For your consideration is an exceedingly rare and important royal manuscript document hand-signed by King Alexander I of Yugoslavia, Serbia, and Croatia, c. Bearing royal embossed Yugoslav seal with coat of arms at bottom center of the document. Alexander I 16 December 1888 O. 4 December – 9 October 1934, also known as Alexander the Unifier, was a prince regent of the Kingdom of Serbia from 1914 and later a King of Yugoslavia from 1921 to 1934 (prior to 1929 the state was known as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes). He was assassinated in Marseille, France, by assassin and revolutionary Vlado Chernozemski during a state visit. Alexander Karadordevic was born on 16 December 1888 in the Principality of Montenegro as the fourth child (second son) of Peter Karadordevic (son of Prince Alexander of Serbia who thirty years earlier in 1858 was forced to abdicate and surrender power in Serbia to the rival House of Obrenovic) and Princess Zorka of Montenegro (eldest daughter of Prince Nicholas of Montenegro). Despite enjoying support from the Russian Empire, at the time of Alexander’s birth and early childhood, the House of Karadordevic was in political exile, with different family members scattered all over Europe, unable to return to Serbia, which had recently been transformed from a principality into a kingdom under the Obrenovics, who ruled with strong support from Austria-Hungary. The antagonism between the two rival royal houses was such that after the assassination of Prince Mihailo Obrenovic in 1868 (an event Karadordevics were suspected of taking part in), the Obrenovics resorted to making constitutional changes, specifically proclaiming the Karadordevics banned from entering Serbia and stripping them of their civic rights. Alexander was two when his mother Princess Zorka died in 1890 from complications while giving birth to his younger brother Andrija, who also died 23 days later. Alexander spent his childhood in Montenegro; however, in 1894 his widower father took the four children, including Alexander, to Geneva where the young man completed his elementary education. Alongside his older brother George, he continued his schooling at the imperial Page Corps in St Petersburg, Russian Empire. The British historian R. Seton-Watson described Alexander as becoming a Russophile during his time in St. Petersburg, feeling much gratitude for the willingness of the Emperor Nicholas II to give him a refuge, where he was treated with much honor and respect. As a page, Alexander was described as hard-working and determined while also being a “loner” who kept to himself and rarely showed his feelings. Being a Karadordevic led to Alexander being invited by Nicholas II to dinner at the Winter Palace, where he was the guest of honor at meals hosted by the Russian imperial family, which was a great honor for a prince from Serbia’s deposed royal family. [5] During his time in St. Petersburg, Alexander visited the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, where the abbot gave Alexander an icon of Prince Alexander Nevsky and guided him to the grave of Marshal Alexander Suvorov. After his visit to the monastery, Alexander expressed the wish to be a great general like Marshal Suvorov or Prince Alexander Nevsky, saying he wanted to be commanding either a great army or a great armada when he was a man. In 1903, while young George and Alexander were in school, their father and a slew of conspirators pulled off a bloody coup d’état in the Kingdom of Serbia known as the May Overthrow in which King Alexander and Queen Draga were murdered and dismembered. The House of Karadordevic thus retook the Serbian throne after forty-five years and Alexander’s 58-year-old father became King of Serbia, prompting George’s and Alexander’s return to Serbia to continue their studies. After Alexander’s 15th birthday, King Peter had Alexander enlisted into the Royal Serbian Army as a private with instructions to his officers to only promote his son if he proved worthy. On 25 March 1909, Alexander was suddenly recalled to Belgrade by his father with no explanation offered other then he had an important announcement for his son. One of the key moments in Prince Alexander’s life occurred on 27 March 1909 when his older brother Crown Prince George publicly renounced his claim to the throne after strong pressure from political circles in Serbia. George was long considered unfit to rule by many in Serbia including powerful political and military figures such as prime minister Nikola Pasic, as well as high-ranking officers Dragutin “Apis” Dimitrijevic and Petar Zivkovic who did not appreciate the young man’s impulsive nature and unstable, incident-prone personality. George killed his servant Kolakovic by kicking him in the stomach, which served as the final straw. It grew into a huge scandal in the Serbian public as well as in the Austro-Hungarian press, which reported extensively on it, and 21-year-old Prince George was forced into renouncing his claim to the throne. In 1910 Prince Alexander nearly died from stomach typhus and was left with stomach problems for the rest of his life. In the run-up to the First Balkan War, Alexander played the role of a diplomat, visiting Sofia to meet Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria for secret talks for a Balkan League, which was intended to drive the Ottomans out of the Balkans. Both Bulgaria and Serbia had rival claims to the Ottoman region of Macedonia, and the talks with Ferdinand, known as “Foxy Ferdinand” due to his cunning, were difficult. Together with Tsar Ferdinand’s son, Crown Prince Boris (the future Tsar Boris III), Alexander traveled to St. Petersburg to see Nicholas II to ask for Russian mediation on certain points that were dividing the Serbs and Bulgarians. [9] In March 1912, Serbia and Bulgaria signed an alliance that was later joined by Greece. Being a Karadordevic led to Alexander being invited by Nicholas II to dinner. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Historical Memorabilia\Royalty Collectibles”. The seller is “galleryoff5th” and is located in this country: US. This item can be shipped worldwide.
- Features: Antique, Illustrated, Official Release
- Country: Yugoslavia / Serbia / Croatia
- Modified Item: Yes
- Vintage: Yes
- Royal: King Alexander I of Serbia
- Theme: Royalty
- To Commemorate: Appointment
- Modification Description: Hand-signed by King Alexander I of Serbia
- Royalty: Serbia
- Signed: Yes
- Year: 1922
- Type: Royal Document
- Country/Region of Manufacture: Serbia
- Brand: Unbranded
