Nikola Pasic

Nikola Pašić (in Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Пашић, pronounced Pashich), (December 18 1846- December 10 1926) was a Serbian premier, who controlled Serbia from 1903 until his death.

Pašić was known for his pro-Russian and anti-Austrian foreign policies, important at the time when World War I was about to start. When Serbia was overrun in 1915 he joined the army in retreat across Albania. When evacuated he went to Corfu where he helped set up the Serbian government in exile which he headed. In the summer of 1917 he led the Serbian side in negotiations with the Yugoslav committee which resulted in the Corfu Declaration. This laid down the ground rules for a new state to be called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. When the Central Powers collapsed he was able to return to Belgrade and was present when the new state of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was founded. In December 1918, as the result of a consensus of the main political parties, he was proposed as the first prime minister of the new state. The Regent however refused to sign his appointment. He did, however, hold the post of Prime Minister later on in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.