History Of Serbia

History of Serbia
During the A.D. 500’s and 600’s, various
groups of Slavs, including the ancestors of the Serbs, settled in the Balkan
Peninsula in the area of present-day Serbia. Each group had its own
leader until the late 1100’s, when Stefan Nemanja, a warrior and chief,
formed the first united Serbian state. During the 1300’s, Emperor
Stefan Dusan led the country in successful wars against the Byzantine Empire.

The Serbian empire began to break up after his death in 1355. The
Ottoman Empire, based in what is now Turkey, conquered Serbia in the Battle
of Kosovo Polje in 1389.

The Ottoman Empire ruled Serbia for more
than 400 years, but the Serbs never lost their national pride. Djordge
Petrovic, a Serbian peasant who was nicknamed Black George, led an uprising
against the Ottomans in 1804. Another Serbian peasant leader, Milos
Obrenovic, led a second revolt in 1815. The Serbs won some liberties
in these struggles. Serbia regained independence only in 1878, following
the Ottoman Empire’s defeat by Russia in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878.

In the First Balkan Wars (1912-1913), Serbia and the other Balkan states
gained control of almost all of the Ottoman Empire’s territory in Europe.

During the early 1900’s, various economic
and political conflicts developed between Serbia and Austria-Hungary.

In June 1914, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, Archduke Francis
Ferdinand, was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian from the province
of Bosnia-Herzegovina in Austria-Hungary. The assassination touched
off World War I, which began a month later when Austria-Hungary declared
war on Serbia. After the war ended in 1918, Serbia led the way in
forming the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovens. The kingdom
was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929.

During World War II (1939-1945), the Axis
powers–led by Germany and Italy–occupied Yugoslavia and divided it among
themselves. Most of Serbia was occupied by the Germans. A group
of Communists led by Josip Broz Tito drove out the occupation forces.

After the war, Tito and the Communists founded Yugoslavia with a federal
system of government. Under this system, a central government and
the republics shared power. Serbia became one of the country’s six
republics.

Differences between ethnic groups have
often led to protests and violence in Serbia. Ethnic Albanians, who
make up about 90 percent of Kosovo’s population, have protested Serbian
rule of the province and demanded greater independence.

In 1987, Slobodan Milosevic, a strong
supporter of Serbian unity and the expansion of Serbia’s borders, became
chief of the League of Communists of Serbia. In 1989, he became president
of the republic. Under his leadership, Serbia stripped Kosovo of
their freedom to rule themselves. In 1990, Serbia dissolved Kosovo’s
government. Albanians in Kosovo voted for independence in a conference
held in 1991. In May 1992, they elected a new president and parliament
in an effort to move toward a self-government. Serbia declared the
conference and the elections illegal.

The Communist Party gave up its monopoly
on power in Yugoslavia in 1990. Multiparty elections were held in
Serbia that year, and Milosevic was reelected president. The League
of Communists of Serbia, which changed its name to the Socialist Party
of Serbia, gained control of the legislature. Opposition groups protested
the continued rule of former Communists.

Serbia always had more influence than
any other republic in Yugoslavia’s federal government. Other republics,
especially Croatia and Slovenia, complained of this influence. In
June 1991, Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence, and Yugoslavia
began to break apart. Serbs living in Croatia fought against the
Croats. Serbian forces soon occupied more than 30 percent of Croatia’s
territory. A cease-fire in January 1992 ended most of the fighting,
but some fighting continued.

In March 1992, the republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina
declared its independence. Fighting then broke out in Bosnia-Herzegovina,
pitting ethnic Serbs, who opposed independence, against Bosnian Muslims
and Croats. After a few months of fighting, Serbian forces held about
two-thirds of the country.

In April 1992, Serbia and Montenegro formed
a new Yugoslavia. Milosevic was reelected in December 1992.

In 1994, he called on the Serbs to accept a proposed international peace
plan, but the Serbs refused. In May 1995, Croatian forces began to
retake areas in Croatia that were held by the Serbs.