Language: Serbian
Currency: Serbian dinar (RSD)
Calling Code: 381
Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia , the
sovereign is a country located at the crossroads of middle and
southeast Europe in the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the
center of the Balkan Peninsula. It mainly covers the Balkan
Peninsula and , to a lesser extent , the Pannonian Plain . Serbia
borders the Hungarian border in the north, Romania in the northeast
, Bulgaria in the east , Northern Macedonia in the south, Albania
with the southwestand Montenegro , and in the west with Croatia and
Bosnia and Herzegovina (entity Republika Srpska ). Serbia excluding
Kosovo and Metohija has a population of about 7 million, while with
Kosmet it has an estimated 8.8 million inhabitants. The capital is
Belgrade , which is one of the oldest and largest cities in
Southeast Europe . With a population of 1,659,440 in the wider area,
according to the 2011 census , it is the administrative and economic
center of the country. The official language is Serbian and the
official currency is Serbian Dinar .
After Slovenian
migration to the Balkans ( 6th century ), Serbs established several
states in the early Middle Ages . The Serbian Kingdom was recognized
by Rome and the Byzantine Empire in 1217, culminating in 1346 as a
relatively short-lived Serbian Empire .
Until the mid- 16th
century , all of modern Serbia was part of the Ottoman Empire ,
until it was interrupted by the Habsburg Monarchy , which began to
spread to Central Serbia from the end of the 17th century and
maintained a foothold in modern Vojvodina . In the early 19th
century, the Serbian Revolution established the nation-state as the
first constitutional monarchy in the region, which later expanded
its territory.
Serbia, after the catastrophic losses in World
War I and unification with the former Habsburg Crown of Vojvodina
(and other territories), became a co-founder and integral part of a
common state with most of the Southern Slavs originally in the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed the Kingdom of
Yugoslavia ), then in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ,
the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the State Union of Serbia and
Montenegro . In 2006, after a referendum was held in the Republic of
Montenegro, the peoples dispersed peacefully and the State Union
ceased to exist, and the Republic of Serbia, on the basis of the
Constitutional Charter , continued state-legal continuity with
Serbia and Montenegro.
Introduction of SerbiaRepublic of Serbia is located in Southeastern Europe in central part of Balkan Peninsula. About 20 % of the country is occupied by Pannonian lowland. North part of the country is dominated by predominantly plains. Farther in the south the terrain becomes more mountainous and rugged. Serbia contains 4 mountain ranges. Dinaric Alps in the west that extend to the northwest and southeast, Stara Planina (Old Mountains) and Eastern Serbian Mountains are located in the East extending into neighboring Bulgaria. And Rila- Rhodope mountain range take much of the country's south. Serbia's highest mountain is Mount Dzheravitsa at a height of 2656 meter. Emergency numbers while traveling to SerbiaPolice 92 Fire Department 93 Ambulance 94 |
Language of SerbiaOfficial language in Serbia is Serbia (what a suprise). Although in some regions people speak Hungarian, Albanian, Slovak, Romanian and Ruthenian.
Religion in SerbiaMost of Serbs belong to Orthodox Church. Christianity plays an important role in the lives of these people. For a long time monasteries and churches kept the spirit of people and helped preserve Serbian national identity. Even if the person might be very religious the institution of the Church is still highly regarded. Besides the Republic of Serbia has a fairly large Muslim community (5%) and Catholics (4%). |
Prehistoric and Antique Serbia
Starchevo-Krish
culture dates back to the 7th – 5th millennia BC. e. The tribes of
this culture were engaged in cattle breeding, hunting and fishing.
They settled in clay-coated wicker houses near rivers. Artifacts are
represented by polished stone axes and rough kitchen ceramics. The
bearers of the culture belonged to the Mediterranean race, which
sharply distinguished them from the local Mesolithic Cro-Magnons,
descendants of the Lepenski-Vira culture. Starchevo-Krish culture
was supplanted by a wave of Anatolian farmers belonging to the Vinca
culture.
The lifetime of Vinca culture is not precisely
defined. The earliest moment of occurrence is considered the VI
millennium BC. e., its extinction dates from the middle of the V
millennium BC. e. or the beginning of the IV millennium BC. e.
Settlements are represented by dugouts with clay stoves, later huts
with gable roofs began to be built. They totaled up to five rooms,
the floors were wooden. The bull’s head was reinforced above the
entrance to the house. The culture is also characterized by a large
number of clay figurines of men and women found.
During the
existence of the Roman Empire, all of modern Serbia was part of the
Roman state (most of the territory of modern Serbia, then inhabited
mainly by Illyrian tribes, was part of the province of Upper
Moesia). After the empire was divided into 2 parts around 395, these
lands were assigned to the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) empire. The
Romanization of Upper Moesia remained insignificant and, in contrast
to the coastal regions, there were no large urban settlements, with
the exception of Singidunum (Belgrade), Vimination (Kostolac) and
Naissus (Niš).
Medieval Serbian State
The resettlement of
the Slavs and the creation of statehood
From the middle of the VI
century, the gradual expansion of Slavic tribes began on these
lands, accompanied by the devastation of the Balkans. The ancestors
of the Serbs settled the lands south of the Sava to the Adriatic.
They assimilated or ousted the former inhabitants of this territory
- Illyrians, Celts, Greeks and Romans - to cities, mainly on the
coast, as well as to the mountains of the Dinaric Highlands and
Albania. In some places, Illyrian and Wallachian enclaves arose in
the lands inhabited by the Slavs.
The process of state
formation among the Serbs was slowed by the isolation of various
Serbian communities and the lack of economic ties between them. The
early history of the Serbs is characterized by the formation of
several centers of statehood, which in turn became centers of
unification of the Serbian lands. Proto-state formations formed on
the coast - Sklavinia Pagania, Zahumye, Travuniya and Duklja, in the
interior (the eastern part of modern Bosnia and Sandzak) - the
Serbian principality. Nominally, all Serbian territories were part
of Byzantium, but their dependence was weak. From the 7th century,
the Christianization of Serbian tribes began, which ended in the
second half of the 9th century with the direct participation of the
disciples of Saints Cyril and Methodius.
In the middle of the
9th century, under the influence of an attack on the Serb regions of
the Proto-Bulgarians, princely power and a state were formed in the
Serbian principality, headed by Prince (zupan) Vlastimir, who
managed to drive back the Bulgarians and subordinate part of the
coastal territories. The hereditary principle of the transfer of
power, however, did not work out, which led at the end of the 9th
century to civil strife, weakening of Raska and its transition under
the rule of the First Bulgarian Kingdom, and then, after its fall,
Byzantium. Some strengthening of Serbia in the middle of the 10th
century during the reign of Prince Caslav, which significantly
expanded the territory of the state, was replaced after its death in
950 by the collapse of the country. At the same time, the active
penetration of bogomilism from Bulgaria began, which also
contributed to the weakening of central authority in Raska. In
1040-1041, Belgrade and the Morava Valley became the center of a
mass Slavic uprising led by Peter Delyan against Byzantium.
In the middle of the XI century, the center for the unification of
Serbian lands moved to Dukla, where an independent principality was
formed, headed by Stefan Vojislav. Unlike Byzantine-oriented Raska,
Zeta sought support in the West, primarily in Catholic Rome and
among the Normans of southern Italy. In 1077, the ruler of the Zeta
was crowned king of the Serbs. Under Konstantin Bodin, at the end of
the 11th century, Duklja established control over the internal
Serbian regions, including Raska and Bosnia, and the Bar became the
center of a separate Serbian church metropolis subordinate to the
pope. However, after the death of Konstantin Bodin in 1101, the
Duklian kingdom fell apart.
In the mid-12th century, the strengthening of one
of the Serbian state formations, Raska, began, which gradually freed
itself from the power of Byzantium. In 1168, Stefan Nemanja, the
founder of the Nemanichi dynasty, became the supreme zupan of Raska.
If at the beginning of his reign he remained a faithful vassal of
the empire, then after the death of Emperor Manuel I, Stefan
launched a struggle for independence and the unification of Serbian
lands. As a result of several military campaigns, by the end of the
XII century, most of the lands inhabited by Serbs, including the
coastal regions, Zeta, Kosovo and, temporarily, Northern Macedonia,
became part of a single state. Stefan Nemani’s war with Dubrovnik
was unsuccessful, but the Dubrovnik merchants received from him the
right to free trade in Serbia, which subsequently contributed to the
recovery of the country's economy. In 1190, the Byzantine Empire
recognized the independence of Serbia, and in 1217, the son of
Stefan Nemani, Stefan the First-Crowned, was crowned king of the
Serbs. In 1219, thanks to the activities of St. Sava, an
autocephalous Serbian church was created with a center in the
Zhichansky monastery.
The heyday of Serbia
Under the
immediate successors of Stephen the First Crown, the Serbian state
experienced a short period of stagnation and increased influence of
neighboring powers, primarily Hungary. At the turn of the XIII and
XIV centuries, Serbia was divided into two states: in the north, in
Machva, Belgrade, the Branichev region, as well as in Usor and Salt,
Stefan Dragutin ruled based on Hungary, the rest of the Serbian
lands were ruled by his younger brother Stefan Milutin focusing
mainly on Byzantium.
Despite the temporary division of the
state, the strengthening of Serbia continued: a centralized system
of local governance was formed, law was reformed, an internal
communications system was created, and the transition to conditional
holding and a pronary system in land relations began. At the same
time, the influence of the higher clergy and the church intensified.
Monasticism was actively developing, many Orthodox monasteries arose
(including Studenica, Жić, Mileshevo, Gracanitsa, as well as the
Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos), and their churches were built in
accordance with the already established original Serbian
architectural tradition (“Rash school”). The belonging of Serbia to
the Byzantine-Orthodox world was finally fixed, the Catholic
influence was practically eliminated, and the Bogomils were expelled
from the country. At the same time, the process of byzantization of
the public administration system began, a pompous royal court was
created on the model of Constantinople. There was an upsurge in
mining (largely due to the influx of Saxon settlers), agriculture
and trade, in which Dubrovnik merchants had a decisive role. The
population of the country increased rapidly, cities grew.
Milutin and his son Stefan Dechansky also managed to significantly
expand the territory of the state. Although Belgrade, Usora, and
Soli were lost after Dragutin’s death, Serbia included Nis, northern
Macedonia and Dirrahiy, and Skopje became the new capital. In 1330,
at the Battle of Velbuda, Serbian forces defeated Bulgaria and put
an end to Bulgarian hegemony in the Balkans.
The heyday of
the medieval Serbian state occurred during the reign of Stephen
Dusan (1331–1355). During a series of military campaigns, Stefan
Dusan subjugated all of Macedonia, Albania, Epirus, Thessaly and the
western part of Central Greece. As a result, Serbia has become the
largest state in Southeast Europe. In 1346, Stefan Dusan was crowned
king of the Serbs and Greeks, and the Archbishop of Pecs was
proclaimed patriarch. The Serbo-Greek kingdom of Stefan Dusan
combined Serbian and Byzantine traditions, the Greeks retained the
highest positions in the cities and their land holdings, culture had
a strong Greek influence. In architecture, a Vardarian style
developed, the vivid examples of which were the temples in
Gracanitsa, Pec and Lesnov. In 1349, the “Lawyer of Stefan Dusan”
was published, which formalized and codified the norms of Serbian
law. The central authority sharply strengthened, a ramified
administrative system was formed along the Byzantine model, while
maintaining the essential role of the assemblies (sabors) of the
Serbian aristocracy. The tsar’s domestic policy, based on a large
land nobility and leading to the expansion of its prerogatives,
however, did not contribute to the strengthening and consolidation
of the state, especially given the ethnic diversity of the Dushan
state.
Fall and Turkish conquest
Shortly after the
death of Stephen Dushan, his state collapsed. Part of the Greek
lands again came under the rule of Byzantium, and the rest formed
semi-independent principalities. In Serbia proper, large landowners
(rulers) left the central government, began to pursue their own
policies, mint coins and collect taxes: the reign of Balsic was
established in Zeta, the Mrnyavchevich in Macedonia, Prince Lazar,
Nicola Altomanovic and Vuk Brankovich in Old Serbia and Kosovo . The
unity of the Serbian lands after the death of the last
representative of the Nemanich dynasty, Stefan Uros V in 1371, was
supported almost exclusively by the unity of the Orthodox Church in
the person of the Pecsk Patriarchate, which in 1375 achieved
canonical recognition by the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In
1377, the Bosnia’s Serbian crown was taken by the ban of Bosnia,
Stefan Tvrtko I, however, although Prince Lazar and Vuk Brankovich
recognized his royal title, the power of Tvrtko I was purely
nominal. The internecine wars between the princes greatly weakened
the defense of the Serbian lands in the face of the growing Turkish
threat. Already in 1371, in the Battle of Maritsa, the Turks
defeated the troops of the South Serb rulers, led by King Vukashin,
after which the territory of modern Macedonia came under the rule of
the Ottoman Empire.
An attempt to unite the Serbian lands to
organize a rebuff to the Turks, made by Prince Lazar with the
support of the Serbian Orthodox Church, was unsuccessful: on June
15, 1389 (on the day of St. Vitus - Vidovdan) in the battle on
Kosovo, despite the heroic efforts of the Serbs, they were defeated
. Prince Lazarus is dead. Although his son Stefan Lazarevich
retained his power, he was forced to recognize the suzerainty of the
Ottoman Empire and participate in Turkish campaigns. The battle of
Kosovo and the deed of Milos Obilic, who killed the Ottoman Sultan
Murad I at the beginning of the battle, later became one of the most
important subjects of Serbian national folklore, a symbol of
self-sacrifice and unity of the Serbian people in the struggle for
independence.
In the first half of the XV century, when the
onslaught of the Turks temporarily weakened due to a threat from
Tamerlane, Stefan Lazarevich attempted to restore the Serbian state.
He took the Byzantine title of despot and, relying on an alliance
with Hungary, which transferred Belgrade and Machva to him, again
subjugated Zeta (except Primorye), Srebrenica and a number of South
Serbian regions. The central administration was revived, the
prince's power was strengthened, mining and urban crafts were
actively encouraged, the ideas of humanism and the Renaissance began
to penetrate into Serbia. Architecture (the “Moravian school”,
represented, in particular, by the monasteries of Resava and
Ravanica) and literature (works by Patriarch Danil III and Stephen
Lazarevich himself) experienced a new upsurge. The capital of
Serbian despotism was Belgrade, in which a well-fortified fortress
was built, partially preserved to this day. Although Nis and
Krusevac were lost as a result of the Turks' new invasion in 1425,
and then Belgrade came under Hungarian rule, the new capital of
Serbia, Smederevo, founded by despot George Brankovich, experienced
its heyday and won the glory of the second Constantinople. But
already in 1438 the next Ottoman offensive began. In 1439, Smederevo
fell. The long campaign of the Hungarian troops Janos Hunyadi in
1443-1444 allowed the Turks to be expelled from the territory of
Serbia and to restore its independence for a short time. However,
the defeat of the crusaders near Varna in 1444, the defeat of the
Hungarian army in the Second Battle of Kosovo in 1448 and the fall
of Constantinople in 1453 determined the fate of the country. In
1454, Novo Brdo and Pristina were captured, and in 1456 Belgrade was
besieged. Finally, in 1459 Smederevo fell. Bosnia was conquered by
1463, Herzegovina by 1482, and finally Mountain Zeta in 1499. The
Serbian state ceased to exist.
Social and economic development
The basis of
the economy of the medieval Serbian state was agriculture, primarily
agriculture, as well as cattle breeding, especially in mountainous
areas. Significantly longer than in Bulgaria and Croatia, Serbia
retained the importance of large patriarchal families - friends and
the communal system. In peasant farming, collective ownership of
land continued to dominate. Gradually, however, the processes of
feudalization of land relations and enslavement of peasants
intensified. Already in the "Lawyer of Stephen Dushan" the dependent
position of the peasantry was legally enshrined and the right to
transfer was canceled. Among the dependent categories of peasants,
the merokhs [35], who have hereditary rights to their allotment and
are obliged to the feudal lord for working duties (100 days a year),
Vlachs — cattle breeders paying natural rents to the feudal lord
(mainly to monasteries), and lads who were the personal property of
the master . No significant peasant uprisings have been noted in
medieval Serbia. The feudal ownership of the land was of two types:
hereditary unconditional ownership - the tower, and conditional
holding for service under the king or other large aristocrat -
pronity, and the role of the latter steadily increased. The largest
landowner was the Orthodox Church. The immune rights of the feudal
lords were limited to the preservation of the royal court, the
fiscal and military duties of landowners to the crown. The
monasteries possessed the broadest immunity, the possessions of
which actually turned into feudal lords and which subjugated the
small feudal lords - warriors.
From the end of the 12th
century, the importance of mining began to grow for the country's
economy. The centers of extraction of copper, iron, gold, silver and
lead were Novo-Brdo, the Kopaonik plateau and the Rudnitskaya
planina. Field development was mainly carried out by German
colonists. Legally, the supreme ownership of the mines belonged to
the king, but in fact they were in the possession of Saxon,
Dubrovnik and Kotor merchants. The mining tax and metal export
duties were an essential part of the state budget. The role of
mining for the Serbian economy particularly increased during the
Turkish invasions, when cultivated land was devastated and the
population declined sharply.
Serbian cities were initially
extremely underdeveloped and did not play a significant role in the
country's economy. The only exceptions were the coastal cities -
Kotor, Ulcinj, Budva, Bar, which at an early stage turned into large
centers of maritime intermediary trade. With the development of
mining and crafts in the XIII century, the revitalization of the
cities of the internal regions of Serbia began: Novo Brdo, Pristina,
Nis, Branichevo and others. The main export items were metals, honey
and leather. Trade gravitated to the Adriatic and was concentrated
in the hands of the Dubrovnik, Kotor and Italian merchants. The
level of development of city self-government remained low (except
for Kotor and some cities of Primorye), they did not play any
noticeable role in the political system of Serbia and were governed
by the knights appointed by the king.
Serbia ruled by the Ottoman Empire
As a result
of the Turkish conquest, Serbian lands were devastated, agriculture
fell into decay, mining production almost ceased. A massive outflow
of population began over the Danube and the Sava, as a result of
which the ethnic territory of the Serbs significantly expanded
northward. Serbs were massively resettled on the lands of modern
Hungary and Croatia, which were then part of the Habsburg
possessions, forming a military estate there. In exchange for
military service, guarding the border and participating in battles
with the Turks, the border guards received land and were exempted
from paying a number of taxes. At the same time, Turks, Vlach cattle
breeders and Albanians began to move to the depopulated lowland
areas, and especially to the southern regions of the country
(Kosovo). The Christian population was limited in civil rights.
However, unlike Albania, Bosnia and Macedonia, only a small part of
the population converted to Islam in Serbia. The main merit in this
belonged to the Pecsk Patriarchate, restored in 1557, which during
the Ottoman rule played the role of a center of national and
cultural unity of the Serbian people. The Orthodox Church as a whole
retained its privileges and possessions and, as a special
confessional community (millet), used self-government in cultural
and religious matters, including the ability to create primary
schools.
After the conquest, a military-prison system was
extended to Serbia, in which most of the land was owned by the state
and was divided into flax, whose holders are Spahia, were obliged to
perform military service. The rest of the land was transferred to
church and public organizations (waqfs) or secured on the right of
ownership to individual representatives of the Turkish aristocracy
(mulk) or the family of the Sultan (Sultan Khas). Administratively,
the territory of Serbia became part of the Rumeliya Eylet, and after
the Turks conquered Hungary in the middle of the 16th century, the
areas north of Niš were transferred to the Buda Eylet. Eylets were
divided into sanjaks. The former territory of the Serbian despot
formed Smederevsky (after the conquest of Belgrade in 1521 -
Belgrade) sandzhak. Like the Greeks, Serbs, having converted to
Islam, could rise to public service in public service.
The
feudal class of the period of Ottoman domination was represented
almost exclusively by Muslims, both Turks and Slavs who converted to
Islam (Turchens). The basis of the population was the dependent
peasantry - paradise, which had the right of hereditary use of
allotments and paying land (haraj) and capitation (jizya) taxes to
the Sultan, as well as various payments to the feudal lord. In
southern Serbia and the Danube regions, a significant stratum of
Vlach pastoralists has been preserved, which enjoys certain
privileges and is used for border service. The bulk of the peasants
was attached to the land and could not leave it without the
permission of the local feudal lord or official.
Since the
16th century, revival of handicraft production and urban life began
in Serbia. New urban centers located at the intersection of the
trade routes of the Ottoman Empire, primarily Belgrade, captured by
the Turks in 1521, which soon became the largest trade and craft
center of the Serbian lands, came to the fore. Nevertheless, the
cities remained divorced from the district, their growth had
practically no effect on the progress of neighboring lands.
Handicraft production was organized in an oriental fashion into
closed corporations, separate for Muslims and Christians. At first,
dominance of foreign capital remained in trade - Dubrovnik, Venetian
and Genoese merchants, and orientation towards the Adriatic coast.
However, starting from the 17th century, with the weakening Italian
city-states, local merchants began to play an increasingly important
role in trade. Nevertheless, the economic development of the Serbian
lands was still significantly behind the European level.
In the XVII century, the process of the decline of
the Ottoman Empire began. The military system began to decompose,
the Spahis departed from military service and switched to the active
exploitation of their lands and dependent population. Land ownership
gradually began to pass into the hands of trade and craft circles
and the Janissaries and gain a foothold on the right of ownership
(Chiftliks). The central government weakened, the state experienced
a chronic financial crisis. Local feudal lords actually came out of
submission to the Sultan, anarchy reigned in the country, there were
constant internecine clashes between Spakhia, Janissaries and Pasha,
trying to expand their possessions and commit extortionate raids on
the lands of their neighbors. This was accompanied by an increase in
tax and feudal oppression and a significant deterioration in the
position of the Christian majority. The remnants of the autonomy of
the Vlachs were eliminated, and religious antagonism intensified.
In the eighteenth century, the economic growth of northern
Serbia and especially Belgrade continued, while the economy of the
central and southern regions of the country was in stagnation, which
was greatly facilitated by the new ruins during the Austro-Turkish
wars of the late XVII - early XVIII centuries. From 1716 to 1739,
Northern Serbia was under the control of Austria, which gave a
significant impetus to its economic development and the growth of
trade, especially the Danube, with Central Europe. After the return
of Northern Serbia to the power of the Ottoman Empire in 1739, it
retained a special position. The border Belgrade pashalyk was
created here, the Turkish population has declined significantly,
local authorities began to pass into the hands of the local
aristocracy. This was accompanied by the weakening of feudal
oppression, the collapse of the spahic system and the acceleration
of the development of the economy, especially cattle breeding,
oriented to Austria.
Liberation struggle
Immediately after
the Turkish conquest of Serbian lands, migration of part of the
Serbs to unoccupied lands by the Turks beyond the Danube and Sava
began: in Srem, Bachka, Banat, Slavonia, as well as in northern
Bosnia. In southern Hungary (present-day Vojvodina), a Serbian
military administration was created with a center in Kupnik (Srem),
headed by princes who considered themselves heirs to the rulers of
the Serbian despot. Serbs actively participated in the
Hungarian-Turkish wars of the late XV - early XVI centuries,
however, after the defeat of the Hungarian kingdom under Mojac in
1526, these lands also fell under the control of the Ottoman Empire.
The liberation movement of the Serbian people against Turkish
domination developed in two directions: the guiduism, often
indistinguishable from ordinary banditry, and the uprisings confined
to the wars of the European powers with the Ottoman Empire. At the
head of the movement was the Pechersky Patriarchate, which managed
to establish political relations with Hungary, Austria and Spain.
Already during the Austro-Turkish war of 1593-1606, an uprising
against the Turks broke out in Banat, supported by Patriarch Jovan
II.
The liberation movement reached its highest rise
during the Holy League war at the end of the 17th century. Serbian
rebels, working in collaboration with the Austrian army, liberated
most of the country. In 1688, Belgrade was taken, the Austrian
troops of General Eneo Piccolomini penetrated into Macedonia.
However, in 1690, the Turks retaliated. The Austrians were driven
out of Serbia, the power of the Ottoman Empire was restored. The
country was devastated, mass repressions against participants in the
uprisings began. In response, Patriarch Arseny III called on the
Serbs to emigrate beyond the Danube. The “Great Relocation of Serbs”
began: tens of thousands of Serbian families left their homes and
moved to Austrian territory: to Banat, Bachka, Srem, Baranya. The
second big wave of migration of Serbs passed after the unsuccessful
war for Austria of 1737-1739 for Austria.
The great
resettlement of Serbs has become one of the key events of Serbian
history. It caused significant changes in the political and social
life of the Serbs, and also seriously changed the ethnic borders of
the Serbian people. Southern Serbia (Raska, Kosovo and Metohija)
lost the dominant Serbian component. In place of the Serbs who left
these regions, Albanians and Turks moved in large numbers. Since
that time, Raska also received the Turkish name Sanjak. The ethnic
map of Central Serbia has changed less, however, from there the
Serbian population also went north. The great resettlement led to a
sharp increase in the number of Serbs in the territories of
Slavonia, Bachka, Baranya and Southern Hungary.
Relocating
the Albanians to the regions of southern Serbia, the Ottoman Empire
did its best to incite antagonism between them. Muslim Albanians
were in a much more privileged position than the Orthodox Serbs, who
had a minimum of rights under the Turks. By betting on the
Albanians, Istanbul sought to stop the development of political
activity of the Serbs and to prevent among them the growth of the
liberation struggle.
Istanbul also sought to limit the
political activities of the Orthodox clergy in Serbia. From the
first half of the 18th century, the Turks began to appoint
patriarchs themselves, who were previously elected at church
councils and only approved by the Sultan Berats. Monasteries and
churches were plundered by Muslims, and economic oppression of the
clergy began. Since the late 1730s, they began to appoint the Greeks
loyal to the Empire as patriarchs, who, in turn, sought to pursue a
Hellenization policy and simply plundered the property of the
patriarchy. In 1766, the Pecsk Patriarchate was abolished, and a
year later the Ohrid Archbishopric, subordinate to the Patriarch of
Constantinople. This deprived the Orthodox population of the Western
Balkans of the institution, which was previously one of the factors
of its consolidation.
The role of the Pecsk patriarch in the
liberation movement forced the Ottoman Empire to reconsider its
attitude towards the Serbian Orthodox Church: the patriarch began to
be appointed from Istanbul, accelerated Hellenization of the church
began, in 1767 the Pecsk patriarchy was abolished, and the Serbian
church was subordinated to Constantinople. Soon the Orthodox Church
lost its importance as a unifying force in the liberation struggle.
After the defeat of Austria in the Austro-Turkish war of 1737-1739,
a temporary decline in the liberation movement took place. A new
stage in the struggle began after the Russo-Turkish war of 1768-1774
and the signing of the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi peace, which granted Russia
the right to protect the Orthodox population in the Ottoman Empire.
During the years of the war of Austria and Russia with Turkey in
1787-1792 in Serbia, primarily in the Belgrade Pashalyk, a major
uprising broke out against the Ottoman authorities. Serbian
volunteer units were formed, fighting in the Austrian army, which,
however, was defeated.
After the war, the Turkish authorities began to significantly expand the powers of local authorities in Belgrade Pashalyk and took measures to limit the autocracy of the Janissaries. But already in 1801, in the conditions of the weakening of central power, the Janissaries made a coup and seized power in Belgrade. This was followed by the division of lands, an increase in feudal payments, the removal of the local aristocracy from participation in the administration and bloody repressions against the Serbs. In response, in 1804, the First Serbian Uprising broke out in Belgrade Pashalyk. At the head of the rebels stood the Grand Duke Karageorgii. Soon, almost the entire territory of the pashalyk was liberated from the Turkish authorities. If initially the rebels opposed only the dominance of the Janissaries, then after the failure of negotiations with the central government and the start of the Russian-Turkish war, they began to focus on achieving independence. The Turks were expelled, their possessions and property redistributed between the Serbs. Central authorities, the local administration, and the judiciary were formed. At the same time, disagreements began between the leaders of the uprising: Karageorgii, who declared himself in 1808 the hereditary supreme leader of the Serbian people, and other Serbian princes. After the conclusion of the Bucharest peace of 1812 and the withdrawal of Russia from the war, a massive offensive by the Turks began. Despite the heroic defense, in 1813 the Turks captured Belgrade. The uprising was crushed, followed by massive repression.