Nikola Mandić
Nikola Mandić | |
---|---|
Prime Minister of the Independent State of Croatia | |
In office 2 September 1943 – 8 May 1945 | |
Poglavnik | Ante Pavelić |
Preceded by | Ante Pavelić |
Succeeded by | Office abolished |
4th President of the Diet of Bosnia | |
In office 1912 – 9 July 1914 | |
Preceded by | Safvet-beg Bašagić |
Succeeded by | Office abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | Croatia, Yugoslavia | 20 January 1869
Nationality | Croat |
Political party | Croat People's Union (1910–1919) Croatian Popular Party (1919–1929) Ustaše (1929–1945) |
Alma mater | University of Vienna |
Profession | Lawyer, politician |
Nikola Mandić (Croatian pronunciation:
Early life
Nikola Mandić was born in the town of
Political career
Austria-Hungary
In the early 1900s, Mandić became one of the most influential
On 6 October 1908, Austria-Hungary officially
Mandić became a member of the Diet of Bosnia (Bosanski sabor) in 1910, representing the HNZ. He was elected Speaker of the Diet in 1911 and was named vice-governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina by decree of Emperor Franz Joseph. Mandić was also the founder and first president of the Croatian Central Bank (Hrvatska centralna banka, HCB), as well as its subsidiary, the Agricultural Bank of Sarajevo (Poljoprivredna banka u Sarajevu, PBS). He also founded a Croatian choir called "Trebević". Mandić remained a member of the Bosnian Diet until Austria-Hungary's dissolution in November 1918.[1]
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Following the establishment of the
In 1920, Mandić was appointed to the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, representing the Croatian Popular Party (Hrvatska pučka stranka). At the assembly, he became notable as an advocate of Croatian, as opposed to Yugoslav, political aims. He expressed his opposition to King Alexander's Vidovdan Constitution and voted against it on 28 June 1921, when it was passed with 223 voted for, 35 voted against and 161 abstained. Disappointed by the outcome of the vote, Mandić tendered his resignation from the assembly.[1]
Independent State of Croatia
Mandić was living as a retired government functionary at the time the
Immediately, Mandić became involved in discussions with the
On 1 March 1944, Mandić and Croatian Foreign Minister Stijepo Perić visited Adolf Hitler at the Schloss Klessheim, a Baroque palace located 4 km (2.5 mi) west of Salzburg.[1] German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop was also in attendance.[5] At the meeting, Hitler stressed that he considered Croatia an ally and partner and maintained that Serbia was merely a conquered state, stating: "[the] Serbs will never be [Germany's] friends".[6] Mandić and Perić complained to Hitler that the staff officers of the 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian) were promoting the autonomy of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Hitler disagreed with Mandić's assessment of the division, but later reached a compromise with Muslim autonomists whereby the division would remain in Bosnia and be used to defend its Muslim population. In return, the autonomists promised Hitler that they would support Bosnia and Herzegovina's integration into the NDH.[6]
Mandić led an NDH government delegation to Sarajevo in late April 1944. There, he was presented with a memorandum documenting the persecution of Muslims by the Ustaše. Croatian politicians quickly condemned the memorandum, calling it "one of the greatest Muslim assaults...on the sovereignty and unity of the NDH."
Together with the rest of the Croatian government, Mandić left Zagreb on 8 May 1945 in the
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Dizdar et al. 1997, p. 253.
- ^ Tomasevich 2001, pp. 378–379.
- ^ Donia 2006, p. 104.
- ^ Redžić 2005, p. 65.
- ^ Tomasevich 2001, p. 326.
- ^ a b Redžić 2005, p. 189.
- ^ Redžić 2005, p. 107.
References
- Dizdar, Zdravko; Grčić, Marko; ISBN 978-953-6377-03-9.
- Donia, Robert J. (2006). Sarajevo: A Biography. ISBN 978-0-472-11557-0.
- ISBN 978-0-7146-5625-0.
- ISBN 978-0-8047-3615-2.