Evening star., 1921-08-17

were killed or wounded in the palace
, at Belgrade when forty army officers
forced their way in with dynamite,
shot down all who stood in their way
as they pressed toward the apart
ments of King Alexander and Queen
Draga, and murdered their ma1estfes
as they crouched in corner OF their
room. clasped in each others arms.
Their bodies were cast through
window, glass and all. into the palace
park. At the same time two caDinet
ministers were assassinated in their
homes.
Two Claimants to Throne.
The background of this coup d'etat
has never been brought sharply to
focus There were two royal families
claimants in Serbia-the karageorge-
witch and Obrenovitch families-dur-
ing the past 100 years. The former
from which King Peter was descend
ed, established itself in part when
| "Black George" the first conspicuous
member of the family, rose as leader
of his people against the TURKS. ne
| had all but liberated them. when ne
Milosh Obrenovitch. swlneherd, rose
| in his stead and carried the war
against the Turks to successful ter
mination.
Thus the regal feud between two
| families began. Milosh eseaDi.sneu @
/
nized even by the sultan. Meanwhlie
| "Black George" sought to reclaim MS
power and was slain
Long struggle Tor Power.
The Obrenovitch family held sway
until 1912, when Alexander Kara.
georgevitch. son of BLACK George,
was elected prince. mainly through
the influence of Russia.
Rut he came to grief in his rela-
tions with Russia and Turkey, and
was driven out of the country by his
| rebellious subjects. who reinstated
the Obrenovitch family. Michael.
son of Milosh, became king. only 70
exiled Alexander Karageorgevitch.
on June 10, 1858. Alexander failed
| in his attempt to seize the crown. and
was forever banished. The Obreno-.
witch youth, Milan. who succeeded to
the throne, was so notorious for MS
excesses that he was soon eXiled to
Paris.
! His son, Alexander Obrenovitch, be-
came king-and brought his pro-
figate father back to Belgrade as
| commander-in-chief OF the army:
Meanwhile he astounded Europe by
his infatuation for Draga. the di-
i vorced wife of Col Maschin. who
was lady-in-waiting to MS motner:
Queen Natalie. The 'Serbians resented
| the scandals of the court. After the
l
all that was said against it. the in
| triguing Draga was exposed in her
J efforts to palm off bogus child as
heir-in-law to the throne.
Butchery Of June.
| 1t was at this juncture that the
butchery of the night Of June 10 oc.
! Cured. 1t was on the anniversary OF
the murder of Michael Obrenoyitch.
This time the Obrenovitch dynasty
was wiped out. The pretender.
Peter Karageorgevitch. was then liy-
ling in Geneva, supposedly removed
from all of the political intrigues at
Belgrade. When word was carried
| to him of the assassination he ex-
pressed his horror, and declared the
crime had been perpretrated without
| his knowledge. Five days later he
/ assembled the throne. The European
nations broke off all diplomatic rela-
| tions, and resumed them only upon
premise that the new king would
punish the conspirators. This, it is
charged, was never done.
| Despite this handicap. King Peter
| accomplished many big things for
Serbia and became the idol Of the
| people, because of his strong anti
Austrian and pro-Russian attitude.