Jaroslav Valerijanovič VIŠNjAKOV
Moskovski državni institut za međunarodne odnose Ministarstva spoljnih poslova Rusije
vishnyakov@yandex.ru

The Russian Envoy’s Confidential Reports on the Coup d’État of 29 May 1903

Abstract: This paper presents two diplomatic reports written by the Russian envoy in Belgrade on the events which took place in the Serbian capital on May 28–29 1903. Their significance lies in the fact that they were the main source on which the Russian policy-makers relied in their analyses of the events surrounding the May Coup. The documents published in this paper are kept in the Archives of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire (AVPRI) in Moscow.

Key words: Serbia, N. V. Charykov, May Coup of 1903, Alexander and Draga Obrenović, Peter I Karađorđević

Summary

This paper deals with the reports on the events of May 28–29 1903 that the Russian envoy to Belgrade, N. V. Charykov, sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These documents are kept in the Moscow’s Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire (AVPRI) and they became the Russian Government’s main source of information on the events of May 29 1903. They provide a valuable insight into Russia’s ruling circles’ attitudes towards Aleksandar and Draga Obrenović as well as into the main aspects of Russian policy towards the Balkans at the beginning of the twentieth century. Documents presented in this paper are a part of the forthcoming collection of sources from the Russian archives about the May Coup of 1903.