ПОВРАТАК РЕЖИМУ ЛИЧНЕ ВЛАСТИ У СРБИЈИ КРАЈЕМ 19. ВЕКА THE RESTORATION OF THE PERSONAL AUTHORITARIAN REGIME IN SERBIA AT THE END OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

Abstract

One of the key political processes to occur in Serbia at the end of the nineteenth century was related to the restoration of the autocratic regime. In an attempt to further strengthen their indisputable dominance, the goal of the last Obrenovićes was achieved by applying various political tactics, often violent, including compromising the constitutional order, the introduction of strict censorship of the public word, rigged trials and the employment of numerous secret police agents. All this was only part of the rich political repertoire of the last Obrenovićes, the manifestations of which were imposed on Serbian citizens between 1894 and 1900. The harmful consequences caused by the systematic suppression of the dignity of Serbian citizens were also accompanied by the sudden increase in the number of informants and denunciators, hired by the authorities. This atmosphere of fear and general insecurity consequently provoked a strong reaction from several Serbian writers and satirists. Radoje Domanović and Janko Veselinović were among the first to condemn the reactionary personal regime and the atmosphere of ingratiation that prevailed in the Kingdom of Serbia at the very end of the nineteenth century.