He agreed to not foment
rebellion in Bosnia-Herzegovina, in return for a free hand in
Macedonia and some export concessions for some agricultural produce.
In 1885, he acted upon his grandiosity to disastrous outcome. Four
years later, he abdicated in disgrace. Not till 1893 was order
restored in the person of King Alexander whose most important act
was marrying his concubine, Draga Masin in 1900. They were both
massacred in June 1903 by disgruntled officers in their own palace
and that was the end of one dynasty (the Obrenovic's) and the
beginning of another (the Karadjordjevic's). A young officer, a
member of the general staff of the army, by the name of Dragutin
Dimitrijevic ("Apis" - the "Holy Bull" was his endearing nickname,
or, perhaps, the bee, from the Latin root, as Petrovic, the attache
to the Serbia legation in London has it in "Black Hand Over Europe"
by Heneri Pozzi) planned it all in 1901. Remember this name, his
role in our history has only just begun.
As is usually the case, the honeymoon looked both passionate and
auspicious. The new King was of the reforming kind and keen on
economic progress and wealth formation. Regretfully, his
implementation fell short of his intentions. Serbian agriculture
lagged behind its more commercialized and industrialized
competitors, the population grew relentlessly and rural debts buried
the semi-feudal rustic peasantry under its increasing burden.
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