1976/03/01 by Bennett Kovrig · 5 citations
Social Sciences · #Eastern European Communism and Reforms #Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics #European Union Policy and Governance #Mediation #Political science #Power (physics) #Politics #History #Diplomacy #Foreign policy #Political crisis #Economic history #Law
paper · doi:10.1017/s0018246x00018367
published in The Historical Journal 19(1), 191-221 (Cambridge University Press)
openalex publication_date 1976/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
The year 1934 was notable not only for the intense diplomatic activity throughout Europe that followed Hitler's coming to power but also for a spate of political assassinations. Among the victims were Austrian chancellor Dollfuss and the Rumanian politician Ion Duca, not to speak of Kirov and those purged in Russia in December. Perhaps the most notable of these acts of terror occurred in Marseille on 9 October when King Alexander of Yugoslavia and the French foreign minister, Louis Barthou, succumbed to the bullets of an assassin nicknamed Vlada the Chauffeur. The ensuing international crisis threw into sharp focus the evolving national interests and diplomatic styles of the European powers and serves as an illuminating case-study of a particular technique of conflict resolution.