Editing Yugoslavia (section)

===King Alexander===
{{see also|6 January Dictatorship}}
On 20 June 1928, Serb deputy [[Puniša Račić]] shot at five members of the opposition [[Croatian Peasant Party]] in the [[National Assembly of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia|National Assembly]], resulting in the death of two deputies on the spot and that of leader [[Stjepan Radić]] a few weeks later.{{sfn|Ramet|2006|p=73}} On 6 January 1929, [[King of Yugoslavia|King]] [[Alexander I of Yugoslavia|Alexander I]] got rid of the [[Vidovdan Constitution|constitution]], [[Nonpartisanism|banned national political parties]], [[Absolute monarchy|assumed executive power]], and renamed the country Yugoslavia.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite web |url =http://www.indiana.edu/~league/1929.htm |title =Chronology 1929 |author =[[Indiana University]] |publisher =indiana.edu |date =October 2002 |access-date =8 February 2014 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20150222035557/http://www.indiana.edu/~league/1929.htm |archive-date =22 February 2015 |url-status =live }}</ref> He hoped to curb separatist tendencies and mitigate nationalist passions. He imposed a [[1931 Yugoslav Constitution|new constitution]] and relinquished his dictatorship in 1931.<ref>{{cite web |url =http://www.indiana.edu/~league/1931.htm |title =Chronology 1929 |author =[[Indiana University]] |publisher =indiana.edu |date =October 2002 |access-date =8 February 2014 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20140222001410/http://www.indiana.edu/~league/1931.htm |archive-date =22 February 2014 |url-status =live }}</ref> However, Alexander's policies later encountered opposition from other European powers stemming from developments in Italy and Germany, where Fascists and [[Nazism|Nazis]] rose to power, and the [[Soviet Union]], where [[Joseph Stalin]] became absolute ruler. None of these three regimes favored the policy pursued by Alexander I. In fact, Italy and Germany wanted to revise the international treaties signed after World War I,<ref>{{Cite web |title=World War I: Treaties and Reparations |url=https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/world-war-i-treaties-and-reparations |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=encyclopedia.ushmm.org |language=en}}</ref> and the Soviets were determined to regain their positions in Europe and pursue a more active international policy.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roberts |first=Geoffrey C. |title=The Soviet Union and the Origins of the Second World War: Russo-German Relations and the Road to War, 1933-1941 |date=August 7, 1995 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-349-24124-8 |series=The Making of the Twentieth Century |location=London |publication-date=}}</ref>

Alexander attempted to create a centralised Yugoslavia. He decided to abolish Yugoslavia's historic regions, and new internal boundaries were drawn for provinces or banovinas.<ref name="DoniaFine1994">{{cite book |last1=Donia |first1=Robert J. |last2=Fine |first2=John Van Antwerp |title=Bosnia and Hercegovina: A Tradition Betrayed |date=1994 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=9780231101615 |page=129 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=stOIQ5GXIDgC&pg=PA129}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Atkeson |first1=Edward B. |title=The New Legions: American Strategy and the Responsibility of Power |date=2011 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9781442213777 |page=141 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0QFUOVXylsQC&pg=PA141}}</ref> The banovinas were named after rivers.<ref name="DoniaFine1994" /> Many politicians were jailed or kept under police surveillance. During his reign, communist movements were restricted.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Roszkowski |first1=Wojciech |last2=Kofman |first2=Jan |title=Biographical Dictionary of Central and Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-31747-593-4 |pages=3465 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RnKlDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA3465}}</ref>

The king was assassinated in [[Marseille]] during an official visit to France in 1934 by [[Vlado Chernozemski]], an experienced marksman from [[Ivan Mihailov]]'s [[Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization]] with the cooperation of the [[Ustaše]], a Croatian fascist revolutionary organisation.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zsTmAAAAMAAJ&q=cernozemski+bulgarian|title=Request by the Yugoslav Government Under Article 11, Paragraph 2, of the Covenant: Communication from the Yugoslav Government|last=[[Yugoslavia]]|year=1934|publisher=[[League of Nations]]|pages=8|language=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KfqbujXqQBkC&dq=cernozemski+bulgarian&pg=PA326|title=The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics|last=Banac|first=Ivo|date=1984|publisher=Cornell University Press|pages=326|isbn=978-0-8014-9493-2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6B9pAAAAMAAJ&q=tchernozemski+bulgarian|title=Crown of Thorns|last=Groueff|first=Stéphane|date=1987|publisher=Madison Books|pages=224|isbn=978-0-8191-5778-2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N5-ixYvhfs8C&dq=1934+imro+bulgarian+Vlado&pg=PA261|title=Balkan Firebrand - The Autobiography of a Rebel Soldier and Statesman|last=Kosta|first=Todorov|date=2007|publisher=Read Books|pages=267|isbn=978-1-4067-5375-2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ViAANnwIYgUC&dq=chernozemski+bulgarian&pg=PA230|title=Violette Noziere: A Story of Murder in 1930s Paris|last=Maza|first=Sarah|date=2011-05-31|publisher=University of California Press|pages=230|isbn=978-0-520-94873-0}}</ref> Alexander was succeeded by his eleven-year-old son [[Peter II of Yugoslavia|Peter II]] and a regency council headed by his cousin, [[Prince Paul of Yugoslavia|Prince Paul]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://digitalna.nb.rs/wb/NBS/Periodika/SD_EA14D129E93A8F6C7A1935AA12C320B4/1934/10/12?pageIndex=00003|title=Краљевски намесници и чланови Народног претставништва положили су јуче заклетву на верност Њ. В. Кралу Петру II|date=12 October 1934|language=sh|work=Време|trans-title=Royal deputies and members of the People's Representative Office took the oath of allegiance to King Peter II yesterday}}</ref>