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Anarchism in Serbia has its roots in the late 19th century, when a number of Serbs studying inSwitzerland came into contact with anarchist ideas and established the first Serbian socialist newspapers and organisations.Anarcho-syndicalism gained an interest in Serbia in the early 20th century, with trade unions and workers' societies being established by young Serbian socialists under the leadership ofKrsta Cicvarić. Serbian anarchists withinYoung Bosnia participated in theassassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, leading to the outbreak ofWorld War I and the repression of the Serbian anarchist movement. Libertarian tendencies in theCommunist Party of Yugoslavia saw the establishment ofsocialist self-management in the country, and an interest in anarchism saw a resurgence among young Serbs in the late 20th century.
Anarchism was first introduced toSerbia during the late 19th century, when the organised labour movement first began to gain an influence in the country.Živojin Žujović [sr] was among the firstSerbs to adopt the anarchist ideas ofPierre-Joseph Proudhon and was credited byTrivo Inđić as the first Serbiansocialist. Žujović mentored the young trade union organiser and socialist theoristSvetozar Marković. InSwitzerland, a small group of Serbian socialists, includingManojlo Hrvaćanin [sr],Pera Todorović [sh] andJovan Žujović, formed the Southern Slavic section ofMikhail Bakunin'sAnti-Authoritarian International. In 1872, the Serbian socialists met for a congress inZurich, where they drew up the statutes for a socialist political party. In 1874, Todorović establishedRad, the first socialist newspaper in theSerbian language. In 1875, Hrvaćanin, along withVasa Pelagić andKosta Ugrinić, participated in theHerzegovina uprising against theOttoman Empire.[1]
By the turn of the 20th century, anarchist ideas had been consciously adopted byMita Cenić [sh],Dragiša Stanojević [sr], Pera Todorović and Jovan Žujović. A number of Serbians came under the influence ofanarcho-syndicalism, which had been brought in fromHungary viaVojvodina byKrosto Iskruljev. InParis,Milorad Popović founded a Yugoslav workers' society; he then moved toBudapest, where he published a socialist newspaper in the Serbian language. In 1904, he finally returned to Serbia, where he established a number oftrade unions. The leading figure of Serbian anarcho-syndicalism during this period wasKrsta Cicvarić, who published the newspapersHleb i Sloboda in 1905 andRadnicka Borba in 1907; he also organised anarchist workers' groups and later wrote his ownAnarchist Programme in 1909. Anarcho-syndicalist members of theSerbian Social Democratic Party (SSDP), includingNedeljko Divac [sr],Vasa Knežević,Sima Marković,Vlajko Martinović, were expelled from the SSDP over their advocacy ofdirect action.[1]
Following theAustro-Hungarian annexation of Bosnia, the anarchist-inspired groupYoung Bosnia began carrying out a campaign of assassinations against imperial officials. Its leaderBogdan Žerajić, who was influenced byPeter Kropotkin, unsuccessfully attempted to assassinategovernorMarijan Varešanin. Inspired by Žerajić, several members of Young Bosnia, includingNedeljko Čabrinović,Danilo Ilić andGavrilo Princip, carried out theassassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which caused the outbreak ofWorld War I. At their trial, Čabrinović explicitly declared anarchism to have motivated his participation in the assassination. Another anarchist member of Young Bosnia,Vladimir Gaćinović, affiliated with Russian anarchist and socialist exiles before his own assassination in 1917.[1]
After World War I, the establishment of theKingdom of Yugoslavia under the authoritarian rule ofAlexander I resulted in the repression of the Serbian anarchist movement. Sima Marković joined theCommunist Party of Yugoslavia and became itspolitical secretary, but he was later killed during theGreat Purge due to his personal disagreements withStalinism. Around 200 Yugoslavs also volunteered to fight in theSpanish Civil War, many of whom were influenced bylibertarian socialism. AfterWorld War II, the establishment of theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia prevented the re-emergence of the anarchist movement, although libertarian ideas were incorporated into its system ofsocialist self-management. Following the1968 student demonstrations in Yugoslavia, Serbia saw a renewed interest in anarchist ideas, with the works of Proudhon, Bakunin and Kropotkin once again circulating among the younger generation.[1]
