Principality of Serbia

Principality of Serbia
Княжество Сербіа
*Књажество Србија*
Principality of Serbia Княжество Сербіа; Књажество Србија
1815–1882
	Flag (1835–1882) Coat of arms; (1835–1882)
	Anthem: Востани Сербије; Vostani Serbije; (English: "Arise, Serbia")
	The Principality of Serbia in 1878
Capital	Belgrade (1841–1882); Kragujevac (1818–1841); Gornja Crnuća (1815–1818);
Common languages	Serbian
Religion	Serbian Orthodoxy (official)
Demonym(s)	Serbian, Serb
Government	Absolute monarchy (1815–1838); Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy (1838–1882)
Prince (Knez)
• 1817–1839 (first)	Miloš Obrenović I
• 1868–1882 (last)	Milan Obrenović IV
Prime Minister
• 1815–1816 (first)	Petar Nikolajević
• 1880–1882 (last)	Milan Piroćanac
Legislature	None (rule by decree); (1815–1838); National Assembly; (1838–1882)
History
• Recognition by the Sublime Porte	1815
• Statehood Day	15 February 1835
• de facto independence	1867
• de jure internationally recognized	13 July 1878
• Proclaimed Kingdom	1882
Area
1815	24,440 km2 (9,440 sq mi)
1834	37,511 km2 (14,483 sq mi)
Population
• 1815	322,500–342,000
• 1834	702,000
• 1874	1,353,000
ISO 3166 code	RS
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Sanjak of Smederevo
	Revolutionary Serbia
Kingdom of Serbia
Today part of	Serbia

The Principality of Serbia (Serbian: Књажество Србија, romanized: Knjažestvo Srbija) was an autonomous state in the Balkans that came into existence as a result of the Serbian Revolution, which lasted between 1804 and 1817.^[2] Its creation was negotiated first through an unwritten agreement between Miloš Obrenović, leader of the Second Serbian Uprising, and Ottoman official Marashli Pasha. It was followed by the series of legal documents published by the Sublime Porte in 1828, 1829 and finally, 1830—the Hatt-i Sharif. Its de facto independence ensued in 1867, following the evacuation of the remaining Ottoman troops from the Belgrade Fortress and the country; its independence was recognized internationally in 1878 by the Treaty of Berlin. In 1882 the country was elevated to the status of kingdom.

Background and establishment[edit]

The Serbian revolutionary leaders—first Karađorđe and then Miloš Obrenović—succeeded in their goal of liberating Serbia from centuries-long Turkish rule. Turkish authorities acknowledged the state by the 1830 Hatt-i Sharif, and Miloš Obrenović became a hereditary prince (knjaz) of the Serbian Principality. Serbia was de jure an autonomous province of the Ottoman Empire, its autonomy was constrained by the presence of the Turkish army on its soil and by being forced to pay to Istanbul a yearly tribute of 2.3 million groschen, which represented about 10% of the country's budget.^[3]

At first, the principality included only the territory of the former Pashaluk of Belgrade, but in 1831–33 it expanded to the east, south, and west. In 1866 Serbia began the campaign of forging the First Balkan Alliance by signing a series of agreements with other Balkan entities in the period 1866–68. On 18 April 1867 the Ottoman government ordered the Ottoman garrison, which since 1826 had been the last representation of Ottoman suzerainty in Serbia, withdrawn from the Belgrade fortress. The only stipulation was that the Ottoman flag continue to fly over the fortress alongside the Serbian one. Serbia's de facto independence dates from this event.^[4] A new constitution in 1869 defined Serbia as an independent state. Serbia was further expanded to the southeast in 1878, when its independence from the Ottoman Empire won full international recognition at the Treaty of Berlin. The Principality would last until 1882 when it was raised to the level of the Kingdom of Serbia.

Political history[edit]

Constitutions[edit]

1835 Sretenje Constitution, in effect 1835
1838 Constitution of Serbia, in effect 1838–69
1869 Constitution of Serbia, in effect 1869–88

Autonomy[edit]

Akkerman Convention (7 October 1826), treaty between the Russian Empire and Ottoman Empire, contained article 5 on Serbia: autonomy, and return of lands removed in 1813, Serbs were also granted freedom of movement through the Ottoman Empire. Rejected by Mahmud II in 1828.
1829 hatt-i sharif
1830 hatt-i sharif
1833 hatt-i sharif

Administrative divisions[edit]

The principality was divided into seventeen districts known as Okrug which were then divided into a number of cantons, known as Sres, according to the size of the district. The Principality had a total of sixty-six Sres.^[5]

Military[edit]

The Armed Forces of the Principality of Serbia was the armed forces of the Principality of Serbia. Founded in 1830, it became a standing army to take part to the First and Second Serbo Turkish Wars of 1876-1878, the first conflict in the nation modern history, after which the country gained its full independence. It was succeeded by the Royal Serbian Army.

Demographics[edit]

In the first decades of the principality, the population was about 85% Serb and 15% non-Serb. Of those, most were Vlachs, and there were some Muslim Albanians, which were the overwhelming majority of the Muslims that lived in Smederevo, Kladovo and Ćuprija. The new state aimed to homogenize of its population. As a result, from 1830 to the wars of the 1870s in which Albanians were expelled from the country, it has been estimated that up to 150,000 Albanians that lived in the territories of the Principality of Serbia had been expelled.^[6] In 1862 more than 10,000 Muslims were expelled to Ottoman Bulgaria and Ottoman Bosnia.^[7] During the Serbian–Ottoman Wars of 1876–1878, the Muslim population was expelled from the Sanjak of Niš.

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1834	678,192	—
1841	828,895	+22.2%
1843	859,545	+3.7%
1846	915,080	+6.5%
1850	956,893	+4.6%
1854	998,919	+4.4%
1859	1,078,281	+7.9%
1863	1,108,668	+2.8%
1866	1,216,219	+9.7%
1878	1,669,337	+37.3%

Name	1866 census	% population
Ethnicities
Serbs	1,057,540	87%
Vlachs (Romanians)	127,326	10.5%
Roma (Gypsies)	25,171	2.1%
Others	5,539	0.5%
Religion
Orthodox	1,205,898	99.20%
Islam	6,498	0.54%
Catholic	4,161	0.31%
Others		0.2%

The Principality of Serbia in 1817
The Principality of Serbia in 1833
The Principality of Serbia from 1833 to 1878

Rulers[edit]

The Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynasty, except for a period under Prince Aleksandar of the Karađorđević dynasty. Princes Miloš and Mihailo Obrenović each reigned twice.

Name	Birth	Death	From	Until	Notes
Miloš Obrenović I	March 17, 1780	September 26, 1860	November 6, 1817	June 25, 1839
Milan Obrenović II	October 21, 1819	July 8, 1839	June 25, 1839	July 8, 1839	son of Miloš Obrenović I
Mihailo Obrenović III	September 16, 1823	June 10, 1868	July 8, 1839	September 14, 1842	son of Miloš Obrenović I
Aleksandar Karađorđević	October 11. 1806	May 3. 1885	September 14, 1842	December 23, 1858
Miloš Obrenović I	March 17, 1780	September 1860	December 23, 1858	September 26, 1860
Mihailo Obrenović III	September 16, 1823	June 10, 1868	September 26, 1860	June 10, 1868
Milan Obrenović IV	August 22, 1854	February 11, 1901	June 10, 1868	March 6, 1882

References[edit]

^ Jump up to: Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Michael R. Palairet (2002). The Balkan Economies C.1800-1914: Evolution Without Development. Cambridge University Press. pp. 16–17. ISBN 978-0-521-52256-4.
^ Roth, Clémentine (2018). Why Narratives of History Matter: Serbian and Croatian Political Discourses on European Integration. Nomos Verlag. p. 263. ISBN 978-3845291000. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
^ The Institute of History et al. 2020, p. 137.
^ Stanford J. Shaw and Ezel Kural Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Volume 2: Reform, Revolution and Republic—The Rise of Modern Turkey, 1808–1975 (Cambridge University Press, 1977), p. 148.
^ Mijatović 1872, p. 265.
^ Rama, Shinasi (2019). Nation Failure, Ethnic Elites, and Balance of Power: The International Administration of Kosova. Springer. p. 72. ISBN 978-3030051921. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
^ Özkan, Ayşe. "The Expulsion of Muslims from Serbia after the International Conference in Kanlıca and Withdrawal of the Ottoman Empire from Serbia (1862-1867)". Akademik Bakış.

Sources[edit]

Mijatović, E.L. (1872). The History of Modern Serbia. W. Tweedie.
The Institute of History, B.S.U.R.R.C.; Aleksandar Rastović, A.C.; Vučetić, B.; Tatjana Ćosović, Z.M.V. (2020). War, Peace and Nation building (1853 to 1918). Institute of History. ISBN 978-86-7743-140-2.

External links[edit]

Principality of Serbia in 1833 Archived 2007-06-29 at the Wayback Machine
Principality of Serbia in 1878
Balkan Peninsula in 1878
Map
Map

44°48′39″N 20°27′45″E / 44.81083°N 20.46250°E

[Palairet2002-1] Jump up to: Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Michael R. Palairet (2002). The Balkan Economies C.1800-1914: Evolution Without Development. Cambridge University Press. pp. 16–17. ISBN 978-0-521-52256-4.

[Roth-2] Roth, Clémentine (2018). Why Narratives of History Matter: Serbian and Croatian Political Discourses on European Integration. Nomos Verlag. p. 263. ISBN 978-3845291000. Retrieved 27 March 2020.

[FOOTNOTEThe_Institute_of_HistoryAleksandar_RastovićVučetićTatjana_Ćosović2020137-3] The Institute of History et al. 2020, p. 137.

[4] Stanford J. Shaw and Ezel Kural Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Volume 2: Reform, Revolution and Republic—The Rise of Modern Turkey, 1808–1975 (Cambridge University Press, 1977), p. 148.

[FOOTNOTEMijatović1872265-5] Mijatović 1872, p. 265.

[Rama-6] Rama, Shinasi (2019). Nation Failure, Ethnic Elites, and Balance of Power: The International Administration of Kosova. Springer. p. 72. ISBN 978-3030051921. Retrieved 27 March 2020.

[7] Özkan, Ayşe. "The Expulsion of Muslims from Serbia after the International Conference in Kanlıca and Withdrawal of the Ottoman Empire from Serbia (1862-1867)". Akademik Bakış.

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v t e Independent and autonomous principalities created or recognized by the Congress of Berlin
Independent	Montenegro (fully recognized) Romania (recognised) Serbia (recognised)
Autonomous	Bulgaria