Karađorđe

Đorđe Petrović OSA (Ђорђе Петровић,, Anglicized: George Petrovich), known as Karađorđe (Карађорђе, , Black George; 3 November 1768 – 24 July 1817), founded modern Serbia as the elected leader of the First Serbian Uprising (part of the Serbian Revolution) that aimed at liberating Serbia from the Ottoman Empire (1804–1813); he personally led armies against the Ottomans in several battles, which resulted in a short-lived state which he would administer as Grand Leader (Veliki Vožd) from 14 February 1804 to 21 September 1813, alongside the newly founded People's Assembly and the Governing Council, simulating a wholly functional state government in war-time.

Born into a poor family in Šumadija, part of the Sanjak of Smederevo (modern central Serbia), Đorđe began working as a servant for affluent Serbs and Turks, but after having killed an Aga (local Ottoman nobleman), his family fled across the Sava into Military Frontier, a Habsburg-controlled area. He rose to prominence in the Austrian army, participating in the liberation of the sanjak. He received a medal of honour for his efforts, and when the Austrian army was forced to retreat, and the Ottomans re-occupied Šumadija, he joined the Hajduks. He commanded a unit and fought the Ottomans until 1794, when he returned to his family, in Military Frontier.

In the following years the local janissaries grew stronger and seized the sanjak from the Sultan, imposing greater taxes and perpetrating violence against the population; as the janissaries feared the Sultan's retaliation as a possible task given to the Serbs, they executed hundreds of prominent Serbs in what would be known as the Slaughter of the Dukes (1804). Some 300 nobility assembled and elected Karađorđe as leader; by the end of the year the janissaries were defeated, and the Sultan praised the Serbs. However, when the pasha arrived in Serbia to take over the governance, he was killed. The struggle continued as a wide-scale revolt, the First Serbian Uprising, in which several battles were successfully fought against the Ottomans; a government was established, and Karađorđe abolished feudalism.

After the suppression of activities in 1813, Karađorđe and other leaders went into exile, while in 1815 Miloš Obrenović, a fellow rebel leader, initiated the Second Serbian Uprising. The second uprising ended in 1817, when Obrenović signed a treaty with the Ottomans and became the Prince of Serbia. Obrenović (who saw a threat in the possible return of popular Petrović) and the Ottomans (who despised him and feared more fighting) conspired and planned the assassination of Karađorđe. When Karađorđe returned in 1817 to start yet another uprising, he was deceived by a friend and killed; his head was sent to Constantinople and Obrenović retained his leadership.

Karađorđe founded the House of Karađorđević, the Serbian royal family, which would later gain the Serbian crown after the deposing of the rival House of Obrenović.

Origin and early life
Đorđe was born on November 3, 1768, in the village of Viševac, then part of the Ottoman Empire (today's Rača municipality, Šumadija District), one of the five children (with brothers Marko and Marinko, and sisters Marija and Milica) to father Petar Jovanović and mother Marica née Živković (from Masloševo, in Stragari). Karađorđe's slava was Saint Clement.

Karađorđe's paternal ancestors hailed from Vasojevići (Montenegro), and had left for Serbia; on the way, they lived in Mačitevo (in Suva Reka), from where grandfather Jovan moved to Viševac, while Jovan's brother Radak moved to Mramorac. The Vasojevići clan claimed descent from Stephen Constantine of the Nemanjić dynasty (that ruled Medieval Serbia, 1166–1371). The Vasojevići were proud of Karađorđe and saw him as their sprout. Serbian historiography accept the theory that Karađorđe's ancestors came from Vasojevići, although there some other unproven theories (see Karađorđević dynasty).

His family was poor, their situation progressed as Karađorđe began working for affluent Serbs and Turks. He married Jelena Jovanović in 1785. Jelena is thought to have come from a wealthy background, thus her family didn't accept his marriage proposal. Karađorđe took her and married her without the parents' consent, and they didn't stay long in Serbia, as he had killed a local Ottoman Aga. He fled with his family to Military Frontier in ca 1787. Karađorđe lived and worked in the Krušedol monastery.

Austrian-Turkish War
At the end of the Austro-Turkish War, 1787, amid Koča's frontier revolt, Karađorđe enrolled in the Freikorps of the Austrian Army, fighting against the Turks. He took part in the botched attack on Belgrade, and fought in western and southern Serbia, where he gained military experience. In the mid-1791, peace was concluded, and Karađorđe received a medal of honour. He then joined the Hajduks, where he led a large band. The decline of Hajduks came in 1793-4, at which point Karađorđe rejoined his family, living peacefully in Topola. He began working as a livestock merchant, trading over the border with the Hapsburg monarchy.

War against the Janissaries
Oppression against Serbs significantly increased in the beginning of 19th century when janissary leaders, the dahis, rebelled against the Sultan and seized the rule of the Sanjak of Smederevo. It culminated in January and February 1804, when dahis prepared executions of popular leaders, gentry, priests, former rebels and wealthy traders, dubbed the Slaughter of the Dukes, in which some 150 of the most notable Serbs were killed. Karađorđe, among few other notable people who would later intiate the Serb Uprising, survived the assassinations.

As a response to the executions, the Serbian population without a central figure took measures of self-defence, and spontaneously attacked the jannisaries. Prota Mateja and several other leaders had organized military detachments that engaged the dahis in Valjevo. on 14 February 1804, 300 notables met in Orašac, Aranđelovac where Karađorđe was chosen as the undisputed leader. When Prota Mateja heard of this, he urged all Serb leaders to resist the dahis and the Ottoman authorities, Mateja was appointed deputy-commander of Valjevo, and later acted as diplomat to Russia, Austria, Bucharest and Constantinople. By the spring of 1804, Karađorđe had 30,000 combat-ready men under his wing. After May 1804, Karađorđe was titled Supreme Voivode.

The Serbians managed to quickly organize a widespread revolt, under the pretext of liberation from the dahis, Karađorđe was successful in this, he terminated feudalism in the liberated areas of Serbia and installed his military commanders and local leaders as governors of nahis (administrative units), the dahis who refused to leave were captured and executed after the Serbian liberation of Belgrade.

War against the Ottoman Empire
In March 1805, Karađorđe was officially appointed Military leader of Serbia, the self-proclaimed Vožd (old Serbian for vođa, "leader"). The Ottoman government welcomed the rebellion against the dahis and decided to install a new governor in Belgrade. Karađorđe, after tasting the fruits of liberty, decided not to let the new pasha enter the liberated area and defeated his army in the Battle of Ivankovac of 1805. This battle signified a turn of events, since the uprising was not a rebellion against the dahi terror anymore, but a war of liberation against the Ottoman rule. Karađorđe founded the Narodna Skupština (People's Assembly) and Praviteljstvujušči Sovjet (Governing Council) whose decree was drafted by writer and jurist Teodor Filipović (a.k.a. Božidar Grujović).

The revolutionaries achieved several victories, including in the Battle of Mišar in 1806, and the Battles of Deligrad and Belgrade in 1806. At the end of 1806 Belgrade was freed from Ottoman rule. In 1807 Šabac and Užice were also freed.

In 1806-1807 a Serbian envoy to the Ottoman government in Constantinople Peter Ichko managed to obtain a favourable 'Ichko's Peace'. However, Karađorđe disavowed the agreement and aligned with the Russian Empire in a war against the Ottoman Empire.

In 1808, Selim III and his successor Mustafa IV were both deposed and killed by Mahmud II. In midst of this political crisis, the Ottomans were willing to offer the Serbs a wide autonomy, however, the discussions led to no agreement between the two, as they couldn't agree on the exact boundaries of Serbia. Karađorđe now declared himself hereditary supreme leader of Serbia, although he agreed to act in cooperation with the governing council, which was to also be the supreme court. When the Ottoman-Russian War broke out in 1809, he was prepared to support Russia, the cooperation was, however, ineffective. Karađorđe launched a successful offensive in Novi Pazar, but was subsequently defeated at Battle of Čegar. In August 1809, an Ottoman army marched on Belgrade, prompting a mass exodus of people across the Danube, among them Russian agent Radofinikin. Facing disaster, Karađorđe appealed to the Habsburgs and Napoleon, with no success. At this point, the Serb rebels were on the defensive, their aim was to hold the territories and not make further gains. In July 1810, Russian troops arrived in Serbia for the second time, this time some military cooperation followed; weapons, ammunition, and medical supplies were sent, and Marshal M. I. Kutuzov, the great commander, participated in the planning of joint actions. The Russian assistance gave hope for a Serb victory, however, events in Europe were in the way. Russia, faced with a French invasion, wished to sign definitive peace treaty, and acted against the interest of Serbia. The Serbs were never informed of the negotiations; they learned the final terms from the Ottomans. This, second Russian withdrawal, came at the height of Karađorđe's personal power, and rise of Serb expectations. The negotiations that led to the Treaty of Bucharest (1812), had Article 8, dealing with the Serbs; It was agreed that Serb fortifications were to be destroyed, unless of value to the Ottomans, pre-1804 Ottoman installations were to be reoccupied and garrisoned by Ottoman troops, in return the Porte promised general amnesty and certain autonomous rights; The Serbs were to control "the administration of their own affairs" and the collection and delivery of a fixed tribute. The reactions in Serbia was strong, the reoccupation of fortresses and cities was of particular concern and fearful reprisals were expected.

In 1812, threatened by Napoleon's French Empire, Russia had to quickly sign a peace treaty with the Ottomans. In 1813, the Ottoman Empire launched a big assault on Serbia taking land all up to the rivers Morava and the river Drina, and Karađorđe, along with other rebel leaders, fled to the Austrian Empire on 21 September 1813.

Exile, Death and aftermath


After some time, Karađorđe emigrated to Bessarabia, where he joined the Greek national liberation movement Filiki Eteria, becoming an active member. The Greeks were primarily interested in using the Serbian lands as base of the Greek operations. Miloš Obrenović was fully uncooperative.

On 24 July 1817, days after he secretly crossed into Serbia to try to spearhead a new uprising, Karađorđe was assassinated in Radovanjski Lug by the men of Miloš Obrenović, Vujica Vulićević and Nikola Novaković. This happened on the orders of the Ottomans, who feared the possibility of a new uprising, while Miloš feared competition by the enormously popular Karađorđe.

Some have speculated that Karađorđe had no political ambitions and simply wanted to return home from exile and informed Miloš of this in advance, who however did not believe such protestations and had Karađorđe killed. The assassination marked the beginning of a "war" between the white and red rose in Serbia which did not end until the May Overthrow (Obrenović and Karađorđević) in 1903.

Awards

 * Order of St. Anna