Pamětní medaile ke čtyřicátému výročí svatoondřejské skupštiny

Commemorative medal for the fortieth anniversary of the St. Andrew's group


The founder of the Serbian Obrenović dynasty, Prince Milos I, called the Great in Serbian history (1780 -1860) and leader of the second Serbian national uprising, which began on Palm Sunday in 1845 in the village of Takovo, ruled as Prince from 1815 until his abdication on 13 June 1839. His reign was not a happy one for the Serbian people. Miloš ruled despotically like the previous Ottoman pashas, did not keep his promises, did not observe his own constitution, did not convene the assembly, ruled like a despot, was a brutal ruler and man, and moreover managed to misappropriate a substantial part of the national income. Even during this era Turkey still remained militarily master of most of the fortresses and strongholds of Serbia. Milos actually ruled with the consent of the Grand Porte. To enforce his own policies, he did not hesitate to bribe Turkish dignitaries not only in the country but also in Istanbul. The Belgrade Ministry of the Interior kept a set of precious diamond and emerald jewels with which Miloš gifted the wives and favourites of Turkish pashas and other corruptible dignitaries. All this led to the decision to remove Miloš in the late 1930s. Milos's eldest son, Milan II, took over, but he soon died. And the new Serbian prince is the second-born son, Michael III Obrenovic (1822-1868). During his minority, Miloš's younger brother Jefrem (1790-1859) was the Serbian regent. In 1842, disgruntled members of the skupstina, led by ministers Vucic and Petronijevic, forced Milos III to abdicate and called to the Serbian princely throne the son of the legendary hero and leader of the first Serbian uprising of 1804, George Cerny Alexander, who then ruled until 1858. But Aleksandar Karadjordjevic became a puppet of Austrian policy in promoting Austrian interests in the Balkans. His support for Austria during the Crimean War led to considerable discontent among the patriotic Serbs, who even received support from the Ottoman Turks, led by Edhem Pasha. The government of Alexander was overthrown in 1858, and a new Skupština called the SVATOANDREYSKÁ, convened on 23 December 1858 on the feast of St. Andrew, summoned from exile the old Prince Milos I. And entrusted him again with the government of Serbia. Milos, however, learned nothing and nothing, and ruled despotically and cruelly. And persecuted his political opponents old and new. But Milos died on September 26, 1860. And is succeeded again by his second-born son, Michael III. He was a highly educated, fine man, an extremely capable ruler, and the eight years of his reign were a true blessing for Serbia. He destroyed Turkish garrisons and fortresses, consolidated the government. He was, however, assassinated by his political opponents and rivals on 10 June 1868 in Topcider Park, Belgrade. The initiative seems to have come from Prince Alexander Karadjordjevic, who was living in Hungarian exile at the time.


Forty years later, in 1898, King Alexander I. Obrenović established a silver commemorative medal to commemorate the 1858 event, called the Fortieth Anniversary of the Svatoondrejske Skupština (Spomenica 40. godišnjice svetoandrejske Skupština). The medal was struck in silver in an octagonal shape with a diameter of 33 mm and a thickness of 2 mm. The edge of the medal is raised on both sides. On the obverse side, in the centre and spaced out in the description above and below in Cyrillic letters, the following is written: SLAVA VELIKOM/ in the description above and in larger letters in the centre in the inscription MILOSU and again in the description below: SLAVA/SVETO ANDREJSKA, i.e., translated as St. Andrew's Glory to the Great Milos. The inscription and description are framed in an open wreath, tied at the bottom with a ribbon and formed by a laurel branch on the right and an oak branch on the left.
On the reverse side, the year 1858-1898 is set in the centre in a half-arc. The ribbon is triangular or openwork. The medal was worn on a ribbon of light blue, possibly of the order of Takov (see picture). The actual medal was established on 17 December 1898.


Literature:
Dr. Nikolic, Desanka: Naša odlikovanja do 1941 g.
Prister, Boris.
Měřička, V.: Orden und Auszeichnungen, Artia 1966
Archiv.