Karadjordjevic

Karadjordjević or Karageorgevich , Serbian dynasty, descended from Karageorge (Karadjordje). Its ruling members were Alexander , prince of Serbia, and kings Peter I , Alexander , and Peter II of Yugoslavia. It was long involved in a feud with the Obrenović dynasty. The Karadjordjević dynasty lost the throne in 1945 when Yugoslavia became a federal republic; the family had been in exile since 1941, when German forces conquered the country. In 2001 the government restored the family's citizenship and property rights, and they returned to reside in Serbia.

Alexander I (b. 17 Dec. 1888, d. 9 Oct. 1934). King of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes 1921–9, King of Yugoslavia 1929–34 Born in Cetinje, the son of Prince Peter Karadjordjevic (r. 1903–21) of Serbia was educated in Geneva and St Petersburg. He returned to Serbia in 1909. He distinguished himself in the Balkan Wars, and in 1914 became Prince Regent of Serbia owing to his father's ill health. After World War I he ruled the newly unified Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, and in 1921 became King upon the death of his father. He found it extremely difficult to balance the desires of the Serbs, Croats, and other minority peoples for autonomy with his own desire for a Greater Serbia, and the emphasis on Serbian predominance throughout the kingdom. Faced with domestic instability resulting from ethnic conflict in Parliament, he dissolved the chamber and established a royal dictatorship (6 January 1929). To reduce tensions between the different communities he changed the country's name to Yugoslavia, but in practice continued to promote Serb interests. He was assassinated on a state visit to France, by Macedonian and Croatian Ustase terrorists.