Ljudevit Tomašić (2 January 1901 – April 1945) was a Croatian politician and prominent member of the

Croatian Peasant Party The Croatian Peasant Party ( hr, Hrvatska seljačka stranka, HSS) is an agrarian political party in Croatia founded on 22 December 1904 by Antun and Stjepan Radić as Croatian Peoples' Peasant Party (HPSS). The Brothers Radić believed that t ...

(HSS). He is known for his participation in the failed Lorković-Vokić plot in 1944 which aim was to create a coalition government between the ''

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionary Move ...

'' and the HSS and bring the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. It was established in p ...

(NDH) on the side of

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

. Tomašić was arrested in August 1944, and killed in April 1945.

Early life

Tomašić was born in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

, where he graduated from the gymnasium in 1920, after which he entered the

Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences or the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb ( Croatian: ''Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu'') is one of the faculties of the University of Zagreb. History The Faculty of Philosophy is the oldest fac ...

, where he studied philosophy and natural science. He graduated in 1929, gaining a diploma from philosophy and pedagogy. At the same time, Tomašić was studying at the

Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb The Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb ( hr, Pravni fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis, Facultas Iuridica, PFZG) is the law school of the University of Zagreb. Founded in 1776 by Empress Maria Theres ...

, but in the 1921 he graduated from teachers' school and worked in Sveti Martin na Muri as a teacher in an elementary school, but in 1923 he was fired due to his political activity.

Activity in the HSS

From 1917, Tomašić was member of the HSS. In 1927, he was sentenced to three years in prison, and at the beginning of 1929, he war released due to general amnesty. Under the police pressure, he left Zagreb and lived for four years in

Samobor Samobor () is a city in Zagreb County, Croatia. It is part of the Zagreb metropolitan area. Administratively it is a part of Zagreb County. Geography Samobor is located west of Zagreb, between the eastern slopes of the Samobor hills ( hr, Samo ...

under constant police surveillance; at the beginning of 1933, he was expelled from Samobor and extradited to the police in Zagreb, but was soon released. In 1935, Tomašić was elected to the

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

as a representative of Samobor and in 1938 as a representative of

Klanjec Klanjec () is a small town in northwestern Croatia, in the region of Hrvatsko Zagorje on the border with Slovenia. History In the late 19th and early 20th century, Klanjec was a district capital in the Varaždin County of the Kingdom of Croatia- ...

. In 1940, he became Director of the Economy Unity.

World War II

During the existence of the

, from 1941 till 1945, Tomašić belonged to the middle fraction of the HSS, gathered around Vladko Maček; he was also a member of the immediate war leadership of the Party. In 1942, he was called to be member of the Croatian State ''Sabor'', but he refused the offer. Tomašić illegally spread the HSS' newspapers. In 1943, Tomašić participated on the session of the immediate HSS leadership where they refused the suggestion of the Prime Minister of the Independent State of Croatia,

Nikola Mandić Nikola Mandić (; 20 January 1869 – 7 June 1945) was a Croatian politician and one of the leading political figures in Bosnia and Herzegovina under Austrian-Hungarian rule. He also served as a Prime Minister of the Independent State of Croati ...

, about the coalition government. While Maček was transferred to his apartment while he was under house arrest, Tomašević delivered him reports on

Mladen Lorković Mladen Lorković (1 March 1909 – April 1945) was a Croatian politician and lawyer who became a senior member of the Ustaše and served as the Foreign Minister and Minister of Interior of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) during World ...

's and

Ante Vokić Ante Vokić (23 August 1909 – 8 May 1945) was a Croatian politician, general and putschist. Member of the Ustaše, he was the Minister of Armed Forces of the Independent State of Croatia from 29 January to 30 August 1944, succeeding Mirosl ...

's initiative about the coup. He was also one of the immediate negotiators with the

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод� ...

. Because of his involvement in the Lorković-Vokić coup, Tomašić was arrested on 31 August 1944 and imprisoned in

Lepoglava Lepoglava is a town in Varaždin County, northern Croatia, located southwest of Varaždin, west of Ivanec, and northeast of Krapina. Demographics A total of 8,283 residents in the municipality (2011 census) live in the following settlements: * ...

. He was killed on 24 or 25 April 1945. During the time of

communist Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yugo ...

he was falsely put on the list of the

Jasenovac concentration camp Jasenovac () was a concentration and extermination camp established in the village of the same name by the authorities of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in occupied Yugoslavia during World War II. The concentration camp, one of the ...

victims as a part of communist propaganda.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tomasic, Ljudevit 1901 births 1945 deaths Politicians from Zagreb Croatian Peasant Party politicians Representatives in the Yugoslav National Assembly (1921–1941) Executed Croatian collaborators with Nazi Germany People executed by the Independent State of Croatia Nazis executed by firing squad