Evening star., 1932-06-05
BALKAN NAPOLEON
IS STILL IN POWER
Forced Out of Dictatorship,
He Resumes Command
of Royal Guard.

ship Of Jugolslavia recently the
Napoleon of the Balkans" was far from
showed out Of political power.
He resumed command of the Royal
Guard
This military organization is in a key
political position among the Southern
Slavs. Not only is it the crack division
of crack army. but it is responsible
for the safety of the King, able to domi-
nate the capital. and, by tradition, it
has right to play part in the plot
tings and assassinationS that have been
so frequent in Jugoslav politics.
And Peter Zivkovitchs career with
the guards has qualified him to take
leadership in these matters.
AS young officer of the Royal
Guard, according to the best available
legend, Peter Zivkovitch 29 years ago
opened the gates TO the aSsassins who
so brutally murdered King Alexander
that Great Britain and other powers
withdrew diplomatic relations with the
country which was then Serbia.
white Hand" Leader.
His knowledge of Guard politics
enabled him to attain leadership in
1.-THE White Hand" the organization
which finally put out of business The
Black Hand" and the outfit which
brought about the assassination OF the
Austrian Archduke Ferdinand ana
precipitated the World War.
The government wishes to finish Ihe
Black Hand because it rivaled the
constituted authorities in power, and,
perhaps, because it might reveal now
much the government knew in advance
of the plot to xii 1.-The archduke.
After the war, when Serbia became
the huge kingdom of the Serbs, Croats
and Slovenes Gen. Zivkovitch became
commander of the Royal Guard. ana
used it three years ago to put the
Parliament out of business and declare
the King dictator, with the general
doing the debating
He had long since broken with The
white Hand" but that did not pre-
vent him from scheming and plotting:
So stepped was he in the politics OF
mystery that even when he bore the
title of Napoleon of the Balkans he
used plotterS methods in carrying on
the business of state.
AS prime minister he refused the
generous apartments of the office,
which are located opposite the palace,
and ran the state from small room
in back alley.
Wen. About in Disguise.
In sprucing up the public service,
making officials work according to the
time clock, he loved to work IN OILS
guise. He usually took the dress OF a
peasant. Once he appeared in court
at 9 in the morning to ask something
of the Judge. He was told the judge
was fishing He left, but not before he
had dropped note:
Il demand your resignation by 6
tonight"
Again, he called on revenue officials
In Nish early one morning to do some
business No one was there. He re-
turned at $50. Everyone had gone
home. The whole staff was retired.
His military efficiency caused him to
be called a Napoleon though he made
no foreign conquests. His dlsguuses
caused people to call him Haroun-al-
Raschid, though his motives seem to
have been those OF Jealous civil serV-
ice commissioner rather than those OF
a ruler vino wished to eliminate i'll
treatment of the poor.
Today he is out of the ministry, and
there seems to be chance that the
country will resume genuine parliamer-
tary government, but he still retains
the Kings friendship and he still COM
mands the Palace GUARDS.
Assassination has long been recog-
1llZ6u as ltpuIdOlC EOlitiNoA "CoE'CiA
in the Balkans. but 1t received great
impetus in the 80s, when many Serbian
exiles in Switzerland fell under the in
fiuence Of the Russian anarchist
Bakunin.
1t made its first great stroke in
Serbia in 1903, with the attack on King
Alexander and Queen Draga. The
young ruler had married a widow,
older than himself, and there was no
heir to the throne. Alexander was
suspected of preparing to declare one
OF his wife's brothers heir apparent.
He also developed a habit Of sus-
pending the constitution for few
hours, putting through fundamental
DEGREES, then letting Parliament re-
sumo. Thus he united against him
the military assassination crowd,
headed by Col. Dragutin Dimitreje-
WITCH and the political leaders, among
them the great Paschitch, leader of
the Radical party. The Kings aSsassi-
nation was agreed on.
1t is generally assumed in Belgrade
that Peter Zivkovitch, then %, was the
officer of the Royal Guard who ad-
them murder the King and Queen
covering in their rooms.
Won Dynasty's Friendship.
The assassination created a world
stir, with loss of diplomatic relations.
but it is easy to see how young Zivko-
witch could have been the gamer. The
conspiratorS naturally gained the good
will of the Karageorgevitch dynasty,
which succeeded the murdered pair
1t Is known that Zivkovitch has long
been close personal friend of Alex
ander. the second King of that dynasty
When the dictatorship was pro-
claimed bv the King in 1929 even the
Croat leaders thought it was worth
try. though they soon found 1t was
merely a more expeditions method of
sending them to jeil.
For three years the Zivkovitch rule
lasted, with the people becoming in
creasingly restive. Last Autumn con-
stitution was proclaimed, but the Croat
parties refused to attempt to enter
Parliament when it became known that
the voting would be public and the
army would assist the voters in reach
ing their decisions At one time
Alexander promised to have civilian
instead Of military dictatorship and
kept it by having Zivkovitch resign his
commission in the army.
Depression recently has played havoc
with the dictatorship. The necessity OF
its establishing a moratorium on private
foreign QeDtS mas wrecked ltS preStlSe
Opposition leaders have become out
spoken, and no one has dared arrest
them.
Now the dictator has resigned. and it
appears as if the government. having
tried every wrong course. might take
a shot at a genuine federad constitu-
ton
Yet Peter Zil kovitch has become Gen.
Zivkovitch again. commander of the
Royal Guard. in a position to dominate
the capital and stick his fingers into
any Balkan murder pie which may
catch his fancy.