Tito

Origin

Born Josip Broz on May 7th, 1892, Tito was a Yugoslavian revolutionary and later president of that country. He was drafted in the Austro-Hungarian Army in 1913 at the age of 21. He rose to the rank of sergeant before the war and, when he entered WWI became a Segeant Major. He was taken by the Russian Army as a prisoner of war and spent a year of his incarceration in a work camp in the Ural Mountains, where he was eventually broken out by revolting prisoners. Joining a Bolshevik revolutionary group, he was present in Russia during the October Revolution and became a member of the Red Guard. He returned to Yugoslavia in 1920 and became a member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY). Though a popular party (it won 59 seats in 1920), the Communist Party was declared illegal in 1921. Broz remained a member, travelling extensively around the country finding positions as a member of various unions until he was arrested and imprisoned for his communist sympathies in 1928. He spent 5 years in prison, during which his commitment to the communist party only grew in strength. Upon his release he rejoined the CPY, now headquartered in Vienna, where he became a member of the Central Committee. He spent some brief time as a member of the Comintern in the Soviet Union before becoming Secretary-General of the still-illegal CPY upon assassination of the previous Secretary-General

He became Prime Minister of the newly formed Democratic Federal Yugoslavia following military action, in which he and his supporters took part, that caused the dissolution of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Though he originally enjoyed a fairly good relationship with the communist government of Russia under Stalin, their relationship began deteriorating in 1948 and was completely dissolved by 1950. After this, Tito kept the country firmly as a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, for which he was the first Secretary-General, in office between 1961 and 1964. He was given the title of president of Yugoslavia in 1953 and held it to his death, being re-elected 6 times and eventually declared president for life. In 1963 his government relaxed its tight hold on speech, religion and private enterprise. He allowed borders to be opened and removed visa requirements. His form of communism was quite different from that of contemporary communist leaders, in that it was universally more open and worked better for the people.

He had three wives. He married the first, Pelagija Belousova, after meeting her while in hiding in Russia. They were married in 1919 and were divorced in 1939. His second, Herta Haas, was a Yugoslav Partisan. They were married in 1940 and divorced in 1943 following Tito's affair with a secretary. His third wife, Jovanka Budisavljevic, was a major in the Yugoslav People's Army. They were married in 1953, and remained together until his death. He had four children, Zlatica Broz, Hinko Broz, Zarko Leon Broz and Aleksander Broz.

Tito died on May 4th, 1980 of complications from gangrene in his legs brought on by poor circulation. His state funeral was, at the time, the largest in history, with important people from both sides of the Cold War in attendance.