Genel Türk Tarihi Araştırmaları Dergisi

Öz

The Herzegovina Revolt, which broke out during the reign of Prince Milan Obrenovic in Serbia, had important results. In August 1875, the war government came to power in Serbia, which was a result of the warlike atmosphere. While the liberals were for the war, Serbian Prince Milan Obrenovic and the conservatives were against it. The main question was whether Serbia would help its citizens in Bosnia-Herzegovina and whether there would be a war with the Ottoman Empire. In April 1876, the government changed in Serbia and the liberals, who were pro-war, came to power. Stevca Mihailovic became head of government, while Yovan Ristic became foreign minister. Despite being cautious and moderate in times of crisis, Ristic acted bravely under pressure from the liberals of Vojvodina. On May 13, the Serbian Council of Ministers decided to help liberate their brothers in Turkey and unite the Serbian people in the Turkish Empire as much as possible. However, Milan, whose priority was always to protect its own throne, refrained from a direct attack against the Ottoman Empire. Being aware of the military situation and knowing its inadequacies, Milan declared war on the Ottoman Empire when its throne was in danger. The Serbs cut the Ottoman flag in the castle and the Prince of Montenegro acted in this way to deceive the European politicians. The declaration of war caused great excitement in Serbia and Montenegro as well as in Russia, the protector of these two Slavic countries. Consul General White, in his letter to Lord Derby, stated that the primary aim of this war was to liberate the Christian Serbs in Bosnia and to establish a new order in this province through armed occupation. With the declaration of war, Russian churches began to pray for Serbian victory and the Moscow metropolitan organized a special program to help Serbians and Montenegrins.
The Moscow metropolitan dedicated this special ceremony, which took place on July 13, to the success of the Serbian and Montenegrin forces. However, these initiatives It was not repeated by the metropolitan of St. Petersburg. A call issued by the Belgrade metropolitan was also distributed by the clergy. Funds raised by the church prior to the declaration of war in July were the major source of income for relief funds under Slavic Charitable Committees. With recent developments, these have reached even greater numbers. Khludov and other Moscow millionaires, who have been funding Chernayef for a long time, have also started to help. While the Red Cross, under the auspices of the Empress, began to conduct medical studies in Serbia, St. Petersburg society women also collected money on trams, ferries and home visits. The high-ranking Countess Protasova and Countess Adlerberg also went out to collect money on the streets of the capital. Tsarevich and his wife also supported the aid. While the Crusade was preached in the churches, patriotic speeches were made at the ball of the Slavic committees. The press praised General Chernayef and called for help to the Russian volunteers. Empress Marie and Crown Prince Alexander also expressed their support for this mobilization movement and took an active role. Russian General Chernayef was made the commander-in-chief of the Serbian armies and many volunteers from Russia participated in this war. Despite all kinds of material and moral support, the Serbs were defeated in this war, in which the Pan-Slavist committees in Russia also heavily supported.