Alexander I of Yugoslavia

The title Alexander of Yugoslavia also has alternate uses.

King Alexander I of Yugoslavia (Serbian Kralj Aleksandar I Karađorđević, in Cyrillic Краљ Александар I Карађорђевић) (Cetinje, Montenegro, 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).

Alexander Karađorđević was born in Cetinje in Montenegro in December 1888. His father was King Peter I of Serbia and his mother Zorka of Montenegro. On 8 June 1922 he married HRH Princess Maria of Romania and Hohenzollern, the daughter of King Ferdinand of Romania. They had three sons – Crown Prince Peter, Princes Tomislav and Andrew.

He spent his childhood in Montenegro, and was educated in Geneva. He continued his schooling at the Military School in St. Petersburg Russia, 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, Prince Đorđe was forced to renounce his claim to throne.

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 in 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 wake of this Alexander's father Peter agreed to hand over royal powers to his son. On 24 June 1914 Alexander became Regent of Serbia.

He was the supreme commander of the Serbian army, with superb commanding officers Marshals Radomir Putnik, Živojin Mišić, Stepa Stepanović and Petar Bojović in World War I in the battles at Cer and at the Drina (the Battle of Kolubara) in 1914, when the Serbian troops were victorious against the Austro-Hungarian army.

In 1915 the Serbian army with the aged King King Petar I and Crown Prince Alexander suffered many losses and withdrew through Albania to Corfu, where it was reorganized. After the army was regrouped and reinforced, it achieved a decisive victory on the Thessalonica Frontline, at Kajmakcalan. The Serbian army carried out the final operations of the Thessalonica breakthrough in the autumn of 1918.

On the first of December 1918, in a prearranged set piece, Alexander, as Regent, received a delegation of the Peoples 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 King Peter he inherited the throne of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

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 he had no choice, as he was arriving in Marseilles to start a state visit to the Third French Republic, to strengthen the defensive alliance against Nazi Germany. When being driven in a car through the streets along with French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou, a gunman, Vlada Georigeff , stepped from the street and shot the King, the Minister and the chauffeur.

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 Vlada Georigeff — driver of the leader of the leader of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, Ivan Mihailov — 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.

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

The film record of Alexander I's assassination remains one of the most historic pieces of newsreel in existence, 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.

Preceded by: Petar I Karađorđević	Regent of Serbia 1914–18	Succeeded by: none
Preceded by: none	Regent of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes 1918–1921	Succeeded by: none
Preceded by: Petar I Karađorđević	King of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes 1921–29	Succeeded by: none
Preceded by: none	King of Yugoslavia 1929–34	Succeeded by: Petar II Karađorđević, Regent Pavle Template:End boxde:Alexander I. (Jugoslawien) nl:Alexander I van Joegoslavië sr:Александар I Карађорђевић uk:Александр I Карагеоргієвич he:אלכסנדר הראשון מיוגוסלביה