Voting Station

Franjo Tudjman

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World Leader

The Resume

    (May 14, 1922-December 10, 1999)
    Born in Veliko Trgovišće, Croatia (Hrvatska
    Founded ‘Institute for the History of Croatia's Workers' Movement’ (1961)
    Taught political science and history at University of Zagreb (1963-1967)
    President of Croatia (May 30, 1990-December 10, 1999)
    Died in Zagreb, Croatia

Why he might be annoying:

    Like Slobodan Milošević’s, he was a fiery nationalist, yet managed to avoid condemnation from the West.
    He duped the West into thinking that he was leading a multiparty democracy.
    In reality, however, he shut down newspapers and TV programs that criticize him, manipulated the election process in his favor, and created an oligarchy by concentrating power into the hand of a small elite that included his own family.
    He lived a life of luxury while living in Belgrade that involved tennis, caviar, and champagne (1946-1961).
    He left military service a year after he became general (1961).
    He refused to include ethnic Serbs in the Croatian constitution.
    After he retook Krajina, many Serbs fled the region as refugees, but without any condemnation from the West (1995).
    He enjoyed dressing pompously, traveling to other countries on his personal jetliner rather than commercial airliners.
    His unwillingness to work with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia resulted in Croatia’s isolation from the international community.
    He probably wanted to annex the parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina that have Croat majorities.
    He excessively engaged in corruption in the guise of the privatization of Croatian businesses.
    If he hadn't died, he would have been indicted for crimes against humanity, just like Slobodan Milošević.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was Croatia’s first democratically elected president since the downfall of communism in former Yugoslavia.
    He and his brother Stjepan fought against the Nazis during World War II, and Stjepan was killed as a result (1943).
    Right after the end of World War II, his father killed his mother (Franjo’s) and then himself.
    He got kicked out of the League of Communists for writing articles criticizing the status quo (1967).
    He was subsequently imprisoned for that same reason (1972 and 1981).
    Marshal Tito’s intervention to his arrest prevented Franjo from receiving a longer prison sentence.
    He outwitted Milošević and thwarted his invasion of Croatia as the latter was too obsessed with Bosnia.
    His defenders stated that he provided the strong leadership Croatia badly needed when it was invaded by Slobodan Milošević’s forces.
    He helped lay the basis of Croatia’s sovereignty.

Credit: Big Lenny


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 95 Votes: 56.84% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 88.89% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 34 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 24 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 23 Votes: 52.17% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 22 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 42 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 16 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 15 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 60 Votes: 66.67% Annoying