Vladko Maček

Vladko Maček
Maček takes an oath to become vice president of Yugoslav government-in-exile
President of the Croatian Peasant Party
In office 8 August 1928 – 15 May 1964
Preceded by	Stjepan Radić
Succeeded by	Juraj Krnjević
Deputy Prime Minister
In office 26 August 1939 – April 1941
Prime Minister	Dragiša Cvetković Dušan Simović
Succeeded by	Juraj Krnjević
Leader of the Opposition
In office 8 August 1928 – 26 August 1939
Personal details
Born	(1879-07-20)20 July 1879 Jastrebarsko, Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, Austria-Hungary
Died	15 May 1964(1964-05-15) (aged 84) Washington, D.C., United States
Nationality	Croat
Political party	Croatian Peasant Party
Relations	Stanisław Maczek (cousin)
Alma mater	University of Zagreb
Occupation	Politician, lawyer
Religion	Roman Catholic

Vladimir "Vladko" Maček (20 June 1879 – 15 May 1964) was a Croatian politician active within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in the first half of the 20th century. He led the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) following the 1929 assassination of Stjepan Radić, and through World War II.

Maček was born into a Slovene-Czech family in the village of Kupinec near Jastrebarsko, southwest of Zagreb. The famous Polish general Stanisław Maczek was his cousin. In 1903, he earned a law degree at University of Zagreb. After clerking at various Croatian courts he opened a private law practice in 1908 in Sv. Ivan Zelina. He joined the Croatian Peasant Party at its founding. After World War I, during which he served in the Austro-Hungarian Army, he became a close associate of Stjepan Radić. In 1925, after Radić's visit to Moscow and the Croatian Peasant Party joining the Peasants International, Maček was arrested by the Royal Yugoslav authorities. While in jail, he was elected to the National Assembly. In July 1925, after HSS had joined the government, Maček was released.

Maček became the leader of the party on 13 August 1928 following Radić's assassination. He quickly became a main opponent of King Alexander and was arrested in April 1933 and sentenced to three years in jail for treason.

Maček was released following Alexander's assassination in 1934. His stated aim during that period was to transform Yugoslavia from a unitary state, dominated by ethnic Serbs, into a new form of state organization in which Croatian statehood would be restored. His ideas appealed to a majority of Croats, and the Croatian Peasant Party gradually gained popularity. He nurtured close relations with other opposition parties in Yugoslavia and, although his coalition lost elections in 1938, it remained a force for reckoning. His persistence and political skills finally paid off in August 1939 with Dragiša Cvetković in the Cvetković-Maček Agreement and the creation of the Banate (Banovina) of Croatia, a semi-autonomous entity which contained Croatia and large sections of today's Bosnia and Herzegovina. HSS became part of the coalition government while Maček himself became deputy prime minister of Yugoslavia.