Restoration of the Kingdom of Serbia in the 19th Century

Abstract

 Introduction: The paper analyzes the path to the restoration of the Kingdom of Serbia in the 19th century, which was extremely demanding and accompanied by numerous challenges. The paper examines the path to the restoration of modern Serbian statehood, from the Karađorđe Uprising and the Principality of Serbia to the Berlin Congress and full Serbian state independence, culminating in the restoration of the kingdom.

 Aim: The paper aims to shed light on the historical period in which the Kingdom of Serbia was restored by analyzing the state-legal processes, international relations, and conflicts that led to its restoration.

 Materials and Methods: The paper uses available materials from the history of Serbian statehood, as well as materials from historical and legal scientific literature. In addition to the historical method, the comparative method was used when analyzing the state status and the level of autonomy and sovereignty across different periods of Serbian statehood in the 19th century.

 Results: When analyzing the internal sovereignty and external independence of the Serbian state in the 19th century, the results and conclusions were that with the strengthening of Serbian internal social cohesion and national unity, along with favorable geopolitical circumstances, the Serbian state gradually grew stronger. Diplomatic struggle with the clearly outlined goal of complete liberation, regardless of the ruling dynasty, was not sufficient to achieve the goal, and freedom had to be both defended and achieved by military force.      

  
Conclusion: The importance of knowing the events that led to the restoration of modern Serbian statehood in the 19th century is immeasurable. Scientific elucidation of the state-legal status as well as the geopolitical situation in that period is of great importance for a holistic view of the entire process of gaining state independence. The idea of restoring the Kingdom of Serbia has remained present since the Middle Ages and the arrival of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans. Numerous attempts to make the dream a reality finally bore fruit in the second half of the 19th century with the coronation of Prince Milan Obrenović as the first Serbian king in the modern history of Serbia.