How the consuls shaped the Principality

Immediately before the arrival of the first foreign consuls in the Principality Serbia, Russia won the war with Turkish and indirectly helped the completion of the creation of two Balkan states - Serbia and Greece (1830). Thus, it enabled itself the right to further resolve the Eastern Question, which entailed the complete suppression of the territories of the Ottoman Empire from Europe to Asia. For that, she received some support from Austria and Prussia, but not from France and Great Britain. France was considered a traditional friend of the Ottoman Empire, and Great Britain was bothered by a new power standing in the way of its waterway to the East, because it had always had good agreements with the empire on the Bosphorus.

Their diplomatic war will also be felt through the first consulates that were opened in Serbia, and the consuls will get involved even in the internal issues of the newly proclaimed Principality.

photo: wikipedia

MIHANOVIC AND ANKA JEVREMOVA

The first consul came from Austria, the country that was the first to officially recognize the Principality of Serbia. His name was Antun Mihanović, and he presented his credentials to Prince Miloš in Topčider on September 14, 1836. He moved with the delegation into a part of the new Customs House building ("Đumrukane") on the Sava pier, under Kalemegdan. Before serving in Belgrade, he served as presidential secretary in Rijeka. He was a lawyer by education, and a poet by spiritual inclination (author of the Croatian national anthem Our beautiful) and one of the anticipators of the Illyrian movement. Already in November of the same year, misunderstandings broke out between him and Prince Miloš regarding the rights of Austrian subjects in Serbia and regarding the ownership of the border lands on the Sava and Danube. He began to send unfavorable reports about the Serbian prince to Vienna, which is why Prince Miloš told him that in the future he would address matters of an international nature directly to the Viennese government, and that he did not even need Mihanović. Insulted, the consul began looking for like-minded people in Belgrade.

As soon as he arrived, he became a frequent and dear guest in the house of the prince's brother Jevrem Obrenović, where people dissatisfied with Prince Miloš came. Jevrem himself agreed with many complaints, but he could not mediate much. There, Mihanović, in front of Aleks Simić, Dimitrije Davidović, Jovan Hadžić and others, took heart and began to openly lash out himself because of the duke's "crudeness" and "barbarism". Even Princess Ljubica started bringing her sons to Jevrem's house to listen to the "clever man Mihanović".

The Austrian consul liked to come to that house for another reason - he fell in love with Jevrem's daughter Anka. Since he came as a bachelor from the world that the girl fantasized about, there, under the additional influence of her Tirol tutors, plans for marriage had already begun to be forged. Word spread about it very quickly in the Belgrade bazaar. Only, as noted by the duke's physician B. Kunibert, it was no longer known whether Mihanović acted as the Austrian consul or as the future son-in-law of Jevrem, as a political or private figure in that house, where perhaps "conspiracy against the duke was being hatched."

PLAN OF BRITAIN

At the end of May 1837, the English consul Lloyd George Hodges also arrived in Serbia, who left an extremely good impression on Prince Miloš, "as ordered". He was a man in his fifties, with a military bearing (colonel), upright and elegant ("tall, red, a little gray"). Already by his appearance and performance, he represented a person with whom the Serbian prince knew he would be able to cooperate.

Among other things, by establishing its consulate in Belgrade, Britain wanted to increase trade with European Turkey, but at the same time to separate Serbia politically from Russia and bring it under its influence. The English-Russian rivalry, which was also felt in Serbia, had another dimension, which made Prince Miloš happy about Hodges' arrival. Namely, at the end of 1836, there was a tightening of Russian-Serbian relations. Some opposition princes, high-ranking officials, afraid for their lives, like Đorđe Protić, began to leave Serbia and, together with the Simić brothers, enter into close ties with Russian diplomacy in Bucharest. Their demands called for a constitution that would limit the prince's absolutism and ensure their personal security. This seemed to the Russian diplomats to be more honest than the duke's demands, who would strengthen his own position with that act, by consolidating and securing the political existence of Serbia.

The arrival of Hodges, according to Kunibert's writings, made Prince Milos happy also because he believed that Great Britain, that is, its diplomacy, would be able to "trouble the strings of Russia". He immediately gave him one of the palace buildings next to the inn in Topcider to live in. The prince began to confide in the Englishman, who, willy-nilly, himself got involved in the constitutional problems of Serbia.

And in Belgrade itself, there was a conflict between the Austrian consul Mihanović and the duke's doctor Bartolome Kunibert. Mihanović allegedly found that Cunibert previously belonged to the Carbonari, an insurgent organization in Italy against the Austrian government. Therefore, he considered that Cunibert's stay in Belgrade was dangerous for several reasons: that he was probably still working against the Austrian emperor from Serbia, and that he himself, as the Austrian consul, was hindering him from performing his duties. A note demanding the expulsion of Kunibert was sent directly to Kragujevac. For Prince Miloš, this was enough reason for another, long-intended step. He asked the Viennese cabinet to transfer Mihanović from Serbia, at the same time accusing him of meddling in "purely Serbian matters". He told the consul himself that he would end all cooperation with him and that in the future he would return all petitions to him unsigned.

photo: wikipedia

JEWS AND RUSSIANS

This move filled the cup of discontent among all the duke's opponents. Jevrem especially felt that he had received a blow, because it also concerned his family ambitions. Prince Miloš pretended to be indifferent towards his brother, but he was firm in his attitude towards Mihanović. When the consul, through his powers, freed an Austrian subject from prison and, sending him to Zemun, sewed an Austrian eagle on his suit, the prince told him "that he too can freely put two and three eagles on the front and back and that he can go to his father". At the beginning of May, Mihanović really had to leave Serbia. In Vienna, by the way, they became more and more suspicious and dissatisfied with his reports, in which the prince was beaten too much and unconvincingly, and the opposition and Jevrem Obrenović were exalted. Nikola Filipović von Philipsberg arrived in his place at the beginning of the summer. Mihanović took Anka Obrenović's embroidered handkerchief with him as his "favorite memory from Serbia".

Back in March 1837, Russia opened a consulate in Orshava, on the left bank of the Danube, right on the border with Serbia. The duty of Gerasim Vasilevich Vashchenko was to closely monitor all events in the Principality and to send reports about it to Petrograd.

When, after Mihanović's departure, Jevrem traveled with his family to Banja Mehadija, in Wallachia, where he spent the entire summer of 1837, he met with political refugees from Serbia there and in Oršava, with the Russian consul Vashchenko. There, in a letter to the Russian emperor, they submitted the signatures of the highest elders, so that he too would be convinced of the expressions of the "people's voice". The Russian consul in Bucharest, Baron Rickman, forwarded their request to his ministry in Petrograd. From there, the answer soon arrived that the emperor would send his adjutant, Prince Vasilij Andreyevich Dolgoruky, to Serbia on a special mission.

Colonel Hodges also followed the latest development of the situation. He recommended the prince to get down to work as soon as possible on drafting a constitution with some compromise principles, because, as he himself said, he had heard bad news regarding possible Russian diplomatic demonstrations in Serbia. In that case, the prince would either lose the throne or his power would be limited to the "shadow" of the previous power. By the way, he advised the prince to make peace with his brother in every possible way, because the "troublemakers" are working on Jevremu's head, and they are only using him as a means until they achieve their goals. The prince thanked Hodges and promised to act on the advice, at the same time asking him to intercede with Yevre himself, if possible. He promised his brother forgiveness and smoothing over the insults ("if there were any"). Otherwise, the prince will forget that Jew is his brother.

He allowed him to return to Serbia only in September 1837, but he came up with the idea of ​​subjecting him to complete ignorance with permission to return. He explained to his officials that he was allowing his brother to return "for family reasons", but on the condition that his brother no longer interferes in any public affairs. It was like that for more than a month, until someone Jevrem was eagerly waiting for arrived in Belgrade - Prince Dolgoruki. Since he was in a hurry to Kragujevac, he stayed for a short time and took from Jevrem a list of prominent elders, most of whom had fallen out of favor with the prince. Then the young and very kind prince in Kragujevac, on October 22, in a direct conversation, reprimanded Prince Miloš for the ingratitude he had begun to show towards the patron power - Russia.
and he directed special criticism because of the support that the prince began to enjoy with the British consul. The prince made an unconvincing excuse in front of Dolgoruky, shifting the blame to the other side, saying "that Englishman is pulling his nose and holding him for a fool!".

IN RUSSIAN OPINION

Since Dolgoruky's mission was to reconcile the prince with the opposition, he handed the prince a list of candidates who "in the Russian opinion" would be the most suitable for members of the Council, without saying that he took the list of names from Jevrem in Belgrade. With a lot of tact, without giving the prince a reason to get angry, Dolgoruky finally asked for an immediate amnesty for all those who had politically compromised themselves since 1835, adding that the Russian emperor wanted those people to return to their former positions. He remained in Serbia until December 1837, more precisely until the return of all oppositionists to the country. In such a mood, that things were going better, the baptism of St. Nicholas was celebrated both in the home of Jevrem Obrenović and in the court of Prince Miloš in Topčider. The prince reprimanded each returnee for moving away, and reminded some that, as a commander in the war, he saved their lives ("I held your intestines in my hands!").

On February 1, 1838, Colonel Hodges received a dispatch from Lord Palmerston that he was promoted to Consul General in the Balkans, and that the British Consulate in Belgrade was also promoted to the rank of Consulate General, which he decided to celebrate. Along with the celebration, he wanted to finish another important job - to reconcile Prince Miloš with his brother. For four days he ran from one to the other and finally, on February 6, he succeeded. Jevrem described it this way: "I had just reconciled, when the Prince sent me to go on foot to the English consul and to thank him for interceding in this; I had to go too." In the evening, all Belgrade officials came to Jevrem to congratulate him.

And on Saturday night, February 9, Hodges finally organized the celebration. Among the many guests were Prince Miloš with Princess Ljubica, Jevr with Mrs. Tomania and Cunibert with his wife Antoinette. At dinner, toasts were made to the Queen of England, the Tsar of Russia and the Sultan of Turkey, then to Hodges, Prince Miloš and Jevrem. After dinner, finally, a magnificent ball was arranged, the princely band led by Schlesinger played and they shouted: "Hurrah! Vivat! and Many Summers!" One eyewitness remembered that "Hodges's lady was an outstanding dancer" and that she was the first, "with one of our young clerks", a prechanin, to dance the "big mazur", which opened the ball. The same eyewitness also remembered that Prince Miloš, shocked, began to make fun of the English consul and "touch him as per his custom". (...) It was one of the most magnificent parties ever seen in Serbia (...)". After a few days, the prince returned the celebration in Topcider.

Although Prince Dolgoruky's stay bore fruit, the prince, not long after his departure, continued to rule in the old way. This caused the transfer of Vashchenko from Orshava to Belgrade. With the arrival of Gerasim Vashchenko as the Russian consul in Belgrade on February 22, 1838, the opposition regained hope. After settling in Ičko's house across the street from the Cathedral, he inquired about Jevrem's house, where he soon found his acquaintances from Oršava. He was welcomed as a savior. During the meeting with the prince in Topcider, he presented the fulfillment of the agreements and promises made to Prince Dolgoruk. He then accelerated the work of the constitutional commission, which began work in Belgrade. In the end, that same constitution, as is known, received its final redaction only in Constantinople, under international arbitration in which the Serbian commission also participated, on December 23, 1838. With it, the prince's absolutism was overthrown, and numerous provisions of the constitution laid the foundations of a modern, legal state.

In the following days and months, the prince was in complete agony. On one occasion, he even went to Zemun, saying that he was going to "ask the emperor what that constitution is like, and have them interpret it for him". He conditioned his return by unsuccessfully asking that Jevrem and Simić be removed from the State Council, so that it would once again become a "Serbian and not a Russian institution". He returned after four days, when he was threatened that he might lose the throne. However, in the end, on June 13, he signed his resignation, and two days later, together with his younger son Mihailo, he traveled to the previously purchased property in Wallachia. When leaving for the trip, he said that the only comfort in his heart was that he was leaving Serbia "in peace, order, harmony and contentment".

It was on those days that the first French consul L. Kodrika arrived in Serbia, but he did not have time to significantly influence the events related to the constitution and the change in the throne. Later, during the full power of the defenders of the constitution (1842–1858), the influence of I. Saint-Andre or E. Desesar will be much more noticeable, when Serbia will accept pro-Western and especially pro-French influence on its politics.

The Russian consul Vashchenko, who helped overthrow Prince Miloš, later did not welcome the change of dynasty carried out by the defenders of the constitution (1842) by bringing in Karađorđević, and Russian influence was then suppressed at the expense of Western countries and Austria.

After the defeat in the Crimean War (1853–1856), Russia returned to the Balkans through Obrenović (1858/59) in an effort to resolve the Eastern Question in its favor, taking Serbia as its main ally on the ground. Its influence, except during the time of the constitutional defenders, was suppressed three more times: under the Obrenovićs (1878–1895), again under the Karađorđevićs (1917–1945) and under Josip Broz Tito (1948–1956).