King Alexander

King Alexander I Karađorđević, named also the Knight-King Alexander the Unifier, was the first ruler of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Alexander Karađorđević was born in Cetinje in 1888 as the second son to the King Peter I and the Montenegrin Princes  Zorka. His elder brother relinquished his hereditary power, so Alexander, as the heir apparent, dedicated himself to restoring the Serbian army. As an active officer, a commander and the Supreme Commander, he participated in both the Balkan Wars and in the First World War. Regent Alexander became the King of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes after his father died in 1921.

He invested all his power to politically and economically unify the new country, otherwise burdened with great linguistic, religious and national differences, different histories of certain regions and the uneven economic development. After the 1929 clash in the parliament, proclaimed a royal dictatorship, and in 1931 he decreed a new Constitution, which transferred executive power to the King.

His policy of integral Yugoslav state was not supported by all the Yugoslav nations. He was assassinated in 1934, on a diplomatic visit to France.