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Thehistory of Serbia covers the historical development ofSerbia and of its predecessor states, from theEarly Stone Age to the present state, as well as that of theSerbian people and of the areas they ruled historically. Serbian habitation and rule has varied much through the ages, and as a result the history of Serbia is similarly elastic in what it includes.
Afterearly Slavs first appeared in theBalkans in the 6th and 7th centuries, they mixed with local Byzantine subjects, descendants of Paleo-Balkan tribes, such as the Thracian, Dacian, Roman, Illyrian and former Roman colonists. TheFirst Serbian Principality was established in the 8th century by theVlastimirovići dynasty ruling over modern-dayMontenegro,Bosnia,Dalmatia, and Serbia. It evolved intoa Grand Principality by the 11th century, and in 1217 theKingdom and national church (Serbian Orthodox Church) were established, under theNemanjić dynasty. In 1345 theSerbian Empire was established, spanning most of the Balkan peninsula. In 1540 Serbia became a part of theOttoman Empire.
A significant number of Serbs migrated north to theKingdom of Hungary, forming what would later becomeSerbian Vojvodina.Serbian revolution againstOttoman rule in 1817 marked the birth of thePrincipality of Serbia, which achievedde facto independence in 1867 and gained full recognition by theGreat Powers in theBerlin Congress of 1878. As a victor in theBalkan Wars of 1912–1913, Serbia regainedVardar Macedonia, Kosovo andMetohija andRaška. In late 1918, with the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian empire, Serbia was expanded to include regions of the former Serbian Vojvodina. Serbia was united with other Austro-Hungarian provinces into a pan-SlavicState of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs; the Kingdom of Serbia joined the union on 1 December 1918 and the country was named theKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
Serbia achieved its current borders at the end of World War II, when it became a federal unit within theFederal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (proclaimed in November 1945). After thedissolution of Yugoslavia ina series of wars in the 1990s, Serbia once again became an independent state on 5 June 2006, following thebreakup of ashort-lived union with Montenegro.
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ThePaleo-Balkan tribes formed in the 2nd and 1st millennia BC. The northernmostAncient Macedonian city was in southSerbia (Kale-Krševica). The CelticScordisci tribe conquered most of Serbia in 279 BC, building many forts throughout the region. The Roman Empire conquered the region in the span of 2nd century BC – 1st century AD. The Romans continued the expansion ofSingidunum (modern capital Belgrade),Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica) andNaissus (Niš), among other centres, and a few remnants of monuments survive, such asVia Militaris,Trajan's Bridge,Diana Fortress,Felix Romuliana (UNESCO), etc. Northern parts were included in Moesia Superior, Dacia Remesiana and Dacia Mediterranea.[citation needed]
TheNeolithicStarčevo andVinča cultures existed in or near Belgrade and dominated theBalkans (as well as parts of Central Europe andAsia Minor) about 8,500 years ago.[1][2] Some scholars believe that the prehistoricVinča signs represent one of the earliest known forms ofwriting systems (dating to 6000–4000 BC).[3]
Serbia's strategic location between two continents has subjected it to invasions by many foreign armies. TheThracians dominated Serbia before theIllyrian migration in the southwest.[4]Greeks colonized the south in the 4th century BC, the northernmost point of the empire ofAlexander the Great being the town ofKale.[5]
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The Romans conquered parts of modern-day Serbia in the 2nd century BC, in 167 BC when conquering the West, establishing the province ofIllyricum and the rest of Central Serbia in 75 BC, establishing the province ofMoesia.Srem was conquered by 9 BC andBačka andBanat in 106 AD after theTrajan's Dacian Wars.
Contemporary Serbia comprises theclassical regions ofMoesia,Pannonia, parts ofDalmatia,Dacia andMacedonia. The northern Serbian city ofSirmium (Sremska Mitrovica) was among the top 4 cities of the lateRoman Empire, serving as its capital during theTetrarchy.[6] The chief towns ofUpper Moesia were:Singidunum (Belgrade),Viminacium (sometimes called municipium Aelium; modernKostolac), Remesiana (Bela Palanka)
Seventeen Roman Emperors were born in present-day Serbia.[7] Belgrade is believed to have been torn by 140 wars sinceRoman times.[8]
By the early 6th centurySouth Slavs, present throughout the Byzantine Empire in large numbers,[9] merged with the native population (Celts,Dacians,Illyrians,Scythians,Thracians) and assimilated them,[10] forming the base of theethnogenesis of modern Serbs.[11][12]
The Serbs in the Byzantine world lived in the so-calledSlav lands, lands initially out of Byzantine control and independent.[13] TheVlastimirović dynasty established theSerbian Principality ca. 780. In 822, Frankish annalists recorded that for the Serbs "is said to be holding the large part of Dalmatia".[14][15][16][17][18]Christianization of Serbs, initiated in the 7th century, was a gradual process, finalized by the middle of the 9th century.[19] In the mid-10th century, Serbian state stretched between the shores of theAdriatic Sea, theNeretva, theSava, theMorava, andSkadar. Ethnic identity of local populations remains a matter of historiographical disputes.[20]
In 924, the Serbs ambushed and defeated a small Bulgarian army,[21] provoking a major retaliatorycampaign that ended withBulgaria's annexation of Serbia at the end of that year.[22][23] Soon after death of Bulgarian tsarSimeon I the Great in 927, Časlav escaped from Preslav to Serbia and reestablished Serbian Principality. Restored Serbian Principality existed until Časlav's death c. 960. Threatened by an alliance between the Byzantines and the Serbian state ofDuklja, in 997 theBulgarian tsarSamuel defeated and captured its PrinceJovan Vladimir and took control of the Serb lands again.[24] The state disintegrated after the death of the last known Vlastimirid ruler; the Byzantines annexed the region and held it for a century, until 1040 when the Serbs under the leadership of what would become theVojislavljević dynasty revolted inDuklja, a maritime region.[25] In 1091, theVukanović dynasty established theSerbian Grand Principality, based inRaška (Latin:Rascia).[26]
In 1166,Stefan Nemanja assumed the throne, marking the beginning of a prospering Serbia, henceforth under the rule of theNemanjić dynasty.[27] Nemanja's sonRastko (posth.Saint Sava), gainedautocephaly for theSerbian Church in 1219 and authoredthe oldest known constitution, and at the same timeStefan the First-Crowned established theSerbian Kingdom in 1217.[28] Medieval Serbia reached its peak during the reign ofStefan Dušan (1331–1355), who took advantage of theByzantine civil war and doubled the size of the state by conquering territories to the south and east at the expense of Byzantium, reaching as far as thePeloponnese, also being crowned Emperor of Serbs and Greeks in 1346.[29]
TheBattle of Kosovo against the risingOttoman Empire in 1389 marks a turning point and is considered as a beginning of thefall of the medieval Serbian state.[30] The magnate familiesLazarević andBranković ruled the suzerainSerbian Despotate afterwards (in the 15th and 16th centuries). After the fall ofConstantinople to the Ottomans in 1453 and theSiege of Belgrade, theSerbian Despotate fell in 1459 following the siege of the provisional capital ofSmederevo.[31] By 1455, central Serbia was completely conquered by the Ottoman Empire. After repelling Ottoman attacks for over 70 years,Belgrade finally fell in 1521, opening the way for Ottoman expansion into Central Europe.[32]Délvidék (todayVojvodina), which was inhabited by Serbs and Hungarians, resisted Ottoman rule until well into the 16th century.[33][34]
During theEarly Modern period, from theOttoman conquest of Serbia in the second half of 15th century, up to the beginning of theSerbian Revolution in 1804, severalHabsburg–Ottoman wars were fought on the territory of modern Serbia. The era includes successive periods of Ottoman and Habsburg rule in various parts of Serbia.[33][34]
Medieval Bosnia,Herzegovina, andZeta lasted until1463, 1483, and 1496 respectively. A Serbian principality was restored a few years after the fall of theSerbian Despotate by theBranković dynasty in what is nowVojvodina. It was ruled by exiled Serbian despots and nobles, existing until 1540 as a Hungarian vassal, when it fell to theOttomans. The residence of the despots wasKupinik (modern Kupinovo). The Despots were:Vuk Grgurević-Branković (1471–1485),Đorđe Branković (1486–1496),Jovan Branković (1496–1502),Ivaniš Berislavić (1504–1514),Stjepan Berislavić (1520–1535),Radič Božić (1527–1528, Zapolya faction's pretender), andPavle Bakić (1537). Stevan Berislavić moved in 1522 toSlavonia, since Kupinik was seized by the Ottoman forces.
Many Serbs were recruited during thedevshirme system, a form ofslavery in the Ottoman Empire, in which boys from Balkan Christian families wereforcibly converted toIslam and trained for infantry units of theOttoman army known as theJanissaries.[35][36][37][38]
From the 14th century onward an increasing number of Serbs began migrating to the north to the region today known asVojvodina, which was under the rule of theKingdom of Hungary in that time. The Hungarian kings encouraged the immigration of Serbs to the kingdom, and hired many of them as soldiers and border guards. During the struggle between the Ottoman Empire and Hungary, this Serb population performed an attempt of the restoration of the Serbian state. In theBattle of Mohács on 29 August 1526,Ottoman Empire defeated the Hungarian army. Soon after the battle, the leader of Serbian mercenaries in Hungary,Jovan Nenad, established his rule in what is nowVojvodina. He created an ephemeral independent state, withSubotica as its capital. KingJohn of Hungary defeated Jovan Nenad in 1527.
European powers, and Austria in particular, fought many wars against the Ottoman Empire, sometimes with assistance from Serbs. During the Austrian–Ottoman War (1593–1606), in 1594, some Serbs participated in anuprising in Banat—thePannonian part of the Ottoman Empire, and SultanMurad III retaliated by burning the relics of St. Sava.[citation needed] Austria established troops inHerzegovina but when peace was signed by Ottoman Empire and Austria, Austria abandoned to Ottoman vengeance. This sequence of events became customary for the centuries that followed.
During the Great War (1683–90) between the Ottoman Empire and theHoly League—created with the sponsorship of the Pope and including Austria, Poland andVenice—these three powers as means of divide and conquer strategy, incited including Serbs to rebel against the Ottoman authorities and soon uprisings and terrorism spread throughout the western Balkans: fromMontenegro and theDalmatian Coast to theDanube basin and the regions of Macedonia, Raška, Kosovo and Metohija.[citation needed] However, when the Austrians started to pull out of the Ottoman region, they invited Austrian-loyal people to come north with them into Hungarian territories. Having to choose between Ottoman reprisal or living in Hungary, some Serbs abandoned their homesteads and headed north led bypatriarchArsenije Čarnojević.
Another important episode in the history of the region took place in 1716–18, when the territories ranging from Dalmatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina to Belgrade and the Danube basin became the battleground for a new Austria-Ottoman war launched byPrince Eugene of Savoy. Some Serbs sided once again with Austria. After a peace treaty was signed in Požarevac, the Ottomans lost all its possessions in the Danube basin, as well as today's northern Serbia and northern Bosnia, parts of Dalmatia and thePeloponnesus. Hacı Mustafa Pasha was the military governor of Belgrade from 1793 to 1801. Unlike most senior Ottoman appointees he was not a member of the wealthy and militarily powerful ayan class of local notables. Instead he was a career bureaucrat who feuded with the ayan. Sultan Selim III (r. 1789–1807) wanted to recentralize provincial governance but this experiment turned out badly because of the alliance between the ayan and the corrupt janissaries.[39]
The last Austrian-Ottoman war was in 1788–91, when the Austrians urged the Christians in Bosnia and Serbia to rebel. No wars were fought afterwards until the 20th century that marked the fall of both Austrian and Ottoman empires, staged together by the European powers just after World War I.
David MacKenzie explores the Serbian folk tradition of epic martial poetry dating from the 14th century that commemorates a Serbian defeat at the Battle of Kosovo (1389). It stimulated widespread resistance to Ottoman rule and promoted the emergence of a Serbian national consciousness between 1804 and 1815. Heroism, not accuracy, was the message.[40]
Serbia gained its autonomy from theOttoman Empire in two uprisings in1804 (led byĐorđe Petrović – Karađorđe) and1815 (led byMiloš Obrenović), although Turkish troops continued to garrison the capital, Belgrade, until 1867. In 1817 the Principality of Serbia was granted de facto independence from the Ottoman Empire.[41] High officials in the Austro-Hungarian Empire lobbied for Ottoman approval of the liberal 1869 constitution for Serbia, which depended on the Porte for final approval. Vienna's strategy was that a liberal political system in Serbia would divert its impulse to foment nationalist unrest within its neighbors, and also delay its efforts to gain territory at the expense of the Ottoman Empire.[42]
The Serbs launched not only a national revolution but a social one as well. In the process of national unity, Serbia underwent a degree of modernization. The successes included freedom from foreign rule, acquisition of land by the peasants, Belgrade becoming the political and cultural center, and the diffusion of adoption of modern European norms and economic institutions. Less success was reflected in the long delays and disappointments, continued deep poverty, and a growing chasm between the modernizing urban elite and the traditionalistic peasantry.[43]
The Autonomous Principality became an internationally recognized independent country following theRusso-Turkish War in 1878. Serbia remained aprincipality orkneževina (knjaževina) until 1882, when it became a Kingdom, during which the internal politics revolved largely around dynastic rivalry between theObrenović andKarađorđević families.
This period was marked by the alternation of two dynasties descending fromĐorđe Petrović—Karađorđe, leader of theFirst Serbian Uprising, andMiloš Obrenović, leader of theSecond Serbian Uprising. Further development of Serbia was characterized by general progress in economy, culture and arts, primarily owing to a wise state policy of sending young people to European capitals to get an education. They all brought back a new spirit and a new system of values.[citation needed] One of the external manifestations of the transformation that the former Turkish province was going through was the proclamation of the Province of Serbia in 1882.
During theRevolutions of 1848 the Serbs in theAustrian Empire proclaimed a Serbian autonomous province known asSerbian Vojvodina. By a decision of the Austrian emperor, in November 1849 this province was transformed into the Austrian crown land known as theVoivodeship of Serbia and Temes Banat (Dukedom of Serbia and Tamiš Banat). Against the will of the Serbs, the province was abolished in 1860, but the Serbs from the region gained another opportunity to achieve their political demands in 1918. Today this region is known asVojvodina.
In 1885 Serbia protested against the unification of Bulgaria and EasternRumelia and attacked Bulgaria. This is known as theSerbo-Bulgarian War. Despite better weapons and skilled commanders, Serbia lost the war.
In the second half of 19th century Serbia gained statehood as theKingdom of Serbia. It thus became part of the constellation of European states and the first political parties were founded, giving new momentum to political life. TheMay Coup in 1903, bringing Karađorđe's grandson to the throne with the title of KingPeter I, opened the way for parliamentary democracy in Serbia. Having received a European education this liberal king translated ‘On Liberty’ byJohn Stuart Mill and gave his country a democratic constitution. It initiated a period of parliamentary government and political freedom interrupted by the outbreak of the liberation wars.
Serbia had several national goals.[44] The large number of Serbs living in Bosnia looked to Serbia as the focus of their nationalism, but they were ruled by the Germans of the Austrian Empire. Austria's annexation of Bosnia in 1908 deeply alienated the Serbian peoples. Plotters swore revenge, which they achieved in 1914 by assassination of the Austrian heir.[45] Serbian intellectuals dreamed of a South Slavic state—which in the 1920s became Yugoslavia.
Serbia was landlocked and strongly felt the need for access to the Mediterranean, preferably through the Adriatic Sea. Austria worked hard to block Serbian access to the sea, for example by helping with the creation of Albania in 1912. Montenegro, Serbia's only real ally, did have a small port but Austrian territory intervened, blocking access until Serbia acquiredNovi Pazar and part ofMacedonia from Turkey in 1913. To the south Bulgaria blocked Serbian access to the Aegean Sea.[46]
Serbia, Greece, Montenegro and Bulgaria formed theBalkan League and went to war with the Ottomans in 1912–13. They won decisively and expelled that Empire from almost all of the Balkans.[47] The main remaining foe was Austria, which strongly rejected Pan-Slavism and Serbian nationalism and was ready to make war to end those threats.[48] Ethnic nationalism would doom the multicultural Austro-Hungarian Empire. Expansion of Serbia would block Austrian and German aspirations for direct rail connections to Constantinople and the Middle East. Serbia relied primarily on Russia for Great Power support but Russia was very hesitant at first to support Pan-Slavism, and counselled caution. However, in 1914 it reversed positions and promised military support to Serbia.[49]
Despite its small size and population of 4.6 million, Serbia had the most effective manpower mobilization of the war, and had a highly professional officer corps. It called 350,000 men to arms, of whom 185,000 were in combat units.[50] However the casualties and expenditure of munitions in the Balkan Wars left Serbia depleted and dependent on France for supplies. Austria invaded twice in 1914 and was turned back.
The 28 June 1914assassination of Austrian Crown PrinceFranz Ferdinand in theBosnian capitalSarajevo, byGavrilo Princip, a member ofYoung Bosnia and one of seven assassins, served as a pretext[citation needed] for the Austrian declaration of war on Serbia on 28 July 1914, marking the beginning of World War I, despite Serbia's acceptance three days earlier of nearly all ofAustria-Hungary's demands.[citation needed] The Austro-Hungarian army invaded Serbia capturing the capital Belgrade on 2 December 1914, however the Serbian Army successfully defended the country, won several victories, and on 15 December 1914 recaptured Belgrade.
In late 1915, however, German generals were given control and invaded Serbia with Austrian and Bulgarian forces. The Serbian army retreated across theAlbanian mountain ranges to theAdriatic Sea by January 1916. Only 70,000 made it through to be evacuated to Greece by Italian, French and British naval forces.[51]
Serbia became an occupied land. Disease was rampant but the Austrians were pragmatic and paid well for food supplies, so conditions were not harsh. Instead Austria tried to depoliticize Serbia, to minimize violence, and to integrate the country into the Empire. Nevertheless, the harshness of the military occupation and the Austrian military atrocities committed in Serbia worked against these political aims and Serbian nationalism remained defiant and many young men slipped out to help rebuild the Serbian army in exile.[52]
TheEntente promised the territories of Srem, Bačka, Baranja, eastern Slavonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and eastern Dalmatia to Serbia as a reward after the war.[citation needed] Having recuperated onCorfu the Serbian Army returned to combat on theThessaloniki front together with otherEntente forces. Serbia suffered 1,264,000 casualties—28% of its population of 4.6 million, which also represented 58% of its male population—a loss from which it never fully recovered. Serbia sufferedthe biggest casualty rate in World War I.[53]
A successful Allied offensive in September 1918 secured first Bulgaria's surrender and then the liberation of the occupied Serbian territories (November 1918). On 25 November, the Assembly ofSerbs,Bunjevci, and other nations ofVojvodina inNovi Sad voted to join the region to Serbia. Also, on 29 November theNational Assembly of Montenegro voted for union with Serbia, and two days later an assembly of leaders of Austria–Hungary's southern Slav regions voted to join the newState of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs.
With the end of World War I and the collapse of both the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires the conditions were met for proclaiming theKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in December 1918. The Yugoslav ideal had long been cultivated by the intellectual circles of the three nations that gave the name to the country, but the international constellation of political forces and interests did not permit its implementation until then. However, after the war, idealist intellectuals gave way to politicians, and the most influential Croatian politicians opposed the new state right from the start.
In the early 1920s the Yugoslav government of Serbian prime ministerNikola Pašić used police pressure over voters and ethnic minorities, confiscation of opposition pamphlets[54] and other measures ofelection rigging to keep the opposition, and mainly theCroatian Peasant Party and its allies in minority in Yugoslav parliament.[55] Pašić believed that Yugoslavia should be as centralized as possible, creating in place of distinct regional governments and identities aGreater Serbian national concept of concentrated power in the hands of Belgrade.[56]
However, what pushed the Kingdom into crisis was when a Serb representative opened fire on the opposition benches in the Parliament, killing two outright and mortally wounding the leader of the Croatian Peasants Party,Stjepan Radić in 1928.
Taking advantage of the resulting crisis, KingAlexander I banned national political parties in 1929, assumed executive power, and renamed the countryYugoslavia. He hoped to curb separatist tendencies and mitigate nationalist passions. However, the balance of power changed in international relations: in Italy and Germany,Fascists andNazis rose to power, andJoseph Stalin became the absolute ruler in the Soviet Union. None of these three states favored the policy pursued by Alexander I. The first two wanted to revise the international treaties signed after World War I, and the Soviets were determined to regain their positions in Europe and pursue a more active international policy. Yugoslavia was an obstacle for these plans, and King Aleksandar I was the pillar of the Yugoslav policy.
During an official visit to France in 1934, the king was assassinated inMarseille by a member of theInternal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – an extreme nationalist organization in Bulgaria that had plans to annex territories along the eastern and southern Yugoslav border—with the cooperation of theUstaše – a Croatian fascist separatist organization. The international political scene in the late 1930s was marked by growing intolerance between the principal figures, by the aggressive attitude of the totalitarian regimes. Croatian leader Vladko Maček and his party managed to extort the creation of the Croatian banovina (administrative province) in 1939.[citation needed] The agreement specified that Croatia was to remain part of Yugoslavia, but it was hurriedly building an independent political identity in international relations.
 | This article should include a summary ofAxis occupation of Serbia. SeeWikipedia:Summary style for information on how to incorporate it into this article's main text.(October 2013) |
In the run up to World War II, Prince Regent Paul signed a treaty with Hitler (as did Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary). However, a popular uprising amongst the people rejected this agreement and Prince Regent Paul was sent to exile. King Peter II assumed full royal duty.
Thus the beginning of the 1940s, Yugoslavia found itself surrounded by hostile countries. Except for Greece, all other neighboring countries had signed agreements with either Germany or Italy.Adolf Hitler was strongly pressuring Yugoslavia to join the Axis powers. The government was even prepared to reach a compromise with him, but the spirit in the country was completely different. Public demonstrations against Nazism prompted a brutal reaction.
On 6 April 1941 Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Bulgaria invaded Yugoslavia, and theLuftwaffebombed Belgrade for 3 days killing 17,000 people. Belgrade was captured by German forces on 13 April 1941, and four days later on 17 April 1941 the Royal Yugoslavian Army surrendered unconditionally. Acting upon advice and with a heavy heart,[citation needed] King Peter II left the country to seek Allied support. He was greeted as the hero who dared oppose Hitler.[citation needed] The Royal Yugoslav Government, the only legal body of Yugoslavia, continued to work in London. The occupying Axis powers then divided Yugoslavia up. The western parts of the country together with Bosnia and Herzegovina were turned into a Nazi puppet state called theIndependent State of Croatia (NDH) and ruled by theUstashe. Most of the territory of modern Serbia was occupied by the German army and was governed by the GermanMilitary Administration in Serbia. The governed territory was called Serbia or theTerritory of the Military Commander in Serbia,[57][58] and, besides German military administrators, it was also governed by the Serbian puppet governments first underMilan Aćimović and then under Serbian army generalMilan Nedić. The northern territories were annexed by Hungary, and eastern and southern territories by Bulgaria. Kosovo and Metohija were mostly annexed by Albania which was under the sponsorship of fascist Italy. Montenegro also lost territories to Albania and was then occupied by Italian troops.Slovenia was divided between Germany and Italy, which also seized the islands in the Adriatic.
In Serbia, the German occupation authorities organized several concentration camps for Jews, members of the communist Partisan resistance movement, and Chetniks royalist resistance movement.
The biggest concentration camps wereBanjica andSajmište nearBelgrade, where, according to the most conservative estimates, around 40,000 Jews were killed. In all those camps, some 90 percent of the Serbian Jewish population perished. In theBačka region annexed by Hungary, numerous Serbs and Jews were killed in 1942 raid by the Hungarian authorities. The persecutions against ethnic Serb population also occurred in the region ofSyrmia, which was controlled by theIndependent State of Croatia and in the region ofBanat, which was under direct German control.
The ruthless attitude of the German occupation forces and thegenocidal policy of the CroatianUstaša regime, aimed at Serbs, Jews, Roma and anti-Ustaša Croats, created a strong anti-fascist resistance in the NDH. Many Croats and other nationalities stood up against the genocide and the Nazis.[citation needed] Many joined the Partisan forces created by the Communist Party (National Liberation Army headed byJosip Broz Tito) in the liberation and the revolutionary war against Nazis and all the others who were against communism.
During this war and after it, the Partisans killed many civilians who did not support their Communist ideals. The Communists shot people without trials, or following politically and ideologically motivated courts, such as in the case ofDraža Mihailović, leader of theChetniks. The Agricultural Reform conducted after the war meant that peasants had to give away most of their wheat, grain, and cattle to the state, or face serious imprisonment. Land and property were confiscated on a massive scale. Many people also lost civil rights and their names were smeared. Also, a censorship was enforced on all levels of the society and media, and a cult of Tito was created in the media.
On 20 October 1944 the Soviet Red Army liberated Belgrade and by the end of 1944 all Serbia was free from German control. Yugoslavia was among the countries that had the greatest losses in the war: 1,700,000 (10.8% of the population) people were killed and national damages were estimated at US$9.1 billion according to the prices of that period.
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After the war,Josip Broz Tito became the first president of the new—socialist—Yugoslavia which he ruled through theLeague of Communists of Yugoslavia. Once a predominantly agricultural country, Yugoslavia was transformed into a mid-range industrial country, and acquired an international political reputation by supporting thedecolonization process and by assuming a leading role in theNon-Aligned Movement. Socialist Yugoslavia was established as a federal state comprising six republics, from north to south:Slovenia,Croatia,Bosnia and Herzegovina,Serbia,Montenegro andMacedonia and twoautonomous regions within Serbia –Vojvodina andKosovo.
The basic motto of Tito's Yugoslavia was "brotherhood and unity",workers' self-management, state-owned property with minimal privately owned property. In the beginning, the country copied the Soviet model, but after the 1948 split with the Soviet Union, it turned more towards the West. Eventually, it created its own brand of socialism, with aspects of a market economy, and milked both the East and the West for significant financial loans.
The 1974 constitution produced a significantly less centralized federation, increasing theautonomy of Yugoslavia's republics as well as the autonomous provinces of Serbia.
When Tito died on 4 May 1980, he was succeeded by apresidency that rotated annually between the six Republics and two Autonomous regions. This led to a fatal weakening of central power and ties between the republics. During the 1980s the republics pursued significantly different economic policies, with separatist- oriented Slovenia and Croatia allowing significant market-based reforms, while Serbia kept to its existing program of state ownership. This, too, was a cause of tension between north and south, as Slovenia in particular experienced a period of strong growth. Prior to the war, inflation skyrocketed. Then, under Prime MinisterAnte Marković, things began to improve. Economic reforms had opened up the country, the living standard was at its peak, capitalism seemed to have entered the country and nobody thought that just a year later the first gunshots would be fired.
Within a year of Tito's death the first cracks began to show when in the spring of 1981 when on11 March, 26 March, and 31 March to 2 April an escalating series of increasingly large protests spread from the campus of theUniversity of Pristina to the streets of several cities inKosovo demanding the upgrading of the Autonomous Region to the status of full Republic – these protests were violently suppressed by the Police with many deaths, and a state of emergency was declared. Serbian concerns about the treatment of Serb minorities in other republics and particularly in Kosovo were exacerbated by theSANU Memorandum, drawn up by theSerbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and published in Sep 1986 byVečernje novosti, which claimed that Serbs were suffering a genocide at the hands of the Kosovo Albanian majority.[59]Slobodan Milošević leader of theLeague of Communists of Serbia since May 1986, became the champion of the Serbian Nationalists when on 24 Apr 1987 he visitedKosovo Polje and, after local Serbs had clashed with the police declared, 'No one has the right to beat you'.[60]
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Slobodan Milošević became the most powerful politician in Serbia on 25 Sep 1987 when he defeated and humiliated his former mentor Serbian PresidentIvan Stambolić, during the televised8th session of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Serbia. Milosevic governed Serbia from his position as Chairman of the Central Committee of theLeague of Communists of Serbia until 8 May 1989 when he assumed the Presidency of Serbia. Milosevic supporters gained control of three other constituent parts of Yugoslavia in what became known as theAnti-bureaucratic revolution,Vojvodina on 6 Oct 1988,Kosovo on 17 Nov 1988, andMontenegro on 11 Jan 1989. On 25 Nov 1988 the Yugoslav National Assembly granted Serbia the right to change its constitution.[61] In March 1989 this was done, removing autonomy fromVojvodina and Kosovo, which caused great unrest inKosovo[62] On 28 June 1989Slobodan Milošević made what became known as theGazimestan Speech which was the centrepiece of a day-long event, attended by an estimated one million Serbs, to mark the 600th anniversary of the Serbian defeat at theBattle of Kosovo by theOttoman Empire. In this speech Milošević's reference to the possibility of "armed battles" in the future of Serbia's national development was seen by many as presaging the collapse of Yugoslavia and the bloodshed of theYugoslav Wars.
On 23 Jan 1990 at its 14th Congress the Communist League of Yugoslavia voted to remove its monopoly on political power, but the same day effectively ceased to exist as a national party when theLeague of Communists of Slovenia walked out afterSlobodan Milošević blocked all their reformist proposals. On 27 July 1990 Milošević merged the League of Communists of Serbia with several smaller communist front parties to form theSocialist Party of Serbia. A new Constitution was drawn up and came into force on 28 Sep 1990 transforming the one-partySocialist Republic of Serbia into a multi-partyRepublic of Serbia[63] The first multi-party elections were held on9 and 23 December 1990 and in what became the pattern for the next several elections the Socialist Party of Serbia won, as Milošević maintained firm control over the state media and opposition parties had little access. On 9 March 1991,a mass rally on the streets ofBelgrade turned into a riot with vicious clashes between the protesters and police. It was organized byVuk Drašković'sSerbian Renewal Movement (SPO). Two people died in the ensuing violence.
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia broke up in 1991/1992 in a series of wars following the independence declarations ofSlovenia andCroatia on 25 Jun 1991, andBosnia and Herzegovina on 5 Mar 1992.Macedonia left the federation peacefully on 25 Sep 1991. TheYugoslav People's Army(JNA) tried and failed to prevent the separation ofSlovenia in theTen Day War 26 Jun – 6 Jul 1991 and completely withdrew by 26 Oct 1991. The JNA attempted and failed to prevent the separation ofCroatia during the first phase of theCroatian War of Independence from 27 Jun 1991 until the truce of Jan 1992, but did successfully enable the Croatian Serb minority to establish theRepublic of Serb Krajina which looked to Serbia for support. The biggest battle of this war was theSiege of Vukovar. Following the start of theBosnian War on 1 April 1992 the JNA officially withdrew all its forces from Croatia and Bosnia in May 1992 and was formally dissolved on 20 May 1992 – its remnant forces being taken over by the newFederal Republic of Yugoslavia.
The two remaining republics of Yugoslavia,Serbia andMontenegro, formed on 28 April 1992 a new federation namedFederal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Following thebreakup of Yugoslavia, theFederal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) was established in 1992 as a federation. In 2003, it was reconstituted as apolitical union called theState Union ofSerbia and Montenegro (SCG).
From 24 March to 10 June 1999,NATO undertook anaerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia following aviolent crackdown onethnic Albanian separatists in the province ofKosovo.[64] After the signing of theKumanovo Agreement and withdrawal of Yugoslav troops in June, Kosovo was made a United Nationsprotectorate, under theUN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) based inPriština. From early 2001, UNMIK has been working with representatives of the Serbian and union governments to reestablish stable relations in the region. A new assembly of the province was elected in November 2001, which formed a government and chose a president in February 2002.
In January 1998Milo Đukanović became Montenegro's president, following bitterly contested elections in October 1997 against Pro-Milošević candidateMomir Bulatović. His coalition followed up with parliamentary elections in May. Đukanović distanced himself from Milošević and pursued pro-Western policies along with advocating for Montenegrin independence from Serbia. Economic ties with Serbia began to be severed as Montenegro formed a neweconomic policy and adopted theDeutsche Mark as its currency.[65]
Before 5 October, even as opposition grew, Milošević continued to dominate the organs of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) Government. And although his political party, theSocialist Party of Serbia (SPS) (in electoral cartel withMirjana Markovic'Yugoslav United Left), did not enjoy a majority in either the federal or Serbian parliaments, it dominated the governing coalitions and held all the key administrative posts. An essential element of Milošević's grasp on power was his control of the Serbian police, a heavily armed force of some 100,000 that was responsible for internal security and which committed serious human rights abuses. Routine federal elections in September 2000 resulted inKostunica receiving less than a majority, requiring a second round. Immediately, street protests and rallies filled cities across the country as Serbs rallied aroundVojislav Koštunica, the recently formedDemocratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS, a broad coalition of anti-Milošević parties) candidate for FRY president. There had been widespread fear that the second round would be cancelled on the basis of foreign interference in the elections. Cries of fraud and calls for Milošević's removal echoed across city squares fromSubotica toNiš.
On 5 October 2000, Slobodan Milošević was forced to concede defeat after days of mass protests all across Serbia.
The new FRY PresidentVojislav Koštunica was soon joined at the top of the domestic Serbian political scene by the Democratic Party's (DS)Zoran Đinđić, who was elected Prime Minister of Serbia at the head of the DOS ticket in December's republican elections. After an initial honeymoon period in the wake of 5 October, DSS and the rest of DOS, led by Đinđić and his DS, found themselves increasingly at odds over the nature and pace of the governments' reform programs. Although initial reform efforts were highly successful, especially in the economic and fiscal sectors, by the middle of 2002, the nationalist Koštunica and the pragmatic Đinđić were openly at odds. Koštunica's party, having informally withdrawn from all DOS decision-making bodies, was agitating for early elections to the Serbian Parliament in an effort to force Đinđić from the scene. After the initial euphoria of replacing Milošević's autocratic regime, the Serbian population, in reaction to this political maneuvering, was sliding into apathy and disillusionment with its leading politicians by mid-2002. This political stalemate continued for much of 2002, and reform initiatives stalled.
In February 2003, the Constitutional Charter was finally ratified by both republics, and the FRY Parliament and the name of the country was changed from Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to Serbia and Montenegro. Under the new Constitutional Charter, most federal functions and authorities devolved to the republic level. The office of President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, held by Vojislav Koštunica, ceased to exist onceSvetozar Marović was elected President of Serbia and Montenegro.
On 12 March 2003, Serbian Prime MinisterZoran Đinđić was assassinated.[66] The newly formed union government of Serbia and Montenegro reacted swiftly by calling a state of emergency and undertaking an unprecedented crackdown on organized crime which led to the arrest of more than 4,000 people.
Parliamentary elections were held in theRepublic of Serbia on 28 December 2003. Serbia had been in a state of political crisis since the overthrow of thepost-communist ruler,Slobodan Milošević, in 2001. The reformers, led by former Yugoslav PresidentVojislav Koštunica, have been unable to gain control of the Serbian presidency because three successive presidential elections have failed to produce the required 50% turnout.[67] The assassination in March 2003 of the reforming Prime Minister,Zoran Đinđić was a major setback.
Despite the great increase in support for the Radicals, the four pro-reform parties (Koštunica'sDemocratic Party of Serbia, late Prime Minister Đinđić'sDemocratic Party, now led byBoris Tadić, and theG17 Plus group of liberal economists led byMiroljub Labus, plus the SPO-NS) won 49.8% of the vote, compared with 34.8% for the two anti-western parties, theRadicals ofVojislav Šešelj and theSocialists of Milošević, and won 146 seats to 104.
At the2004 Presidential electionBoris Tadić, candidate of theDemocratic Party won overTomislav Nikolić, of theSerbian Radical Party, sealing the future reform and EU-integration path of Serbia.[68]
During the early 2000s governments of Montenegro resumed pro-independence policies, and political tensions with Serbia simmered despite political changes inBelgrade. The question whether the Federal Yugoslav state would continue to exist became a serious issue.
Following Montenegro's vote for full independence in thereferendum of 21 May 2006 (55.4% yes, 44.6% no),[69] Montenegro declared independence on 3 June 2006.[70] This was followed on 5 June 2006 by Serbia's declaration of independence,[71][72] marking the final dissolution of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, and the re-emergence of Serbia as an independent state for the first time since 1918.[73][74]
Areferendum was held on 28 and 29 October 2006 on a proposed draft of the newConstitution of Serbia, which was approved.[75] The constitution is Serbia's first as an independent state since theKingdom of Serbia's 1903 constitution.
The2007 elections confirmed the pro-reform and pro-European stance of the Serbian Parliament, in which Tadić's party doubled his representation.[76]
On 3 February 2008, Tadić wasre-elected as President.[77]
TheSerbian government passed through weeks of severe crisis after theunilateral declaration of independence of its southern province ofKosovo on 17 February 2008, which was gradually recognized by the United States and numerousEuropean Union countries.The crisis was fuelled by the demand by Prime MinisterVojislav Koštunica of theDemocratic Party of Serbia (DSS) to theDemocratic Party (Serbia) (DS), which held governmental majority, of a restructuring of the governmental contract including an annex according to which Serbia can continue European integration exclusively with Kosovo as its integral part, as stated in the2006 Constitution. TheDS andG17+ refused, and Koštunica had to resign on 8 March 2008, while also asking the President to dismiss the parliament and schedule pre-term parliamentary elections.[78]
Thesepre-term parliamentary elections were held on 11 May 2008, barely a year after the previous parliamentary election. The results showed a net increase of votes for Tadić's ZES coalition, passing from 87 to 102 seats. After long and difficult negotiations, a new pro-European government was formed on 7 July 2008 by 128 out of 250 parliamentary votes of ZES, SPS-PUPS-JS and 6 out of 7 minorities representatives. The newprime minister wasMirko Cvetković, candidate of the Democratic Party.[79]
In May 2012, nationalistTomislav Nikolić was elected as President of Serbia after defeating Tadić in thepresidential election.[80] In July 2012, Serbian Socialist Party leaderIvica Dačić became prime minister of Serbia afterparliamentary elections. His government was a coalition of President Tomislav Nikolić's nationalistSerbian Progressive Party, the Socialist Party and other groups.[81] Since the Progressive Party came to power,[82][83] Serbia has suffered fromdemocratic backsliding intoauthoritarianism,[84][85][86] followed by a decline inmedia freedom and civil liberties.[87][88]
Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) won in the2014 election and the leader of SNSAleksandar Vučić became prime minister. Three years later he moved to the presidency.Ana Brnabić has been prime minister since 2017, but president Vučić has kept a firm hold on executive power.[89]
Since hiselection as President of Serbia in 2017, Aleksandar Vučić has worked on establishing good relations with European, Russian and Chinese partners.[90]
In June 2020, Serbia's ruling Progressive Party (SNS) won a landslide victory inparliamentary elections. Main opposition groups boycotted the vote. According to the opposition the conditions were not free and fair.[91] In April 2022, President Aleksandar Vučić wasre-elected.[92] Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) won the snap parliamentaryelection, which was held simultaneously with the presidential election.[93]Serbia drew western criticism for not joining EUsanctions against Russia and maintaining bilateral relations after the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, Serbia condemned Russia at theUnited Nations General Assembly andHuman Rights Council.[94] In December 2023, ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) of President Vučić won a snapparliamentary election, gaining an absolute majority with more than half of the 250 seats in the National Assembly.[95]
As of January 2024, more than 300,000 Russians have emigrated to Serbia since the start of theRussian invasion of Ukraine. About one in 10 has been issued with a residence permit.[96]
On 17 February 2008 self-proclaimed representatives ofKosovo Albanians,acting outside theUNMIK'sPISG framework (not representing theAssembly of Kosovo or any other of these institutions),[97] issued adeclaration of independence establishing theRepublic of Kosovo tomixed international reactions.
In 2013, the two sides began to normalise relations in accordance with the Brussels Agreement, but the process stalled in November 2018 after Kosovo imposed a 100 percent tax on importing Serbian goods. On 1 April 2020, Kosovo withdrew the tax.[98]
Serbia officially applied forEuropean Union membership on 22 December 2009.[99]
Despite its setbacks in the political field, on 7 December 2009 the EU unfroze the trade agreement with Serbia[100] and the Schengen countries dropped the visa requirement for Serbian citizens on 19 December 2009.[101]
AStabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) was signed in 2008 and entered into force on 1 September 2013.[102]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)"For independence of Montenegro, 55.4 percent of citizens have voted. 44.6 percent of citizens have voted for the union state", Frantisek Lipka, a Slovak diplomat heading the referendum commission, announced at a news conference in Podgorica today.
2006 June – Montenegro declared independence, Serbia responded by declaring itself the independent sovereign successor state to the Union of Serbia and Montenegro.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
