The Causes and the Course of the Yugoslav Dictatorship in the Years 1929–1931

Abstract

The article discussed the causes, motivations, circumstances, and consequences of the coup in the country of Yugoslavia which was staged by King Alexander I on 6th January 1929. The main aim of the article was to evaluate the decisions taken by the monarch and the regime established by him that irrevocably contributed to the change in the political system of the country.

King Alexander I, in a multinational Yugoslavia, established an authoritarian model of government, which according to him, was to heal and protect the state that was on the edge of the abyss due to an internal crisis. Inflamed political relations between Serbs and Croats threatened with the disintegration of the state, and the unstable international situation around Yugoslavia exacerbated this threat. King Alexander I made a difficult decision of establishing a dictatorship in the country, which also resulted in the use of repressive methods against supporters of the breakdown of the state.

In the most intense period of his authoritarian rule in the years 1929–1932, King Alexander I tried to build the image of the protector of all nations in Yugoslavia. In fact, the monarch had the welfare of its multi-ethnic country at heart, and managed to protect Yugoslavia from a breakdown at the turn of the 1920s and 30s. However, the mode of his governance still arouses ambiguous judgments that often place narrow national interests over the durability of Yugoslavia.