The Serbs (, ) are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in both Romania and Hungary, as well as in Albania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. There is also a large Serbian diaspora presence in Western Europe, particularly in Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria, as well as in France and Italy. More than a million people of Serbian origin live in German speaking countries: Luxembourg (1%), Austria (1,8%), Switzerland (1%), and Germany (~1%).

Ethnology

The Serbs are a Slavic people, specifically of the South Slavic subgroup, which has its origins in the 6^th and 7^th century communities developed in Southeastern Europe (see Great Migration). Slav raids on Eastern Roman territory are mentioned in 518, and by the 580s they had conquered large areas referred to as Sclavinia (transl. Slavdom, from Sklavenoi - Σκλαυηνοι, the early South Slavic tribe which is eponymous to the current ethnic and linguistic Indo-European people). In 649, Constantine III relocates conquered Slavs "from the Vardar" to Gordoservon (Serb habitat). Among communities part in the Serb ethnogenesis are the Romanized Paleo-Balkan tribes of Illyrians, Thracians and Dacians, Celts, Greek colonies and Romans.

In 822, the Serbs are mentioned as "inhabiting the larger part of Dalmatia" (Serbian lands), and Emperor Constantine VII (r. 913–959) writes in his work "Administration of the Empire"

I2a-P37.2 is the most prevailing haplogroup, accounting for nearly one-third of Serbian Y-chromosomes. Its frequency peaks in Herzegovina (64%), and its variance peaks over a large geographic area covering B-H, Serbia, Hungaria, Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Geneticists estimate that I2a-P37.2 originated some 10,000 years before present (ybp) in the Balkans, from where it began to expand to Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe about 7000 ybp. It is the second most predominant Y-chromosomal haplogroup in the overall Slavic gene pool. Slavic migrations to the Balkans in the early Middle Ages contributed to the frequency and variance of I2a-P37.2 in the region. It became the most predominant haplogroup in the general Slavic paternal gene pool. The variance of R1a1 in the Balkans might have been enhanced by infiltrations of Indo-European speaking peoples between 2000 and 1000 BC, and by the Slavic migrations to the region in the early Middle Ages.

R1b1b2-M269 is moderately represented among the Serb males (6–10%). It has its frequency peak in Western Europe (90% in Wales), but a high frequency is also found in the Caucasus among the Ossetians (43%).

J2b-M102 and J2a1b1-M92 have low frequencies among the Serbs (6–7% combined). Various other lineages of haplogroup J2-M172 are found throughout the Balkans, all with low frequencies. Haplogroup J and all its descendants originated in the Middle East. It is proposed that the Balkan Mesolithic foragers, bearers of I-P37.2 and E-V13, adopted farming from the initial J2 agriculturalists who colonized the region about 7000 to 8000 ybp, transmitting the Neolithic cultural package. Principal component analysis of Y-chromosomal haplogroup frequencies among the three ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbs, Croats, and Bosniacs, showed that Serbs and Bosniacs are genetically closer to each other than either of them is to Croats.

Name and etymologies

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 Tacitus in 50 AD, Pliny the Elder in 77 AD (Naturalis Historia) and Ptolemy in his Geography 2nd century AD, who associate the "Serbs" with the Sarmatian tribe of Serboi of the North Caucasus and Lower Volga. Ptolemy also mentions the town of Serbinum, present day Gradiška in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The works of Vibius Sequester also mention the Serbs. Roman Emperor Licinius referred to the Carpathians as "Montes Serrorum" in the 5th century AD. Procopius uses the name Sporoi as an umbrella term for the Slavic tribes of Antes and Sclaveni, it is however not known whether the Slavs used this designation for themselves or he himself coined the term, it has been theorized however that the name is corruption of the ethnonym Serbs. The Serb ethnonym is written as Surbi, Sorabi, Σερβlοι (Servloi) in early medieval sources.

Having defeated the Avars, under the Unknown Archont, the Eastern Roman Emperor Heraclius invited Serbs (who came from Bojka,

Scholars have suggested that 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', are connected with the ethnonym.

Among other autonyms are Slavs, or the common historical demonyms Rascians (from Rascia>Ras) or Docleans (from Doclea).

Historical exonyms include: Triballians and Dalmatians used by medieval Byzantine writers, Illyrians in the Austrian Empire (term for South Slavs). Among deemed derogatory terms are Vlachs, referring to the Orthodox Serbs in Habsburg and Austro-Hungarian proximity.

Famous Serbs

, ranked 2nd in tennis.]]

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 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 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 nationalist, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28 June 1914, precipitating the crisis between Austria-Hungary and Serbia that led to the World War I.

Culture

of Šumadija, with the Šajkača hats]]

Serb culture has a wide spectra; besides the main [South] Slavic traits, the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) cultural heritage and Christianity (Serbian Orthodox Church) being prevalent. Western-Central European (Austro-Hungarian) cultural influence is higher in Vojvodina, Croatian Serbs and Bosnian Serbs, while the Serbs living in maritime regions (e.g. Bay of Kotor) have been influenced by Italian culture (Republic of Venice). The centuries under Ottoman rule have highly influenced with Oriental elements.

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, 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.

Language

"Srpske narodne pjesme" (Serbian folk poems), Vienna, 1841]]

Serbs speak the Serbian language, a member of the South Slavic group of languages, specifically in the Southwestern Slavic group, with the Southeastern Slavic group including Macedonian and Bulgarian. It is mutually intelligible with the standard Croatian and Bosnian language (see Differences in standard Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian) and some linguists still consider it a sub-set of the Serbo-Croatian language.

The Serbian language comprises several dialects, the standard language is based on the Shtokavian dialect.

It is an official language in Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina (Republika Srpska), Montenegro and Romania, and a minority language in Croatia, Macedonia, Hungary and Slovakia.

Older forms of Serbian are Old Serbian, the redaction of Old Church Slavonic, and the Russo-Serbian variant, a version of the Church Slavonic language.

, reformer of Modern Serbian]] Serbian is the only European language with active digraphia, using both Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. Serbian Cyrillic was devised in 1814 by Vuk Karadžić, who created the alphabet on phonemic principles, the Cyrillic itself has its origins in Cyril and Methodius' transformation of the Greek script in the 9th century.

Loanwords in the Serbian language besides common internationalisms are mostly from Turkish, German and Italian, words of Hungarian origin are present mostly in the north and Greek words are predominant in the liturgy.

Two Serbian words that are used in many of the world's languages are "vampire" and "paprika". Common words of Serbian cuisine are "Slivovitz" and "ćevapčići". Paprika and Slivovitz are borrowed via German; paprika itself entered German via Hungarian. Vampire entered most West European languages through German-language texts in the early 18th century.

Naming system

(Lazarević) - son of Lazar of Serbia.]]

Given names

A child is given a first name chosen by their parents but approved by the godparents of the child (the godparents rarely object to the parents' choice). The given name comes first, the surname last, e.g. "Željko Popović", where "Željko" is a first name and "Popović" is a family name. Female names end with -a, e.g. Dragan -> Dragana.

Popular names are mostly of Serbian (Slavic), Christian (Biblical), Greek and Latin origin.

Serbian: Nenad, Dragan, Zoran, Goran and Slobodan.

Greek: Nikola, Dimitrije, Đorđe, Aleksandar and Filip.

Biblical: Jovan, Danilo, Petar, Pavle, Mihailo and Gavrilo.

Latin: Marko, Srđan, Antonije and Miljan.

Surnames

Most Serbian surnames (like Bosniak, Croatian and Montenegrin) have the surname suffix -ić (pronounced or , Cyrillic: -ић). This is often transliterated as -ic or -ici. In English-speaking countries, 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 as Milutin Milankovitch.

The -ić suffix is a Slavic diminutive, originally functioning to create patronymics. Thus the surname Petrić signifies little Petar, similar to 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 and some 80% of Serbs carry such a surname.

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

the Archbishop of Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci, Serbian Patriarch Irinej.]] , Kosovo, Serbia]] , famous Serb- catholic, Ragusologist and historian (1860- 1942)]]

Conversion of the South Slavs from paganism to Christianity began in the 7th century, long before the Great Schism. The Serbs were said to be christianized during the reign of Heraclius (610-641) but the full christianization and establishment of state-religion took place after the baptism by missionaries Cyril and Methodius or their disciples ca 869 during the rule of Basil I, 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). Still, up into the 20th century there were influential movements of Serb Catholics, Muslim Serbs, as well as protestants (in Vojvodina) and Atheists.

Geographically, the Serbian Orthodox Church represents the westernmost bastion of Orthodox Christianity in Europe, which shaped its historical fate through contacts with Catholicism and Islam.

The Serbs have suffered at various times in their history because of their religious convictions. Many Serbs were converted against their will (Devshirme, see also Turkification and Islamization) during the reign of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans, while others converted voluntarily for better social status. During the Second World War, the Croatian Axis Ustasha regime had a prominently anti-Serbian ideology and rejected Orthodox Christianity as being incompatible with their principles, they sought to create an ethnically "pure" Croatian state, and as such the forcible conversion, explusion and murder of Serb people was a key strategy.

Symbols

The Civil Flag of Serbia (and ethnic colours) is the red-blue-white tricolour (Slavic tricolour), the official flag has the coat of arms depicting the Serbian Eagle (which has the Serbian cross and other folkloric elements).

The Serbian eagle, a white two-headed eagle, which represents dual power and sovereignty (monarch and church), was the coat of arms of the House of Nemanjić.

The Serbian cross is based on the Byzantine cross, but where the Byzantine Cross held 4 Greek letter 'V' (or 'B') meaning King of Kings, ruling over Kings, the Serbian cross turned the Byzantine "B" into 4 Cyrillic letters of 'S' (C) with little stylistic modification, for a whole new message. If displayed on a field, traditionally it is on red field, but could be used with no field at all.

Both the eagle and the cross, besides being the basis for various Serbian coats of arms throughout 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:

The traditional shoes Opanci (sing. Opanak), are recognizable by the distinctive tips that spiral backward. The Opanci are part of the wider folk clothing of the Balkans.

The traditional hat 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 originated as military headgear in the 18^th-century Serbian river flotilla. It gained wide popularity in the early 20^th century as it was used by the Serbian Army in World War I. It is worn on everyday basis by some villagers even today, and it was a common item of headgear among Bosnian Serb military commanders during the Bosnian War in the 1990s. The "šajkača" is traditionally used in the region of Šumadija (Central Serbia), while Serbs in other regions naturally have other traditional types of hats.

Cuisine

The Serbian cuisine, just like Serbian culture, implies not only regional elements connected to Serbia, but other parts of former Yugoslavia as well. Great influences have been marked on the whole cooking process due to peasantry, which also influenced the folk craft, music and arts.

Traditional dishes made in Serbia today have common roots with the dishes prepared throughout the Balkans. The whole Serbian cuisine is derived from a mixture of influences coming from the Mediterranean (Greek and Italian), Central European (Hungarian and Austrian) and Turkish cuisines.

Serbs have great passion for food in general, especially barbecue, having a rich cuisine and a large diversity of alcohol beverages that accompany these fat-rich dishes. Slivovitz, the national drink, is a strong, alcoholic beverage primarily made from distilled fermented plum juice, tasting similar to brandy (plum brandy in English). Foods include a variety of grilled meats and bread. Desserts range from Turkish-style baklava to Viennese-style tortes. Local Serbian wine is highly regarded and popular in respective wine regions. Among most popular dishes are: Pljeskavica, Ćevapčići, Ajvar, Burek, Gibanica, Karađorđeva šnicla, Musaka, Sarma, Kajmak.

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.

, John the Baptist]]

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 of Gabriel and Michael, and the Apostles St. Peter and Paul) have two feast days, both are marked.

mountain]]

The traditional dance is a circle dance called kolo, which is in reality the same as the oro, common among Serbs, Bulgarians, Croats, Macedonians and Montenegrins. 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. Similar circle dances also exist in other cultures of the region.

, Belgrade.]]

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 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 Old New Year (currently on January 14 of the Gregorian Calendar).

On Orthodox Easter, Serbs have the tradition of Slavic Egg decorating.

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; Bosnians are raw and stupid; people from Central Serbia are often portrayed as capricious and malicious, etc.

History

Middle Ages

Sclavinia

The Slavs invaded Balkans during Justinian I rule (527–565), when eventually up to 100,000 Slavs raided Thessalonica. The Western Balkans was settled with "Sclaveni", the east with Antes. Archaeological evidence in Serbia and Macedonia conclude that the White Serbs may have reached the Balkans earlier, between 550-600, as much findings; fibulae and pottery found at Roman forts point at Serb characteristics. and thus could have been a fraction of the early invading Slavs who 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.

Serbs in De Administrando Imperio

According to Byzantine tradition (De Administrando Imperio, by Porphyrogenitus); The Serbs are recorded in the Byzantine Empire; Balkans with the arrival of the Unknown Archont and his part of the Serb tribe. The White Serbs came from White Serbia, situated in present day western Poland, led by this archont who took half of the people after the death of his father, who was a King. The first 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. They lived briefly in Servia, in the province of Thessalonica where they were settled, but soon decided to return to their homeland, however on their way back, near the Danube, they requested the land of Western Balkans to settle in through the military governor at Belgrade.

Early Statehood

The Serbs were subjects to the Byzantine Empire, they were patriarchal tribesmen initially administered in Sclavinias (Slav area within Byzantine Empire) and were given different dominions to govern, similarly to the strategoi. They soon formed six powerful principalities, called Rascia, Travunia, Zachlumia, Bosnia, Pagania and Doclea. The diplomatic and cultural ties with Byzantine Greeks contributed greatly to Serbian culture. Serbs were baptized initially by "elders of Rome", during the Byzantine Papacy, although the full christianization was finished in the 860s, either by Cyril and Methodius or their disciples. The Great Schism would further divide the Serbs from the neighboring Slav tribe of Croats. The rulers had varying degrees of autonomy under the Byzantine Empire and brief independencies until the early 10th and 11th centuries when Serbian archonts managed without the Byzantines. 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 is considered the beginning of the golden ages of Serbia.

In 680, the Byzantines settled Asia minor with 30,000 Serb prisoners in a city named Gordoservon (City of the Serbs), where they would later battle the Umayyads in 692. The Serbs deserted the army because of bad treatment and the battle was lost.

The first Serb state was called Serbia (Σερβλια) and was situated in parts of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, southern Serbia, Montenegro and southeasternmost Croatia (Dalmatia, south of Split). In the 822 annals of the Frankish Kingdom, the Serbs are living in the greater part of Dalmatia. The first state would become known as Rascia in 12th-century works, describing the seat of the Serbian throne in the hinterlands (Zagorje), thus becoming a exonym of the Serbian state although in reality it was a region situated around Ras. In the 850s, a fief was established out of a greater region around present-day Trebinje, called Travunia, which was given to the Kings son-in-law. In 912, Zahumlje was established, and with the fall of Rascia in 950/960, the seat of Serbia was relocated to Doclea.

In the 960s, Serbia was conquered by the Byzantines, the Catepanate of Serbia was established, ruled by John, protospatharios and katepano of Ras. In 1018, the Theme of Sirmium was established, at the same time, Serbian statehood was continued in Duklja.

In the time of the Comnenos, 1081–1180, Serbs served in the Byzantine Army.

, Emperor Stefan Dušan]]

Nemanyid era

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.

Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian occupation

As Christians, the Serbs were regarded as a "protected people" under Ottoman law, but were however referred 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 composed 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.

in the 17th and 18th centuries]]

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 (Known as "Great Serb 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.

Serbian Revolution and First World War

(Black George) leader of the First Serbian Uprising]]

The Serbs and Croats rebelled in Dalmatia and Slavonia in guerilla formations of Uskoks and Hajduks during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries (prior to Independence). The Serbian revolution took place 1804-1835. The first part of the period, from 1804 to 1815, was marked by a violent struggle for independence from the Ottoman Empire, with two armed uprisings taking place. The later period (1815–1835) witnessed a peaceful consolidation of political power of the newly autonomous Serbia, culminating in the recognition of the right to hereditary rule by Serbian princes in 1830 and 1833 and the adoption of the first written constitution in 1835. These events marked the foundation of Modern Serbia. In 1852, the Principality of Montenegro was proclaimed, a nation-state of the Serbs.

in Prilep, 1904]]

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.

Yugoslavia

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. Serbs fought in the resistance movements of royalist Chetnik guerilla and the Partisan movement.

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 Serbs were the largest ethnic group, existent in all republics. 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 (where they were majority until World War II).

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 the Republic of Serbian 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 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

of Saint Spyridon in Trieste, Italy -mid 19th century.]] 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 and Herzegovina) (c. 220,000), Kragujevac (c. 175,000), East Sarajevo and Prijedor (in Bosnia and 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% of the population (83% excluding Kosovo, see Status of Kosovo). 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.

In Asia, some ethnic Serbs with other ex-Yugoslavians of the Jewish faith can be found in Israel, but Israel offers guest worker permits for non-Jewish Serbians as well. According to official figures, 5000 Serbs live in Dubai but the unofficial figure is estimated to be around 15,000. Serbian immigrants went to the Persian Gulf states to find employment opportunities in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait in the 1990s and 2000s.

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.

Autochthonous communities with minority status:

In Croatia, Serbs are the largest national minority, scattered across the country. According to the 2001 Census, there were 201,631 Serbs in Croatia, down from the pre-war figure of 581,663, a result of the Operation Oluja; the Croatian War. They were stripped of their constitutional status in 1990.

In Macedonia, Serbs are a minority present in 16 municipalities, the largest being the Čučer-Sandevo Municipality (close to 28%) and Staro Nagoričane Municipality. They are found in the cities of Kumanovo and Skopje.

Serbian minorities exist in the following regions:

In Hungary, Serbs are an officially recognized ethnic minority, numbering 7,350 people or 0.1% of population. They 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 on Csepel Island. 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). In Albania, Serbs are 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. Serbian community in Italy's city of Trieste dates 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). 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 studied in the university. Their present number today is unknown but they are nevertheless recognized as an official minority.]]

Serbs are the second largest ethnic group in Kosovo. By the 12th century, the cultural, diplomatic and religious core of the Serbian Kingdom was located in Kosovo. This became essential to the Serbian Empire of the 14th century.

During the 20th century Serbian population constantly decreased. Their share in the overall population of the region is currently estimated at 7% by the CIA. Serbs today mostly populate the enclaves across Kosovo, North Kosovo being the largest one.

Large-scale emigration of ethnic Serbs, especially since 1999 onwards, makes them the only major ethnic group in Kosovo to have a negative natural growth rate with deaths exceeding births. BBC reports that less than 100,000, 5% Serbs remained in Kosovo following a post-war exodus of non-Albanians. The Serbian minority live in separate areas watched over by NATO peacekeepers. International diplomats have voiced concern over slow progress on their rights. Human Rights Watch points out discrimination against Serbs and Roma in Kosovo.

Montenegro

(blue) (2003 Census)]]

The term Montenegrin has traditionally been a geographical name for Serbs of Montenegro.

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 history of Montenegro is twinned with that of Serbia, as the medieval Serbian states of Zeta and Duklja were located in present day Montenegro.

Majority of Montenegrins speak Serbian, with a minority supporting the claim of a separate Montenegrin language since being proclaimed the official language in Montenegro along with Serbian in 2006. A majority of Montenegrins are also followers of the Serbian Orthodox Church (with a minority following the Montenegrin Orthodox Church)

Bosnia & Herzegovina

(blue) (2006 estimate)]] Serbs are one of the three constitutive nations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, predominantly concentrated in the Republic of Srpska entity, although many also live in the other entity called the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

War in Bosnia

The Government of BiH declared independence which was not accepted by the federal Serb controlled government of Yugoslavia, and what followed was the forming of the Serbian Autonomous Area of the Bosnian Frontier in the western Bosnian Frontier region of Bosnia and Herzegovina with its capital in Banja Luka, which was not recognised by the central government. SAO Bosnian Frontier made attempts to unite with the Autonomous Region of the Serbian Frontier in Croatia. The Serb political leadership martialled its own force assisted by the Yugoslav People's Army and declared independence from Bosnia and Herzegovina in late 1992. During this period there was notable support for the idea of a Greater Serbia being made reality, both within Bosnia and in Serbia proper. This ideology advocated the joining of Serb-poulated regions into a contiguous territory. BiH's Bosniak and Bosnian Croat dominated government did not recognize the new Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose president was Radovan Karadžić seated in Banja Luka. The Serb side accepted the proposed ethnic cantonization of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Carrington-Cutileiro peace plan), as did the Bosniak and Bosnian Croat sides in Lisbon in 1992, in the hope that war would not break out. The Bosniak political leadership under President Alija Izetbegović of Bosnia and Herzegovina subsequently revoked the agreement refusing to decentralize the newly created country based on ethnic lines. The Bosnian War began.

Throughout most of the war the Serb side fought against both the Bosniak side and the Bosnian Croat side. During Bosniak-Croat hostilities the Serbs co-operated largely with the Croats. There were exceptions to this as well, as Serb forces were also allied with the pro-Yugoslav Bosniaks of the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia under Fikret Abdić. During most of the war, the Serb Republic comprised around 70% of Bosnia and Herzegovina's soil. During the entire length of war the Army of the Serb Republic maintained the Siege of Sarajevo, allegedly in order to tie down the Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak) forces and resources in what was the capital of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian state. Serb Republic maintained close ties with the Republic of the Serb Frontier and received volunteers and supplies from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the war. The Serb Republic received a large number of Serb refugees from other Yugoslav hotzones, particularly non-Serb held areas in Sarajevo, Herzeg-Bosnia and Croatia. In 1993, the Owen-Stoltenberg peace treaty was suggested that would give 52% of BiH to the Serb side. It was refused by the Bosniak side as too large of a concession. In 1994, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia imposed sanctions after the National Assembly of the Serb Republic refused the Vance-Owen peace plan. In 1995, Operation Storm, eliminated the Republic of the Serb Frontier. The Croatian Army continued the offensive into the Serb Republic under General Ante Gotovina (currently on trial for war crimes at the ICTY). Some 250,000 Serbs fled to the Serb Republic and Serbia from Croatia, as the Serb side continued a full retreat of Serbs from the Una to the Sana river. The Croatian Army, supported by the forces of the Muslim-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina came within 20 km of the de facto Bosnian Serb capital, Banja Luka. The war was halted with the Dayton Peace Agreement which recognized Republika Srpska, comprising 49% of the soil of BiH, as one of the two territorial entities of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Serb side suffered a total 30,700 victims - 16,700 civilians and 14,000 military personnel, according to the Demographic Unit at the ICTY. Although exact number are somewhat disputed, mostly by Bosniaks, it is generally agreed that the Bosnian War claimed the lives of about 100,000 people - Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks. See: Casualties of the Bosnian War

The demographics of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as Republika Srpska were tremendously affected by the war. Current estimates indicate that some 400,000 Serbs no longer live in the Federation of BiH, the other entity in Bosnia which makes up 51% of its territory.

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 sought 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 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 (in extermination camps).

The Ustaše persecuted the Serbs who were mostly Orthodox Christians in several concentration camps, mass killings in Serb populated town and forced conversion was systematically enacted, race laws patterned after those of the Third Reich were officially adopted, which were aimed against Jews, also the 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 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 in June 1991. 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 or "Croats of the Serbian Orthodox faith" 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". The Serbian community of Krajina whom outnumbered Croats there 5 to 1 was an independent republic from July 1991 to Oct. 1995 when they finally fell to the Croatian army.

Diaspora

There are currently 3.5 million Serbs in diaspora throughout the world (those that are not constitutional peoples; like in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina in this case). The Serb diaspora was the consequence of either voluntary departure, coercion and/or forced migrations or expulsions that occurred in six big waves: # To the west and north, caused mostly by the Ottoman Turks. # To the east (Czechoslovakia, Russia, Ukraine and across the former USSR from World War I and World War II, to until the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe by the early 1990s). # To the USA for economic reasons, but Serbians also migrated to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South America. # During wartime, particularly World War II and post-war political migration, predominantly into overseas countries (large waves of Serbians and other Yugoslavians into the USA, Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand). # Going abroad for temporary work as "guest workers" and "resident aliens" who stayed in their new homelands during the turbulent 1960s and 1970s (to Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom), however some Serbians returned to Yugoslavia in the 1980s. # Escaping from the uncertain situation (1991–1995) caused by the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the renewal of vicious ethnic conflicts and civil war, as well as by the disastrous economic crises, which largely affected the educated or skilled labor forces (i.e. "brain drain"), increasingly migrated to Western Europe, North America and Australia/New Zealand.

The existence of the centuries-old Serb or Serbian diaspora in countries such as Austria, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Russia, Poland, Slovakia, Turkey and Ukraine, is the result of historical circumstances – the migrations to the North and the East, due to the Turkish conquests of the Balkans and as a result of politics, especially when the Communist Party came into power, but even more when the communist state of Yugoslavia collapsed into inter-ethnic conflict, resulting in mass expulsions of people from certain regions as refugees of war. Although some members of the Serbian diaspora do not speak the Serbian language nor observe Christianity (some Serbians are Jews, Slavic Muslims, Protestants, Roman Catholics, Eastern Rite Catholics, or atheists) or members of the overseas dioceses of the Serbian Orthodox Church, they are still traditionally regarded as Serbs or Serbians other than Yugoslavians or Yugoslavs.

See also

Serbia, nation-state of Serbs

List of Serbs, a list of notable Serbs

Serbian lands, states, regions, territories of Serbs

Serb clans, Serb feudal organizations of Montenegro and Herzegovina

Yugoslavs, national demonym and umbrella term of the peoples of the Yugoslav federation

Slavs; List of Medieval Slavic tribes; South Slavs

Notes

Sources

Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos, ca. 950, , De Administrando Imperio, The early history of the Slavonic settlements in Dalmatia, Croatia, & Serbia (1920),

Ćorović, Vladimir (1997) Istorija srpskog naroda

Vladimir Ćorović (2005). ИЛУСТРОВАНА ИСТОРИЈА СРБА, Book II, Politika.

External links

Project Rastko - Serbian cultural and historical research society

Serbs Category:Ethnic groups in Europe Category:Ethnic groups in Montenegro Category:Ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina Category:Ethnic groups in Croatia Category:Ethnic groups in the Republic of Macedonia Category:Ethnic groups in Hungary Category:Ethnic groups in Romania Category:Ethnic groups in Slovenia Category:Slavic ethnic groups Category:Serbian society Category:South Slavs

Name	Ratko Mladić Ратко Младић
Caption	Mladić at Sarajevo airport in 1993
Born	March 12, 1943
Placeofbirth	Božanovići, Kalinovik, Independent State of Croatia,(today's Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Allegiance	Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Republic of Serbian Krajina Republika Srpska
Serviceyears	1965–1995
Rank	Colonel General
Commands	9th Corps, Yugoslav People's Army (JNA)2nd Military District Headquarters, JNA Army of Republika Srpska
Battles	Croatian War of Independence
Status	Unknown
Awards	Order of Brotherhood and UnityOrder of Military MeritsOrder of the People's Army

Ratko Mladić (Serbian Cyrillic: Ратко Младић, , born 12 March 1943) is an accused war criminal and a former Bosnian Serb military leader. On May 31, 2011, Mladić was extradited to The Hague, where he was processed at the detention center that holds suspects for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). His trial began on 3 June 2011.

Mladić came to prominence in the Yugoslav Wars, initially as a high-ranking officer of the Yugoslav People's Army and subsequently as the Chief of Staff of the Army of the Republika Srpska (the Bosnian Serb Army) in the Bosnian War of 1992–1995. In 1995, he was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. As the top military general with command responsibility, Mladić was accused by the ICTY of being responsible for the 1992–1995 Siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre—the largest mass murder in Europe since the immediate aftermath of World War II.

In July 1996 the Trial Chamber of the ICTY, proceeding in the absence of Mladić under the ICTY's Rule 61, confirmed all counts of the original indictments, finding there were reasonable grounds to believe he had committed the alleged crimes, and issued an international arrest warrant. Serbia and the United States offered €5 million for information leading to Mladić's capture and arrest. In October 2010, Serbia intensified the hunt by increasing the reward for Mladić's capture from €5 million to €10 million. Serbia also asked Interpol for help in locating the fugitive.Mladić nevertheless managed to remain at large for nearly sixteen years; on 26 May 2011, Serbian security forces arrested him in Lazarevo, Serbia. His capture was considered to be one of the pre-conditions for Serbia joining the European Union.

A long-time member of the Yugoslav Communist Party, Mladić began his career in the Yugoslav People's Army in 1965 and had an undistinguished career in Communist Yugoslavia until the outbreak of the Yugoslav Wars in 1991.

Early life and military career

Mladić was born in the village of Božanovići located near Mount Treskavica, southeast of Sarajevo, in the municipality of Kalinovik west of Goražde () on 12 March 1943. The place was at the time a part of the short-lived Independent State of Croatia, or NDH, a fascist puppet-state created after Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy invaded and partitioned the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1941. Mladić's father, a Bosnian Serb communist partisan, was killed in 1945 while leading a partisan attack on the home village of Ante Pavelić.

Mladić entered the Military Industry School in Zemun in 1961, then went on to the KOV Military Academy, and then Officers Academy, graduating at the top of his class in 1965 with a grade of 9.57. The same year, he joined the Yugoslav Communist Party, remaining a member until the party disintegrated in 1990.

Role in the Yugoslav wars

In June 1991, Mladić was promoted to Deputy Commander of the Pristina Corps in Kosovo at a time of high tension between Serbs and Kosovo's majority Albanian population. That year, Mladić was given command of the 9th Corps of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), and led this formation against Croatian forces in Knin, the capital of the self-declared Republic of Serbian Krajina. On 4 October 1991, he was promoted to Major General. The JNA forces under his command participated in the Croatian War, notably during Operation Coastline 91 in an attempt to sever Dalmatia from the rest of Croatia, which failed even though the JNA forces were much more heavily armed and outnumbered the Croatian forces substantially. Among other things, Mladić helped Milan Martić's paramilitary take the village of Kijevo.

On 24 April 1992, Mladić was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel General. On 2 May 1992, one month after the Bosnian Republic's declaration of independence, Mladić and his generals blockaded the city of Sarajevo, shutting off all traffic in and out of the city, as well as water and electricity. This began the four-year Siege of Sarajevo, the longest siege in the history of modern warfare. The city was bombarded with shells and random shooting from the guns of snipers. On 9 May 1992, he assumed the post of Chief of Staff/Deputy Commander of the Second Military District Headquarters of the JNA in Sarajevo. The next day, Mladić assumed the command of the Second Military District Headquarters of the JNA.

On 12 May 1992, in response to Bosnia's secession from Yugoslavia, the separatist Bosnian Serb Parliament voted to create the VRS, or Army of Republika Srpska. At the same time, Mladić was appointed Commander of the Main Staff of the VRS, a position he held until December 1996. (In May 1992, after the withdrawal of JNA forces from Bosnia, the JNA Second Military District became the nucleus of the Main Staff of the VRS.) On 24 June 1994, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel General over the approximately 80,000 troops stationed in the area.

In July 1995, troops commanded by Mladić, harried by NATO air strikes intended to force compliance with a UN ultimatum to remove heavy weapons from the Sarajevo area, overran and occupied the UN safe areas of Srebrenica and Žepa. At Srebrenica over 40,000 Bosniaks who had sought safety there were expelled. An estimated 8,300 were murdered, allegedly on Mladić's order. In November 1995, when Judge Fouad Riad indicted Mladić for genocide in Srebrenica at the war crimes tribunal in The Hague, he stated that the events were "Truly scenes from hell, written on the darkest pages of human history".

On 4 August 1995, with a huge Croatian military force poised to attack the Serb-held Krajina region in central Croatia, Radovan Karadžić announced he was removing Mladić from his commandant post and assuming personal command of the VRS himself. Karadžić blamed Mladić for the loss of two key Serb towns in western Bosnia that had recently fallen to the Croats, and he used the loss of the towns as the excuse to announce his surprise command structure changes. Mladić was demoted to an "adviser". He refused to go quietly, claiming the support of both the Bosnian Serb military as well as the people. Karadžić countered by attempting to pull political rank as well as denouncing Mladić as a "madman," but Mladić's obvious popular support forced Karadžić to rescind his order on 11 August.

On 8 November 1996, the President of the Bosnian Serb Republic, Biljana Plavšić, dismissed Mladić from his post. He continued to receive a pension until November 2005.

Indictment by the ICTY

On 24 July 1995, Mladić was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for genocide, crimes against humanity, and numerous war crimes (including crimes relating to the alleged sniping campaign against civilians in Sarajevo). On 16 November 1995, the charges were expanded to include charges of war crimes for the attack on the UN-declared safe area of Srebrenica in July 1995.

, Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić.]]

A fugitive from the ICTY, he was suspected to be hiding either in Serbia or in Republika Srpska. Mladić was reportedly seen attending a football match between China and Yugoslavia in Belgrade in March 2000. He entered through a VIP entrance and sat in a private box surrounded by eight armed bodyguards. Some claim that he has been seen in a suburb of Moscow, and that he is "regularly" in Thessaloniki and Athens, which raised suspicions that numerous fake reports were sent to cover his trail. Some reports said he took refuge in his wartime bunker in Han Pijesak, not far from Sarajevo, or in Montenegro.

In 2004, Paddy Ashdown, at the time the High Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina, removed the 58 officials from their post due to suspicions that they helped war crimes suspects including Ratko Mladić and Radovan Karadžić to evade capture. Some officials were subjected to travel bans and had their bank accounts frozen. The ban was later lifted after the capture of Mladić.

In November 2004, British defense officials conceded that military action was unlikely to be successful in bringing Mladić and other suspects to trial. One winter’s day British UN troops carrying side arms were confronted by the general skiing down the piste at Sarajevo’s former Olympic skiing resort but made no move for their guns; skiing behind Mladić were four bodyguards. Despite his Hague warrant, they decided to carry on skiing. Later NATO had a rethink, sending commandos to arrest war crimes suspects, but Mladić simply went underground. No amount of NATO action or UN demands, or even a $5 million bounty announced by Washington, could bring him in.

It was revealed in December 2004 that the Army of Republika Srpska hadbeen harboring and protecting Ratko Mladić until the summer of 2004, despite repeated and public pleas to collaborate with the ICTY and apprehend war criminals. On December 6, NATO said that Mladić visited his wartime bunker during the summer in order to celebrate Army of Republika Srpska day.

In June 2005 The Times newspaper alleged that Mladić had demanded $5 million (£2.75 million) "compensation" to be given to his family and bodyguards if he gave himself up to the ICTY in the Hague.

In 2006, a report by Serbian army intelligence showed that Mladić used premises of the Serb army until mid 2002. The arrest was denied by the Serbian government. The government did not deny rumors of a planned negotiated surrender between Mladić and Serbian Special Forces. Romanian government and Serbian sources claimed on 22 February 2006 that Mladić was arrested in Romania, near Drobeta-Turnu Severin, close to the Serbian border by a joint Romanian-British special operation carried out by troops of those respective countries. However, the ICTY Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte denied the rumors that Mladić had been arrested, saying that they had "absolutely no basis whatsoever". She urged the Serbian government to find him without further delay, saying that Mladić was in reach of the Serbian authorities and had been in Serbia since 1998. She said that failure to capture him would harm Serbia's bid to join the European Union (EU). The 1 May 2006 deadline established by Del Ponte for Serbia to hand over Mladić passed, resulting in talks between Serbia and the EU being suspended. The EU considered Mladić's arrest, along with full cooperation with the ICTY, preconditions that had to be met before Serbia could join the organization.

In July 2008, Serbian officials voiced concern that Ratko Mladić will order his bodyguards to kill him instead of being captured to face trial.

Conjecture of possible death

On 16 June 2010, the family of Ratko Mladić filed a request to declare him dead citing that he was in poor health and has been absent for seven years. If the declaration had been approved Mladić's wife would have been able to collect a state pension and sell his property.

Opinion polls

According to the March 2009 poll of the NGO Strategic Marketing for the television station B92, 14.29% of Serbia's citizens would reveal information that would lead to his arrest in exchange for €1 million, 20.57% do not have a determined attitude, and 65.14% would not divulge information for one million Euros (the poll was conducted when the United States embassy issued a reward of 1.3 million Euros for any information on Ratko Mladić). However, it has been noted that the formulation of the question may have been a problem, as the polling samples which opted "No" included also those who would immediately report Mladić without payment, believing that payment in this case is immoral. Although preceding reports indicated that 47% supported the extradition, it is now apparent that most of the population is against it.

According to a poll conducted by the National Committee for Cooperation with the ICTY, 78 percent of those polled would not report Mladić to the authorities, 34 percent said they would approve of Mladić's arrest, while 40 percent believe he is a hero.

Videos of Mladić

On 11 June 2009, a Bosnian television station aired videos of Ratko Mladić, filmed over the past 10 years. The last video that was featured in the show "60 Minuta" showed Mladić with two women, allegedly filmed in the winter of 2008. However, no evidence for this was given by television presenters. Serbia has stated that it was "impossible" for the videos to have been filmed in 2008. Rasim Ljajić, Serbia's minister in charge of co-operation with the UN tribunal, confirmed that the footage was old and had already been handed over to the ICTY in March 2009.

He also said that "the last known footage was taken eight years ago. The last time Mladić was in military premises was at the Krcmari army barracks near (the western Serbian town of) Valjevo on 1 June 2002." The previously unseen images show Mladić in various restaurants and apartments and at what appears to be military barracks in Serbia, almost always accompanied by his wife Bosa and son Darko.

Arrest

Ratko Mladić was arrested on 26 May 2011 in Lazarevo, near Zrenjanin in the Banat region of the northern province of Vojvodina. His arrest was carried out by two dozen Serbian special police officers wearing black uniforms and masks, and sporting no insignia. The police were accompanied by Security Information Agency and War Crimes Prosecutor's Office agents. The officers entered the village in four jeeps in the early morning hours, while most residents were still asleep. They pulled up to four houses simultaneously, each owned by Mladić's relatives. Mladić was about to venture into the yard for a walk after being awakened by pain, when four officers jumped over the fence and broke into the house just as he moved toward the door, grabbing Mladić, forcing him to the floor, and demanding he identify himself. Mladić identified himself correctly, and surrendered two pistols he had been carrying. He was then taken to Belgrade. Mladić was arrested in the house of his cousin Branislav Mladić, at the Ul. Vuka Karadžića 2. Branislav had been identified as a possible suspect at least two months before, and had been under surveillance right up to his arrest. After initial doubt as to the identity of the arrested man, Serbian President Boris Tadić confirmed that it was Mladić at press conference and announced that the process of extraditing him to the ICTY was underway. Mladić had been using the pseudonym Milorad Komadić while in hiding. Mladić was not wearing a beard or any disguise. His appearance reportedly showed he had "aged considerably", and one of his arms was paralyzed due to a series of strokes.

Following his arrest, Mladić appeared before the Belgrade Higher Court for a hearing on whether he was fit to be extradited to the Hague. Judge Milan Dilparić suspended interrogation due to his poor health. Mladić's lawyer Miloš Šaljić said that his poor health prevented him from properly communicating. He was allegedly unable to confirm his personal data, but attempted to talk to the prosecutors on several occasions, especially to Deputy War Crimes Prosecutor Bruno Vekarić. However, the court ruled that he was fit to be extradited on 27 May. According to the Serbian Health Ministry, a team of prison doctors described his health as stable following checkups. Mladić was also visited in prison by Health Minister Zoran Stanković, a former friend.

Reactions

Following the arrest, Serbian authorities tightened security and banned public gatherings throughout the country.

The Serbian Radical Party praised Mladić as a "hero" and described his arrest as "one of the hardest moments in Serbian history." The far-right group 1389 described his arrest as "national treason."

In Novi Sad, hundreds of demonstrators attempted to break into the headquarters of the ruling Democratic Party but were blocked by riot police, who injured two protesters. In Lazarevo, residents expressed support for Mladić to the media, waved Serbian and Russian flags, put up a banner of support at the entrance, blocked the road with a trailer, chanted, stopped people from taking pictures of Mladić's house and told journalists to leave. Serbian police placed the house under guard and arrested a demonstrator.

Serb demonstrators showed their support for Mladić in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Pale, the administrative centre of Republika Srpska during the Bosnian War, and in the former capital of Banja Luka. Approximately 1,500 rallied in support of Mladić near his birthplace in Kalinovik, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Pantelija Ćurguz, President of the Association of Veterans of Republika Srpska (BORS), organized the rally. The Serbian Radical Party called a demonstration outside of the Serbian parliament and led the largest opposition party rally in support of Mladić in Belgrade. The demonstration was attended by several thousand protesters which held pictures of Mladić and Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj and wore Serbian nationalist emblems and slogans. A banner also demanded the ouster of President Boris Tadić. More than 3,000 riot police were deployed around government buildings and Western embassies, and riot police also tried to block small groups of demonstrators from reaching the rally. The rally descended into rioting that spread throughout downtown Belgrade. Demonstrators threw stones and bottles at police, broke traffic lights, overturned garbage cans, and set off firecrackers. Riot police set up cordons and clashed with protesters at several locations in central Belgrade. The speakers addressed the crowd, Darko Mladić, Ratko Mladić's son, stated "Ratko Mladić is not a criminal, he did not order the killings. He defended his people in an honourable, fair and professional manner." Speakers from the Serbian Radical Party promoted a "Greater Serbia", which would include Kosovo, parts of Bosnia and the Krajina region of Croatia. According to the interior ministry there were 111 arrests and 32 police and 11 protesters with minor injuries.

Bakir Izetbegović, Bosniak member of Bosnia and Herzegovina's presidency, stated that "We can say justice is slow. In this case too slow. But it comes. Sooner or later justice comes. We will find out all the facts about the truth and about what happened here in this region during the past war."

Željko Komšić, Croat member of Bosnia and Herzegovina's presidency, said that the arrest of Mladić proved that Serbian authorities knew where Mladić and Karadžić were and that they were used by Serbian authorities in negotiations with the European Union.

Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik said the arrest fulfilled the obligations of the Dayton agreement and that "the institutions of the RS never stood or will stand in defence of anyone who has committed war crimes, regardless of ethnicity or religion." Dodik said he hopes "Ratko Mladić will have a fair trial in harmony with human rights conventions."

Ejup Ganić, a former member of Bosnia and Herzegovina's presidency during the war, accused Serbia of knowing the whereabouts of Mladić but delaying his arrest until it was known that it would advance Serbia into the European Union. Ganić said that the arrest "is good news because he is a butcher, a killer, a monster."

- Nikolay Mladenov, Bulgarian foreign minister, said "This is a very good news for Serbia and the whole region. [...] The efforts of Serb leaders gave results and the full cooperation with the International tribunal for former Yugoslavia cannot be questioned any more."

- Alexander Stubb, Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs, said "I congratulate Serbia on its efforts to capture Ratko Mladić and I hope this will pave the way for Serbian accession talks to begin no later than 2012."

Bill Clinton, former President of the United States, stated "Mladić will finally be held accountable — to Bosnia and the world. [...] Once again, we have seen that crimes against humanity will not escape the long arm of justice. His arrest also should allow the people of Serbia to take an important step toward integration into Europe and the international community." Mladić's transfer to face trial at The Hague was delayed pending an appeal lodged by his lawyers claiming him too unfit to face trial.

On 31 May, however, his appeal was rejected and Mladić was sent on a plane bound for the UN detention unit in The Hague.

Mladić's trial began on 3 June 2011 with a hearing to list the charges against him and ask him for a plea. After the judge read out the charges, Mladić responded by calling them "obnoxious" and "monstrous".

The charges brought against Mladić are: # Genocide against a part of the Bosniak and/or Bosnian Croat national ethnical and or religious groups with the object of permanently removing Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats from the territories of Bosnia-Herzegovina claimed as Bosnian Serb territory. # Genocide against Bosniaks in Srebrenica by killing the men and boys of Srebrenica and forcibly removing the women, young children and some elderly. # Persecutions as a crime against humanity including murder, torture, beatings and rape against Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats. # Extermination and murder of Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats in the municipalities. # Murder of Bosniaks in Srebrenica. # Murder of civilians in Sarajevo. # Forcible deportation of Bosniaks, Bosnian Croats or other non-Serbs from the municipalities. # Forcible deportation of Bosniaks, Bosnian Croats or other non-Serbs from Srebrenica. # Terror and unlawful attacks against civilians. # Sniping and shelling against civilians in Sarajevo. # Hostage-taking of United Nations military observers and peacekeepers.

The trial is currently adjourned until 4 July 2011.

Family

Mladić married Bosiljka "Bosa" and they had two children; son Darko and daughter Ana. Ana died on 24 March 1994, aged 23, in an apparent suicide.

Mladić became grandfather when his son Darko had a daughter, Anastasija, in 2001. A grandson, Stefan, was born in 2006, and was named after St. Stefan, the patron saint of the Serbs.

Daughter's suicide

There were conflicting reports in various Serbian publications regarding Ana's death and the discovery of her body. Some media said that her body was found in her blood-splattered bedroom, while others claim it was found in a nearby park or in the woods near the Topčider cemetery. However, it was concluded that she had used her father's handgun, which he had been awarded at military school in his youth. There are also conflicting opinions on the cause of the decision to commit suicide. She may have read about the war atrocities attributed to her father in the newspapers.

Ratko himself said she had been killed by his enemies. Most people that knew Ratko personally, said that his daughter's death transformed him into "a bloodthirsty maniac". One of his former commanders told Newsweek magazine: "Some people think he went mad. Mladic’s life had two phases - before and after the death of Ana. He never recovered. He was a broken man." Upon his arrest, he was allowed to leave his cell and visit the grave of his daughter where he spent a few minutes, leaving a lit candle and a small white bouquet of flowers with a red rose in the middle.

See also

Bosnian genocide

Serbian war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars

Notes

{| class="references-small" style="margin-left:13px; line-height:150%" |- | style="text-align:right; vertical-align:top;"|a. | |}

References

External links

The Madness of General Mladic

Pilot for TV show "Мladići"

;Articles

Mladic and Fikret Abdic (not working)

Sarajevo bombing 28 May 1992 (not working)

|- Category:1943 births Category:Living people Category:Military of Republika Srpska Category:People from Kalinovik Category:People indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Category:People indicted for genocide Category:People of the Bosnian War Category:People of the Croatian War of Independence Category:Republic of Serbian Krajina Category:Serbian generals Category:Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Category:Yugoslav generals

Kosovo Serbs (, transliterated Kosovci, meaning "people of Kosovo", sing; m Kosovac, f Kosovka) are the second largest ethnic group in Kosovo. By the 12th century, the cultural, diplomatic and religious core of the Serbian Kingdom was located in Kosovo. This became essential to the Serbian Empire of the 14th century.

During the 20th century Serbian population constantly decreased. Their share in the overall population of the region is currently estimated at 7% by the CIA. Serbs today mostly populate the enclaves across Kosovo, North Kosovo being the largest one.

Large-scale emigration of ethnic Serbs, especially since 1999 onwards, makes them the only major ethnic group in Kosovo to have a negative natural growth rate with deaths exceeding births. The Serbian minority live in separate areas watched over by NATO peacekeepers. International diplomats have voiced concern over slow progress on their rights. Human Rights Watch pointed out discrimination against Serbs and Roma in Kosovo immediately after the War in Kosovo.

Population

According to the Statistical Office of Kosovo, in 2006 there were 111,300 ethnic Serbs in Kosovo, making up 5.3 per cent of the population, compared to 24.1 per cent in 1948. | align="right" |1 % | align="right" |98 % | align="right" |1 % |- |- bgcolor="#f5f5f5" |1871 | align="right" |32 % | align="right" |64 % | align="right" |4 % |- |- bgcolor="#fffaf0" |1899 | align="right" |48 % | align="right" |44 % | align="right" |8 % |- |- bgcolor="#f5f5f5" |1921 | align="right" |69 % | align="right" |26 % | align="right" |5 % |- |- bgcolor="#fffaf0" |1931 | align="right" |60 % | align="right" |27 % | align="right" |13 % |- |- bgcolor="#f5f5f5" |1939 | align="right" |60 % | align="right" |34 % | align="right" |5 % |- |- bgcolor="#f5f5f5" |1948 | align="right" |68 % | align="right" |27 % | align="right" |5 % |- |- bgcolor="#fffaf0" |1953 | align="right" |65 % | align="right" |27 % | align="right" |8 % |- |- bgcolor="#f5f5f5" |1961 | align="right" |67 % | align="right" |27 % | align="right" |6 % |- |- bgcolor="#fffaf0" |1971 | align="right" |74 % | align="right" |21 % | align="right" |5 % |- |- bgcolor="#f5f5f5" |1981 | align="right" |77 % | align="right" |15 % | align="right" |8 % |- |- bgcolor="#fffaf0" |1991 | align="right" |82 % | align="right" |11 % | align="right" |7 % |- |- bgcolor="#f5f5f5" |2000¹ | align="right" |88 % | align="right" |7 % | align="right" |5 % |- |- bgcolor="#fffaf0" |2007¹ | align="right" |92 % | align="right" |5 % | align="right" |3 % |- |- bgcolor=#dcdcdc |colspan="4"|¹ approx. data Source: Statistics Office of Kosovo, World Bank (2000), ''OSCE (2007) |- |}

Ottoman rule

St. Archangels Monastery near Prizren]] St. Archangels Monastery near Prizren]] The Ottomans brought Islamisation with them, particularly in towns, and later also created the Viyalet of Kosovo as one of the Ottoman territorial entities. During the Islamisation many Churches and Holy Orthodox Christian places were razed to the ground or turned into Mosques. The big Monastery of Saint Archangels near Prizren was torn down at the end of the 16th century and the material used to build the Mosque of Sinan-pasha, an Islamized Serb, in Prizren. Although the Serbian Orthodox Church was officially abolished in 1532, an Islamized Serb from Bosnia, Grand Vizier Mehmed-pasha Sokolović influenced the restoration of the Patriarchate of Peć in 1557. Special privileges were provided, which helped the survival of Serbs and other Christians on Kosovo.

Kosovo was taken by the Austrian forces during the War of Holy League (1683–1698). In 1690, the Serbian Patriarch of Peć Arsenije III, who previously escaped a certain death, led 37,000 families from Kosovo, to evade Ottoman wrath since Kosovo had just been retaken by the Ottomans. The people that followed him were mostly Serbs, but there were numerous Orthodox Albanians and others too. 20,000 Serbs abandoned Prizren alone. Due to the oppression from the Ottomans, other migrations of Orthodox people from the Kosovo area continued throughout the 18th century. It is also noted that some Serbs adopted Islam and some even gradually fused with the predominantly Albanians and adopted their culture and even language. By the end of the 19th century, Albanians replaced the Serbs as the dominating nation of Kosovo.

In 1766 the Ottomans abolished the Patriarchate of Peć and the position of Christians on Kosovo was greatly reduced. All previous privileges were lost and the Christian population had to suffer the full weight of the Empire's extensive and losing wars, even to take the blame for the losses.

Serbian/Yugoslavian rule

The arising Principality of Serbia planned a restoration of its rule on Kosovo as the Ottoman might crumbled on the Balkan peninsular. The period witnessed a rise of Serbian nationalism, as the Serb elite refused to admit the Albanian national spirit and referred to the Albanians as Arnauts, "Albanians of Serbian origin" or "Albanian-speaking Serbs". Serbia's plans for a post-Ottoman period included the return of Kosovo.

Albanians formed the nationalistic League of Prizren in Prizren in the 19th century. The Aim of the League of Prizren was to unite the four Albanian-inhabited Vilayets by merging the majority of Albanian inhabitants within the Ottoman Empire into one Albanian Vilayet. However at that time Serbs were opposing the Albanian nationalism along with Turks and other Slavs in Kosovo, which disabled the Albanian movements to establish Albanian rule over Kosovo.

In 1912 during the Balkan Wars, most of Kosovo was taken by the Kingdom of Serbia, while the region of Metohija was taken by the Kingdom of Montenegro. The Serbian authorities planned a recolonization of Kosovo. Numerous colonist Serb families moved into Kosovo on land earlier confiscated from them, restoring at some extent the demographic balance between Albanians and Serbs.

In the winter of 1915–1916 during World War I Kosovo saw a large exodus of Serbian army; tens of thousands of soldiers have died of starvation, extreme weather, as the Serbian army were approaching the Allies in Corfu and Thessaloniki. In 1918 the Serbian Army pushed the Central Powers out of Kosovo. Kosovo was unified as Montenegro subsequently joined the Kingdom of Serbia. The Monarchy was then transformed into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

The 1918–1929 period of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes witnessed a decrease in Serbian population in the region and a boost in Albanian figures. In the Kingdom, the former Ottoman province of Kosovo was split into four counties - three being a part of the entity of Serbia: Zvečan, Kosovo and southern Metohija; and one of Montenegro (itself now a ceremonial entity): northern Metohija. However, the new administration system since 26 April 1922 revised the plan and split Kosovo among three areas of the Kingdom: Kosovo, Rascia and Zeta.

In 1929, the Kingdom was transformed into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia with the Yugoslav nationality unifying all Kosovan Slavs. The territories of Kosovo were split among the Banate of Zeta, the Banate of Morava and the Banate of Vardar. The Kingdom lasted until the World War II Axis invasion of 1941.

Following the Axis invasion, the greatest part of Kosovo became a part of Italian-controlled Greater Albania, and smaller bits by the Tsardom of Bulgaria and Nazi German-occupied Kingdom of Serbia.

Prior to the surrender of Fascist Italy in 1943, the German forces took over direct control of the region. After numerous uprisings of Serbian Chetniks and Yugoslav Partisans, the latter being lea by Fadil Hoxha, Kosovo was liberated after 1944 with the help of the Albanian partisans of the Comintern, and most of it became a province of Serbia within the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia (other parts lay outside the province within Serbia whilst another part went to the newly formed Macedonian republic).

The Province of Kosovo was formed in 1946 as an autonomous region to protect its regional Albanian majority within the People's Republic of Serbia as a member of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia under the leadership of the former Partisan leader, Josip Broz Tito, but with no factual autonomy. After Yugoslavia's name changed to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia's to the Socialist Republic of Serbia in 1953, the Autonomous Region of Kosovo gained some autonomy in the 1960s. In the 1974 constitution, the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo's government received higher powers, including the highest governmental titles - President and Premier and a seat in the Federal Presidency which made it a de facto Socialist Republic within the Federation, but remaining as a Socialist Autonomous Region within the Socialist Republic of Serbia. Serbian (called Serbo-Croatian at the time) and Albanian were defined official on the Provincial level marking the two largest linguistic Kosovan groups: Serbs and Albanians. In the 1970s, an Albanian nationalist movement pursued full recognition of the Province of Kosovo as another Republic within the federation, while the most extreme elements aimed for full-scale independence. Tito's regime dealt with the situation swiftly, but only gave it a temporary solution. The ethnic balance of Kosovo witnessed unproportional increase as the number of Albanians rose dramatically due to higher birth rates. Serbs barely increased and dropped in the full share of the total population down to 10% due to higher demographic raise of the Albanian population.

In 1981, Albanian students organized protests seeking that Kosovo become a Republic within Yugoslavia. Those protests were harshly contained by the centralist Yugoslav government. In 1986, the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU) was working on a document, which later would be known as the SANU Memorandum. An unfinished edition was filtered to the press. In the essay, SANU explained the Serbian peoples history as victims of a 500 year and more genocide from Kosovo, and therefore called for the revival of Serb nationalism. During this time, Slobodan Milošević's rise to power started in the League of the Socialists of Serbia. Milošević used the discontent reflected in the SANU memorandum for his political goals.

One of the events that contributed to Milošević's rise of power was the Gazimestan Speech, delivered in front of 1,000,000 Serbs at the central celebration marking the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo, held at Gazimestan on 28 June 1989. In the speech, Milošević criticised the "dramatic national divisions" and called Yugoslavia "a multinational community which can survive only under the conditions of full equality for all nations that live in it".

Soon afterwards, as approved by the Assembly in 1990, the autonomy of Kosovo was revoked back to the old status (1971), before the communist hostile overtaking of Kosovo in 1974. The proclamation of an autonomous Kosovo by Tito and his communists was in fact a part of Tito's hope to continue the communist Yugoslavia. He had said "Strong Serbia, Weak Yugoslavia - Weak Serbia, Strong Yugoslavia" Milošević, however, did not remove Kosovo's seat from the Federal Presidency. After Slovenia's secession from Yugoslavia in 1991, Milošević used the seat to attain dominance over the Federal government, outvoting his opponents.

.]] After the Dayton Agreement of 1995, the Kosovo Liberation Army started terror against the Serbian civilians and Yugoslav army and police, bombing police stations and government buildings, killing Yugoslav police and innocent people of all nationalities, even Albanians who were not on their side. This triggered a Yugoslav interior ministry counter strike, aiming at crippling terrorist KLA-members, but since this was a terror organization it was hard to establish civilians from terrorists. Partly because of the support they had in the community and partly because they deliberately wanted civilians to die since this would trigger an international reaction. Albanians started a Lobby in the USA congress, which led the world to think that there was genocide in Kosovo. The numbers that US, UK, NATO and UN officials operated with were around 100,000 Albanians killed. This triggered a 78-day NATO campaign in 1999. During the conflict, many Serbs and Roma in Kosovo were killed and many more fled Kosovo. When UN-authorities took over administrative power in Kosovo in accordance with UN-Resolution 1244, they later found out that the maximum number of killed in the conflict before NATO bombing was 12,000 people, these were from all of Kosovo's ethnic groups.

With the arrival of NATO, a large number of Serbs fled the region, estimated at 100,000 by the UNHCR. Around 120,000 remain in Kosovo and oppose any rule by Albanians. During the unrest in Kosovo, 35 churches and monasteries were destroyed or seriously damaged. In total, 156 Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries have been destroyed since June 1999. Many of the churches and monasteries dated back to the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries.

Unilateral Declaration of Independence

The interim Kosovo government declared unilaterally independence from Serbia on Sunday, February 17, 2008 . Serbia refuses to recognise this declaration of independence. The independence has been recognised by UN countries, and one non-UN country the Republic of China (Taiwan). The remaining Serbs from North Kosovo want to remain in the Republic of Serbia, but Serbian majority towns are now rare in the Albanian-dominated semi-recognised Republic of Kosovo.

Some officials in the Serbian & international government proposed partitioning of de facto Serbian ruled North Kosovo, taking away a little over 1/8, 13.75% (one eighth, 1500 km² with Strpce) of the territory and fully integrating it with Serbia.

Attacks on the border posts of Kosovo raised fears of a separation of Northern Kosovo and subsequent merger with Serbia. Russian diplomat Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, who took part in the negotiations on the status of Kosovo, said such partition was inevitable:

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The USA's Under Secretary for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, in response to the suggestion that Kosovo be partitioned, said "We absolutely oppose the partition of Kosovo," and that the "great majority of countries around the world are not going to stand for that." In response to the seizure of railways in Northern Kosovo and formation of Serbian offices to serve as part of a parallel government, Kosovo's Prime Minister stated that they would "not tolerate any parallel institution on Kosovo's territory" and would assert their authority over all of Kosovo. The UN's Special Representative in Kosovo said the "international community has made it very clear that no partition of Kosovo will be acceptable."

Ivan Eland a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute suggested such "a partition within a partition" would prevent a "Serbia-Kosovo War" and provides the "best chance" of Kosovo having a long-term stable relationship with Serbia. Chairman of the Serb Municipalities of Kosovo Alliance Marko Jakšić dismissed the talk of partition and said the action of Serbs in Kosovo is to protest the Kosovo declaration. Oliver Ivanović a Kosovo Serb leader, said he was against Kosovo's partition because "most Serbs live south of the Ibar and their position would become unsustainable".

A Reuters analysis suggeted that Kosovo may be divided along ethnic lines similar to Bosnia-Herzegovina. James Lyon of the International Crisis Group thinktank was quoted as saying "The Republika Srpska (Bosnian Serb Republic) style is acceptable for Serbia, but within the confines that it (Kosovo) is still part of Serbia." Pieter Feith, the European Union's special representative in Kosovo, and the International Civilian Representative for Kosovo said no plans are under discussion to carve out a canton or grant any other autonomy to Serbs living in the north of Kosovo. He told the Pristina, Kosovo, daily Koha Ditore, "It is quite clear that the privileged relations between the Serbs here (in Kosovo) and Belgrade are in the spheres of education, health care, and religious objects," adding that "the government in Pristina has to be respected."

On 22 March 2008 Serbia's Minister for Kosovo, Slobodan Samardzic said he had submitted a proposal to the United Nations Mission which would create "the functional separation of Serbs and Albanians" within Kosovo. Serbia's Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said implementing such a proposal was necessary to avoid violent conflict. Yevgeny Primakov, Chairman of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and former prime minister under Boris Yeltsin, said “the best solution now would be if the Serbs (could) move from the southern parts... to the north, which is closer to Serbia, and to then join Serbia."

Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica declared in an interview with a local television station in Jagodina that a "functional separation" of Kosovo was inevitable. A Kosovo Serb ally of Kostunica, Marko Jaksic, said Kosovo Serbs would form their own assembly following local elections considering the plan for the "functional division" of Kosovo. He argued that the Kosovo Assembly was dominated by "Albanian puppets" who would not work in the interest of the Serb minority. The mayor of Mitrovica condemned the formation of a parallel municipal assembly in North Mitrovica by Serbs on June 6, 2008 following the election, saying the institution was illegal as well as the elections. Serbian parties also agreed to form a parliament for Kosovo Serbs including 45 delegates, 43 from the local assemblies and two seats reserved for Romani and Muslims. Slobodan Samardžić announced that the Kosovo Serb assembly would be formed on June 28. He said the body would be representative not executive. Pieter Feith said it would be "regrettable if another set of parallel institutions" were formed in Kosovo and added "the state of Kosovo must rule in its entire territory". On June 23, 2008 NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said "any form of partition is not an option" in Kosovo.

Samardzic said in an interview that the UN had accepted a Serb proposal on Kosovo which included a partnership with UNMIK that would effectively give it rights to run vital services. Areas identified as key were police, customs, justice, control of the Serbia-Kosovo border, transport and telecoms, and protection of Serbia's cultural heritage. He said it was included in a package on reconfiguring UNMIK. According to some reports the UN will give way to EULEX in Albanian areas, but retain control over police in Serb-inhabited areas and set up local and district courts serving minority Serbs. On June 12 UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, in a report to the U.N. Security Council, said he plans to give more authority to the EU over police, courts and other official duties in Kosovo with EULEX under the UN umbrella. Argon Bajrami, editor in chief of the Kosovo daily Koha Ditore, said the proposal would legal the "so-called 'soft partition'" saying, "We will see the U.N. taking care of Serbs, and the EU of Albanians."

Mayor of Mitrovica, Bajram Rexhepi, who is also a former prime minister of Kosovo claimed Serbian interior ministry forces were operating in North Kosovo. The mayor urged security authorities to insure no parallel structures exist in Kosovo. He added that though provocation is being avoided their restraint is limited.

Serbian President Boris Tadic on 30 September 2008 said he would consider partitioning Kosovo if all other options were exhausted. Former Foreign Minister for Serbia and Montenegro, Goran Svilanović, applauded the suggestion saying "Finally this is a realistic approach coming from Serbia. Finally, after several years, there is a room to discuss." After his comments aroused controversy in the media Tadic reiterated that he was suggesting this as a possibility only if all other options were exhausted. Kosovo's parliamentary speaker, Jakup Krasniqi, condemned any suggestion of paritioning saying, "All of those who aim to divide Kosovo, I want to say, it will end in nothing. Serbs lost their right to Kosovo with the unjust war against the Albanian majority."

Recent attacks on Serbs in Kosovo

Since Kosovo's declaration of independence tensions have grown. Albanian politicians and ICO are eager to integrate North Kosovo, into Republic of Kosovo. In January 2010 they coined "Plan for North Kosovo" Those attempts fueled tensions amongst Serbs and Albanians across Kosovo.

Two journalist of local Serbian newspaper and radio were detained. An Orthodox cemetery in Laplje selo was vandalised. The grave of Zivka Jovanovic in Gnjilane was desecrated. The OSCE has condemned the grave desecration. Ljubiša Šćepanović was attacked near Žač, Istok by 3 Albanian men. The perpetrator of this incident was arrested. The Serbian Orthodox church in the village of Perkovac, near Zubin Potok was vandilized. Dragan Denić found dead near village Srbovac. Bojan Pesic attacked near Paralovo by two Albanian men. 6 Serbian houses looted in Gojbulja Orthodox cemetery in Rabovce near Liljan vandalised. KFOR condemned this incident. Ivica Zivic was abducted,beaten and his car stolen by 4 Albanian men near Gracanica. Following three days of prostes by Albanians who oppose return of Serbs in their village stones were thrown at tents of Serbian returnees (refugees) near village Žač in Metohija

Culture

List of Serbian Orthodox monasteries in Kosovo:

Banjska monastery

Devič monastery

Gračanica monastery

Patriarchate of Peć

Visoki Dečani monastery

Arnautaši thesis

The term Arnauti or Arnautaši was used in the 18th century by Serbian ethnographers for "Albanized Serbs", Serbs that converted to Islam and went through a process of Albanisation.

Prominent individuals

Vuk Branković, a medieval ruler of Kosovo.

Nikola Lazetić, footballer

Dejan Stojanović (born 1959), Serbian-American poet, writer, essayist, philosopher, businessman, and former journalist

See also

1998–present persecution of Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo

Dominant minority

History of Serbs

Kosovo

Kosovo Serb enclaves

Serbs

Serbs of Bosnia

Serbs of Croatia

Notes and references

Notes:

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References:

External links

Kosovo Roma Oral History Project Contains detailed information on the post-1999 status of Serbs, Roma and other Kosovo minorities

Filling the Vacuum: Ensuring Protection and Legal Remedies for Minorities in Kosovo by Minority Rights Group International (May 2009)

Groups working with all demographics in Kosovo

Category:Kosovo Category:Ethnic groups in Kosovo * Category:History of Kosovo Category:Ethnic minorities Category:Serbian people Category:History of the Serbs