Since I'm still a bit mixed up with the current PoW canon, I'll just edit it to fit both Ducky's application (partly) and the lore.
Nation: Republic of Slovene-Croatia
Leader: Andrej Dvornik ( 7th President of Slovene-Croatia )
History:
While they were occupied by Austria-Hungary for the most of the nineteenth century, the Northern Balkan areas, which mostly had a majority of Croats and Slovenes, Slovenia and Croatia had been much less involved or interested with the activities of Slavic terrorist groups, one of them being the Serbian Black Hand. The Croats and Slovenes already had their own national movement before the turn of the century, and while they were divided between the conservative Old Slovenes / Croats and the more progressive Young Slovenes / Croats, the area as a whole had establish several reforms, such as standardization literary languages and modernized primary education.
Their dislike against the Serbians increased as the Great War began, and despite the Serbian radicals talk over unification of the Balkan Slavs, the Croats and Slovenes refused. The Balkan countries were unfortunately affected by the Great War, with battles continuously occurring in their country, often causing the destruction of many cities and loss of lives as some were conscripted by their dominating country. Later, in the midst of the Great War in 1922, it seemed that the Slovenes and Croats, like several other ethnic groups part of the former Austria-Hungary Empire, was caught in confusion and uncertainty as Hungary split from Austria and the Austria-Hungary Empire was dissolved.
For a few years after the war, Slovenia and Croatia remained as part of the Austria, despite Slovenia and Croatia's hopes of independence after the Great War. Their pleas were refused, and while Slovenia and Croatia were seen as an autonomous region, the sudden executions of the Serbian Royal Family caused Austria suppress Slovenia and Croatia with military force in fears of a similar uprising. Austria had its own problems, however, as after the Great War, Austria was in ruins, with her economy collapsing from war debts. Currency rapidly decreased in value, making even basic goods difficult to purchase.
Slovene and Croat nationalist took advantage of this opportunity and furthered their protests, occupying key governmental buildings and demanding independence. While Austria was not willing to give up their land, they also did not want to cause international outrage, especially near increasingly militaristic neighbors. Rather hastily, the two states were given independence in 1926 by the Brijuni Agreements.
Slovenia's first president, Franc Lavric was elected a few months after the agreements; he was 46 at his inauguration. Lavric wanted the economically-damaged Slovenia into a modern republic, pushing for women's rights, a shift form agriculture to commerce and industry, and improvements on the rail networks. While some of his radical reforms were not taken lightly from more conservative Slovenes, it had appeal to the population who was still having difficulties recovering. Lavric continued to remain on the presidency until the Slovene-Croat reunification.
Croatia had Ivan Kovacic. They shared a border with the less stable Bosnia, and had an increasingly militaristic Serbia just past that. There were fears of Serbian invasion; Kovacic wanted to keep Bosnia as a buffer zone, and advised by Rear Admiral Vukovic, increased his navy and army size in reaction to the "Serbian Scare". The scare, however, set racial equality movements backward, as Croatian-Serbs were discriminated against and forced down to a second-class citizen level. Riots were frequent. In 1935, however, Kovacic was revealed to be involved with weapon deals with certain businesses, which plummeted his popularity. Kovacic shortly resigned and was replaced by Ivo Rogoz, who was more moderate and focused on national affairs. Kovacic warned of the potential tension between Croatia and Serbia before he left office (he died in 1951).
Serbia's invasion proved Kovacic's fears correct as they launched attacks against Albania and Macedonia. The wars shocked both Slovenia and Croatia; in 1946, they met together in Trieste for a conference toward the matter. After weeks of debates, Slovenia and Croatia finally agreed to become a "dual republic"; while one president would run Slovene-Croatia, Slovenia and Croatia were two separate administrative divisions and could run their own governments at a smaller level.
Lavric was chosen to run Slovene-Croatia as its first president up to 1948, as the Slovene-Croatian Democratic Party (SHDS) ;he was followed by Leon Rusjan. Rusjan furthered Lavric's goals; he made some modifications to the Slovenian and Serbo-Croatian written languages to make it possible for both Slovenes and Croats to read. He also attempted to increase literacy rates by making nine-year primary / secondary school compulsory. Outside of educational reforms, he also established a minimum wage.
In 1971, Miroslav Gazi, the fifth president of Slovene-Croatia, did a shocking action – in response to the newly appointed Dragan leading Serbia and persecuting of leftist and far leftist, Gazi decided to allow those Serbian party members to enter Slovene-Croatia. Gazi, however, ended up worsening the Slovene-Croatian and Serbian relations even further. This was further intensified by Gazi's refusal to even meet the dictator. Ultimately, Gazi's actions were met in disapproval, and he lost reelection in 1972. For the first time in history, the "SHDS dynasty" ended as power transferred to the center-right Democratic Union.
1980 was another switch of power to Dvornik. As the government switched back to the SHDS's, Slovenes and Croatians alike wondered what would happen to the future of their nation as tensions arise.