Josip Broz Tito

This article is about the historical communist dictator of Yugoslavia. For the minor fictional character in "Herbig-Haro", see Josip Bros.

Josip Tito Historical Figure Nationality: Croat citizen of Yugoslavia (born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire) Year of Birth: 1892 Year of Death: 1980 Cause of Death: Gangrene Religion: Atheist, formerly a Catholic Occupation: Revolutionary, soldier, partisan, politician, spy Spouse: Pelagija Broz (divorced 1939) Jovanka Broz Children: Four Military Branch: Austro-Hungarian Army (1913–1915, World War I); Yugoslav People's Army (1941-1980, incl. World War II) Political Party: League of Communists of Yugoslavia Political Office(s): President and Prime Minister (de facto dictator) of Yugoslavia Fictional Appearances: The Hot War POD: November, 1950 Appearance(s): Bombs Away; Armistice Type of Appearance: Contemporary references The Man With the Iron Heart POD: May 29, 1942; Relevant POD: May, 1945 Type of Appearance: Contemporary references

Josip Broz Tito (7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), in Cyrillic Јосип Броз Тито, was the leader of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1943 until his death in 1980. Born in Croatia to a Croat father and a Slovenian mother, he identified as a Croat. During World War II, Tito organized the anti-fascist resistance movement known as the Yugoslav Partisans. He was Secretary-General (later President) of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (1939–80). He also served as Prime Minister (1944–63) and later President (1953–80) of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). From 1943 to his death in 1980 he held the rank of Marshal of Yugoslavia, serving as the supreme commander of the Yugoslav military.

Despite being one of the founders of Cominform, he was also the only successful Cominform member to defy Soviet hegemony. Tito ruled Yugoslavia with an iron fist. Shortly after his death, the various ethnic groups he had held together returned to their hereditary conflicts.

Josip Broz Tito in The Hot War

Josip Broz Tito was the ruler of Yugoslavia at the outbreak of World War III. While Tito's government was communist, it was also deviationist; Tito had broken with Stalin and had stayed neutral during the war. Nonetheless, one Soviet Tu-4 violated Yugoslav airspace on its way to bomb Bordeaux, France; it was undetected.

In September 1952, Tito's government acted as intermediary in peace negotiations between the United States and the People's Republic of China. Tito sent Foreign Minister Edvard Kardelj to meet with President Harry Truman, offering China's proposal for ending the Korean theater. During their meeting, Kardelj also took the occasion to praise Tito's policy of equal-opportunity employment for all Yugoslav groups, in contrast to the Serbian tyranny of the Monarchists and the Croatian tyranny of the Ustaše. Truman was somewhat dubious about this rose-colored image of Tito's rule.

Josip Broz Tito in The Man With the Iron Heart

Josip Tito's resistance to German occupation was remembered bitterly by Reinhard Heydrich, who nonetheless drew inspiration from Tito's tactics when leading the German Freedom Front.