GARAANIN, ILIJA

born Jan. 16 [Jan. 28, New Style], 1812, Garai, Serbia [now in Yugoslavia] died June 16 , 1874, Belgrade original name Ilija Savic statesman and administrator of Serbia who was twice prime minister (1852, 186167). The son of a prominent merchant, Garaanin became a customs official in 1834 and joined the army in 1837, where he served as colonel and commander. Changing sides in the rivalry between the two dynastic familiesthe Obrenovic and the Karadjordjeviche went into exile when Prince Milo Obrenovic abdicated (1839), but then he helped to depose Prince Michael Obrenovic (Michael III) to pave the way for the accession of Prince Alexander Karadjordjevic (1842). Garaanin was rewarded with the posts of home secretary (1843) and prime minister and foreign secretary (1852). In 1844 he wrote a memorandum called the Draft Plan, in which he called for a general rising of Christians under Turkish rule and the unification of all Serbs in their restored medieval empire. During the Hungarian revolution of 1848, he hoped to liberate the South Slavs of the Austrian Empire, but Alexander decided to remain neutral. Considered unfriendly by the Russians because of his pro-Western views, Garaanin was dismissed in 1853 by Alexander under Russian pressure. He was mainly responsible for the abdication of Prince Alexander (1858) but took no part in politics during the second reign of Milo Obrenovic (185860). When Prince Michael Obrenovic succeeded Milo, Garaanin became prime minister and foreign secretary (186167). As during his first term as prime minister, he worked to modernize Serbia through enlightened legislation administered by an efficient bureaucracy. In foreign policy he sought to implement his Draft Plan. Though he was not in office during the Congress of Paris (1856), he is credited with the collective guarantee of Serbia's autonomy by the Great Powers at Paris. By 1867 he had managed to gain the withdrawal of all Turkish civil officials and garrisons from Serbia. Meanwhile, he helped to create the first Balkan League by negotiating alliances with Montenegro (1866), Greece (1867), and Romania (1868). With a Greater Serbia in mind, he also secretly entered into arrangements with the Albanians and with Serbs in Bosnia. Garaanin was dismissed in 1867 because of his opposition to Michael's wish to marry his cousin Katarina Konstantinovic. When Prince Milan Obrenovic came to the throne in 1868, Garaanin retired from politics.