Vladimir Bakarić
Vladimir Bakarić was a Yugoslav and Croatian communist revolutionary and a politician.
Bakarić helped to organise the partisan resistance in the Independent State of Croatia during World War II. From 1948 to 1969, he was the chairman of the League of Communists of Croatia and as such was a close collaborator of President Josip Broz Tito. Even after stepping down from the top post in communist hierarchy in the Socialist Republic of Croatia, he retained much influence and was even considered to be the most influential politician in Croatia.
Together with Edvard Kardelj, he belonged to the more liberal wing of the Yugoslav political elite and was known for his statement on the need to "federate the federation", a reference to the struggle between Yugoslav unitarists, who advocated giving more powers to the central government, and federalists, who wanted to shift power to the republics. However, Bakarić was usually extremely careful in his public pronouncements on policy and wary of radical statements.
