Peter I Karageorgevich

Konge af Serbien 1903-18 og konge for serbere, kroater og slovenere 1918-21, søn af prins Alexander af Serbien (Alexander Karadjordjevi).

• Kumanovo, 1912
• Første Verdenskrig, 1914-18
• Rudnik-højdedragene, 1914

Petar I Petrovitj (1844-1921), konge af Serbien, søn af Alexander Karageorgevitj (s.d.), studerede i Genf, St. Cyr og Paris, deltog i krigen 1870-71, vandt æreslegionens kors. Levede tilbagetrukket, især i Genf siden 1895, indtil han efter mordet på kong Alexander (s.d.) valgtes til konge af mordernes parti juni 1903. Hans vistnok med urette formodede medskyldighed i mordet hindrede i flere år et venskabeligt forhold til andre hoffer, og først 1910-11 blev Petar modtaget som gæst i Rusland, Frankrig o.a. Pga. nedbrudt helbred overdrog han 24. juni 1914 statsstyret til sin næstældste søn Alexander (s.d.) som prinsregent. Vedblev dog med stor pligtopfyldenhed og fædrelandskærlighed at følge den serbiske hærs skæbne i verdenskrigen og deltog i det vanskelige tilbagetog dennem Albanien til Korfu efteråret 1915. Vendte efter sejren 1918 tilbage til Belgrad, Var altid i sit styre strengt forfatningstro og i hele sin færd en jævn, demokratisk regent for sit folk. (HK7/1924)

He was brought up in exile in Geneva and Paris while the Obrenovi line ruled Serbia, and he fought in the French army in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71). In 1875, he joined the Bosnian insurrection against the Ottomans. The assassination (1903) of King Alexander of Serbia brought Peter to the throne. Peter proved an able and conscientious ruler and restored dignity to the court of Belgrade. He reformed the constitution, the army, and the school system and fostered improved methods of agriculture. The outstanding figure of his reign was Nikola Pai, who directed Serbian policy in the Balkan Wars (1912–13) and in World War I. Early in 1914 Peter, who was in ill health, retired from active rule and his son, later King Alexander of Yugoslavia, became regent. Peter took part in the retreat (1915–16) of the Serbian troops through Albania to Corfu. In 1918 he was chosen to rule the kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later known as Yugoslavia), while his son and successor remained regent.