Serbs (Serbian Cyrillic: Срби Serbian Latin: Srbi) are a South Slavic people living in the Central Europe and the Balkans (Southeastern Europe), between the
Balkan
and Carpathian
mountains
in the east and the Adriatic sea
in the west. They are located mainly in Serbia
, Montenegro
, Bosnia-Herzegovina
, and, to a lesser extent, in Croatia
.
Serbs are
also a significant minority in two other republics of the Former
Yugoslavia
, the
Republic of
Macedonia
and Slovenia
. Serbs are an officially recognized minority
in both Romania
and Hungary
.
There is a
sizeable Serbian diaspora in
Western Europe (concentrated in
Germany
, Switzerland
and Austria
), as well in
North America: the United States
and Canada
.
In the
German-speaking countries alone live more than a million people of
Serbian origin: Luxembourg
(1% share in the overall population), Austria
(1,8%), Switzerland
(1%), and Germany
(almost
1%).
The Encyclopedia of World History (2001) describes the Serbs as
"most westernized of the Eastern Orthodox peoples, both
socially and culturally". Geographically this nation's
Church represents the
westernmost bastion of
Orthodox
Christianity in
Europe, which shaped its
historical fate through contacts with
Catholicism and
Islam. The
Serbian revolution (1804-1815)
marked the rebirth of modern Serbia and its establishment as a
principality which fought the
Ottomans,
Bulgarians and
Austrians
for the supremacy over the
Balkans.
In 1918
Serbia lost its independence to the Yugoslav Kingdom and regained its sovereignty
in 2006, after Montenegro
left the Serbia
and Montenegro union which had been the last fragment of the
former
Yugoslavia
remaining in
the 21st Century following the breakup of Yugoslavia in the
1990s.
Locations
Serbia
is the
nation-state of the Serbs, while in Bosnia and
Herzegovina
they are one of the three constituent peoples. In Montenegro
, where 32% of the population is Serbian according to the 2003 Census,
their constitutional status is unclear.
Autochthonous Serbian minorities exist in the following
regions:
- In
Croatia
, Serbs are the largest national minority,
scattered across the eastern part of the country. According
to the 2001 Census, there were 201,631 Serbs in Croatia, down from
the pre-war figure of 581,663. Most of the Serbs have fled the
country fearing ethnic cleansing by
the following Croatian-lead Operation
Storm in 1995.
- In
Macedonia
, Serbs consist a
minority in 16 municipalities, the largest of which being the
Čučer-Sandevo Municipality
(close to 28%), Staro
Nagoričane Municipality
(with the remains of medieval architecture) and
many others; they can also be found in the cities such as Kumanovo
and Skopje
- In
Hungary
, Serbs are
scattered in the southern part of the country. There are also some
Serbs who live in the central part of the country - in bigger towns
like Budapest
, Szentendre
, etc. The only settlement with an ethnic Serb
majority in Hungary is Lórév
/Lovra on Csepel Island
. Officially recognized ethnic minority,
according to the 2001 census, numbers 7,350 Serbs or 0.1% of
population.
- In
Romania
, Serbs are located
mostly within the Caraş-Severin County, where they
constitute absolute majority in the commune of Pojejena
(52.09%) and a plurality in the commune of Socol
(49.54%)
Serbs also constitute an absolute majority in the municipality of
Sviniţa
(87.27%) in the Mehedinţi County. The region
where these three municipalities are located is known as
Clisura Dunării in
Romanian or Banatska
Klisura (Банатска Клисура) in Serbian. Officially recognized minority in
Romania numbers 22,518 or 0.1% of the population (Census
2002).
- Although not officially recognized as a minority, according to the latest national
minority census in Albania (2000), there were around 2000 Serbs and
Montenegrins (they are listed together as one ethnic group) in the
country. Domestic Serb-Montenegrin community claims the figure is
around 25,000, while independent sources placed the figure at
10,000 in 1994. Serbian sources estimate up to 30,000.
- There
is a small number of Serbs in Slovakia
, mostly located in the southern town of Komárno
, where they have been living since the 17th
century. There has also been a historic minority in
Bratislava (Požun), where many Habsburg Serbs have studied
university. Their number today is hard to determine but is in any
case below the 1,000 count.
- Serbian autochthonous community in Italy
's city of
Trieste
is dated back to the 18th century. Local
Serbs have erected one of the most prominent monuments in central
Trieste- the Serbian Orthodox
Church of Saint Spyridon (1854)
Ethnology
Byzantine sources report that part of the White Serbs, led by the Unknown Archont, migrated southwards from
their Slavic homeland of White Serbia
(Lusatia) in the late sixth century and
eventually overwhelmed the 'Serbian
lands' that now make up Serbia
, Montenegro
, Bosnia
, Herzegovina and Dalmatia. After settling on the
Balkans, Serbs mixed with other
Slavic tribes (which settled during the
great migration of the
Slavs) and with descendants of the indigenous peoples of the
Balkans:
Illyrians,
Thracians,
Dacians,
Celts,
Greeks and
Romans.
Afterwards, overwhelmed by the Ottoman wars in Europe which ravaged
their territories, Serbs once again started crossing the rivers
Sava and Danube and
resettling the regions in Central
Europe which are today's Vojvodina
, Slavonia
, Transylvania and
Hungary
proper. Apart from the Habsburg Empire, thousands were attracted to
Imperial
Russia
, where they were given territories to settle:
Nova Serbia and
Slavo-Serbia were named after these
refugees. Two
Great
Serbian Migrations resulted in a relocation of the Serbian core
from the Ottoman-dominated South towards the developed (Christian)
North, where it has remained ever since.
Serbs are genetically and culturally close to the other peoples
inhabiting the Balkans. The Serbs emanated in patriarchal tribal
organizations, social structures originating in ancient times of
the Dinarics, passed on and maintained mainly by Orthodox Serbs and
Montenegrins but also in Montenegrin Bosniaks and Northern
Albanians (Catholic and Muslim). This type of structure was the
initial, fully working feudal system in the highlands of the Serbs,
later weakened in the lands occupied by foreign powers. The
Lapot and
Krvna
Osveta are practices which are of ancient, highlander
characteristics. The Serb
Hajduks and Greek
Klephts of the 17-19th centuries are
examples of non-feudal organizations.
Genetics
The genetics of Serbs are similar to the neighbouring peoples of
the Balkan peninsula because of common origin in several
Paleo-Balkan tribes previously (now extinct)
inhabiting the Balkans, such as Thracians, Illyrians, Dacians, etc,
making the Serbs part of the Dinaric-North Mediterranean groups.The
subclade
E1b1b1a2-V13
is present at high frequencies among the
Albanians,
Greeks, Serbs,
Bulgarians and Macedonians and lower numbers in South
Italians (up to 20-45%). Subclade
J2f1 is at 2.5% in Serbs and Slavic
Macedonians.
I2a2-M423 is at 29-32% in Serbs and
Macedonians and 42% in Croats, as low as 3% in Macedonian Roma, as
high as 63% in
Herzegovinians. The
R1a(common in
Slavic groups) is the same in Macedonians and
Serbs at 15% and close to Bulgarians at 14%, Greeks and
Herzegovinians at 12%, notable gap between the
Albanians (7%) and Croats (25%), non-Balkan
populations of Cypriots at 6% and Ukrainians at 45%.
The most common
western European haplogroup R1b values in Serbs
are 10.6%, in Cypriots 9.0% being the lowest in Europe, the highest
values being Basques 92% and 89% in Welsh
, medium
values 56% in French
.
Bosnian Serbs are closer to
Bosniaks (
Bosnian
Muslims) than to
Croats, the
J haplogroup is 5.3% in Serbs and 12% in
Bosniaks and almost non-existent among Croats.
I-P37 is higher in Croats (71%) than in Serbs (31%)
and Bosniaks (44%).
Genetic evidence shows that Serbs are in fact of predominantly
Balkan genetics (indigenous to the region) and have very small
amount of "Slavic" (R-M458, ranging from 0-12% in the Serbs,
Albanians, Macedonians, Greeks and Bulgarians) genes suggesting
that the Slavic culture was passed on by the Serbian "elite" to the
Romanized Paleo-Balkan peoples of the conquered region (Serbian
lands).
Name and etymology
According to the
Tale of Bygone
Years, the first
Russian chronicle, Serbs are among the first five Slav
peoples who were enumerated by their names.
Serbs are thought to be first mentioned by Pliny the Elder and
Ptolemy in his
Geography in 2nd
century AD, who associate the
Serbs with the
Sarmatian tribe of
Serboi of the North
Caucasus
and Lower
Volga.
Roman Emperor
Licinius referred to the Carpathians
as "Montes Serrorum" in the fifth century
AD.Having defeated the
Avars,
under the
Unknown Archont,
the Eastern Roman Emperor
Heraclius
invited Serbs to settle in the provinces of
Salonica and
Dalmatia. The
Unknown Archont's descendants
(
House of
Višeslavić-Vlastimirović,
House of Vojislavljević) ruled
the
Serb states for the entire early
medieval period (until
1166), mainly under
Byzantine supremacy, but at times also under Frankish, Bulgarian
overlordship or independent from these states.
The name is most likely derived from the Indo-European root
*
ser- 'to watch over, protect', akin to
Latin servare 'to keep, guard, protect,
preserve, observe',
Old English
searu 'weapons, armor, skill',
Lithuanian sárgas
'watchman'.
Other names
- Servians, medieval French and English
rendering of the Serbs
- Rascians, referring to the
population of medieval Serb state Rascia (the
one and same people as the other tribes of Duklja (Dukljans), Travunija (Travunians), Neretva
(Neretvians/Paganians), Zahumlje (Zahumlians) that all
belong to the Serb ethnos)
- Triballians, a Thracian tribe
assimilated by the local Slavs, by Byzantine authors
- Slavs, by Romans, refered
to as "Saqaliba" by the Arabs in the early medieval times
- Vlachs, term used during the Middle Ages
by Venetian and Croatian authors to denote Serbs of Orthodox
Christian faith in the West Roman lands.
- Illyrians, in the
Austrian
Empire
, example of it being Rescriptum Declaratorium
Illyricae Nationis from 1779, declared by Maria Theresa, which officially established
the position of Serbs and Serbian Orthodox Church in the
Empire.
Population

Geographical location of Serb
diaspora
The
majority of Serbs live in Serbia
, Montenegro
and Republika
Srpska (in Bosnia and Herzegovina
). The Republic of Serbia
is the nation-state of
the Serb people, they are a constituent nation in Bosnia and
Herzegovina (90% ethnic Serb entity Rep.Srpska) and a recognized people in
the Republic of
Montenegro
(former
nation-state of the Serbs) where they have lived since their
arrival 1,500 years ago. Large indigenous population also lived in
Croatia
, where they
were a constituent nation before 1990 and today a recognized
national minority.
Much
smaller Serb autochthonous minorities exist in the Republic of
Macedonia (mainly in Kumanovo
and Skopje
), Slovenia
(Bela Krajina), Romania
(Banat), Hungary
(Szentendre
, Pécs
, Szeged
) and
Italy
(Trieste
- home to about 6,000 Serbs). Many Serbs also live
in the diaspora, notably in
Germany, Austria, The
Netherlands
,
Switzerland, France
, Sweden
, Canada,
the US and Australia.
The
largest urban populations of Serbs in the former Yugoslavia
are to be found in Belgrade
(c. 1,700,000), Novi Sad
(c. 300,000), Niš
(c.
250,000),
Banja
Luka
(in Bosnia-Herzegovina
) (c. 220,000), Kragujevac
(c. 175,000), East Sarajevo
and Prijedor
(in Bosnia-Herzegovina
) (c. 130,000).
All the capitals of
the former Yugoslavia contain a strong
historical Serbian minority - 10,000 strong and over (taking up
anywhere between 2%- 3% of the population - Zagreb
, Skopje
- through
Ljubljana
and Sarajevo
, and finally, Podgorica
- over 26%).
In
Serbia, 6.2 million Serbs constitute about 62% (83% excluding
Kosovo) of the population, including Kosovo
, which has
declared itself independent from Serbia in February 17,
2008. Another 1,6 million live in Bosnia and
Herzegovina
, 201,892 in Montenegro
following its independence and 200,000 in Croatia
(580,000
prior to the war). In the 1991 census Serbs consisted 39% of
the overall population of former
Yugoslavia
; there were around 8.5 million Serbs in the
entire country.
Abroad,
Vienna
is said to
be home to the largest Serb population followed by Chicago
(and its surrounding area
) with Toronto
and Southern Ontario
coming in third. Los Angeles
and Indianapolis
are known to have a sizable Serbian community, but
so does Berlin
, Paris
, Moscow
, Istanbul
and Sydney
.
The number of Serbs in the diaspora is unknown but it is estimated
to be up to 5.5 million.
Smaller numbers of Serbs live in New Zealand
, and Serbian communities in South America (Argentina
, Bolivia
, Brazil
and
Chile
) are reported to grow and exist to this day.
According
to official figures, 5000 Serbs live in Dubai
but the
unofficial figure is estimated to be around 15,000.
The recent research of the Ministry of Diaspora, showed that more
than two thirds of Serbs abroad have plans of returning to Serbia,
and almost one third is ready to do it immediately should they be
given a good employment offer. The same research shows that more
than 25% of the Serb Diaspora has some specialization, i.e. master
or PhD titles, while 45% of them have university degrees.
Culture
Serbian
culture refers to the culture of Serbia
as well as
the culture of Serbs in other parts of the former Yugoslavia and
elsewhere in the world. The nearby
Byzantine Empire had a strong influence in
the Middle Ages while the
Serbian Orthodox Church has had an
enduring influence.
Austrians and
Hungarians have highly influenced Serbs
of Vojvodina
, Croatian Serbs and
Bosnian Serbs to smaller extent, while
Republic of
Venice
influenced Serbs living on the coast (Bay of Kotor
for example). Serbian culture was also
influenced and weakened by three centuries of rule under the
Ottoman Empire. Following autonomy in 1817 and latter formal
independence, there was a reawakening of
Serbdom (Serbian identity/culture) followed by the
emerging South-Slavic unity.
Prior to that of Habsburg Vojvodina
was the cultural bastion of the Serbian national
identity. Socialist Realism was predominant in official art
during the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia but recent
decades have seen a growing influence from the West as well as
traditional culture.
Famous Serbs
Serbs have played a significant role in the development of the
arts and
sciences.
Prominent individuals include the scientists
Nikola Tesla,
Michael I. Pupin,
Jovan Cvijić, and Milutin
Milanković
; the renowned mathematician Mihailo Petrović and controversial
co-author of Theory of Relativity Mileva Marić (Albert Einstein's first
wife); Stevan Mokranjac and
Stevan Hristić; the celebrated
authors Ivo Andrić, Borislav Pekić and Miloš Crnjanski; the prolific inventor
Ogneslav Kostović
Stepanović; the polymath Đura Jakšić; the famous sports
stars like Ana Ivanović, Jelena Janković, Novak Djokovic, Predrag Stojakovic, Dejan Stanković, Nemanja Vidić, Siniša Mihajlović, Dejan Bodiroga, Vlade
Divac; actors Karl Malden (Mladen
Sekulovich), Mila Jovovic, Rade Šerbedžija. Famous
directors like
Dušan Makavejev,
Peter Bogdanovich and
Emir Kusturica.
The Serb ruler during
the Middle Ages (see List of
Serbian rulers), Stephen Nemanja,
and his son, Saint Sava, founded the
monastery of Hilandar
for the Serbian
Orthodox Church, one of the greatest and oldest Orthodox
Christian monuments in the world. Famous singers
Goran Bregovic,
Željko Joksimović and
Marija Šerifović are from
Serbia.
The mother of the last
Byzantine
Emperor,
Constantine XI
Paleologos Dragases, was a Serbian princess,
Helena Dragash (
Jelena Dragaš).Many
Serbian Royal Families have had significant roles in
European and
Balkan
history. Such as the
House of
Nemanjić,
House of
Mrnjavčević,
House of
Lazarević,
House of
Branković,
House of
Obrenović and
House of
Karađorđević.Some of the most venerated royal historical
persons are
Emperor Dusan,
Tsar Lazar,
Milos
Obilic and
Karageorge.
Vuk Stefanović
Karadžić was a Serbian linguist and major reformer of the
Serbian language.
Nadežda
Petrović is considered the most important Serbian female
painter from the late 19th and early 20th century.
According to the
National
Enquirer, author
Ian Fleming
patterned
James Bond after
Duško Popov, a real life Serbian double
agent nicknamed "Tricycle".
Gavrilo Princip, a
Bosnian Serb Yugoslav nationalist, assassinated
Archduke Franz
Ferdinand on 28 June 1914, precipitating the crisis between
Austro-Hungary and Serbia that led to the
World War I.
Language
Serbs speak the
Serbian language, a
member of the
South Slavic group of
languages, and is mutually intelligible with the standard
Croatian and
Bosnian language (see
Differences
in standard Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian) and some linguists
still consider it part of the pre-war
Serbo-Croatian language.
There are several variants of the Serbian language. The older forms
of Serbian are
Old Serbian and
Russo-Serbian, a version of the
Church Slavonic language.
Some members of the
Serbian
diaspora do not speak the language (in English-speaking
countries of USA, Canada and UK) but are still considered Serbs by
ethnic origin or descent.
Surnames
Most Serbian surnames (like Bosnian, Croatian and Montenegrin) have
the
surname suffix -ić (pronounced
or , Cyrillic: -ић). This is often
transliterated as -ic. In history, Serbian
names have often been transcribed with a phonetic ending, -ich or
-itch.
This form is often associated with Serbs
from before the early 20th century: hence Milutin Milanković is
usually referred to, for historical reasons, as Milutin
Milankovitch
.
The -ić suffix is a
Slavic diminutive, originally functioning to create
patronymics. Thus the surname Petrić
signifies
little Petar, as does, for example, a common
prefix
Mac ("son of") in Scottish
& Irish, and O' (grandson of) in Irish names. It is estimated
that some two thirds of all Serbian surnames end in -ić but that
some 80% of Serbs carry such a surname with many common names being
spread out among tens and even hundreds of non-related extended
families.
Other common surname suffixes are -ov or -in which is the Slavic
possessive case suffix, thus
Nikola's son becomes
Nikolin, Petar's son
Petrov,
and Jovan's son
Jovanov.
Those are more typical for Serbs from
Vojvodina
. The two suffixes are often combined.
The most common surnames are Marković, Nikolić, Petrović, and
Jovanović.
Religion
Conversion of the
South Slavs from
paganism to Christianity began in the 7th century, long before the
Great Schism, the split between the
Greek Orthodox East and the
Roman Catholic West, the Serbs were
first Christinaized during the reign of Heraclius (610-641) but
were fully Christianized by
Byzantine Christian Missionaries
(Saints)
Cyril and Methodius in
869 during
Basil I, who sent them after
Knez Mutimir, had acknowledged the
suzerainty of the
Byzantine Empire.
After the Schism, those who lived under the Byzantine
sphere of influence became Orthodox and
those who lived under the Roman sphere of influence became
Catholic. Later, with the arrival of the
Ottoman Empire, many Serbs were converted
into
Islam, today members of the
Gorani and
Bosniaks (
Muslims by nationality).
The Serbs have suffered much in the history because of their
religion. When the Ottoman Turks took over the Balkans, the
Christians were not regarded as a people of the nation and were not
able to own land etc. Many Serbs were converted against their will
or converted without force for a better stance in the society or as
slaves to the Ottomans in the
Jannisairies. In the World War II, the Serbs,
living in a wide area, were persecuted by various people and
organizations. The Catholic Croats under the Fascist Ustasha regime
who recognized the Serbs only as "Croats of Eastern faith" and had
the ideological visions of 1/3 of the Serbs murdered, 1/3 converted
and the last third expulted.
The outcome of these visions were the death
of at least 700,000 (only the victims in the Jasenovac
concentration camp
), 250,000 converted and 250,000 expelled.
The Albanians, organized in Special units, took the advantage and
caused chaos in Kosovo, killing and raping Christian Serb clergymen
and nuns.
Symbols
The
Serbian flag is a red-blue-white
tricolour. It is often combined with one
or both of the other Serb symbols.

Serbian cross
Both the eagle and the cross, besides being the basis for various
Serbian coats of arms through
history, are bases for the symbols of various Serbian
organizations, political parties, institutions and companies.
Serbian folk attire varies, mostly because of the very diverse
geography and
climate of the territory inhabited by the Serbs.
Some parts of it are, however, common:

- A traditional shoe that is called the opanak. It is recognizable by its distinctive
tips that spiral backward. Each region of Serbia has a different
kind of tips.
- A traditional hat that is called the šajkača. It is easily recognizable by its top
part that looks like the letter V or like the bottom of a boat
(viewed from above), after which it got its name. It gained wide
popularity in the early 20th century as it was the hat of the
Serbian army in the First World War. It
is still worn everyday by some villagers today, and it was a common
item of headgear among Bosnian Serb
military commanders during the Bosnian
War in the 1990s. However, "šajkača" is common mostly for the
Serbian population living in the region of Central Serbia (Šumadija), while Serbs living in Vojvodina
, Montenegro
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
, and Croatia
had
different types of traditional hats, which are not similar to
"šajkača". Different types of traditional hats could be also
found in eastern and southern parts of Central Serbia.
Customs
The Serbs are a highly family-oriented society. A peek into a
Serbian dictionary and the richness of
their terminology related to kinship speaks
volumes.
Of all
Slavs and
Orthodox Christians, only Serbs have
the custom of
slava.
Slava
is celebration of a saint; unlike most customs that are common for
the whole people, each family separately celebrates its own saint
(of course, there is a lot of overlap) who is considered its
protector. A
slava is inherited, mostly, though not
exclusively from father to son (if a family has no son and a
daughter stays in parental house and her husband moves in, hers,
not his, slava is celebrated). Each household has only one saint it
celebrates, which means that the occasion brings all of the family
together. However, since many saints (e.g. St. Nicholas, St. John
the Baptist, St. George, St. Archangels) have two feast days, both
are marked.
The traditional dance is a
circle dance
called
kolo, which is common
among Serbs, Croats, Montenegrins and Macedonians. It is a
collective dance, where a group of people (usually several dozen,
at the very least three) hold each other by the hands or around the
waist dancing, forming a
circle (hence the
name), semicircle or
spiral. It is called
Oro in Montenegro. Similar circle dances also exist in
other cultures of the region.
Serbs have
their own
customs regarding Christmas. The
Serbian Orthodox Church uses the
Julian calendar, so Christmas
currently falls on
January 7 of the
Gregorian calendar. Early in the
morning of Christmas Eve, the head of the family would go to a
forest in order to cut
badnjak, a
young
oak, the oak tree would then be brought
into the church to be blessed by the priest. Then the oak tree
would be stripped of its branches with combined with wheat and
other grain products would be burned in the fireplace. The burning
of the
badnjak is a ritual which is most certainly of
pagan origin and it is considered a sacrifice to God (or the old
pagan gods) so that the coming year may bring plenty of food,
happiness, love, luck and riches. Nowadays, with most Serbs living
in towns, most simply go to their church service to be given a
small parcel of oak, wheat and other branches tied together to be
taken home and set afire. The house floor and church is covered
with
hay, reminding worshippers of the
stable in which
Jesus was
born.
Christmas Day itself is celebrated with a feast, necessarily
featuring
roasted piglet as the main
meal. The most important Christmas meal is
česnica, a special kind of bread. The bread
contains a coin; during the
lunch, the family
breaks up the bread and the one who finds the coin is said to be
assured of an especially happy year.
Christmas is not associated with presents like in the
West, although it is the day of
Saint Nicholas, the protector saint of
children, to whom presents are given. However, most Serbian
families give presents on New Year's Day. Santa Claus (
Deda
Mraz (literally meaning
Grandpa Frost)) and the
Christmas tree (but rather associated with
New Year's Day) are also used in Serbia as a
result of
globalisation. Serbs also
celebrate the Orthodox New Year (currently on
January 14 of the
Gregorian Calendar).
Religious Serbs also celebrate other religious holidays and even
non-religious people often celebrate
Easter
(on the Orthodox date).
For Serbian meals, see
Serbian
cuisine.
Another related feature, often lamented by Serbs themselves, is
disunity and discord; as Slobodan Naumović puts it, "Disunity and
discord have acquired in the Serbian popular imaginary a notorious,
quasi-demiurgic status. They are often perceived as being the chief
malefactors in Serbian history, causing political or military
defeats, and threatening to tear Serbian society completely apart."
That disunity is often quoted as the source of Serbian historic
tragedies, from the
Battle of
Kosovo in 1389 to
Yugoslav wars in
1990s. Even the contemporary notion of "two Serbia's"—one
supposedly national, liberal and Eurocentric, and the other
conservative, nationalist and Euroskeptic—seems to be the extension
of the said discord. Popular proverbs "two Serbs, three political
parties" and "God save us from Serbs that may unite!", and even the
unofficial Serbian motto "only unity saves Serbs" (
Samo sloga
Srbina spasava) illustrate the national frustration with the
inability to unite over important issues.
As with
many other peoples, there are popular stereotypes on the local
level: in popular jokes and stories, inhabitants of Vojvodina
(Lale) are perceived as phlegmatic, undisturbed and slow; Montenegrins
are lazy and pushy; southern Serbians are misers; Bosnia are raw
and stupid; people from Central Serbia are often portrayed as
capricious and malicious, etc.
History
The Slavs
invaded Balkans during Justinian I rule
(527–565), when up to 100,000 Slavs raided Thessalonica
. The Western Balkans was settled with
Sclavenoi, the east with Antes. The Serbs could have been a faction
of the invading Slavic tribes and upon organizing in their refuge
of the Dinaric region, formed the ethnogenesis of Serbs and were
pardoned by the Byzantine Empire after acknowledging their
suzerainty.
According to Byzantine tradition (
De Administrando Imperio, by
Porphyrogenitus); The Serbs are recorded in the Byzantine Empire
with their arrival on the Balkans.
The White
Serbs were a West Slavic tribe (as the Sclavenoi) that inhabited White Serbia, situated in present day western
Poland
.
The Serb settlement in the Balkans took place between 610 and 626
after being sent for by the
Byzantine
Emperor
Heraclius to secure the Byzantine
frontier from the problematic
Avars.
The Serbs were patriarchal tribesmen and were initially in
Sclavinias (Slav area within Byzantine Empire)
and were given different dominions to govern. They soon formed six
powerful principalities, called
Rascia, Travunia,
Zachlumia, Bosnia, Pagania and Doclea. The Serbs were aligned
to the
Byzantine Greeks which
contributed greatly to the Serbs and their culture. The Serbian
region was
Christianized by both
(anachronistically)
Roman Catholic
(Rome) and
Byzantine Greek
(Constantinople)
Christian
missionaries in several waves, until the
Great Schism that would divide the Serbs from
the neighboring slav Croats.
In 680, Asia minor was settled with 30,000 Serbs in a city named
Gordoservon (City of the Serbs).
The first
Serb states were Rascia (with Bosna),
Zeta, Travunia,
Neretva
and Zahumlia. Their
rulers had varying degrees of autonomy under the Byzantine Empire
and, until the era after Serbian
Saint
Sava, who became the first head of the
Serbian Orthodox Church, and his
brother
Stefan
Prvovenčani of Serbia, who became the first Serb
king. Serbia did not exist as a state of that name
(
Serbia), but was rather the "state of the Serbs"; the
dependencies inhabited and ruled by the Serbs; its kings and tsars
were called the "King of the Serbs" or "Tsar of the Serbs", not
"King of Serbia" or "Tsar of Serbia". The medieval Serbian states
are nonetheless often (if anachronistically) referred as
"Serbia".
In the 822 annals of the Frankish Kingdom, the Serbs are living in
the greater part of Dalmatia.
In 869 Byzantine Emperor Basil I's (of the Macedonian dynasty)
Imperial Admiral Nikita Orifas was sent together with priests of
Constantinople to bless the Serbs after Knez Mutimir acknowledged
Byzantine suzerainty. The Byzantines allied the Serbian tribes in
the Ragusian hinterland and the Croats convinced the Zachlumians to
join them and the Travunians (and Konavlians) in an alliance
against the Saracens.
The acceptance of Imperial authority in early Serb history can be
seen in the initial forming of Serbian statehood and loyalty to the
Byzantine Empire or in the Serb naval detachments fighting under
the
Frankish emperor
Louis II of Italy in 870 against the
Muslim Arabs.
Serbia reached its
golden age under the
House of Nemanjić, with the
Serbian state reaching its apogee of power in the reign of
Tsar Stefan Uroš Dušan. The Serbian Empire lost
its powers following Stefan's death and the contemporary incursion
of the
Ottoman Empire into
south-eastern
Europe frightened the Balkans.
With
Ottoman expansion into Europe with the fall of Adrianople
and Thrace, Serbs together
with Hungarians, Bulgarians, Greeks and others, tried their best
for the Balkans integrity. The Turks gained more power, and
in 1389, the Serbs fought them in the historical
Battle of Kosovo, which is regarded as the
key event in the loss of Serbia to the Ottoman Empire. By 1459,
Serbia was beaten by the Turks, the small Serbian territories of
Bosnia and Montenegro were lost by 1496.

Serbs in 1910
As Christians, the Serbs were regarded as a "
protected people" under Ottoman law, but were however
refered to as
Giaour ( , ). Many converted to
Islam in viyalets where Islam was more powerful, notably in the
Sandzak and
Bosnia region, other converted in order to
be more successful in the
Ottoman
Empire society and many were forced as part of
Turkification or
Islamisation and avoided persecution. The
Janissaries ( ) were infantry units that
served directly under the Sultan in the households and bodyguarding
the higher people within the Ottoman Turkish government, they were
comprised of Islamicized Christian boys taken from the conquered
countries through the
Devşirme
(
Blood tribute) system, trained and schooled to serve the
Ottoman Empire. Serbs, together with
Greeks and
Bulgarians were favored by the Sultans.
After the
Siege of Belgrade, Suleiman I settled Serbs in the nearby forest of
Istanbul
, present day Bahçeköy, called Belgrade
forest.
The Serbs opposed the Ottoman yoke, which resulted in several major
battles and rebellions against the Turks and de-population of
Serbian lands through mass migrations.
Serbs in the south migrated to the north and sought refuge in
Croatia and Hungary.The Serbs of Montenegro were disliked because
of their bravery and dignity to each other, unsatisfied with the
situation in the region, they assassinated many deployed Turks in
the mountains, which caused heavy monitoring of the
Serb clans and hiding from the Turks was
necessary, or else, death awaited.
Years went on and the Austro-Hungarian Empire
gained control in the north, which also threatened
the dreams of a free state of the Serbs.
In Vojvodina, a Serb mercenary named
Jovan
Nenad proclaimed himself Emperor, defeating many Hungarian
armies with his 15,000 men before being ambushed and killed in
Szeged.
In Eastern Serbia, Serbs fought in Hajduk formations in the
highlands against the Turks, a notable leader in the 16th century
was Starina Novak, who fought as a captain of a 2,000 strong unit
in the army of Michael the Brave and successfully liberated several
Romanian and Bulgarian towns before being executed by
Albanian Giorgio
Basta.
The Serbs
and Croats rebelled in Dalmatia and
Slavonia
in guerilla formations of Uskoks and Hajduks during the
16th and 17th century. In 1852, the
Principality of Montenegro was
proclaimed, a nation-state of the Serbs.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the
First Serbian Uprising succeeded in
liberating at least some Serbs for a limited time. The
Second Serbian Uprising was much
more successful, resulting in Ottoman recognition of Serbia as
autonomous
principality within the
Empire. Serbia acquired international recognition as an independent
kingdom at the
Congress of Berlin in 1878. However, many
Serbs remained under foreign rule– that of the Ottomans in the
south, and of the Habsburgs in the north and west. The southern
Serbs were liberated in the
First
Balkan War of 1912, while the question of the Habsburg Serbs'
independence was the spark that lit
World
War I two years later.
During the war, the Serbian army fought
fiercely, eventually retreating through Albania
to regroup in Greece
, and
launched a counter-offensive through Macedonia. Though they were
eventually victorious, the war devastated Serbia and killed a huge
proportion of its population– by some estimates, over half of the
male Serbian population died in the conflict, influencing the
region's
demographics to this
day.
After the
war, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and
Slovenes
(later called Yugoslavia)
was created. Almost all Serbs finally lived in one state, in
majority.
The Kingdom had its capital in Belgrade
and was ruled by a Serbian king; it was, however,
unstable and prone to ethnic tensions.
During the
Second World War, the
Axis Powers occupied Yugoslavia,
dismembering the country.
Serbia was occupied by the Germans, while in
Bosnia and Croatia, Serbs were put under the rule of the Italians and the fascist Ustaša regime in the Independent
State of Croatia
. Under Ustaša rule in particular, Serbs and
other non-Croats were subjected to systematic genocide, known as the Serbian genocide
, when hundreds of thousands were killed. The
Hungarian and Albanian fascists, who occupied northern and southern
parts of the country, also performed persecutions and genocide
against the Serb population from these regions.
After the
war, the Socialist Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia
was formed. As with pre-war Yugoslavia, the
country's capital was at Belgrade.
Serbia
was the
largest republic and the largest ethnic group. There were also two
established autonomous provinces within Serbia - Kosovo
(with an
Albanian majority) and Vojvodina
(with an Hungarian minority). Besides Serbia, the
large Serb populations were concentrated in Bosnia and
Herzegovina
(where they were the largest ethnic group until
1971) and Croatia
as well as
Montenegro
.
Socialist Yugoslavia collapsed in the early 1990s, with four of its
six republics becoming independent states.
This led to several
bloody civil wars, as the large
Serbian communities in Croatia
and Bosnia
attempted to remain within Yugoslavia, then consisting of only
Serbia
and Montenegro
. Serbs in Croatia formed their state of
Republika Srpska Krajina
which was later abolished by the Croatian government (result of
expelling of more than 250,000 Serbs and killing of thousands
during
Operation Storm) a shuddering
reminder of events in the World War II.
Serbs in Bosnia and
Herzegovina formed their state of Republika Srpska, currently one of the two
political entities that form the country of Bosnia and
Herzegovina
.
Another
war broke out in Kosovo
(see
Kosovo War) after years of tensions
between Serbs and Albanians.
Up to
250,000 Serbs fled from Croatia during the "Operation Storm" in 1995, and 300,000 left
until 1993, and another 200,000 were expelled from Kosovo after the
Kosovo War, and settled mostly in Central
Serbia and Vojvodina
as refugees.
Communities
Croatia

Serbs of Croatia
In
610-626 Dalmatia saw the permanent settling
of Serbs after Byzantine Emperor Heraclius granted them dominion in
the Sklavinias of Balkans, soon
transformed into the Serbian principalities of Dioklea, Travunia and the
present-day parts of southern
Dalmatian Croatia
: Pagania and Zachlumia. Many Serbian Orthodox churches have been
built in Croatia since the 12th century; Krka Monastery
, Krupa
Monastery
, Dragović Monastery, Lepavina Monastery and Gomirje Monastery.
A large number of ethnic Serbs migrated in 1538 when
Kaiser Ferdinand I, ruler of
the
Habsburg Monarchy offered
sanctuary and permanent settlement to displaced Serbs from Old
Serbia region (Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, southern Serbia)
fleeing from the Turks, placing them under Austrian military
administration. The newly established military region was called
Militärgrenze or
Vojna Krajina.Sometime in 1530,
Serb Uskoks under Vladislav Stefović seeked lands in
Mutnica (Kranjska) to defend the frontiers by
attacking Ottoman Turks. The 50 families lived in Metkike to
Crnomlja, Kostelo to Lasa, Krasa into Kapela. King Ferdinand
granted the Serbs the lands of
Žumberak and gave them assistance in
organizing their counts and dukes of the many clans. They were
exempted of tax pay in return of military service in the Austrian
army, they were permitted to raid and pillage Turkish settlements
across the border. Nikola Jurisic settled 600 families in 1535. The
three Serb military officers of Koprivnica, Križevci and Ivanic
formed the Varaždin general command. The
Žumberak Serbs had initially freedom of faith
but were later converted into Greek Catholicism under pressure from
Rome in the 18th century, and later into Roman Catholicism during
the World War II.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire gained control in Croatia, which also
threatened the dreams of a free state of the Serbs. The Serbs and
Croats rebelled in Dalmatia and Slavonia in guerilla formations of
Uskoks and
Hajduks
during the 16th and 17th century.
After the
First World War, the Kingdom of
Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
(later called Yugoslavia)
was created. Almost all Serbs finally lived in one state, in
majority. The Kingdom had its capital in Belgrade and was ruled by
a Serbian king.
During the Second World War, the Serbs suffered greatly in Croatia
after the Axis Fascist Ustasha regime came into power.The Ustaše
aimed at an ethnically "pure" Croatia, and saw the Serbs that lived
in Croatia,
Bosnia and
Herzegovina as the their biggest obstacle. Thus,
Ustaše ministers
Mile Budak, Mirko Puk,
and Milovan Žanić declared in May 1941 that the goal of the new
Ustaše policy was an ethnically clean Croatia. They also publicly
announced the strategy to achieve their goal:
- One third of the Serbs (in the Independent State of Croatia)
were to be forcibly converted to Catholicism.
- One third of the Serbs were to be expelled (ethnically
cleansed).
- One third of the Serbs were to be killed.
The Ustaše persecuted the Serbs who were mostly
Orthodox Christians in several
concentration camps, mass killings in Serb populated town and
forced convertion was systematically enacted,
race laws patterned after those of the Third
Reich were officialy adopted, which were aimed against
Jews and
Roma and
Serbs, who were collectively declared enemies of the Croatian
people.
Estimates of the number of Serbian victims
of genocide in Croatia are placed at at least 500,000 people, The
estimated number of Serbs killed in the Jasenovac
concentration camp
ranges from 300,000 to 700,000.
The people of Yugoslavia that opposed the Fascists and Nazis were
the Partizan and Chetnik forces, the Partizans were led by Josip
Broz Tito (later life-long President of Yugoslavia) composed of any
ethnic people wanting to liberate the Balkans and the Chetniks who
were a royalist unit composed of Serbs.
- 1931 - 633000 Serbs out of 3430270 People in Croatia
(18.45%)
- 2001 - 201631 Serbs out of 4437460 People in Croatia (
4.54%)
War in Croatia
The Croatian War of Independence, began when Serbs in Croatia who
were opposed to Croatian independence announced their secession
from Croatia. Fighting in this region had actually begun weeks
prior to the Ten-Day War in Slovenia. The move was in part
triggered by a provision in the new Croatian Constitution that
replaced the explicit reference to Serbs in Croatia as a
"constituent nation" with a generic reference to all other nations,
and was interpreted by Serbs as being reclassified as a "national
minority".
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Serbs are
one of the three constitutive
nations of Bosnia-Herzegovina
, predominantly concentrated in the Republic of Srpska entity, although many
also live in the other entity called the Federation of Bosnia and
Herzegovina.
Subgroups
The subgroups of Serbs are commonly based on regional affiliation.
Some of
the major subgroups of Serbs include: Šumadinci, Ere
, Vojvođani, Crnogorci, Kosovci/Kosovari, Bačvani
, Banaćani, Bokelji, Bosanci, Sremci
, Semberci
, Krajišnici, Hercegovci, Torlaci,
Shopi,etc.
(
Note: These terms can be also used to refer to
any native inhabitants of the regions in question, regardless of
ethnicity, i.e. to
Magyar
Vojvodinians or Croat Herzegovinians.)
Some
Serbs, mostly living in Montenegro
and Herzegovina are
organized in clans. See:
list of Serbian tribes.
Montenegrins
Montenegrins are considered a subgroup
of Serbs for a long time by themselves (all pre-Communist
Montenegrins), as well as by Serbs and the international community
that recorded the Serb identity through history. In the late 20th
century, an independence movement in Montenegro gained ground,
resulting in a split among Montenegrins on the issue. Now some
consider themselves to belong to a separate Montenegrin nation.
Supported by Albanians, Bosniaks and Croats from Montenegro, they
gained a relative majority and won a referendum in 2005 that made
Montenegro independent from Serbia. However, world wide, the
presence of Serb Montenegrins is prevailing.
The Montenegrin history is twinned with that of Serbia, since the
two were ruled together or by the same people.
The Montenegrins speak Serbian (or the newly registered
Montenegrin) and are followers of the Serbian Orthodox Church (with
a minority following the erraneous
Montenegrin Orthodox
Church)
Maps
Image:Census 2002 Serbia, ethnic map (by
localities).png|Serbs (blue) in Serbia (2002 Census data for
Central Serbia and Vojvodina
)Image:Serbia ethnic02.png|Serbs
(yellow) in Serbia (2002 Census data for Central Serbia and Vojvodina
, reconstruction for Kosovo
)Image:Kosovo ethnic
2005.png|Serbs in Kosovo
(red) (2005 OSCE
estimates)Image:Montenegroetno03.png|Serbs in Montenegro (blue) (2003
Census)Image:DemoBIH2006a.png|Serbs in Bosnia and
Herzegovina (red) (2006 estimate)File:Hrvatske
etnije.gif|Serbs in Croatia
(blue) (2001 Census)Image:South slavs
romania.png|Serbs of Romania
(yellow) (2002 Census)
See also
Notes
External links