STRONG RULER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 240, 10 October 1934, Page 7

STRONG RULER.

SOLDIER AND KING.

Monarch and Dictator of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

ALEXANDER'S LIFE STORY,

King Alexander Karageorgcvitch of Yugoslavia was the second son of Peter KaragcW-geviteh, the former pretender to the throne and afterwards King of Serbia, and his wife Zorka (Aurora), a daughter of King Nicholas of Montenegro. He was born in December, 188S, at Cettinje and received his first school and military training along with his elder brother, George, in the Russian Cadet Corps. When, on June 15, 1903, his father became King of Serbia, Alexander was brought back from Russia and continued his general education under Serbian professors and then received a special training in political science. After the renunciation of his light to the throne by the Crown Prince Oeorge, which was accepted by Parliament in March, 1000, Prince Alexander was proclaimed Crown -Prince and turned his attention to the annv, in which, like his brother, he had served in the infantry. On the outbreak of the first Balkan war in October, 1012, lie took command of the Ist Serbian Army with which he won the important battle of Kumanovo. Futile Attempt on Life. On June 2-1, 1914, in view of the illness of King Pete, he became Regent, and acted as such till the death of his father on August 10, 1921, whereupon lie ascended the throne as King of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. He had taken tlie oath to the Vidovdan Constitution on June 29, and after he left Parliament on that occasion his life was unsuccessfully attempted by means of a bomb. Ever since the foundation of the Triune Kingdom there had been trouble with the Croats, who demanded a federal system. The situation was rendered acute by the shooting of the Croat leaders in the Chamber in June, 1928. The Koroshctz Cabinet resigned at the end of the year. The Croats then demanded of the King a federal form of. government giving autonomy to Croatia, but the other parties would have none of it. Suddenly during tlie niglit of January 1929. a proclamation by the King was posted, suspending the constitution, dissolving Parliament, and setting up a dictatorship. Alexander declared that Parliamentarism had always been his ideal, but due to political passions it had begun to provoke national disunion and disintegration. lie had either to sacrifice the unity and future of the State to anarchy or to step into the breach himself. The King nominated as Premier, (Jeneral Zivkovitch, Commander of the Royal Bodyguard, who had never taken part in politics.

Most Powerful of Europe's Rulers. Alexander, who was the most powerful figure among European monarchs, was the real dictator with the Premier and his colleagues as his advisers. It is said that Zivkovitch wished to be merely War Minister, but that the King told him iic must be Premier. The general then wrote a list of the Cabinet he proposed, but Alexander tore it up and handed him a list he had himself prepared. It included some Croats, who, however,'it was declared, represented no one but themselves. The King's critics asserted that he had played one party oil' against another ever since the Triune Kingdom was set up, with the aim of getting a weak Government and so strengthening his own position. The establishment of a Royal party was actually mooted in 1927. It is also declared that the coup had been long contemplated, and that all the members of the Zivkovitch Cabinet had met at the Royal shooting box in Bosnia in the summer of 1928. The new regime did much in a short time to increase administrative efficiency and deal with financial problems. Heavy cuts were made in the civil service, a start was made, with the reduction of the seven legal codes to a uniform system and a special court was set up to deal with offences against the Defence of the Realm Act. Corruption was rife among officials, and strong measures were taken against it, including the suppression of certain public bodies. On the other hand, political liberty was interfered with; all the Croat and Slovene parties were dissolved; a censorship was established and papers suppressed or punished for free comment, while drastic penalties were imposed for political agitation. There was a strong feeling against the dictatorship in Croatia. Bomb Attack Fails. While the monarch was visiting Zagreb, the Croatian capital, in February, 1931, a bomb outrage occurred. After the explosion lie walked alone through the streets to inspect- the damage. Later thousands assembled and cheered the King for his courage. In an interview he denied that sections of his people were disloyal. The object of the new regime had been to restore

internal peace and weld tho three branches of the race into a united Yugoslav nation. At the end of August the Zivkovitch Cabinet was reconstructed. Then on September 2, Alexander, who had found the strain of active dictatorship too much for his health, gave the country a new constitution and a new name. It was to be called tho Kingdom of Yugoslavia instead of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and the monarchy was declared to be a constitutional one. Parliament was to consist of a Senate and a Chamber, but half the members of the former were to be nominated by the King. The right of assembly was restored, but no associations, clubs or parties were allowed to be formed on a racial, regional or religious basis. The existing Cabinet resigned, but was at once reinstated by the King. Croats' Bitter Disappointment. The Croats and other racial parties were bitterly disappointed at the destruction of all hopes of regional autonomy. On April 4, 1932, General Zivkovitch resigned the Premiership, declaring that he had completed the task act him in 1929. Alexander accepted his resignation and sent for Marinkovitch, the Foreign Minister, who at once formed a Cabinet, retaining all the former Ministers. It had been obvious for some time that a crisis was approaching. Some of the provisions of the new constitution had not been carried out, but after the resignation of Zivkovitch it was stated that all decrees suspending public meetings and the freedom of the Press would he repealed at once and that political parties would be allowed to organise again. Tn June, 1922, King Alexander married Marie, second daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie of Rumania. The Crown Prince Peter was born in September, 1923. and Prince Toinislav in January, 1929. The name Tomislav was a compliment to the Croats, as it had been borne by their first king. AGED ELEVEN. Young King in England for His Education. AT SCHOOL IN SURREY. (Iteccived 11.30 a.m.) LONDON, October 0. King Alexander's heir, Prince Peter, aged 11, arrived in London recently accompanied by his English tutor. He entered Sandroyd school, Surrey. This was his first separation from his parents and special plans were made to ensure his safety during the journey. Tho new King speaks five languages. He rides and swims, and is able to drive a car.

QUEEN INFORMED. TRAVELLED OVERLAND. (British Official Wireless.) (Received 1.30 11.111.) RUGBY, Octobcr 9. Queen Marie of Serbia had not travelled with her husband but had proceeded overland, and the news of her husband's death was communicated to her at Basle. It appears that the assassin broke from the crowd through the police cordon and jumped on to the footboard of the car, from which he fired a number of shots. A mounted officer in the escort spurred forward and struck lii'in to the ground with his sabre. KING'S DICTATORSHIP. AN ENGLISH DESCRIPTION. i In his authoritative survey of politics in the Balkans, "Heirs to the Habsburgs," Mr. G. E. R. Gedye describes the dictatorship in Yugoslavia under King Alexander: — "Yugoslavia, from a chattering, unschooled democracy, has become a typical dictatorship country, with the usual concomitants of espionage, informers, and spies in cafes and public conveyances terrorising the public, mutual distrust among friends, arrest without trial, shocking police tortures, mysterious disappearances, and shootings 'while attempting to escape.' King Alexander undoubtedly acted in the interests of his people as a whole —as he saw those interests. Brought up a soldier, he adopted the solution of the orderly room for the prevailing chaos, 'shut up the talking shop,' put a general in cliarge, and gave him carte blanche. Until the dictatorship is replaced by democracy, it will not be possible to say whether the results have justified him, for the present dictated Constitution and sham Parliament mean nothing but that a civilian cloak has been thrown over the military and police uniforms. Business men find that a great deal of corruption has been eliminated. On October 3, 1929, the names of 'Serb, Croat, ard Slavene' were abolished, every kind of racial organisation proscribed, and the word \ugoslav exalted to the position of the only permissible adjective of race or nationality for the inhabitants of the Triune kingdom."