Modern Era · Europe · Politics

1903

Serbian king murdered in palace coup

June 11, 1903

Serbian army officers burst into the royal palace in Belgrade and hacked King Alexander and Queen Draga to death, throwing their bodies out a window. The coup installed a new dynasty under Petar Karadjordjevic. Serbia pivoted from Austrian orbit toward Russia, one of the slow turns that would lead to Sarajevo in 1914.