Regent Alexander in Belgrade
A British chronology of the war states under 6 November 1918 that King Peter I of Serbia returned to Belgrade, recaptured five days earlier by the Serbian First Army. This, however, did not happen. The king’s biographers agree that the 74-year-old, ailing Peter I remained abroad until July 1919 and only then returned to Belgrade. What did happen in those days was that his son, the regent and commander-in-chief of the Serbian army, Alexander, came to the capital. The chronology may have attributed the regent’s arrival to the king by mistake.
A king without power
Peter I had not ruled since June 1914. Because of his poor health he had then handed over his royal powers to his son, who from that time governed as regent. The old king crossed the mountains of Albania with the army during the retreat in the winter of 1915, and afterwards lived in Greece, where the Serbian government in exile sat on Corfu. He took no part in the great decisions at the end of the war. It was Regent Alexander who accompanied the army during the offensive on the Salonica front, and it was he who directed the country’s policy together with Prime Minister Nikola Pašić. Peter I nevertheless remained a symbol of the national struggle, and the Serbs called him King Peter the Liberator.
The regent and the general
According to Cyril Falls’s British official history, the commander-in-chief of the Allied Armies in the East, General Louis Franchet d’Espèrey, travelled to Belgrade together with the Serbian heir to the throne and entered the capital at his side on 7 November. The date given by Falls thus differs by one day from the date in the chronology. Some Serbian accounts, on the other hand, write that the regent took up permanent residence in Belgrade only later in November. The royal palace had been destroyed, so his residence became the house of the industrialist Krsmanović on Terazije.
Franchet d’Espèrey’s journey to Belgrade had above all a military and political purpose. The French general intended to strike at Germany through Hungary and wanted to force the Hungarians to place their railways and Danube shipping at his disposal. In Belgrade he received a delegation of the new Hungarian government headed by Prime Minister Mihály Károlyi, with which he discussed the terms of an armistice. According to Falls the talks dragged on, and the general threatened further operations and a march on Budapest.
Capital of a new state
Belgrade, devastated and plundered during three years of occupation, quickly became a centre of high politics. Delegations came to it from the South Slav lands of the former Habsburg monarchy, asking for Serbian troops and discussing unification. It was in the Krsmanović house that on 1 December 1918 Regent Alexander proclaimed the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and Peter I became its first king. The Serbian government moved to Belgrade in December. The old king returned to the capital in July 1919 and died there in August 1921.
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Related events
(04)The same battle, people or subject.
- 1 December 1918 · PoliticsProclamation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and SlovenesOn 1 December 1918 in Belgrade Regent Alexander received the Zagreb National Council's delegation and proclaimed the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
- 20 December 1918 · PoliticsProtić prime minister of the Kingdom of SCSOn 20 December 1918 Regent Alexander formed the first government of the Kingdom of SCS under Stojan Protić. Nikola Pašić, premier since 1912, lost office.
- 1 November 1918 · Balkan FrontSerbs retake Belgrade againOn 1 November 1918 the Serbian First Army entered Belgrade, which the last Central Powers troops left that day across the Sava and Danube, blowing the bridges.
- 13 November 1918 · Balkan FrontArmistice of BelgradeOn 13 November 1918 in Belgrade Hungary signed a military convention with the Allies. Its line left the Banat, Bačka and part of Transylvania to occupation.