History of Serbia

August 2, 2015


Serbia was also part of the Roman Empire, and Emperor Constantine I was born there. The ancestors of the Slavs were Serbs who arrived in the 600s. They were under the Byzantine Empire until the 13th century at which point they were captured by the Ottoman Turks. The Serbs rebelled a lot against the Turks, especially in the 1800s. Serbia became independent in 1878 and became a kingdom in 1882.


On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire), was in Bosnia to inspect the imperial armed forces. Bosnia at this time was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but many ethnic Serbs lived in areas of Bosnia and Croatia. The Serbs desired to create a larger Slav nation under Serbian rule and were intent on undermining Austria-Hungary. The Archduke was assassinated by 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian. A month later, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and World War I had begun.


After World War I, Yugoslavia (land of the South Slavs) was created with King Peter I of Serbia becoming its first monarch. Serbia was one of 6 republics that made up Yugoslavia. The other countries eventually grew to resent the Serbian dominance.


During World War II, the Germans and Hungary invaded Yugoslavia. The Communist Party of Yugoslavia carried out guerrilla warfare, partly under Tito (Josip Broz). After World War II, Tito took power, Yugoslavia became a communist country, and the monarchy was abolished. Tito clashed with Stalin and Yugoslavia was cut off from the Soviet Union.  There were 22 assassination attempts against Tito by the Soviet Union. 

Tito ruled as a dictator and ruthlessly eliminated his opposition. He ruled from 1945 until his death in 1980. After his death, Yugoslavia began to break down. Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, and Macedonia all became independent by 1992. In 2003, the name Yugoslavia was dropped and it became Serbia and Montenegro. In 2006, Montenegro became independent of Serbia. 

After Tito's death, Milosevic became leader of Serbia.  He underwent a form of "ethnic cleansing".  On October 5, 2000, one million people protested against his regime.  Milosevic was tried for war crimes and died awaiting prison.

The most famous Serbian is Nikola Tesla who invented the AC power current.

The population of Serbia today is 7.3 million.