Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-dwq4g Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-31T13:51:36.476Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

8 - The kingdom of Yugoslavia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 February 2010

Get access

Summary

The royal dictatorship

The apparent ease with which Alexander was able to overthrow the constitution can be attributed to a number of factors. The democratic experiment had obviously failed. The appalling scene of uproar in the Skupština, culminating in the murder of the Croat deputies, reflected the fact that the divisions within society were too deep to be resolved by the normal processes of parliamentary democracy. Even Dr Maček, Radić's successor, seemed to want the king to take power – ‘There is no longer a constitution, but only the King and the people.’

Once he had decided to act, the king knew that he could rely on the army, the majority of whose senior officers were Serbs who were loyal to Alexander as head of the Karadjordjevic dynasty rather than as king of the Serb, Croat and Slovene state. He invited General Petar Zivković, commander of the Royal Guard and a close friend, to lead the new government. Zivković chose a cabinet which included some former politicians, mainly Serbian, and a number of non-political specialists. The new regime immediately acted against the main opposition groups. Pribičević was arrested without trial in May and held in detention until August 1931, when the intervention of his friend President T. G. Masaryk secured his release and a safe passage to exile in Czechoslovakia. Some of the more extreme Croat nationalists fled abroad, including Ante Pavelić, the leader of the Ustaša. He was given asylum in Italy, where, under Mussolini's protection, he was able to plan acts of terrorism against the Yugoslav regime which culminated in the assassination of the king in 1934.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×