СЛОБОДАН ЈОВАНОВИЋ И ДИНАСТИЈА КАРАЂОРЂЕВИЋА
SLOBODAN JOVANOVIC AND THE KARADJORDJEVIC DYNASTY

Summary/Abstract: Slobodan Jovanovic, a historian of the Obrenovic dynasty epoch, was for the most part of his professional and active life a contemporary of the Karadjordjevic ruling family, Nevertheless, he did not leave a single study dealing with the rulers of the Karadjordjevic dynasty. All that remains are testimonies of his frequent meetings with them, and a few passing reflections directed at the personages and the period of Karadjordjevic rule contained in some of his other works. The few observations Jovanovic made about King Peter Karadjordjevic I are generally consistent with the views of most of the other historians at the time of his rule. Jovanovic agreed that King Peter Karadjordjevic I strictly adhered to the principles of constitutional parliamentarianism classing him, however, among the weaker members of the Karadjordjevic family. Contrarily, Jovanovic viewed Alexander I, the prince regent and subsequent king of the same family as a strong figure. Jovanovic met Alexander I many times during his reign, first in the capacity of university professor entrusted with the prince’s education, then as Alexander’s accomplice in the attempt to overthrow the government of Nikola Pasic in the first half of 1916, and in the period between the world wars mainly as the leading legal expert on the Constitution whose advice King Alexander sought in several crises. The existing historical sources offer no evidence to support the frequent accusations that Jovanovic was directly involved in introducing King Alexander’s open dictatorship. On the contrary, all available information indicates rather that Jovanovic was opposed to the introduction of dictatorship. In his works written after the period of dictatorship Jovanovic demonstrated his disagreement with this period of government, describing it as detrimental to Serb interests. Prince Pavle and his successor to the throne, Peter II were also placed among the weaker representatives of the Karadjordjevic dynasty. What relevant information is to be found indicates that the most prolific modern Serb writer Slobodan Jovanovic held the achievements and politics of the Obrenovic dynasty in greater esteem than those of the Karadjordjevic ruling family.

• Details
• Contents