Bulgaria, to help the Serbs in their campaign against the Bulgarians. Later, he was called back to Zagreb in February of 1942 to hear an announcement made by the king. The king ordered the cabinet to flee to Belgrade, as the Wehrmacht was getting closer towards Zagreb and the king didn't think it was safe for the government to stay in the city.

Janković kept fighting against the Bulgarians after this, trying to hold them back from reaching important cities such as Niš and Kumanovo. Janković was eventually ordered to fight at the front against the retreating German army by Vladislav in December of 1944, where he fought against the Germans in Ljubljana, Koper, Maribor and Kranj.

After the war ended, Janković would deliver a famous speech to the people of Croatia on Radio Zagreb, the largest radio station in the kingdom. In this speech, Janković openly declared that *Croatia* had won the war along with *it's* allies, instead of just out right saying The Allies won it.

* Order of the Crown of King Krunoslav, 2nd class (Awarded: 1st of August, 1937)

Foreign:

* Order of the White Eagle, 5th class (Serbia) (Awarded: 17th of January, 1919)
* Legion of Honor (France) (Awarded: 26th of July, 1940)
* Medal of Honor (USA) (Awarded: 9th of June, 1945)