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101-703: Along with the royal couple, the conspirators killed prime minister Dimitrije Cincar-Marković , minister of the army Milovan Pavlović  [ sr ] , and general-adjutant Lazar Petrović . The coup had a significant influence on Serbia's relations with other European powers; the Obrenović dynasty had mostly allied with Austria-Hungary , while the Karađorđević dynasty had close ties both with Russia and with France . Each dynasty received ongoing financial support from their powerful foreign sponsors. When Serbia gained independence from Ottoman Turkish control following

202-733: A civil war . It was therefore decided that the king and queen should be assassinated. After another failed attempt to kill the royal couple on the 50th anniversary celebration of the Belgrade Choral Society, the group resolved to stage the killing in the palace. They also recruited officers of the Royal Guard . Lieutenant colonel Mihailo Naumović agreed to take part in the plot. He was a grandson of Karađorđe 's bodyguard Naum Krnar , who had been killed with Karađorđe in Radovanje Grove in 1817 by order of Miloš Obrenović . Rumors about

303-688: A " Piedmont of the Balkans" that would unify certain territories they interpreted as Serbian in the region into one state, like Old Serbia. In the 1877 peace after the Serbian–Ottoman Wars (1876–1878) , the Serbs hoped to gain the Kosovo Vilayet and Sanjak of Novi Pazar to the Lim River . With the 1878 Treaty of Berlin , Serbia received full sovereignty and made territorial gains around this time, acquiring

404-667: A Serb intellectual, as the realisation of Garašanin's concept. In 1914, groups within the Serbian army expressed dissatisfaction with certain elements of civilian governance in Old Serbia (Macedonia) and sought to undermine the Serb government by aiding a plot to kill Archduke Franz Ferdinand , the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. At the end of the First World War , Serbia became part of

505-671: A Slav-Serbian empire in the Serb-inhabited areas of the Ottoman Empire excluded Kosovo and Old Serbia. Serbian interest in the region of Macedonia was defined in a foreign policy program named Načertanije . It was a document whose author Ilija Garašanin , a Serb politician envisioned a Serbian state that included the Principality of Serbia and territories such as Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro and Old Serbia. Garašanin in Načertanije

606-617: A centre of focus in Old Serbia for some high ranking Serb officials. Institutions were founded to accelerate the regional economy such as a prominent bank in Skopje (1923) named "Old Serbia". The government of Nikola Pašić treated the Slavic population of Vardar Macedonia as either Serbs or as Old Serbians (Starosrbijanci). Following the Second World War , Yugoslavia was reorganised as a federal state, with Serbia as one of six republics. Serbia

707-609: A delegation of Serbs of Old Serbia presented their request to 'liberate' and unite Old Serbia with the Principality of Serbia to the government of Serbia. They also informed representatives of the Great Powers and the Emperor of Russia about their demands. In the same year the Committee for the Liberation of Old Serbia and Macedonia was founded. Serbian nationalists envisioned Serbia as

808-444: A firing squad commanded by lieutenant Vojislav Tankosić . Prime minister general Dimitrije Cincar-Marković and minister of the army general Milovan Pavlović  [ sr ] were killed in their homes. The third member of Cincar-Marković's government, interior minister Velimir Todorović, who was also marked to be killed, was instead severely wounded and lived until 1920. Members of the new interim government soon gathered under

909-447: A language shift. Peoples like the Turks, Turkifed inhabitants and Albanians (in several texts called " Arnauts ") were portrayed as converted inhabitants who were former Serbs. The process allowed the lands of Old Serbia to be denoted as Serbian and implied a future removal of political rights and ability for self determination from non-Slavic inhabitants such as Albanians, whom were viewed as

1010-471: A major problem for King Alexander. The first reaction came from the Russian tsar, who did not want to receive the king and queen upon their planned visit to Russia. Alexander blamed Radicals for it, instigated a new coup, and installed a government headed by general Dimitrije Cincar-Marković on 6 November 1902. Because of increasing repulsion by the Russian court, King Alexander again tried to approach Austria in

1111-517: A merchant from Belgrade, was introduced into the plot and sent to Switzerland to meet with Peter to acquaint him with the conspiracy. Peter did not want to commit himself to regicide . Influenced by his views, a group of older conspirators headed by general Jovan Atanacković proposed that King Alexander be forced to abdicate the throne and then sent into exile. However captain Dragutin Dimitrijević argued that Alexander's survival might trigger

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1212-979: A movement through time and observations by writers focused on the medieval period and landscape geography, as opposed to the reality of the day. These accounts contained portrayals and metaphors about Serb travellers in danger encountering the national cultural extinction of local Serbs or biological threats. The links travelogues drew to Old Serbia with inhabitants under threat had an important impact through discourse in connecting an emerging Serb national identity with Kosovo. Serb travelogues defined Old Serbia in its minimum extent as being Kosovo and at its wider range as encompassing north western Macedonia and northern Albania. Travellers writing about Macedonia used cultural and socio-linguistic depictions to state that local Christian Slavic inhabitants were exposed to Bulgarian propaganda that inhibited their ability to become Serbian. Efforts were devoted to interpreting linguistic and cultural information to present Macedonians as nearer to

1313-564: A number of consulates were opened by the Serbian state in Salonika , Skopje , Bitola and Pristina and included consuls such as Milan Rakić and Branislav Nušić who chronicled the difficult security circumstances of Serbs in the Ottoman Empire. Serbia also used education policy in Old Serbia to advance sentiments of a strong national identification among Orthodox inhabitants to the Serbian state. To bolster Serbian influence in Old Serbia,

1414-528: A particular area that was not part of the Principality of Serbia . After its appearance during the 1860s, the term denoted only Raška . Following the Serbian–Ottoman Wars (1876–1878) , several authors began to represent the term Old Serbia as synonymous with the Ottoman Vilayet of Kosovo. From 1878 onward, the Serbian state started saying "Old Serbia" also included Kosovo . By 1912, the claims were narrowed to Kosovo only. The critical treatment of facts

1515-480: A plot to assassinate the king and queen. The first meeting was on 6 September 1901 in Lieutenant Antić's apartment. Later, lieutenant Milan Marinković and lieutenant Nikodije Popović joined the conspiracy. According to the original plan, Alexander and Draga were to be killed by knives dipped in potassium cyanide at a party at Kolarac Endowment for the queen's birthday on 11 September, but the plan failed because

1616-408: A recess in the wall that appeared to be the keyhole of a secret door. The king and queen were hidden there. According to another version, which was partially accepted for the script of the television series The End of Obrenović Dynasty , the king and queen were hiding behind the mirror in the bedroom where there was a small room used for the queen's wardrobe. Cupboards covered a hole in the floor that

1717-525: A second-floor window onto piles of manure. Diplomatic correspondent, historian and author C.L. Sulzberger relates an account relayed to him by a friend who had participated in the assassination under Captain Apis: the assassination squad "burst into the little palace, found the king and queen cowering in a closet (both in silken nightgowns), stabbed them and chucked them out the window onto garden manure heaps, hacking off Alexander's fingers when he clung desperately to

1818-466: A sign of goodwill because of the queen's alleged pregnancy (a public secret existed that she was actually sterile since an accident in her youth, which Alexander refused to believe), pardoned all political prisoners, including Đorđe Genčić and the remaining Radicals. On 20 March 1901, he assembled a new government led by the Radical Mihailo Vujić . The government consisted of representatives from

1919-544: A suitable princess from some Western court to become Alexander's bride, not knowing that Alexander was already meeting regularly with Draga. Due to the growing involvement of former king Milan in daily Serbian political life, and especially due to his anti-Radical policy, an unemployed worker tried to assassinate Milan on 24 June 1899, resulting in Milan to begin reckoning with the Radicals in every way. However, Alexander now had to find

2020-517: A way to get rid of his father so that he could marry Draga. He decided to send King Milan and Prime Minister Đorđević outside the country. Under the pretext of negotiating his marriage to the German Princess Alexandra Caroline zu Schaumburg-Lippe , sister of Queen Charlotte of Württemberg , Alexander sent his father to Karlsbad and Prime Minister Đorđević to Marienbad to sign a contract with Austria-Hungary. As soon as he removed

2121-757: Is a Serbian historiographical term that is used to describe the territory that according to the dominant school of Serbian historiography in the late 19th century formed the core of the Serbian Empire in 1346–71. The term does not refer to a defined region but over time in the late 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century it came to include the regions of Raška , Kosovo and Metohija and much of modern North Macedonia . The term Old Serbians (Serbian: Старосрбијанци , romanized:  Starosrbijanci ) were used as designations by Serb authors and later governments for Slavic populations from regions such as Vardar Macedonia . In modern historiography,

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2222-780: Is also the current president of the Serbian Progressive Party ) was nominated by the president of the Republic , Aleksandar Vučić , and elected and appointed along with his cabinet by the National Assembly on 2 May 2024. During the period of Revolutionary Serbia , the title of the principal executive minister was President of the Governing Council ( Serbian Cyrillic : Председник правитељствујушчег совјета сербског , romanized :  Predsednik praviteljstvujuščeg sovjeta serbskog ; lit.   ' President of

2323-512: Is the head of the government of Serbia . The role of the prime minister is to direct the work of the government, and submits to the National Assembly the government's program , including a list of proposed ministers . The resignation of the prime minister results in the dismissal of the government. The first officeholder was Matija Nenadović , who became prime minister on 27 August 1805. The current prime minister, Miloš Vučević (who

2424-739: The German-installed one in September 1941. First, the 'head of government' was styled President of the Executive Council of the Supreme National Liberational Council until 7 March 1945. On that day, a ministry for Serbia was created within the government of Yugoslavia (as for all the other five republics), with Minister for Serbia being in charge of creating first one-party government of post-War Serbia, which took place on 9 April 1945. Governments were headed by President of

2525-512: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the state placed its efforts toward speeding up the incorporation of newly acquired lands such as Kosovo, Macedonia and Sandžak . These areas deemed as Old Serbia were subsequently organised into a province ( pokrajina ) that was given the official name of South Serbia . To integrate the region after perceived centuries of "separation" between the area and Serbia, national, cultural and economic considerations were seen as

2626-646: The Kriva and Pčinja rivers, the area of the Bregalnica river, the northern zone of the river Vardar , and a section of the Morava river. For Karadžić, the Slavic inhabitants of Macedonia were Serbian, detached from its Serb past due to Ottoman rule and propaganda activities undertaken by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The term Old Serbia was used in literature and from the 1830s onward, its usage widened and denoted

2727-504: The Liberal Party , the party he had always been linked with, and appointed Jovan Avakumović as the new prime minister. This step and the subsequent conduct of the Liberal politicians caused serious discontent in the country. On the 1st (13th) of April 1893, Prince Alexander, by a successful stratagem, imprisoned the regents and the ministers in the palace and, declaring himself of age, called

2828-454: The Metropolitan and obtained a divorce which was later declared illegal. On 3 January 1889, Milan adopted the new constitution which was much more liberal than the existing 1869 Constitution. Two months later, on 6 March, Milan suddenly abdicated the throne in favor of his son. No satisfactory reason was given for that step. Upon the abdication, former King Milan put up a regency to rule in

2929-554: The Netherlands withdrew their ambassadors from Serbia, thus freezing diplomatic relations, and imposed sanctions, which were not abolished until 1905. British prime minister Arthur Balfour publicly condemned the assassinations, saying that British ambassador Sir George Bonham was only accredited in front of King Alexander, and thus with the king's death, relations between Britain and Serbia were terminated. Bonham left Serbia on 21 June. The British government demanded that Belgrade punish

3030-567: The Sandžak , Kosovo and Metohija and Vardar Macedonia became part of the Kingdom of Serbia. Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Serb publications aiming to counter Albanian interests and to justify Serbian historical claims in Kosovo and Macedonia through the recreation of Old Serbia in those territories appeared. The acquisition of new lands was interpreted by individuals such as Vaso Čubrilović ,

3131-562: The Serbian Revolution in 1804 to 1835, it emerged as an independent principality ruled by various factions surrounding the Obrenović and Karađordević dynasties. They, in turn, were sponsored by the rival Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires. The Obrenović family was mostly pro-Austrian, and their hereditary enemies, the Karađordević family, was mostly pro-Russian. Each dynasty was financially aided by their powerful foreign sponsors. After

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3232-721: The Treaty of San Stefano , King Milan relied on Austria-Hungary as his ally. He proclaimed himself King in 1882. His military defeats in the Serbo-Bulgarian War and the Timok Rebellion , led by elements of the People's Radical Party , were serious blows to his popularity. The situation was compounded by quarrels between the King and the Queen. King Milan was not a faithful husband and Queen Natalija

3333-599: The communist government . However, most historians agree that the men were guilty of the attempted assassination of the prince. Prime Minister of Serbia The prime minister of Serbia ( Serbian Cyrillic : премијер Србије , romanized :  premijer Srbije ; feminine : премијерка/premijerka), officially the president of the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian Cyrillic : председник Владе Републике Србије , romanized :  predsednik Vlade Republike Srbije ; feminine: председница/predsednica)

3434-401: The 1880s, Serbia saw those areas, referred to as Old Serbia, in territorial terms. The relationship with Austria-Hungary following 1881 considerably affected the Serbian state that moved it to concentrate its regional efforts toward a southerly direction. At this time, Old Serbia became integrated into the Serbian state's collective narrative about its own self identity. A process began in

3535-550: The 19th century it emerged in the colloquial speech of the Serb population who lived in territories of the Habsburg monarchy after the Great Migrations . The toponym first appeared in the public sphere during the 1860s, the time of the triumph of Vuk Karadžić 's ideas. Until then the Serbs imagined the borders of their country spreading northwest. These ideas are grounded in the late-19th-century Serbian nationalism and changed

3636-536: The Austro-Hungarian tendency to annex Bosnia and Herzegovina . King Alexander invited his father to return once more to Serbia. Upon the arrival of former King Milan in Serbia on 7 October 1897, a new Government was formed with Vladan Đorđević as the new prime minister. Milan was appointed to the position of Supreme Commander of the Active Army of the Kingdom of Serbia. Together with the new Government, Milan tried to find

3737-657: The Bulgarian national movement, efforts were devoted to delineate a boundary in areas where differences among religions were nonexistent. In areas where the population was mainly Albanian, the appropriation undertaken by travel writers was reinforced through narratives of history, positions based on economic and geographic issues, at times that involved fabricating information and creating the room for discrimination on cultural and racial grounds toward non-Slavs. It would entail presenting non Orthodox Slavic inhabitants as either recent religious converts, immigrants or people who underwent

3838-465: The Constitution from 1888, and put into force the old one from 1869. Milan's return to Serbia did not last long because he quickly got into a conflict with his son. A week after his departure, Queen Natalija was allowed to return to Serbia. Natalija invited Alexander to come to Biarritz. When he visited his mother, he met Draga, 9 years his senior, and immediately fell in love with her. Natalija knew about

3939-671: The Danube division. This satisfied Russia, which returned its ambassador and was followed by other states, leaving only Britain and the Netherlands in boycotting the new Serbian government. During this time, Serbian statesmen became increasingly nervous because of Britain's refusal to reestablish diplomatic relations, especially after the Ilinden Uprising and because of the deteriorating situation in Macedonia . The government of Ljubomir Stojanović

4040-1585: The Government until 3 February 1953, President of the Executive Council until 15 January 1991 and again President of the Government since then, but the term Prime Minister is colloquially used (especially in the media) since the government of Dragutin Zelenović in 1991. In some later articles about the recent history of Serbia, term is retroactively applied to Stanko Radmilović , Desimir Jevtić and even back to Ivan Stambolić 's government.     Conservative Party     Liberal Party     Serbian Progressive Party     Independent     Serbian Progressive Party     Conservative Party     Liberal Party     People's Radical Party     Independent Radical Party     Independent [REDACTED] (1882–1889)     League of Communists of Yugoslavia     Socialist Party of Serbia     Socialist Party of Serbia     Democratic Party     Democratic Alternative     Social Democratic Union     Democratic Party of Serbia     Democratic Party of Serbia     Democratic Party     Socialist Party of Serbia     Serbian Progressive Party     Independent Old Serbia Old Serbia ( Serbian : Стара Србија , romanized :  Stara Srbija )

4141-526: The Macedonian Slavs were an "amorphous" and "floating mass", and lacked national identity. By regarding northern Macedonia as "Old Serbia", he sought to legitimize Serbia's territorial claims over the territory. Cvijić continuously changed his maps to include or exclude " Macedonian Slavs ", altering the location of the boundary between Bulgarians and Serbs and readjusting the colour scheme to show Macedonia as nearer to Serbia. Ethnographic maps showing

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4242-665: The Macedonian region and Old Serbia were part of a wider conflict involving similar competing maps of the region that was played out on the international scene. The ethnographic maps attempted to show and affirm various national perspectives and solutions offered by their authors, like mapping and classifying peoples according to their definitions or new borders, to geopolitical questions in the Balkans. Due to Greek and Serbian cooperation , northerly areas centred around Skopje were not shown in their maps as being part of Macedonia, as Serbia regarded those areas as Old Serbia. Serb authors viewed

4343-668: The May Coup. After the coup, life in Serbia continued as before, with King Peter exerting a minimal interference in politics, not wishing to oppose the Black Hand , which had become increasingly powerful. The deterioration in external relations between Serbia and Austria-Hungary led to the Pig War (also known as the Customs War) of 1906–08 from which Serbia emerged as the victor. With most senior conspirators forced into retirement, Dimitrijević became

4444-521: The Ministry (Председник министарства / Predsednik ministarstva ). From 1903 until the creation of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on 1 December 1918, head of government was styled President of the Council of Ministers (Председник Министарског савета / Predsednik Ministarskog saveta ). Under the communist regime after 1945, Serbia got a sort of separate KPJ -appointed government opposed to

4545-521: The People's Radical Party and the Liberal Party . King Alexander then enacted a new octroyed constitution, with its main feature the introduction of a bicameral system consisting of the Senate ( upper house ) and the National Assembly ( lower house ). The new constitution gave the monarch the right to appoint the majority of the senators, who would defend his interests. The false pregnancy of Queen Draga created

4646-549: The Radical-led Government became closer to the Russian Empire. In the summer of 1891, Prince Alexander and Pašić visited Russian Tsar Alexander III . The Tsar promised that Russia would not allow Austro-Hungarian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and that Russia would support Serbian interests in " Old Serbia " and Macedonia . Alexander's mother, former queen Natalija, who was in the process of divorcing Milan and

4747-408: The Radicals to office. In quick succession, the new prime ministers were Radicals Lazar Dokić , Sava Grujić , Đorđe Simić and Svetozar Nikolajević . One of the guardsmen that helped Alexander imprison the regents and the ministers was colonel Lazar "Laza" Petrović . At the beginning of his reign, King Alexander was prescribing a program of Government in matters of the military, the economical and

4848-411: The Serbs than Bulgarians. These included focusing on local customs in the area like family saint days and regarding them as part of similar traditions ( Slava ) in Serbia. Local traditional songs and epic poetry were scrutinised to met the criteria of being classified Serbian, not Bulgarian, such as folklore about medieval Prince Marko were deemed as examples of Serbian culture. Due to competition from

4949-443: The Serbs. Focusing on language and cultural aspects, the travellers sought to present and connect the Serbs of Serbia and Austria-Hungary to the inhabitants of Old Serbia as synonymous and one nation that lacked differences. Many realities of the day were bypassed such as interpreting demographics in an unclear or doubtful manner, or by digressing through subjects of geography and history. Travels through Old Serbia were presented as

5050-452: The Slavic inhabitants of Macedonia as Old Serbians or Southern Serbs, designations that were used more in the past than in modern times. Old Serbia as a term evoked strong symbolism and message regarding Serb historical rights to the land whose demographics were seen to have been altered in the Ottoman period to favour Albanians at the conclusion of the seventeenth century. Theories advanced at

5151-775: The St. Sava Society was established (1886) to educate aspiring teachers for the task, and later a department was created in the Serbian Education Ministry with a near identical objective. Starting from 1903, the Serbian political establishment altered the policy for Macedonia and Old Serbia. The focus switched from education propaganda toward providing Serbs in the region with arms resulting by 1904 in Chetnik bands and armed irregulars operating in Macedonia. The majority of efforts to include Old Serbia into newer Serb discourses on Serbdom and

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5252-486: The addition of then contemporary musical European styles. Kosovo, which was listed as "Old Serbia", was classified as an "unredeemed Serbian" region by the Black Hand , a secret society formed by Serb officers that generated nationalist material and armed activity by bands outside Serbia. In Serbian historiography , the First Balkan War (1912–1913) is also known as War for Liberation of Old Serbia . Later, in 1913

5353-485: The affair but did not pay much attention to it, believing that it would be short-lived. In the meantime, the progressivist Stojan Novaković formed a new government. On his father's command, King Alexander visited Vienna where, as a sign of Austro-Serbian friendship, he awarded the Austrian minister of finance Béni Kállay , who was also the minister for Bosnia and Herzegovina. This was poorly received in Serbia because of

5454-431: The army as a whole was not responsible for the May Coup. Seen as a supporter of the Obrenović dynasty by the conspirators, (having been one of King Alexander's adjutants and also close to his father King Milan), the future Vojvoda Živojin Mišić was forced into retirement in 1904. International outrage over the coup came swiftly. Russia and Austria-Hungary vehemently condemned the brutal assassination. Great Britain and

5555-450: The assassination of Prince Mihailo Obrenović on 29 May 1868 ( Old Style ), his cousin, Milan Obrenović , became the newly-elected Serbian prince. Milan was married to Natalie Keshko , a Moldavian boyar 's daughter. He was an autocratic ruler and unpopular among the people. During his rule, Serbia re-emerged as an independent country and gained territory at the 1878 Congress of Berlin . Since Russia gave its support to Bulgaria at

5656-420: The attempted assassination of regent Alexander I Karađorđević . On 23 May 1917, following the Salonika Trial , Colonel Dimitrijević, Major Ljubomir Vulović and Rade Malobabić were found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. A month later, on 11, 24 or 27 June, they were executed by firing squad. After World War II, Apis and his associates were rehabilitated in a mock trial staged for propaganda purposes by

5757-399: The autumn of 1902. He had taken some earlier steps in January 1902 when he sent his personal secretary to Vienna with the promise that it would solve the question of his successor in agreement with the neighbouring monarchy by adopting one of the descendants of the female line of Obrenovićs living in Austria-Hungary. Draga believed that Alexander should adopt her brother Nikodije Lunjevica for

5858-423: The bullets in his revolver, followed by Vemić and captain Ilija Radivojević. The king fell dead from the first shot. The queen tried to save his life by protecting his body with her own. General Petrović was killed immediately afterward. It is known with certainty that the king and queen were eventually discovered hiding inside a wardrobe and were then both savagely killed. Their bodies were mutilated and tossed from

5959-407: The concept of Old Serbia as it developed in the 19th century has been criticised as a historical myth , based often on invented or tendentiously interpreted historical events. Vuk Stefanović Karadžić referred to "Old Serbia" as a territory of the Serb people that was part of medieval Serbia prior to the Ottoman conquest . Milovan Radovanović claims that although the term was not attested until

6060-415: The conspiracy but who refused to participate, and Mihailo Naumović (unknown to the conspirators) were killed. The doors to the king's bedroom were shattered with dynamite, but no one was in the bed. Unknown to the others, Apis spotted someone escaping down the stairs into the courtyard. He thought it was the king and ran after him, but it was one of the king's loyal guardsmen. In the gunfight that erupted, Apis

6161-424: The conspirators entered the courtyard. He was ordered to reveal whether there was a secret room or passageway, under the threat of death if he failed to comply within ten minutes. Petrović waited in silence for the expiration of the deadline. The subsequent course of events is not precisely known. According to one version, the officers again entered the royal bed chamber where cavalry lieutenant Velimir Vemić observed

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6262-403: The country were satisfied, while those who had supported him were disappointed. In parliamentary elections a few days before the coup, the king's candidate had received a full majority. Angry elements within the army mutinied in Niš in 1904, taking control of the Nišava District in support of the fallen king, demanding that the assassins be tried for their crimes. Their aim was also to show that

6363-446: The cultural and racial "other", unhygienic, and a danger. As travelogues were presented as firsthand accounts and truth, their contents aimed to get a reader to react and identify as a person with the imagined community of a nation. At the same time, songs from oral traditions, collected and catalogued from Macedonia and Kosovo (Old Serbia) began to be played in Serbia and were reworked by modern Serbian composers into Serb songs through

6464-490: The day before, under various pretexts. Together with their Belgrade comrades, they were divided into five groups and spent the early evening drinking in various hotels in the town, before gathering in the Officers' Club . That night King Alexander had dinner with his ministers and the queen's family. Naumović gave a sign to the conspirators that the royal couple was asleep by sending one of his subordinates to bring his tippet from his home. After midnight, Captain Apis led most of

6565-530: The de facto leader of the conspirators. In 1914, the Black Hand ordered the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, executed by members of Young Bosnia , which was used by Austria-Hungary as a basis for launching World War I . Dimitrijević and the Black Hand were later involved in another scandal. Nikola Pašić wished to expel the most prominent members of the Black Hand movement, by then officially disbanded. Dimitrijević and several of his military colleagues were arrested and tried on false charges of

6666-457: The districts of Niš , Pirot , Vranje and Toplica  [ sr ] . Following the Great Eastern Crisis (1875–1878) and the emergence of the Macedonian Question , Serbs were dissatisfied that Bulgaria became a rival for the region of Macedonia or "Old Serbia". Kosovo formed part of the Kosovo myth that prior to those events was viewed in spiritual and ethical terms, and an important aspect of Serbian cultural and ordinary life. By

6767-510: The early nineteenth century. Old Serbia became a topic of focus (mid nineteenth - early twentieth centuries) in Serbian travelogues by Serb authors from Serbia and Austria-Hungary. In the aftermath of the Serbo-Bulgarian War (1885), several travelogues were published on Old Serbia by politicians and intellectuals seeking to counter "Bulgarian propaganda". The travel accounts through use of geography, history, philology and ethnography sought to bolster nationalist claims that those lands were for

6868-508: The financial life of the state. He disapproved an unprincipled party competition and in order to suppress the Radicals, on 9 January, he invited his father back to Serbia. The Radical Government immediately resigned and moved into opposition. The influence of former king Milan in state affairs could be seen immediately after his return to Serbia. King Alexander tried to keep a policy of neutral governments but he did not have much success. Therefore, on 9 May 1894 he conducted another coup, abolished

6969-481: The former King Milan, did not approve of the marriage and refused to return to Serbia. He died in Vienna in 1901. Another opponent of the marriage was the dowager queen Natalija, who wrote a letter to Alexander containing all of the ugliest rumors regarding Draga circulating in Russia. Minister of foreign affairs Andra Đorđević visited Jakov Pavlović , archbishop of Belgrade and metropolitan of Serbia, and asked him to refuse to grant his blessing. Alexander also visited

7070-434: The future as Albanians formed a "living wall" spanning from Kosovo to the Pĉinja area , limiting the spread of Serb influence. As a result of the Serbian-Ottoman war, the Albanian inhabited area shrank after they were expelled from the Toplica and Morava valleys by the Serbian army in 1878. Before the events of the Berlin Congress , only a small number of Serbian accounts existed that described Old Serbia and Macedonia in

7171-498: The gate of the royal palace at 2:00 a.m. As the conspirators, led by Petar Mišić entered the building, the electric lighting was switched off throughout the palace. While several officers of the Royal Guard were involved in the plot, the majority of the guards on duty were not. However, in the darkness and confusion, they did not attempt an effective defense. A search for the royal couple was unsuccessful for nearly two hours. During this time, captain Jovan Miljković, an aide familiar with

7272-474: The goal of Serbia's territorial expansion from the west to the south and were important to Serbian nationalism during the Balkan Wars and the First World War . In the early nineteenth century, Old Serbia as a concept was introduced by Vuk Karadžić in his ethnographic, geographic and historical publications. Karadžić defined Old Serbia as including the Morava - Vardar river valley. In particular, it comprised

7373-456: The government and the army. The boycott had an almost complete success. By January 1904, only the ambassadors of the Kingdom of Greece and the Ottoman Empire remained within Serbia. As a result, the new King Peter decided to remove from court the aides-de-camp who had taken part in the coup, while at the same time promoting them to higher positions. Aleksandar Mašin became acting chief of staff, while Colonel Čedomilj Popović became commander of

7474-457: The king appointed new members to the Senate, the state council and the courts. In the second coup, the king restored the constitution that he had abolished just a few hours earlier. Following this, the government held elections on 18 May 1903 (31 May by the Gregorian calendar ), which the government won. This was the final political victory for King Alexander I. Junior officers had complained that

7575-577: The larger narrative about Serbia was undertaken by people outside the bounds of the Serb state, such as artists, composers, writers, scientists and other members of the intelligentsia. A prominent example was Jovan Cvijić , a Serb academic who made ethnographic maps depicting the Balkans that aimed to advance Serb claims to Kosovo and his publications influenced later generations of historiographers. Cvijić defined Old Serbia as including Kosovo and Metohija, spanning southward and encompassing Debar , Kumanovo , Prilep and Tetovo . In 1906–1907, Cvijić wrote

7676-529: The metropolitan and threatened that he would abdicate if he could not receive his blessing. As a sign of protest, the entire Đorđević government resigned. Among the fiercest opponents to the marriage was Đorđe Genčić , minister of the interior in Đorđević's government. Because of Genčić's public condemnation of the engagement, Alexander had him jailed for seven years. The situation was resolved by Russian tsar Nicholas II , who agreed to be Alexander's honorary best man . The wedding took place on 23 July 1900. One of

7777-493: The name of young King Alexander and retired to Paris to live as an ordinary citizen. Members of the regency were Jovan Ristić , General Kosta Protić and General Jovan Belimarković . The Radicals were forgiven and allowed to return to political life. The Radical Sava Grujić formed a new government, which was succeeded by the Government of Nikola Pašić , the leader of the Radical Party. After King Milan's pro-Austrian policy,

7878-407: The new government but were absent from Belgrade at the time of the overthrow. The National Assembly conducted a session on 4 June 1903, voted Peter Karađorđević as king of Serbia and elected the mission that went to Geneva to retrieve him. He ascended the Serbian throne as Peter I. The news of the coup was received with mixed feelings by the Serbs. Many who had blamed the king for the situation in

7979-454: The officers in the conspiracy to the royal palace. At the same time, Colonel Mašin went to the 12th Infantry barracks to take command of the troops there. Lieutenant Colonel Mišić prepared to bring his 11th Infantry regiment to the palace. Several groups of the conspirators surrounded the houses of prime minister Dimitrije Cincar-Marković and senior officers loyal to King Alexander. Guard lieutenant Petar Živković , on duty that night, unlocked

8080-533: The officers in the procession was Dragutin Dimitrijević Apis . With strained relations with the outside world because of his unpopular marriage, King Alexander's foreign policy turned to Russia. The king had previously released the Radicals from prison who had been accused of backing the Ivandan assassination attempt  [ sr ] on former King Milan. After the death of his father Milan, King Alexander, as

8181-431: The opponents, Alexander was able to announce his engagement to Draga Mašin. King Alexander's popularity further declined after his marriage to Draga, the former lady-in-waiting of his mother Queen Natalija and widow of engineer Svetozar Mašin. Draga was nine years older than Alexander. At that time, it was very unusual for a king or heir to the throne to marry a woman who was not a member of the nobility. Alexander's father,

8282-424: The plot reached the public, but at first the king dismissed them as false propaganda. Eventually, a few officers were brought before the military court but were acquitted for lack of evidence. Fearing that they could be discovered, conspirators decided to act on the first occasion when Naumović would be in command at the palace, the night of 28–29 May (Old Style). The conspirators from the interior arrived to Belgrade

8383-626: The presidency of Jovan Avakumović . Aleksandar Mašin was appointed minister of civil engineering, Jovan Atanacković was appointed minister of the army, while Đorđe Genčić became minister of the economy. Besides conspirators, members of the new government were: Radical Stojan Protić , Liberal Vojislav Veljković, leaders of the Serbian Independent Radical Party Ljubomir Stojanović and Ljubomir Živković and progressivist Ljubomir Kaljević . Nikola Pašić, Stojan Ribarac and Jovan Žujović were also considered members of

8484-594: The queen's false pregnancy diminished the international reputation of Serbia. They were also unhappy with the constant temper tantrums thrown by her brother Nikola Lunjevica, himself a junior military officer who once killed a policeman whilst drunk. Nikola, as the king's brother-in-law, had also demanded that senior officers report and salute to him. In August 1901, cavalry lieutenant Antonije Antić (Genčić's nephew), captains Radomir Aranđelović and Milan Petrović and lieutenants Dragutin Dimitrijević Apis and Dragutin Dulić organised

8585-480: The regicides as a sign of diplomacy. However, the conspirators were so powerful that it was unrealistic for the Serbian government to act on British demands. Austrian ambassador Konstantin Dumba persuaded Austrian foreign minister Agenor Gołuchowski to coordinate with Russian foreign minister Vladimir Lamsdorf to diplomatically boycott Serbia until officers involved in the coup were removed from influential positions in

8686-627: The royal couple never arrived. After the details of the plot were disseminated among the military ranks, the conspirators decided to acquaint other politicians and citizens with their intentions. The plot was first introduced to Đorđe Genčić , who discussed the idea with foreign representatives in Belgrade and also travelled abroad trying to learn how to create changes to the Serbian throne if the king died without children. Austria-Hungary did not intend to nominate any of its princes, as it expected difficulties and obstacles to be put forward by Russia. Russia, for

8787-595: The ruling Serbian Soviet ' ). Initially the Council had no ministers, just members, but in 1811 modern ministries were created. Government ceased to exist with the collapse of the First Serbian Uprising on 3 October 1813, however later continued in exile in Hotin ( Russian Empire ) from 1813 until 1814. Government was restored on 21 November 1815 following the Second Serbian Uprising . Head of government

8888-405: The same decade in Serbia, where diplomacy and foreign policy were deployed to expand Serb influence in Old Serbia, to gather data about the mainly unknown territory and make preparations for future armed conflict with the Ottoman Empire. As such, Guidelines for Establishing Serbia's Influence in Macedonia and Old Serbia were made part of the Serbian government platform in 1887. Over several years,

8989-484: The same reasons, fearing resistance from Vienna, was not willing to outsource one of its own princes. Among the conspirators was Aleksandar Mašin , a retired staff colonel and brother of Draga's first husband. Prince Mirko of Montenegro was one of the potential candidates for the Serbian throne. However, Peter Karađorđević, who lived as an ordinary citizen in Geneva , became the preferred option. Therefore, Nikola Hadži Toma,

9090-459: The sill". This account would indicate that King Alexander was killed after he had been thrown from the palace window. The assassination of King Alexander coincided with the 35th anniversary of the assassination of his predecessor Prince Mihajlo. The remains of the royal couple were buried in St. Mark's Church . That same night, the queen's brothers Nikola and Nikodije Ljunjevica were arrested and executed by

9191-431: The succession. Dimitrije Tucović organized a rally of dissatisfied workers and students on 23 March 1903, which escalated to open conflict with the police and the army, resulting in the deaths of six people. Knowing that he would not be able to win new elections, the king staged two coups within one hour. With the first coup, Alexander abolished his octroyed constitution and disbanded the Senate and National Assembly. Then

9292-548: The time like those by Cvijić referred to the Albanians in the area as a result of metastasis and due to a "great Albanian campaign to the east". The more prominent theory stated that Ottoman aims were to split the Serbian principality from Old Serbia that involved installing Muslim Albanians into the area. It claimed that the evidence lay in the settlement pattern of Albanians as dispersed and not compact. The theory concluded that Serbian abilities were diminished for liberation wars of

9393-563: Was banished from Belgrade, upon Alexander's request went to the French coastal resort Biarritz together with her lady-in-waiting and the future queen Draga Mašin . After the death of the Regent Protić on 4 June 1892, a conflict emerged between Pašić, who wanted the vacant position in the regency for himself, and the Regent Ristić, who disliked Pašić. In 1892, Ristić transferred the government to

9494-470: Was damaged by the invocation of the past for the justification of present and future claims, and by the mixture of history and contemporary issues. The core myth of Serbian identity became the idea Kosovo was the cradle of the Serbian nation. Serbian rebels of the First Serbian Uprising and Second Serbian Uprising had no territorial ambitions over Kosovo. A plan made during that period to create

9595-550: Was greatly influenced by Russia. In 1886, the couple, mismatched both personally and politically, separated. Queen Natalija withdrew from the kingdom, taking with her the ten-year-old Prince Alexander (later King Alexander I). While she was residing in Wiesbaden in 1888, King Milan was successful in recovering the Crown Prince, whom he undertook to educate. As a reply to the queen's remonstrances, Milan exerted considerable pressure upon

9696-455: Was most affected by the internal territorial changes as it lost control of what had been defined as Old Serbia, which became the separate republic of Macedonia . The stances and opinions of the early twentieth century Serbian intelligentsia have left a legacy in the political space as those views are used in modern discourses of Serb nationalism to uphold nationalistic claims. Travelogues have been republished and often lack critical analysis of

9797-505: Was not clear about the southern confines of this larger state and neither was Kosovo nor Old Serbia mentioned directly. This program responded to the need to spread propaganda among Serbs within the Ottoman Empire. Serbian engagement with the region started in 1868 with the establishment of the Educational Council (Prosvetni odbor) that opened schools and sent Serb instructors and textbooks to Macedonia and Old Serbia. In May 1877

9898-499: Was ready to fulfill British demands, but it was Nikola Pašić's government that finally did so. The conspirators were brought to trial, which forced some into early retirement. Other junior conspirators were never punished for their complicity in the assassination. Dimitrijević was later promoted to the rank of colonel and served as an officer in the intelligence sector of the Serbian army. British-Serbian diplomatic relations were renewed by decree signed by King Edward VII three years after

9999-466: Was styled Prince's Representative (Књажевски представник / Knjaževski predstavnik ). The style remained official until 1861, even after the establishing of constitutional government in 1835. Prior to that date, the office was of no major importance or influence and depended solely on the will of the Prince Miloš Obrenović . From 1861 until 1903, the head of government was styled President of

10100-576: Was the entrance to a secret passage (which allegedly led to the Russian embassy located opposite the palace). As the conspirators called for him to emerge, Alexander demanded from his hiding place that the officers confirm their oath of loyalty. According to one version of events, they did so. According to another, they threatened to bomb the palace if Alexander did not open the passage. After Alexander and Draga, who were only partially dressed, emerged, artillery captain Mihailo Ristić fired at them using all

10201-416: Was wounded with three bullets to his chest, surviving only because of his strong constitution. Nervous because of the failure of the search, the approaching dawn and the disappearance of Apis, who was lying wounded in the basement of the palace, the conspirators believed that the plot had failed. They had soldiers bring the king's first aide-de-camp , general Lazar Petrović , who had been captured as soon as

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