Jakob Stojanović

Jakob Želimir Stojanović, was a Croatian politician and military officer who served as the Minister of both armed forces and foreign affairs of the Banovina of Croatia during the Majstorović II cabinet. He used to be the Chief of General staff of it's army as well.

History:

Stojanović was born on the 17th of January, 1881, in the city of Split, which at the time, was located in the Austro-Hungarian empire. Stojanović became friends with Aleksandar Majstorović, who was 6 years older than Stojanović and at the age of 18, exiled himself from the empire and encouraged Stojanović to follow him once he became older.

Stojanović, being left home with an alcoholic father, as his mother passed away in 1890, decided to follow Majstorović on the 26th of November, 1898, fleeing to Serbia, where he gained a job at an arms factory until he managed to afford an apartment in Belgrade, around 300 metres away from Majstorović's residence.

Eventually, Stojanović followed in Majstorović's footsteps by joining the Royal Serbian Army at the age of 20 in March of 1901. Stojanović graduated from the Belgrade military academy with the rank of junior Lieutenant on the 27th of July, 1903 and decided to join the same battalion that Majstorović controlled in the year of 1906.

Military history in Serbia and Yugoslavia:

Stojanović fought in both Balkan Wars from 1912-1913, where he eventually rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and became the personal deputy for Aleksandar Majstorović during the beginning of the Second Balkan War, until Majstorović was injured in battle on the 30th of June, 1913, then Stojanović got to command the entire battalion for the rest of the war.

   Stojanović served during the First World War as well, fighting in the battle of Kolubara with Majstorović. Stojanović was eventually promoted to Brigadier General after his services during the Vardar offensive of September 1918, which ended the war in the balkans. Stojanović became the deputy Chief of Staff of the army of Yugoslavia on the 1st of January, 1919, a position he kept until 1923, when he quit the position.

Stojanović was finally promoted to Major General in 1925, as he had learned more and more about strategy during his time in military school from 1919-1928.

Political career before the Banovina of Croatia:

Stojanović wasn't a succesful politician until King Alexander I of Yugoslavia announced a royal dictatorship on the 6th of January, 1930. Stojanović protested against the dictatorship and eventually joined Majstorović's Ustaše in July of 1930, where he eventually became the General Secretary of the party on the 28th of April, 1931.

Eventually he orchestrated mild protests in Split to the royal dictatorship on the 30th of June, 1931, which lasted until the 2nd of July of the same year. The protests were not listened to and the king put them down with force, with Stojanović being arrested and forced to pay a fine of 50 000 dinars.

Croatian Revolution and rise to power:

Stojanović started fighting in the Croatian revolution after he staged an uprising in Mostar on the 9th of October, 1932. Stojanović's force started advancing all throughout Herzegovina and Dalmatia, eventually linking up with Vladislav I's force in January of 1933. After they had won the war, Stojanović became the minister of defence of the nation, but thought of it as a boring job and longed for a greater one.

An opportunity came when Majstorović decided to change his cabinet in mid March of 1933. Stojanović repeatedly asked the Poglavnik for a new job and eventually recieved two; Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the armed forces on the 21st of March, 1933.

Role as the Minister of Foreign Affairs:

Shortly after becoming the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stojanović was ordered by Majstorović to arrange meetings between foreign leaders and ministers in April of 1933. Stojanović started arranging meetings with Benito Mussolini, Edvard Beneš, Zog I of Albania and Adolf Hitler.

Stojanović managed to arrange a meeting with Majstorović and Beneš along with Mussolini later on, but failed to arrange a meeting between Zog I and Majstorović, with a meeting between Majstorović and Hitler still being discussed currently. Stojanović met with Germany's Foreign Minister, Joachim Von Ribbentrop on the 11th of February, 1934. In the meeting, the two discussed a non-agression pact between the two nations.

War in Slovenia:

Stojanović was made the head planner for the War in Slovenia, which would break out later in late September of 1935. Stojanović came up with the Stojanović plan, which was named after him. The plan involved three different divisions stationed in the North, South and center of the Croato-Slovene border, which would all move in to encircle the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana.

Stojanović was promoted to Field Marshal on the 17th of September, 1935 and was later sent to the front on the day of the outbreak of the conflict. He led the 1st and 2nd divisions towards Ljubljana, while Lieutenant General Vjekoslav Stanković led the 3rd division across the north of Slovenia towards Ljubljana.

Eventually, Vjekoslav Stanković made it to the outskirts of Ljubljana in late December of 1935 as Stojanović followed soon after, with him and his force arriving by the 2nd of January, 1936. Eventually, after the capital was shelled and a message was sent to the President of Slovenia, Dragan Zadrevac, threatening him, the Slovene government capitulated on the 17th of January, 1936.

Croatian Civil War:

On the 6th of March, 1936, a day after the start of the Croatian Civil War, Poglavnik Aleksandar Majstorović told Stojanović to mobilize the soldiers to the front, as they were trying to move in to Slovenia to make sure every protest from the people of Slovenia would be surpressed. Stojanović started doing this and soon enough, by early May, he had gathered all of the 60 000 soldiers from Slovenia into Ljubljana and started moving towards the front with them.

On the 13th of May, 1936, Stojanović and his army had finished the exhausting journey from Ljubljana to northern Istria, where they would try to push in. Stojanović and his army made it around 19 kilometres from Rijeka, the self proclaimed capital of the revolutionary movement, before they were pushed back by the revolutionary forces.

Later, after the revolutinaries managed to gain a larger force, Stojanović's force was pushed back from their positions in late October of 1936. Eventually, Stojanović was pushed back to the city of Karlovac, where he attempted a grand stand against the revolutionaries in December of the same year. Stojanović and his force succeeded in the defensive and managed to hold off the monarchist revolutionaries until early February of 1937.

Arrest:

On the 1st of March, 1937, Stojanović went to the parliament and ordered every single deputy who wasn't a member of the Ustaše party to get out of the parliament. Just a few minutes later, every single deputy, numbering 24, were executed outside of the parliament by firing squad. Stojanović later tried to escape the fighting on the 4th of April, 1937, but met Vjekoslav Stanković on the street, who told Stojanović to turn himself in to the revolutionaries

Stojanović later turned himself in on the 10th of April, 1937, without saying a word as he stepped into the police car. Stojanović was later brought to the Osijek prison and questioned about his crimes against humanity.

Trial and execution:

Stojanović and his fellow comrades' trials finally opened on the 11th of September, 1937. Stojanović was accused of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and mass torture, examples include: Karlovac Massacre (1937), Pula massacre (1937) and the Koper death march (1937). Despite him trying to either justify or outright deny the claims, Stojanović was found guilty of all allegations.

Stojanović was later executed by hanging at around 11 AM on the 17th of September, 1937, being executed right after former Minister of Education Milan Petronijević. Stojanović was the 3rd to be executed out of the total 4 who where sentenced to death and according to accounts, the execution went smoothly, with estimates stating that it took only 3 minutes from the start to the finish.

* Ustasha Party Badge, golden (Awarded: 7th of January, 1932)
* Medal for General Merits, 1st class (Awarded: 17th of September, 1935)

Foreign:

* Commemorative Medal of the Great Serbian Retreat (Serbia) (Awarded: 25th of November, 1919)
* Medal of Military Valor, golden (Italy) (Awarded: 11th of March, 1933)
* Iron Cross, 1st class (Germany) (Awarded: February 12th, 1934)
* War Merit Medal (Germany) (Awarded: 4th of March, 1936)