The Great Purge of 1955 was a massive, state-directed campaign of political repression and administrative reorganization within the Divine Republic of Kresimiria. Initiated by Chancellor Kresimir Kresimirovic II, the purge resulted in the dismissal, arrest, or forced retirement of hundreds of high-ranking civil servants, intelligence officers, and journalists.
The purge was the government’s direct response to the 1954 Assassination of Kresimir Basic. Viewing the assassination as proof that the state apparatus had become “soft” and infiltrated by defeatists, the Chancellor sought to cleanse the government of the moderate influence remaining from the era of Filip Novak. The event marked the definitive beginning of the “Iron Era” (1955–1960), a period characterized by extreme police militarization and the total suppression of dissent.
Background
By late 1954, the Kresimirian security state was in crisis. Despite the 1933 National Security Act and the 1942 elimination of Lev Ruka, the Bosken separatist group BRC-21 had managed to escalate its insurgency.
Three major security failures occurred in rapid succession:
- The 1953 Ravna Skrad Market Bombing.
- The 1953 Attempt on the Chancellor in Sprodvice.
- The 1954 Assassination of Divine Founder Kresimir Basic.
The death of Basic, a founding father of the Republic, sent shockwaves through the capital. Hardliners within Blue Dawn and the Sons of Kresimir accused the Council for Internal Affairs (CIA) of incompetence and the civil service of harboring “liberal sympathizers” who lacked the will to crush the rebellion.
The purge was politically enabled by Luka Matar, the leader of Blue Dawn. Matar protected the Chancellor and General Kulas from parliamentary scrutiny, framing the removal of moderate civil servants as a necessary “efficiency measure” to streamline the state for total war against the insurgency.
The Decree of Purification
On January 4, 1955, Chancellor Kresimirovic II issued the Decree of Administrative Purification. In a radio address via Radio Kresimiria, he declared: “The hand that holds the sword of the Republic has trembled. We must replace it with a hand of iron.”
The Night of the Generals
The first target was the security apparatus. The long-serving Chief State Councillor, Petar Zima, was summarily dismissed and placed under house arrest for “dereliction of duty.”
He was replaced by General Borna Kulas, a hardline military commander known for his brutal tactics during the Unification War. Kulas immediately fired the top 40 ranking officers of the State Security Directorate. In their place, he installed military officers loyal to the Chancellory, effectively merging the civilian police with the army.
The Civil Service Cull
Throughout the spring of 1955, the purge expanded to the broader bureaucracy. The Chancellor’s office compiled lists of civil servants who had been appointed by liberal-leaning District Senators or who were known to associate with the Civic Renewal Front (CRF).
- Education: The Council for Education was gutted. Administrators who had advocated for bilingual education (Kresi/Bosken) in the south were fired.
- Diplomacy: The Council for Foreign Affairs saw a removal of diplomats deemed too friendly with Boskenmark.
Approximately 3,000 civil servants lost their jobs. Many were blacklisted from future employment, forcing them into poverty.
The War on the Press
The purge extended to the media. The Media Licensing Authority revoked the credentials of seventeen prominent journalists who had written editorials criticizing the government’s security failures rather than condemning the terrorists. Several were arrested on charges of “spreading alarm and despondency” under Article 39 of the Constitution.
Impact: The Iron Era
The immediate result of the purge was the total consolidation of power in the Chancellory. Blue Dawn under Luka Matar held 7 seats, Vjetrusa under General Dominik Loncar held 3, and the Sons of Kresimir under Davor Banit held 2, so the hardline bloc together held a majority in the Assembly. With the moderate “brake” removed from the government, Kresimirovic II and General Kulas implemented the “Iron Era” policies:
- Total Blockade: District X was placed under a total military blockade.
- Mass Arrests: The threshold for arrest was lowered. Possession of Bosken literature became a felony.
- Cultural Suppression: Public use of the Bosken language was banned in all state buildings.
Legacy
The Great Purge succeeded in silencing internal dissent but failed in its primary objective: ending the insurgency. By removing moderate experts on Bosken culture and replacing them with military hardliners, the state lost its intelligence capabilities. This blindness led directly to the failure to predict or prevent the 1960 Bombing of Karlovac University.
Historically, the purge is viewed as the zenith of Kresimirovic II’s authoritarianism. It remains a trauma in the collective memory of the Kresimirian civil service, fostering a culture of caution and conformity that persists in the Federal Councils to this day.