King of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, born at Cettinje on the 4th of December 1888, the second son of Prince Peter Karađorđević (later King of Serbia), and of Zorka, third daughter of Prince Nicholas of Montenegro. His mother died in 1890, and during his early years he of course shared the exile of his father, who lived at Geneva. In 1899 he was sent to be educated at St. Petersburg, and in 1904 entered the corps des pages at the Tsar’s court. It was not till 1909 (nearly six years after his father’s election to the Serbian throne, in succession to the murdered King Alexander Obrenović) that the young prince came to reside permanently in Serbia. Soon after his return his elder brother, Prince George, was obliged to renounce the succession (March 1909), owing to his unbalanced temperament and various incidents that occurred during the Bosnian crisis; and Alexander was thereupon formally recognized as crown prince. On the outbreak of the Balkan War he assumed nominal command of the First Army, and won his spurs at the battle of Kumanovo, subsequently serving with distinction throughout the campaigns against Turkey and Bulgaria. On June 24, 1914, King Peter, whose health had completely broken down, appointed him as prince regent, and he thus held the position of commander-in-chief when the World War broke out. He remained permanently at army headquarters, and shared with his soldiers all the privations of the retreat through Albania. On reaching the coast he fell ill and underwent a serious operation, but when already convalescent resolutely declined the proffered assistance of an Italian destroyer which had been sent to convey him across the Adriatic; he remained till all the refugees had been transported into safety, and eventually found his way on foot to Durazzo. After the exiled Serbian Government had established itself at Corfu, Prince Alexander and Mr. Pašić paid visits to Paris and London, where the Prince was received with warm ovations. On April 5, 1916, in receiving an important deputation of British sympathizers (led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Mayor, Lord Milner and Sir E. Carson), he publicly identified the dynasty with the cause of unity, expressing his conviction that in the final victory “our Yugo-Slav people, united in a single state, will also have their part.” During the rest of the war he remained at Serbian headquarters, and shared his army’s victorious advance in October 1918. On December 1st delegates of the Yugo-Slav National Council in Zagreb formally recognized him as regent in all the Yugo-Slav provinces of the former dual monarchy, and he assumed the title of “Prince-Regent of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.” The attempt made upon his life on June 28, 1921, after he had taken oath to the new Yugo-Slav constitution, was the outcome not of any personal unpopularity, but of the subversive aims of the Communists and other revolutionary groups, who hoped to create confusion in the new state, owing to the lack of a direct heir to the throne. On August 16, 1921, Prince Alexander succeeded his father as King of Yugoslavia.
