From the beginning, the young nation saw many troubles, stemming from a variety of reasons - from language to religion and culture. As conflicting groups fought for different ideals, Alexander declared a dictatorship in 1929 in an effort to maintain control. While the Serb-Croatian conflict, which stemmed from debates over regional autonomy versus centralized government, dominated the scene, the conflict between Serbia and ethnic Albanians inside Kosovo was just as fierce.

    The Serbs long considered Kosovo to be a traditional homeland, but as the Ottomans took control, many Serbs left, making Albanians a majority. The remaining Serbs found themselves oppressed and starting in 1920, an aggressive campaign began to repopulate the region with Serbs. In 1931, Alexander ended the dictatorship by instituting a new constitution, but the ethnicities were so opposed at this point little could be done to solidify the nation.

    As the worldwide economic crisis of the 1930s began to hit in the Balkans, these problems came to a head. Still fearing aggressions from Italy, Yugoslavia made attempts to side with France, but loyalties were strained when France denied a much needed loan.

    As help was needed, Yugoslavia began to turn to Germany in hopes of gaining help in case of an Italian attack. In 1934, Alexander was assassinated by a Bulgarian assassin, with Ustasha connections. Alexander's cousin, Pavle, began to reorganize the government, and appointed a Serb, Milan Stojadinovi, to run the cabinet as Prime Minister.

    Yugoslavia was angered and frightened because Italy, of whom it had long been wary, harbored the killer. Initially, the nation turned to the League of Nations for a censure of Italy, but France and Britain declined. As this occurred Yugoslavia lost more confidence, and turned again to Germany. Yugoslavia still made efforts to reconcile with Italy and Bulgaria under Stojadinovi, and eventually signed treaties of friendship.

    Stojandinovi adopted methods that appeared fascist to many - including his dress in the military style and his manner of addressing the public, and as a result, Pavle had him step down from office in 1939. By the time Germany annexed Austria in 1937, Yugoslavia was almost fully dependent upon its ally economically, despite the fact that popular support went overwhelmingly in favor of Western Europe.

    As war seemed more and more likely, Pavle knew unity was needed, and for the Croat population to be satisfied, some sort of autonomy was required. The result was the Sporazum, which outlined a plan where Belgrade maintained control of international issues, but Croatia was given more freedom to deal with internal matters. The plan did not work, and the Croat separatists' voices grew even louder after a taste of autonomy.
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