Ivo Frank | |
|---|---|
 Ivo Frank in 1934 | |
| Born | 17 December 1877 |
| Died | 19 December 1939 (aged 62) |
| Resting place | Mirogoj Cemetery, Zagreb |
| Alma mater | University of Zagreb |
| Occupation(s) | Politician, lawyer |
| Political party | Party of Rights |
| Relatives | Josip Frank (father) Dido Kvaternik (nephew) |
Ivo Frank (17 December 1877 – 19 December 1939) was a Croatian politician and lawyer, and member of the Party of Rights. Frank gained prominence as a member of the group that tore down a Hungarian flag to protest the 1895 visit by Emperor Franz Joseph to Zagreb. He was elected a member of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia's parliament (called the Sabor) in the final decade of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Before the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, Frank advocated for trialist reform of the empire as a means of protection against the Magyarisation and Serbian irredentism. Following the establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918, Frank left the country to lead the émigré Croatian Committee, which advocated for Croatian independence.
Frank sought political alliance with Gabriele D'Annunzio who seized the city of Rijeka (Fiume) in the immediate aftermath of the World War I for Italian fascists. He reached agreements with D'Annunzio on Italian support in return for territorial concessions in Dalmatia, but the Kingdom of Italy withdrew its support following the Treaty of Rapallo and ended negotiations with the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1920. Subsequently, Frank focused on gaining Hungarian support by advocating for a revised version of the Treaty of Trianon, which partitioned the Kingdom of Hungary after the war. He further proposed a political partnership between Hungary and Croatia against Pan-Slavism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Pan-Germanism. In 1927, Frank again sought Italian support for Croatian independence, promising Italian dominance in the Adriatic Sea and territorial concessions. He, together with Ante Pavelić, appealed to Benito Mussolini. Frank's leading standing among the Croatian political émigrés began to wane in 1929 with the rise of Pavelić-led fascist Ustaše. Frank endorsed Ustaše in early 1930s, but he appeared to distance himself from them in 1934.