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Peter I of Serbia

Peter I (Serbian Cyrillic: Петар I Карађорђевић, romanizedPetar I Кarađorđević; 11 July [O.S. 29 June] 1844 – 16 August 1921) was the last king of Serbia, reigning from 15 June 1903 to 1 December 1918. On 1 December 1918, he became the first king of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and he held that title until his death three years later. Since he was the king of Serbia during a period of great Serbian military success, he was remembered by the Serbian people as King Peter the Liberator, and also as Old King.

Peter I
King Peter in 1904
King of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Reign1 December 1918 – 16 August 1921
SuccessorAlexander I Karađorđević
RegentAlexander (1918–1921)
King of Serbia
Reign15 June 1903 – 1 December 1918
Coronation21 September 1904
PredecessorAlexander I Obrenović
RegentAlexander (1914–1918)
Born11 July [O.S. 29 June] 1844
Belgrade, Serbia
Died16 August 1921(1921-08-16) (aged 77)
Belgrade, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Burial
Spouse
(m. 1883; died 1890)
Issue
HouseKarađorđević
FatherAlexander Karađorđević
MotherPersida Nenadović
ReligionSerbian Orthodox
Military career
Allegiance Principality of Serbia
 Kingdom of Serbia
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Years of service1855–58
(end of active service)
RankVojvoda (Field marshal)
Styles of
Peter I of Yugoslavia
Reference styleHis Majesty
Spoken styleYour Majesty

Peter was Karađorđe's grandson and third son of Persida Nenadović and Prince Alexander Karađorđević, who was forced to abdicate. Peter lived with his family in exile. He fought with the French Foreign Legion in the Franco-Prussian War. He joined as a volunteer under the alias Peter Mrkonjić in the Herzegovina uprising (1875–1877) against the Ottoman Empire.

He married Princess Zorka of Montenegro, daughter of King Nicholas, in 1883. She gave birth to his five children, including Prince Alexander. After the death of his father in 1885, Peter became head of the Karađorđević dynasty. After a military coup d'état and the murder of King Alexander I Obrenović in 1903, Peter became King of Serbia.

As king, he advocated a constitutional setup for the country and was famous for his liberal politics. The rule of King Peter was marked with the great exercise of political liberties, freedom of the press, national, economical and cultural rise, and it is sometimes dubbed a "golden" or "Periclean age".[1]

King Peter was the supreme commander of the Royal Serbian Army in the Balkan Wars. Because of his age, on 24 June 1914, he proclaimed his son, Prince Alexander, heir-apparent to the throne, as regent. In World War I he and his army retreated across the Principality of Albania.

Early life

Peter was born in Belgrade on 11 July [O.S. 29 June] 1844, the fifth of Prince Alexander Karađorđević and his consort Persida Nenadović's ten children.[2] He was the grandson of Karađorđe, the leader of the First Serbian Uprising (1804–1813) and the founder of the Karađorđević dynasty.[3] Peter was not born in the Royal Court, which was undergoing renovations at the time, but at the home of merchant Miša Anastasijević. His birth was not met with much celebration because he was his parents' third son and his older brother Svetozar was the heir to the throne.[2]

His parents' oldest son, Aleksa, had died three years prior to Peter's birth, aged five, at which point Svetozar became heir. Peter did not become heir until Svetozar's death in 1847 at the age of six.[4] Besides Belgrade, Peter spent much of his childhood in the town of Topola, from where the Karađorđević dynasty originated. He received his elementary education in Belgrade.[2]

Exile

Post-secondary education and Franco-Prussian War

 
Peter, c. 1865

In 1858, just as the fourteen-year-old Peter was preparing to depart for Geneva to attend high school, his father was forced to abdicate the throne. The Karađorđević dynasty's rivals, the Obrenović dynasty, were reinstated, and an Obrenović prince, Mihailo, claimed the throne.[5] The two dynasties had been vying for power since 1817, when Karađorđe was assassinated on the orders of Miloš Obrenović, the founder of the Obrenović dynasty.[6]

Peter left Geneva for Paris in 1861 and enrolled in the Collège Sainte-Barbe, located in the heart of the city's Latin Quarter. The following year, Peter enrolled in the Saint-Cyr, France's most prestigious military academy. He graduated from the academy in 1864, and continued living in Paris for some time thereafter. During this period, he pursued interests such as photography and painting, and read works of political philosophy, learning about liberalism, parliamentarism and democracy. In 1866, he entered the Higher Military School in Metz, which he attended until the following year.[5] Two years later, his Serbian-language translation of John Stuart Mill's On Liberty was published.[7]

At the outbreak of the 1870–71 Franco-Prussian War, Peter joined the French Foreign Legion under the pseudonym Petar Kara, together with relative Nikola Nikolajević.[5] During his service, Peter held the rank of either lieutenant[5] or second lieutenant,[8] depending on the source, and fought with the 1st Foreign Regiment.[8] He participated in the Second Battle of Orléans on 3–4 December 1870, as well as the Battle of Villersexel on 9 January 1871. He was awarded the Legion of Honour for his conduct during the two battles, but was captured by the Prussians shortly thereafter. He managed to escape captivity and returned to the front. Peter was involved in the Paris Commune in the spring of 1871, together with close friend and relative Vladimir Ljotić, though the exact nature of his involvement remains unknown.[5]

Guerrilla activities

 
Peter in guerrilla uniform, c. 1875

With the outbreak of the Great Eastern Crisis of 1875–78, which erupted after Bosnian Serb rebels in Nevesinje staged a revolt against the Ottoman Empire, Peter returned to the Balkans and fought the Ottomans in northwestern Bosnia. He adopted the nom de guerre of Petar Mrkonjić, and upon reaching the regions of Banija and Kordun in Austria-Hungary, took control of guerrilla unit of about 200 men.[5]

He arrived at Bosanska Dubica in August 1875, but received a cold welcome. He discovered that Prince Milan of Serbia was plotting to assassinate him fearing that Peter would attempt to wrest back the throne from the Obrenović dynasty. This revelation, combined with a string of battlefield defeats, compelled Peter and his followers to leave Bosnia and withdraw to Austria-Hungary.[9]

They were subsequently detained by the Austro-Hungarian Army in the village of Bojna, near Glina. Peter escaped, returned to Bosnia and organized another band of rebels. Once again, his involvement in the fighting aroused suspicion in Belgrade, and by May 1876 his presence proved divisive. The rebels split into three separate camps: one that supported Peter, another that supported Milan and a third that advocated Austro-Hungarian arbitration. Not wishing to cause further divisions among the rebels, Peter agreed to leave Bosnia. Prior to his departure, he wrote a letter to Milan explaining why he was leaving the battlefield and offering to make peace with the Obrenović dynasty.[9]

Despite his attempts to make peace with Milan, accusations of treason continued to be levelled against Peter. He decided to travel to Kragujevac, the seat of the Royal Serbian Government, and address the National Assembly in an attempt to clear his name. In 1877, an anti-government uprising erupted in the Toplica region of southern Serbia, for which Milan blamed Peter and Karađorđević sympathizers. Peter was accused of treachery and collaboration with the Ottomans.[9]

In the summer of 1878, he illegally crossed the border between Serbia and Austria-Hungary at Golubac via the Danube. Peter and his guide became lost in the Homolje mountains and were forced to hide from the authorities in the wilderness. Peter returned to Austria-Hungary shortly thereafter, but was arrested by the Austro-Hungarian police and interned at the Karađorđević family home in Bokszeg. In 1878, he was allowed to leave Bokszeg. He first went to Budapest and then to Paris. During this period, he was closely monitored by Austro-Hungarian spies, who took note of all his movements.[9]

In January 1879, court proceedings were initiated against Peter and his closest companions in Smederevo. The plaintiff, Prince Milan, alleged that Peter and his followers had attempted to overthrow the Obrenović dynasty and place a Karađorđević on the throne. Peter and his companions were charged with high treason, for which the mandatory penalty was death. As he was living in Paris at the time of the proceedings, Peter was convicted in absentia and sentenced to death by hanging.[10]

Move to Cetinje

 
Peter (far left, standing) with his family in Cetinje, c. 1890

In 1883, Peter moved to Cetinje, the capital of the second independent Serb state, Montenegro, with the intention of marrying the eldest daughter of Montenegro's ruler, Prince Nicholas. Peter and Ljubica Petrović-Njegoš were married in Cetinje in the summer of 1883. The marriage upset the region's volatile geopolitical balance, causing great unease in the Austro-Hungarian, Russian and Serbian capitals. Belgrade perceived it as a sign of increasing closeness between the Petrović-Njegoš and Karađorđević dynasties. Relations between the two Serb states worsened, as did relations between Austria-Hungary and Russia, which had been vying for power in the Balkans for decades.[10]

When his father died in the spring of 1885, Peter became the head of the House of Karađorđević and took the title of prince. Serbia, previously a principality, was declared a kingdom in 1882, and henceforth, the Serbian monarch used the title King of Serbia. Ljubica died during childbirth in March 1890. The couple had five children, three of whom reached adulthood: Helen (Jelena), Milena, George (Đorđe), Alexander (Aleksandar), and Andrew (Andrej). Milena died in infancy and Andrew died along with his mother during childbirth.[10]

Following his father's death, Peter's financial situation deteriorated and he became dependent on his father-in-law, as well as Russia and his brother George, for support. Following the Royal Serbian Army's rout in the Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885, Peter and Nicholas devised a plan to invade Serbia and overthrow the Obrenović dynasty. At the last minute, Nicholas abandoned the idea. Peter felt betrayed by the Prince's decision to back out, leading to long lasting animosity. Nevertheless, he remained in Cetinje until 1894, devoting himself to his surviving children, who finished their primary education there.[10]

In 1894, Peter moved to Geneva with his three children, where he was to remain until 1903.[11] In 1899, Tsar Nicholas II invited Prince George and Prince Alexander, as well as Peter's nephew Paul, to attend the Corps des Pages military academy in Saint Petersburg free of charge. Due to his poor financial standing, which prevented him from sending the boys to private schools in Switzerland, Peter accepted the Tsar's offer.[12]

May Coup

 
An illustration by Achille Beltrame on the occasion of the enthronement of Peter I

In July 1900, King Alexander, Milan's 23-year-old son, married Draga Mašin, a widowed lady-in-waiting twelve years his senior with a reputation for promiscuity. Mašin was also believed to be infertile, raising questions as to the viability of the Obrenović line. The marriage sparked outrage among the officer corps and led to a plot to remove Alexander from the throne. The officers, led by Dragutin Dimitrijević ("Apis"), initially sought to expel Alexander and Draga but realized that doing so would precipitate a conflict between the pro-Karađorđević and pro-Obrenović camps within the country.[13]

By the autumn of 1901, the conspirators resolved to kill the King and Queen, thereby averting a possible civil war. Some officers proposed placing an English or German prince on the throne. Another suggested Prince Mirko, the second son of Nicholas of Montenegro, and others advocated forming a republic.[13] Political conditions in Europe were such that the proclamation of a republic would only have increased the ire of the Great Powers towards Serbia in case Alexander was overthrown, giving Austria-Hungary a pretext to invade.[14]

Preparations for the coup took place between 1901 and 1903. The conspirators decided to place Peter on the throne in November 1901, but Peter had little trust in them and their initial offers were rebuffed. He accepted their offers on the condition that officers he trusted would take part in the plot and insisted that he would not take any part himself. He also told the officers that he would agree to take the throne only if his ascent was approved by the National Assembly.[11]

At the time of the coup, Peter was vacationing with his children and planning visits to Russia and Romania, suggesting that he was not aware of what was to occur.[11] The officers raided the royal palace late in the evening of 10 June [O.S. 29 May] 1903 and shot the King and Queen, mutilating their corpses with sabres and tossing them from a third-floor balcony.[15] The murders resulted in the extinction of the Obrenović line and resolved the century-long feud between the Karađorđević and Obrenović dynasties.[14]

Peter expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the plot, as well as regret for the bloodshed that had occurred, describing it as "neither gentlemanly, nor worthy of the 20th century". On 15 June [O.S. 2 June] 1903, by decision of the National Assembly, Peter was summoned to assume the Serbian throne.[11] He arrived in Belgrade on 26 June [O.S. 13 June] 1903.[16]

Peter's ascent to the throne was met with great enthusiasm by South Slav nationalists, who believed he would succeed in uniting the South Slavs living in Serbia, Montenegro, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. In Vienna, en route to Belgrade, he was welcomed by a crowd of euphoric Serb and Croat students, who hailed him as "the first Yugoslav king".[16]

Reign

 
Peter emerging from St. Michael's Cathedral on horseback following his coronation

Accession

The royal couple's murder upset and shocked most of Europe, but many Serbs reacted enthusiastically.[17] Russia immediately recognized the National Assembly's decision declaring Peter the next King of Serbia and expressed satisfaction that the inter-dynastic intrigues which had plagued the country since the early-19th century had been brought to an end. Austria-Hungary declared its neutrality on the matter, but privately, policymakers in Vienna expressed hope that Peter's accession would have a placating effect.[18]

The United Kingdom demanded that the chief conspirators be severely punished, and when the Royal Serbian Government neglected to carry out this request, the British severed all diplomatic ties.[18] Several other European nations followed in the United Kingdom's footsteps and severed ties as well.[19] Peter lacked the power or authority to punish the conspirators. He also felt a deep sense of obligation towards them, acknowledging that he would not have been able to assume the throne were it not for their actions.[18]

Coronation

Peter was crowned in St. Michael's Cathedral in Belgrade, on 21 September [O.S. 8 September] 1904.[20] The coronation ceremony, the first in Serbia's modern history,[citation needed] aimed to demonstrate that a new era had begun.[17] The year-long interval between Peter's return to Serbia and his coronation deliberately made the ceremony coincide with the 100th anniversary of the First Serbian Uprising with the hope of giving European statesmen time to come to terms with the palace coup.[17] Nevertheless, only representatives of Montenegro and Bulgaria attended.[20]

New royal regalia, consisting of a crown, sceptre, orb and royal mantle, were commissioned specially for the occasion from the Parisian jewelers Falize Frères.[21] Arnold Muir Wilson, the honorary Serbian consul in Sheffield, and his cameraman, Frank Mottershaw, filmed King Peter's procession and a parade following the coronation. This is the oldest surviving film recorded in Belgrade.[22] According to film historian Paul Smith, it is also likely the first newsreel in history.[23]

Foreign affairs

During the reign of Peter I the Kingdom of Serbia expanded to the south, incorporating much of Sandžak and Kosovo and Metohija in 1912 in the First Balkan War. Serbia temporarily controlled northern parts of Albania, but had to give away those parts to Albania in 1912-1913. In November 1918, shortly before the founding of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in December 1918, Serbia acquired some new territories like Srem, Banat, Bačka and Montenegro and which later became part of the new kingdom.

The most prominent prime minister during the reign of Peter I was Nikola Pašić. At the beginning of Peter's reign Pašić opposed the new king, calling his accession to the throne unlawful. However, he quickly changed his mind after seeing that the Serbian people accepted King Peter. As it turned out, the only conflict he had with Peter during the 18-year reign concerned the king's salary.

 
King Peter, by Uroš Predić

Peter I of Serbia saw Imperial Russia as Serbia's main ally. Russia opposed the previous politics of the Obrenović dynasty which heavily relied on Austria-Hungary, which the Serbian public detested.[24]

First Balkan War

The First Balkan War began in October 1912 and ended in May 1913. It involved military actions of the Balkan League (Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro) against the Ottoman Empire. The combined armies of the Balkan states overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success. As a result of the war, the allies captured and partitioned almost all remaining European territories of the Ottoman Empire.

 
Peter I on the front

In May 1912 the Albanian Hamidian revolutionaries, who wanted to re-install Sultan Abdul Hamit II to power, drove the Young Turkish forces out of Skopje and pressed south towards Manastir (present day Bitola), forcing the Young Turks to grant effective autonomy over large regions in June 1912. Serbia, which had helped arm the Albanian Catholic and Hamidian rebels and had sent secret agents to some of the prominent leaders, took the revolt as a pretext for war. Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, and Bulgaria had all been in talks about possible offensives against the Ottoman Empire before the Albanian revolt of 1912 broke out; a formal agreement between Serbia and Montenegro had been signed on 7 March.

On 18 October 1912, Peter I of Serbia issued a declaration, "To the Serbian People", which appeared to support Albanians as well as Serbs:

"The Turkish governments showed no interest in their duties towards their citizens and turned a deaf ear to all complaints and suggestions. Things got so far out of hand that no one was satisfied with the situation in Turkey in Europe. It became unbearable for the Serbs, the Greeks and for the Albanians, too. By the grace of God, I have therefore ordered my brave army to join in the Holy War to free our brethren and to ensure a better future. In Old Serbia, my army will meet not only upon Christian Serbs, but also upon Muslim Serbs, who are equally dear to us, and in addition to them, upon Christian and Muslim Albanians with whom our people have shared joy and sorrow for thirteen centuries now. To all of them we bring freedom, brotherhood and equality."

In a search for allies, Serbia negotiated a contract with Bulgaria.[citation needed] The agreement provided that, in the event of victory against the Ottomans, Bulgaria would receive all of Macedonia south of the Kriva Palanka-Ohrid line. Bulgaria accepted Serbian expansion to the north of the Shar Mountains (i.e., Kosovo). The intervening area was agreed to be "disputed"; it would be arbitrated by the Emperor of Russia in the event of a successful war against the Ottoman Empire.[citation needed] During the course of the war, it became apparent that the Albanians did not consider Serbia as a liberator, as suggested by King Peter I, nor did the Serbian forces observe his declaration of amity toward Albanians.

Peter I led the Serbian army alongside marshals like Radomir Putnik, Stepa Stepanović, Božidar Janković and Petar Bojović. Serbia sent 230,000 soldiers (out of the population of just 2,912,000 people) with about 228 guns, grouped in 10 infantry divisions.

Second Balkan War and aftermath

Dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, Bulgaria attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, and started the Second Balkan War on 16 (O.S.)/29 June 1913. Serbian and Greek armies repulsed the Bulgarian offensive and counter-attacked, entering Bulgaria. With Bulgaria also having engaged in territorial disputes with Romania, this war provoked Romanian intervention against Bulgaria. The Ottoman Empire took advantage of the situation to regain some territories lost as a result of the previous war.

When Romanian troops approached the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, Bulgaria asked for an armistice, resulting in the 1913 Treaty of Bucharest, in which Bulgaria had to cede portions of its First Balkan War gains to Serbia, Greece and Romania. The Second Balkan War left Serbia as the most militarily powerful state south of the Danube. Years of military investment financed by French loans had borne fruit. Central Vardar and the eastern half of the Sanjak of Novi Pazar were acquired. Its territory grew in extent from 18,650 to 33,891 square miles and its population grew by more than one and a half million.

 
The Royal Standard of the King of Serbia

Because of his constant and intense efforts in the Balkan Wars, Peter's health worsened. At the same time, the Black Hand represented a core of military opposition to the National Assembly. Acting from within the government and the military, members of the Black Hand forced Peter to disband the government of Nikola Pašić, even though the Radical Party held most of the seats in the National Assembly. Only after Russian intervention and with the help of the French capital, the crisis was solved in Pašić's favor. King Peter had to withdraw, allegedly because of his failing health, and, on 24 June 1914, he passed his royal powers and duties to his heir-apparent, Alexander.

Politics

The Western-educated King Peter attempted to liberalize Serbia with the goal of creating a Western-style constitutional monarchy. Peter I became gradually very popular for his commitment to parliamentary democracy that, in spite of certain influence of military cliques in political life, functioned properly. The 1903 Constitution was a revised version of the 1888 Constitution, based on the Belgian Constitution of 1831, considered one of the most liberal in Europe. The governments were chosen from the parliamentary majority, mostly from the People's Radical Party led by Nikola Pašić and from the Independent Radical Party led by Ljubomir Stojanović.[citation needed]

King Peter himself favored the idea of a broader coalition government that would boost Serbian democracy and help pursue an independent course in foreign policy. In contrast to the Austrophile Obrenović dynasty, King Peter I relied on Russia and France, which provoked rising hostility from expansionist-minded Austria-Hungary. King Peter I paid two solemn visits to Saint-Petersburg and Paris in 1910 and 1911 respectively, to be greeted as a hero both of democracy and of national independence in the troublesome Balkans.[citation needed]

 
Peter I during the Great Retreat

The reign of Peter I, from 1903 to 1914, is remembered[by whom?] as the "Golden Age of Serbia", due to the unrestricted political freedoms, free press, and cultural ascendancy among South Slavs who finally saw in democratic Serbia a Piedmont of South Slavs.[25] King Peter I was supportive to the movement of Yugoslav unification, hosting in Belgrade various cultural gatherings. The Grand School of Belgrade was upgraded[by whom?] into Belgrade University in 1905, with scholars of international renown such as Jovan Cvijić, Mihailo Petrović, Slobodan Jovanović, Jovan M. Žujović, Bogdan Popović, Jovan Skerlić, Sima Lozanić, Branislav Petronijević and several others.[citation needed]

King Peter I gained enormous popularity following the Balkan Wars in 1912 and 1913, which, from a Serb and South Slav perspective, proved greatly successful, heralded by the spectacular military victories over the Ottomans, followed by the liberation of "Old Serbia" (Kosovo Vilayet) and Macedonia (Manastir Vilayet).[citation needed]

The territory of Serbia doubled and her prestige among South Slavs (Croats and Slovenes in particular, and among the Serbs in Austria-Hungary, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Vojvodina, the Military Frontier, Dalmatia, Slavonia, etc.) grew significantly, with Peter I as the main symbol of both political and cultural success. After the conflict between military and civilian representatives in the spring of 1914, King Peter chose to "retire" due to ill health, reassigning on 11/24 June 1914 his royal prerogatives to his second son Heir apparent Crown Prince Alexander.[citation needed]

 
The Royal Standard of the King. Peter the Liberator became the first King of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes

World War I and its aftermath

The retired King, spending most of his time in various Serbian spas, remained relatively inactive during the First World War, although occasionally, when the military situation became critical, he visited trenches on the front-line to check up on morale of his troops. His visit to the firing line prior to the Battle of Kolubara in late 1914 boosted the morale of the retreating Serbian forces and announced a counter-offensive and sparkling victory against numerically superior Austro-Hungarian forces (December 1914). Another memorable visit in 1915 involved King Peter, by then 71, picking up a rifle and shooting at enemy soldiers. Following the invasion of Serbia by the joint forces of Germany, Austro-Hungary and Bulgaria in October 1915, King Peter I led the army and tens of thousands of civilian refugees through the high mountains of Albania to the Adriatic sea on a "Calvary known to few peoples".[26]

After the dramatic retreat in a harsh winter through the hostile environment of the Albanian highlands from Prizren to the Albanian littoral, a march that took more than 100,000 lives, the King and his army, exhausted by cold and famine, were eventually transported by the Allies to the Greek isle of Corfu in early 1916. For the rest of World War I King Peter I, already in very poor health, remained on Corfu, which became the seat of the Serbian government-in-exile until December 1918.

On 1 December 1918 King Peter I was proclaimed King of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. King Peter stayed abroad until July 1919, then returned to Belgrade, where he died in 1921 at the age of 77. He was solemnly buried in his endowment in Oplenac, the Church of Saint George in the vicinity of Topola in Central Serbia, where his grandfather Karađorđe, the founder of the dynasty, had launched a large-scale insurrection against the Ottomans in 1804.

Legacy

 
Peter I founded Oplenac, which is also a mausoleum of Karađorđević dynasty
 
A monument to Peter I in Zrenjanin
 
Monument to Peter I in Bijeljina
 
Former monument to Peter I at the Macedonia Square in Skopje

Three cities in interwar Yugoslavia were named after King Peter I: Mrkonjić Grad in Bosnia-Herzegovina (former Varcar Vakuf), Petrovgrad in Vojvodina (Veliki Bečkerek, now Zrenjanin) and Petrovac na Moru (former Kaštel Lastva) in Montenegro. Dozens of monuments erected in his honor throughout Yugoslavia were destroyed after the communist takeover in 1945. Only one monument, in Zrenjanin (former Petrovgrad) was recently restored, as well as several smaller monuments in Belgrade and the rest of Serbia. The other monuments in honor to King Peter I were restored or erected in Republika Srpska, in Bosnia and Herzegovina where his cult status as a national hero is as strong as it is in Serbia.

In Paris, an avenue off the Champs-Élysées is named after him, Avenue Pierre 1er de Serbie.[27] There is a modest monument dedicated to King Peter I of Serbia in Orléans, France, when he fought as a volunteer in the French army. A large monument to King Peter and his son Alexander I of Yugoslavia was also unveiled in 1936, at the Porte de la Muette in Paris. The film King Petar of Serbia was released in early December 2018 starring Lazar Ristovski as King Peter.[28]

 
Portrait of Peter I of Serbia by Michal Janiga

Honours

Serbian decorations and medals
  Order of Saint Prince Lazarus, Collar (Royal Order only)
  Order of Karađorđe's Star, Grand Master
  Order of the White Eagle, Grand Master
  Order of Karađorđe's Star with Swords, Grand Master
  Order of the White Eagle with swords, Grand Master
  Order of Saint Sava, Grand Master
Serbian Service Medals
  Medal of the Serbian Red Cross
  Medal for Military Merit
  Commemorative Medal of the Election of Peter I as King of Serbia
  Commemorative Medal of the first Balkan War, 1912
  Commemorative Medal of the second Balkan War, 1913
  Commemorative Medal of the Albanian Campaign
International and Foreign Awards
  Order of Saint Peter of Cetinje, Knight (Montenegro)
  Order of Prince Danilo I, Knight Grand Cross (Montenegro)
  Order of the Tower and Sword, Grand Cross[29] (Portugal)
  Order of Saint Andrew, Collar (Russia)
  Order of the White Eagle, Knight Grand Cross (Russia)
  Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky, Knight Grand Cross (Russia)
  Order of Saint Anna, 1st class (Russia)
  Order of Saint Stanislaus, Knight Grand Cross (Russia)
  Order of the Most Holy Annunciation, Collar (Italy)
  Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, Knight Grand Cross (Italy)
  Order of the Crown of Italy, Knight Grand Cross (Italy)
  Order of Osmaniye, 1st class (Ottoman Empire)
  Order of the Medjidie, 3rd class (Ottoman Empire)
  Legion of Honour, Grand Cross (France)

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Bataković, Dušan (2017). "On Parliamentary Democracy in Serbia 1903–1914 Political Parties, Elections, Political Freedoms". Balcanica (XLVIII): 123–142. doi:10.2298/BALC1748123B.
  2. ^ a b c Bjelajac 1997, p. 95.
  3. ^ Judah 2000, p. 83.
  4. ^ Bjelajac 1997, p. 95, note 2.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Bjelajac 1997, p. 96.
  6. ^ Judah 2000, pp. 53, 56.
  7. ^ Shrader 2014, p. 1244.
  8. ^ a b Lepage 2008, p. 57.
  9. ^ a b c d Bjelajac 1997, p. 97.
  10. ^ a b c d Bjelajac 1997, p. 98.
  11. ^ a b c d Bjelajac 1997, p. 99.
  12. ^ Dedijer 1966, pp. 381–382.
  13. ^ a b Mackenzie 1989, pp. 31–34.
  14. ^ a b Mackenzie 1989, p. 48.
  15. ^ Mackenzie 1989, pp. 46–47.
  16. ^ a b Bjelajac 1997, p. 100.
  17. ^ a b c Pavlowitch 2002, p. 79.
  18. ^ a b c Mackenzie 1989, pp. 50–51.
  19. ^ Singleton 1985, p. 98.
  20. ^ a b Bataković 2002, pp. 351–352.
  21. ^ "The Regalia". The Royal Family of Serbia. 2013-12-21. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  22. ^ Norris 2008, p. 110.
  23. ^ Smith 1976, p. 101.
  24. ^ Bataković, Dušan (2017). "On Parliamentary Democracy in Serbia 1903–1914 Political Parties, Elections, Political Freedoms". Balcanica (XLVIII): 123–142. doi:10.2298/BALC1748123B.
  25. ^ Norris 2008, p. 87.
  26. ^ R. Wolfson "Years of Change. European History 1890–1945"
  27. ^ Avenue Pierre 1er de Serbie (see centre of map)
  28. ^ Kralj Petar I: U slavu Srbije, retrieved 2018-12-06
  29. ^ "Ordem Militar da Torre e Espada - Processos de Estrangeiros: Pedro I (Rei dos Sérvios, Croatas e Eslovenos)" (in Portuguese), Arquivo Histórico da Presidência da República. Retrieved 2 April 2020.

References

  • Bataković, Dušan T. (2002). (PDF). Journal of the North American Society for Serbian Studies. Bloomington, Indiana: Slavica Publishers. 16 (2): 335–359. ISSN 0742-3330. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-22. Retrieved 2016-11-13.
  • Bjelajac, Mile (1997). "King Petar I Karađorđević". In Radan, Peter; Pavković, Aleksandar (eds.). The Serbs and Their Leaders in the Twentieth Century. Farnham, England: Ashgate. ISBN 978-1-8552-189-1-8.
  • Dedijer, Vladimir (1966). The Road to Sarajevo. New York: Simon & Schuster. OCLC 400010.
  • Judah, Tim (2000) [1997]. The Serbs: History, Myth and the Destruction of Yugoslavia (2nd ed.). New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-08507-5.
  • Lampe, John R. (2000) [1996]. Yugoslavia as History: Twice There Was a Country (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-77401-7.
  • Lepage, Jean-Denis G.G. (2008). The French Foreign Legion: An Illustrated History. Jefferson, North Carolina: MacFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-78646-253-7.
  • Mackenzie, David (1989). Apis, the Congenial Conspirator: The Life of Colonel Dragutin T. Dimitrijević. Boulder, Colorado: East European Monographs. ISBN 978-0-88033-162-3.
  • Makuljević, Nenad (2012). "Public Monuments, Memorial Churches and the Creation of Serbian National Identity in the 19th Century". In Zimmermann, Tanja (ed.). Balkan Memories: Media Constructions of National and Transnational History. Bielefeld, Germany: transcript Verlag. ISBN 978-3-83941-712-6.
  • Mitrović, Andrej (2007). Serbia's Great War, 1914–1918. West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University Press. ISBN 978-1-55753-477-4.
  • Norris, David A. (2008). Belgrade: A Cultural History. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-970452-1.
  • Pavlowitch, Stevan K. (2002). Serbia: The History of an Idea. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-6708-5.
  • Singleton, Frederick Bernard (1985). A Short History of the Yugoslav Peoples. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-27485-2.
  • Shrader, Charles R. (2014). "Peter I Karageorgević, King of Serbia". In Tucker, Spencer C. (ed.). World War I: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-85109-965-8.
  • Smith, Paul (1976). The Historian and Film. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-52120-992-2.

Further reading

  • DiNardo, Richard L. (2015). Invasion: The Conquest of Serbia, 1915. Santa Barbara: Praeger. ISBN 9781440800924.
  • Živojinović, Dragoljub R. (1988–1992). Kralj Petar I Karađorđević [King Peter I Karađorđević] (in Serbian). Vol. 1–3. Belgrade, Yugoslavia: BIGZ. ISBN 978-8-61300-324-3.

External links

Peter I of Serbia
Born: 29 June 1844 Died: 16 August 1921
Regnal titles
Preceded by King of Serbia
15 June 1903 – 1 December 1918
Expansion of state
proclaimed King of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
New title King of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
1 December 1918 – 16 August 1921
Succeeded by

peter, serbia, peter, serbian, cyrillic, Петар, Карађорђевић, romanized, petar, Кarađorđević, july, june, 1844, august, 1921, last, king, serbia, reigning, from, june, 1903, december, 1918, december, 1918, became, first, king, serbs, croats, slovenes, held, th. Peter I Serbian Cyrillic Petar I Karaђorђeviћ romanized Petar I Karađorđevic 11 July O S 29 June 1844 16 August 1921 was the last king of Serbia reigning from 15 June 1903 to 1 December 1918 On 1 December 1918 he became the first king of the Serbs Croats and Slovenes and he held that title until his death three years later Since he was the king of Serbia during a period of great Serbian military success he was remembered by the Serbian people as King Peter the Liberator and also as Old King Peter IKing Peter in 1904King of the Serbs Croats and SlovenesReign1 December 1918 16 August 1921SuccessorAlexander I KarađorđevicRegentAlexander 1918 1921 King of SerbiaReign15 June 1903 1 December 1918Coronation21 September 1904PredecessorAlexander I ObrenovicRegentAlexander 1914 1918 Born11 July O S 29 June 1844Belgrade SerbiaDied16 August 1921 1921 08 16 aged 77 Belgrade Kingdom of Serbs Croats and SlovenesBurialSt George s ChurchSpousePrincess Zorka of Montenegro m 1883 died 1890 wbr IssueHelen Princess of Russia Princess Milena George Crown Prince of Serbia Alexander I of Yugoslavia Prince AndrewHouseKarađorđevicFatherAlexander KarađorđevicMotherPersida NenadovicReligionSerbian OrthodoxMilitary careerAllegiance Principality of Serbia Kingdom of Serbia Kingdom of Serbs Croats and SlovenesYears of service1855 58 end of active service RankVojvoda Field marshal Styles of Peter I of YugoslaviaReference styleHis MajestySpoken styleYour MajestyPeter was Karađorđe s grandson and third son of Persida Nenadovic and Prince Alexander Karađorđevic who was forced to abdicate Peter lived with his family in exile He fought with the French Foreign Legion in the Franco Prussian War He joined as a volunteer under the alias Peter Mrkonjic in the Herzegovina uprising 1875 1877 against the Ottoman Empire He married Princess Zorka of Montenegro daughter of King Nicholas in 1883 She gave birth to his five children including Prince Alexander After the death of his father in 1885 Peter became head of the Karađorđevic dynasty After a military coup d etat and the murder of King Alexander I Obrenovic in 1903 Peter became King of Serbia As king he advocated a constitutional setup for the country and was famous for his liberal politics The rule of King Peter was marked with the great exercise of political liberties freedom of the press national economical and cultural rise and it is sometimes dubbed a golden or Periclean age 1 King Peter was the supreme commander of the Royal Serbian Army in the Balkan Wars Because of his age on 24 June 1914 he proclaimed his son Prince Alexander heir apparent to the throne as regent In World War I he and his army retreated across the Principality of Albania Contents 1 Early life 2 Exile 2 1 Post secondary education and Franco Prussian War 2 2 Guerrilla activities 2 3 Move to Cetinje 2 4 May Coup 3 Reign 3 1 Accession 3 2 Coronation 3 3 Foreign affairs 3 3 1 First Balkan War 3 3 2 Second Balkan War and aftermath 3 4 Politics 3 5 World War I and its aftermath 4 Legacy 5 Honours 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External linksEarly life EditPeter was born in Belgrade on 11 July O S 29 June 1844 the fifth of Prince Alexander Karađorđevic and his consort Persida Nenadovic s ten children 2 He was the grandson of Karađorđe the leader of the First Serbian Uprising 1804 1813 and the founder of the Karađorđevic dynasty 3 Peter was not born in the Royal Court which was undergoing renovations at the time but at the home of merchant Misa Anastasijevic His birth was not met with much celebration because he was his parents third son and his older brother Svetozar was the heir to the throne 2 His parents oldest son Aleksa had died three years prior to Peter s birth aged five at which point Svetozar became heir Peter did not become heir until Svetozar s death in 1847 at the age of six 4 Besides Belgrade Peter spent much of his childhood in the town of Topola from where the Karađorđevic dynasty originated He received his elementary education in Belgrade 2 Exile EditPost secondary education and Franco Prussian War Edit Peter c 1865 In 1858 just as the fourteen year old Peter was preparing to depart for Geneva to attend high school his father was forced to abdicate the throne The Karađorđevic dynasty s rivals the Obrenovic dynasty were reinstated and an Obrenovic prince Mihailo claimed the throne 5 The two dynasties had been vying for power since 1817 when Karađorđe was assassinated on the orders of Milos Obrenovic the founder of the Obrenovic dynasty 6 Peter left Geneva for Paris in 1861 and enrolled in the College Sainte Barbe located in the heart of the city s Latin Quarter The following year Peter enrolled in the Saint Cyr France s most prestigious military academy He graduated from the academy in 1864 and continued living in Paris for some time thereafter During this period he pursued interests such as photography and painting and read works of political philosophy learning about liberalism parliamentarism and democracy In 1866 he entered the Higher Military School in Metz which he attended until the following year 5 Two years later his Serbian language translation of John Stuart Mill s On Liberty was published 7 At the outbreak of the 1870 71 Franco Prussian War Peter joined the French Foreign Legion under the pseudonym Petar Kara together with relative Nikola Nikolajevic 5 During his service Peter held the rank of either lieutenant 5 or second lieutenant 8 depending on the source and fought with the 1st Foreign Regiment 8 He participated in the Second Battle of Orleans on 3 4 December 1870 as well as the Battle of Villersexel on 9 January 1871 He was awarded the Legion of Honour for his conduct during the two battles but was captured by the Prussians shortly thereafter He managed to escape captivity and returned to the front Peter was involved in the Paris Commune in the spring of 1871 together with close friend and relative Vladimir Ljotic though the exact nature of his involvement remains unknown 5 Guerrilla activities Edit Peter in guerrilla uniform c 1875 With the outbreak of the Great Eastern Crisis of 1875 78 which erupted after Bosnian Serb rebels in Nevesinje staged a revolt against the Ottoman Empire Peter returned to the Balkans and fought the Ottomans in northwestern Bosnia He adopted the nom de guerre of Petar Mrkonjic and upon reaching the regions of Banija and Kordun in Austria Hungary took control of guerrilla unit of about 200 men 5 He arrived at Bosanska Dubica in August 1875 but received a cold welcome He discovered that Prince Milan of Serbia was plotting to assassinate him fearing that Peter would attempt to wrest back the throne from the Obrenovic dynasty This revelation combined with a string of battlefield defeats compelled Peter and his followers to leave Bosnia and withdraw to Austria Hungary 9 They were subsequently detained by the Austro Hungarian Army in the village of Bojna near Glina Peter escaped returned to Bosnia and organized another band of rebels Once again his involvement in the fighting aroused suspicion in Belgrade and by May 1876 his presence proved divisive The rebels split into three separate camps one that supported Peter another that supported Milan and a third that advocated Austro Hungarian arbitration Not wishing to cause further divisions among the rebels Peter agreed to leave Bosnia Prior to his departure he wrote a letter to Milan explaining why he was leaving the battlefield and offering to make peace with the Obrenovic dynasty 9 Despite his attempts to make peace with Milan accusations of treason continued to be levelled against Peter He decided to travel to Kragujevac the seat of the Royal Serbian Government and address the National Assembly in an attempt to clear his name In 1877 an anti government uprising erupted in the Toplica region of southern Serbia for which Milan blamed Peter and Karađorđevic sympathizers Peter was accused of treachery and collaboration with the Ottomans 9 In the summer of 1878 he illegally crossed the border between Serbia and Austria Hungary at Golubac via the Danube Peter and his guide became lost in the Homolje mountains and were forced to hide from the authorities in the wilderness Peter returned to Austria Hungary shortly thereafter but was arrested by the Austro Hungarian police and interned at the Karađorđevic family home in Bokszeg In 1878 he was allowed to leave Bokszeg He first went to Budapest and then to Paris During this period he was closely monitored by Austro Hungarian spies who took note of all his movements 9 In January 1879 court proceedings were initiated against Peter and his closest companions in Smederevo The plaintiff Prince Milan alleged that Peter and his followers had attempted to overthrow the Obrenovic dynasty and place a Karađorđevic on the throne Peter and his companions were charged with high treason for which the mandatory penalty was death As he was living in Paris at the time of the proceedings Peter was convicted in absentia and sentenced to death by hanging 10 Move to Cetinje Edit Peter far left standing with his family in Cetinje c 1890 In 1883 Peter moved to Cetinje the capital of the second independent Serb state Montenegro with the intention of marrying the eldest daughter of Montenegro s ruler Prince Nicholas Peter and Ljubica Petrovic Njegos were married in Cetinje in the summer of 1883 The marriage upset the region s volatile geopolitical balance causing great unease in the Austro Hungarian Russian and Serbian capitals Belgrade perceived it as a sign of increasing closeness between the Petrovic Njegos and Karađorđevic dynasties Relations between the two Serb states worsened as did relations between Austria Hungary and Russia which had been vying for power in the Balkans for decades 10 When his father died in the spring of 1885 Peter became the head of the House of Karađorđevic and took the title of prince Serbia previously a principality was declared a kingdom in 1882 and henceforth the Serbian monarch used the title King of Serbia Ljubica died during childbirth in March 1890 The couple had five children three of whom reached adulthood Helen Jelena Milena George Đorđe Alexander Aleksandar and Andrew Andrej Milena died in infancy and Andrew died along with his mother during childbirth 10 Following his father s death Peter s financial situation deteriorated and he became dependent on his father in law as well as Russia and his brother George for support Following the Royal Serbian Army s rout in the Serbo Bulgarian War of 1885 Peter and Nicholas devised a plan to invade Serbia and overthrow the Obrenovic dynasty At the last minute Nicholas abandoned the idea Peter felt betrayed by the Prince s decision to back out leading to long lasting animosity Nevertheless he remained in Cetinje until 1894 devoting himself to his surviving children who finished their primary education there 10 In 1894 Peter moved to Geneva with his three children where he was to remain until 1903 11 In 1899 Tsar Nicholas II invited Prince George and Prince Alexander as well as Peter s nephew Paul to attend the Corps des Pages military academy in Saint Petersburg free of charge Due to his poor financial standing which prevented him from sending the boys to private schools in Switzerland Peter accepted the Tsar s offer 12 May Coup Edit Main article May Coup Serbia An illustration by Achille Beltrame on the occasion of the enthronement of Peter I In July 1900 King Alexander Milan s 23 year old son married Draga Masin a widowed lady in waiting twelve years his senior with a reputation for promiscuity Masin was also believed to be infertile raising questions as to the viability of the Obrenovic line The marriage sparked outrage among the officer corps and led to a plot to remove Alexander from the throne The officers led by Dragutin Dimitrijevic Apis initially sought to expel Alexander and Draga but realized that doing so would precipitate a conflict between the pro Karađorđevic and pro Obrenovic camps within the country 13 By the autumn of 1901 the conspirators resolved to kill the King and Queen thereby averting a possible civil war Some officers proposed placing an English or German prince on the throne Another suggested Prince Mirko the second son of Nicholas of Montenegro and others advocated forming a republic 13 Political conditions in Europe were such that the proclamation of a republic would only have increased the ire of the Great Powers towards Serbia in case Alexander was overthrown giving Austria Hungary a pretext to invade 14 Preparations for the coup took place between 1901 and 1903 The conspirators decided to place Peter on the throne in November 1901 but Peter had little trust in them and their initial offers were rebuffed He accepted their offers on the condition that officers he trusted would take part in the plot and insisted that he would not take any part himself He also told the officers that he would agree to take the throne only if his ascent was approved by the National Assembly 11 At the time of the coup Peter was vacationing with his children and planning visits to Russia and Romania suggesting that he was not aware of what was to occur 11 The officers raided the royal palace late in the evening of 10 June O S 29 May 1903 and shot the King and Queen mutilating their corpses with sabres and tossing them from a third floor balcony 15 The murders resulted in the extinction of the Obrenovic line and resolved the century long feud between the Karađorđevic and Obrenovic dynasties 14 Peter expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the plot as well as regret for the bloodshed that had occurred describing it as neither gentlemanly nor worthy of the 20th century On 15 June O S 2 June 1903 by decision of the National Assembly Peter was summoned to assume the Serbian throne 11 He arrived in Belgrade on 26 June O S 13 June 1903 16 Peter s ascent to the throne was met with great enthusiasm by South Slav nationalists who believed he would succeed in uniting the South Slavs living in Serbia Montenegro Austria Hungary and the Ottoman Empire In Vienna en route to Belgrade he was welcomed by a crowd of euphoric Serb and Croat students who hailed him as the first Yugoslav king 16 Reign Edit Peter emerging from St Michael s Cathedral on horseback following his coronation Accession Edit The royal couple s murder upset and shocked most of Europe but many Serbs reacted enthusiastically 17 Russia immediately recognized the National Assembly s decision declaring Peter the next King of Serbia and expressed satisfaction that the inter dynastic intrigues which had plagued the country since the early 19th century had been brought to an end Austria Hungary declared its neutrality on the matter but privately policymakers in Vienna expressed hope that Peter s accession would have a placating effect 18 The United Kingdom demanded that the chief conspirators be severely punished and when the Royal Serbian Government neglected to carry out this request the British severed all diplomatic ties 18 Several other European nations followed in the United Kingdom s footsteps and severed ties as well 19 Peter lacked the power or authority to punish the conspirators He also felt a deep sense of obligation towards them acknowledging that he would not have been able to assume the throne were it not for their actions 18 Coronation Edit Karađorđevic CrownPeter was crowned in St Michael s Cathedral in Belgrade on 21 September O S 8 September 1904 20 The coronation ceremony the first in Serbia s modern history citation needed aimed to demonstrate that a new era had begun 17 The year long interval between Peter s return to Serbia and his coronation deliberately made the ceremony coincide with the 100th anniversary of the First Serbian Uprising with the hope of giving European statesmen time to come to terms with the palace coup 17 Nevertheless only representatives of Montenegro and Bulgaria attended 20 New royal regalia consisting of a crown sceptre orb and royal mantle were commissioned specially for the occasion from the Parisian jewelers Falize Freres 21 Arnold Muir Wilson the honorary Serbian consul in Sheffield and his cameraman Frank Mottershaw filmed King Peter s procession and a parade following the coronation This is the oldest surviving film recorded in Belgrade 22 According to film historian Paul Smith it is also likely the first newsreel in history 23 Foreign affairs Edit During the reign of Peter I the Kingdom of Serbia expanded to the south incorporating much of Sandzak and Kosovo and Metohija in 1912 in the First Balkan War Serbia temporarily controlled northern parts of Albania but had to give away those parts to Albania in 1912 1913 In November 1918 shortly before the founding of the Kingdom of Serbs Croats and Slovenes in December 1918 Serbia acquired some new territories like Srem Banat Backa and Montenegro and which later became part of the new kingdom The most prominent prime minister during the reign of Peter I was Nikola Pasic At the beginning of Peter s reign Pasic opposed the new king calling his accession to the throne unlawful However he quickly changed his mind after seeing that the Serbian people accepted King Peter As it turned out the only conflict he had with Peter during the 18 year reign concerned the king s salary King Peter by Uros Predic Peter I of Serbia saw Imperial Russia as Serbia s main ally Russia opposed the previous politics of the Obrenovic dynasty which heavily relied on Austria Hungary which the Serbian public detested 24 First Balkan War Edit The First Balkan War began in October 1912 and ended in May 1913 It involved military actions of the Balkan League Bulgaria Serbia Greece and Montenegro against the Ottoman Empire The combined armies of the Balkan states overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success As a result of the war the allies captured and partitioned almost all remaining European territories of the Ottoman Empire Peter I on the front In May 1912 the Albanian Hamidian revolutionaries who wanted to re install Sultan Abdul Hamit II to power drove the Young Turkish forces out of Skopje and pressed south towards Manastir present day Bitola forcing the Young Turks to grant effective autonomy over large regions in June 1912 Serbia which had helped arm the Albanian Catholic and Hamidian rebels and had sent secret agents to some of the prominent leaders took the revolt as a pretext for war Serbia Montenegro Greece and Bulgaria had all been in talks about possible offensives against the Ottoman Empire before the Albanian revolt of 1912 broke out a formal agreement between Serbia and Montenegro had been signed on 7 March On 18 October 1912 Peter I of Serbia issued a declaration To the Serbian People which appeared to support Albanians as well as Serbs The Turkish governments showed no interest in their duties towards their citizens and turned a deaf ear to all complaints and suggestions Things got so far out of hand that no one was satisfied with the situation in Turkey in Europe It became unbearable for the Serbs the Greeks and for the Albanians too By the grace of God I have therefore ordered my brave army to join in the Holy War to free our brethren and to ensure a better future In Old Serbia my army will meet not only upon Christian Serbs but also upon Muslim Serbs who are equally dear to us and in addition to them upon Christian and Muslim Albanians with whom our people have shared joy and sorrow for thirteen centuries now To all of them we bring freedom brotherhood and equality In a search for allies Serbia negotiated a contract with Bulgaria citation needed The agreement provided that in the event of victory against the Ottomans Bulgaria would receive all of Macedonia south of the Kriva Palanka Ohrid line Bulgaria accepted Serbian expansion to the north of the Shar Mountains i e Kosovo The intervening area was agreed to be disputed it would be arbitrated by the Emperor of Russia in the event of a successful war against the Ottoman Empire citation needed During the course of the war it became apparent that the Albanians did not consider Serbia as a liberator as suggested by King Peter I nor did the Serbian forces observe his declaration of amity toward Albanians Peter I led the Serbian army alongside marshals like Radomir Putnik Stepa Stepanovic Bozidar Jankovic and Petar Bojovic Serbia sent 230 000 soldiers out of the population of just 2 912 000 people with about 228 guns grouped in 10 infantry divisions Second Balkan War and aftermath Edit Main article Second Balkan War Dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War Bulgaria attacked its former allies Serbia and Greece and started the Second Balkan War on 16 O S 29 June 1913 Serbian and Greek armies repulsed the Bulgarian offensive and counter attacked entering Bulgaria With Bulgaria also having engaged in territorial disputes with Romania this war provoked Romanian intervention against Bulgaria The Ottoman Empire took advantage of the situation to regain some territories lost as a result of the previous war When Romanian troops approached the Bulgarian capital Sofia Bulgaria asked for an armistice resulting in the 1913 Treaty of Bucharest in which Bulgaria had to cede portions of its First Balkan War gains to Serbia Greece and Romania The Second Balkan War left Serbia as the most militarily powerful state south of the Danube Years of military investment financed by French loans had borne fruit Central Vardar and the eastern half of the Sanjak of Novi Pazar were acquired Its territory grew in extent from 18 650 to 33 891 square miles and its population grew by more than one and a half million The Royal Standard of the King of Serbia Because of his constant and intense efforts in the Balkan Wars Peter s health worsened At the same time the Black Hand represented a core of military opposition to the National Assembly Acting from within the government and the military members of the Black Hand forced Peter to disband the government of Nikola Pasic even though the Radical Party held most of the seats in the National Assembly Only after Russian intervention and with the help of the French capital the crisis was solved in Pasic s favor King Peter had to withdraw allegedly because of his failing health and on 24 June 1914 he passed his royal powers and duties to his heir apparent Alexander Politics Edit The Western educated King Peter attempted to liberalize Serbia with the goal of creating a Western style constitutional monarchy Peter I became gradually very popular for his commitment to parliamentary democracy that in spite of certain influence of military cliques in political life functioned properly The 1903 Constitution was a revised version of the 1888 Constitution based on the Belgian Constitution of 1831 considered one of the most liberal in Europe The governments were chosen from the parliamentary majority mostly from the People s Radical Party led by Nikola Pasic and from the Independent Radical Party led by Ljubomir Stojanovic citation needed King Peter himself favored the idea of a broader coalition government that would boost Serbian democracy and help pursue an independent course in foreign policy In contrast to the Austrophile Obrenovic dynasty King Peter I relied on Russia and France which provoked rising hostility from expansionist minded Austria Hungary King Peter I paid two solemn visits to Saint Petersburg and Paris in 1910 and 1911 respectively to be greeted as a hero both of democracy and of national independence in the troublesome Balkans citation needed Peter I during the Great RetreatThe reign of Peter I from 1903 to 1914 is remembered by whom as the Golden Age of Serbia due to the unrestricted political freedoms free press and cultural ascendancy among South Slavs who finally saw in democratic Serbia a Piedmont of South Slavs 25 King Peter I was supportive to the movement of Yugoslav unification hosting in Belgrade various cultural gatherings The Grand School of Belgrade was upgraded by whom into Belgrade University in 1905 with scholars of international renown such as Jovan Cvijic Mihailo Petrovic Slobodan Jovanovic Jovan M Zujovic Bogdan Popovic Jovan Skerlic Sima Lozanic Branislav Petronijevic and several others citation needed King Peter I gained enormous popularity following the Balkan Wars in 1912 and 1913 which from a Serb and South Slav perspective proved greatly successful heralded by the spectacular military victories over the Ottomans followed by the liberation of Old Serbia Kosovo Vilayet and Macedonia Manastir Vilayet citation needed The territory of Serbia doubled and her prestige among South Slavs Croats and Slovenes in particular and among the Serbs in Austria Hungary in Bosnia Herzegovina Vojvodina the Military Frontier Dalmatia Slavonia etc grew significantly with Peter I as the main symbol of both political and cultural success After the conflict between military and civilian representatives in the spring of 1914 King Peter chose to retire due to ill health reassigning on 11 24 June 1914 his royal prerogatives to his second son Heir apparent Crown Prince Alexander citation needed The Royal Standard of the King Peter the Liberator became the first King of Serbs Croats and Slovenes World War I and its aftermath Edit The retired King spending most of his time in various Serbian spas remained relatively inactive during the First World War although occasionally when the military situation became critical he visited trenches on the front line to check up on morale of his troops His visit to the firing line prior to the Battle of Kolubara in late 1914 boosted the morale of the retreating Serbian forces and announced a counter offensive and sparkling victory against numerically superior Austro Hungarian forces December 1914 Another memorable visit in 1915 involved King Peter by then 71 picking up a rifle and shooting at enemy soldiers Following the invasion of Serbia by the joint forces of Germany Austro Hungary and Bulgaria in October 1915 King Peter I led the army and tens of thousands of civilian refugees through the high mountains of Albania to the Adriatic sea on a Calvary known to few peoples 26 After the dramatic retreat in a harsh winter through the hostile environment of the Albanian highlands from Prizren to the Albanian littoral a march that took more than 100 000 lives the King and his army exhausted by cold and famine were eventually transported by the Allies to the Greek isle of Corfu in early 1916 For the rest of World War I King Peter I already in very poor health remained on Corfu which became the seat of the Serbian government in exile until December 1918 On 1 December 1918 King Peter I was proclaimed King of the Serbs Croats and Slovenes King Peter stayed abroad until July 1919 then returned to Belgrade where he died in 1921 at the age of 77 He was solemnly buried in his endowment in Oplenac the Church of Saint George in the vicinity of Topola in Central Serbia where his grandfather Karađorđe the founder of the dynasty had launched a large scale insurrection against the Ottomans in 1804 Legacy Edit Peter I founded Oplenac which is also a mausoleum of Karađorđevic dynasty A monument to Peter I in Zrenjanin Monument to Peter I in Bijeljina Former monument to Peter I at the Macedonia Square in Skopje Three cities in interwar Yugoslavia were named after King Peter I Mrkonjic Grad in Bosnia Herzegovina former Varcar Vakuf Petrovgrad in Vojvodina Veliki Beckerek now Zrenjanin and Petrovac na Moru former Kastel Lastva in Montenegro Dozens of monuments erected in his honor throughout Yugoslavia were destroyed after the communist takeover in 1945 Only one monument in Zrenjanin former Petrovgrad was recently restored as well as several smaller monuments in Belgrade and the rest of Serbia The other monuments in honor to King Peter I were restored or erected in Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina where his cult status as a national hero is as strong as it is in Serbia In Paris an avenue off the Champs Elysees is named after him Avenue Pierre 1er de Serbie 27 There is a modest monument dedicated to King Peter I of Serbia in Orleans France when he fought as a volunteer in the French army A large monument to King Peter and his son Alexander I of Yugoslavia was also unveiled in 1936 at the Porte de la Muette in Paris The film King Petar of Serbia was released in early December 2018 starring Lazar Ristovski as King Peter 28 Portrait of Peter I of Serbia by Michal JanigaHonours EditSerbian decorations and medals Order of Saint Prince Lazarus Collar Royal Order only Order of Karađorđe s Star Grand Master Order of the White Eagle Grand Master Order of Karađorđe s Star with Swords Grand Master Order of the White Eagle with swords Grand Master Order of Saint Sava Grand MasterSerbian Service Medals Medal of the Serbian Red Cross Medal for Military Merit Commemorative Medal of the Election of Peter I as King of Serbia Commemorative Medal of the first Balkan War 1912 Commemorative Medal of the second Balkan War 1913 Commemorative Medal of the Albanian CampaignInternational and Foreign Awards Order of Saint Peter of Cetinje Knight Montenegro Order of Prince Danilo I Knight Grand Cross Montenegro Order of the Tower and Sword Grand Cross 29 Portugal Order of Saint Andrew Collar Russia Order of the White Eagle Knight Grand Cross Russia Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky Knight Grand Cross Russia Order of Saint Anna 1st class Russia Order of Saint Stanislaus Knight Grand Cross Russia Order of the Most Holy Annunciation Collar Italy Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Knight Grand Cross Italy Order of the Crown of Italy Knight Grand Cross Italy Order of Osmaniye 1st class Ottoman Empire Order of the Medjidie 3rd class Ottoman Empire Legion of Honour Grand Cross France See also Edit Wikisource has original text related to this article Peter King of Servia House of Karađorđevic List of Serbian monarchsNotes Edit Batakovic Dusan 2017 On Parliamentary Democracy in Serbia 1903 1914 Political Parties Elections Political Freedoms Balcanica XLVIII 123 142 doi 10 2298 BALC1748123B a b c Bjelajac 1997 p 95 Judah 2000 p 83 Bjelajac 1997 p 95 note 2 a b c d e f Bjelajac 1997 p 96 Judah 2000 pp 53 56 Shrader 2014 p 1244 a b Lepage 2008 p 57 a b c d Bjelajac 1997 p 97 a b c d Bjelajac 1997 p 98 a b c d Bjelajac 1997 p 99 Dedijer 1966 pp 381 382 a b Mackenzie 1989 pp 31 34 a b Mackenzie 1989 p 48 Mackenzie 1989 pp 46 47 a b Bjelajac 1997 p 100 a b c Pavlowitch 2002 p 79 a b c Mackenzie 1989 pp 50 51 Singleton 1985 p 98 a b Batakovic 2002 pp 351 352 The Regalia The Royal Family of Serbia 2013 12 21 Retrieved 18 November 2016 Norris 2008 p 110 Smith 1976 p 101 Batakovic Dusan 2017 On Parliamentary Democracy in Serbia 1903 1914 Political Parties Elections Political Freedoms Balcanica XLVIII 123 142 doi 10 2298 BALC1748123B Norris 2008 p 87 R Wolfson Years of Change European History 1890 1945 Avenue Pierre 1er de Serbie see centre of map Kralj Petar I U slavu Srbije retrieved 2018 12 06 Ordem Militar da Torre e Espada Processos de Estrangeiros Pedro I Rei dos Servios Croatas e Eslovenos in Portuguese Arquivo Historico da Presidencia da Republica Retrieved 2 April 2020 References EditBatakovic Dusan T 2002 Belgrade in the Nineteenth Century A Historical Survey PDF Journal of the North American Society for Serbian Studies Bloomington Indiana Slavica Publishers 16 2 335 359 ISSN 0742 3330 Archived from the original PDF on 2016 03 22 Retrieved 2016 11 13 Bjelajac Mile 1997 King Petar I Karađorđevic In Radan Peter Pavkovic Aleksandar eds The Serbs and Their Leaders in the Twentieth Century Farnham England Ashgate ISBN 978 1 8552 189 1 8 Dedijer Vladimir 1966 The Road to Sarajevo New York Simon amp Schuster OCLC 400010 Judah Tim 2000 1997 The Serbs History Myth and the Destruction of Yugoslavia 2nd ed New Haven Connecticut Yale University Press ISBN 978 0 300 08507 5 Lampe John R 2000 1996 Yugoslavia as History Twice There Was a Country 2nd ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 77401 7 Lepage Jean Denis G G 2008 The French Foreign Legion An Illustrated History Jefferson North Carolina MacFarland amp Company Inc ISBN 978 0 78646 253 7 Mackenzie David 1989 Apis the Congenial Conspirator The Life of Colonel Dragutin T Dimitrijevic Boulder Colorado East European Monographs ISBN 978 0 88033 162 3 Makuljevic Nenad 2012 Public Monuments Memorial Churches and the Creation of Serbian National Identity in the 19th Century In Zimmermann Tanja ed Balkan Memories Media Constructions of National and Transnational History Bielefeld Germany transcript Verlag ISBN 978 3 83941 712 6 Mitrovic Andrej 2007 Serbia s Great War 1914 1918 West Lafayette Indiana Purdue University Press ISBN 978 1 55753 477 4 Norris David A 2008 Belgrade A Cultural History Oxford Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 970452 1 Pavlowitch Stevan K 2002 Serbia The History of an Idea New York New York University Press ISBN 978 0 8147 6708 5 Singleton Frederick Bernard 1985 A Short History of the Yugoslav Peoples New York Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 27485 2 Shrader Charles R 2014 Peter I Karageorgevic King of Serbia In Tucker Spencer C ed World War I The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection Santa Barbara California ABC CLIO ISBN 978 1 85109 965 8 Smith Paul 1976 The Historian and Film Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 52120 992 2 Further reading EditDiNardo Richard L 2015 Invasion The Conquest of Serbia 1915 Santa Barbara Praeger ISBN 9781440800924 Zivojinovic Dragoljub R 1988 1992 Kralj Petar I Karađorđevic King Peter I Karađorđevic in Serbian Vol 1 3 Belgrade Yugoslavia BIGZ ISBN 978 8 61300 324 3 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Peter I of Serbia The Serbian Royal Family Royal Mausoleum Oplenac Royal Family Newspaper clippings about Peter I of Serbia in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBWPeter I of SerbiaHouse of KarađorđevicBorn 29 June 1844 Died 16 August 1921Regnal titlesPreceded byAlexander I of Serbia King of Serbia15 June 1903 1 December 1918 Expansion of stateproclaimed King of the Serbs Croats and SlovenesNew title King of the Serbs Croats and Slovenes1 December 1918 16 August 1921 Succeeded byAlexander I of Yugoslavia Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Peter I of Serbia amp oldid 1116816079, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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