Alexander I of Yugoslavia

Shot on 9 October 1934 in Marseille by Vlado Chernozemski of the IMRO; the French foreign minister Louis Barthou died beside him.

Overview

Alexander, the warrior king who had made himself dictator after the parliament crisis of 1929, arrived in France to strengthen the alliance against Hitler Germany. On the Old Port, a Macedonian revolutionary of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization working with Croatian ustasha exiles leaped onto the running board and fired into the car, killing the king instantly; Barthou died of a wound and stray police fire killed two bystanders. The assassin was cut down at the scene. The investigation traced support to Hungary and Italy, poisoning Balkan politics and accelerating French search for allies. Alexander son Peter II was a minor, and the regency of Prince Paul steered toward neutrality until the 1941 coup and invasion. It was the first assassination ever captured on film with sound.