Serbia
Historie
Approximately around 6.500 years BC, during the Neolithic, the Starčevo and Vinča cultures existed in the region of
modern-day Belgrade. They dominated much of Southeast Europe (as well as parts of Central Europe and Anatolia). Several important archaeological
sites from this era, including Lepenski Vir and Vinča-Belo Brdo, still exist near the banks of the Danube.
The start of Bronze Age in northern Serbia is marked by the Indo-European invasion, represented by Vučedol culture (3000– 2200 BC)
centered in the region of Syrmia. This culture has been linked with Proto-Illyrian and Mycenaean Greece.
During the Iron Age, local tribes of Triballi, Dardani, and Autariatae were encountered by the Ancient Greeks
during their cultural and political expansion into the region, from the 5th up to the 2nd century BC.
The Celtic tribe of Scordisci settled throughout the area in the 3rd century BC. It formed a tribal state, building several
fortifications, including their capital at Singidunum (present-day Belgrade) and Naissos (present-day Niš).
The Romans conquered much of the territory in the 2nd century BC. In 167 BC, the Roman province of Illyricum was
established; the remainder was conquered around 75 BC, forming the Roman province of Moesia Superior; the modern-day Srem region
was conquered in 9 BC; and Bačka and Banat in 106 AD after the Dacian Wars.
When the Roman Empire was divided in 395, most of Serbia remained under the Byzantine Empire. At the same time, its northwestern parts
were included in the Western Roman Empire. By the 6th century, South Slavs migrated into the European provinces of the Byzantine
Empire in large numbers. They merged with the local Romanised population that was gradually assimilated. The Serbs in the Byzantine world
lived in the so-called Slav lands, lands initially out of Byzantine control and independent. The Vlastimirović dynasty
established the Serbian Principality in the 7th century.
In 924, the Serbs ambushed and defeated a small Bulgarian army, provoking a major retaliatory campaign that ended with Bulgaria's
annexation of Serbia at the end of that year. Threatened by an alliance between the Byzantines and the Serbian state of Duklja,
in 997 the Bulgarian tsar Samuel defeated and captured its Prince Jovan Vladimir and took control of the Serb lands again.
The state disintegrated after the death of the last known Vlastimirid ruler; the Byzantines annexed the region and held it for a century,
until 1040 when the Serbs under the leadership of what would become the Vojislavljević dynasty revolted in Duklja, a maritime region.
In 1091, the Vukanović dynasty established the Serbian Grand Principality, based in Raška.
In 1166, Stefan Nemanja assumed the throne, marking the beginning of a prospering Serbia, henceforth under the rule of the Nemanjić
dynasty. Nemanja's son Rastko, gained autocephaly for the Serbian Church in 1219 and authored the oldest known constitution,
and at the same time Stefan the First-Crowned established the Serbian Kingdom in 1217.
Medieval Serbia reached its peak during the reign of Stefan Dušan (1331–1355), who took advantage of the Byzantine civil war and
doubled the size of the state by conquering territories to the south and east at the expense of Byzantium, reaching as far as the Peloponnese,
also being crowned Emperor of Serbs and Greeks in 1346.
The Battle of Kosovo against the rising Ottoman Empire in 1389 marks a turning point and is considered as a beginning of the fall
of the medieval Serbian state. The magnate families Lazarević and Branković ruled the suzerain Serbian Despotate afterwards
After the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453 and the Siege of Belgrade, the Serbian Despotate fell in 1459 following the
siege of the provisional capital of Smederevo.
A Serbian principality was restored a few years after the fall of the Serbian Despotate by the Branković dynasty in what is now
Vojvodina. It was ruled by exiled Serbian despots and nobles, existing until 1540 as a Hungarian vassal, when it fell to the Ottomans.
Continuing wars and various rebellions constantly challenged Ottoman rule. One of the most significant was the Banat Uprising in 1594
and 1595, which was part of the Long War (1593–1606) between the Habsburgs and the Ottomans.
In 1718–39, the Habsburg monarchy occupied much of Central Serbia and established the Kingdom of Serbia as crownland. Those gains were
lost by the Treaty of Belgrade in 1739, when the Ottomans retook the region. Apart from territory of modern Vojvodina which remained
under the Habsburg Empire, central regions of Serbia were occupied once again by the Habsburgs in 1788–1792.
The Serbian Revolution for independence from the Ottoman Empire lasted eleven years, from 1804 until 1815. During the First Serbian
Uprising (1804–1813), led by vožd Karađorđe Petrović, Serbia was independent for almost a decade before the Ottoman army was able
to reoccupy the country. Shortly after this, the Second Serbian Uprising began in 1815. Led by Miloš Obrenović, it ended with a
compromise between Serbian revolutionaries and Ottoman authorities. In 1817 the Principality of Serbia was granted de facto independence
from the Ottoman Empire.
From 1815 to 1903, the Principality of Serbia was ruled by the House of Obrenović, save for the rule of Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević
between 1842 and 1858. In 1882, Principality of Serbia became the Kingdom of Serbia, ruled by King Milan I. The House of
Karađorđević, descendants of the revolutionary leader Karađorđe Petrović, assumed power in 1903 following the May Overthrow. In the north,
the 1848 revolution in Austria led to the establishment of the autonomous territory of Serbian Vojvodina; by 1849, the region
was transformed into the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar.
In the course of the First Balkan War in 1912, the Balkan League defeated the Ottoman Empire and captured its European territories,
which enabled territorial expansion of the Kingdom of Serbia. The Second Balkan War soon ensued when Bulgaria turned on its former
allies, but was defeated, resulting in the Treaty of Bucharest. In two years, Serbia enlarged its territory by 80% and its population
by 50%.
The 28 June 1914 assassination of Austrian Crown Prince Franz Ferdinand in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, by Gavrilo Princip, a
member of Young Bosnia, served as a pretext for the Austrian declaration of war on Serbia on 28 July 1914, marking the beginning of World
War I. The Austro-Hungarian army invaded Serbia capturing the capital Belgrade on 2 December 1914, however the Serbian Army successfully
defended the country, won several victories, and on 15 December 1914 recaptured Belgrade. In late 1915, however, German generals were given
control and invaded Serbia with Austrian and Bulgarian forces.
With the end of World War I and the collapse of both the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires the conditions were met for proclaiming the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in December 1918. The official name of the state was changed to Kingdom of Yugoslavia
by King Alexander I on 3 October 1929.
In 1941, in spite of Yugoslav attempts to remain neutral in the war, the Axis powers invaded Yugoslavia. Most of the territory of modern
Serbia was occupied by the German army and was governed by the German Military Administration in Serbia. The governed territory was
called Serbia or the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia, and, besides German military administrators, it was also governed
by the Serbian puppet governments first under Milan Aćimović and then under Serbian army general Milan Nedić.
The Yugoslav territory was the scene of a civil war between royalist Chetniks commanded by Draža Mihailović and communist
partisans commanded by Josip Broz Tito. By late 1944, the Belgrade Offensive swung in favour of the partisans in the civil
war; the partisans subsequently gained control of Yugoslavia. Following the Belgrade Offensive, the Syrmian Front
was the last major military action of World War II in Serbia.
After the war Serbia became a constituent republic within the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia known as the People's Republic
of Serbia, and had a republic-branch of the federal communist party, the League of Communists of Serbia.
In 1989, Slobodan Milošević rose to power in Serbia. Milošević promised a reduction of powers for the autonomous provinces of Kosovo
and Vojvodina, where his allies subsequently took over power, during the Anti-bureaucratic revolution. This ignited tensions between
the communist leadership of the other republics of Yugoslavia and awoke ethnic nationalism across Yugoslavia that eventually resulted in its
breakup, with Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia declaring independence during 1991 and 1992. Serbia and Montenegro
remained together as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Fueled by ethnic tensions, the Yugoslav Wars (1991–2001) erupted, with the most severe conflicts taking place in Croatia and
Bosnia, where the large ethnic Serb communities opposed independence from Yugoslavia. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia remained
outside the conflicts, but provided logistic, military and financial support to Serb forces in the wars.
In 1998, continued clashes between the Albanian guerilla Kosovo Liberation Army and Yugoslav security forces led to the short Kosovo
War (1998–99), in which NATO intervened, leading to the withdrawal of Serbian forces and the establishment of UN administration
in the province.
The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ended in 2003 after the Federal Assembly of Yugoslavia voted to enact the Constitutional Charter of
Serbia and Montenegro, which established the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.
Following Montenegro's vote for full independence in the referendum of 21 May 2006 (55.4% yes, 44.6% no), Montenegro declared independence
on 3 June 2006. This was followed on 5 June 2006 by Serbia's declaration of independence, marking the final dissolution of the State Union
of Serbia and Montenegro, and the re-emergence of Serbia as an independent state.
The Assembly of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on 17 February 2008. Serbia immediately condemned the declaration
and continues to deny any statehood to Kosovo. The declaration has sparked varied responses from the international community, some welcoming it,
while others condemned the unilateral move. Status-neutral talks between Serbia and Kosovo-Albanian authorities are held in Brussels,
mediated by the EU.
Serbia officially applied for membership in the European Union on 22 December 2009, and received candidate status on 1 March 2012.
Following a positive recommendation of the European Commission and European Council in June 2013, negotiations to join the EU commenced in
January 2014.
Serbia drew western criticism for not joining EU sanctions against Russia and maintaining bilateral relations after the 2022 Russian invasion
of Ukraine. However, Serbia condemned Russia at the United Nations General Assembly and Human Rights Council.
I have visited Serbia several times
The pictures of these trips, are not yet available; i have to digatalize them first.
Please let me know when you're having questions.
i would be pleased to help you.
Things to do and other tips
