Milos Hrdlicka (1862–1928) was a Bosken aristocrat and the principal political leader of the Sprodvice Provisional Directorate during the Kresimirian Unification War.
As the highest-ranking civil official in the southern territories following the collapse of the Vosti Empire, Hrdlicka spearheaded the political effort to secede from the newly declared Kresimirian state. He sought to unite the Pravoslavic-majority lands with the newly independent nation of Boskenmark. While he possessed significant diplomatic skill, his inability to secure timely military intervention from his allies ultimately led to the Directorate’s defeat and his own exile.
Early Life and Imperial Administration
Born in 1862 to a wealthy, land-owning family in Brod Moravice, Hrdlicka was a prominent figure in the southern Vosti aristocracy. He was educated in Vost and served for decades as an Imperial Magistrate.
Hrdlicka was known as a pragmatic conservative. He was deeply committed to the Pravoslavic Faith and feared the rising tide of Kresimirian nationalism emanating from Sinj and Karlovac. When the Continental War destabilized the Empire, he became a leading voice advocating for Bosken autonomy within a reformed imperial structure.
The Unification War (1918–1921)
The Declaration of Sprodvice
When the Vosti Emperor abdicated in November 1918, Hrdlicka was serving as the regional governor in Sprodvice. Upon hearing that Filip Novak and the Revolutionary People’s Council had declared a unified Kresimirian Republic that claimed the southern territories, Hrdlicka acted immediately.
On November 15, 1918, he convened a council of southern nobles, merchants, and clergy. They issued the Declaration of Sprodvice, formally rejecting the authority of Sinj and establishing the Sprodvice Provisional Directorate as a secessionist government. Hrdlicka was elected its Chairman.
Diplomatic Efforts
Hrdlicka’s strategy relied entirely on international recognition and support. He appointed General Falko Kiesewetter to manage the military defense while he focused on diplomacy.
Hrdlicka sent numerous envoys to Vost, pleading with the newly formed government of Boskenmark under Meik Rinder for military intervention and formal annexation. However, Boskenmark was dealing with its own post-imperial chaos and hesitated to commit regular troops to a civil war in the north. Hrdlicka managed to secure weapons and volunteer fighters, but no formal treaty of union.
The Collapse
The turning point came with the Siege of Ravna Skrad in the winter of 1920. Hrdlicka frantically telegraphed Boskenmark, warning that if the city fell, the Kresimirian army under General Loncar would sweep into the south.
When Ravna Skrad fell and General Kiesewetter committed suicide in February 1921, Hrdlicka’s government collapsed into panic. He fled Sprodvice for Brod Moravice. Boskenmark finally sent an expeditionary force in March 1921, but it was too little, too late. Following the decisive Centralist victory at the Battle of the Brod Ford in May, Hrdlicka crossed the river into exile alongside the retreating Boskenmark army.
Exile and Death
Hrdlicka spent the rest of his life in exile in Vost, Boskenmark. The Kresimirian government tried him in absentia for treason and stripped his family of their estates in District X.
He became a bitter and marginalized figure, frequently criticizing the Boskenmark government for their delayed intervention. He died of pneumonia in 1928 at the age of 66.
His legacy is mixed within the Bosken community. While revered as a founding father of modern Bosken separatism, many younger radicals, including the founder of BRC-21, Lev Ruka, viewed his reliance on diplomacy and foreign armies as the primary reason the south was lost, shaping the insurgency’s future reliance on asymmetric terrorism rather than conventional statecraft.