The construction of the new monument was ordered by King Alexander to commemorate the victims of the Balkan Wars (1912-1913) and the World War I (1914-1918). The monument was designed by Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović, and the main engineer was Stevan Živanović. Members of the Yugoslav Royal Army and Navy took part in processing and mounting the blocks. King Alexander I of Yugoslavia laid the foundation stone for the new monument on 28 June 1934, just few months before he was assassinated in Marseilles. Before the construction of the new monument started in 1934, the ancient fortified town of Žrnov was located atop the Avala mountain. It was then demolished by dynamite to free the space for the new monument.