Map of the Syrmia region
Coat of arms
Syrmia ( ; ;
German:
Syrmien; ) is a fertile
region of the
Pannonian Plain in
Europe, between the
Danube and
Sava rivers.
It is
divided between Serbia
in the east
and Croatia
in the
west.
Most of
Syrmia is located in the Srem and
South Bačka districts of
Serbia's Autonomous Province of Vojvodina
. Smaller part of the region around Novi Beograd
, Zemun
, and
Surčin
belongs to
the City of
Belgrade
.
The
westernmost part lies in eastern Croatia, in Vukovar-Srijem
County
.
Name
Today, the name
Srem is usually used in Serbian to
designate the region, whereas the name
Srijem is used in
Croatian.
Other names for the region include:
History
Throughout
its history, Syrmia has been a part of the Roman Empire, the Hun
Empire, Avar Khaganate, the
Gepid Kingdom, the Byzantine Empire, the Frankish Empire, the Bulgarian Empire, the Pannonian Croatia, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian
Empire
, Austria-Hungary,
the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and
Slovenes
, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
, and the Socialist
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
which, upon advice from the "Ðilas Commission",
attributed in 1945 the eastern part of the region to the Federated
Republic of Serbia and the western part to the Federated Republic
of Croatia. After the recognition Croatian independence in
January 1992 and the creation of the "Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia" in April 1992, such a divide became an international
border.
In
2003, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was transformed into state
union of Serbia and
Montenegro, which was abolished in 2006, making the eastern
part of Syrmia part of an independent Serbia.
The name
Syrmia derives from the name of the ancient city of Sirmium
, today
Sremska
Mitrovica
. Sirmium was originally an
Celtic town founded in 3rd century BC and conquered by
Romans in the 1st century BC. Opposing Roman rule, Illyrian tribes
from the region started an uprising in
AD 6 lead by
Baton and
Pines.
Sirmium was an
important city in the Roman
Empire. It was the economic capital of Roman
Pannonia and one of four capital cities of the
Empire. Ten
Roman Emperors were born
in this city or in its surroundings:
Herennius Etruscus (227-251),
Hostilian (230?-251),
Decius
Traian (249-251),
Claudius II
(268-270),
Quintillus (270),
Aurelian (270-275),
Probus
(276-282),
Maximianus Herculius (285-310),
Constantius II (337-361) and
Gratian (367-383). These emperors were mostly
Romanised Illyrians by origin.
The Roman province Pannonia Secunda, which included Syrmia and
parts of present day Slavonia
and Bosnia was
administered from Sirmium.
In the 6th century, Syrmia was part of
Pannonia, a province of the
Byzantine Empire. In the 7th century, the
ruler of Syrmia was
Kuber, a Bulgar leader,
who ruled over the region as Avar vassal. In the beginning of the
9th century, Syrmia was for the short time part of state of
Savia-Pannonia, ruled by Prince
Ljudevit Posavski, since the local Slavs
joined his rebellion. After the
Franks
defeated his rebellion, they secured the vassalage of the Slavs in
the region (a mixture of
Serbs, Croats, Abordrites). The
Bulgarians conquered it from the Franks in 827 after a diplomatic
dispute over the territory - they saw the territory as rightfully
theirs since prior to Liutevid's rebellion, the Slavs of the region
were Bulgar clients. After a preace treaty in 845 AD, the
Bulgarians still controlled Srem.
The mountain Fruška Gora
got its name after the old Serbo-Croatian name for
Frankish people - Fruzi (Frug=Frank, Fruzi=Franks,
fruški=Frankish).
In the 11th century, the ruler of Syrmia was duke
Sermon, vassal of
Bulgarian emperor
Samuil. Sermon produced his own golden
coins in present day Sremska Mitrovica. After Bulgarians were
defeated by Byzantine Empire, Sermon was captured and killed,
because he refused to comply with new authorities.
After the defeat of Sermon, the area was included into the
Byzantine Empire, and the new duke who ruled over the region was
Diogenes.
The Thema of Sirmium was a
province of the Byzantine Empire in the 11th century. This
province included both, the region of Syrmia and the present day
region of
Mačva, thus the name of Syrmia
became designation for the both regions. The region was captured by
the Kingdom of Hungary in the 12th century. It is recorded that in
1231, a duke of Syrmia was
Giletus. During
the 13th century, the territory of Syrmia was divided into two
counties: Syrmia in the east and Vukovar in the west.
Between
1282 and 1316 the Serb King Stefan
Dragutin ruled a Kingdom of Serbia, colloquially called
Syrmian Kingdom, which consisted of the parts of northern
Serbia, Mačva, Usora
, Soli
and east Syrmia . His capital city was
Debrc
(between Belgrade
and Šabac
).
Before that time he was King of Serbia. In that time the name
"Syrmia" was designation for two territories:
Upper
Syrmia (present day Syrmia) and
Lower
Syrmia (present day
Mačva).
In
Ilok
in western Syrmia was the seat of a Hungarian
nobleman by the name of Ugrin Csák
until his death in 1311.
At first, Stefan Dragutin was a vassal of the Hungarian king, but
since the central power in the Kingdom of Hungary collapsed, both,
Stefan Dragutin and Ugrin Čak were de facto independent rulers.
Stefan Dragutin died in 1316, and was succeeded by his son, King
Stefan Vladislav II
(1316-1325), while Ugrin Čak died in 1311. Stefan Vladislav II was
defeated by the king of Serbia,
Stefan Uroš III Dečanski, in 1324, and
after this, Lower Syrmia became a subject of dispute between the
Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Hungary.
The Upper Syrmia was,
after 1311, included into the possession of the Hungarian king,
while its western part (the Vukovar county) was later included into
Banate of Slavonia.
File:Indo Europeans Vojvodina map.png|Ancient
Indo-European peoples in
SyrmiaFile:Roman cities Vojvodina.png|Ancient Roman cities in
SyrmiaFile:Ahtum sermon01.png|Territory ruled by
Sermon, a duke of Syrmia, 11th
centuryFile:Srem04.png|Realms of
Stefan
Dragutin and
Ugrin Csák, 14th
century
In 1404 Hungarian King
Sigismund lend parts Syrmia to
Serbian Despot
Stefan
Lazarević for governing, later succeeded by
Đurađ Branković.
After the Ottoman Empire conquered Serbia in 1459, the
Hungarians renewed the legacy of Despots to the House of Branković in exile, later
to the Berislavić family, who
continued to govern most of Syrmia until the Ottoman conquest but
territory has been de facto and de jure part of Hungarian
kingdom. The residence of the despots was Kupinik
(modern Kupinovo). The Despots were:
Vuk Grgurević (1471-1485),
Đorđe Branković
(1486-1496),
Jovan Branković
(1496-1502),
Ivaniš
Berislavić (1504-1514), and
Stjepan Berislavić (1520-1535). The
last of the titular Serbian despots in Syrmia, Stevan Berislav,
moved in 1522 to Slavonia, since Kupinik was seized by the Ottoman
forces.
Another important local governor has been
Újlaki Miklós, a Duke of
Syrmia (1477-1524), who reigned over large parts of the region from
Ilok.
Parts of the region were captured by the Ottomans in 1521, and by
1538, the entire region was included into the Ottoman Empire.
Between 1527 and 1530, a duke of Syrmia was
Radoslav Čelnik, who ruled over this
region as Ottoman vassal. During the
Ottoman rule, an administrative unit known as
the
Sanjak of Syrmia existed in
this region.
The
Habsburg Monarchy took Syrmia
from Ottomans between 1699 and 1718, and incorporated entire region
into its
Military Frontier. The
County of Syrmia was
established in Syrmia in 1745 as part of the
Kingdom of Slavonia, a
Habsburg land, mainly inhabited by Serbs
and Croats. According to 1790 data, population of the Kingdom of
Slavonia was composed of:
Serbs (46.8%),
Croats (45.7%),
Hungarians (6.8%), and
Germans (0.7%). The southern parts of Syrmia
remained part of the Military Frontier.
File:Radoslav celnik01.png|Duchy of Syrmia of
Radoslav Čelnik in
1527-1530File:Ottoman vojvodina01.png|Ottoman
Sanjak of Syrmia in 1568-1571File:Eyalet of
temesvar1699.png|Habsburg-Ottoman frontier in Syrmia in 1699
In 1807,
a large rebellion of the Syrmian peasants known as the Tican's Rebellion started in the estate of
Ruma
and the estate of Ilok with center
in the village of Voganj
.
In 1848
and 1849, most of Syrmia was part of the Serbian Voivodship, a Serb autonomous
region within the Austrian Empire, while between 1849 and 1860, its
northern part (municipalities of Ilok and Ruma) was part of
the Voivodship
of Serbia and Tamiš Banat, a separate Austrian crown land.
After 1860 the
County of
Syrmia was established again, and it was again incorporated
into the
Kingdom of Slavonia,
which was a separate Austrian crown land in that time. The Kingdom
of Slavonia was incorporated into the Kingdom of Hungary in 1868,
and it became part of
Croatia-Slavonia, an autonomous region
within the
Kingdom of
Hungary.
On
October 29, 1918,
Syrmia became a part of the newly independent State of
Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
, while on November 24,
the Assembly of Syrmia proclaimed the union of Syrmia with the
Kingdom of Serbia.
From
December 1, 1918, it
was a part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and
Slovenes.
The region was first a county of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and
Slovenes between 1918 and 1922, then a province (
oblast) of the Kingdom between 1922 and 1929.
In 1929,
after a new territorial division, the region was divided between
Danube Banovina and Drina Banovina, which were provinces of the
Kingdom of
Yugoslavia, and in 1931 it was divided between Danube Banovina and Sava Banovina. In 1939, the western
part of Syrmia was included into the newly formed
Banovina of Croatia.
In 1941
Syrmia was occupied by the World War II
Axis powers and its entire territory was
attached to the Independent State of Croatia
. In 1945 there had been created new borders
in this area between federal states of Democratic
Federal Yugoslavia
and, since then, Eastern Syrmia (formerly part of
Danube Banovina), together with Bačka
and Banat, has been part of the Serbian Autonomous
Province of Vojvodina, while Western Syrmia (formerly part of Sava
Banovina) has been part of Croatia.
When Croatia declared its independence in 1991, Serbs who lived in
the Croatian part of Syrmia proclaimed their
autonomous
region over portions of western Syrmia. The region was known
as the
Serbian Autonomous Region of Eastern Slavonia,
Baranja and Western Syrmia. This region was one of the two
Serbian autonomous regions that formed the
Republic of Serbian Krajina
in 1991. The creation of Krajina was triggered by the fact that new
Croatian government changed constitual status of Serbs in Croatia
from
nation to
national minority. Although change
was made by more than 2/3 majority, and there was given guarantees
for civil rights for every Croatian citizen, from the point of view
of the Serbs this revoking of their
nation status was
illegal, thus the creation of Krajina (internationally unrecognized
entity) was seen by them as legal way to protect their rights.
After in 1995 Croatian forces regained control over western part of
Krajina, the eastern part was turned over to the
UNTAES, and was peacefully reintegrated into Croatia
by January 1998 (These events were part of
war in Croatia).
File:Vojvodina03.png|Proclaimed borders of the
Serbian Voivodship in 1848, including
most of Syrmia.File:KoH-CS-Szerem.svg|The
County of Syrmia within
Croatia-Slavonia in 1881.File:Partizanski
srem01.png|Liberated partisan territory in Syrmia in the end of
1942File:Vojvodina 1944 1945 01.png|Syrmian frontline before April
1945
Demographics
1437
In 1437, the largest part of Syrmia was populated by
Serbs.
1857
According
to the census from 1857, 59.4% of population of the part of Syrmia
under civil administration and 63.2% of population of the part of
Syrmia under military administration (Petrovaradin
regiment) were ethnic Serbs. The second largest ethnic group were
Croats, while other ethnic groups were
Germans,
Hungarians, etc.
1910
According to the census from 1910, the population of the Syrmia
region (
Syrmia county)
numbered 414,234 inhabitants, including:
1931
In 1931, the population of Syrmia included:
1971
In 1971,
the population of the Serbian part of Syrmia (excluding area that
belong to Belgrade) numbered 313,926 inhabitants, including:
- Serbs = 228,609 (72.84%)
- Croats = 38,389 (12.23%)
- Slovaks = 14,056 (4.48%)
- Hungarians = 9,376 (2.99%)
- Yugoslavs = 9,086 (2.89%)
- Rusyns = 3,403 (1.08%)
- Ukrainians = 1,512 (0.48%)
- Montenegrins = 1,400 (0.44%)
- Slovenes = 1,065 (0.34%)
- Macedonians = 1,023
(0.33%)
- others.
2001/2002
According
to the 2002 census in Serbia, the
population of the Serbian part of Syrmia (in geographical borders)
numbering 790,697 people and is composed of:
According
to the 2001 census in Croatia, the
population of the Croatian Vukovar-Srijem county, numbering
204,768, is composed of:
Geography
Borders
The
present international border was drawn in 1945 by the Đilas
commission, as the divide between the Yugoslav constituent republic of Croatia and the
Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, itself part of Serbia, within
Yugoslavia. Milovan
Đilas, a Montenegrin and then a
confidante of Tito, drew the border according
to demographic criteria, which explains why the Croatian town of
Ilok on the Danube, with a Croat
majority, lies east of Šid
in Serbia,
with a Serb majority. Nonetheless, the border drawn in 1945 was
very similar to internal Kingdom of Yugoslavia border of 1929-1939 between the Danube Banovina and the Sava Banovina.
There are
two particularly isolated chunks of territory along the border -
one is the Croatian territory of Ilok, which is
mostly surrounded by Serbian territory from land, while the other
is the Serbian territory of Jamena
, which is
mostly surrounded by Croatian territory from land.
Bordering regions
- Bačka to the
north, across Danube
- Banat to the east, also across Danube
- Šumadija the south-east, across
Sava
- Mačva to the south, across Sava
- Semberija
to the south-west, across Sava
- Slavonia to the west. The border between Syrmia and
Slavonia is unclear. According to one interpretation, it runs
roughly along a line through Vukovar
, Vinkovci
, and Županja
. According to another interpretation, the
border follows the Bosut, Barica and Vuka
rivers.
Cities
Map showing cities and towns in
Serbian part of Syrmia.
List of cities in Syrmia (with population figures):
- Serbia
- Belgrade city region
- Vojvodina
- Sremska Mitrovica (39,041)
- Ruma
(32,125)
- Inđija
(26,244)
- Stara Pazova
(18,628)
- Šid
(16,301)
- Petrovaradin (13,917)
- Sremska Kamenica (11,140)
- Sremski Karlovci
(8,839)
- Beočin
(8,037)
- Irig
(4,854)
- Croatia
Petrovaradin, Sremska Kamenica, Sremski Karlovci and Beočin are
geographically located in Syrmia, but they are part of
South Bačka District.
Municipalities
Municipalities in the Serbian part of Syrmia:
Note:
Syrmian villages of Neštin
and
Vizić
are part of
the municipality of Bačka Palanka
(main part of this municipality is not located in
Syrmia but in Bačka), while
several settlements that are part of the municipality of Sremska
Mitrovica are not located in Syrmia but in Mačva.
Municipalities and villages in the Croatian part of Syrmia:
Mountains
The
region's principal mountain is Fruška Gora with its highest peak of Crveni Čot at 539
m.
Gallery
File:BG
NoviBeograd.jpg|Novi
BeogradFile:Citadel Petrovaradin.jpg|Petrovaradin fortress
File:Jezero01.jpg|Lake of
Ledinci
File:Main street, Vukovar.jpg|VukovarFile:Belgrade Arena south-east.jpg|Belgrade
Arena
, Novi
BeogradFile:Fruska Gora Smith.jpg|Fruška
GoraFile:Ledinci01.jpg|Orthodox Church in
Ledinci
File:Sv Nikola.jpg|Orthodox Church in
Stari
Slankamen
See also
References
- R. Veselinović, Istorija Srpske pravoslavne crkve sa narodnom
istorijom I, Beograd 1969., page 18
- R. Grujić, Pravoslavna Srpska crkva, Kragujevac 1989., page
22
- Sve o Slankamenu
- Dr. Aleksa Ivić, Istorija Srba u Vojvodini, Novi Sad,
1929.
- Vasilije Đ. Krestić, Iz prošlosti Srema, Bačke i Banata,
Beograd, 2003.
- Szerém (Srijem) County
- Jovan Pejin, Kolonizacija Hrvata na srpskoj zemlji u Sremu,
Slavoniji i Baranji, Sremska Mitrovica, 1992.
- Dr. Branislav Bukurov, Bačka, Banat i Srem, Novi Sad,
1978.
- Popis stanovništva, domaćinstava i stanova 2002. Knjiga 1:
Nacionalna ili etnička pripadnost po naseljima. Republika Srbija,
Republički zavod za statistiku Beograd 2003. ISBN
86-84443-00-09
- http://www.dzs.hr/Hrv/Popis%202001/popis20001.htm
(8,114)
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