Milan Obrenovic
Milan Obrenović
Born Aug. 10, 1854, in Iaşi; died Jan. 29, 1901, in Vienna. Serbian prince who ruled as Prince Milan IV from 1868 to 1882, and as King Milan I from 1882 to 1889.
Milan Obrenović sought to establish an autocratic regime, and in 1875 he dissolved the National Assembly (skupština), the first time in Serbian history that such had been done. He conducted an adventuristic foreign policy; in 1876 he declared war on Turkey, thus bringing the country to the edge of catastrophe. After the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, which secured Serbian independence from Turkey, Milan Obrenović took a pro-Austrian position and in 1881 concluded a commercial treaty and a secret convention with Austria-Hungary that deprived Šerbia of economic and political independence. In 1885 he launched a war against Bulgaria that ended in the defeat of the Serbian Army. In 1889, Milan Obrenovic abdicated in favor of his son Alexander (ruled 1889–1903) and left the country.