National heroes of Serbia in the 17th and 18th centuries. History of Serbia

Basic moments

The kindness and hospitality of the Serbs are one of the main features of the country. The protracted military conflict at the end of the 20th century taught the Serbian people to love and respect all living things, and to look into the future with optimism. European tourists are attracted to this amazing country not by the chic and luxury of tourist services, but by the cleanest air, virgin nature and human, not commercial, relationships between people. Serbia has a unique culture that dates back to the times of the Byzantine Empire. This is the birthplace of world-famous scientists: inventor Nikola Tesla, naturalist Josif Pancic, geographer Jovan Cvijc, mathematician Mihailo Petrovic, astronomer Milutin Milankovic, chemist Pavle Savic. Over the last century alone, the country has given the world the beloved film director Emir Kusturica, the poet Milorad Pavic, the singer and composer Djordje Marjanovic and many other outstanding personalities. It was Serbia that had a strong influence on the development of modern painting and sculpture, and was nominated for the title of European Capital of Culture 2020.

In recent years, tourism has been actively developing in Serbia, and there are many reasons for this: vibrant national traditions, a large number of interesting places, wonderful health resorts, friendly people. And, importantly, all this at very reasonable prices: not too inferior in level to other European countries, Serbia will delight guests with the low cost of accommodation, food and shopping.

Cities of Serbia

All cities in Serbia

Climate

Serbia has an area of ​​88,407 km² and for a small country, the 111th largest in the world, its climate is extremely varied. It is determined by the relief: in the north of the country lies the Central Danube Lowland with huge fertile plains, the central part is characterized by hilly terrain, and the East Serbian Mountains rise in the southeast. The weather in Serbia is greatly influenced by the warm seas - Black, Aegean and Adriatic, washing the shores of the Balkan Peninsula. As a result, a continental climate prevails in the north of the country, a temperate continental climate in the center and south, and a mountain climate in the mountains.

Life strictly according to the calendar - distinctive feature climate in Serbia. Every three months correspond to a different time of year. But, unlike Russia, there are no strong snowstorms in winter, frosts are moderate and can be easily tolerated without wind. There is a lot of snow here, so ski resorts are able to offer excellent slopes during the season.

In spring, the weather in Serbia is changeable: from +15 degrees in the sun to -5 in frost. Real warmth returns with the beginning of April. At this time, fields, gardens and forests are blooming throughout the country, so lovers of natural beauty make sense to come to Serbia in mid- to late spring.

Summer heat comes in August. Heavy rains at this time of year are short-lived, and gloomy cloudy weather never lasts all day.

Winters in Serbia are usually short (no more than 2 months) and mild, but quite snowy. The average air temperature during this period is approximately 0…+5 °C. Summer is long and hot (+28…+30 °C). Most precipitation falls in May and June.

Mild Serbian winters are often marred by piercing cold winds, which even have their own names:

• Koshava - a cold wind that blows from October to April in the north of the country and brings with it freezing rain and snowstorms;
• Severac - north wind from Hungary;
• Moravac - cold north wind in the Morava River valley.

Nature

In the north of the country, on the territory of the Central Danube Lowland (or Pannonian Plain, as it is called in Hungary), is the autonomous region of Vojvodina. Today there are almost no forests here. The land of Vojvodina is very fertile and is actively used for agricultural crops of corn, wheat, vegetables and, of course, sunflowers. A blooming field of sunflowers can compete in beauty with the most spectacular landscapes that exist on planet Earth!

Serbia ranks second in Europe, after Hungary, in terms of the number of rivers and lakes. The largest and most majestic among the Serbian rivers is, of course, the Danube, which forms many bays, oxbow lakes, swamps and a magnificent river, the narrowest part of which is often called “ iron gates" consists of four gorges and three basins. In some places, sheer cliffs rise 300 meters above the waters of the Danube. Here the river abounds with numerous pools up to 90 meters deep. On the territory of the Djerdap gorge lies the eponymous national park, the pride of which are numerous relict plants that have long disappeared across most of Europe.

The southern part of western and eastern Serbia is occupied by mountains. There are 4 mountain systems on the territory of the country: the Dinaric Highlands, the Balkan Mountains, the East Serbian Mountains and part of the Rilo-Rhodope system. The height of 15 mountains in Serbia exceeds 2000 meters. The highest point is considered to be Jeravica with a height of 2656 meters. In the mountains of Serbia, endless oak groves, beech and linden forests have found refuge.

Population and language

About 7 million people live in Serbia. The majority of the population are Serbs, the second largest are Hungarians. The vibrant national mosaic is complemented by Bulgarians, Albanians, Bosnians, Slovaks, Gypsies, Macedonians, and Romanians.

The official language is Serbian, but twelve regional languages ​​are actively used together with it. The majority of the inhabitants of Serbia profess Christianity of various denominations, most of all Orthodox Christians, which somewhat makes the local traditions and culture similar to Russia.

Story

The historical roots of Serbia date back to the 6th century. The settlement of the ancient Slavs on the Balkan Peninsula marked the emergence of the first proto-state formations. By the end of the 9th century, the main principalities were formed here: Duklja, Travunia, Pagania, Zakhumje, Serbia.

The first known ruler of these lands is considered to be Prince Vysheslav, who lived in the 8th century. His descendant Vlastimir liberated the Balkan Slavs from the rule of the Byzantine Empire, after which the Serbian state expanded over almost the entire peninsula. The gaining power entered into a confrontation with its largest neighbor - the Bulgarian kingdom - alternately losing and winning lands. After peace was concluded with Bulgaria, princely wars for supremacy of power began in Serbia.

The Middle Ages is considered the heyday of the Serbian state, which became possible thanks to the wise reign of Stefan Dusan, who lived in the middle of the 14th century.

The Battle of Kosovo is considered a tragic turn in the history of the country. After an unsuccessful battle in 1389, Serbia was forced to recognize the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire, becoming its vassal, and from 1459 it found itself under the rule of the Turks for as long as 350 years.

The wave of national uprisings that swept in 1804-1813 made it possible to make a breakthrough towards liberation. On July 13, 1878, Serbia gained independence under the terms of the Berlin Peace. After 4 years, the state declared itself a kingdom and existed in this format until the occupation by German troops in 1941. In 1945, a new entity appeared on the political map of Europe - the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. It included the People's Republic of Serbia, renamed in 1963 the Socialist Republic of Serbia.

The decline of socialism here was accompanied by inter-ethnic confrontations, which led to a large-scale bloody war. In 2000, NATO was forced to use aerial bombardment, and the UN Security Council decided to send peacekeeping troops to Kosovo. Massive destruction of houses, a flow of refugees, the loss of unique monuments of church architecture - this is not a complete list of what modern Serbs have faced.

After the collapse of Yugoslavia in 2003, a union of two states was formed - Serbia and Montenegro, which existed for only 3 years. The Serbian people took the initiative to transform the state system, as a result of which on June 5, 2006, Serbia became a separate full-fledged state, and a new Constitution was adopted. Pro-European democratic forces came to power and led the process of restoration of Serbia. This made it possible to bring the country out of international isolation to establish good neighborly relations, including with Kosovo.

Sights and tourism in Serbia

Tourism in Serbia is at the stage of development, but this country can already pleasantly surprise and delight guests. Unique monastery buildings, fortresses, mansions, ski and balneological resorts, national parks and unique nature reserves await vacationers all year round.

The Serbian capital has absorbed the historical spirit of different eras, combining Western culture with Eastern culture. The city was destroyed almost forty times, but it was successfully restored again and again, which is reflected in the appearance of modern buildings.

The old part is located next to the fortress. That’s what it’s called – Stari Grad. On these streets you can see many attractions and places to relax - cozy restaurants, coffee shops, pastry shops. Of particular interest to guests are the rich exhibitions of the National Museum, located on Republic Square. If you need shops selling souvenirs, look for them in the Skadarlije quarter and near the Ada-Siganlija park - these are great places for a walk. There are also religious attractions in this part of the capital of Serbia - the majestic temple of St. Sava and the only surviving Bayrakli-Jami mosque.

Modern buildings, wide boulevards, spacious streets, alleys and recreation parks - tourists will find all this in the new part of the city, located south of the fortress. Among the key attractions of the area it is worth mentioning the Museum of the Revolution, the Union Executive Assembly, the tomb and former residence of Marshal Tito.

History buffs are advised to head to the surrounding area to see with their own eyes the largest lowland outpost in Europe, the Brankovic Fortress.

is the financial and spiritual center of Serbia, not for nothing called “Serbian Athens”. The city became the core of the formation of national culture, since for several centuries it was here that the metropolis of the Serbian Orthodox Church was located.

Tourists are attracted by walking tours around the area. During the walk, with or without a guide, you will be able to see the Petrovaradin Fortress, Serbian Folk Theater, Danube Park, Freedom Square, Orthodox temple and church.

In the suburban area is the Fruška Gora National Park, one of the Seven Wonders of Serbia. This amazing reserve is home to more than 1,500 species of plants protected by law.

Another treasure of this place is hidden in the dense deciduous forests. The complex of medieval monasteries “Holy Mountain”, among which the most famous are Hopovo, Velika Remeta, Grgetek, annually receives a large number of pilgrims.

In this paradise, not only souls are treated. Nearby is the Banja Vrdnik resort, specializing in rheumatic diseases, soft tissue injuries, peripheral paralysis and general spinal pain. A team of specialists uses advanced technologies, including cryotherapy, magnetic therapy, kinesitherapy, and acupuncture.

Subotica is the gastronomic capital of Serbia. The mixture of national cuisines of Serbs, Hungarians and Croats has led to the emergence of incredibly tasty dishes. “Paprikash” is considered the calling card of the city. Made from pork, chicken or fish, it contains an essential ingredient – ​​paprika. Such a culinary masterpiece will be served to a guest in any restaurant or cafe.

In addition, Subotica is famous for its defensive fortress. The city was once the outskirts of the Ottoman Empire and later part of the Austro-Hungarian lands, so the fortified border outposts here are truly impressive.

The urban landscape is varied and colorful: buildings with wavy patterns, wide facades and rounded lines are found everywhere in Subotica.

The City Hall is an exemplary example of the local architectural style. Today it houses an extensive exhibition of the Historical Museum, and at the top tourists will find an excellent observation deck where they can see a vivid panorama of Subotica and its surroundings.

The oldest architectural monument The city is considered to be a Franciscan monastery that survived two world wars and NATO bombings. This Catholic shrine was erected on the site of an old fortress in the 18th century. On its territory there is a chapel and a church in honor of the Archangel Michael, crowned with two towers. The altar of the monastery is decorated with the image of the Black Madonna.

People also come to Subotica to get to Lake Palic. Its width is 4.2 thousand km², but its depth does not exceed 2 meters. Mineral water and mud of the lake have medicinal properties and have a positive effect on the skin and joints. For the convenience of vacationers, there are cafes, bicycle paths, and a picturesque park along the coast.

is a ski resort in Serbia, located south of. The subalpine climate allows you to enjoy the beauty of the mountains regardless of the time of year.

Thanks to its developed tourist infrastructure and ski slopes of varying difficulty levels, the resort quickly won the love of travelers and began to compete with many European mountain complexes. What will pleasantly surprise guests: the prices for the services offered here are much lower than the European average.

The ski season lasts from November to May, the snow cover remains stable 160 days a year. The average air temperature is from -1 to -3°C during the day, from -8 to -15°C at night. Special lifts take tourists to the peaks, where they can rent the necessary equipment. There are special slopes for children, and a large 20-kilometer track for cross-country skiing. Fans of winter romance can take a ride along the illuminated Malo Ezero highway.

In the summer there is also something to see: the mountains fascinate with dense forests, green meadows and flower meadows. Healing springs gush out in the shady thickets, and recreation centers are located next to them.

All sights of Serbia

Serbian national cuisine

Local cuisine has absorbed the best from its neighbors and conquerors. In essence, it is a mixture of Eastern European tradition with Turkish-Arabic.

Serbs are avid meat eaters. Deliciously cooked pork is served in all restaurants, but fried lamb is more popular in the eastern regions of the country. Traditionally, meat in Serbia is used to prepare chops, chopped sausages, small kebabs, meat fried in a cauldron, and dried hams. Gourmets will definitely enjoy the assorted meats, which consist of fried liver, pork cutlets, meatballs with onions and sausage. Mustard or cream is served as a sauce for meat.

Dairy products are not inferior in culinary demand, the main of which is kaymak - thick cream similar to processed cheese. Also, not a single breakfast of local residents begins without cheese.

Vegetables are an integral part of the Serbian diet. They are on the table, regardless of whether it is breakfast or dinner. Coarsely chopped salads seasoned with vegetable oil are prepared from them. In addition, vegetables are stuffed, cooked in the oven and over an open fire. A separate place in national cuisine occupied by sweet red pepper, which is the basis of such characteristic dishes as paprikash, ajvar and pinjur.

For dessert in Serbia you will be served famous Turkish delicacies: baklava, tulumba, datli, bureks, sprinkled with syrup. But vanilla buns, pitas with apples, and manna cakes are considered native Serbian.

From strong drinks Serbs prefer local wines, moonshine made from grapes, and herbal rakija made from plums, pears, and quinces.

It is prohibited throughout the country to grow genetically modified foods, so feel free to enjoy the taste of natural vegetables and meat!

Accommodation

Serbia is developing very actively in in terms of tourism, so you can easily find 3-4 star hotels in any major city. In the capital, representatives of global chains offer their highest service to clients - Holiday Inn, Continental and others. You can book a room using the hotellook service, which will select the most profitable option for you. The cost of living in a double room ranges from 40 to 400 €.

Hostels are extremely popular among tourists - there really are a lot of them, for every budget. Hostels in Serbia are the cheapest in Europe, the price per bed varies from 7 to 15 €. Private rental of apartments, rooms and even beds is not inferior to the position: when arriving in the city, you will already see boards with thematic advertisements at the station, as well as the Serbs themselves offering accommodation for guests.

Vrnjacka Banya

Thanks to its health resorts, Serbia has received the name “European health oasis”. There are more than 20 health centers in the country offering services for the prevention, rehabilitation and treatment of various diseases with the help of mud, mineral waters and clean air.

• Vrnjacka Banja specializes in the treatment and rehabilitation of diabetes, as well as diseases of the digestive system;
• Soko Banya - on the fight against nonspecific lung diseases;
• Nishka Bath was created for the treatment of cardiac and rheumatic diseases.
• Many mountainous areas in Serbia are climatic centers: Zlatar, Zlatibor and Divcibar.

Fans of winter sports prefer ski resorts located on the longest mountain range in Serbia - as well as the Brezovica resort, located on the highest mountain range in Serbia, Shar Planina.

The unique national parks of Serbia can offer the best rest in the lap of nature:

• Tara;
• Golia.

A real rarity of nature of global importance is Djavolya-Varosh (“City of the Devil”), consisting of earthen pyramids of bizarre shapes.

Fans of the work of the famous director Emir Kusturica should visit the ethnographic village he created on the top of Mount Mečavnik. All streets are named after film figures, for example Piazza Federico Fellini. Emir Kusturica also became the founder of the international festival of auteur cinema Küstendorf film festival in Drvengrad.

Serbia- the pearl of the Balkan Peninsula, famous for its centuries-old and rich history. From time immemorial, it has been the object of claims due to its favorable climate, convenient location and wealth of natural resources. Who hasn’t laid claim to this fertile land? Some came with a sword, some with peace, but even losing its independence, Serbia remained original and proud.

Prehistoric period

Balkans have been inhabited for a long time. And although we are not talking about the state of Serbia yet, on the territory of the future republic, the first settlements date back to the middle of the Stone Age, 6th century BC. e. Settled here Illyrians, as evidenced by archaeological finds. The quiet life in these fertile lands did not last long. Seduced by local beauty, the wealth of the settlers, or motivated by other reasons, in the 5th century. BC e. Celtic tribes conquered the territory, subjugating the Illyrians. They built cities, the largest of which was Singidunum.

Ancient Serbia

Territory favored by the Celts future Serbia becomes the target of the expanding Roman Empire, which absorbs it, making it its province in I BC. Her power reigns for five hundred years, the second part of which for Serbia passes under the rule of Byzantium, the southern part of the ancient empire. This continues until the 6th century AD. e., the time of a new migration of peoples, when the Slavs came to the Balkan Peninsula.

Medieval Serbia

Relocation of Slavic tribes- Slovenes, Serbs and Croats - and determined the formation of the state in 969.

Due to the lack of the right to inherit power, which led to civil strife, the state became a vassal of the First Bulgarian Kingdom, later - Byzantium. Rulers and policies changed. Already under Stefan Nemanja, the state leaves the control of Byzantium and fights for independence, and his son is crowned king of the Serbs.

The country flourished in the middle of the 14th century- the reign of Stefan Dusan, who united Albania, Macedonia, Thessaly, Epirus and part of Greece and made Serbia the largest state in South-Eastern Europe. This period is marked by the construction of monasteries and temples and the general development of culture.

The change of king marked vassalage again - already Ottoman Empire, which forced the Serbian people to defend national dignity and independence.

Serbia of the modern period

The Serbs associate modern times with wars of liberation and uprisings, which for some lands of Serbia ended with Austrian rule.

Only in 1829 did Serbia receive the status of an Autonomous Principality, which was replaced by Serbian kingdom. Before Serbia could enjoy its independence, it became embroiled in the Balkan Wars and the First World War. Huge human losses, devastation in the country and decline in the economy became the reasons for the unification of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes under the ideology of “Yugoslavism” into the Kingdom.

1941 - and again the war - World War II, and at the end - the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, which would later become the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.

History of wars and alliances. A country that, willingly or unwillingly, became a participant in all European battles, saw the relentless Mongols and no less cruel Ottomans, shuddered in the grip of fascism and internecine wars, experienced prosperity and decline, suffered but did not give up, and managed to preserve its traditions, values ​​and culture.

Plan
Introduction
1 Prehistoric Serbia
2 Ancient Serbia
3 Medieval Serbian state
3.1 Settlement of the Slavs
3.2 Formation of the state
3.3 Rise of Serbia
3.4 Collapse and Turkish conquest
3.5 Socio-economic development

4 Serbia under Ottoman rule
4.1 Consequences of the conquest
4.2 Liberation struggle

5 Vojvodina under Habsburg rule
6 Autonomous Serbian Principality
6.1 Liberation of Serbia
6.2 Controller mode
6.3 Struggle for independence

7 Serbian Kingdom
7.1 Economic development
7.2 Serbia at the end of the 19th century
7.3 "Golden Age"
7.4 Balkan Wars
7.5 Serbia in World War I

8 Serbia in Royal Yugoslavia
8.1 Formation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
8.2 Period of parliamentarism
8.3 Royal dictatorship

9 Serbia during the Second World War
10 Serbia in socialist Yugoslavia
10.1 Formation of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
10.2 Tito's reign
10.3 Collapse of Yugoslavia

11 Serbia in the “Third Yugoslavia”
11.1 Serbia in 1992-1997
11.2 Kosovo issue and the fall of Milosevic

12 Culture of Serbia in the second half of the 20th century
13 Independent Republic of Serbia

Bibliography
History of Serbia
style="page-break-before:always">1. Prehistoric Serbia

2. Ancient Serbia

3. Medieval Serbian state

3.1. Settlement of the Slavs

During the period of the Roman Empire, most of the territory of modern Serbia, then inhabited mainly by Illyrian tribes, was part of the province of Upper Moesia. Around 395, these lands were assigned to the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. Romanization of Upper Moesia remained minor and, unlike the coastal areas, there were no large urban settlements here, with the exception of Singidunum (Belgrade), Viminacium (Kostolac) and Naissus (Niš).

From the middle of the 6th century, a gradual expansion of Slavic tribes began in 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 displaced the area's former inhabitants - Illyrians, Celts, Greeks and Romans - into cities, mainly on the coast, but also in the mountains of the Dinaric Highlands and Albania. In some places, Illyrian and Vlach enclaves arose on lands inhabited by the Slavs.

The process of state formation among the Serbs was slowed down 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 Serbian lands. Proto-state formations were formed on the coast - the sclavinias of Pagania, Zahumje, Travuniya and Duklja, in the interior regions (the eastern part of modern Bosnia and Sandjak) - Raska. Nominally, all Serbian territories were part of Byzantium, but their dependence was weak. Already in the 7th century, the Christianization of the 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. The emergence of the first monuments of Serbian writing in the Old Church Slavonic language dates back to the same time (initially using the Glagolitic alphabet, from the 10th century the transition to the Cyrillic alphabet began).

3.2. State formation

In the middle of the 9th century, under the influence of the attack on the Serbian regions of the proto-Bulgarians, a princely power and a state led by Prince (Zhupan) Vlastimir, who managed to push back the Bulgarians and subjugate part of the coastal territories. The hereditary principle of transfer of power, however, did not work out, which led at the end of the 9th century to civil strife, the weakening of Raska and its transition under the rule of first the First Bulgarian Kingdom, and then, after its fall, Byzantium. Some strengthening of Raska in the middle of the 10th century during the reign of Prince Caslav, who significantly expanded the territory of the state, was replaced after his 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 the central government in Raska. In 1040-1041 Belgrade and the Morava Valley became the center of a massive Slavic uprising led by Peter Delyan against Byzantium.

In the middle of the 11th century, the center of unification of Serbian lands moved to Dukla(Zetu), where an independent principality was formed led by Stefan Vojislav. In contrast to the 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 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 Bar became the center of a separate Serbian ecclesiastical metropolitanate, subordinate to the Pope. However, after the death of Constantine Bodin in 1101, the Kingdom of Dukljan disintegrated.

From the middle of the 12th century a new strengthening began Rashki, which gradually freed itself from the power of Byzantium. In 1166, Stefan Nemanja, the founder of the Nemanjic dynasty, became the supreme ruler of Raska. If at the beginning of his reign he remained a loyal vassal of the empire, then after the death of Emperor Manuel I Stefan launched a struggle for independence and unification of the Serbian lands. As a result of several military campaigns, by the end of the 12th century, most of the lands inhabited by Serbs, including the coastal regions, Zeta, Kosovo and, temporarily, North Macedonia, became part of a single state. Stefan Nemanja's war with Dubrovnik was unsuccessful, but the Dubrovnik merchants received from him the right to free trade in Serbia, which further contributed to the rise of the country's economy. In 1190, the Byzantine Empire recognized the independence of Serbia, and in 1217, Stefan Nemanja's son 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 its center in the Žičansky monastery (later the residence of the metropolitan was moved to Pec).

3.3. Rise 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 13th and 14th centuries, Serbia found itself divided into two states: in the north, in Macva, Belgrade, the Branichev region, as well as in Usora and Soli, Stefan Dragutin, who relied on Hungary, ruled, the rest of the Serbian lands were under the rule of his younger brother Stefan Milutin , oriented mainly towards Byzantium.

Despite the temporary division of the state, the strengthening of Serbia continued: it was formed centralized system local government, the law was reformed, a system of internal communications was created, the transition to conditional holding and a pro-nation system in land relations began. At the same time, the influence of the higher clergy and the church increased. Monasticism actively developed, many Orthodox monasteries arose (including Studenica, Zica, Milesevo, Gracanica, 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”). Serbia's affiliation with the Byzantine-Orthodox world was finally consolidated, 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, and a pompous royal court was created, modeled on that of Constantinople. There was a rise in mining (largely due to the influx of Saxon settlers), agriculture and trade, decisive role in which Dubrovnik merchants had. The population of the country increased rapidly and cities grew.

Milutin and his son Stefan Dečanski also managed to significantly expand the territory of the state. Although Belgrade, Usora and Soli were lost after Dragutin's death, Niš, northern Macedonia and Dyrrhachium became part of Serbia, and Skopje became the new capital. In 1330, at the Battle of Velbuzhda, Serbian troops defeated Bulgaria and put an end to Bulgarian hegemony in the Balkans.

The heyday of the medieval Serbian state occurred during the reign of Stefan Dusan (1331-1355). In 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 became the largest state in South-Eastern Europe. In 1346, Stefan Dušan was crowned king of the Serbs and Greeks, and the Archbishop of Pec was proclaimed patriarch. Serbo-Greek Kingdom Stefan Dusan combined Serbian and Byzantine traditions, the Greeks retained the highest positions in the cities and their land holdings, and the culture was strongly influenced by Greece. The Vardar style developed in architecture, the striking examples of which were the churches in Gračanica, Pec and Lesnov. In 1349, the Law of Stefan Dušan was published, formalizing and codifying the norms of Serbian law. The central power sharply strengthened, an extensive administrative system was formed on the Byzantine model, while maintaining the essential role of the meetings (sabors) of the Serbian aristocracy. Domestic policy the king, relying on large landed nobility and leading to the expansion of its prerogatives, however, did not contribute to the strengthening and unity of the state, especially considering the ethnic diversity of Dushan’s state.

3.4. Collapse and Turkish conquest

Soon after the death of Stefan Dušan, his state collapsed. Part of the Greek lands again came under the rule of Byzantium, and semi-independent principalities were formed on the rest. In Serbia proper, large landowners (rulers) left the subordination of the central government, began to pursue their own policies, mint coins and collect taxes: in Zeta, the rule of the Balšićs was established, in Macedonia - the Mrnjavčevićs, in Old Serbia and Kosovo - Prince Lazar, Nikola Altomanović and Vuk Branković . The unity of the Serbian lands after the death of the last representative of the Nemanjić dynasty, Stefan Uros V in 1371, was supported almost exclusively by the unity of the Orthodox Church in the person of the Peć Patriarchate, which in 1375 achieved canonical recognition by the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In 1377, the Serbian crown was accepted by the ban of Bosnia, Stefan Tvrtko I, however, although his royal title was recognized by Prince Lazar and Vuk Branković, the power of Tvrtko I was purely nominal. Internecine wars between the princes greatly weakened the defense capability 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 Serbian rulers led by King Vukashin, after which Macedonia came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.

An attempt to unite the Serbian lands to organize resistance to the Turks, undertaken by Prince Lazar with the support of the Serbian Orthodox Church, was unsuccessful: June 15, 1389 (on the day of St. Vitus - Vidovdan) in Battle of Kosovo Despite the heroic efforts of the Serbs, they were defeated. Prince Lazar died. Although his son Stefan Lazarevich retained his power, he was forced to recognize the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire and participate in the Turkish campaigns. The Battle of Kosovo and the feat of Milos Obilic, who killed the Ottoman Sultan Murad I at the beginning of the battle, later became one of the most important stories in 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 15th century, when the onslaught of the Turks temporarily weakened due to the threat from Tamerlane, Stefan Lazarevich attempted to restore the Serbian state. He accepted the Byzantine title of despot and, relying on an alliance with Hungary, which handed over Belgrade and Macva to him, he again subjugated Zeta (except Primorye), Srebrenica and a number of southern Serbian regions. The central administration was revived, the power of the prince was strengthened, mining and urban crafts were actively encouraged, and the ideas of humanism and the Renaissance began to penetrate Serbia. Architecture (the Moravian school, represented, in particular, by the monasteries of Resava and Ravanica) and literature (the works of Patriarch Danilo III and Stefan Lazarevich himself) experienced a new upsurge. Capital Serbian despotism became Belgrade, in which a well-fortified fortress was built, partially preserved to this day. Although Nis and Krusevac were lost as a result of a new Turkish invasion in 1425, and then Belgrade came under Hungarian rule, new capital Serbia - Smederevo, founded by despot Georgiy Brankovich, experienced its heyday and won the glory of the second Constantinople. But already in 1438 another Ottoman offensive began. In 1439 Smederevo fell. The long campaign of the Hungarian troops of Janos Hunyadi in 1443-1444 made it possible to expel the Turks from the territory of Serbia and briefly restore its independence. 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. By 1463 Bosnia was conquered, by 1482 Herzegovina and finally in 1499 Zeta Mountain. The Serbian state ceased to exist.

3.5. Socio-economic development

The basis of the economy of the medieval Serbian state was agriculture, primarily farming, as well as cattle breeding, especially in mountainous areas. Significantly longer than in Bulgaria and Croatia, large patriarchal families - zadrugi - and the communal system remained important in Serbia. Collective ownership of land continued to dominate the peasant economy. Gradually, however, the processes of feudalization of land relations and enslavement of peasants intensified. Already in “The Lawyer of Stefan Dusan” the dependent position of the peasantry was legally established and the right of transition was abolished. Among the dependent categories of peasants there were merophi who have hereditary rights to their allotment and are obligated to the feudal lord for labor service (100 days a year), Vlachs- cattle breeders paying rent in kind to the feudal lord (mainly to monasteries), and youths, which were the personal property of the master. There were no significant protests by peasants in medieval Serbia. Feudal ownership of land was of two types: hereditary unconditional ownership - bashtina, and conditional tenure for service under the king or other major aristocrat - pronia, and the role of the latter was steadily increasing. The largest land owner was the Orthodox Church. The immune rights of feudal lords were limited by the preservation of the royal court, the fiscal and military responsibilities of landowners to the crown. The most extensive immunity was enjoyed by monasteries, whose possessions actually turned into feudal lordships and which subjugated small feudal lords - warriors.

From the end of the 12th century, the importance of mining for the country's economy began to grow. The centers of mining of copper, iron, gold, silver and lead were Novo Brdo, the Kopalnik plateau and the Rudnitskaya planina. The development of deposits was carried out mainly 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 duties on the export of metals formed the most important part of the state budget. The role of mining for the Serbian economy especially increased during the period of Turkish invasions, when cultivable lands were 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 became large centers of maritime intermediary trade. With the development of mining and crafts in the 13th century, the revival of the cities of the interior regions of Serbia began: Novo Brdo, Pristina, Niš, Branicevo and others. The main export items were metals, honey and leather. Trade gravitated towards the Adriatic and was concentrated in the hands of Dubrovnik, Kotor and Italian merchants. The level of development of city self-government remained low (except for Kotor and some cities in Primorye); they did not play any noticeable role in the political system of Serbia and were governed by princes appointed by the king.

4. Serbia under Ottoman rule

4.1. Consequences of the conquest

As a result of the Turkish conquest, Serbian lands were devastated, agriculture fell into decay, and mining production practically ceased. A massive outflow of population beyond the Danube and Sava began, as a result of which the ethnic territory of the Serbs expanded significantly to the north. At the same time, Turks, Vlach herders and Albanians began to move into the depopulated lowland areas and, especially, into the southern regions of the country (Kosovo). The Christian population was limited in civil rights. But this system was softer than what the Spaniards did after the Reconquista, or the same Spaniards in America. However, unlike Albania, Bosnia and Macedonia, only a small part of the population in Serbia accepted Islam. The main merit in this belonged to the Peć Patriarchate, restored in 1557, which during the period of Ottoman rule played the role of a center of national and cultural unity of the Serbian people. The Orthodox Church generally retained its privileges and possessions and, as a distinct religious community (milleta), enjoyed self-government in cultural and religious matters, including the ability to establish primary schools.

After the conquest, the military-feudal system was extended to Serbia, in which most of the land was owned by the state and was divided into fiefs, the holders of which, the spahii, were obliged to bear military service. The remaining lands were transferred to church and public organizations (waqfs) or assigned the right of ownership to individual representatives of the Turkish aristocracy (mulk) or the Sultan's family (Sultan's khas). Administratively, the territory of Serbia became part of the Rumeli Eyalet, and after the Turkish conquest of Hungary in the mid-16th century, the areas north of Niš were transferred to the Buda Eyalet. Eyalets were divided into sanjaks. The former territory of the Serbian Despotate formed the Smederevsky (after the conquest of Belgrade in 1521 - Belgrade) sanjak. Just like the Greeks, the Serbs, having converted to Islam, could rise in the civil service to viziers.

The feudal class of the period of Ottoman rule was represented almost exclusively by Muslims, both Turks and Slavs who converted to Islam (pro-Turks). The basis of the population was the dependent peasantry - the raya, who had the right of hereditary use of plots and paid land (kharaj) and per capita (jizya) taxes to the Sultan, as well as various payments to the feudal lord. In Southern Serbia and the Danube regions, a significant layer of Vlach pastoralists has remained, enjoying certain privileges and used for border service. Unlike other countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the peasants of the Ottoman Empire were personally free and were not attached to the land, and the amount of their duties was regulated by the state.

Since the 16th century, handicraft production and urban life began to revive in Serbia. New urban centers located at the intersection of trade routes of the Ottoman Empire came to the fore, primarily Belgrade, captured by the Turks in 1521, which soon became the largest trade and craft center of the Serbian lands. However, the cities remained isolated from the surrounding area, their growth had virtually no impact on the progress of the adjacent lands. Handicraft production was organized according to the Eastern model into closed corporations, separate for Muslims and Christians. In trade, at first, the dominance of foreign capital remained - Dubrovnik, Venetian and Genoese merchants, and orientation towards the Adriatic coast. However, starting from the 17th century, as the Italian city-states weakened, local merchants began to play an increasingly important role in trade. However, the economic development of Serbian lands still lagged significantly behind European levels.

In the 17th century, the process of decline of the Ottoman Empire began. The military system began to disintegrate, the spahii moved away from military service and moved on to the active exploitation of their lands and dependent population. Land holdings gradually began to pass into the hands of trade and craft circles and Janissaries and were consolidated on the right of ownership (chiftliks). The central government weakened, the state experienced a chronic financial crisis. Local feudal lords actually left the subordination of the Sultan, anarchy reigned in the country, there were constant internecine clashes between spahii, janissaries and pashas, ​​trying to expand their possessions and committing predatory raids on the lands of their neighbors. This was accompanied by increased tax and feudal oppression and a significant deterioration in the position of paradise. The remnants of Vlach autonomy were eliminated, and religious antagonism intensified.

In the 18th century, the economic growth of Northern Serbia and, especially, Belgrade continued, while the economy of the central and southern regions of the country stagnated, which was greatly facilitated by new devastation during the Austro-Turkish wars of the late 17th - early 18th centuries. Northern Serbia from 1716 to 1739 was under the control of Austria, which gave a significant impetus to its economic development and the growth of trade, primarily the Danube, with Central Europe. After Northern Serbia returned to Ottoman rule in 1739, it retained a special position. A border crossing was created here Belgrade pashalyk, the Turkish population decreased significantly, local power began to pass into the hands of the local aristocracy. This was accompanied by a weakening of feudal oppression, the collapse of the spachy system and the acceleration of economic development, especially cattle breeding, focused on Austria.

4.2. Liberation struggle

Immediately after the Turkish conquest of the Serbian lands, the migration of some Serbs began to the lands unoccupied by the Turks beyond the Danube and Sava: to Srem, Bačka, Banat, Slavonia, as well as to northern Bosnia. In southern Hungary (modern Vojvodina), a Serbian military administration was created with its center in Kupnik (Srem), headed by princes who considered themselves heirs of the rulers of the Serbian despotism. The Serbs actively participated in the Hungarian-Turkish wars of the late 15th - early 16th centuries, but after the defeat of the Hungarian Kingdom under Mohács in 1526, these lands also came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.

The liberation movement of the Serbian people against Turkish rule developed in two directions: haiduism, often indistinguishable from ordinary banditry, and uprisings timed to coincide with the wars of the European powers with the Ottoman Empire. The movement was led by the Pécs Patriarchate, which managed to establish political ties 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 level during the war of the Holy League at the end of the 17th century. Serbian rebels, acting in cooperation with the Austrian army, liberated most of the country. In 1688, Belgrade was captured and the Austrian troops of General Eneo Piccolomini entered Macedonia. However, in 1690 the Turkish counter-offensive began. The Austrians were driven out of Serbia, and the power of the Ottoman Empire was restored. The country was devastated, mass repression against the participants of the uprisings. In response, Patriarch Arseniy III called on the Serbs to emigrate beyond the Danube. Began " Great Migration of Serbs": tens of thousands of Serbian families left their homes and moved to Austrian territory: Banat, Bačka, Srem, Baranja. Second a big wave Serbian migration took place after the unsuccessful war of 1737-1739 for Austria. According to modern estimates, in the 17th-18th centuries, about 80% of Serbs changed their place of residence. The result was the emergence of Serbian Vojvodina on the southern borders of the Austrian monarchy and the desolation of Old Serbia and Macedonia, which began to be gradually populated by Muslim Albanians.

The role of the Patriarch of Peć 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, the accelerated Hellenization of the church began, in 1766 the Patriarchate of Peć was abolished, and the Serbian Church was subordinated to Constantinople. Soon the Orthodox Church lost its significance as a unifying force in the liberation struggle. After the defeat of Austria in the Austro-Turkish War of 1737-1739, there was a temporary decline in the liberation movement. A new stage of the struggle began after the Russian-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 war between Austria and Russia with Turkey 1787-1792. In Serbia, primarily in the Belgrade Pashalik, a major uprising broke out against Ottoman rule. Serbian volunteer units were formed and fought as part of the Austrian army, which, however, was defeated.

After the war, the Turkish authorities significantly expanded the powers of local governments in the Belgrade Pashalik and took measures to limit the autocracy of the Janissaries. But already in 1801, in conditions of weakening of the central government, the Janissaries carried out 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 government and bloody repressions against the Serbs. In response, in 1804, a fire broke out in the Belgrade Pashalik. First Serbian uprising. Chief Prince Karageorgiy stood at the head of the rebels. Soon, almost the entire territory of Pashalyk was liberated from Turkish rule. 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 were redistributed among the Serbs. Central authorities, local administration and the judicial system were formed. At the same time, disagreements began between the leaders of the uprising: Karadjordje, who declared himself the hereditary supreme leader of the Serbian people in 1808, and other Serbian princes. After the conclusion of the Bucharest Peace of 1812 and Russia's withdrawal from the war, a massive Turkish offensive began. Despite the heroic defense, the Turks captured Belgrade in 1813. The uprising was suppressed and mass repressions followed.

5. Vojvodina under Habsburg rule

During the 18th - 19th centuries, the main center of the National Revival of the Serbian people and the most developed Serbian territory in socio-cultural and socio-economic terms was Vojvodina. As a result of the Austro-Turkish wars of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the border between the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg possessions was established along the Danube and Sava. The territories of Srem, Bačka, Baranja and Banat, which were actively inhabited by Serbs during the 15th-17th centuries, came under the rule of the Austrian monarchy. At the beginning of the 18th century, Serbs made up the vast majority of the population of these regions, devastated by centuries of Turkish invasions. The legal status of the Serbs was regulated by those approved by Leopold I in 1690 “ Privileges", according to which Serbian settlers were guaranteed the protection of the emperor, freedom of religion and church autonomy with the right to elect an Orthodox metropolitan. The residence of the Metropolitan was located in Srem Karlovac. In 1701-1702 the territories along the Danube, Sava and Tisza were included in the Military Border - a special militarized administrative entity subordinate directly to Vienna. The population of the Military Frontier enjoyed significant privileges, but were obliged to perform military service to protect the borders of the Austrian Monarchy. The rest of the territory was divided between the counties of the Kingdom of Hungary. For some time (1718-1778) there was also a separate crown land of Temes Banat with its center in Temesvar. The Austrian government encouraged the colonization of the border lands, as a result of which in the 18th century the population of these areas grew sharply, and in addition to the Serbs, large ethnic layers of Hungarians, Germans, and, in the flat Banat, Romanians were formed. If small peasant landownership dominated in the Military Border, then in the civilian part of Srem and Baranje there was a large landownership of Hungarian and German landowners. In Bačka and Banat, the bulk of the land belonged to the crown and was leased to local peasants.

The pace of economic, socio-political and cultural development of the Serbian regions of the Austrian Empire significantly exceeded the pace of development of the territories that continued to remain under Turkish rule. Already in the 18th century, there was significant progress in agriculture, thanks to the construction of a network of canals in Bačka and Banat, vast areas of land were developed, and in the first half of the 19th century, the active introduction of modern farming methods and new crops (rice, tobacco, mulberry) began. all in large estates in Civic Srem. In parallel, there was a process of disintegration of communities and expropriation of communal lands. In the Military Frontier, economic development was somewhat hampered by the preservation of zadru and the military regime. Cities grew quickly - Novi Sad, Subotica, Sombor, trade expanded, the first manufactories arose at the end of the 18th century, coal deposits were actively developed, and a fairly strong layer of Serbian trade and craft bourgeoisie emerged.

Economic and social progress contributed to the earlier development of national identity among the Serbs of the Austrian Empire. Already in the second half of the 18th century, popular church councils convened to elect metropolitans put forward the demand for the unification of all Serb-inhabited lands within the Habsburg monarchy and the granting of autonomy to them. At the same time, Serbian-Hungarian relations became complicated. The inclusion of part of the former Military Border into the comitat system of Hungary, carried out by Empress Maria Theresa, caused discontent among the Serbs and the resettlement of several thousand families at the invitation of Catherine II to Little Russia, where groups of settlements New Serbia and Slavonic Serbia arose. In 1779, the secular rights of the Karlovac metropolitan were eliminated, which led to a decline in the role of the Orthodox clergy. However, already in 1792, pressure from the Serbian Sabors forced Leopold II to recognize the Serbs as equal citizens of the Kingdom of Hungary and grant them access to public service. At the beginning of the 19th century, Metropolitan Stefan Stratimirovich stood at the head of the national movement of the Serbs of Vojvodina, advocating the revival of the Slavic-Serbian kingdom. In parallel, the processes of the National Renaissance were going on, a highly educated Serbian intelligentsia appeared in the university cities of the empire (Pozsony, Pest, Graz), modern Serbian literature emerged (Dosifej Obradović, etc.), book printing developed rapidly, and the network of schools and literary societies expanded. In 1826, Matica Srpska was founded in Pest (in 1864 it was moved to Novi Sad).

After the outbreak of the revolution of 1848-1849 in Hungary, demands were put forward to unify the Serbian lands and grant them broad national autonomy, but the Hungarian revolutionary government rejected these proposals. This led to a massive armed uprising of the Serbs against the Hungarian authorities, led by Metropolitan Joseph Rajacic. A national assembly of Serbs of the Austrian Empire was convened in Srem Karlovac, which proclaimed the formation of an autonomous Serbian Vojvodina(that is, the “Serbian Duchy”: Serbian vojvoda - duke), including Srem, Bačka, Banat and the eastern part of the Military Border. In response, Hungarian troops were sent into Vojvodina. Rajacic, who received full civil power in Vojvodina from the assembly, began negotiations with the emperor and supported the suppression of the Hungarian revolution. Military operations initially developed unfavorably for the Serbs, but after the intervention of the Russian army in 1849, the Hungarian troops were defeated and the revolution was suppressed. In the same year, a separate crown land of Serbian Vojvodina and Temes Banat was formed, which included most of the lands of the empire inhabited by Serbs. Official languages German and “Illyrian” (Serbian) were declared. But already in 1860 this entity was abolished, and the Serbian territories were again divided between the Hungarian counties (Srem became part of the autonomous Croatian-Slavonian kingdom in 1868). In 1881, the Military Border was also finally eliminated.

In the second half of the 19th century, the liberal wing of the national movement of the Serbs of Vojvodina strengthened, led by Svetozar Miletić and the youth organization Omladina, founded in 1866. The liberals brought to the fore the demands of democratic changes and were ready to enter into an alliance with the Hungarians against Viennese absolutism. However, after the conclusion of the Austro-Hungarian Agreement of 1867, the national movement acquired a sharp anti-Hungarian orientation, and the main goal was the political autonomy of Vojvodina and the federalization of Austria-Hungary. Economically, the second half of the 19th century was marked by the rapid development of agriculture, which was facilitated by the abolition of serfdom in 1848 and the agrarian reform of 1853. At the same time, the rise of industry occurred at a much slower pace; first of all, industries related to the processing of agricultural products and, partly, the textile industry developed. The financial and credit sector came under the complete control of Austrian and Hungarian capital, while the Serbian bourgeoisie was mainly engaged in trade and agriculture. Among the most prominent figures of Serbian science, literature and art in Vojvodina in the mid-second half of the 19th century are the founder of Serbian philology Djura Danicic, poets Branko Radicevich and Jovan Jovanovic, composer Cornelie Stankovic, historian Hilarion Ruvarac.

The ethnic composition of the lands of Vojvodina according to the 1910 census was as follows: Bacs-Bodrog: Hungarians - 45% (mainly in the north), Germans - 23%, Serbs - 18%; Torontal: Serbs - 32%, Germans - 27%, Hungarians - 21%; Temes: Romanians - 34%, Germans - 33%, Hungarians - 16%, Serbs - 14%; Srem: Serbs - 44%, Croats - 26%, Germans - 16%.

6. Autonomous Serbian Principality

6.1. Liberation of Serbia

The repressions of the Turkish authorities in the Belgrade Pashalik in 1815 caused a new Second Serbian uprising, headed by Milos Obrenovic. The rebels managed to defeat the Ottoman army, and after a note from Russia, Turkish troops were withdrawn. By agreement with the Belgrade Pasha, local self-government was transferred to the hands of the Serbs, Milos was declared supreme prince. Although a Turkish garrison remained in Belgrade and some other fortresses, in fact Serbia was granted internal autonomy. This was recorded in the Ackerman Convention of 1826 and reinforced by the terms of the Treaty of Adrianople of 1829 and the Hatti Sherif of the Sultan of 1830, according to which Serbia achieved the status of an autonomous principality while maintaining vassalage to the Porte and paying tribute. The hereditary title of Prince of Serbia was recognized for Milos Obrenovic, and six more neighboring nachis were annexed to the principality. Muslims (including Slavs) were prohibited from living on the territory of Serbia, except for fortresses.

The economy of autonomous Serbia remained backward. Cattle breeding played a leading role, primarily pig breeding, oriented for export to Austria. Although the peasants received ownership of their land plots, there were numerous remnants of feudalism while maintaining heavy tax oppression. In agriculture, small and medium-sized peasant landownership dominated, the collapse of landownership was taking place, which, however, the state tried to restrain by establishing a mandatory minimum size of the peasant allotment. At the same time, the development of crafts and cities continued. The population of Belgrade has increased several times; more than a third of the country's handicraft production is concentrated here. Trade, including local trade, developed rapidly, and a fairly strong layer of commercial bourgeoisie emerged. In the development of urban life and culture of the principality, the leading role belonged to immigrants from the Serbian lands of the Austrian Empire, who were significantly more developed culturally and socially. “Prečan Serbs” (from Serbian preko - “for”, that is, Serbs from beyond the Danube and Sava) stood at the foundation of the first gymnasiums, printing houses and newspapers, and new urban architecture of the European type.

From the very beginning of the existence of the Serbian Principality, the omnipotence of the House of Obrenović was established in it. Prince Milos had complete control over the administration and judicial system; as a result of the division of the former Turkish possessions, a new Serbian nobility was formed, the first places in which were taken by the prince's relatives. In 1817, Karageorgi was killed, posing a serious threat to the rule of Milos Obrenovic. The principality lacked democratic rights and freedoms, as well as guarantees of the inviolability of property. The regime of Milos's personal power caused discontent among merchants and the top of the bureaucracy. Under their pressure, in 1835 the Serbian Assembly adopted the country’s first constitution (“ Sretensky Charter"), which proclaimed basic freedoms and significantly limited the power of the prince. However, with the support of Russia and Turkey, Milos Obrenovic soon canceled it. In 1838, a new constitution was approved in Istanbul (“ Turkish Charter"), which introduced freedom of trade, eliminated the remnants of feudalism and the spachy system, somewhat limited the autocracy of the prince by establishing the State Council and expanded the prerogatives of the Porte in the formation of the authorities of the principality.

6.2. Controller mode

In 1839, Milos Obrenovic abdicated the throne, and his minor son Mikhail became the new prince. Actual power, however, passed into the hands of the oligarchic State Council, which was dominated by a group of charter guards (“defenders of the constitution”), representing the interests of senior officials and the big commercial bourgeoisie. In 1842, the charter collectors managed to overthrow the Obrenovichs and proclaim Alexander Karageorgievich prince. During the reign of the Statutory Guardians, Serbia moved away from its orientation towards Russia and moved closer to Austria, the police-bureaucratic nature of the state was strengthened, the assembly was not convened, and the economic situation of the country sharply deteriorated. At the same time, for the first time, the principles of a new foreign policy were developed, aimed at uniting all the South Slavs (who were understood as a single people - the Serbs) under the rule of the Serbian Principality. This program was formulated in 1844 by the Minister of Internal Affairs Ilya Garashanin in his work “Inscriptions” and envisaged the creation by military means of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire Greater Serbia. Subsequently, this ideology formed the basis of the country’s foreign policy in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Meanwhile, schools, gymnasiums and other educational institutions were actively created in Serbia. In 1838, a lyceum was established in Belgrade - the first higher education educational institution Serbia, from which the University of Belgrade later arose. In 1841, the educational Society of Serbian Literature arose, founded by the founder of Serbian dramatic art, Jovan Popović. At the same time, thanks to the works of Vuk Karadzic, the Serbian language took shape based on the Shtokavian dialects of Herzegovina.

During the revolution of 1848-1849. In the Austrian Empire, Serbia provided military support to the rebels in Vojvodina. The revolution forced the regulators to somewhat liberalize the regime: in 1848, the powers of the assembly were expanded, and all direct tax payers received the right to vote. During Crimean War The Serbian government remained neutral, and under the terms of the Paris Peace of 1856, the autonomy of the principality was expanded and secured by guarantees from the great powers. At the end of the 1850s, due to the economic crisis, relations between the charter guardians and the prince worsened, which was accompanied by the rise of the liberal opposition. Under its pressure, the St. Andrew's Assembly was convened in 1858, which limited the prerogatives of the State Council and transferred full legislative power to the assembly. Prince Alexander was removed and Milos Obrenovic returned to power. The regime of the charter guards has fallen.

6.3. Struggle for independence

In the 1860s. The power of the prince strengthened again, the Assembly and the State Council turned into advisory bodies, the centralization of the administrative system increased, and repressions against liberals continued. At the same time, foreign policy intensified, aimed at abolishing the 1838 constitution and achieving complete independence of Serbia from Turkey. Universal military conscription was introduced, a people's army was created, and the network of Serbian agents preparing an uprising was expanded in the Balkans. In 1866-1868. Alliance agreements were concluded with Greece, Romania, and Montenegro, and ties were established with the Bulgarian and Croatian liberation movements. In 1867, under pressure from Russia, Türkiye withdrew its garrisons from Serbian fortresses. Following them, most of the remaining Muslim population left the principality. On the other hand, the anti-Turkish policy of Prince Michael contributed to the transformation of the country into a center of attraction for all Orthodox Slavs of the Ottoman Empire: in 30 years - from 1834 to 1863. - Serbia's population doubled and exceeded 1.1 million people.

At the same time, the rise of the liberal movement began: in 1866, the youth society “Omladina” was created in Vojvodina, which became the head of the national political and cultural revival. In 1864, the Serbian Scientific Society was founded, later transformed into the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. In 1868, the first national theater opened in Belgrade. However, the regime of personal power of Prince Mikhail was maintained in the country, which caused discontent among liberal circles of society. In 1869, Mihail Obrenovic was killed, and liberals led by Jovan Ristic and Milivoj Blaznavac came to power during the minority of his heir, Prince Milan. They managed to achieve the adoption of a new constitution (“ Viceroyal Charter" 1869), which expanded the democratic freedoms and prerogatives of the periodically convened assembly, without whose consent the prince could not make laws.

Soon after the outbreak of the Herzegovinian Uprising in 1875, Serbia began preparations for war and on June 18, 1876 declared war on Turkey. However, two weeks later the offensive of the Serbian army floundered. Only the intervention of Russia, which forced Turkey to conclude a truce, prevented a military catastrophe. But already in 1877, with the beginning of the Russian-Turkish War, hostilities resumed. With the support of the Russian army, a significant part of Southern Serbia was liberated, Nis, Pirot, and Vranje were taken. According to the Treaty of San Stefano, the Ottoman Empire recognized the independence of Serbia, but part of the territories it claimed was transferred to Bulgaria. As a result, an alliance was concluded with Austria, and according to the Berlin Treaty of 1878, the territory of Serbia expanded significantly: Nis, Pirot, Vranje and the entire southeastern Serbia with a population of more than 300 thousand people were annexed. The independence of the Serbian state was also recognized.

7. Serbian Kingdom

7.1. Economic development

Until the end of the 19th century, Serbia remained a backward agrarian country. More than 89% of the population was employed in agriculture. Small peasant production was completely dominant, practically not using machines and modern methods management. The main branch of agriculture remained pig farming, oriented for export to Austria, as well as corn growing. By the end of the 19th century, the disintegration of the farms had largely ended, but government measures to protect the minimum peasant allotment prevented the formation of a wage labor market in agriculture. There were no large industrial enterprises; despite the state policy of encouraging industrial development, the complete dominance of handicraft production remained. In fulfillment of the obligations assumed by Serbia at the Berlin Congress, railway construction began in 1881, which was supposed to connect Vienna with Thessaloniki and Istanbul. Construction railway, however, did not become an impetus for acceleration economic development and had virtually no impact on the life of the rural population of the country. Foreign trade was heavily dependent on Austria-Hungary, which consumed up to 86% of Serbian exports by the end of the 19th century. Livestock products remained the main item of trade. The national debt was constantly growing, and Austria-Hungary was also the main creditor.

7.2. Serbia at the end of the 19th century

In addition to financial and economic dependence on Austria-Hungary, political dependence also increased at the end of the 19th century. The pro-Austrian course of Prince Milan Obrenovic and the conservatives after the Berlin Congress led to the conclusion of the Austro-Serbian Convention in 1881, according to which the country's foreign policy was subordinated to Vienna and in fact an Austrian protectorate was established over Serbia. Prince Milan also renounced his claims to Bosnia, Herzegovina and the Novopazar Sanjak. In response, Austria-Hungary guaranteed support for the Obrenović dynasty and agreed to the proclamation of Serbia as a kingdom. On February 22, 1882, Milan was declared king of the Serbs. A certain problem was posed by the lands newly acquired under the terms of the Peace of Berlin: in these territories, a policy of integration and ethnic homogenization was launched, as a result of which the Muslim population was expelled and its possessions were divided among Orthodox Serbs.

For domestic political life in the 1880s. It was characterized by the formation of political parties and an intense struggle between them, primarily between the ruling young conservative Serbian Progressive Party (previously) Milan Pirocanac and the People's Radical Party of Per Todorovic and Nikola Pasic, which managed to attract to its side wide sections of the rural population, the intelligentsia and the minor clergy. They passed a number of laws designed to modernize the country, but their implementation progressed extremely slowly. In particular, despite the adoption of the law on universal primary education in 1882, due to a lack of schools and teachers, by the end of the 19th century more than 75% of the Serbian population remained illiterate. The orientation of the prince and the naprednyaks towards Western Europe caused discontent among the Russophile-minded peasants and clergy. The Timok uprising, which broke out in 1883 in eastern Serbia, was soon suppressed by troops, followed by harsh repressions against movement participants and members of the Radical Party.

In 1885, Serbia went to war with Bulgaria, contesting the latter's accession to Eastern Rumelia, but the Serbian army was utterly defeated at the Battle of Slivice. Only the intervention of Austria-Hungary made it possible to conclude peace and avoid territorial losses. Military defeat, combined with financial crisis and political instability, forced the king of Milan to make concessions to the radicals. On December 22, 1888, a new constitution was approved, expanding the right to vote, the prerogatives of the assembly and guaranteeing democratic rights and freedoms. Soon Milan Obrenovic abdicated the throne. Under his juvenile successor, Aleksandar Obrenovic, radicals came to power, carried out democratic reforms, restored the alliance with Russia, and intensified Serbian propaganda in Turkey's Balkan possessions. However, after Milan Obrenovic returned from emigration in 1894, a return to authoritarianism and repression began, and the 1888 constitution was abolished. Nevertheless, the political situation remained unstable. In addition to the frequent change of governments, the situation was complicated by the king’s marriage to Draga Mashin, a lowly widow much older than him in age. An attempt to appease the radicals with the approval of a new, relatively liberal constitution in 1901 (“ April Charter") was not successful and was soon suspended. In May 1903, a group of opposition officers plotted and assassinated King Alexander and Queen Draga. Their deaths ended the Obrenović's reign on the Serbian throne. The constitution of 1888 was restored, and Peter I Karageorgievich was proclaimed king.

7.3. "Golden age"

During the reign of Peter I, radical transformations of the political system were carried out in Serbia: democratic freedoms were restored, the powers of the Assembly were expanded, which became the highest legislative body of the country and controlled the activities of the government. As a result, at the beginning of the 20th century, Serbia was a Western-style parliamentary monarchy. The Radical Party, led by Nikola Pasic, was in power for fifteen years (with short breaks). Economic development accelerated significantly, industrial enterprises began to be created, the transport network grew rapidly, and Serbia's economic dependence on Austria-Hungary was reduced. Despite direct pressure from the latter, which led to the customs war of 1906-1908, Serbia managed to find new markets in Western Europe and reduce the share of exports to Austria-Hungary to 15%. As a result of the rapid development of the economy, Serbia has become a fairly prosperous country by Balkan standards, and the period of the early 20th century went down in Serbian history as “ golden age"or "Periclean era".

Serbian parliamentarism of the “golden age”, however, had its own specifics. Despite almost universal suffrage, the political consciousness of the population as a whole remained quite low: the vast majority of voters were either illiterate or poorly educated, their preferences were based not on party programs, but on personal sympathies and trust in leaders. Administrative resources were actively used during the elections. The army played a significant role in politics: the senior officers were virtually independent and had pronounced patriotic pan-Serbian aspirations. It was among the officers that the influential secret organization “Unification or Death” (or “Unification or Death”) arose. Black hand") led by Dragutin Dimitrievich-Apis, which sought to unite all South Slavs within the framework of the Serbian state.

The period of the late XIX - early XX centuries was marked by the modernization of society and the rise of culture. The network of primary and secondary schools and educational institutions quickly expanded, and a university was founded in 1905. Belgrade has become the undisputed cultural center of all Serbian lands. The greatest influence in Serbian social and cultural life was enjoyed by the magazine " Srpski Knizhevni Glasnik"under the leadership of Jovan Skerlić, who promoted the ideas of enlightenment and Yugoslav unity. High level reached Serbian science (the work of ethnographer Jovan Cvijic, geophysicist Milutin Milankovic). In literature and dramatic art, critical realism (Radoje Domanović, Branislav Nušić, etc.) was replaced by modernism, represented by such authors as Jovan Dučić, Vladislav Petković Dis, Velk Milicevic and Isidora Sekulicova. The artist Nadezhda Petrovic, who stood at the origins of modern Serbian art, won European fame. National themes played a special role in literature and art, primarily the Kosovo legend (the poetry of Velka Petrovic, the paintings of Paja Jovanovic, the sculpture of Ivan Mestrovic).

7.4. Balkan Wars

In foreign policy, the orientation towards Austria-Hungary after the coup of 1903 was replaced by rapprochement with Russia and France. Relations with Austria-Hungary deteriorated sharply after the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908, 40% of whose population were Serbs. The annexation sparked mass protests in Serbia and the formation of volunteer groups. The political consequence was the growth of the patriotic movement and the intensification of pan-Serbian propaganda in the lands of the Ottoman Empire inhabited by the Slavs, primarily in Kosovo and Macedonia. In 1912, Serbia entered into a military alliance with Bulgaria, providing for the division of Turkish possessions in Europe, which, however, left open the question of the future affiliation of Macedonia. It was followed by treaties with Greece and Montenegro. As a result, the anti-Turkish Balkan Union was created, which in the fall of 1912 opened military operations against the Ottoman Empire. During First Balkan War In 1912-1913, Serbian troops occupied Kosovo, Sandjak, northern and central Macedonia and a significant part of Albania with Durres. According to the London Peace of 1913, Serbia and Montenegro divided the Novopazar Sanjak and Kosovo between themselves, but Serbia's claims to Albania were rejected, the country did not receive access to the sea. Due to Bulgarian resistance, the issue of Macedonia's ownership was also not resolved. As a result, the Second Balkan War of 1913 broke out, ending with the defeat of Bulgaria and the division of Macedonia between Serbia and Greece: its northern part (Vardar Macedonia) went to Serbia.

The total area of ​​the lands annexed to Serbia as a result of the Balkan Wars was about 39 thousand square meters. km, population - almost 1.4 million people. In addition to the Serbs, there lived a significant number of Albanians, Turks, as well as Orthodox Macedonian Slavs, whose nationality had not yet been expressed. As part of the integration policy in Macedonia, Bulgarian schools and educational societies were closed, and Serbian colonization of Kosovo was encouraged. In Serbia itself, relations between radicals and army circles worsened. The political crisis was resolved in June 1914 with the establishment of the regency of Crown Prince Alexander.

7.5. Serbia in World War I

Serbia's military successes significantly increased the prestige of the state. Serbia took a leading political position on the Balkan Peninsula and stood at the head of the national movements of the southern Slavs. This, however, contributed to the radicalization of Serbian nationalists. On June 28, 1914, a group of Bosnian-Serb radicals associated with representatives of the Serbian officers from the "Unification or Death" organization committed the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary. The Austrian authorities blamed Serbia for this murder and presented it with an ultimatum. The refusal of the Serbian government to fulfill one of the conditions of the ultimatum became the reason for the start First World War .

The military potential of Serbia was greatly inferior to the forces of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. However, in the first year of the war, the Serbs managed to restrain the enemy: in September 1914, after the battle on the Drina, Austrian troops were thrown back into Bosnia, and in early December 1914 they were defeated at Kolubara and driven out of Belgrade. Serbia's victories significantly raised its prestige in the Entente countries and among the European public. But the country was at the limit of its capabilities: more than 700 thousand citizens were mobilized (1/6 of the population of the entire country), losses in the first year of the war amounted to about 163 thousand people, in the spring of 1915 a typhoid epidemic broke out, which claimed the lives of more than 150 thousand Serbs, and the state debt.

On September 23, 1915, Bulgaria entered the war on the side of Austria-Hungary and Germany, continuing to lay claim to the Serbian part of Macedonia. As a result of a coordinated attack by Austrian, German and Bulgarian troops and despite heroic resistance, in October 1915 the Serbian army was defeated on all fronts and retreated with colossal losses through the mountains of Albania to the Adriatic. Its remnants were evacuated by the Allies to Corfu. The territory of Serbia was occupied by Austrian, German and Bulgarian troops.

Already at the beginning of 1916, Serbian corps were re-formed in Corfu and went to the Solunsky Front, where they continued military operations together with the Anglo-French troops. At the end of 1916, Serbian units liberated Bitola, but further advance was stopped. At the same time, the Serbian government in exile, led by Nikola Pasic, continued to operate in Corfu. In 1917, a trial took place against members of the “Unification or Death” organization, as a result of which its leaders, including Dragutin Dimitrievich, were executed, and the army ceased to play an independent role in the political life of the country. In the fall of 1918, a radical turning point in the war occurred: in a series of battles, Franco-Serbian troops defeated the Bulgarian and Austrian armies and moved north, Bulgaria left the war. On November 10, 1918, the Allies crossed the Danube. Serbia was liberated.

The First World War had catastrophic consequences for Serbia: about 735 thousand Serbs, that is, more than 15% of the country's total population, died during hostilities and due to disease. The country was devastated, businesses were destroyed, the economy was in decline.

8. Serbia in Royal Yugoslavia

8.1. Formation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes

Already at the very beginning of the First World War, the Serbian government declared that it was waging a war for the liberation of the South Slavic peoples and their unification within the framework of Greater Serbia. In April 1915, the Yugoslav Committee was formed in London from representatives of the national movements of the southern Slavs in the territories that were part of Austria-Hungary to coordinate efforts to overthrow Austrian rule. On July 20, 1917, in Corfu, a declaration was signed between the Yugoslav Committee and the Serbian government providing for the unification of Serbia, Montenegro and the South Slavic lands within Austria-Hungary into a single independent state led by a king from the Serbian Karadjordjevic dynasty and with equal rights three nations - Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

The defeat of Austria-Hungary in the war and its collapse made it possible to realize the idea of ​​​​unifying the southern Slavs. Already on October 29, 1918, the creation of a State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs in the territories formerly part of Austria-Hungary was announced in Zagreb. On November 24, 1918, the people's council of Srem announced that it would join Serbia, a day later the national committee of the Serbs of Banat, Bačka and Baranja made the same decision, and on November 26, it was announced that Montenegro would join Serbia. Finally, on December 1, the Kingdom of Serbia and the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs united into a single independent state, called Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Peter I Karageorgievich was proclaimed its king.

The ideological basis of the new state was “ Yugoslavism", which grew out of Illyrianism: within the framework of a single state, Serbs, Croats and Slovenes were supposed to form a single Yugoslav people over time. This concept, however, did not recognize the national identity of the other Slavic peoples of the country (Muslim Slavs, Macedonian Slavs and Montenegrins), who were officially considered Serbs. Non-Slavic peoples (Kosovo and Macedonian Albanians, Bosnian and Sandjak Turks, Hungarians and Germans of Vojvodina) found themselves in the position of unwanted ethnic minorities, and if in relation to the Hungarians and Germans public policy was relatively tolerant, the Turks and Albanians were subjected to open discrimination aimed at squeezing these peoples out of the country. At the same time, the resettlement of Serbian colonists to Macedonia and Kosovo was encouraged, and the use of the Macedonian language in educational institutions and government bodies was prohibited. The protests of the Macedonian Slavs and Albanians against Serbization were brutally suppressed. However, the Macedonian and Albanian issues in their severity in the political life of the state were much inferior to the main internal problem: the Serbo-Croatian contradictions. Serbia was the undisputed core of the new state, and the Serbian elite took a dominant position in the country's political system. This caused discontent among the Croatian bourgeoisie and intelligentsia. Integration processes based on Serbian political culture encountered resistance from the Croats. The number of adherents of “Yugoslavism” in Croatia was rapidly declining, and the popularity of nationalist ideas was growing.

8.2. Period of parliamentarism

The socio-economic situation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in the first years of its existence was extremely difficult: post-war devastation, inflation, high unemployment, and the unresolved agrarian question led to unrest in the countryside and frequent mass strikes of workers. Throughout the interwar period, Serbia maintained complete dominance of agriculture in the economy, and its modernization proceeded at an extremely slow pace due to small land and lack of capital. The unification of the South Slavic lands did not give any significant impetus to the development of Serbian industry: negative factors such as competition from Slovenian and Croatian enterprises, the extremely low purchasing power of the population of Serbia and more backward regions, and a lack of labor and financial resources affected. However, during the interwar period, industrialization processes began in Serbia, primarily in the mining, food and tobacco industries. Belgrade was completely rebuilt and became a major European metropolitan center.

In the political system of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the leading role belonged to two Serbian parties: the People's Radical Party of Nikola Pašić, which switched to conservative, pan-Serbian positions, and the more liberal Yugoslav Democratic Party of Ljubomir Davidović, which defended the idea of ​​a united Yugoslav people. None of these parties managed to win any significant support among the non-Serb peoples of the country, but the relative numerical majority of Serbs in the ethnic composition of the kingdom's population allowed radicals and democrats to alternate in power throughout the 1920s. Their main political opponent was the Croatian Peasant Party, led by Stjepan Radić, which demanded federalization of the state. In 1921, under pressure from Serbian parties, a constitution was adopted (“ Vidovdan Charter »),

fixed the unitary structure of the country. For the 1920s. There was a characteristic sharp political struggle between radicals and democrats, as well as between Serbian and non-Serbian parties, a chronic political crisis, intrigue and leapfrog of governments. Attempts at a compromise between the Serbian and Croatian elites invariably failed, and tension in Serbo-Croatian relations grew, turning into clashes on ethnic grounds in areas with a mixed population. Economic and social issues were relegated to the background and remained unresolved. By the end of the 1920s, both main Serbian parties were in deep crisis, while the king's influence grew steadily. The culmination was the murder of two representatives of the Croatian Peasant Party by a Serbian deputy at a parliamentary meeting on June 20, 1928.

The only area in which progress was achieved in unifying the Yugoslav peoples was culture. The dialects of Croats, Serbs and Muslims continued to converge until the formation of a single Serbo-Croatian language, the Latin alphabet became the second written language for the Serbs, Belgrade and Zagreb turned into interethnic cultural and scientific centers. Belgrade, in addition, became one of the most important European centers of Russian emigration, which had a significant impact on the development of Yugoslav culture. In literature and art, ethnic characteristics faded into the background, and the confrontation between the avant-garde and traditional art came to the fore. Dominant role in the 1920s. played expressionism, the most significant representatives of which in Serbia were, first of all, the writer Miloš Crnjanski and the poet Rastko Petrovic, as well as in literature - Stanislav Vinaver and Dragisa Vasic, in the visual arts - Zora Petrovic and Milan Konjevic. In sculpture, the undisputed leadership belonged to the Croatian Ivan Mestrovic, the author of the “Winner” monument, which became one of the symbols of Belgrade.

8.3. Royal dictatorship

On June 6, 1929, a coup d'etat took place: King Alexander I abolished the constitution, dissolved parliament and took power into his own hands. The main goal of the state was declared to be the accelerated formation of a unified Yugoslav nation, the activities of political parties and public organizations based on ethnic principles were suspended, and the use of symbols of individual peoples (including Serbian) was prohibited. The country received the name Kingdom of Yugoslavia, a new Administrative division(banovina), which practically does not take into account historical and ethnic boundaries, and a strict police regime. The new, enacted, constitution of 1931 (“ September Charter") significantly expanded the prerogatives of the king.

After the coup, the Serbian elite continued to maintain a dominant position, and the Serbian peasantry remained the main support of the regime. In seven out of ten Banovinas, Serbs made up the majority of the population. At the same time, the new administrative division contributed to the blurring of already unclear ideas about the ethnic boundaries of the Serbian lands. The concept of “Yugoslavism” was not rejected by the majority of Serbs, so opposition to the royal dictatorship in Serbia was extremely weak. The king managed to stabilize the political situation, unify legislation and significantly reduce the level of corruption in the administration. Over time, however, the collapse of the Yugoslav idea became more and more obvious. A new rise of national opposition began, and separatist forces became more active (primarily in Croatia, Macedonia and Kosovo). The situation was complicated by the global economic crisis and the Great Depression, which hit the country's economy hard.

In Serbian culture of the 1930s. One of the most striking phenomena was surrealism, which is considered the pinnacle of the Serbian avant-garde. At the origins of this trend were the Belgrade magazines “ Hypnos" And " Immensely"led by Rade Drainać and Marko Ristic. Among the representatives of surrealism in literature are Aleksandar Vučo and Oscar Davičo, in theatrical art - Ranko Mladenović, in visual art - Noe Zivanović. Of greater importance, however, was the development of realism (Branislav Čosićov and the only Nobel laureate among Yugoslav writers, the Bosnian Croat Ivo Andrić). Desanka Maksimovic stood out in poetry, Branislav Nušić and Mihajlo Isajlovic in drama, along with traditionalist architecture (Cathedral of St. Sava in Belgrade), modernism also developed (Albania Palace, Church of St. Antonin of Padua in Belgrade).

In 1934, King Alexander I was assassinated in Marseille by Macedonian nationalists. Power passed to the regency council headed by Prince Paul. In 1935, Milan Stojadinović became chairman of the government and managed to stabilize the situation. Although the authoritarian nature of the regime was preserved, Stojadinović and Prince Paul undertook a liberalization of the political system: the activities of national political parties and organizations were allowed, representatives of Muslims and Slovenes entered the government, while the persecution of separatists and communists continued. In fact, the course of Alexander I towards the accelerated formation of the Yugoslav nation was dismantled. In foreign policy, a rapprochement with Germany began; after the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the neutrality of Yugoslavia was declared; in 1940, Yugoslavia recognized the Soviet Union.

Growing foreign policy threat in the late 1930s. and the strengthening of nationalist forces within the country forced the government to make concessions to the Croatian radicals. In 1939, a separate autonomous Croatian Banovina was formed with broad internal self-government and a vast territory. The government's concessions to the Croats caused a revival of nationalism in Serbia: under the leadership of the Serbian Cultural Club (SKK), local nationalist organizations began to be created, demanding an end to concessions to the Croats and the unification of all Serb-inhabited lands into a single administrative unit, which was to become the core of a reformed Yugoslavia in the Great Serbian spirit . At the same time, the rise of the communist movement began: Communist Party Yugoslavia, headed by Josip Broz, was the only non-national political organization in the country, and its slogan of federalization of the country on the basis of equal rights of peoples quickly gained popularity among the intelligentsia and poor sections of society.

On March 25, 1941, the Yugoslav government, under severe pressure from Germany, signed a protocol on accession to the Berlin Pact. In Serbia, unlike other regions of the country, pro-German sentiments and the ideology of fascism and Nazism did not have any significant support from the population. The opposition and military circles were sharply opposed to the government's foreign policy. On the night of March 27 in Belgrade, Serbian generals and leaders of the JKK carried out a coup d'état and removed the pro-German government and regent Prince Paul. The coup was greeted with enthusiasm by all layers of Serbian society. Mass demonstrations in his support took place in the cities of Serbia, accompanied by calls for the organization of popular defense against German aggression.

9. Serbia during the Second World War

On April 6, 1941, after a massive bombing of Belgrade, German and Italian troops invaded Yugoslavia. They were joined by the armies of Hungary and Bulgaria. The poorly armed, ethnically divided Yugoslav army, led by self-confident but poorly trained generals, was unable to offer any significant resistance to the invaders. The invasion quickly turned into a triumphal march. Yugoslav soldiers, especially from non-Serbian areas, fled or capitulated without a fight. Within eleven days the country was occupied and divided. Backa was annexed by Hungary, Macedonia and southeastern Serbia by Bulgaria, and Kosovo by Albania. The puppet Independent State of Croatia was created on the territory of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Direct German military rule was established in central Serbia, although Milan Nedić's own pro-German government nominally existed.

As in other occupied countries, almost all Jews were exterminated in Serbia, in addition, tens of thousands of people were executed or sent to concentration camps on suspicion of collaboration with anti-fascist forces or as retribution for the actions of the partisans. About 350 thousand refugees moved to Serbia from lands that were transferred to Croatia, Albania and Bulgaria, where the Serbs were subjected to severe repression and genocide. At the same time, the Serbian economy suffered relatively little during the invasion: large enterprises changed owners, but continued to operate; Unlike other areas of the country, there was no famine in Serbia. The actions of resistance units during the end of 1941 - beginning of 1944 were limited to remote areas and practically did not affect large cities. As a result, until the spring of 1944 the situation in Serbia remained stable.

Almost immediately after the occupation, a massive anti-fascist movement began on the territory of Serbia, in which both monarchists (Chetniks led by Dragoljub Mihailovic) and communist partisans (Josip Broz Tito's People's Liberation Army) took part. Throughout the war, they inflicted significant damage on the occupying forces and at times controlled quite large territories (Uzhice Republic). However, along with the fight against the Germans and Ustasha, the Chetniks and Partisans also fought among themselves. After the defeat of the Užice Republic by German troops in the fall of 1941 and until mid-1944, the advantage in the liberation struggle in Serbia belonged to the Chetniks, who worked closely with the allies and the Yugoslav government in exile.

Gradually, however, the advantage tilted towards the communists. Mihailović sought to restore the pre-war authoritarian system and was close to the nationalist wing of the Serbian opposition (SKK), while the communists advocated the idea of ​​a federal and democratic Yugoslavia renewed on the basis of social and ethnic equality. Punitive actions against civilians - Croats and Muslims, carried out by the Chetniks during the fight against the Ustashas, ​​finally alienated the non-Serb nations of Yugoslavia from the movement. On the contrary, the communists were not seen in ethnically motivated crimes. Therefore, if the Serbs completely dominated among the Chetniks, representatives of all nations of Yugoslavia fought in the partisan detachments. In addition, the Chetnik tactics consisted of waiting for the Allies to land and allowed cooperation with collaborators, while the Communist partisans constantly advanced and actively used mobile battle groups. As a result, in 1943 the British and then the Soviet governments gradually switched from supporting the Chetnik movement to helping the partisans. Under pressure from the allies, King Peter II and the government in exile in 1944 recognized Tito as the leader of the Yugoslav resistance forces.

On July 28, 1944, the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia launched a massive offensive from Bosnia into the territory of occupied Serbia. At the end of September, Soviet and Bulgarian troops entered Serbian territory. On October 20, Belgrade was liberated by joint actions of the Red Army and partisans. Then the NOLA units, significantly strengthened by the mobilization of the civilian population, began advancing into Vojvodina, Croatia, Bosnia and Slovenia. Particularly heavy fighting took place on the Srem front, where about 20 thousand soldiers died. By mid-May 1945, with the help of the Yugoslav army and not without the participation of Soviet troops, the country was completely liberated. Everywhere and without much resistance, power passed into the hands of the communists, which was accompanied by repressions against collaborators and participants in the Chetnik movement, the establishment of control over the activities of non-communist parties, the expropriation of large property and the division of confiscated land among the poorest peasants.

The war caused enormous damage to the country. According to modern estimates, about 1.1 million citizens of Yugoslavia died during the war, of which about 560 thousand were Serbs. The Serbian population of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia suffered the greatest losses; about 200 thousand people died on the territory of Serbia proper. The transport infrastructure was almost completely destroyed, the volume industrial production decreased by half, approximately the same drop was noted in agriculture. However, thanks to the labor enthusiasm, especially of young people, the help of the allies and the receipt of reparations from Germany and Italy, the economy quickly recovered. By the end of 1946, more than 90% of the railway tracks had been restored, and industrial production had reached pre-war levels. By this time, the resistance of the Chetnik, Ustasha and Albanian ballista detachments hiding in hard-to-reach areas was finally suppressed.

10. Serbia in socialist Yugoslavia

10.1. Formation of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

On November 29, 1945, the creation was proclaimed Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. Six national republics were formed within it, one of which was the People's Republic of Serbia (since 1963 - the Socialist Republic of Serbia). Within Serbia, two autonomous provinces were created - Vojvodina, with a significant Hungarian population, and Kosovo and Metohija, where the vast majority of residents were Albanians. A significant number of the Serbian population remained outside the People's Republic of Serbia - primarily in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. Although Serbia became only one of six equal federal subjects, the role of Serbs at the state level remained high: Serbs and Montenegrins, who made up only about 45% of the country's population, occupied more than 84% of positions in the Yugoslav state apparatus and about 70% of military posts in the People's Army. This was due to the higher level of self-identification of Serbs with the Yugoslav state and their leading role in the partisan and communist movement during the war.

Despite the fact that the state remained centralized, and the actual powers of the individual republics were minimal, federalization Yugoslavia contributed to the improvement of interethnic relations and the end of national discrimination. The only exception were the Vojvodina and Slovenian Germans - they were sent en masse to internment camps and forced to emigrate. About 350 thousand Serbs and representatives of other Slavic nationalities moved to Vojvodina, which radically changed the ethnic composition of the region's population. At the same time, in relation to the Albanians, despite their anti-Yugoslav uprising in early 1945, the authorities used a policy of appeasement: in particular, an audit of land redistributions during the years of occupation of Kosovo was not carried out, and the return of Serbian refugees to Kosovo was made impossible.

First elections in constituent Assembly, held in November 1945, were boycotted by the opposition and brought an unconditional victory to the Popular Front, led by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia: more than 90% of the votes. Although the results in some regions, according to modern researchers, were falsified, public support for the communists was obvious. At the beginning of 1946, a new constitution of Yugoslavia was approved and a government led by Tito was formed. In the same year, all parties except the communist one were dissolved, all large and medium-sized enterprises were nationalized, and an economic planning system was introduced. On January 17, 1947, the Constitution of the People's Republic of Serbia was adopted, which, in particular, proclaimed the right of every people to self-determination up to and including secession.

10.2. Tito's reign

Initially, Yugoslavia was oriented towards the Soviet Union, but in 1948 there was a break between Tito and Stalin. Collectivization began in 1949 peasant farms and accelerated industrialization of the economy. These measures, however, did not bring an improvement in the economic situation and could not stop the decline in living standards.

In 1950, a turn in politics took place: a course was taken towards decentralization and expansion of self-government, primarily in economic matters. A gradual separation of Yugoslavia from the countries of the Soviet bloc began. Although the socialist economy and authoritarian political system remained, in the early 1950s the possibility of private entrepreneurship was somewhat expanded, management was decentralized, issues of the economy, education, culture and social sphere were transferred to the level of the republics, and the federal administrative apparatus was reduced by 60%. The basic element of the self-government system was the labor collectives of enterprises, whose representatives began to form the chambers of parliaments of the republics and the federal assembly, which was enshrined in the constitutions of the FPRY and the republics, approved in 1953. The break with the USSR opened up the opportunity for Yugoslavia to receive loans from the West, which, together with the reorientation of industry from heavy to light and processing, contributed to the rapid growth of industrial production. In 1961, labor collectives were given the right to distribute enterprise profits at their own discretion. Collectivization was also stopped, almost all collective farms in Serbia were dissolved, and investment in agriculture increased. At the same time, the collapse of collective farms in Serbia led to a return to pre-war small-scale farming and, accordingly, stagnation of the agricultural sector.

In general, the reforms contributed to economic growth and a significant increase in living standards. In the 1960s, the Yugoslav economy experienced rapid growth, the country was turning from an agrarian to an agrarian-industrial one. In Serbia, in particular, the share of people employed in agriculture decreased from 75% to 56%. In terms of economic and civil freedoms, Yugoslavia was significantly ahead of other socialist countries. In accordance with the constitution adopted in 1963, the state was renamed Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, whose president remained Josip Broz Tito.

At the same time, politics decentralization led to aggravation of interethnic relations. Since 1967, a new rise in the Croatian national movement began, demands for recognition of the Croatian language and expansion of self-government began to be put forward. The most serious problem for Serbia was the situation in Kosovo and Metohija, where the influence of Albanian nationalists increased. Initially, attempts were made to suppress discontent by force, but after the removal in 1966 of the post of Vice President of Yugoslavia Aleksandar Rankovic, the leader of the supporters of centralization and, according to the Serbian public, the main representative of the interests of the Serbian people in the highest echelons of power, a course was taken towards democratization and deepening federalism. In Kosovo and Metohija, in particular, Albanian became one of the languages ​​of administration, the number of Albanian schools and the number of Albanians in the civil service increased, and investments in the regional economy increased sharply. However, the demand to grant Kosovo the status of a republic within Yugoslavia was rejected.

In 1968, student protests against social inequality and the “red bourgeoisie” swept across Belgrade. In the same year, mass demonstrations took place in Kosovo with slogans of separation from Yugoslavia and unification with Albania. Although the protests were suppressed, the Serbian leadership met the Kosovo Albanians halfway: the word Metohija disappeared from the name of the region, an Albanian university was opened in Pristina in 1969, and the autonomy of Kosovo and Vojvodina was significantly expanded. The culmination of the decentralization policy was the new constitutions of Yugoslavia and Serbia, approved in 1974. They significantly expanded the powers of the republics, as well as the autonomous regions of Serbia, giving the latter the right of veto at the federal level and sharply reducing the possibility of intervention of republican bodies in the internal affairs of the autonomies. In fact, this meant the transformation of Yugoslavia into a confederation and the withdrawal of Kosovo and Vojvodina from Serbian control. Speeches by representatives of the Serbian intelligentsia against the disintegration of the country were harshly suppressed. Separatist actions of Kosovo Albanians were also suppressed, but in general, the non-interference of federal and republican bodies in the internal affairs of Kosovo contributed to the gradual distancing of the region from Serbia. Serbs in Kosovo continued to be subjected to pressure and discrimination, which led to an increase in their emigration from the region. If in 1974 Serbs occupied 31% of government and public posts in Kosovo, then by 1980 - only 5%. At the same time, a massive influx of investment into the region’s economy from Serbia and other developed republics continued.

IN politically the period 1968-1972 in Serbia was marked by some democratization of public life and further liberalization of the economy. However, in 1972, the Serbian liberals in power (Marko Nikezic, Latinka Perovic) were removed from their posts. A massive purge of party ranks was carried out, as a result of which adherents of dogmatic Marxism found themselves in power. This led to increased control of the Communist Party over the economy and other areas of life and a new round of industrialization. At the same time, the decentralization of the country led to the virtual collapse of the common market and the isolation of national economies. Economic growth gave way to stagnation and, in the late 1970s, decline. A chronic budget deficit emerged, inflation reached 45%, the size of the public debt was $20 billion, and the lag in Serbia's economic development from Slovenia and Croatia increased.

10.3. Collapse of Yugoslavia

After Tito's death in 1980, centrifugal tendencies in Yugoslavia intensified. In Serbia, a rethinking of the role of Tito and the Communist Party, as well as Serbia’s place within Yugoslavia, began. The relative liberality of the communist regime in Serbia contributed to the rapid growth of the popularity of dissidents: V. Juretic, G. Djogo, D. Cosic, M. Djilas, V. Draskovic and others. The Kosovo issue sharply escalated: in 1981, a wave of nationalist protests swept across Kosovo under the slogan "Republic of Kosovo", armed clashes began between Serbs and Albanians. In response, the Serbian opposition and the Orthodox Church began to put forward demands for limiting the province's autonomy and strengthening the position of Serbia and the Serbian people within Yugoslavia. The greatest resonance was caused by the publication in 1986 of the “Memorandum of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts,” in which the situation of the Serbs in Kosovo was called “ a matter of life and death for the Serbian people" The country's communist leadership, which remained in Titoism, was, however, unable to offer a way out of the crisis.

In 1986, Slobodan Milosevic became the head of the Union of Communists of Serbia. In April 1987, he addressed the Kosovo Serbs with a promise to fight for their rights and soon became a national leader of the movement to strengthen Serbia's position in Yugoslavia. In 1989, Milosevic and his supporters came to power in Serbia, Montenegro and Vojvodina. In the same year, a new constitution of Serbia was approved, which effectively eliminated the autonomy of the national regions. This caused mass protests in Kosovo, as a result of which a state of emergency was introduced in the region. At the same time, Milosevic's pro-Serbian policy aroused dissatisfaction with the leaders of other union republics. In Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia, nationalist forces came to power, focused on rapprochement with the West, economic liberalization and achieving independence.

In 1990-1991, the first opposition parties emerged in Serbia, but power continued to remain in the hands of Milosevic and former communists united in the Socialist Party of Serbia. The socialists also controlled the mainstream media. The first relatively free elections in Serbia, held in 1991, brought the socialists an unconditional victory. The fact that Serbia remained the only republic where power remained old device, contributed to the formation of anti-Serbian sentiment in Europe, as well as Western support for the “democratic” regime in Croatia and the disintegration of Yugoslavia. On June 25, 1991, Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence. Croatian Serbs in Krajina and Slavonia opposed secession from Yugoslavia, armed clashes began between Croats and Serbs, which quickly escalated into a civil war. Then the war broke out in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where an independent Republika Srpska was proclaimed, which managed to create a strong army led by Ratko Mladic. Milosevic's government unofficially provided military support to the Croatian and Bosnian Serbs, which led to the imposition of UN economic sanctions against the country. The paramilitary nationalist organizations that emerged in Serbia in 1990-1991 showed the greatest activity in civil wars. The most famous of them is the Serbian Volunteer Guard ("Tigers of Arkan") under the command of Zeljko Ražnatović.

11. Serbia in the “Third Yugoslavia”

11.1. Serbia in 1992-1997

On April 27, 1992, the creation of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was announced, which included only Serbia and Montenegro. The Constitution of the FRY provided for the possibility of annexing the Serbian territories of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the state. Although union bodies were formed, real power remained in the hands of the presidents of both republics, most notably Slobodan Milosevic. At the same time, the political and economic crisis in Serbia itself continued to deepen, and the country’s international isolation grew. The trade blockade of Yugoslavia, huge military expenditures, the influx of about 540 thousand Serb refugees from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina into the country led to a sharp drop in industrial production (by 70%), rising unemployment (up to 25%) and hyperinflation (2000% per month) Average The monthly salary in Serbia at the end of 1993 was the equivalent of only 13 German marks. The difficult economic situation and the threat of war contributed to emigration from the country. According to some reports, about 300 thousand young people emigrated from Serbia in the 1990s. Although Milosevic won the 1992 presidential elections again, the Socialists lost their majority in parliament and were forced to form a bloc with the nationalist Radical Party of Vojislav Seselj.

Interethnic relations also remained tense: the autonomy of Kosovo and Metohija was finally liquidated in 1991, broadcasting of Albanian television channels and the publication of the most influential newspapers was stopped, more than a hundred thousand Albanians were dismissed from public service, and several dozen people died in clashes with the police. At the same time, in 1990, Albanian separatists announced the creation of an independent republic of Kosovo and began to create parallel authorities and armed formations, which in 1996 were united into the Kosovo Liberation Army. Due to discrimination and the actions of paramilitary nationalist formations, mass emigration of Sandzak Muslims to Bosnia and Vojvodina Hungarians to Hungary began.

Despite the general crisis, the anti-Serbian campaign of the Western media and their uncritical attitude towards the violation of the rights of Serbs in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo contributed to the strengthening of Milosevic’s position in Serbia. In 1994, an economic reform was carried out that stopped hyperinflation and stabilized the situation in the country. As a result of privatization, however, a new elite was formed, closely associated with the ruling regime. In 1995, military aid to Serbian separatists in Croatia and Bosnia was stopped. As a result of Operation Storm, the Croatian army regained control of the Serbian Krajina, which led to the mass expulsion of the Serbs. The Dayton Accords were soon signed, ending civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In 1996, the internal political struggle in Serbia intensified. For the first time, the socialists were defeated in local elections in several dozen cities across the country, losing to the Unity coalition of opposition parties. The government did not recognize the election results, which led to mass demonstrations in Belgrade and other Serbian cities against the Milosevic regime. In the 1997 parliamentary elections, the democratic opposition significantly increased its representation in the assembly, but Milosevic became the President of Yugoslavia in 1997, and his comrade-in-arms Milan Milutinovic became the President of Serbia.

11.2. Kosovo issue and the fall of Milosevic

One of the government's most important tasks remained solving the Kosovo problem. Clashes between Kosovo separatists and Serbian armed forces have continued since the mid-1990s. In fact, a guerrilla-terrorist war was waged in the region, which claimed hundreds of lives of civilians, Serbian officials and military personnel. In 1998, the Yugoslav army was introduced into Kosovo, which by the end of that year managed to push the Kosovo Liberation Army to the Albanian border. However, it was not possible to completely suppress the resistance. The number of refugees from the region, according to the UN, in June 1999 exceeded 850 thousand people, mainly Albanians. Moreover, repression by the Serbian authorities and suspicions of ethnic cleansing against the Albanian population of Kosovo began to cause increasing indignation in the world community. In early 1999, information was made public about the murder of 45 Albanians, including women and a child, in the village of Racak in southern Kosovo. Later it was proven that the conflict was falsified, with the aim of military intervention by NATO. Thirty-nine of the dead Albanians were UCHK militants, killed in battles with the Serbian and police and transported to Racak from other places. Incident in Racak. Serbian soldiers were accused of this crime. Negotiations between representatives of the Kosovo Albanians and the Serbian government, mediated by foreign powers, held in Rambouillet (France), were unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, the prevailing opinion in NATO was the need for military intervention in the conflict. Serbia was presented with an ultimatum to withdraw troops from Kosovo and allow NATO military units to enter Serbian territory. The ultimatum was ignored. On March 24, 1999, NATO aircraft carried out their first bomb attacks on Belgrade and other Serbian cities. The bombing continued for almost three months until, on June 9, the Serbian authorities agreed to the deployment of international security forces (KFOR) to Kosovo. On June 10, a UN Security Council resolution was adopted to resolve the Kosovo problem. Yugoslav troops left Kosovo, power in the region passed to the Albanians. As a result of the bombing, Serbian factories and communications routes were destroyed, and at least 500 people were killed. More than 350 thousand Serbs and other representatives of non-Albanian nationalities left Kosovo. At the same time, the withdrawal of Serbian troops made it possible to begin the process of returning Albanian refugees to the region: by the beginning of 2001, about 700 thousand people had returned.

Defeat in the war with NATO weakened the position of nationalists in Serbia. In the presidential elections of Yugoslavia in 2000, the candidate from the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), Vojislav Kostunica, won, but he did not receive an absolute majority of votes. Milosevic demanded a second round of voting in accordance with the law. As a result of street demonstrations with the support of Western countries and the United States, he was overthrown on October 5, 2000, while Milosevic himself was at home. A few months later he was arrested. The subsequent elections to the Serbian Assembly also brought victory to the DOS; Zoran Djindjic, the leader of the Democratic Party, became Prime Minister. A program was adopted to revive the economy and strengthen social protection population. Serbia's rapprochement with European countries began. In 2001, Slobodan Milosevic was extradited to the International Tribunal in The Hague, which caused a split in the ruling coalition.

Milosevic's trial at the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague was unprecedented in its length. Milosevic did not recognize the legitimacy of the Hague Tribunal and refused lawyers, declaring that he would defend himself.

In February 2002, Milosevic made a long defense speech in The Hague, in which he gave refutations of several dozen counts of accusation (and also noted the inconsistency of this trial with a number of international legal norms - that is, in fact, its illegality from the point of view of international law). In addition, in his speech, Milosevic gave a detailed analysis of the background, origins and course of the NATO war against Serbia. Presented evidence (including photographic and video materials) of a number of NATO war crimes: the use of prohibited weapons such as cluster bombs and depleted uranium ammunition, the deliberate destruction of non-military targets, numerous attacks on civilians.

In his speech, Milosevic also points out that the bombing carried out by the alliance did not and could not have military significance: for example, as a result of all the missile and bomb attacks on the territory of Kosovo, only 7 tanks of the Serbian army were destroyed. Milosevic emphasizes (citing specific, proven examples) that in a significant part of the given examples of missile and bomb attacks on civilians, the victims were ethnic Albanians, and seeks to prove the thesis that massive NATO attacks against Albanian peasants were not unintentional, but were a deliberate action , designed to provoke their mass exodus from Kosovo to neighboring states. The presence of masses of Albanian refugees could, in the eyes of the world community, confirm the accusation of the Serbs of genocide of the Albanians - the main thesis put forward by the NATO leadership as the basis for the “operation”. The same purpose, according to Milosevic, was served by the reprisals of Albanian militants against those Albanians who did not want to leave Kosovo (from which, in particular, Milosevic concludes that the actions of the Albanian armed forces, on the one hand, and the leadership of the NATO operation, on the other, were completely coordinated. ) As one of the proofs of this thesis, Milosevic points to leaflets in the Albanian language, which contained calls for the Albanian population to flee Kosovo (these leaflets were scattered from NATO aircraft).

In 2002, a new agreement was concluded between Serbia and Montenegro, reducing the powers of the federal authorities, as a result of which on February 4, 2003, Yugoslavia was transformed into the confederal State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. On May 21, 2006, a referendum was held in Montenegro, at which a decision was made to secede from the union. On June 3, 2006, Montenegro declared independence. On June 5, Serbia declared its independence.

12. Culture of Serbia in the second half of the 20th century

The cultural life of Serbia after the liberation of the country in 1945 developed in close connection with the culture of other peoples of Yugoslavia. The profound economic transformations carried out during the construction of the Yugoslav model of socialism led to a rapid increase in urban population and a significant increase in living standards. The break with the Soviet Union in 1948 contributed to the active penetration of Western European culture and contemporary art into Serbia. Despite the Communist Party maintaining ideological control over culture, in general it developed quite freely. Literature and art of the late 1940s and early 1950s reached their peak in the books of Ivo Andrić and Branko Čopić, the paintings of Djordje Andrejevic Kuhn and the architecture of New Belgrade. The liberalization of public life in the 1950s contributed to the development of new trends in art. The activities of the philosophical circle, grouped around the Zagreb magazine, had a great influence on Serbian culture Praxis. Among the authors of the new wave, a special role was played by Mihail Lalic, Dobrica Cosic, Miodrag Bulatovic, Mesa Selimovic and others. The works of Danila Kish have won worldwide fame. The leader of modern theatrical art was undoubtedly the Belgrade theater Atelier 212. In 1967, the international theater festival BITEF was founded in Belgrade, which soon became one of the leading theater shows in Europe. Serbian cinema has reached a high level in the works of directors Vladimir Pogačić, Aleksandar Petrović, Goran Paskalević and others. The development of artistic art in Serbia was closely connected with world trends in painting (abstract art, pop art, neo-cubism, new realism, neo-constructivism, minimalism) and sculpture (works by Olga Jancic, Matija Vukovich, etc.). The so-called “naive art”, based on folklore traditions, has become widely known. In the mid-1950s, a pop culture phenomenon emerged and began to rapidly develop. The singer Djordje Marjanovic gained enormous popularity. Since the 1960s The passion for rock music quickly expanded among Serbian youth. The architecture was dominated by mass housing construction. TO the best examples Yugoslav modern architecture includes the Beogradjanka Palace, the National Library building and the Museum of Modern Art in Belgrade.

Corrosion of the communist regime in the 1980s. contributed to the rethinking of Yugoslav history, the development of unofficial youth culture, the main center of which was Belgrade, and the strengthening of liberal ideas in literature (D. Kis, A. Isakovic, M. Kovac). The patriotic trend in literature and art, striving for the revival of the Serbian nation and the Great Serbian idea, also had a great influence on the development of Serbian culture. These trends are reflected in the speeches of scientists and artists, the works of Vuk Draskovic, Danko Popovic, Milorad Pavic, in the directorial works of Borislav Mihajlovic-Mihiz and others. The social influence of the Serbian Orthodox Church also increased significantly. At the same time, the 1990s. characterized by a decline in the level of mass culture and the dominance of “light genres”. Pop music of the turbo-folk style has gained enormous popularity. In parallel, contemporary art developed, represented, in particular, by the works of members of the art group FotograFIA, the KULT theater, the projects URBAZONA, Dibidon, etc. Important centers of contemporary art were the independent radio station Radio B92 and the Belgrade cinema center Rex. . Serbian cinema has achieved worldwide recognition in the directorial works of Goran Paskaljevic, Srdjan Dragojevic, Rashi Andrić and, especially, Emir Kusturica.

13. Independent Republic of Serbia

The President of Serbia since 2004 is the leader of the Democratic Party (DP), Boris Tadic, Prime Minister in 2004-2008. - leader of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DPS) Vojislav Kostunica. Unlike the pro-Western Tadic, Kostunica adheres to conservative positions. Nationalists from Vojislav Seselj's Serbian Radical Party also play a significant role. Over the past few years, the policy of integrating Serbia into the European Union has continued. In the 2008 presidential elections, Boris Tadic was re-elected, ahead of the radical representative Tomislav Nikolic, which was perceived as support by the Serbian population for the country's pro-Western course.

The most pressing problem remains the Kosovo issue. On February 17, 2008, Kosovo declared its independence, which was soon recognized by the United States and some European states. Serbia declared the unconstitutionality of this step and non-recognition of independent Kosovo. In this she was supported by Russia, China, India, including 5 countries from the NATO bloc Spain, Greece, Slovakia, Romania and Cyprus. Thus, out of 192 countries included in the UN, only 65 recognized the independence of Kosovo. On the issue of Serbia's further actions on the Kosovo issue, significant differences emerged between the intransigent Prime Minister Kostunica and the more liberal President Tadic. On March 13, 2008, the president dissolved parliament. In the early elections, the coalition of democratic parties “For a European Serbia” won, receiving about 40% of the votes. Vojislav Seselj's radicals gained about 30% of the votes, Vojislav Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia - 12%. On June 27, 2008, the president proposed the current Minister of Finance Mirko Cvetkovic to the post of chairman of the country's government.

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25. The share of land holdings over 50 hectares in 1889 was only 0.06% of the total area of ​​cultivated land.

26. The qualification for participation in elections was only 15 dinars of taxes paid per year.

27. In Serbia, a population of 2.6 million, the army numbered approximately 150 thousand people

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History of Serbia

Early period
Around 8,500 years ago, during the Neolithic period, the Starčevo and Vinča cultures existed near modern Belgrade and dominated the Balkans, as well as parts of Central Europe and Asia Minor. Two important archaeological sites from this era, Lepenski Vir and Vinča Belo Brdo, are still preserved near the banks of the Danube.

During the Iron Age around 1000 BC. Paleo-Balkan peoples known as the Thracians, Dacians and Illyrians developed in the Balkans. These peoples were discovered by the ancient Greeks during their expansion into the south of modern Serbia in the 4th century BC; The most northwestern point of the empire of Alexander the Great was the city of Kale Krševica. The influx of Greek immigration was soon followed by the Celtic tribe of the Scordisci, who settled in the area in the 3rd century BC. The Scordisci created their own tribal state and built several fortifications, including the capital Singidunum (now Belgrade) and Navisos (now Niš).

The Romans conquered most of modern Serbia in the 2nd century BC. In 167 BC the Roman province of Illyria was created, the rest of modern Serbia was conquered during the first century BC. As a result of this, modern Serbia extends over the territory of several former Roman provinces, the main cities of which were: Singidunum (Belgrade), Viminacium (Stari Kostolac), Remesiana (Bela Palanka), Navysos (Niš) and Srema (now Sremska Mitrovica), which was the Roman capital during the Tetrarchy.

Seventeen Roman emperors were born in the territory of modern Serbia, which is second only to modern Italy in this matter. The most famous of these was Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor, who decreed religious tolerance throughout the empire. When the Roman Empire was divided in 395, the region became the eastern part of the Byzantine Empire.

MedievalSerbia
The Serbs, like the Slavs, in the Byzantine world lived in the so-called Slavic lands - initially territories independent of Byzantine control. In the 8th century, the Vlastimirović dynasty created the Serbian principality. In 822 Serbia included most of Dalmatia, and in 870 Christianity was adopted as the state religion. In the mid-10th century, the Serbian state entered into a tribal union that extended to the shores of the Adriatic Sea along the Neretva, Sava, Morava and Lake Skadar rivers. The state collapsed after the death of the last known ruler from the Vlastimirović dynasty. The Byzantines annexed the region and held it for a century until 1040, when the Serbs, led by representatives of the future Vukanović dynasty, rebelled in the coastal region of Duklja. In 1091, the Vukanović dynasty created the Grand Duchy of Serbia (Raška). The two parts of the principality were reunited in 1142.

In 1166, Stefan Nemanja ascended the throne, thereby marking the beginning of a prosperous Serbia, henceforth under the rule of the Nemanjic dynasty. Nemanja Rastko's son (later Saint Sava) achieved independence for the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1217 and was the author of the oldest known constitution, and Stephen the First Crowned created the Serbian Kingdom in the same period. Medieval Serbia reached its peak during the reign of Dusan the Mighty, who took advantage of the civil war in Byzantium and doubled his territory by conquering areas in the south and east, reaching as far as the Peloponnese, and was even crowned Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks. The Battle of Kosovo in 1389 marks a turning point in Serbian history and is considered the beginning of the fall of the medieval Serbian state. Subsequently, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Serbia was ruled by influential families - Lazarević and Branković.

After Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 and the siege of Belgrade, Serbia fell in 1459 after the siege of its second capital, Smederevo. The fortress in Smederevo is the largest medieval fortress in Europe. By 1455, Central Serbia was completely conquered by the Ottoman Empire. After repelling Turkish attacks for more than 70 years, Belgrade finally fell in 1521, opening the door for the Ottoman Empire to expand into Central Europe. Vojvodina, part of the Habsburg Empire, resisted Ottoman rule until the beginning of the 16th century.

StoryOttoman Serbia and the Great Serbian Migration
After losing its independence and becoming part of the Kingdom of Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, Serbia briefly regained sovereignty during the reign of Jovan Nenad in the 16th century. Three Habsburg invasions and numerous uprisings constantly challenged Ottoman rule. One of key events became the Banat Uprising in 1595, which was part of a long war between the Turks and the Habsburgs. The region of modern Vojvodina survived centuries of Turkish occupation before falling to the Habsburg Empire in the late 17th century under the Treaty of Karlowitz.

The nobility was destroyed in all Serbian lands south of the Danube and Sava, dependent peasants worked for the Ottoman masters, and a significant part of the clergy fled or was isolated in monasteries. Under the Ottoman system of governance, Christian Serbs were considered an inferior class and were burdened with heavy taxes, and a small portion of the Serbian population was even subject to Islamization. The Ottoman Turks abolished the Serbian Patriarchate in 1459, but then restored it in 1555, thus ensuring the limited preservation of Serbian cultural traditions within the empire.

When the Great Serbian Migration depopulated much of southern Serbia, many Serbs attempted to cross the Danube and seek refuge north in Vojvodina and west to the Austrian military frontier, where they were granted rights by the Austrian crown under the Wallachian Statute of 1630. The Serbian ecclesiastical center also moved north to the Metropolis of Sremski Karlovci after the Patriarchate of Pec was again abolished by the Turks in 1766. Following the Address of the Serbian People, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I officially granted the Serbs an autonomous territory.

In 1717 - 1739 Austrian Empire ruled most of central Serbia, which was called the Kingdom of Serbia (1718 - 1739).

Revolutionand independence
The Serbian revolution for independence from the Ottoman Empire lasted eleven years, from 1804 to 1815. The revolution included two separate uprisings, as a result of which Serbia achieved autonomy, and later complete independence (1835-1867).

After the First Serbian Uprising led by Prince Karageorgje Petrovic, Serbia was independent for almost a decade before the Ottoman army reoccupied the country. Soon after, the Second Serbian Uprising began, led by Milos Obrenovic. It ended in 1815 with a compromise between the Serbian revolutionaries and the Ottoman authorities. After the Ackerman Convention in 1826, the Treaty of Adrianople in 1829 and finally the Khatt-i Sharif, the sovereignty of Serbia was recognized. The first Serbian Constitution was adopted on February 15, 1835.

Following the clash between the Ottoman army and the Serbs in Belgrade in 1862 and under pressure from the Great Powers, the last Turkish soldiers left the principality by 1867. By adopting a new constitution without consulting the Ottoman Porte, Serbian diplomats confirmed the country's de facto independence. In 1876, Serbia declared war on the Ottoman Empire, declaring its unification with Bosnia. The country's independence was recognized internationally at the Congress of Berlin in 1878, which formally ended the Russo-Turkish War. The Berlin Treaty, however, prohibited Serbia from uniting with Bosnia, and Austria-Hungary received the right to occupy Serbia and Raska (Sandzak). From 1815 to 1903, Serbia was under the rule of the Obrenović dynasty, with the exception of the period from 1842 to 1858, when it was ruled by Prince Alexander Karadjordjević. In 1882, Serbia became a kingdom ruled by King Milan I. In 1903, after the May Coup, representatives of the Karadjordjevic dynasty and descendants of the revolutionary leader Karadjordje Petrovich seized power. The 1848 revolution in Austria led to the creation of an autonomous territory - Serbian Vojvodina. By 1849, the area was transformed into the Voivodeship of Serbia and Temesvár Banat.

Balkan Wars, First World War and First Yugoslavia
During the First Balkan War in 1912, the Balkan Union defeated the Ottoman Empire and conquered its European territories, allowing the territory to expand into Raska and Kosovo. The Second Balkan War soon followed when Bulgaria attacked its former allies but was defeated. The Treaty of Bucharest was signed. Within two years, Serbia had expanded its territory by 80% and increased its population by 50%, but suffered heavy losses on the eve of the First World War, with approximately 20,000 dead.

Serbiansoldiers on the island of Corfu during the First World War (1916-1918)
The assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Young Bosnia organization, led to the declaration of war on Serbia by Austria-Hungary. In defense of its ally, Serbia, Russia announced the mobilization of its troops, which led to the fact that Austria-Hungary's ally, Germany, declared war on Russia. Austria-Hungary's retaliation against Serbia sparked military alliances and a chain reaction of declarations of war across the continent, leading to the outbreak of World War I within a month. Serbia won the first major battles of the First World War, including the Battle of Cer and the Battle of Kolubara - marking the first Allied victories against the Central Powers in the First World War. Despite initial success, the Central Powers eventually prevailed over Serbia in 1915. Most of her army and a small part of the civilian population went into exile on the Greek mainland and the island of Corfu, where they recuperated, regrouped and returned to the Macedonian front to make the final breakthrough across the front line on September 15, 1918, liberating Serbia and winning Austro-Hungarian Empire and Bulgaria. Serbia, with its allies, was the main Balkan power of the Entente, which made a significant contribution to the victory in the Balkans in November 1918, assisting France in forcing Bulgaria to surrender. Serbia was classified as a minor Entente power. Serbia's losses amounted to 8% of the total military losses of the Entente; 58% (243,600) of the Serbian Army soldiers died during the war. The total number of victims is about 700,000 people - more than 16% of the pre-war population of Serbia, and most of the total male population (57%).

Following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the region of Srem was united with Serbia on November 24, 1918, followed by the annexation of Banat, Bačka and Baranja a day later, thereby incorporating all of Vojvodina into the Kingdom of Serbia. On November 26, 1918, the Assembly of the Assembly of Podgorica overthrew the Petrovic-Njegosi dynasty and united Montenegro with Serbia. On December 1, 1918, the manifesto of the Serbian Prince Regent Alexander was published on the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, led by the Serbian King Peter I.

After King Peter, the throne was succeeded by his son Alexander in August 1921. There were constant clashes between Serbian centrists and Croatian autonomists in parliament, and most governments were fragile and short-lived. Nikola Pasic, a conservative prime minister, led most governments at short intervals until his death. King Alexander changed the country's name to Yugoslavia and replaced the 33 regions with nine new banovinas. The result of Alexander's dictatorship was to further alienate non-Serbs from the idea of ​​unity. Alexander was assassinated in Marseille during an official visit in 1934 by Vlado Chernozemski, a member of the VMRO (Internal Macedonian-Odrinian Revolutionary Organization). Alexander was succeeded on the throne by his eleven-year-old son Peter II and the regency council was headed by his cousin, Prince Paul. Prime Minister Dragisa Cvetkovic agreed to resolve the issue of the Croatian population with Vladko Macek. In August 1939, as a result of the Cvetković-Maček Agreement, the autonomous Banovina Croatia was created.

World War II andSecond Yugoslavia
In 1941, despite Yugoslavia's attempts to maintain military neutrality, the Axis powers invaded the country. The territory of modern Serbia was divided between Hungary, Bulgaria, independent Croatia and Italy (greater Albania and Montenegro), while the rest of Serbia, with a puppet government led by Milan Acimović and Milan Nedić, fell under German military rule. The occupied territories became the scene of a civil war between the royalist Chetniks under the command of Draže Mihailović and the communist partisans under the leadership of Josip Broz Tito. During one year of occupation, approximately 16,000 Serbian Jews were killed, amounting to about 90% of the pre-war Jewish population. Many concentration camps were established throughout the country. The largest concentration camp was located in Banjica, where the main victims were Serbian Jews, Roma and Serbian political prisoners.

The puppet state of the Axis powers, which was the Independent State of Croatia, committed widespread persecution and genocide of Serbs, Jews and Gypsies. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum estimates that approximately 320,000 to 340,000 ethnic Serbs from Croatia, Bosnia, and northern Serbia were killed by Croatian Ustasha fascists. These figures are confirmed by the Jewish Virtual Library.

The Republic of Užice was a short-lived Partisan liberated territory (autumn 1941), a military mini-state in the western part of occupied Serbia, and the first liberated territory in Europe during World War II. By the end of 1944, as a result of the Belgrade operation, the partisans gained an advantage in the civil war, and subsequently control over Yugoslavia. After the Belgrade operation, the Srem Front became the last stage of World War II in Serbia. An estimated 60,000-70,000 people died in Serbia during the communist takeover.

The victory of the communist guerrillas led to the abolition of the monarchy and a subsequent organized constitutional referendum. Soon the League of Communists of Yugoslavia created a one-party state. All opposition was suppressed, and people who were considered to support the opposition or advocate separatism were jailed or executed for sedition. Serbia became one of the republics (Socialist Republic of Serbia) within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, with a republican division of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (Communist Party of Serbia). Serbia's most powerful and influential politician during Tito's time in Yugoslavia was Aleksandar Rankovic - one of the "Big Four" Yugoslav leaders, along with Tito, Edvard Kardelj, and Milovan Djilas. Ranković was later relieved of his post due to disagreements over Kosovo nomenklatura and Serbian unity. Rankovic's dismissal was received extremely negatively by the Serbs. Reformers advocating the decentralization of Yugoslavia made progress in the late 1960s and achieved significant decentralization of power, creating autonomy in Kosovo and Vojvodina and recognizing the Yugoslav Muslim nation. As a result of these reforms, colossal changes occurred in the nomenclature and police of Kosovo - massive removal of Serbs from positions and their occupation by ethnic Albanians. Further concessions were made to ethnic Albanians in Kosovo in response to the unrest, including the creation of the Albanian-language University of Pristina. These changes caused widespread concern among Serbs.

DecayYugoslavia and the political transition of state power
In 1989, Slobodan Milosevic came to power in Serbia. Milosevic promised reductions in the powers of the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina, where his allies subsequently came to power in an “anti-bureaucratic revolution.” This causes tension with the communist leadership of the other republics and the awakening of nationalism throughout the country, which ultimately led to the collapse of Yugoslavia: Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina declared their independence. Serbia and Montenegro remained together as part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY).

Fueled by ethnic tensions, the Yugoslav Wars broke out, with the worst conflicts in Croatia and Bosnia, where the ethnic Serb population opposed independence from Yugoslavia. The FRY did not intervene in the conflicts, but provided transport, military and financial support to Serbian forces in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In response to this support, the UN imposed sanctions on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in May 1992, which led to political isolation and economic collapse. A multi-party democratic system was introduced in Serbia in 1990, officially ending the one-party system. Milosevic's critics stated that the government remained authoritarian despite the constitutional changes, as Milosevic retained significant political influence over state media and the state security apparatus. When the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia refused to admit defeat in municipal elections in 1996, it sparked mass protests against the government. In 1998 - 1999, peace was disrupted again when the situation in Kosovo escalated due to continuous clashes between Yugoslav security forces and the KLA. The clashes led to the Kosovo War and the bombing of Serbia for months by NATO and its allies, against the wishes of the UN.

In September 2000, opposition parties accused Milosevic of rigging the elections. A campaign of civil resistance followed, led by the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), a broad coalition of parties against Milosevic. This led to October 5, when half a million people from all over the country gathered in Belgrade and forced Milosevic to admit defeat. The fall of Milosevic completed Yugoslavia's international isolation. Milosevic was transferred to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Serbia's democratic opposition has said that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia will strive to join the European Union. In 2003, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was renamed Serbia and Montenegro; The EU has begun negotiations on the Stabilization and Association Agreement. The political climate in Serbia remained tense in 2003, when Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was assassinated in a conspiracy emanating from organized crime circles and former security forces.

On May 21, 2006, a referendum was held in Montenegro on secession from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. On June 5, 2006, the National Assembly of Serbia declared Serbia as the legal successor state of the former state union. The province of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008. Serbia immediately condemned this statement and continues to deny Kosovo's independence. The declaration of independence received varied responses from the international community, with some states supporting it and others condemning the unilateral decision. Negotiations between Serbia and the Albanian authorities of Kosovo are being held in Brussels through EU mediation.

In April 2008, Serbia was invited to join the Intensive Dialogue program with NATO, despite a diplomatic break with the alliance over Kosovo. Serbia officially applied to join the European Union on December 22, 2009, and received candidate status on March 1, 2012, following a delay in December 2011. Following positive recommendations from the European Commission and the European Council in June 2013, EU accession negotiations began in January 2014.

Pre-state formations began to appear as early as the ninth century, but the Byzantine conquest stopped this process. Only by the twelfth century did the Serbs free themselves from her power. By the fourteenth century, the small state had become a powerful power. History of Serbia V medieval period is closely connected with the name of Stefan Dusan, who led the country to prosperity and increased its territory. At the end of the fourteenth century, after the defeat at Kosovo, the country lost its independence and began to pay tribute to the Ottoman Empire. In the position of a colonial state Serbia remained until the end of the nineteenth century. Since the recognition of independence, the state has begun to develop at an accelerated pace economically and culturally.

A monarch was in power in the country, and a parliament was also established. After the First World War, neighboring lands united around Serbia, and the state of Yugoslavia was formed. During the Second World War, its territory was occupied. Yugoslavia was liberated by Soviet soldiers moving at an accelerated pace towards Germany. Serbian culture absorbed all the twists and turns of history, but did not lose its individuality.

In the nineties of the twentieth century, as a result people's wars the state collapsed. Cities in Serbia were bombed, and the Kosovo region was occupied by peacekeeping troops. In 2006, Montenegro separated as a result of a referendum. Currently, Serbia does not have sea routes.

Long and ambiguous story states are closely connected with the fate of the main city. – Belgrade is the most suffering region of the country. During the history of its existence, it was destroyed to the ground many times. More than forty armies from different countries sought to capture Belgrade. In the twentieth century alone, it was bombed from the air twenty times.

Currently, the metropolitan area is divided into sixteen districts, ten of them are within the city. The population is two million people. Despite the great damage and numerous destruction caused by NATO troops at the end of the twentieth century, the city becomes even more beautiful and lives its own measured life.

After the collapse of Yugoslavia population of Serbia changed both numerically and ethnically. Its current population is seven million two hundred thousand people. Eighty-three percent of the total are Serbs. After the secession of Kosovo, many Albanians moved to this area. The country is home to a large diaspora of Hungarians, Bulgarians, Roma and even Chinese. The latest census showed that Serbia has a large migrant population, more than any other European country. Their number is seven percent.

At the beginning of the twentieth century state of Serbia had a monarchical system of government. Currently it is a parliamentary republic. The country is headed by the President, who relies on a unicameral parliament and the Council of Ministers. Members of Parliament and the President are elected by referendum. The country has a Constitution adopted in 1990. Serbia has its own armed forces and judicial organizations.

The end of the twentieth century became very difficult for the country. It was subjected to all sorts of sanctions and military intervention. Currently external politics of Serbia returned to normal. It is recognized by all world powers. The country is a candidate for EU membership. Trade agreements have been concluded between Serbia and Russia, and tourists have the opportunity to stay in the territory of these states for thirty days without a visa.

Language of Serbia

The official was recognized along with its independence. The majority of the country's population is fluent in Serbian and its dialects. Ethnic groups have the opportunity to speak their own languages. The Torlak dialect is used as a dialect in the south of the country; it is not recognized as official, but is very common among the local population.