Editing Eastern Pact (section)

===Assassination of Louis Barthou===
Because of constant French political crisis, the negotiations stagnated from late 1933 up to the February 9th riots in 1934. Following the riots Paul-Boncour was replaced by Louis Barthou. Unlike Boncour, Barthou wasn't a socialist but rather a conservative patriot whom Carley (2001) describes as a "realist".<ref>Carley (2001) Behind Stalin's moustache, 167</ref> He continued persuading the Eastern Pact since he recognized Germany as the biggest danger in Europe. The atmosphere around the negotiations, which became public in May 1934 at the Geneva Disarmament Conference, was “positive and encouraging”.<ref>Radice (1977) The Eastern Pact, 49</ref>

On October 9, less than a month after the Soviet accession into the League of Nations, Barthou was assassinated. He was collateral in the assassination of the Yugoslav King Alexander by an Ustaše-associated Bulgarian fascist, Veličko Kerin, during a state visit to Marseilles. Barthou was succeeded by Pierre Laval which marked the change for worse in Franco-Soviet relations.