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In 1858 discontent against Alexander's weak rule culminated in an attempt of the oligarchy to establish a kind of Kaimakamate or regency. But the new Assembly through which they hoped to secure this result, was almost as hostile to Vue16 and his friends as to the Prince, and in December, after proclaiming Alexander's deposi tion, promptly recalled Milog Obrenovie, who skilfully secured the Porte's approval before returning. The leading oligarchs were imprisoned, and Vue'iC died in prison under suspicious circum stances. Milog, now nearly eighty, governed as highhandedly as ever, but was quick enough to check any encroachments on the part of the Porte. In September 186o he was succeeded by Michael, Serbia's ablest modern ruler, who introduced more Western methods of government, but set himself to strengthen the princely power : by the new Constitution of 1861 he had the right to nominate and dismiss members of the Council, and ministers were responsible to him and to it jointly, not to the Skupkina. Helped by a French officer, Captain Mondain, as Minister of War, he completely reformed the Serbian army, and in 1862 when the Turks in the fortress of Belgrade bombarded the town, he pressed the question of complete evacuation upon the Powers. The opposition of Britain and Austria postponed a solution, though the Turkish garrisons were reduced to four and the Turkish civil population withdrawn from Serbia. But in 1867 (Austria having lost prestige after the war of 1866 and Stanley following less Turcophil lines than Russell) the Powers persuaded the Porte to hand over the four fortresses, though the Turkish flag was still to fly beside the Serbian. Michael mean while pursued far-reaching designs of policy, negotiated with Kossuth and Cuza, worked out plans with the exiled Bulgarian committee for a joint Serbo-Bulgarian state, corresponded with the Croat and Serb leaders in Habsburg territory and concluded secret alliances with Montenegro, Greece and Rumania, for joint action against the Turks. These ambitious dreams sud denly collapsed on June 1 o, 1868, when Michael was murdered in the park of Topeider, outside Belgrade, by adherents of the rival dynasty.
The conspiracy failed, and Michael's cousin and only male heir, Milan (q.v), was elected Prince at the age of 14. The Regency, led by Blaz navac, the Minister of War, and Jovan Risti6, governed till Milan's majority in 1872. The new constitution which it intro duced in 1869, by abolishing the senate and giving wider powers to the Skupkina, was a step towards parliamentary government: but in certain directions the princely power was still further entrenched, and the demand for constitutional revision dominated internal politics during Milan's reign. In foreign policy the regency showed Austrophil leanings, but the visit of Prince Milan to the Tsar at Livadia in Oct. 1871 marked a turn in favour of Russia. Milan, a man of real ability, but a neurasthenic, lacking in morals or powers of endurance, failed to win the affection of the nation, preferred the amusements of Paris or Vienna, and saw his dynasty steadily losing ground. The Bosnian insur rection of 1875 (whose leaders aimed at union with their kinsmen in Serbia and Montenegro), and the resultant European crisis aroused intense excitement in Serbia, and the prince would have risked his throne had he left the insurgents to their fate. In May 1876 the Liberal cabinet concluded an alliance with Montenegro, and answered the Porte's refusal to entrust Milan with the administration of Bosnia-Hercegovina, by declaring war. But the
Serbian army, though swelled by Russian volunteers and led by a Russian general, was ill prepared and unable to resist the Turks, whose victory at Aleksinac forced the prince to appeal to the tsar's protection. Turkey only consented to grant Serbia an armistice after Russia had addressed an ultimatum to the Porte (October) and Serbia's position remained in suspense during the Conference of Constantinople (December), but after its failure she found it necessary to conclude peace with Turkey on the basis of the status quo (March 1, 1877) and thus was reduced to a passive role throughout the critical period of the Russo-Turkish War. On Dec. 15, five days after the fall of Plevna, Milan again declared war upon Turkey, but was coldly received by the Russians, who were now much more interested in Bulgaria than in Serbia. Hence the Treaty of San Stefano, imposed by victorious Russia on March 3, 1878, provided a purely "Big Bulgarian" solution of the Balkan problem, Serbia acquiring only Nig and Pirot, and Bosnia-Hercegovina being reserved for special autonomy. The opposition of the Great Powers prevented the enforcement of San Stefano, and the Congress of Berlin decided the fate of the Balkans for another generation. Serbia saw her Bosnian kinsmen, for whom she had unsuccessfully waged war, assigned by European mandate to Austria-Hungary, who also obtained the right of garrisoning the Sanjak of Novipazar, thereby securing her strategic line of advance upon Salonica and separating Serbia from Montenegro. Serbia herself obtained only the recognition of full independence, and the right to annex Nig, Pirot and Vranje, Austria vetoing her possession of Kosovo and "Old Serbia," and Russia not merely opposing her exaggerated claim to Vidin, but wishing to assign Nig to Bulgaria. The Russian delegates at Berlin, Gorchakov and Shuvalov, received Risti6 with indifference and urged him to come to terms with Austria-Hungary. RistiC, completely disillusioned at the failure of a Russophil policy, resigned office in 188o, and Milan henceforth looked to Vienna.
On June 28, 1881, a secret alliance for ten years was signed between Serbia and Austria Hungary, by which the former undertook not to conclude any political treaty without Vienna's previous consent, and to prevent on her territory any "political or religious agitation" against the Dual Monarchy. The latter, in return, promised to use "her whole influence" in favour of the ObrenoVie, to recognise Serbia as a kingdom, and in the event of fresh Balkan complications to sanction her expansion in the Vilayet of Kosovo and Central Macedonia, though not in Novipazar. Behind the back of the Premier PiroCanac, Milan gave a still more explicit personal pledge and offered Haymerle a secret declaration "in whatever terms you care to notify to me, and annulling completely the effect of" the Premier's qualifying note. Milan's dealings with the court of Vienna are among the most humiliating incidents in Serbian history. They culminated in May 1885 in a contingent offer to withdraw from Serbia in favour of the Habsburgs and a request that in the event of his own death Austria-Hungary should prevent his son Alexander from mounting the throne as a minor, and should take charge of his education, or if she could not obtain possession of his person, should occupy Serbia by force of arms. Neither Kalnoky nor Francis Joseph responded, rightly regarding the offer as the outcome of an unbalanced mind.