Josip Broz Tito

Josip Broz Tito was born to Franjo and Marija Broz in the village of Kumrovec, which was part of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

At the age of 15, Tito leaves his village to become a locksmith apprentice in Sisak, where he also becomes involved in labor movements and socialist politics.

Tito enlists in the Austro-Hungarian Army, serving as a sergeant in the 25th Regiment. He is later stationed in the Balkans during the outbreak of World War I.

Tito is captured by the Russian Army during the Battle of Cer and is sent to a prisoner-of-war camp in the Urals, where he becomes involved in revolutionary activities.

Tito escapes from the prisoner-of-war camp and joins the Bolsheviks, participating in the Russian Revolution and the subsequent civil war.

After the end of World War I, Tito returns to the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia) and becomes active in the Communist Party.

Tito is arrested and imprisoned for his involvement in the Communist Party, serving a five-year sentence in Lepoglava Prison.

Tito is elected as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, a position he will hold for the rest of his life, effectively becoming the leader of the party.

With the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, Tito organizes and leads the Yugoslav Partisans, a resistance movement that fights against the occupying forces and collaborator regimes.

Tito is proclaimed the leader of Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, a provisional government that will become the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia in 1946.

Tito is formally appointed as the Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of the newly established Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, solidifying his role as the country's leader.

Tito breaks with the Soviet Union and Joseph Stalin, leading to the Tito-Stalin split. Yugoslavia becomes a non-aligned socialist state, independent of Soviet control.

Tito is elected as the President of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, a position he will hold until his death. He implements significant economic and social reforms.

Tito, along with leaders from Egypt, India, and Indonesia, co-founds the Non-Aligned Movement, a group of states that are not formally aligned with or against any major power blocs.

Tito introduces a new constitution that further decentralizes power within Yugoslavia, giving more autonomy to the republics and provinces. He is named President for Life.

Josip Broz Tito dies of gangrene in a hospital in Ljubljana, Slovenia. He is buried in the House of Flowers in Belgrade, which later becomes a national memorial site.