The Deligrad Event ( sr, Делиградски догађај) was an attempt to elevate the

Principality of Serbia The Principality of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, Књажество Србија, Knjažestvo Srbija) was an autonomous state in the Balkans that came into existence as a result of the Serbian Revolution, which lasted between 1804 and 1817. Its creation wa ...

to a kingdom during the Serbian-Turkish Wars (1876–1878). When the Great Powers agreed on ten days of ceasefire (3–13 September 1876), Imperial Russian Army general and Commander of the Armed forces of the Principality of Serbia

Mikhail Chernyayev Mikhail Grigoryevich Chernyaev (Russian: Михаил Григорьевич Черняев) (3 November / 22 October 1828, Bender, Bessarabia Governorate – 16 August 1898) was a Russian major general, who, together with Konstantin Kaufman an ...

, who opposed peace with the Ottomans, went on 4 September to General

Kosta Protić Kosta Protić ( sr, Коста Протић; 29 September 1831 – 4 June 1892) was the first Serbian General and the Chief of the Serbian General Staff. Biography During the Herzegovinian Uprising in 1875, Kosta Protić was sent by the Serbian ...

and asked him to declare the proclamation of a kingdom to the Army. The Army immediately swore

Oath Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to g ...

to "King Milan". The Great Powers opposed, and Prince Milan informed Chernyaev that he could not accept the declaration; Chernyaev replied that he was to leave with all Russian military if it was not accepted. Chernyaev assured that the recognition by the Great Powers was unnecessary, that the proclamation of kingdom raises the morale of the army and Serbian people, because "a kingdom means independence". It was compensation for the victims and the main profit of the war, which in his view, should continue after the truce for two months. He claimed that during that time, Russia would provide greater assistance to Serbia than even necessary. Prince Milan, pressured by the Great Powers, stated that he would not accept the proclamation. Chernyaev gave up on his threats, however, in order to save his reputation, the Prince's decision was not informed to the Morava–Timok Army. On 16 September a Serbian offensive began and failed, after which Chernyaev left Serbia and the Great Powers took on the initiative in Constantinople to suspend the war.

References

* * * {{Great Eastern Crisis 1876 in Serbia Serbian–Turkish Wars (1876–1878) Proclamations Serbian monarchy