Alexander I of Yugoslavia

: "The title "Aleksandar of Yugoslavia" also has other uses."Infobox Yugoslavian Royalty|majesty
name = Alexander I
title = King of Yugoslavia; "prev." King of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes

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caption = King Aleksandar I
reign = 16 August 1921 - 9 October 1934
coronation =
predecessor =Peter I
successor =Peter II
spouse =Maria of Romania
issue =Peter II Prince Tomislav
Prince Andrew
royal house =House of Karadjordjevic
royal anthem =God of Justice
father =Peter I of Serbia
mother =Princess Zorka of Montenegro
date of birth =birth date|1888|12|16|df=y
place of birth =Cetinje, Montenegro
date of death =death date and age|1934|10|9|1888|12|16|df=y
place of death =Marseille, France
place of burial =Saint George's Church in Oplenac|

Alexander I also called Alexander the Unificator (Serbo-Croatian: Kralj Aleksandar I Karađorđević/Краљ Александар I Карађорђевић) (Cetinje, Principality of Montenegro, 4 December/16 December 1888 – Marseille, France, 9 October 1934) of the Royal House of Karađorđević was the first king of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1929–34) and before that king of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (1921–29).

Childhood

Alexander Karadjordjevic was born in Cetinje in Principality of Montenegro in December 1888. His father was King Peter I of Serbia and his mother the former Princess Zorka of Montenegro, a daughter of King Nicholas of Montenegro. In Belgrade on 8 June 1922 he married HRH Princess Maria of Romania, who was a daughter of Queen Maria, the Queen Consort of Romania. They had three sons: Crown Prince Peter, Princes Tomislav and Andrej.

He spent his childhood in Montenegro, and was educated in Geneva. In 1910 he nearly died from stomach typhus and left with stomach problems for rest of his life. He continued his schooling at the Corps de pages imperial in Saint Petersburg, Russia, but had to quit due to his brother`s renounciation, and then in Belgrade. Prince Alexander was not the first in line for the throne but his elder brother, Crown Prince George (Đorđe) was considered unstable by most political forces in Serbia and after two notable scandals (one of which occurred in 1909 when he kicked his servant, who consequently died), Prince George was forced to renounce his claim to the throne.

Balkan Wars and World War I

In the First Balkan War in 1912, as commander of the First Army, Crown Prince Alexander fought victorious battles in Kumanovo and Bitola, and later in 1913, during the Second Balkan War, the battle of Bregalnica. In the aftermath of the Second Balkan War Prince Alexander took sides in the complicated power struggle over how Macedonia should be administered. In this Alexander bested Col. Dragutin Dimitrijević or "Apis" and in the wake of this Alexander's father, King Peter, agreed to hand over royal powers to his son. On 24 June 1914 Alexander became Regent of Serbia.

At the outbreak of World War I he was the nominal supreme commander of the Serbian army - true command was in hands of Chief of Staff of Supreme Headquarters - position held by Stepa Stepanović (during the mobilisation), Radomir Putnik (1914-1915), Petar Bojović (1916-1917) and Živojin Mišić (1918). The Serbian army distinguished itself in the battles at Cer and at the Drina (the Battle of Kolubara) in 1914 , scoring victories against the invading Austro-Hungarian forces and evicting them from the country.

In 1915 the Serbian army with the aged King Peter and Crown Prince Alexander suffered many losses being attacked from all directions by the alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria. It withdrew through the gorges of Montenegro and northern Albania to the Greek island of Corfu, where it was reorganized. After the army was regrouped and reinforced, it achieved a decisive victory on the Macedonian Front, at Kajmakcalan. The Serbian army carried out a major part in the final Allied breakthrough in the autumn of 1918.Infobox Monarch styles


royal name=King Alexander I
dipstyle=His Majesty
offstyle=Your Majesty
altstyle=Sir|

King of Yugoslavia

On 1 December 1918, in a prearranged set piece, Alexander, as Regent, received a delegation of the People's Council of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, an address was read out by one of the delegation, and Alexander made an address in acceptance. This was considered to the birth of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

In 1921, on the death of his father, Alexander inherited the throne of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which from its inception was colloquially known both in the Kingdom and the rest of Europe alike as Yugoslavia.

On 6 January 1929, in response to the political crisis triggered by the murder of Stjepan Radić, King Alexander abolished the Constitution, prorogued the Parliament and introduced a personal dictatorship (the so-called "January 6 Dictatorship", "Šestojanuarska diktatura"). He also changed the name of the country to Kingdom of Yugoslavia and changed the internal divisions from the 33 oblasts to nine new "banovinas" on 3 October.

In the same month, he tried to banish by decree the use of Serbian Cyrillic to promote the exclusive use of Latin alphabet in Yugoslavia. [ [http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,752216,00.html Dangerous Decree] , "Time (magazine)", October 21, 1929]

In 1931, Alexander decreed a new Constitution which transferred executive power to the King. Elections were to be by universal male suffrage. The provision for a secret ballot was dropped and pressure on public employees to vote for the governing party was to be a feature of all elections held under Alexander's constitution. Furthermore, the King would appoint half the upper house directly, and legislation could become law with the approval of one of the houses alone if it were also approved by the King.

Assassination

On account of the deaths of three members of his family on a Tuesday, Alexander refused to undertake any public functions on that day. On Tuesday 9 October 1934, however, he had no choice, as he was arriving in Marseille to start a state visit to the Third French Republic, to strengthen the two countries' alliance in the Little Entente. While being driven in a car through the streets along with French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou, a gunman, Vlado Chernozemski, stepped from the street and shot the King and the chauffeur. The Minister was accidentally shot by a French policeman and died later.It was one of the first assassinations captured on film; the shooting occurred straight in front of the cameraman, who was only feet away at the time. The cameraman captured not merely the assassination but the immediate aftermath; the body of the chauffeur (who had been killed instantly) became jammed against the brakes of the car, allowing the cameraman to continue filming from within inches of the King for a number of minutes afterwards.

The assassin, Vlado Chernozemski — driver of the leader of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) Ivan Mihailov and an experienced marksman — was cut down by the sword of a mounted French policeman, then beaten by the crowd. By the time he was removed from the scene, he was already dead. The IMRO was a Bulgarian political organization that fought for annexing Macedonia to Bulgaria using terrorist means. The organization worked in alliance with the Croatian fascist group led by Ante Pavelic, under the secret sponsorship of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.Fact|date=March 2008

The film record of Alexander I's assassination remains one of the most historic pieces of newsreel in existence, [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfxL67Uqp6E Documentary film The Assassination of the Yugoslavian king Alexander in 1934] en icon] [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrruCOZwxKA&mode=related&search= Documentary film The Assassination and the Funeral of the Yugoslavian king Alexander in 1934] bg icon] alongside the film of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia's coronation, the funerals of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Emperor Franz Josef of Austria, and the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

King Alexander I was buried in the Memorial Church of St. George, which had been built by his father. As his son Peter II was still a minor, Alexander's first cousin Prince Pavle Karadjordjevic took the regency of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Ancestors

References

External links

* [http://pages.prodigy.net/ptheroff/gotha/yugoslavia.html Royal House of Yugoslavia]
* [http://pages.prodigy.net/ptheroff/gotha/romania.html Royal House of Romania]
* [http://www.oplenac.rs The Mausoleum of the Serbian Royal Family]
* [http://www.royal.rs The Official Website of the Serbian Royal Family]