An assassination on film
Among the first political killings captured on camera; the footage survives.
A memorial on the Marseille seafront to King Alexander I of Yugoslavia and the French foreign minister Louis Barthou, both assassinated in this city in 1934. The event was among Europe's gravest moments before the war: King Alexander arrived in Marseille on a state visit to strengthen a French-Yugoslav alliance against German and Italian expansion. As the procession moved through the street a gunman opened fire, killing the king and wounding Barthou, who died later. The assassination was organised by Croatian and Macedonian nationalist groups with outside backing, and was among the first political killings captured on film — the footage exists and is still shown. Its political consequence was large: it weakened the very alliance the king had come to make, and contributed to the course that ended in the Second World War five years later. The memorial is outdoors and free, a few minutes on the seafront. It stands near the Palais du Pharo and its gardens overlooking the sea, so it folds into a walk there.
Among the first political killings captured on camera; the footage survives.
The king came to seal a pact against German expansion and was killed first.
Folds into a walk at the Palais du Pharo with its view over the old port.
The seafront near the Palais du Pharo
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The Palais du Pharo and its gardens on a headland above the old port entrance, with a view over the whole of Marseille and the two forts guarding the mouth. Notre-Dame de la Garde rises above the city to the south, and the old port with its restaurants is a walk away.
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