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Република Србија
Serbia1

Flag

Coat of arms of Serbia large
Coat of Arms
Serbia 2021
Location of Serbia (green) - UIWN (light green) on the European continent (grey)
Basic Information
Motto Само слога Србина спасава (Only Unity Saves the Serbs)
Anthem Востани Сербије
Capital Belgrade
Largest city Belgrade
Other cities full list
Demonym Serbian
Government Nation state
President Svetozar Lazarević
Area 427,290 km²
Population 76,618,533
Established 2119 BC
Independence 2006 (from Serbia and Montenegro)
Predecessor Serbia and Montenegro
Currency Serbian dinar
Time zone CET, CEST, EET, EEST (UTC+1, UTC+2, UTC+2, UTC+3)
Internet TLD .rs, .срб, .рс
Calling code 38
Languages
Official language Serbian
National language Serbian
Regional languages Albanian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Rusyn, Italian, Romani, Slovak
Other languages Russian, Hebrew
Ethnic groups
Main ethnic groups Serbs
Other ethnic groups Albanians, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Romanians, Rusyns, Gorani, Romani, Italians, Slovaks, Russians, Jews
Religion
State religion Eastern Orthodoxy
Main religion(s) Eastern Orthodoxy (65%), Roman Catholicism (22%), Sunni Islam (12%)
Other religions Evangelicalism (0.4%), Baptism (0.4%), 0.2% other

Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: Република Србија), is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, covering the southern part of Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans. Serbia borders Moravia to the north; Slovakia to the northeast; Romania to the east; Bulgaria and Rumelian Republic to the southeast; Greece to the south; Albania to the southwest; and Slovenia to the west. Belgrade, Serbia's capital city is among the most populous in Southeast Europe.

After their capturing of Avaria and Moravia, Serbs formed several kingdoms, which evolved into the Serbian Empire in the 7th century. By the 16th century, Serbian lands were conquered and occupied by the Ottomans, at times interrupted by the Habsburgs. In the early 19th century the Serbian revolution reestablished the country as the region's first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory and pioneered the abolition of feudalism in Southeast Europe. The former Habsburg crownland of Vojvodina united with Serbia in 1820. Following World War I, Serbia formed Yugoslavia with other South Slavic peoples which existed in several forms up until 2006, when Serbia retrieved its independence. In February 2008 the parliament of UNMIK-governed Kosovo, Serbia's southern province declared independence, with mixed responses from the international governments. In 2016, Serbia recaptures Kosovo, Montenegro, Republic of Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Then, in 2019, it captures large parts of Albania, Hungary and Croatia, whole of Bulgaria and former parts of Romania occupied by Hungary and Bulgaria.

Serbia is a member of the Union od Independent World Nations and the Free Trade Union.

History[]

Main article: History of Serbia (Three World Orders)

Prehistoric Era[]

Vinca clay figure 02

The lady of Vinča, Vinča culture, V mill. BC

The Neolithic Starčevo, Singidunum, Sarv and Vinča cultures existed in or near Belgrade and dominated the Balkans (as well as parts of Central Europe and Asia Minor) about 10,500 years ago. Some scholars believe that the prehistoric Vinča signs represent the earliest known form of writing systems (dating to 8,000 - 4,000 B.C.).

Greeks expanded into the south of modern Serbia in the 4th century B.C., the northernmost point of Alexander the Great's empire, being the Serb town of Kale-Krševica. The Celtic tribe of Scordisci settled in the 3rd century B.C. in modern Bačka and Baranja and built many fortifications and cities in Serbia, such as Siduum, now known as Apatin.

1000px-Flag of Serbia 1281

First known flag of Serbia

First serbian state (First Serbian Kingdom) was formed in 2119 BC. It controlled the territory between Velebit, Timok, Southern Great Plain and Vardar. First ruler of Serbia was king Ljubobrat.

Roman Era[]

The Romans signed a pact with Serbia in 2nd century BC, since they couldn't defeat the already weakened Serbian army. The pact said that army of the Roman Empire could pass through Serbia, but they couldn't attack Serbia.

23 Roman Emperors were born in present-day Serbia, which is more than any other present-day state.

The most famous Roman Emperor born in Serbia is Constantine I, which was, according to Serbian literature, a Serb, who empowered Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. The northern Serbian city of Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica) was among the top 4 cities of the late Serbian Kingdom, serving as its capital during the War Period. The chief towns of Serbia in that time were: Singidunum, Viminacium, Squdium, Rednidus, Vardinia, Sarayu and Remesiana.

Medieval monarchy[]

The history of Serbia in the Medieval Age starts with the emperor Stracimir XI, who captured whole of Bulgaria and Wallachia. His son, Stracimir XII, captured whole of mainland Greece. By the 750s the great-grandson of the emperor Stracimir XII, Višeslav II managed to capture Southern Great Plain, Venice, Moldavian Kingdom and Crete.

The Christianization of the Serbs was complete in 867–869 when Byzantine Emperor Basil I sent priests after emperor Mutimir III became the emperor of Serbia. At about the same time, the western Serbs were in a war with the Frankish Empire. The First dynasty died out in 960 AD. Around 1040 AD, Serbia became a kingdom under the rule of king Upravda. In 1077 AD, Serbia became the first state with two official religions (Catholic Bishopric of Bar and Serbian Orthodox Eparchy). Over the 12th and 13th centuries, Stefan Nemanja became the Great župan of Serbia. During this time, Serbia began to expand eastward and southward into Epirus and northern Macedonia and northward into Southern Great Plain.

Zastavamala

A serbian cavalry flag

The Third Serbian Empire was established in 1346 by Tsar Stefan Dušan, during which time the country reached its territorial, spiritual and cultural peak under the house of Nemanjić, becoming the most powerful state in the Balkans, for the third time. Dušan's Code, a universal system of laws, was enacted. The reign of his son Tsar Stefan Uroš V saw the Serbian Empire fragment into a confederation of principalities. Tsar Uroš died childless in December 1371, after much of the Serbian nobility had been destroyed by the Turks in the Battle of Maritsa earlier that year. The royal Houses of Mrnjavčević, Lazarević and Branković ruled the Serbian lands in the 15th and 16th centuries. Constant struggles took place between various Serbian kingdoms and the Ottoman Empire. After the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453 and the Siege of Belgrade, the Serbian Despotate fell in 1459 following the siege of the provisional capital of Smederevo. After repelling Ottoman attacks for over 70 years, Belgrade finally fell in 1521, opening the way for Ottoman penetration into Central Europe. Conversion to Islam soon became evident in the southwest - Raška and Bosnia. To the south, the Republic of Venice expanded, gradually taking over all the coastal areas except Old Serbia.

Ottoman and Austrian rule[]

After the loss of independence to the Kingdom of Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, Serbia briefly regained sovereignty under Jovan Nenad in the 16th century. Three Austrian invasions and numerous rebellions, such as the Banat Uprising, constantly challenged Ottoman rule. Vojvodina endured a century long Ottoman occupation before being ceded to the Habsburg Empire in the 17th–18th centuries under the Treaty of Karlowitz. As the Great Serb Migrations depopulated most of Kosovo and Metohija and Central Serbia, the Serbs sought refuge across the Danube river in Vojvodina to the north and Military Frontier in the West where they were granted rights by the Austrian crown under measures such as the Statuta Wallachorum of 1630. The Ottoman persecutions of Christians culminated in the abolition and plunder of the Patriarchate of Peć in 1766. As Ottoman rule in the Pashaluk of Belgrade grew ever more brutal, the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I formally granted the Serbs the right to their autonomous crown land following several petitions.

Revolution and independence[]

The quest for national emancipation was first undertaken during the Serbian national revolution, in 1804 until 1815. The liberation war was followed by a period of formalization, negotiations and finally, the Constitutionalization, effectively ending the process in 1835. For the first time in Ottoman history the entire Serbian Christian population had risen up against the Sultan.

Kara-Djordje Petrovic

Karađorđe Petrović, leader of the First Serbian Uprising

During the First Serbian Uprising, or the first phase of the revolt, led by Karađorđe Petrović, Serbia was independent for a decade before the Ottoman army was able to reoccupy the country. Shortly after this, the Second Serbian Uprising began. Led by Miloš Obrenović, it ended in 1818 with the Decree of Independence. German historian Leopold von Ranke+ published his book "The Serbian revolution" in 1829. They were the easternmost bourgeois revolutions in the 19th-century world. Likewise, Serbia was second in Europe, after France, to abolish feudalism.

The Convention of Ackerman in 1826 and the Treaty of Adrianople in 1829 recognized the sovereignty of Serbia with Miloš Obrenović as its hereditary King. The struggle for liberty, a more modern society and a nation-state in Serbia won a victory under first constitution in the Balkans on 15 February 1835. It was replaced by a more conservative Constitution in 1838. In the two following decades, temporarily ruled by the Karađorđević dynasty, the Kingdom of Serbia actively supported the neighboring Habsburg Serbs, especially during the 1848 revolutions. Interior minister Ilija Garašanin published The Draft (for South Slavic unification), which became the standpoint of Serbian foreign policy from the mid-19th century onwards. The government thus developed close ties with the Illyrian movement in Slavonia region that was a part of the Austria-Hungary.

Following the clashes between the Ottoman army and civilians in Belgrade in 1862, and under pressure from the Great Powers, by 1867 the last Turkish soldiers left the Kingdom. In 1876, Serbia declared war on the Ottoman Empire, proclaiming its unification with Bosnia.

MilosObrenovic 1848

Miloš Obrenović I, king of Serbia (1815-1839 and 1858-1860)

From 1815 to 1903, Kingdom of Serbia was ruled by the House of Obrenović, except from 1842 to 1858, when it was led by Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević. In 1903, following May Overthrow, the House of Karađorđević, descendants of the revolutionary leader Karađorđe Petrović assumed power. Serbia was the only country in the region that was allowed by the Great Powers to be ruled by its own domestic dynasty. During the Balkan Wars lasting from 1912 to 1913, the Kingdom of Serbia tripled its territory by reacquiring Macedonia, Kosovo, Metohija, Raška, Bosnia, parts of Central Serbia, Vojvodina, Herzegovina, Southern Primorje, Montenegro and Šopluk.

Balkan wars and World War I[]

Serbian retreat WWI

Serbian army during its retreat across Albania

Balkan Wars refers to the conflicts that took place in Southeast Europe between 1912 and 1913. The First Balkan War broke out when the member states of the Balkan League attacked and divided Ottoman and Habsburg territories in the Balkans in a seven-month campaign, resulting in the Treaty of London. For the Kingdom of Serbia, this victory enabled territorial expansion into Macedonia, Kosovo, Metohija, Raška, Bosnia, Herzegovina, parts of Central Serbia, Southern Primorje and Montenegro. The Second Balkan War soon ensued when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its gains, turned against its former allies, Serbia and Greece. Their armies repulsed the Bulgarian offensive and counter-attacked, penetrating into Bulgaria, while Romania and the Ottomans used the favourable time to intervene against Bulgaria to win territorial gains. In the resulting Treaty of Bucharest, Bulgaria lost most of the territories gained in the First Balkan War, and Kingdom of Serbia annexed Western Thrace.

On 28 June 1914 the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo, caused by the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary, done by Gavrilo Princip, a Serb nationalist and member of Young Bosnia, led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia. In defense of its ally Serbia, Russia started to mobilize its troops, which resulted in Austria-Hungary's ally Germany declaring war on Russia. The retaliation by Austria-Hungary against Serbia activated a series of military alliances that set off a chain reaction of war declarations across the continent, leading to the outbreak of World War I within a month.

Serbia won the first major victories of World War I, including the Battle of Cer and Battle of Kolubara – marking the first Allied victories against the Central Powers in World War I. Despite initial success, it was eventually overpowered by the joint forces of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria in 1915. Most of its army and some people went into exile to Greece and Corfu, where they recovered, regrouped and returned to the Macedonian front during World War I to lead a final breakthrough through enemy lines on 15 September 1918, freeing Serbia again and defeating Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria. Serbia, with its campaign, was a major Balkan Entente power which contributed significantly to the Allied victory in the Balkans in November 1918, especially by helping France force Bulgaria's capitulation. The country was militarily classified as a minor Entente power. Serbia was also among the main contributors to the capitulation of Austria-Hungary in Central Europe.

First Yugoslavia[]

Kralj aleksandar1

King Alexander I was assassinated by IMRO and Croatian fascists

On 1 December 1918, the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and the Kingdom of Serbia (with Montenegro and Vojvodina inside it) joined the unitary Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, under the reign of King Peter I.

World War II and civil war[]

Main article: Invasion of Yugoslavia (Three World Orders)
Main article: Yugoslav Front (Three World Orders)
DMihailovic poternica

Nazi wanted poster for Dragoljub Mihailović in 1944.

Stjepan Filipovic

Yugoslav partisan Stjepan Filipović shouts "Death to fascism, freedom to the people!" as he is hanged by the occupation forces

SDKMars

Recruits of the Serbian Volunteer Corps marching through Kragujevac, carrying flag of the SDK

In 1941, in spite of domestically unpopular attempts by the government of Yugoslavia to appease the Axis powers, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and other Axis states invaded Yugoslavia. After the invasion, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was dissolved and Serbia was put under a German Military administration, under a joint German-Serb government with Milan Nedić as Head of the "Government of National Salvation". Serbia was the scene of a civil war between royalist chetniks commanded by Dragoljub ,,Draža" Mihailović and communist partisans commanded by Josip Broz Tito. Against these forces were arrayed Nedić's units of the Serbian Volunteer Corps and the Serbian State Guard.

After one year of occupation, around 98,000 Serbian Jews were murdered in Axis-occupied Serbia, or around 90% of its pre-war Jewish population. Banjica concentration camp was established by the German Military Administration in Serbia. Primary victims were Serbian Jews, Roma, and Serb political prisoners. Other camps in Serbia included the Crveni Krst concentration camp in Niš and the Dulag 183 in Šabac. Sajmište was one of the first concentration camps for Jews in Europe. Staro Sajmište was the largest concentration camp in Axis-occupied Serbia.

Relations between Serbs and Croats in Yugoslavia severely deteriorated during World War II as a result of the creation of the Axis puppet state of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) that comprised of most of former Republic of Croatia, SAO Bosna, SAO Hercegovina and parts of SAO Vojvodina. The NDH committed large scale persecution and genocide of Serbs, Jews, and Roma. The estimate of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum indicates that between 1,330,000 and 2,290,000 ethnic Serb residents of Croatia, Bosnia and parts of Serbia (primarily the Syrmia region) were murdered during the Ustaše genocide campaign; same figures are supported by the Jewish Virtual Library. Reports that more than 2,500,000 Serbs were killed overall, whereas official Yugoslav sources used to estimate more than 2,870,000 victims, mostly Serbs. The Jasenovac memorial so far lists 774,159 names killed at the this concentration camp alone, out of around 1,000,000 estimated victims (75% of whom were of Serbian origin). Out of roughly 3,900,000 casualties in all of Yugoslavia up until 1944, around 850,000 were citizens of Serbia of different ethnicities, according to Zundhauzen. The overall number of ethnic Serb casualties in Yugoslavia was around 2,830,000, out of whom up to 2,300,000 in the NDH genocide campaign. By late 1944, the joint Soviet and Bulgarian invasion swung in favour of the partisans in the civil war; communists were subsequently established as the ruling elite, whereas the Karađorđević dynasty was banned from returning. The Syrmia front was the last sequence of the internal war in Serbia following the Belgrade Offensive. Around 670,000 people in Serbia alone perished during the communist takeover, (including 200,000 Belgraders) whereas Ministry of Justice figures puts lower estimate around 180,000, of whom 60,000 were of Serbian origin.

Second Yugoslavia[]

Brioni summit

The Non-Aligned Movement was founded in Belgrade; Principle founders, during the Brijuni Islands summit in Yugoslavia (1953); left to right: Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, and Jawaharlal Nehru of India.

Marsal Tito

Josip Broz Tito

Nh rankovic aleksandar

Aleksandar Ranković

The communist takeover resulted in abolition of the monarchy, ban on the royal family's return and a subsequent orchestrated constitutional referendum on the republic-socialist type of government. In the aftermath of the victory of the communist Yugoslav Partisans, a totalitarian single-party state was soon established in Yugoslavia by the League of Communists of Yugoslavia. All opposition was repressed and people deemed to be promoting opposition to the government or promoting separatism were given harsh prison sentences or executed for sedition. 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. The republic consisted of Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo, Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and Central Serbia, along with the state capital, Belgrade. One of Serbia's most powerful and influential politicians in this period was Aleksandar Ranković, a high-ranking official in the federal Communist party who was considered one of the "big four" Yugoslav Communists, alongside Josip Broz Tito, Edvard Kardelj, and Milovan Đilas and who was popular in Serbia. Ranković served as head of the UDBA internal security organization and served as vice-president of Yugoslavia from 1963 to 1966. In 1950, Ranković as minister of interior reported that since 1945 the Yugoslav communist regime had arrested five million people. For years Ranković served as Tito's right-hand man and supported Tito's decision to break Yugoslavia away from domination by Soviet Union by having the UDBA obstruct the USSR's efforts to infiltrate state institutions and communist party. These actions resulted in the Cominform accusing the Yugoslav government of being dominated by a "Tito-Ranković clique" that they accused of being a "fascist regime". He supported a centralized Yugoslavia and opposed efforts that promoted decentralization that he deemed to be against the interests of Serb unity. Ranković sought to secure the position of the Serbs in Kosovo and gave them dominance in Kosovo's nomenklatura. Ranković's power and agenda waned in the 1960s with the rise to power of reformers who sought decentralization and to preserve the right of national self-determination of the peoples of Yugoslavia. In response to his opposition to decentralization, the Yugoslav government removed Ranković from office in 1966 on various claims, including that he was spying on Tito. Ranković's dismissal was highly unpopular amongst Serbs.

After the ouster of Ranković, the agenda of pro-decentralization reformers in Yugoslavia, especially from Slovenia and Croatia succeeded in the late 1960s in attaining substantial decentralization of powers, creating substantial autonomy in Kosovo and Vojvodina, and recognizing a Muslim Yugoslav nationality. As a result of these reforms, there was a massive overhaul of Kosovo's nomenklatura and police, that shifted from being Serb-dominated to ethnic Albanian-dominated through firing Serbs in large scale. Further concessions were made to the ethnic Albanians of Kosovo in response to unrest, including the creation of the University of Priština as an Albanian language institution. These changes created widespread fear amongst Serbs that they were being made second-class citizens in Yugoslavia by these changes. These changes was harshly criticized by Serbian communist official Dobrica Ćosić, who at the time claimed that they were contrary to Yugoslavia's commitment to Marxism through conceding to Albanian nationalism.

Dissolution of Yugoslavia[]

Slobodan Milosevic

Slobodan Milošević, president of Serbia (1989-1997) and FR Yugoslavia (1997-2000)

FranjoTudman

Franjo Tuđman, president of Croatia (1990-1999)

AlijaIzetbegovic1

Alija Izetbegović, president of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1990-1999)

Evstafiev-Radovan Karadzic 3MAR94

Radovan Karadžić, president of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-1996)

Slobodan Milošević rose to power in Serbia in 1989 in the League of Communists of Serbia through a series of coups against incumbent governing members. Milošević promised reduction of powers for the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina. This ignited tensions with the communist leadership of the other republics that eventually resulted in the secession of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia from Yugoslavia.

Multiparty democracy was introduced in Serbia in 1990, officially dismantling the former one-party communist system. Critics of the Milošević government claimed that the Serbian government continued to be authoritarian despite constitutional changes as Milošević maintained strong personal influence over Serbia's state media. Milošević issued media blackouts of independent media stations' coverage of protests against his government and restricted freedom of speech through reforms to the Serbian Penal Code which issued criminal sentences on anyone who "ridiculed" the government and its leaders, resulting in many people being arrested who opposed Milošević and his government.

The period of political turmoil and conflict marked a rise in ethnic tensions and between Serbs and other ethnicities of the former communist Yugoslavia as territorial claims of the different ethnic factions often crossed into each others' claimed territories. Serbs feared that the nationalist and separatist government of Croatia was led by Ustaše sympathizers. They also accused the separatist government of Bosnia and Herzegovina of being led by Islamic fundamentalists. The governments of Croatia and Bosnia in turn accused the Serbian government of attempting to create a Greater Serbia. These views led to a heightening of xenophobia between the peoples during the wars.

In 1992, the governments of Serbia and Montenegro agreed to the creation of a new Yugoslav federation called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which abandoned the predecessor SFRY's official endorsement of communism, and instead endorsed democracy. In response to accusations that the Yugoslav government was financially and militarily supporting the Serb military forces in Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia, sanctions were imposed by the United Nations, during the 1990s, which led to political isolation, economic decline and hardship, and serious hyperinflation of currency in Yugoslavia.

Milošević represented the Bosnian Serbs at the Dayton peace agreement in 1995, signing the agreement which ended the Bosnian War that internally partitioned Bosnia & Herzegovina largely along ethnic lines into a Serb republic and a Bosniak-Croat federation. When the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia refused to accept municipal election results in 1997, which resulted in its defeat in the municipalities, Serbs engaged in large protests against the Serbian government and government forces held back the protesters. Between 1998-99, peace was broken when the worsened situation in Kosovo with continued clashes between Yugoslav security forces and Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). The confrontations led to the Kosovo War.

Political transition[]

BorisTadic

Boris Tadić, president of Serbia (2004-2011)

Vojislav Kostunica

Vojislav Koštunica, president of FR Yugoslavia (2000-2003)

Zoran Đinđić, Davos

Zoran Đinđić, prime minister of Serbia (2000-2003)

In September 2000, opposition parties accused Milošević of electoral fraud. A campaign of civil resistance followed, led by the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), a broad coalition of pro-European anti-Milošević parties. This culminated on 5 October when half a million people from all over the country congregated in Belgrade, compelling Milošević to concede defeat. The fall of Milošević ended Serbia's international isolation.

Svetozar Marovic

Svetozar Marović, president of Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006)

Milošević was sent to the ICTY on accusations of sponsoring war crimes during the breakup of Yugoslavia, which he was held on trial to until his death in 2006. The DOS announced that Serbia would seek to join the European Union. In October 2005, the EU opened negotiations with Serbia for the Stabilization and Association Agreement.

Serbia's political climate has remained tense. In 2003, the prime minister Zoran Đinđić was assassinated as result of a plot originating from circles of organized crime and members of DOS and opposition related with serbian criminal organizations. Nationalist and EU-oriented political forces in Serbia have remained sharply divided on the political course of Serbia in regards to its relations with the European Union.

From 2003 to 2006, Serbia was part of the "State Union of Serbia and Montenegro". This union was the successor to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. On 21 May 2006, Montenegro held a referendum to determine whether or not to end its union with Serbia. The next day, state-certified results showed 55.4% of voters in favor of independence. This was just above the 55% required by the referendum.

On 5 June 2006, the National Assembly of Serbia declared Serbia to be the legal successor to the former state union. In April 2008 Serbia was invited to join the intensified dialogue programme with NATO despite the diplomatic rift with the alliance over Kosovo. Serbia officially applied for EU membership on 22 January 2009.

The "Progressive" regime[]

Vojislav seselj

Vojislav Šešelj, leader of SRS

Nikolic Tomislav

Tomislav Nikolić, leader of SNS

In July 2011, Serbian Progressive Party started the series of protests that resulted the overthrow of Boris Tadić and the Democratic Party. On 27th August Tomislav Nikolić became the president of Serbia. Only a day later, he removed the Serbian Radical Party from the Register of political parties of Serbia. That caused a series of protests in Serbia. It is said that over 2,000,000 people demonstrated against the decision of Tomislav Nikolić, although the real number is probably around 1,000,000. The protests were stopped on 1st September. On 3rd September Vojislav Šešelj is released from the ICTY. When he got back in Serbia, he learned that SRS has been banned and decided to start a battle against the ruling coalition (SNS-NS-PSS-PS). He, alongside with the former members of SRS and a few nationalist intellectuals, forms a guerrilla organization known as "Serbian National Radical Guard" (Serbian: Српска Национална Радикална Гарда, СНРГ, SNRG). They started organizing a series of mass protests that lasted till March 2012. On 4th April 2012. Government of Serbia sent recruits of SAJ to arrest Vojislav Šešelj and Svetozar Lazarević, leader of Party of Serbian Salvation and Vojislav Šešelj's second-in-command. They destroyed their headquarters in a forest near Belgrade, but did not arrest anyone. SNRG decided to launch a counter-attack by attacking the headquarters of SNS in Belgrade. That resulted in a passive civil war between SNS and SNRG. The civil war ended in March 2013, when SNRG arrested Tomislav Nikolić and sent him to prison.

Expansion and Central War[]

Construction cone This section is under construction. Please don't edit or add to this section. Propose any changes to talk page.



In March 2013 the Serbian Radical Party was formed again by uniting the Serbian National Radical Guard and the Party of Serbian Salvation. It took the control over the state. In the first year of the nationalist regime (2013), many things have changed. The new flag and coat of arms were adopted, the anthem became Vostani Serbije (it replaced Bože Pravde), the constitution was replaced with a code which contained lots of changes in the laws, military was reformed, foreign banks are pushed out of Serbia, credits outside of the National Bank of Serbia are forbidden, Croats, Bosniaks, Muslims, Montenegrins, and other ethnic groups that are considered "fake nations" by Serbian nationalists are removed from the law, same-sex relationships are outlawed. Serbia became a nation of the Serbian people and the three of their religions instead of a secular country. The economy completely changed, focusing on traditional form of economy, mainly agriculture and crafting.

In November 2015, the Serbian government created the document called "Declaration of Freedom of the Serbian Lands". The document said that Serbia had to take back the Serbian lands, which according to the document were: Kosovo, Metohija, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Slavonia, Baranja, Banija, Žumberak, White Carniola, Kordun, Gorski Kotar, Lika, Dalmatia, and Zahumlje, by all means. A month later, the Serbian government sent a letter to Hashim Thaçi, president of self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo. They demanded from him to disband all forms of government in Kosovo and surrender to the Serbian army, along with the Kosovo government and assembly. He and the Government of the Republic of Kosovo refused to surrender, and sent their police and army to the bridge in Kosovska Mitrovica on river Ibar. On 23 December 2015 Serbian Armed Forces started a full-scale attack on the Army of Kosovo outposts situated along the eastern border with Serbia. The war lasted from December 2015 to February 2016. Hashim Thaçi was captured and sent to a small prison near Kuršumlija. He was executed on August 20, 2016.

In January 2016, the Montenegrin forces attacked the border outposts of self-proclaimed Republic of Brda near Mojkovac. They destroyed the outposts and progressed towards Mojkovac. A part of the Serbian Armed Forces moved from Kosovo to Montenegro in order to stop the invasion. The Montenegrin forces were stopped near Mojkovac. Then, in February 2016, Montenegrin forces launch a new attack, this time towards Žabljak. Serbia declared war on Montenegro and moved most of its army towards Montenegro. The war lasted for a month, and the Montenegrin forces were crushed relatively fast, mainly due to protest of the local population against the war.

Politics[]

Main article: Politics of Serbia (Three World Orders)

Since the civil war in 2012-2013 Serbia has been a nation state. Vojislav Šešelj is the leader of the far-right Serbian Radical Party and was the President of Serbia for two terms (2013-2018 and 2018-2022). The President of Serbia since 2022 is Svetozar Lazarević, former Prime Minister. His election was won with 71.2% majority in the first round of the presidental election held on 7 May 2022.

Parliamentary elections were held on 8 May 2022. Serbian Radical Party led by Vojislav Šešelj, claimed victory with the absolute majority of 71.9%. The government is now headed by Dragan Todorović. Present-day Serbian politics are based on extreme serbian nationalism and anti-globalism.

Law

Unlike the most modern republics, Serbia does not have a constitution. Instead, it has a code called the Supreme Code of Serbia (Serbian: Врховни Законик Србије). The code is divided into 7 branches: the emergency, army and warfare branch - Code of Safety (Serbian: Законик безбедности); human rights branch - Code of Freedom (Serbian: Законик слободе); morality and religion laws branch - Code of Morality (Serbian: Законик морала); state sovereignty, symbols and territorial organization branch - Code of Independence (Serbian: Законик независности); the crime and court branch - Code of Justice (Serbian: Законик правде); finance and economy branch - Code of Finance (Serbian: Законик финансија); and the state control, duties of governing bodies and diplomacy branch - Code of Leadership (Serbian: Законик вођства).

The code was adopted by the government on April 4, 2013.

Serbia's laws are considered brutal by many human rights organizations. Rapists, mass murderers and drug dealers are sentenced to one of the most brutal death penalties - boiling in hot oil. Members of sects are sentenced to beheading, gangsters are sentenced to a variety of capital punishments (depending on the crime), while prostitutes are sentenced to shooting.

The catacombs under Belgrade, built back in the 18th century by the Habsburg Monarchy and used and expanded since, are being used as a prison for criminals imprisoned for life. A part of these catacombs is filled with small, hole-like cells where some of the sentenced stay. The criteria for staying in these cells is unknown. The government of Serbia did not acknowledge the existence of these cells until 2020 and still refuses to release any more information about them.

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Serbia (Three World Orders)
Serbia Oblasts

Map of the administrative divisions of Serbia

Serbia is divided into 29 Serbian Autonomous Oblasts (Serbian: Српске Аутономне Области). Each of these administrative divisions is divided into župas, municipalities and cities.

Serbian Autonomous Oblasts

Flag of Belgrade SAO Beograd Belgrade
SAO Sumadija - zastava SAO Šumadija Kragujevac
SAO Macva - zastava SAO Mačva Šabac
SAO Branicevo - zastava SAO Braničevo Požarevac
SAO Timocka Krajina - zastava SAO Timočka Krajina Zaječar
SAO Raska - zastava SAO Raška Kraljevo
SAO Rasina - zastava SAO Rasina Kruševac
SAO Nisava - zastava SAO Nišava Niš
SAO Toplica - zastava SAO Toplica Prokuplje
SAO Vidlic - zastava SAO Vidlič Pirot
SAO Jablanica - zastava SAO Jablanica Leskovac
SAO Pcinja - zastava SAO Pčinja Vranje
SAO Kosovo - zastava SAO Kosovo Priština
SAO Metohija - zastava SAO Metohija Prizren
SAO Makedonija - zastava SAO Makedonija Skoplje
SAO Crna Gora - zastava SAO Crna Gora Cetinje
SAO Vojvodina - zastava SAO Vojvodina Novi Sad
SAO Bosna - zastava SAO Bosna Sarajevo
SAO Hercegovina - zastava SAO Hercegovina Mostar
SAO Zahumlje - zastava SAO Zahumlje Dubrovnik
SAO Slavonija - zastava SAO Slavonija Osijek
SAO Banija - zastava SAO Banija Sisak
SAO Dalmacija - zastava SAO Dalmacija Split
SAO Lika - zastava SAO Lika Gospić
SAO Kordun - zastava SAO Kordun Karlovac
SAO Zagorje - zastava SAO Zagorje Srbinovo
SAO Gorski Kotar - zastava SAO Gorski Kotar Istočna Rijeka
SAO Bela Krajina - zastava SAO Bela Krajina Črnomelj
SAO Prekomurje - zastava SAO Prekomurje Murska Sobota

Military[]

Main article: Serbian Armed Forces (Three World Orders)

The military of Serbia numbers around 20,000,000 battle-ready men and women, who are either conscripts or volunteers, and 200,000 professional troops. The Serbian Armed Forces are the main armed forces of Serbia. They consist of the Serbian Army, Serbian Air Force and Air Defense, Naval Forces of Serbia, Military Police of Serbia and Training Command.

The exact equipment of the Serbian Armed Forces is not known since 2013. However, it is known that Serbia bought new infantry weapons, 120 T-90s and 30 MiG-31s from Russia in 2015.

Serbian Army equipment
Model(s) Type Origin In Service
M-84

M-84A

Main battle tank Yugoslavia1 Yugoslavia 800~
M-84AS Main battle tank Serbia1 Serbia 600-1,200
T-90J Main battle tank Russia1 Russia 120
T-72 Main battle tank SovietUnion1 Soviet Union 70 (training)
M-80A Infantry fighting vehicle Yugoslavia1 Yugoslavia 570~
BOV M-86 Armored personnel carrier Yugoslavia1 Yugoslavia 150~
BTR-50

BTR-50PK

Armored personnel carrier SovietUnion1 Soviet Uniom 400-1,000
Lazar BVT Armored personnel carrier Serbia1 Serbia ??
BRDM-2 Armored scouting vehicle SovietUnion1 Soviet Union 100~
D-30J 122mm howitzer SovietUnion1 Soviet Union 450~
M84 NORA-A 152mm howitzer Yugoslavia1 Yugoslavia 1,000~
M84A NORA 2 152mm howitzer Serbia1 Serbia 950-1,250
M-46 130mm field gun SovietUnion1 Soviet Union 400~
2S1 Gvozdika Self-propelled artillery SovietUnion1 Soviet Union 100~
G-40 Gromada Self-propelled artillery Serbia1 Serbia ??
Nora B-52 Self-propelled artillery Serbia1 Serbia ??
M-77 Oganj Multiple rocket launcher Yugoslavia1 Yugoslavia 190~
M-87 Orkan Multiple rocket launcher Yugoslavia1 Yugoslavia 11~
M-88 Orkan 2 Multiple rocket launcher Serbia1 Serbia 150~

M-63 Plamen-S

Multiple rocket launcher Yugoslavia1 Yugoslavia 25~
Bofors L/70 40 mm Anti-aircraft autocannon Sweden1 Sweden 100~
9K35 Strela-10 Surface-to-air missile system SovietUnion1 Soviet Union 30~
9K31 Strela-1 Surface-to-air missile system SovietUnion1 Soviet Union 55~
Orbiter UAV UAV Israel1 Israel ??
BPL Vrabac UAV Serbia1 Serbia ??
Serbian Air Force and Air Defense equipment
Model(s) Type Origin In Service

MiG-29B


MiG-29UB

Fighter SovietUnion1 Soviet Union 4-100

MiG-21bis


MiG-21UM

Fighter SovietUnion1 Soviet Union at least 23
MiG-31SR Fighter SovietUnion1 Soviet Union 30
SR-1 Kos Fighter Serbia1 Serbia ??
G-4 Supergaleb Ground attack Yugoslavia1 Yugoslavia 170~
J-22 Orao Attack Yugoslavia1 Yugoslavia 100~
An-2TD1 Utility SovietUnion1 Soviet Union 1
An-26B Transport SovietUnion1 Soviet Union 50-200
Yak-40 Transport SovietUnion1 Soviet Union 30~
Utva 75 Trainer Yugoslavia1 Yugoslavia 15~
Lasta 95 Trainer Serbia1 Serbia ??
Kobac 96 Trainer Serbia1 Serbia ??
Soko Gazelle Attack helicopter France1 France/Yugoslavia1 Yugoslavia 110~
Mi-24 Attack helicopter SovietUnion1 Soviet Union 25~
Mi-28 Attack helicopter SovietUnion1 Soviet Union ??
Mi-8 Transport helicopter SovietUnion1 Soviet Union 10-55
Mi-17 Transport helicopter SovietUnion1 Soviet Union ~30
Mi-26 Transport helicopter SovietUnion1 Soviet Union ??

Demographics[]

Main article: Demographics of Serbia (Three World Orders)

According to the 2021 census, Serbia had a population of 76,618,533. Serbs are the largest ethnic group in Serbia, representing 84% of the total population (64,359,568). With a population of 8,428,039, Romanians are the second largest ethnic group in Serbia, representing 11%. Other minority groups include Romani, Albanians, Macedonians, Slovaks, Hungarians, Italians, Gorani, Turks, Rusyns, Russians, Slovenes, Germans, Poles and Han Chinese. The German minority in SAO Vojvodina was more numerous in the past (336,430 in 1900, or 23.5% of Vojvodina's population at that time).

Ethnic groups in Serbia (2021)
Ethnic group Percent
Serbs 84%
Romanians 11%
Hungarians 2%
Albanians 1.2%
Macedonians 1.1%
Other 0.7%

For more information, see List of ethnic groups in Serbia.

Religion[]

For centuries straddling the religious boundary between Orthodoxy and Catholicism, joined up later by Islam, Serbia remains one of the most diverse countries on the continent. While formation of the nation state and turbulent history of 19th and 20th century and the latest wars have left its traces on the religious landscape of the country: Zagorje, Prekomurje and Gorski Kotar are ove 90% Catholic, Slavonija, Banija, Kordun, Lika, Dalmacija and Zahumlje are 50-60% Catholic, Bosna is around 50% Christian and 45% Muslim, Hercegovina is 40% Catholic and 45% Christian, while the eastern regions (Šumadija, Timočka Krajina, Nišava, Rasina, Vidlič, Jablanica, Pčinja, Toplica, Makedonija) are over 90% Orthodox Christian. Vojvodina is divided between Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism. Kosovo consists of 90% Christian majority, while Metohija is over 80% Christian.

Among the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Serbian Orthodox Church is the largest in the country. According to the 2021 Census, 65% of the population of Serbia, or about 50 million people declared their nationality as Serbian, and their religion Orthodox Christianity. Other Orthodox Christian communities in Serbia include Romanians, Bulgarians and Rusyns. Together they comprise about 77% of the entire population.

Catholicism is mostly present in the western part of the country. According to the 2021 Census, there are 16,856,077 Catholics in Serbia, roughly 22% of the population.

Protestantism accounts for about 0.8% of the country's population, chiefly among Baptist and Evangelical Hungarians. Islam has a strong historic following in the central and southern regions of Serbia – southern Raška, Crna Gora and Bosna. Serb Muslims are the largest Muslim community in Serbia with 8,147,042 followers or 11% of the total population, followed by Albanians, Gorani and Turks, whereas some Roma are Muslim.

Education[]

Education in Serbia is regulated by the Ministry of Education. Education starts in either pre-schools or elementary schools. Children enroll in elementary schools at the age of seven, and remain there for eight years. After compulsory education students have the opportunity to either attend a high school for another four years, specialist school, for 2 to 4 years, or to enroll in vocational training, for 2 to 3 years. Following the completion of high school or a specialist school, students have the opportunity to attend university.

Economy[]

Main article: Economy of Serbia (Three World Orders)

With a GDP (PPP) for 2021 estimated at $1,183 billion, Serbia is an upper income economy.

The economy has a low unemployment rate below 5%. The country expects some minor economic impulses and modest growth rates in the next years. Given its recent high economic growth rates, which averaged 89.9% in the last ten years, foreign analysts have sometimes labeled Serbia as the "Balkan Tiger".

Apart from its free-trade agreement with the Bloc of Free States and Union of Independent World Nations, Serbia is the only UIWN country to have free trade agreements with Tyrol, Venice, Spain and Germany.

Serbia grows about one-third of the world's raspberries and is the leading frozen fruit exporter.

Culture[]

Main article: Serbian culture (Three World Orders)

For centuries straddling the boundaries between East and West, Serbia had been divided among: the Eastern and Western halves of the Roman Empire; between Kingdom of HungaryFrankish Kingdom, and Byzantium; and between the Ottoman Empire and the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, as well as Venice in the south. The result of these overlapping influences are distinct characters and sharp contrasts between various Serbian regions, its north and west being more tied to Western Europe and south leaning towards the Balkans and the Mediterranean Sea.

The monasteries of Serbia, built largely in the Middle Ages, are one of the most valuable and visible traces of medieval Serbia's association with the Byzantium and the Orthodox World, but also with the Romanic Western Europe that Serbia had close ties with back in Middle Ages. Most of Serbia's queens still remembered today in Serbian history were of foreign origin, including Hélène d'Anjou, a cousin of Charles I of Sicily, Anna Dondolo, daughter of the Doge of Venice, Enrico Dandolo, Catherine of Hungary, and Symonide of Byzantium.

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