General Dominik Loncar (1879–1963) was a Kresimirian military commander, a Divine Founder of the Republic, and a major political figure. As the victorious general of the Kresimirian Unification War, he served as the nation’s first Councillor for War for over thirty years. In his later life, he founded the nationalist Vjetrusa party, serving as a Senator until his death in 1963.
Military Career
Vosti Empire Service
Loncar began his career as an officer in the semi-independent Kresimirian Army within the Vosti Empire, having graduated from Dubica University with a degree in Military Tactics and History. A gifted commander, he rose steadily through the ranks, becoming a Captain in 1905 and being promoted to General of the Detached Kresimirian Army in 1912. During this time, his known nationalist sympathies placed him on a watchlist compiled by the Vosti Empire’s central command under Imperial Marshal Voryk.
Kresimirian Unification War
The collapse of the Vosti Empire in 1918 provided Loncar with his defining opportunity. On November 19, 1918, acting decisively amidst the chaos, he issued the historic command to sever all ties with the collapsed Vosti command, taking full control of the Kresimirian military forces. He was widely credited with preventing the army from disintegrating, quelling potential mutinies and preventing mass defections to the newly independent Valkari States.
As the military leader of the Centralist Faction, his well-disciplined and organized army proved superior to the forces of the Eastern Pravoslavic Confederacy. Loncar ultimately led the Centralists to victory, and in 1921, his status as a national hero was cemented when he became one of the six signatories of the 1921 Kresimirian Constitution.
Councillor for War (1921–1952)
Unlike most of his fellow founders who immediately entered the Assembly, Loncar remained in a military and administrative role. Upon the formation of the Republic, he was appointed as the first Councillor for War, the head of the Council for Defence. For the next thirty-one years, he remained outside of electoral politics, viewing his duty as a professional, non-partisan one: to build and maintain the army of the new Republic and safeguard its national security. He served under both Chancellor Kresimir Kresimirovic I and Kresimir Kresimirovic II, overseeing the army’s doctrine and its long, grueling conflict with BRC-21.
Political Career: The Founding of Vjetrusa
In 1951, the dominant Revolutionary People’s Party was reformed into the more modern, progressive Blue Dawn. Loncar, an old-guard nationalist, viewed this shift as a betrayal of the original, hardline revolutionary spirit. Believing that a new political vehicle was needed to represent Kresimiria’s conservative and traditionalist values, he retired from his post as Councillor for War in early 1952.
He immediately founded the Vjetrusa party and announced his candidacy for the Assembly. In the 1952 election, he was successfully elected as a Senator for his home district of Viskogorje, winning 49.8% of the vote and bringing his new party into the Assembly with a total of three seats.
Later Life and Death
Loncar in 1961, two years before his death
Loncar served as the leader and figurehead of Vjetrusa for the next decade. He remained a staunch nationalist voice in the Assembly, notably opposing the 1961 Treaty of Brod Moravice, which he saw as a dangerous concession to terrorism.
By the time of the 1962 election, Loncar’s health was failing. Though he chose to run for and successfully won his Senate seat one last time, he stepped down as the active leader of Vjetrusa, passing the mantle to his colleague, Dragan Senar.
General Dominik Loncar died in 1963 at the age of 84 in his house in Kostajnica, Viskogorje. His death while in office triggered the 1963 special election in District VI. The seat was won by Haret Trn, who would go on to lead the Vjetrusa party for the next three decades.