Peter I of Serbia
Peter I (Serbian Cyrillic: Петар I Карађорђевић, romanized: Petar I Кarađorđević; 11 July [O.S. 29 June] 1844 – 16 August 1921) was King of Serbia from 15 June 1903 to 1 December 1918. On 1 December 1918, he became 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 Serbians as King Peter the Liberator and also as the Old King.
Peter I
Петар I Карађорђевић
1 December 1918 – 16 August 1921
Alexander (1918–1921)
15 June 1903 – 1 December 1918
21 September 1904
Alexander (1914–1918)
16 August 1921 (aged 77)
Belgrade, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
- Helen, Princess of Russia
- Princess Milena
- George, Crown Prince of Serbia
- Alexander I of Yugoslavia
- Prince Andrew
1855–58
(end of active service)
Your Majesty
Peter was the fifth child and third son of Alexander Karađorđević, Prince of Serbia, and his wife, Persida Nenadović. Prince Alexander was forced to abdicate in 1858, and 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 (Serbian Cyrillic: Петар Мркоњић, romanized: Petar Mrkonjić) in the Herzegovina uprising (1875–1877) against the Ottoman Empire. In 1883, Prince Peter married Princess Ljubica, daughter of King Nicholas I of Montenegro. Ljubica became known as Princess Zorka upon her marriage. Peter and Zorka had five children: Helen, Milena, George, Alexander, and Andrew. After his father died in 1885, Peter became head of the Karađorđević dynasty.
After King Alexander I Obrenović was murdered during the May Coup of 1903, Peter Karađorđević became the new king of Serbia. As king, he advocated a constitutional setup for the country and was famous for his liberal politics. Peter's rule 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] Peter was the supreme commander of the Royal Serbian Army in the Balkan Wars. On 24 June 1914, the aging king proclaimed his son and heir Alexander as regent. In World War I, the King and his army retreated across the Principality of Albania. Peter died in 1921 aged 77.
Early life[edit]
Peter was born in Belgrade on 11 July [O.S. 29 June] 1844. He was the fifth of ten children born to Prince Alexander Karađorđević and his consort, Persida Nenadović.[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, whose daughter Sara (1836-1931) was later married to Peter's first cousin Prince George Karađorđević (1827–1884). 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]