Ante Trumbić

Who was Ante Trumbić?

Ante Trumbić was a Croatian politician in the early 20th century. He was one of the key politicians in the creation of a Yugoslav state.

Trumbić was born in Split in the Austro-Hungarian crownland of Dalmatia and studied law at Zagreb, Vienna and Graz. He practiced as a lawyer, and then, from 1905 as the city mayor of Split. Trumbić was in favor of moderate reforms in Austro-Hungarian Slavic provinces, which included the unification of Dalmatia with Croatia-Slavonia.

After the assassination in Sarajevo of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the invasion of Serbia by Austria-Hungary, Trumbić became the prominent Yugoslav nationalist leader during World War I, and led the Yugoslav Committee that lobbied the Allies to support the creation of an independent Yugoslavia. Trumbić negotiated with Serbian Prime Minister Nikola Pašić to have the Kingdom of Serbia support the creation of a Yugoslav state, which was delivered at the Corfu Declaration on 20 July 1917 that advocated the creation of a united state of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes that would be led by the Serbian House of Karađorđević.

In 1918 he became foreign minister in the first government of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.