Serbia

V

Government

Serbia adopted a new constitution in September 1990, which stripped the provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina of their autonomy and closed their legislatures. It also laid the groundwork for multi-party elections, which were held for the first time in December 1990, confirming the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia (the former Communist Party) in power. The head of the republic was a president, who between 1989 and 2000 was the nationalist and Socialist Party leader, Slobodan Milošević; in October 2000 he was replaced by Vojislav Koštunica of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia.

The legislative body is the unicameral National Assembly, with 250 members. In parliamentary elections held in January 2007 the nationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS; Srpska Radikalna Stranka) won most seats, followed by the Democratic Party (DS; Demokratska Stranka), and the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS; Demokratska Stranka Srbije).

In May 2002 the federal parliament ratified an agreement by which the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia would be replaced by a looser union between Serbia and Montenegro, with the two countries sharing the defence and foreign ministries and the federal presidency. Yugoslav, Montenegrin, and Serbian leaders signed an accord setting up a new state called “Serbia and Montenegro” to replace Yugoslavia. In February 2003 the country Yugoslavia ceased to exist. Serbia and Montenegro comprised two semi-independent states in charge of their own economies. For three years Serbia and Montenegro co-existed but on May 21, 2006, Montenegro held an independence referendum. Just over 55 per cent of the population voted in favour and on June 3, Montenegro declared its independence. Serbia responded, acknowledging the end of the union and effectively eliminating the last vestiges of the former state of Yugoslavia.

VI

History

Serbia was at one time part of the ancient country of Illyria. The Romans conquered it in ad 44 and governed it as the province of Moesia. The Goths began attacking the area in the 3rd century, but after ad 395 it was part of the Byzantine Empire. During the 7th century, Serbs settled in the area west of the Morava River and subsequently gave allegiance to the Byzantines.

A

Turkish Control

The Serbs were united by Stephen Nemanya, who established the first kingdom of Serbia (Rascia) about 1168. Serbia gradually expanded until, under Stephen Dushan (reigned 1331-1355), it controlled most of what is now Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, and Greece. During his reign, the law was codified, the status of serfs regularized, and the country was stabilized. At the same time, however, the Ottoman Empire was also expanding. At Kosovo in 1389 the Serbs were defeated by the Ottoman Turks at the battle of Kosovo Polje. Sporadic fighting, however, continued until 1459, when the Turks captured Smederevo, south of Belgrade. Serbia then came under direct Turkish rule.

Finally the Serbs, after 345 years of subjugation, were reunited under the revolutionary leader George Petroviç (the son of a peasant), known as Karadjordje. Beginning in 1804, they waged a nine-year revolt, but Turkey regained control in 1813. Two years later a second revolt was led by Miloš Obrenović, a cattle drover. Within a few months most of Serbia was free of Turkish domination. Obrenović was recognized as hereditary prince in 1817, and Serbia was granted limited self-government under the suzerainty of the sultan. Under the Treaty of Adrianople, which followed the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829, Serbia gained greater autonomy, and the number of Turkish garrisons was reduced.

Obrenović had been implicated in the 1817 assassination of Karadjordje. This led to an intense rivalry between the two dynasties. An arbitrary ruler, Obrenović was forced to abdicate in 1839. He was succeeded by two of his sons. In 1842 Karadjordje’s son, Alexander, acceded to the throne, but he was deposed in 1858, and the Obrenović dynasty was restored. Michael Obrenović, son of Miloš, engineered a total Turkish withdrawal from Serbia in 1867. In 1868, however, he was assassinated, and his young cousin Milan gained the throne.

B

Austro-Hungarian Control

During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, Serbia and Russia allied themselves within the pan-Slavic movement to defeat Turkey in the Balkans. The 1878 Congress of Berlin recognized Serbian independence, but in effect made the country subservient to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1882 Milan, with Austrian support, proclaimed himself king, and in 1885 he declared war on Bulgaria, which he sought to subjugate, along with Eastern Rumelia. The Serbs were quickly routed but saved from conquest by Austrian intervention. The Bulgarian fiasco antagonized the powerful Radical Party, a liberal reform group, which in 1889 wrote a more liberal constitution and forced Milan to abdicate.

Milan’s son, Alexander I Obrenović, first proclaimed king under a regency, assumed the throne in 1893. The reactionary bent and general corruption of his regime, however, made him extremely unpopular, and he was assassinated in 1903. The Serbian legislature then selected Peter (Karadjordjević) as king. He liberalized the government, and his friend Nikola Pašić, founder of the Radical Party, took control of foreign policy as premier.

Serbian relations with Austria deteriorated badly during the so-called Pig War of 1905-1907, a customs dispute, and worsened after 1908 when Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1912 and 1913 Serbia took an active part in the Balkan Wars, which gained it both prestige and territory in Macedonia; it also received the sanjak, or district, of Novi Pazar and Kosovo-Mitohiyan. Austria now became alarmed by the growing strength of Serbia in the Balkans.

C

World War I

Tension was already extremely high on June 28, 1914, when the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and his wife were assassinated by a Serb nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, at Sarajevo, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Sarajevo Incident. The Austrian government, holding Serbia responsible, declared war and in August invaded the country, thus precipitating World War I. The Serbs repelled the invaders until October 1915, when Bulgaria also invaded. By December, the country had been occupied by the Central Powers; the Serbian army and government fled to the Greek island of Corfu in 1916.