This list includesrevolutionary organizations aimed at liberating and unifying Serb-inhabited territories into the historical national state ofSerbia—it includes organizations established after the creation ofRevolutionary Serbia (1804) and before the establishment ofSecond Yugoslavia (1945).
| Organization | Active | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serbian Revolutionary organization | 1803–13 | Organized by leading Serbs of theBelgrade Pashalik (Assembly of Rebel Leaders), conspiracy starting in 1803. Fought theFirst Serbian Uprising (1804–13) that saw the creation ofRevolutionary Serbia. Uprising quelled in 1813. |  |
| Rebels underMiloš Obrenović | 1815 | Organized by leading Serbs of the nahiyas of Rudnik, Kragujevac and Čačak. Fought theSecond Serbian Uprising (1815) that saw the creation ofPrincipality of Serbia. Uprising succeeded. |  |
| Vasojević network | 1838–41 | Organized rebellion in the sanjaks of Novi Pazar, Pristina and Peć and Highland tribes.[1] | |
| Stojković Organization | 1840–41 | Organized rebellion in theSanjak of Niš, which broke out early after a spy disclosed its preparations, failed.[1] | |
| Serb National Board (Srpski narodni odbor) | 1848–1849 | Established with theMay Assembly (1–3 May 1848) that proclaimed a Serbian autonomous voivodeship within the Austrian Empire—Serbian Vojvodina—during theRevolutions of 1848 when Serbs fought the Hungarians. |  |
| Secret organization in eastern Bosnia | 1849–1855 | Organized byIlija Garašanin's circle, active in 1849–55, aimed at preparing uprising in the eastern Bosnia Eyalet but instead used as intelligence agency.[2] |  |
| Committee (Komitet) | 1860–1861 | Secret revolutionary organization established in Belgrade headed by YugoslavistMatija Ban.[3] Aimed at liberating Bosnia and south Serbia, and then the rest of the South Slavic lands.[3] | _-_Galerija_Matice_srpske.jpg) |
| Serbian Board | 1861–1872 | A secret national liberationcommittee established in 1861 by politicianIlija Garašanin after PrinceMihailo's approval.[4] Garašanin appointedAtanasije Nikolić the operative and technical manager of a network of agents.[4] Nikolić was tasked with drafting a programme for execution of liberation.[5] A board (committee) was established at the turn of 1861–62, which also included officialLazar Arsenijević Batalaka as president, and lieutenantFranjo Zah.[5] Ilija Garašanin came to manage the operations.[5] Nikolić made up plans for preparations for uprising in the interior of European Turkey.[5] The committee had, according to his memoir, agents in "Bosnia, Herzegovina, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Bucharest" and there were sub-boards in all of them.[5] Nikolić blamedMinister of DefenceMilivoje Blaznavac for Serbia's inaction in the matter.[6] Nikolić was himself used as an agent, transferring arms from Russia in 1862 and twice in 1867, which affected the work of the organization.[6] The organization became inactive with Blaznavac's refusal to support uprising, and Nikolić was definitively removed from the agent network in late April 1872.[5] | |
| United Serb Youth | 1866–1872 | Political youth organization active in Austria-Hungary and Serbia. |  |
| Association for Serb Liberation and Unification | 1871–? | Established in September 1871 in Cetinje, Montenegro, by theUnited Serbian Youth. It had boards in Cetinje, Novi Sad and Belgrade. | |
| Main Board for Serb Liberation | 1871–1872 | Established in late 1871 in Kragujevac, Serbia, by Socialist opposition youth gathered around Jevrem Marković. It had boards in Niš, Leskovac and Pirot. |  |
| Niš Committee | 1874–1878 | Established on 24 September 1874 in Niš by local leaders. Aimed at liberation of theSanjak of Niš and unification with Serbia. Active in theSerbian–Ottoman Wars (1876–1878).[7] |  |
| Central Board of the Bosnian Uprising for Liberation | 1875–1877 | Established in 1875 in Bosnia by Serb leaders. Notable members included founderGolub Babić,Vaso Vidović andJovan Bilbija. Active in theHerzegovina uprising (1875–1877). Signed theProclamation of the Unification of Bosnia with Serbia on 2 July 1876. |  |
| Brotherhood of Serb-Macedonians and Old-Serbians | 1877–1889 | At first a secret committee named "Board for Old Serbia and Macedonia" established in the beginning of 1877, with initiatives for liberation of Macedonia and solving the Macedonian question.[8] Members includedKosta Šumenković fromStruga,Todor Stanković from Niš, professorMiloš Milojević, archimandriteSava Dečanac,Aksentije Hadžiarsić, teacherDespot Badžović andKuzman Badžović from Kruševo,Gligorije Čemerikić and others. On 20 May 1877 Badžović was in the delegation of "Serbs of Old Serbia" that petitioned the Serbian government for the liberation and unification of Old Serbia with the Principality of Serbia. On 20 May 1879 Despot Badžović suggested to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send Serb bands into Macedonia and rise up the people. The Serbian government adviced against support to the uprisings in Macedonia.[9] On 23 February 1885 a meeting (zbor) was held in Belgrade, presided by Despot Badžović, which urged Prime MinisterM. Garašanin to begin the Serbian national programme in Macedonia which would protect Serbian national interest.[10] More meetings were held in Niš (3 March), Belgrade and Vranje which improved the government's viewpoint on the matter.[11] In 1889 Despot Badžović suggested that theNamesništvo (regency) gather volunteers to send into Macedonia, but the government disagreed.[12] |  |
| Committee (of theKumanovo Uprising) | 1878 | Established on 20 January 1878, active in theKumanovo Uprising. Its supreme leaders were Orthodox priest Dimitrije Paunović and Veljan Cvetković. |  |
| Board (for Old Serbia and Macedonia) | 1880 | A secret department under the auspice of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, established on 2 September 1880 with membersMatija Ban, Miloš Milojević, archpriest Jakov Pavlović,Đorđe Popović and military professorJovan Dragašević. With the end of the Liberalist government on 2 November 1880, the department ceased to exist.[13] | |
| Revolutionary Committee in Vranje | 1885–1902 | A secret guerrilla group based inVranje on the Serbian–Ottoman border. At first independent and sponsored by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it was allowed to use Vranje as a base for crossing into Ottoman territory for sabotage and brigandage. A band was captured by the Ottomans in June 1886 inKriva Palanka.[14] When the persecution of Serbs inKosovo and Metohija,Preševokaza andSanjak of Novi Pazar by Muslim Albanians and Muslim Slavs increased in the years of 1897–1900, and lack of effort to prosecute the crimes by Ottoman authorities, the Priština Consulate organized assassinations of the worstkachak perpetrators and Albanian organizers of violence on Serbs.[15] In 1901 the group was tasked with the assassination of known oppressor Kadri Zaim-Bey in the Preševokaza, which failed miserably the first time in July, then succeeded in December 1901.[16] |  |
| Serbian Chetnik Organization | 1903–1908 | The Serbian Chetnik Organization organized guerrilla bands in the region of North Macedonia in the period of 1903–1908. It was an unification of various organizations and groups.[17] The Revolutionary/Central Board was established in mid-1903 in Belgrade, led by influential citizens Dr.Milorad Gođevac, merchantLuka Ćelović and generalJovan Atanacković.[17] The Executive Board was established inVranje, led by officerŽika Rafajlović.[18] Further Boards were established in Bitola, headed by consulSavatije Milošević, Skopje, headed by teacherBogdan Radenković, and Kumanovo, headed by priestTaško Petrović.[19] The secret organization of Srpska Odbrana ("Serb Defence") was established in 1905 in Ottoman territory, withBogdan Radenković as member, with the aims of defending the Serb population inOld Serbia andMacedonia, prepare it for liberation, and counter enemy attacks.[20] Radenković eventually became the head of guerrilla operations in Macedonia.[21] The Vranje Board was tasked with operations.[22] The Bitola Board and Mountain Staff inPoreč were in charge of Western Povardarje, while the Skopje Board and Mountain Staff onKozjak were in charge of Eastern Povardarje.[22] |  |
| Serb Brothers Society | 1905–1918 | Established on 23 January 1905 byGolub Janić. Supported theSerbian Chetnik Organization. |  |
| Narodna Odbrana | 1908– | Revolutionary organization established on 8 October 1908. Led byStepa Stepanović. |  |
| Young Bosnia | c. 1909–1914 | Established inc. 1909 by Yugoslavist Bosnian Serb students. Upheld relations with the Black Hand. Carried out theAssassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. |  |
| Unification or Death, known as "Black Hand" | 1911– | Established on 9 May 1911 by militarist high-ranked members of the Royal Serbian Army led by ColonelDragutin Dimitrijević Apis, that took a part as junior conspirators that assassinatedKing Alexander andQueen Draga Obrenović in aMay Coup 1903. |  |
| White Hand | 1912 | Established by high-ranked members of the Royal Serbian Army led by ColonelPetar Živković, as an opposition to the militarist Black Hand. The White Hand supported the Royal House of Karađorđević and the democratic institutions of the country. |  |