Abstract | Dolazak Hitlera na vlast u Njemačkoj 1933. godine, te približavanje Jugoslavije
Njemačkoj uznemirilo je Francusku. To je bio i jedan od razloga dolaska novoizabranog
ministra vanjskih poslova, Louisa Barthoua u Beograd u lipnju 1934. godine. Tu je i
dogovoren posjet kralja Aleksandra Parizu za listopad iste godine. Međutim, kako se već od
lipnja znalo za namjeravani put u Francusku, to je dalo dovoljno vremena da se spremi atentat
na kralja Aleksandra.
Atentat u narodnoj skupštini i događaji nakon njega pokazali su da je dogovor Hrvata i
srpskog režima postao nemoguć. Zbog svih tih događaja kralj je 6. siječnja 1929. raspustio
Narodnu skupštinu, ukinuo ustav, a političkim strankama je zabranio rad. Strogo je bilo
zabranjeno bilo kakvo spominjanje narodnog imena, naglašavanje nacionalnih zastava i
drugog znamenja, uvedena je i cenzura medija. Ujedno su i postroženi zakoni te su pokrenute
nove restrikcije političkog terora protiv nezadovoljnih građana. Svi ti procesi su doveli do
radikalizacije dijela hrvatske javnosti i političara, koji bi nasiljem, odnosno oružanom borbom
stvorili samostalnu hrvatsku državu koja bi zamijenila Jugoslaviju. U tome su se najviše
istakle ustaše. U Sofiji 20. travnja 1929. godine Pavelić i Perečec su s VMRO potpisali
zajedničku deklaraciju, u kojoj su u općim crtama iznijeli svoje ciljeve i zadatke, da se bore za
nezavisnost Hrvatske i Makedonije, kao i namjere da koordiniraju svoj rad.
Nakon dolaska kralja Aleksandra I. Karađorđevića u Marseille i dočeka Louisa
Barthoua, povorka automobila se zaputila prema gradskoj vijećnici. Na tom putu je i izvršen
atentat na kralja 9. listopada 1934. Način na koji se atentator Veličko Kerin uspio približiti
kralju je da je prišao kralju s buketom cvijeća, gdje je i sakrio oružje dok je vikao na
francuskom „Živio kralj“. Iznenada je skočio s desne strane na papučicu automobila, te iz
revolvera ispucao više metaka u smjeru kralja. Smrtno je ranjen i Louis Barthou.
U historiografiji, ali i javnosti vlada ustaljeno mišljenje da je za smrt Louisa Barthoua
odgovoran Veličko Kerin. Što se na prvu ruku i čini tako. No, „zataškana“ izvješća
francuskog inspektora Imberta, koja su isplovila na površinu skoro 40 godina nakon atentata
govore drugo. Po izvješću metak koji je pogodio Barthoua je bio identičan onome koje su
koristili francuski policajci, koji su odmah nakon što je kralj bio ustrijeljen, pucali iz svojih
oružja u svim smjerovima. Veličko Kerin za izvršenje atentata je koristio drugi model oružja,
Mauser, koji nije koristio navedene metke. To je govorio i ravnatelj Policijskog stručnog
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laboratorija u Marseilleu Dr. Bèroud.
Atentatori su se uvježbavali u ustaškom logoru Janka-pustza u Mađarskoj, otkuda su s
falsificiranim putovnicama putem Austrije te Švicarske stigli u Francusku. Predvodnik
skupine je bio Eugen Dido Kvaternik. U Francuskoj su se atentatori podijelili u dvije skupine.
Prema tom planu, ako ne uspije u atentatu grupa u Marseilleu, pokrenut će se grupa u Parizu.
Nakon atentata, od atentatora su uhvaćeni Kralj, Pospišil i Rajić, dok je Kvaternik na vrijeme
uspio prijeći granicu. Na sudskom procesu u Aix-en-Provenceu, optužene je branio Georges
Desbons, koji je zbog uvreda i neugodnih pitanja bio i udaljen s procesa. Kralju, Pospišilu i
Rajiću sud je odredio da su krivi za sudjelovanje u ubojstvu kralja Aleksandra i Louisa
Barthoua i što su pokušali da ubiju generala Georgesa i policajca Galija, sud im je to uzeo kao
otežavajuću okolnost i svu trojicu osudio na doživotni zatvor s prisilnim radom, kao i da
nadoknade sudske troškove.
Teško je odrediti ulogu koju su u ubojstvu kralja Aleksandra igrali predstavnici drugih
europskih zemalja. No, činjenica je da su atentatori obučeni u terorističkom objektu na
mađarskom tlu. Jedan od sudionika atentata je bio i Eugen Kvaternik, bliski suradnik Ante
Pavelića, te je zbog toga teško sumnjati da se atentat dogodio bez znanja talijanskih vlasti.
Nesuradnja talijanskih vlasti i odbijanje da se Francuskoj izruče Pavelić i Kvaternik su
dodatni dokazi za tvrdnju o umiješanosti talijanskih vlasti. Na to je upućivala i dugogodišnja
nesnošljivost Italije i Jugoslavije, što upućuje na pretpostavku da se Italija htjela riješiti
protivnika kakav je bio kralj Aleksandar. Između ostalog, u literaturi postoje i dvojbene
tvrdnje da je glavnim krivcem za atentat bila nacistička Njemačka.
Mrtvo tijelo kralja Aleksandra izloženo je u prefekturi u Marseilleu, no ubrzo je
prebačeno na razarač „Dubrovnik” kojim je prevezeno natrag u Jugoslaviju. Dok je s jedne
strane vladala bar javna „tuga“ u zemlji zbog kraljeve smrti, s druge strane u ustaškim je
logorima vijest o smrti kralja Aleksandra veselo i burno proslavljena. Atentat u Marseilleu
nije doveo do rušenja jugoslavenske države, no knez Pavle je bio prisiljen ukinuti dotadašnju
diktaturu. To je omogućilo obnovu rada oporbenih političkih stranaka. Sve to je na kraju
dovelo do stvaranja Banovine Hrvatske unutar Jugoslavije, koja je trebala imati široku
autonomiju. Ona je bila pokušaj rješavanja hrvatskog pitanja i stvaranja mogućnosti za
opstanak jugoslavenske države u okolnostima zaoštrenih europskih političkih prilika uoči
II. svjetskog rata. |
Abstract (english) | Hitler’s ascend to power in 1933 and Yugoslavia's increasing closeness with Germany
upset France. This was one of the reasons why the newly elected Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Louis Barthou, arrived in Belgrade in June 1934. It was agreed then and there that King
Alexander I of Yugoslavia would visit Paris in October that same year. Since the intended trip
to France had been known since June, this gave enough time to prepare the assassination of
King Alexander.
The assassination in the National Assembly and the events that followed it showed
that the agreement between the Croats and the Serbian regime became impossible. On 6
January 1929 the king dissolved the National Assembly, repealed the constitution, and banned
political parties from operating. Any mention of the national name, display of national flags
or any other symbols was strictly forbidden, censorship of the media and newspapers was
introduced, laws were tightened and new measures of political terror against dissidents were
put into effect. That led to the radicalization of a part of the Croatian public and politicians,
who would use violence or armed struggle to create an independent Croatian state that was
meant to replace Yugoslavia. The ustaše stood out the most in that. On 20 April 1929 in Sofia,
Pavelić and Perečec signed a joint declaration with VMRO, in which they outlined their goals
and task to fight for the independence of Croatia and Macedonia, as well as their intentions to
coordinate their work.
After the arrival of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia in Marseille on 9 October 1934
and the welcome of Louis Barthou, a procession of cars headed towards the city hall. It was
then that the king was assassinated. The assassin Veličko Kerin managed to approach the king
with a bouquet of flowers, behind which he had hidden his weapon, while shouting "Long live
the king" in French. Suddenly he jumped from the right side onto the pedal of the car, and
fired several shots from the revolver in the direction of the king. Louis Barthou was also
mortally wounded. In historiography, but also in the public, there was an established opinion
that Veličko Kerin is responsible for the death of Louis Barthou, which at first glance seems
to be the case. But "hidden" reports by French Inspector Imbert, which surfaced almost 40
years after the assassination, say otherwise. According to those reports, the bullet that hit
Barthou was identical to the one used by the French police, who fired from their weapons in
all directions immediately after the king was shot. Veličko Kerin used another model of
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weapon, Mauser, to carry out the assassination, which did not use the mentioned bullets. This
was confirmed also by the director of the Police Professional Laboratory in Marseille, Dr.
Bèroud.
The assassins were preparing in the Janka-pustza ustaša camp in Hungary, from where
they arrived in France with forged passports via Austria and Switzerland. The leader of the
group was Eugen Dido Kvaternik. In France, the assassins split into two groups. According to
the plan, if the assassination in Marseille fails, the second group in Paris would be activated.
After the assassination, Kralj, Pospišil and Rajić were captured, while Kvaternik managed to
cross the border in time. At the trial in Aix-en-Provence, the accused was defended by
Georges Desbons, who was removed from the trial due to insults and unpleasant questions.
The court found Kralj, Pospišil and Rajić guilty of involvement in the assassination of King
Alexander and Louis Barthou. The court took as an aggravating circumstance that they had
tried to kill General Georges and Officer Galiand sentenced all three of them to life in prison
with forced labor and they also had to reimburse court costs.
It is difficult to determine the role played by representatives of other European
countries in the assassination of King Alexander, but the fact remains that the assassins were
trained in a terrorist facility on Hungarian territory. In addition to this, one of the participants
in the assassination was Eugen Kvaternik, a close associate of Ante Pavelić, so it would be
hard to imagine that the assassination took place without the knowledge of the Italian
authorities. The fact that Italian authorities refused to cooperate or extradite Pavelić and
Kvaternik to France suggest that they were at least to some effect involved with the
assassination. This was also indicated by the long-standing intolerance of Italy and
Yugoslavia, which suggests that Italy wanted to get rid of an opponent such as King
Alexander. Among other things, there are dubious claims in the literature that the main culprit
for the assassination was Nazi Germany.
The dead body of King Alexander was exhibited in the prefecture of Marseille, but
was soon transferred to the destroyer "Dubrovnik" which was transported back to Yugoslavia.
While there was some grief among the public over the king's death, the news of King
Alexander's death in ustaša camps was cheerfully and, even violently, celebrated. The
assassination in Marseille did not lead to the overthrow of the Yugoslav state, but Prince
Pavle was forced to abolish the previous dictatorship which enabled the renewal of the work
of other political parties. This eventually led to the creation of the Banovina of Croatia within
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Yugoslavia, which was to gain broader autonomy. It was an attempt to resolve the Croatian
issue and create opportunities for the survival of the Yugoslav state in the circumstances of
the aggravated European political situation on the brink of the Second World War. |