True Name: Milan Obrenović (Милан Обреновић)Parents: Miloš Obrenović and Elena Maria Cartargiu
Date of Birth: 22 August 1854
Royal House: Obrenović
Spouse: Natalie, daughter of Piotrj Ivanovich Keşco and Pulcheria Sturdza of Moldavia
Reign: 1868 – 1889
Predecessor: Mihailo III
Summary: Milan had a rough upbringing. He was born in exile in Moldavia, a scion of the Serbian royal family. His parents divorced soon after he was born and his father died when he was six. His mother was a wealthy aristocrat who spared little time for her children, so he was eventually adopted into the household of Prince Mihailo, who became the ruling prince of Serbia in 1860. In 1868, Mihailo was assassinated and Milan became the prince of Serbia with a regency ruling in his name until 1872. Milan was an intelligent and progressive monarch who balanced carefully the intrigues of Austria and Russia in Serbia. At the Treaty of Berlin in 1878, Milan asserted Serbia's independence and in 1882, he was proclaimed the first King of Serbia.
As king, Milan sought to make Serbia more self-reliant. He improved communications across the kingdom and developed Serbia's natural resources. But he also had to tax the people heavily to pay for these improvements. Forced military service made Milan, as well as his Austrian allies, increasingly unpopular. When Serbia lost to the Bulgarians in the 1885 – 1886 war, Serbia became indebted to Austria for saving the kingdom. In an attempt to reassert Serbian independence and nationalism, Milan promulgated a new liberal constitution in 1889 and then, two months later, abdicated without warning, leaving the kingdom to his son, Alexander. In his wake, he left his country in the hands of a minor and a regency heavy in Russian influence. Alexander asserted his own authority in 1893 in a coup d'etat and Milan returned to Serbia the next year. The old constitution was restored in 1894 and Milan became a political manipulator. He was appointed commander-in-chief of the Serbian army in 1897 where he improved the Serbian military. But the king and his father had a falling out over Alexander's marriage, and Milan once again left Serbia and settled in Vienna where he died early in 1901.
As king, Milan sought to make Serbia more self-reliant. He improved communications across the kingdom and developed Serbia's natural resources. But he also had to tax the people heavily to pay for these improvements. Forced military service made Milan, as well as his Austrian allies, increasingly unpopular. When Serbia lost to the Bulgarians in the 1885 – 1886 war, Serbia became indebted to Austria for saving the kingdom. In an attempt to reassert Serbian independence and nationalism, Milan promulgated a new liberal constitution in 1889 and then, two months later, abdicated without warning, leaving the kingdom to his son, Alexander. In his wake, he left his country in the hands of a minor and a regency heavy in Russian influence. Alexander asserted his own authority in 1893 in a coup d'etat and Milan returned to Serbia the next year. The old constitution was restored in 1894 and Milan became a political manipulator. He was appointed commander-in-chief of the Serbian army in 1897 where he improved the Serbian military. But the king and his father had a falling out over Alexander's marriage, and Milan once again left Serbia and settled in Vienna where he died early in 1901.
Date of Death: 11 February 1901
Successor: Alexander I
Other Monarchs Who Died Today:
- Gordian III, emperor of Rome (244)
- Heraclius, emperor of Constantinople (641)
- Gregory II, pope of Rome (731)
- Paschal I, pope of Rome (824)
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