construction of the Vienna–Budapest railroad, he never worked in this field. Radical Party Origins While a student in Zürich, Pašić lived near other Serbian students and became politically involved, initially as an organizer. Some of these students would later become the core of the Socialist and Radical movement in Serbia. One of them was Svetozar Marković, who would become a major socialist ideologue in Serbia. Along with Marković, Pera Velimirović, Jovan Žujović, and others, Pašić became an early member of the "Radical Party". After returning to Serbia, Pašić went to Bosnia to support the anti-Ottoman uprising of Nevesinjska puška. The Socialists started publishing Samouprava which later became the official bulletin of the Radical Party. After Marković's death in 1875, Pašić became the leader of the movement and in 1878 was elected to the National Assembly of Serbia, even before the party was formed. In 1880, he made an unprecedented move in the Serbian political scene by forming an opposition deputies' club in the assembly. Finally, a party program was completed in January 1881 and the Radical Party, the first systematically organized Serbian party, was officially established, with Pašić elected its first president. Timok Rebellion The party and Pašić quickly gained popularity; the Radicals received 54 percent of the vote in the September 1883 elections, while the Progressive Party, favored by King Milan Obrenović IV only got 30 percent. Despite the Radicals' clear victory, the pro-Austrian king, who disliked the pro-Russian Pašić and the Radical party, nominated old non-partisan hardliner Nikola Hristić to form a government. The assembly refused to cooperate and the session was suspended. The atmosphere was made worse when Hristić attempted to take away peasants' guns, in order to establish a regular army. As a result, clashes began in eastern Serbia, in the Timok valley. King Milan blamed the unrest on the Radicals and sent troops to crush the rebellion. Pašić was sentenced to death in absentia and he narrowly avoided arrest by fleeing to Hungary. Twenty-one others were sentenced to death and executed, and 734 more were imprisoned. Exile in Bulgaria For the next six years, Pašić lived with relatives in Bulgaria, supported by the Bulgarian government. He lived in Sofia, where he worked as a building contractor, and worked for a short time in the Ministry of Interior According to Bulgarian sources, he spoke quite fluent Bulgarian, but mixed it with a large number of Serbian