Milan I of Serbia - King Milan I

King Milan I

In 1882, Milan was proclaimed King of Serbia.

Acting under Austrian influence, King Milan devoted all his energies to the improvement of the means of communication and the development of natural resources. However, the cost of this, unduly increased by reckless extravagance, led to disproportionately heavy taxation. This, coupled with increased military service, rendered King Milan and the Austrian party unpopular.

Milan's political troubles were further increased by the defeat of the Serbians in the war against Bulgaria from 1885–1886. In September 1885, the union of Eastern Rumelia and Bulgaria caused widespread agitation in Serbia. Milan promptly declared war upon the new Bulgarian state on November 15. After a short, decisive campaign, the Serbs were utterly routed at the Battle of Slivnitsa and at the Battle of Pirot. Milan's throne was only saved by the direct intervention of Austria-Hungary. Domestic difficulties now arose which rapidly assumed political significance.

In October 1875, Milan had married Natalija Keşco, the sixteen-year old daughter of Piotrj (Petre) Ivanović Keşco. Keşco (Keshko), a Moldavian boyar, was also a colonel in the Russian army. Keşco's wife, Pulcheria, was by birth a Sturdza (of the princely Sturdza family). A son, Alexander, was born to Natalija and Milan in 1876, but the king and queen's relationship showed signs of friction. Milan was anything but a faithful husband, having an affair with most notably Jennie Jerome (wife of Lord Randolph Churchill and mother to Winston Churchill) among others, while Queen Natalija was greatly influenced by Russian sympathies. In 1886, the couple, mismatched both personally and politically, separated.

Natalija withdrew from the kingdom, taking with her the ten-year old Prince Alexander (later King Alexander I). While she was residing at Wiesbaden in 1888, King Milan succeeded in recovering the crown prince, whom he undertook to educate. In reply to the queen's remonstrances, Milan exerted considerable pressure upon the metropolitan, and procured a divorce, which was afterwards annulled as illegal. King Milan now seemed master of the situation.

On January 3, 1889, Milan adopted a new constitution much more liberal than the existing one of 1869. Two months later, on March 6, Milan suddenly abdicated the throne in favor of his son. No satisfactory reason was assigned for this step. Milan settled in Paris as a private individual.