The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1915-12-31
TWO EUROPEAN
KINGS WITHOUT
KINGDOMS NOW
Peter of Serbia Like Alfred of
Belgium Is Fugi-
tive.

Vienna, Dec. 31@There is a sec
ono KING in Europe without a king
dom, as result of the war Peter
Of Serbia is today no better off than
the King of the Belgians. Karageor-
gCV1tch is a fugitive before the ad-
vance of the Central Powers and Bull
garian troops. His two capitals. Bel
grade and Nfsh, are in the hands of
the invaders. For a time King Peter
travelled in a special train At Kruse
watch he had to abandon his movable
court. AS he stood in the station
building of that town and waited
for the automobile that was to take
him to other parts, tears streamed
down his cheeks. One of his dwindI-
iItg encourage murmured a. few com
forting words, but to these King Peter
merely nodded. Today he is said to
be on his way to Scutari, Albania. -
In many respects King Peter. is the
most dramatic figure of the Euro
pean war. Two regicides are init
I.eately connected with his history, the
murder of his predecessor, Alexander
Obreno vitch, and his Queen, Draga.
and the assassination of the Arch
duke of Austria, the Dual MonarchH's
heir presumptive. There are those
who claim that King Peter knew of
the two plots, that, indeed, he was
the fnstigator of the former How
true this is would be hard to say in
the absence of. more evidence than
has SO far been produced. Certain
it is only that King Peter showed no
inclination to be severe with the reg
icides in either case. He even man
aged to be on good terms with Ma
jor Misitch, arch william of the crime
in the old Konak Of Belgrade, thirteen
years ago.
Peter Karaeorovitch never forgot,
and never was permitted to forget
| that he had taken the PLACE Of a man
who had been fou1Iy murdered. Only
a. few sovereigns consented to meet
him, and he was always so i'll at ease
in the presence of strangers that he
usually stunned them.
King Peters family, it is said, is of
Gypsy origin. The original Karageor-
ovitch, or tson of Black George
himself spent much of his life in
Switzerland, where the summons to
Serbia's Inflated throne reached him.
| Shortly after his election to the
lEingship,s Peter entered into close re-
1ations with the Russian crown. A
large annual revenue was settled up
OH him with the understanding that
in all matters affecting Serbia's for
eign policy he was to keep Russia 8
| interests on the Balkan Peninsula in
mind.
The attitude of the Serbian Liberal
party made such a course by Russia
advisable. This party had favored the
establishment of a republic in Ser
bia after Alexander and Draga had
been murdered. This, and the fact
that the Liberals in those days were
not the ardent pan-S1avists which
they became later, recommended the
! reinforcement of the Serbian crown
financially. In Petrograd it was felt
that Russia. needed a reliable agent
in the Balkans, nor could it be over
1 looked there that experiments in re-
publican government by a Slav peo-
pie were not calculated to make life
for the Romanoff dynasty easier. For
twelve years. Peter drew his Russian
revenues, and, it is asserted here, new
er lost an opportunity to serve in re-
turn. The arrangements made Ser
bia a veritab1e appendix to Russia,
and, so far as the European war has
now progressed, proved Serbia's undo
| ing. Whether or not King Peter will
ever rule in Serbia, is hard to say
at this moment, in the Central Powers
kfhe belief, of course, is that Serbia
and its king are no more.