Franjo Tuđman (; 14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999) was a Croatian politician. Following the country's independence from Yugoslavia he became the first President of Croatia. In his youth he fought during World War II as a member of the Yugoslav partisans, becoming later the youngest general in the Yugoslav army. After his military career, he worked as a historian until coming into conflict with the regime. He lived relatively anonymously in the following years until the end of communism, whereupon he began his political career by founding the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) in 1989.