page_title: Alexander I of Serbia
section_title: Politics and the constitution
hierarchical_section_title: Alexander I of Serbia / Politics and the constitution
caption_attribution_description: Српски / srpski: Vila "Zlatni breg" - Obrenovićeva vila u Smederevu.
context_page_description: Alexander I or Aleksandar Obrenović was king of Serbia from 1889 to 1903 when he and his wife, Draga Mašin, were assassinated by a group of Royal Serbian Army officers, led by Captain Dragutin Dimitrijević.
context_section_description: King Alexander tried to reconcile political parties by unveiling a liberal constitution of his own initiative in 1901, introducing for the first time in the constitutional history of Serbia the system of two chambers (skupština 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.
  Alexander's good relations and country's growing dependence to Austria-Hungary were detested by the Serbian public. Two million Serbs lived in Austria-Hungary and one more million lived in Ottoman Empire and there was a lot of migration to Serbia.
  Meanwhile, the independence of the senate and of the council of state caused increasing irritation to King Alexander. In March 1903 the King suspended the constitution for half an hour, time enough to publish the decrees dismissing and replacing the old senators and councillors of state. This arbitrary act increased dissatisfaction in the country.
caption: Summer residence of King Alexander in Smederevo.
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