{{Infobox Monarch
| name =King Alexander I Obrenović
| title =King of Serbia
| image =[[Image:KraljAlexObrenovic.jpg|200px]]
| coronation =HM Alexander I of Serbia (1889-1903)
| reign =[[March 6]], [[1889]] – [[June 11]], [[1903]]
| predecessor =[[Milan I of Serbia|Milan I]]
| successor =[[Peter I of Serbia|Peter I]] (Karađorđević)
| queen =[[Queen Draga|Draga Lunjevica]]
| royal house =[[House of Obrenović]]
| father =[[Milan I of Serbia|Milan I]]
| mother =[[Natalija Obrenović|Natalija Keshko]]
| date of birth =[[August 14]], [[1876]]
| place of birth =[[Belgrade]]
| date of death =[[June 11]], [[1903]] (aged 26)
| place of death =[[Belgrade]]
|}}
'''Alexander I''' or '''Alexander Obrenović''' ([[Serbian language|Serbian]] [[Cyrillic]]: '''Александар Обреновић''') ([[August 14]], [[1876]] - [[June 11]], [[1903]]) was king of [[Serbia]] from [[1889]] to [[1903]].<ref name="chron">{{Cite web|url=http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/mar/chronology.asp?groupId=34401|title=Chronology for Serbs in Croatia - 1882-1902|accessyear=2007|accessmonthday=September 28|publisher=University of Maryland|year=2007|author=University of Maryland|language=English}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Dorich | first = William | title = Kosovo | publisher = Kosovo Charity Fund | location = City | year = 1992 | isbn = 9780317050745 }}</ref>

==Accession==
In [[1889]] his father, [[Milan I of Serbia|King Milan]], unexpectedly abdicated and withdrew to private life, proclaiming Alexander king of Serbia under a regency until he should attain his majority at eighteen years of age. His mother [[Natalija Obrenović]] became his regent.

In [[1893]], King Alexander, aged seventeen, in a first [[coup d'état]] proclaimed himself of full age, dismissed the [[regent]]s and their government, and took the royal authority into his own hands. His action was popular, and was rendered still more so by his appointment of a radical ministry.

In May [[1894]] King Alexander, by another coup, abolished the liberal constitution of [[1889]] and restored the conservative one of [[1869]]. His attitude during the [[Turko-Greek War of 1897]] was one of strict [[neutrality]].

In the same year, the young King brought his father Milan back to Serbia and in [[1898]] appointed him commander-in-chief of the Serbian army. During that time, Milan was regarded as the de facto ruler of the country.

== Marriage ==

In the summer of [[1900]], King Alexander suddenly announced his engagement to the widowed Madame [[Draga Mašin]], formerly a lady-in-waiting to his mother. The projected union initially aroused great opposition: he did not consult with his father, who had been on vacation in [[Karlovy Vary|Carlsbad]] and making arrangements to secure the hand of a [[Germany|German]] princess for his son, or his prime minister Dr. Vladan Đorđević, who was visiting the [[Paris]] [[World Exhibition|Universal Exhibition]] at the time of the announcement. Both immediately resigned from their respective offices and Alexander had difficulty in forming a new cabinet. Alexander's mother also opposed the marriage and was subsequently banished from the kingdom.

Opposition to the union seemed to subside somewhat for a time upon the publication of [[Tsar Nicholas II]]'s congratulations to the king on his engagement and of his acceptance to act as the principal witness at the wedding. The marriage was duly celebrated in August [[1900]]. Even so, the unpopularity of the union weakened the King's position in the eyes of the army and the country at large.

== Political reconciliation ==
[[Image:Aleksandar Obrenovic.jpg|thumb|King Alexander and Queen Draga]]
King Alexander tried to reconcile political parties by unveiling a [[classical liberalism|liberal]] [[constitution]] of his own initiative, introducing for the first time in the constitutional history of Serbia the system of two chambers (''[[National Assembly|skupshtina]]'' and ''[[senate]]''). This reconciled the political parties but did not reconcile the army which, already dissatisfied with the king's marriage, became still more so at the rumors that one of the two unpopular brothers of [[Queen Draga]], Lieutenant Nikodije, was to be proclaimed heir-presumptive to the throne.

Meanwhile, the independence of the [[senate]] and of the council of state caused increasing irritation to King Alexander. In yet another ''[[coup d'état]]'', he suspended (March [[1903]]) the [[constitution]] for half an hour, time enough to publish the decrees by which the old senators and councillors of state were dismissed and replaced by new ones. This arbitrary act naturally increased the dissatisfaction in the country.

== Assassination ==
The general impression was that as much as the [[senate]] was packed with men devoted to the royal couple and the government obtained a large majority at the general elections, King Alexander would not hesitate any longer to proclaim Queen Draga's brother as the [[heir]] to the throne. In spite of this it had been agreed with the Serbian Government that [[Prince Mirko of Montenegro]] who was married to Natalija Konstantinovic the granddaughter of Princess Anka Obrenović the aunt of King Milan would be proclaimed Crown Prince of Serbia in the event that the marriage of King Alexander and Queen Draga was childless.<ref name="njeg">{{Cite web|url=http://www.njegoskij.org/menu_history/subArts_2006/subArtHI_05006.php#footnotes|title=Biography of P rince Mihajlo Petrovic Njegos|accessyear=2007|accessmonthday=September 28|publisher=The Njegoskij Fund Public Project|year=2004|author=Pierre Olivier Leroy|language=English}}</ref>

Apparently to prevent Queen Draga's brother being named heir, but in reality to replace Alexander Obrenović with [[Peter I of Serbia|Peter Karageorgevic]], a conspiracy was organised by the military. Their [[The Old Palace|palace]] was invaded and the Royal couple hid in a cupboard in the Queen's bedroom.

The conspirators searched the palace and eventually discovered the royal couple and savagely murdered them in the early morning of [[June 11]], [[1903]]. King Alexander and Queen Draga were shot and their bodies mutilated and disemboweled and thrown, by eyewitness accounts still living, from a second floor window in the palace. The King was only 26 years old at the time of his death.

==References==
{{reflist}}
==Sources==
* {{1911}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Milan I of Serbia|Milan I]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Serbian monarchs|King of Serbia]]|years=[[1889]]—[[1903]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Peter I of Serbia|Peter I]]}}
{{end}}
{{Serbian monarchs}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander I of Serbia}}
[[Category:Serbian monarchs]]
[[Category:House of Obrenović|Alexander]]
[[Category:Assassinated monarchs]]
[[Category:Assassinated Serbian people]]
[[Category:1876 births]]
[[Category:1903 deaths]]
[[Category:Deaths by firearm in Serbia]]
[[Category:Orthodox monarchs]]

[[bs:Aleksandar Obrenović]]
[[bg:Александър I (Сърбия)]]
[[de:Aleksandar Obrenović]]
[[fr:Alexandre Ier de Serbie]]
[[hr:Aleksandar Obrenović]]
[[mk:Александар Обреновиќ]]
[[nl:Alexander Obrenović]]
[[no:Aleksandar Obrenović]]
[[pl:Aleksander Obrenowić]]
[[pt:Alexandre I da Sérvia]]
[[ru:Александр Обренович]]
[[sr:Александар Обреновић]]
[[sh:Aleksandar Obrenović]]
[[sv:Alexander I av Serbien]]