Karađorđe

Who was Karađorđe?

Đorđe Petrović OSA, known as Karađorđe, founded modern Serbia as the elected leader of the First Serbian Uprising that aimed at liberating Serbia from the Ottoman Empire; he personally led armies against the Ottomans in several battles, which resulted in a short-lived state which he would administer as Grand Leader 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, Đorđe began working as a servant for affluent Serbs and Turks, but after having killed an Aga, 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.