The fratricidal Serbo-Bulgarian conflict of 1885 has been well
commemorated by a monument at Vidin: a soldier of the victorious
Bulgarian army is depicted, prostrate in sorrow.... Milan, after an
effort to rule with a new liberal constitution, abdicated and
delivered his country to a Regency. These statesmen, who were aware of
the secret convention with Austria, obstructed the development of the
country and had recourse to a _coup d'etat_ in order to prevent a
Radical election. Alexander, the ill-fated son of Milan, by another
_coup d'etat_ proclaimed himself of age, summoned a Radical Cabinet
and restored to the people their political liberties. But the
enthusiasm caused by these proceedings was not often to be roused
again by Alexander. The midnight _coups d'etat_, which rapidly
succeeded one another, were a form of government congenial to this
gloomy, silent, friendless youth who blinked at the world through his
spectacles and was incapable of seeing anything except the narrowness
and the intrigues that were a part of his surroundings. More and more
he showed himself a despot; he persecuted and imprisoned hundreds of
Radicals, who were the overwhelming majority of the population.
Espionage was rampant, the finances were in a state of chaos and
Serbia's prestige was at such an ebb that, what with the disasters of
1885 and the reign of Alexander, the Macedonian Slavs were naturally
more inclined to proclaim themselves Bulgars. Alexander annulled the
constitution, imposed that of 1888, annulled this one also, superseded
all the judges of appeal as well as all the councillors of state,
married his mistress (an engineer's widow) and plotted, it was said,
to nominate as heir to the throne his brother-in-law, a worthless
young lieutenant. Meanwhile this officer and his brother were
exasperating the people of Belgrade by commanding the orchestras in
cafes to play the national anthem at their entrance, and occasionally,
while they drank, firing their revolvers into the air. It was
something more than personal exasperation which brought about
Alexander's death. Those who participated in the murder were both
partisans and opponents of the dynasty. Likewise the Austro-Hungarian
Government was aware of the plan: Count Goluchowski promised the
conspirators that Austria would not resort to armed interference,
although two army corps were held in readiness to march into Serbia.
Of course it would have suited Austria much better if the king, who
seemed to be emancipating himself from the veiled tutelage accepted by
his father, had been dethroned and kept by the Ballplatz as a
restraint on the political waywardness of any successor. Some of those
who entered the palace on the night of June 10, 1903, may have had
their intentions changed by the panic which was caused owing to the
lateness of the hour and the groping along unlighted passages--the
electricity was out of order--but amid the band of executioners there
may very well have been some who recognized that, for Serbia's future
peace and welfare, it was infinitely preferable that he should not
live. From practically the whole nation there came, when they heard of
his death, a sigh of relief; he was killed by the detestation of his
subjects. Yet there might have been, in the people's state of nerves,
an outbreak against the actual murderers and this might have
inaugurated a reign of terror if Pa[vs]i['c] had not walked up and
down in front of the palace, wearing a bowler hat and buttonholing
everyone he saw. "Most unfortunate, most unfortunate," he said; "they
were both drunk, and so they killed each other." Meanwhile, machine
guns were being mounted at appropriate spots, but they were not
required. And Austria published to the world a few abominable
incidents that accompanied the deed and followed it; these were almost
wholly untrue, yet they served to make not only Western Europe but
even the Sultan hold up their hands in horror. Abdul Hamid raised
those hands that were dripping with the blood of hundreds of thousands
of Armenians, and in exalted phrases, says Mr. Laffan,[64] lectured
the Serbs on the undesirability of assassination.
A younger man than King Peter Karageorgevi['c], who now succeeded,
might have been appalled by the difficulties of the situation. Murder
and the rearing of pigs were universally regarded as the purposes for
which God had created the Serbs, and years were to elapse before the
little country could persuade the world that it was not inhabited by
beings who approached the lower animals--and then the world perceived
that it was, to a great extent, inhabited by heroes. When King Peter
ascended the throne the Royal Families of Europe congratulated each
other that they were not related to him, and they sympathized with
Nikita of Montenegro for having this personage as a son-in-law. The
indebtedness of Serbia--she owed 450,000,000 francs, a sum which
swallowed a quarter of the annual budget--the corruption of the public
services, the lack of industrial development, the rudimentary state of
agriculture and whatsoever else of evil which the Obrenovi['c] had
done or left undone--everything was the fault of King Peter. A great
many people were positive that Alexander had been slain by his
myrmidons; for this foul deed he had been always plotting, from the
time when he fought as a lieutenant in the French army of 1870-1871
(when he was wounded and decorated), during the Bosnian insurrection
of 1876 (when he served the national cause) and while he was
translating Mill's _Treatise on Liberty_. These liberal activities
were held as the absolute proofs of the hypocrisy of Europe's outlaw.
In a few years "old Uncle Pete," as his people affectionately came to
call him, was revered by the men not only of friendly countries but
even by those who were in arms against him.