Editing Serbia (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Serbia}}
{{further|Timeline of Serbian history}}

===Prehistory and antiquity===
{{Main|Prehistoric sites in Serbia|Serbia in the Roman era}}
[[File:Vinca clay figure 02.jpg|thumb|130px|left|[[Vinča culture]] figurine, 4000–4500 BC]]
Archaeological evidence of [[Paleolithic]] settlements on the territory of present-day Serbia is scarce. A fragment of a hominid jaw found in [[Sićevo]] (Mala [[Balanica]]) is believed to be up to 525,000–397,000 years old.{{sfn|Roksandic|2011|pp=186–196}}

Approximately 6,500 BC, during the [[Neolithic]], the [[Starčevo culture|Starčevo]] and [[Vinča culture|Vinča]] cultures existed in the region of modern-day Belgrade. They dominated much of [[Southeast Europe]] as well as parts of [[Central Europe]] and [[Anatolia]]. Several important archaeological sites from this era, including [[Lepenski Vir]] and [[Vinča-Belo Brdo]], still exist near the [[Danube]].{{sfn|Chapman|1981|p=}}{{sfn|Srejović|1988|p=}}

During the [[Iron Age]], local tribes of [[Triballi]], [[Dardani]], and [[Autariatae]] were encountered by the [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greeks]] during their cultural and political expansion into the region, from the 5th up to the 2nd century BC. The Celtic tribe of [[Scordisci]] settled throughout the area in the 3rd century BC. It formed a tribal state, building several fortifications, including their capital at [[Singidunum]] (present-day Belgrade) and Naissos (present-day [[Niš]]).

The [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] conquered much of the territory in the 2nd century BC. In 167 BC, the [[Roman province]] of [[Illyricum (Roman province)|Illyricum]] was established; the remainder was conquered around 75 BC, forming the Roman province of [[Moesia#History|Moesia Superior]]; the modern-day [[Srem District|Srem]] region was conquered in 9 BC; and Bačka and Banat in 106 AD after the [[Trajan's Dacian Wars|Dacian Wars]]. As a result of this, contemporary Serbia extends fully or partially over several former Roman provinces, including [[Moesia]], [[Pannonia]], [[Praevalitana]], [[Dalmatia (Roman province)|Dalmatia]], [[Dacia]], and [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]]. Seventeen Roman Emperors were born in the area of modern-day Serbia, second only to contemporary Italy.{{sfn|Kuzmanović|Mihajlović|2015|pp=416–432}} The most famous of these was [[Constantine the Great]], the first Christian Emperor, who issued an edict ordering [[Edict of Milan|religious tolerance throughout the Empire]].
[[File:Gamzigrad - Felix Romuliana (by Pudelek) 7.JPG|thumb|upright=1.0|left|Remnants of the [[Gamzigrad|Felix Romuliana Imperial Palace]], 298 [[Anno Domini|AD]], a UNESCO [[World Heritage Site]]; Some historians believe as many as 18 [[Roman emperor]]s were born in modern-day Serbia<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-41516191/exploring-serbia-s-rich-and-hidden-roman-history|title=Serbia's rich and hidden Roman history|work=BBC News|access-date=2 February 2020|archive-date=26 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726113024/https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-41516191/exploring-serbia-s-rich-and-hidden-roman-history|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://balkaninsight.com/2016/10/24/traces-of-empire-serbia-s-roman-heritage-10-07-2016/|title=Traces of Empire: Serbia's Roman Heritage|date=24 October 2016|website=Balkan Insight|access-date=2 February 2020|archive-date=10 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510073521/https://balkaninsight.com/2016/10/24/traces-of-empire-serbia-s-roman-heritage-10-07-2016/|url-status=live}}</ref>]]

When the Roman Empire was divided in 395, most of Serbia remained under the [[Byzantine Empire]], and its northwestern parts were included in the [[Western Roman Empire]]. By the 6th century, [[South Slavs]] migrated into the Byzantine territory in large numbers.{{sfn|Ostrogorsky|1956|p=84}} They merged with the local [[Romanization (cultural)|Romanised]] population that was gradually assimilated.{{sfn|Stipčević|1977|p=76}}{{sfn|Fine|1991|pp=38, 41}}{{sfn|Miller|2005|p=533}}

===Middle Ages===
{{Main|Sorbs (tribe)|Serbia in the Middle Ages}}
[[File:Stephan Dusan Coronation Paja Jovanovic.png|thumb|right|The Coronation of the tsar [[Stefan Dušan]], known as Dušan the Mighty, in Skopje, as [[Emperor of the Serbs|Emperor of Serbs and Greeks]] in 1346]]
White Serbs, an [[Early Slavs|early Slavic]] tribe from White Serbia eventually settled in an area between the [[Sava]] river and the [[Dinaric Alps]].{{sfn|Fine|1991|pp=52–53}}{{sfn|Ivić|1995|p=9}}{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=11}} By the beginning of the 9th century, Serbia achieved a level of statehood.{{sfn|Fine|1991|p=141}} [[Christianization of the Slavs|Christianisation]] of Serbia was a gradual process, finalised by the middle of the 9th century.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=15–17}} In the mid-10th-century, the [[Principality of Serbia (early medieval)|Serbian state]] experienced a fall. During the 11th and 12th century, [[Grand Principality of Serbia|Serbian state]] frequently fought with the neighbouring Byzantine Empire.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=23&ndash;24}} Between 1166 and 1371, Serbia was ruled by the [[Nemanjić dynasty]], under whom the state was elevated to [[Kingdom of Serbia (medieval)|a kingdom]] in 1217,{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=38}} and an [[Serbian Empire|empire]] in 1346,{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=64}} under [[Stefan Dušan]]. The [[Serbian Orthodox Church]] was organised as an [[Autocephaly|autocephalous]] archbishopric in 1219,{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=28}} through the effort of [[Saint Sava|Sava]], the country's patron saint, and in 1346 it was raised to the [[Serbian Patriarchate of Peć|Patriarchate]]. Monuments of the Nemanjić period survive in many [[List of Serbian Orthodox monasteries|monasteries]] (several being [[List of World Heritage Sites in Serbia|World Heritage sites]]) and [[List of fortifications in Serbia|fortifications]].

During these centuries the Serbian state (and influence) expanded significantly. The northern part (modern [[Vojvodina]]), was ruled by the [[Kingdom of Hungary]]. The period after 1371, known as the [[Fall of the Serbian Empire]] saw the once-powerful state fragmented into several principalities, culminating in the [[Battle of Kosovo]] (1389) against the rising [[Ottoman Empire]].{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=84&ndash;85}} By the end of the 14th century, the Turks had conquered and ruled the territories south of the [[Šar Mountains]]. The political stronghold of Serbia shifted northwards, when the capital of the newly established [[Serbian Despotate]] was transferred to Belgrade in 1403,{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=89}} before moving to [[Smederevo]] in 1430.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=90}} The Despotate was then under the double vassalage of Hungary and the Ottoman Empire.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=101}} The fall of Smederevo on 20 June 1459, which marked the full conquest of the Serbian Despotate by the Ottomans, also symbolically signified the end of the Serbian state.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=108}}

===Ottoman and Habsburg rule===
{{Main|Ottoman Serbia|Great Migrations of the Serbs}}
[[File:Battle of Kosovo, Adam Stefanović, 1870.jpg|thumb|The [[Battle of Kosovo]] in 1389 is particularly important to Serbian history, tradition and [[Serbian national identity|national identity]]<ref>{{cite book|first=Isabelle|last=Dierauer|title=Disequilibrium, Polarization, and Crisis Model: An International Relations Theory Explaining Conflict|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GCuDsecLWmYC|date=16 May 2013|publisher=University Press of America|isbn=978-0-7618-6106-5|page=88|access-date=19 July 2019|archive-date=31 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240831013434/https://books.google.com/books?id=GCuDsecLWmYC|url-status=live}}</ref>]]
In all Serbian lands conquered by the Ottomans, the native nobility was eliminated and the peasantry was [[Serfdom|enserfed]] to Ottoman rulers, while much of the clergy fled or were confined to the isolated monasteries. Under the Ottoman system, Serbs and Christians were considered an [[rayah|inferior class]] and subjected to heavy taxes, and a portion of the Serbian population experienced [[Islamization|Islamisation]]. Many Serbs were recruited during the [[devshirme]] system, a [[slavery in the Ottoman Empire|form of slavery]], in which boys from Balkan Christian families were [[Forced conversion|forcibly converted]] to [[Islam]] and trained for infantry units of the [[Military of the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman army]] known as the [[Janissaries]].{{sfn|A ́goston|Masters|2010|p=383}}{{sfn|Riley-Smith|2001|p=251}}{{sfn|Rodriguez|1997|p=6}}{{sfn|Kia|2011|p=62}} The Serbian Patriarchate of Peć was extinguished in 1463,{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=134}} but reestablished in 1557,{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=135&ndash;136}}{{sfn|Fotić|2008|pp=519–520}}{{sfn|Sotirović|2011|pp=143–169}} providing for limited continuation of Serbian cultural traditions within the Ottoman Empire, under the [[Millet system]].{{sfn|Runciman|1968|p=204}}{{sfn|Kia|2011|p=115}}

After the loss of statehood to the Ottoman Empire, Serbian resistance continued in northern regions (modern Vojvodina), under titular despots (until 1537), and popular leaders like [[Jovan Nenad]] (1526–1527). From 1521 to 1552, Ottomans conquered Belgrade and regions of Syrmia, Bačka, and Banat.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=115, 119}} Wars and rebellions constantly challenged Ottoman rule. One of the most significant was the [[Banat Uprising]] in 1594 and 1595, which was part of the [[Long War (Ottoman wars)|Long War]] (1593–1606) between the Habsburgs and the Ottomans.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=141–142}}{{sfn|Sotirović|2011|pp=163–164}} The area of modern Vojvodina endured a century-long Ottoman occupation before being ceded to the [[Habsburg monarchy]], partially by the [[Treaty of Karlovci]] (1699),{{sfn|Pešalj|2010|pp=29&ndash;42}} and fully by the [[Treaty of Požarevac]] (1718).{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=151}}

[[File:Serbmigra.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|''[[Migration of the Serbs (painting)|Migration of the Serbs]]'', by [[Paja Jovanović]] ({{circa|1896}}), depicting the [[Great Migrations of the Serbs|Great Migration of 1690]], led by the patriarch [[Arsenije III Crnojević]]]]

During the [[Great Turkish War|Habsburg-Ottoman war (1683–1699)]], much of Serbia switched from Ottoman rule to [[Habsburg-occupied Serbia (1686–91)|Habsburg control]] from 1688 to 1690.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=143}} However, the Ottoman army reconquered a large part of Serbia in the winter of 1689/1690, leading to a brutal massacre of the civilian population by uncontrolled [[Albanians|Albanian]] and [[Tatars|Tatar]] units. As a result of the persecutions, several tens of thousands of Serbs, led by the patriarch, [[Arsenije III Crnojević]], fled northwards to settle in [[Kingdom of Hungary (1526–1867)|Hungary]],{{sfn|Katić|2012|p=140}} an event known as the [[Great Migrations of the Serbs|Great Migration of 1690]].{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=146–147}} In August 1690, following several petitions, the Emperor [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold I]] formally granted Serbs from the Habsburg monarchy a first set of "privileges",{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=143–144}}{{sfn|Todorović|2006|pp=7–8}} primarily to guarantee them freedom of religion.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=144}} As a consequence, the ecclesiastical centre of the Serbs also moved northwards, to the [[Metropolitanate of Karlovci]],{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=150}} and the Serbian Patriarchate of Peć was once-again abolished by the Ottomans in 1766.{{sfn|Jelavich|1983a|p=94}}{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=177}}

In 1718–39, the Habsburg monarchy occupied much of [[Central Serbia]] and established the [[Kingdom of Serbia (1718–39)|Kingdom of Serbia]] as [[crownland]].{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=151}} Those gains were lost by the [[Treaty of Belgrade]] in 1739, when the Ottomans retook the region.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=176}} Apart from territory of modern-day Vojvodina which remained under the Habsburg Empire, central regions of Serbia were occupied once again by the Habsburgs in [[Habsburg-occupied Serbia (1788–92)|1788–1792]].

===Revolution and independence===
{{Main|Serbian Revolution|Principality of Serbia|Kingdom of Serbia}}
[[File:Osvajanje Beograda.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Serbian Revolution]], led by [[Karađorđe]] and [[Miloš Obrenović I of Serbia|Miloš Obrenović]], marked the foundation of [[Principality of Serbia|modern Serbia]]<ref>L. S. Stavrianos, The Balkans since 1453 (London: Hurst and Co., 2000), pp. 248–250.</ref>]]

The [[Serbian Revolution]] for independence from the Ottoman Empire lasted eleven years, from 1804 until 1815.{{sfn|Jelavich|1983a|pp=193–204}}{{sfn|Pavlowitch|2002|pp=29–32}}{{sfn|Radosavljević|2010|pp=171–178}}{{sfn|Rajić|2010|pp=143–148}} During the [[First Serbian Uprising]] (1804–1813), led by vožd [[Karađorđe Petrović]], Serbia was independent for almost a decade before the Ottoman army was able to reoccupy the country.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=179–183}} The [[Second Serbian Uprising]] began in 1815, led by [[Miloš Obrenović]]; it ended with a compromise between Serbian revolutionaries and Ottoman authorities.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=190–196}} Serbia was one of the first nations in the Balkans to abolish [[feudalism]].{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=191}} The [[Akkerman Convention]] in 1826, the [[Treaty of Adrianople (1829)|Treaty of Adrianople]] in 1829 and finally, the [[Hatt-i Sharif]], recognised the [[suzerainty]] of Serbia. The [[Sretenje Constitution|First Serbian Constitution]] was adopted on 15 February 1835, making the country one of the first to adopt a democratic constitution in Europe.{{sfn|Stavrianos|2000|pp=248–250}}{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=195}} 15 February is now commemorated as [[Statehood Day (Serbia)|Statehood Day]], a [[Public holidays in Serbia|public holiday]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fim.edu.rs/en/statehood-day-of-the-republic-of-serbia-2019/ |title=Statehood Day of the Republic of Serbia 2019 |website=School of Engineering Management (Belgrade) |access-date=12 February 2020 |archive-date=10 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510073608/https://fim.edu.rs/en/statehood-day-of-the-republic-of-serbia-2019/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Following the clashes between the Ottoman army and Serbs in Belgrade in 1862,{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=214&ndash;215}} and under pressure from the [[Great Powers]], by 1867 the last Turkish soldiers left the Principality, making the country ''de facto'' independent.{{sfn|Jelavich|1983a|p=246}} By enacting a new constitution in 1869,{{sfn|Pavlowitch|2002|p=58}} without consulting the Porte, [[Jovan Ristic|Serbian diplomats]] confirmed the ''de facto'' independence of the country. In 1876, Serbia declared war on the Ottoman Empire, siding with the ongoing Christian uprisings in [[Uprising in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1875-1878)|Bosnia-Herzegovina]] and [[Bulgarian Uprising of 1876|Bulgaria]].{{sfn|Pavlowitch|2002|pp=63&ndash;64}}{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=224}}

The formal independence of the country was internationally recognised at the [[Congress of Berlin]] in 1878, which ended the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|Russo-Turkish War]]; this treaty, however, prohibited Serbia from uniting with other Serbian regions by placing Bosnia and Herzegovina under [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]] occupation, alongside the occupation of the region of [[Raška (region)|Raška]].{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=225}} From 1815 to 1903, the principality was ruled by the [[House of Obrenović]], save for the rule of Prince [[Alexander Karađorđević, Prince of Serbia|Aleksandar Karađorđević]] between 1842 and 1858. In 1882, Principality of Serbia became the Kingdom of Serbia, ruled by [[Milan I of Serbia|King Milan I]].{{sfn|Pavlowitch|2002|p=70}} The [[House of Karađorđević]], descendants of the revolutionary leader Karađorđe Petrović, assumed power in 1903 following the [[May Overthrow]].{{sfn|Pavlowitch|2002|p=73}}
The [[Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas|1848 revolution in Austria]] led to the establishment of the autonomous territory of [[Serbian Vojvodina]]; by 1849, the region was transformed into the [[Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar]].{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=203}}

===Balkan Wars and World War I===
{{Main|Balkan Wars|Serbian Campaign of World War I}}
[[File:King Peter I of Serbia and the Crown Prince.jpg|thumb|King [[Peter I of Serbia]] led the nation during the ''[[Great Retreat (Serbian)|Great Serbian Retreat]]'' in 1915. [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]] lost about 850,000 people, a quarter of its pre-war population.{{sfn|Sudetic|1992|p=28}}]]

In the [[First Balkan War]] in 1912, the [[Balkan League]] defeated the Ottoman Empire and captured its [[Treaty of London, 1913|European territories]], which enabled territorial expansion of the Kingdom of Serbia into regions of Raška, [[Kosovo (region)|Kosovo]], [[Metohija]], and [[Vardarian Macedonia]]. The [[Second Balkan War]] soon ensued when Bulgaria turned on its former allies, but was defeated, resulting in the [[Treaty of Bucharest (1913)|Treaty of Bucharest]]. In two years, Serbia enlarged its territory by 80% and its population by 50%,<ref name="Collection of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum 1914">{{cite web | title=Serbia – Countries | website=Collection of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum | date=28 June 1914 | url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/countries/20069818/ | access-date=20 June 2021 | archive-date=24 June 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624201017/https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/countries/20069818/ | url-status=live }}</ref> it also suffered high casualties on the eve of World War I, with more than 36,000 dead.{{sfn|Hall|2000|p=135}} Austria-Hungary became wary of the rising regional power on its borders and its potential to become an anchor for unification of Serbs and other South Slavs, and the relationship between the two countries became tense.

The [[Assassination in Sarajevo|assassination]] of [[Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria]] on 28 June 1914 in [[Sarajevo]] by [[Gavrilo Princip]], a member of the [[Young Bosnia]] organisation, led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia, on 28 July 1914, setting off World War I.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=246–247}} 

Serbia won the first major battles of the war, including the [[Battle of Cer]],{{sfn|Mitrović|2007|p=69}} and the [[Battle of Kolubara]].{{sfn|Mitrović|2007|p=104}} Despite initial success, it was eventually overpowered by the [[Central Powers]] in 1915 and [[Austro-Hungarian occupation of Serbia]] followed. Most of its army and some people [[Serbian army's retreat through Albania|retreated]] to [[Kingdom of Greece|Greece]] and [[Corfu]], suffering immense losses on the way. After the Central Powers' military situation on other fronts worsened, the remains of the Serb army returned east and led a final breakthrough through enemy lines on 15 September 1918, liberating Serbia and defeating Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=250–251}} Serbia, with its [[Serbian Campaign (World War I)|campaign]], was a major Balkan Entente Power<ref>{{cite web|first=Michael|last=Duffy|url=http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/bulgariaatwar_radoslavov.htm|title=First World War.com – Primary Documents – Vasil Radoslavov on Bulgaria's Entry into the War, 11 October 1915|publisher=firstworldwar.com|date=22 August 2009|access-date=28 April 2010|archive-date=10 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510073610/https://www.firstworldwar.com/source/bulgariaatwar_radoslavov.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> which contributed significantly to the Allied victory in the Balkans in November 1918, especially by helping France force Bulgaria's [[capitulation (surrender)|capitulation]].<ref>[http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Tema-nedelje/Najvecha-srpska-pobeda/Front-koji-za-saveznike-nije-bio-bitan.sr.html Највећа српска победа: Фронт који за савезнике није био битан] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016040853/http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Tema-nedelje/Najvecha-srpska-pobeda/Front-koji-za-saveznike-nije-bio-bitan.sr.html |date=16 October 2015 }} {{in lang|sr}}</ref>
Serbia's casualties accounted for 8% of the total Entente military deaths; 58% (243,600) soldiers of the Serbian army perished in the war.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vojska.net/eng/world-war-1/serbia/organization/1914/ |title=Serbian army, August 1914 |publisher=Vojska.net |access-date=28 April 2010 |archive-date=4 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100404165301/http://www.vojska.net/eng/world-war-1/serbia/organization/1914/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The total number of casualties is placed around 700,000,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Tema-nedelje/Najvecha-srpska-pobeda/Sudnji-rat.lt.html |title=Tema nedelje: Najveća srpska pobeda: Sudnji rat: POLITIKA |publisher=Politika |date=14 September 2008 |access-date=28 April 2010 |archive-date=6 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006193849/http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Tema-nedelje/Najvecha-srpska-pobeda/Sudnji-rat.lt.html |url-status=live }}</ref> more than 16% of Serbia's prewar size,<ref name="The Balkan Wars and World War I">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/91040323/|title=Yugoslavia: a country study|date=1992|publisher=[[Federal Research Division]], [[Library of Congress]]|isbn=0-8444-0735-6|editor-last=Curtis|editor-first=Glenn E.|edition=3rd|location=Washington, D.C.|oclc=24792849|entry=The Balkan Wars and World War I|pages=27–28|first=Charles|last=Sudetic|access-date=21 May 2021|archive-date=20 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020203455/https://www.loc.gov/item/91040323/|url-status=live}}</ref> and a majority (57%) of its overall male population.<ref>[http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Tema-nedelje/Najvecha-srpska-pobeda/Svi-srpski-trijumfi.sr.html Тема недеље : Највећа српска победа : Сви српски тријумфи : ПОЛИТИКА] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016040853/http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Tema-nedelje/Najvecha-srpska-pobeda/Svi-srpski-trijumfi.sr.html |date=16 October 2015 }} {{in lang|sr}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/337249982.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150127121059/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/337249982.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 January 2015 |title=Fourth of Serbia's population dead|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=30 June 1918 |access-date=28 April 2010 |first=Pierre |last=Loti}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/04/05/102687236.pdf |title=Asserts Serbians face extinction |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=5 April 1918 |access-date=14 November 2010 |archive-date=15 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200315165925/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/04/05/102687236.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Serbia suffered [[World War I casualties|the biggest casualty rate in World War I]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Radivojević|first1=Biljana|last2=Penev|first2=Goran|title=Demographic losses of Serbia in the first world war and their long-term consequences|journal=Economic Annals|date=2014|volume=59|issue=203|pages=29–54|doi=10.2298/EKA1403029R|doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Kingdom of Yugoslavia===
{{Main|Creation of Yugoslavia|Kingdom of Yugoslavia}}
The [[Corfu Declaration]] was a formal agreement between the government-in-exile of the Kingdom of Serbia and the [[Yugoslav Committee]] (anti-Habsburg South Slav émigrés) that pledged to unify Kingdom of Serbia and [[Kingdom of Montenegro]] with Austria-Hungary's South Slav autonomous crown lands: [[Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia]], [[Kingdom of Dalmatia]], [[Slovenia]], Vojvodina (then part of the Kingdom of Hungary) and [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] in a post-war Yugoslav state. It was signed on 20 July 1917 on Corfu.
[[File:Velika-narodna-skupstina-1918.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|The [[Great People's Assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci and other Slavs in Banat, Bačka and Baranja]], the Serbian Crown Lands in [[Austria-Hungary]], (today's Vojvodina) declared unification with the [[Kingdom of Serbia]] on 25 November 1918]]
As the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed, the territory of Syrmia united with Serbia on 24 November 1918.<ref name="Collection of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum 1914" /> Just a day later, the [[Great People's Assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci and other Slavs in Banat, Bačka and Baranja]] declared the unification of these regions ([[Banat]], [[Bačka]], and [[Baranya County (former)|Baranja]]) with Serbia.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.arhivyu.gov.rs/active/en/home/glavna_navigacija/leksikon_jugoslavije/konstitutivni_akti_jugoslavije/prvodecembarski_akt.html |title=Arhiv Jugoslavije – 1 December Act, 1 December 1918<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=14 August 2019 |archive-date=10 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510073628/http://www.arhivyu.gov.rs/active/en/home/glavna_navigacija/leksikon_jugoslavije/konstitutivni_akti_jugoslavije/prvodecembarski_akt.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On 26 November 1918, the [[Podgorica Assembly]] deposed the [[House of Petrović-Njegoš]] and united Montenegro with Serbia.<ref>Bojovi, Jovan, Zakonik knjza Danila, Titograd: Istorijski institut Crne Gore, 1982.––––––, Podgorič ka skupština 1918: dokumenta, Gornji Milanovac: Dečje novine, 1989.</ref> On 1 December 1918, in Belgrade, Serbian Prince Regent [[Alexander I of Yugoslavia|Alexander Karađorđević]] proclaimed the [[Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes]], under King [[Peter I of Serbia]].{{sfn|Pavlowitch|2002|pp=108–109}}{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=251–252}} King Peter was succeeded by his son, Alexander, in August 1921. Serb centralists and Croat autonomists clashed in the parliament, and most governments were fragile and short-lived. [[Nikola Pašić]], a conservative prime minister, headed or dominated most governments until his death. King Alexander established a [[6 January Dictatorship|dictatorship]] in 1929 with the aim of establishing the [[Yugoslavism|Yugoslav ideology]] and single [[Yugoslavs|Yugoslav nation]], changed the name of the country to Yugoslavia. The effect of Alexander's dictatorship was to further alienate the non-Serbs living in Yugoslavia from the idea of unity.{{sfn|Stavrianos|2000|p=624}}

Alexander was assassinated in [[Marseille]], during an official visit in 1934 by [[Vlado Chernozemski]], member of the [[Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization|IMRO]]. Alexander was succeeded by his eleven-year-old son [[Peter II of Yugoslavia|Peter II]]. In August 1939 the [[Cvetković–Maček Agreement]] established an autonomous [[Banate of Croatia]] as a solution to Croatian concerns.

===World War II===
{{Main|World War II in Yugoslavia|The Holocaust in German-occupied Serbia|Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia}}

In 1941, in spite of Yugoslav attempts to remain neutral, the [[Axis powers]] invaded Yugoslavia. The territory of modern Serbia was divided between Hungary, Bulgaria, the Independent State of Croatia, Greater Albania and Montenegro, while the remainder was placed under the [[Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia|military administration]] of [[Nazi Germany]], with [[Government of National Salvation|Serbian puppet governments]] led by [[Milan Aćimović]] and [[Milan Nedić]] assisted by [[Dimitrije Ljotić]]'s fascist organisation [[Yugoslav National Movement]] (Zbor).

[[File:Старо сајмиште 2012-09-09 15-07-54.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|A monument commemorating the victims of the Nazi German established [[Sajmište concentration camp]], a part of [[the Holocaust in German-occupied Serbia]] and [[Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia|Genocide of Serbs]]]]

The Yugoslav territory was the scene of a civil war between [[Chetniks|royalist Chetniks]] commanded by [[Draža Mihailović]] and [[Partisans (Yugoslavia)|communist partisans]] commanded by [[Josip Broz Tito]]. Axis auxiliary units of the [[Serbian Volunteer Corps (World War II)|Serbian Volunteer Corps]] and the [[Serbian State Guard]] fought against both of these forces. The [[siege of Kraljevo]] was a major battle of the [[Uprising in Serbia (1941)|uprising in Serbia]], led by Chetnik forces against the Nazis. Several days after the battle began the German forces committed a massacre of approximately 2,000 civilians in an event known as the [[Kraljevo massacre]], in a reprisal for the attack.

[[Loznica|Draginac and Loznica massacre]] of 2,950 villagers in Western Serbia in 1941 was the first large execution of civilians in occupied Serbia by [[Nazi|German]]s, with [[Kragujevac massacre]] and [[Novi Sad Raid]] of Jews and Serbs by Hungarian fascists being the most notorious, with over 3,000 victims in each case.{{sfn|Pavlowitch|2008|p=62}}<ref>{{cite news|title=The Kragujevac massacre |first=Karl |last=Savich |url=http://www.pogledi.rs/kragujevac/english/1e.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121217101508/http://www.pogledi.rs/kragujevac/english/1e.php |archive-date=17 December 2012 }}</ref> After one year of occupation, around 16,000 [[Serbian Jews]] were murdered in the area, or around 90% of its pre-war Jewish population during [[The Holocaust in Serbia]].
Many concentration camps were established across the area. [[Banjica concentration camp]] was the largest concentration camp and jointly run by the German army and Nedić's regime,<ref name="Israeli2013">{{cite book|first=Raphael|last=Israeli|title=The Death Camps of Croatia: Visions and Revisions, 1941–1945|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M66fG2bhi1AC&pg=PA31|access-date=12 May 2013|date=4 March 2013|publisher=Transaction Publishers|isbn=978-1-4128-4930-2|page=31|archive-date=18 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231018094222/https://books.google.com/books?id=M66fG2bhi1AC&pg=PA31#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> with primary victims being Serbian Jews, [[Romani people|Roma]], and Serb political prisoners.<ref name=JewishHeritage>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewish-heritage-europe.eu/country/serbia/serbia2.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100630011836/http://www.jewish-heritage-europe.eu/country/serbia/serbia2.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 June 2010|title=Jewish Heritage Europe – Serbia 2 – Jewish Heritage in Belgrade|publisher=Jewish Heritage Europe|access-date=28 April 2010}}</ref>

Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Serbs fled the Axis [[puppet state]] known as the [[Independent State of Croatia]] and sought refuge in German-occupied Serbia, seeking to escape the large-scale persecution and [[Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia|Genocide of Serbs]], Jews, and Roma being committed by the [[Ustaše]] regime.<ref>{{cite web|website=Britannica OnlineEncyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/620426/Ustasa|title=Ustaša|publisher=Britannica.com|access-date=28 April 2010|archive-date=26 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150426184217/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/620426/Ustasa|url-status=live}}</ref> The number of Serb victims was approximately 300,000 to 350,000.<ref>{{cite book |last=Yeomans |first=Rory |title=The Utopia of Terror: Life and Death in Wartime Croatia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8HEDCwAAQBAJ |year=2015 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=978-1-58046-545-8 |page=18 |access-date=19 July 2019 |archive-date=27 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927204208/https://books.google.com/books?id=8HEDCwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Ustasa |url=https://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%205904.pdf |publisher=yadvashem.org |access-date=25 June 2018 |archive-date=8 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190808002505/https://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%205904.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| title=Genocide of the Serbs| url=http://combatgenocide.org/?page_id=86| publisher=The Combat Genocide Association| access-date=27 July 2019| archive-date=9 December 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131209115245/http://combatgenocide.org/?page_id=86| url-status=live}}</ref> According to Tito himself, Serbs made up the vast majority of [[Anti-fascism|anti-fascist]] fighters and [[Yugoslav Partisans]] for the whole course of [[World War II]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tito |first=Josip Broz |date=1945 |title=Nacionalno pitanje u Jugoslaviji: u svjetlosti narodnooslobodilačke borbe |location=Zagreb |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MPsfnQEACAAJ |publisher=Naprijed |language=hr |page=11 |quote=Moram ovdje podvući činjenicu da su u redovima naše Narodno-oslobodilačke vojske i partizanskih odreda u Jugoslaviji, od samog početka pa do danas, nalaze u ogromnoj većini baš Srbi, umjesto da to bude obratno. |access-date=27 September 2020 |archive-date=31 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240831013307/https://books.google.com/books?id=MPsfnQEACAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Republic of Užice]] was a short-lived liberated territory established by the Partisans and the first liberated territory in World War II Europe, organised as a military mini-state that existed in the autumn of 1941 in the west of [[Serbia under German occupation|occupied Serbia]]. By late 1944, the [[Belgrade Offensive]] swung in favour of the partisans in the civil war; the partisans subsequently gained control of Yugoslavia.<ref>{{cite web|author=PM|url=http://www.bulgaria-italia.com/bg/info/storia/partigiani.asp|title=Storia del movimento partigiano bulgaro (1941–1944)|publisher=Bulgaria – Italia|access-date=28 April 2010|archive-date=13 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513161540/http://www.bulgaria-italia.com/bg/info/storia/partigiani.asp|url-status=live}}</ref> Following the Belgrade Offensive, the [[Syrmian Front]] was the last major military action of World War II in Serbia. A study by [[Vladimir Žerjavić]] estimates total [[World War II casualties|war-related deaths]] in Yugoslavia at 1,027,000, including 273,000 in Serbia.<ref>{{cite book |last=Žerjavić |first=Vladimir |title=Yugoslavia: Manipulations with the Number of Second World War Victims |year=1993 |publisher=Croatian Information Centre |url=http://www.hic.hr/books/manipulations/index.htm |isbn=978-0-919817-32-6 |access-date=29 July 2018 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230428/http://www.hic.hr/books/manipulations/index.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Socialist Yugoslavia===
{{Main|Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Communist purges in Serbia in 1944–45|Tito–Stalin split|Non-Aligned Movement}}
[[File:Konferencija Pokreta nesvrstanih 1961. godine.jpg|thumb|The principle of non-alignment was the core of Yugoslav and later Serbian diplomacy. The First [[Non-Aligned Movement]] Summit Conference took place in [[Belgrade]] in September 1961]]
The victory of the Communist Partisans resulted in the abolition of the monarchy and a subsequent constitutional referendum. A [[one-party state]] was soon established in Yugoslavia by the [[League of Communists of Yugoslavia|Communist Party of Yugoslavia]]. It is claimed between 60,000 and 70,000 people died in Serbia during the [[Communist purges in Serbia in 1944–45|1944–45 communist purge]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Tanjug |url=http://www.mondo.rs/a622628/Info/Drustvo/Posle-rata-u-Srbiji-streljano-preko-60.000-civila.html |title=Posle rata u Srbiji streljano preko 60.000 civila |date=10 October 2013 |publisher=Mondo.rs |access-date=10 October 2013 |archive-date=3 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703150848/http://mondo.rs/a622628/Info/Drustvo/Posle-rata-u-Srbiji-streljano-preko-60.000-civila.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Serbia became a constituent republic within the [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia]] known as the [[Socialist Republic of Serbia|People's Republic of Serbia]], and had a republic-branch of the federal communist party, the [[League of Communists of Serbia]].
Serbia's most powerful and influential politician in Tito-era Yugoslavia was [[Aleksandar Ranković]], one of the "big four" Yugoslav leaders. Ranković was later removed from the office because of the disagreements regarding Kosovo's [[nomenklatura]] and the unity of Serbia. Ranković's dismissal was highly unpopular among Serbs. Pro-decentralisation reformers in Yugoslavia succeeded in the late 1960s in attaining substantial decentralisation of powers, creating substantial autonomy in Kosovo and Vojvodina, and recognising a distinctive "[[Muslims (ethnicity)|Muslim]]" nationality. As a result of these reforms, there was a massive overhaul of Kosovo's nomenklatura and police, that shifted from being Serb-dominated to ethnic Albanian-dominated through firing Serbs on a large scale. Further concessions were made to the ethnic Albanians of Kosovo in response to unrest, including the creation of the [[University of Pristina (1969–1999)|University of Pristina]] as an [[Albanian language]] institution. These changes created widespread fear among Serbs of being treated as [[second-class citizen]]s.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Melissa Katherine |last1=Bokovoy |first2=Jill A. |last2=Irvine |first3=Carol S. |last3=Lilly |title=State-society relations in Yugoslavia, 1945–1992 |location=Scranton, Pennsylvania |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=1997 |pages=295–296, 301}}</ref>

Belgrade, the capital of FPR Yugoslavia and PR Serbia, hosted the first [[Non-Aligned Movement]] Summit in September 1961, as well as the first major gathering of the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe|Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe]] (OSCE) with the aim of implementing the [[Helsinki Accords]] from October 1977 to March 1978.<ref>{{cite book|last=Norris|first=David A|title=Belgrade A Cultural History|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-988849-8|year=2008|page=134}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Bilandžić|first1=Vladimir|last2=Dahlmann|first2=Dittmar|last3=Kosanović|first3=Milan |title=From Helsinki to Belgrade: The First CSCE Follow-up Meeting and the Crisis of Détente|publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht|isbn=978-3-89971-938-3|year=2012|pages=163–184}}</ref> The [[1972 Yugoslav smallpox outbreak|1972 smallpox outbreak]] in SAP Kosovo and other parts of SR Serbia was the last major outbreak of [[smallpox]] in [[Europe]] since World War II.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Trifunović|first=Vesna|title=Patterns of competitive authoritarianism in the Western Balkans|journal=Glasnik Etnografskog instituta SANU|date=July 2018|volume=65|issue=1|pages=127–145|doi=10.2298/GEI1701127T|doi-access=free|hdl=21.15107/rcub_dais_7666|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

===Breakup of Yugoslavia and political transition===
{{Main|Breakup of Yugoslavia|Serbia and Montenegro|Republic of Serbia (1992–2006)|History of Serbia#Independent Serbia (2006–present)}}<!-- PLEASE SEE TALKPAGE AND ITS ARCHIVE BEFORE REMOVING THE IMAGE. -->
[[File:Stevan Kragujevic, Slobodan Milosevic, portret (cropped).jpg|thumb|180px|left|[[Slobodan Milošević]] (1941–2006) was a prominent political figure in Yugoslavia. His leadership was controversial, with criticism of continued authoritarianism despite constitutional changes]]
[[File:Map of war in Yugoslavia, 1992.png|thumb|upright=1.0|right|The [[Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]] and territories of Serb breakaway states [[Republika Srpska]] and [[Republika Srpska Krajina]] during the [[Yugoslav wars]]]]In 1989, [[Slobodan Milošević]] rose to power in Serbia. Milošević promised a reduction of powers for the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina, where his allies subsequently took over power, during the [[Anti-bureaucratic revolution]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d5np99Vgc0YC&q=anti-bureaucratic+revolution&pg=PA165|title=The Destruction of Yugoslavia: tracking the break-up 1980–92 (pp 165–170)|first=Branka|last=Magaš|year=1993|publisher=Verso|isbn=978-0-86091-593-5|access-date=21 November 2020|archive-date=31 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240831013437/https://books.google.com/books?id=d5np99Vgc0YC&q=anti-bureaucratic+revolution&pg=PA165#v=snippet&q=anti-bureaucratic%20revolution&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> This ignited tensions between the communist leadership of the other republics of Yugoslavia and awoke ethnic nationalism across Yugoslavia that eventually resulted in its [[Breakup of Yugoslavia|breakup]], with [[Slovenia]], [[Croatia]], [[Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia and Herzegovina]], and [[North Macedonia|Macedonia]] declaring independence during 1991 and 1992.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/16/world/breakup-of-yugoslavia-leaves-slovenia-secure-croatia-shaky.html|work=The New York Times|title=Breakup of Yugoslavia Leaves Slovenia Secure, Croatia Shaky|first=Stephen|last=Engelberg|date=16 January 1992|access-date=6 April 2010|archive-date=4 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804233306/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/16/world/breakup-of-yugoslavia-leaves-slovenia-secure-croatia-shaky.html|url-status=live}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=March 2017}} Serbia and Montenegro remained together as the [[Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]] (FRY).<ref name=SCGSuccession /> However, according to the [[Arbitration Commission of the Peace Conference on Yugoslavia|Badinter Commission]], the country was not legally considered a continuation of the former SFRY, but a new state.

Fueled by ethnic tensions, the [[Yugoslav Wars]] (1991–2001) erupted, with the most severe conflicts taking place in [[War in Croatia|Croatia]] and [[Bosnian War|Bosnia]], where the large ethnic Serb communities opposed independence from Yugoslavia. The FRY remained outside the conflicts, but provided logistic, military and financial support to Serb forces in the wars. In response, the UN imposed [[sanctions against Yugoslavia]] which led to political isolation and the collapse of the economy (GDP decreased from $24 billion in 1990 to under $10 billion in 1993). Serbia was in the 2000s sued on the charges of alleged genocide by neighbouring [[Bosnian genocide case|Bosnia and Herzegovina]] and [[Croatia–Serbia genocide case|Croatia]] but in both cases the main charges against Serbia were dismissed.<ref>{{cite web|date=26 February 2007|title=Serbia not guilty of genocide|url=https://humanrightshouse.org/articles/serbia-not-guilty-of-genocide-2/|access-date=21 July 2021|website=Human Rights House Foundation|language=en-US|archive-date=21 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321165449/https://humanrightshouse.org/articles/serbia-not-guilty-of-genocide-2/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=3 February 2015|title=UN court dismisses Croatia and Serbia genocide claims|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31104973|access-date=21 July 2021|archive-date=3 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150203161525/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31104973|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Kosovo-metohija-koreni-duse029.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|Serbian and other [[refugee children]] of the [[Kosovo War]]. The war ended with the 1999 [[NATO bombing of Yugoslavia|NATO bombing]], the [[Legitimacy of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia|legitimacy of which]] remains controversial]]
Multi-party democracy was introduced in Serbia in 1990, officially dismantling the one-party system. Despite constitutional changes, Milošević maintained strong political influence over the state media and security apparatus.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hague.bard.edu/reports/de_la_brosse_pt1.pdf|title=Political Propaganda and the Plan to Create a "State for all Serbs"|access-date=14 November 2010|archive-date=12 December 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051212131608/http://hague.bard.edu/reports/de_la_brosse_pt1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>''Wide Angle, Milosevic and the Media.'' [https://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/media-by-milosevic/video-full-episode/852/ "Part 3: Dictatorship on the Airwaves."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009175520/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/media-by-milosevic/video-full-episode/852/ |date=9 October 2014 }} PBS. Quotation from film: "...&nbsp;the things that happened at state TV, warmongering, things we can admit to now: false information, biased reporting. That went directly from Milošević to the head of TV".</ref> When the ruling [[Socialist Party of Serbia]] refused to accept its defeat in [[1996 Serbian local elections|municipal elections in 1996]], Serbians engaged in [[1996–1997 protests in Serbia|large protests]] against the government.

In 1998, [[Insurgency in Kosovo (1995–98)|continued clashes]] between the Albanian guerilla [[Kosovo Liberation Army]] and Yugoslav security forces led to the short [[Kosovo War]] (1998–99), in which [[NATO]] intervened, leading to the withdrawal of Serbian forces and the establishment of [[UNMIK|UN administration]] in the province.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1998/kosovo/110492.stm|title=History, bloody history|work=BBC News|date=24 March 1999|access-date=27 July 2012|archive-date=25 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125151232/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1998/kosovo/110492.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> After the Yugoslav Wars, Serbia became home to highest number of [[refugee]]s and [[internally displaced person]]s in Europe.<ref>{{cite web |title=Serbia home to highest number of refugees and IDPs in Europe |date=20 June 2011 |publisher=[[B92]] |url=http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society.php?yyyy=2011&mm=06&dd=20&nav_id=75016 |access-date=5 May 2020 |archive-date=26 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326082532/http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society.php?yyyy=2011&mm=06&dd=20&nav_id=75016 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Serbia: Europe's largest proctracted refugee situation |publisher=[[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe|OSCE]] |url=http://www.osce.org/serbia/24323?download=true |access-date=5 May 2020 |archive-date=26 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326082139/http://www.osce.org/serbia/24323?download=true |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=S. |last1=Cross |first2=S. |last2=Kentera |first3=R. |last3=Vukadinovic |first4=R. |last4=Nation |title=Shaping South East Europe's Security Community for the Twenty-First Century: Trust, Partnership, Integration |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=el-YZHB8hzYC&pg=PP1 |access-date=5 May 2020 |date=7 May 2013 |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] |page=169 |isbn=978-1-137-01020-9 |archive-date=11 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111171651/https://books.google.com/books?id=el-YZHB8hzYC&pg=PP1 |url-status=live }}</ref>

After [[2000 Yugoslavian general election|presidential elections]] in September 2000, opposition parties accused Milošević of [[electoral fraud]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=R. Jeffrey |title=Yugoslav Election Fraud Alleged |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2000/09/25/yugoslav-election-fraud-alleged/bca9bca0-e35f-41c0-b554-2b646f4b8584/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=25 September 2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=R. Jeffrey |title=Milosevic Maneuvers For Election Runoff |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2000/09/27/milosevic-maneuvers-for-election-runoff/135c9d1c-163d-4282-8662-0308d1653852/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=27 September 2000}}</ref> A campaign of [[civil resistance]] followed, led by the [[Democratic Opposition of Serbia]] (DOS), a broad coalition of anti-Milošević parties. This culminated on 5 October when half a million people from all over the country congregated in Belgrade, compelling Milošević to concede defeat.<ref>Ivan Vejvoda, 'Civil Society versus Slobodan Milošević: Serbia 1991–2000', in [[Adam Roberts (scholar)|Adam Roberts]] and [[Timothy Garton Ash]] (eds.), ''Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present.'' Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 295–316. {{ISBN|978-0-19-955201-6}}.</ref> The [[Overthrow of Slobodan Milošević|fall of Milošević]] ended Yugoslavia's [[international isolation]]. Milošević was sent to the [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]]. The DOS announced that FR Yugoslavia would seek to join the [[European Union]]. In 2003, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was renamed [[Serbia and Montenegro]];{{sfn|Miller|2005|pp=529–581}} the EU opened negotiations with the country for the [[Stabilization and Association Agreement|Stabilisation and Association Agreement]].

Serbia's political climate remained tense and in 2003, Prime Minister [[Zoran Đinđić]] was [[Assassination of Zoran Đinđić|assassinated]] as result of a plot originating from organised crime and former security officials. In [[2004 unrest in Kosovo]] took place, leaving 19 people dead and a number of Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries destroyed or damaged.<ref>{{cite web|date=17 March 2015|title=Bitter Memories of Kosovo's Deadly March Riots|url=https://balkaninsight.com/2015/03/17/bitter-memories-of-kosovo-s-deadly-march-riots/|access-date=2 December 2020|website=Balkan Insight|language=en-US|archive-date=14 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114113201/https://balkaninsight.com/2015/03/17/bitter-memories-of-kosovo-s-deadly-march-riots/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Online/Beta|first=Piše: Danas|date=17 March 2020|title=Navršeno 16 godina od Martovskog pogroma na Kosovu i Metohiji|url=https://www.danas.rs/drustvo/navrseno-16-godina-od-martovskog-pogroma-na-kosovu-i-metohiji/|access-date=2 December 2020|website=Dnevni list Danas|language=sr-RS|archive-date=4 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210404044230/https://www.danas.rs/drustvo/navrseno-16-godina-od-martovskog-pogroma-na-kosovu-i-metohiji/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Contemporary period===
{{Main|History of Serbia#Republic of Serbia (2006–present)}}
{{See also|Human rights in Serbia}}
[[File:Zoran_Đinđić,_Davos.jpg|thumb|180px|[[Zoran Đinđić]] played a key role in the [[Overthrow of Slobodan Milošević|revolution]] against the Milošević regime and later became the first democratically elected [[Prime Minister of Serbia|prime minister]]]]
On 21 May 2006, Montenegro held a [[2006 Montenegrin independence referendum|referendum]] which showed 55.4% of voters in favour of independence, just above the 55% required by the referendum. This was followed on 5 June 2006 by Serbia's declaration of independence, marking the re-emergence of Serbia as an independent state. The [[National Assembly of Serbia]] declared Serbia to be the legal successor to the former state union.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5083690.stm|title=Montenegro gets Serb recognition|publisher=BBC|date=15 June 2006|access-date=5 February 2008|archive-date=5 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605015301/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5083690.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Assembly of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on 17 February 2008. Serbia immediately condemned the declaration and continues to deny any statehood to Kosovo. The declaration has sparked varied responses from the international community.<ref name="New York Sun">{{cite news|url=http://www.nysun.com/foreign/rift-emerges-at-the-united-nations-over-kosovo/71420/|title=Rift Emerges at the United Nations Over Kosovo|newspaper=New York Sun|date=19 February 2008|access-date=26 March 2012|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224143728/https://www.nysun.com/foreign/rift-emerges-at-the-united-nations-over-kosovo/71420/|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Belgrade-Pristina negotiations|Status-neutral talks]] between Serbia and Kosovo-Albanian authorities are held in [[Brussels]], mediated by the EU.

Serbia officially applied for membership in the European Union on 22 December 2009,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.rs/en/foreign-policy/eu/republic-of-serbia-eu |title=Republic of Serbia – European Union |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs |access-date=24 June 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130506084426/http://www.mfa.gov.rs/en/foreign-policy/eu/republic-of-serbia-eu |archive-date=6 May 2013 }}</ref> and received candidate status on 1 March 2012, following a delay in December 2011.<ref name="bbc">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17225415|work=BBC News|title=EU leaders grant Serbia candidate status|date=1 March 2012|access-date=2 March 2012|archive-date=10 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410212127/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17225415|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://euobserver.com/enlargement/115466|title=Serbia gets EU candidate status, Romania gets nothing|publisher=EUobserver|date=2 March 2012|access-date=24 June 2013|archive-date=28 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130628101411/http://euobserver.com/enlargement/115466|url-status=live}}</ref> Following a positive recommendation of the [[European Commission]] and [[European Council]] in June 2013, negotiations to join the EU commenced in January 2014.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ec/137634.pdf |title= conclusions of the European Council (27/28 June 2013) |website=[[European Council]] |date= |accessdate=19 November 2021 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130705123423/http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ec/137634.pdf |archive-date=5 July 2013}}</ref>

In 2012 [[Aleksandar Vučić]] and his [[Serbian Progressive Party]] came to power.<ref>{{cite web |title=Serbia: Nations in Transit 2020 Country Report |url=https://freedomhouse.org/country/serbia/nations-transit/2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030120841/https://freedomhouse.org/country/serbia/nations-transit/2020 |archive-date=30 October 2020 |access-date=3 November 2020 |website=[[Freedom House]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Fruscione |first=Giorgio |date=2 October 2020 |title=Serbia: From Milosevic to Vucic, Return Ticket |url=https://www.ispionline.it/it/pubblicazione/serbia-milosevic-vucic-return-ticket-27699 |access-date=23 July 2022 |website=ISPI |language=it |archive-date=26 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526174631/https://www.ispionline.it/it/pubblicazione/serbia-milosevic-vucic-return-ticket-27699 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to a number of international analysts, Serbia has suffered from [[democratic backsliding]] into [[authoritarianism]],<ref name="Freedom House 2019">{{cite news |url=http://rs.n1info.com/English/NEWS/a457849/Freedom-House-ranks-Serbia-as-Partly-Free-in-latest-report.html |website=N1 |title=Freedom House ranks Serbia as Partly Free in latest report |date=5 February 2019 |access-date=5 February 2019 |archive-date=7 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207020214/http://rs.n1info.com/English/NEWS/a457849/Freedom-House-ranks-Serbia-as-Partly-Free-in-latest-report.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Voltmer|first=Katrin |title=Media, Communication and the Struggle for Democratic Change: Case Studies on Contested Transitions|publisher=Springer Nature|isbn=978-3-030-16747-9|year=2019|page=6}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bieber |first1=Florian |title=Patterns of competitive authoritarianism in the Western Balkans|journal=East European Politics|date=July 2018|volume=38|issue=3|pages=337–54|doi=10.1080/21599165.2018.1490272|doi-access=free}}</ref> followed by a decline in [[Media freedom in Serbia|media freedom]] and civil liberties.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Maerz|first1=Seraphine F|display-authors=etal|title=State of the world 2019: autocratization surges – resistance grows |journal=Democratization |date=April 2020|volume=27|issue=6|pages=909–927|doi=10.1080/13510347.2020.1758670|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Castaldo |first1=Antonino |last2=Pinna |first2=Alessandra |title=De-Europeanization in the Balkans. Media freedom in post-Milošević Serbia |journal=European Politics and Society |year=2017|volume=19|issue=3|pages=264–281 |doi=10.1080/23745118.2017.1419599 |hdl=10451/30737 |s2cid=159002076|hdl-access=free}}</ref> After the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] spread [[COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia|to Serbia]] in March 2020, a [[state of emergency]] was declared and a [[curfew]] was introduced for the first time in Serbia since World War II.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rs.n1info.com/Vesti/a579775/Policijski-cas-u-Srbiji-prva-noc.html|title=Prvi put policijski čas od Drugog svetskog rata, građani uglavnom poslušni|date=19 March 2020|website=N1|access-date=16 June 2020|archive-date=19 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201119120114/http://rs.n1info.com/Vesti/a579775/Policijski-cas-u-Srbiji-prva-noc.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In April 2022, President Aleksandar Vučić was [[2022 Serbian general election|re-elected]].<ref>{{cite news |title='Endlessly happy': Serbia's Vucic claims re-election victory |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/4/endlessly-happy-serbias-vucic-claims-re-election-victory |work=www.aljazeera.com |language=en |access-date=4 April 2022 |archive-date=4 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220404103532/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/4/endlessly-happy-serbias-vucic-claims-re-election-victory |url-status=live }}</ref> In December 2023, President Vučić won a snap [[2023 Serbian parliamentary election|parliamentary election]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=17 December 2023 |title=Serbia election: Vucic claims big election victory for ruling party |language=en-GB |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67742032 |access-date=19 December 2023 |archive-date=24 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224210647/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67742032 |url-status=live }}</ref> The election resulted in protests, with opposition supporters claiming that the election result was fraudulent.<ref name="Delauney 2023 l846">{{cite web | last=Delauney | first=Guy | title=Serbia protests: Anti-government demonstrators try to storm Belgrade city hall | website=bbc.com | date=24 December 2023 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67817072 | access-date=26 December 2023 | archive-date=24 December 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224215958/https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67817072 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Hajdari 2023 z525">{{cite web | last=Hajdari | first=Una | title=Vučić tightens grip in Serbian election marred by fraud claims | website=POLITICO | date=17 December 2023 | url=https://www.politico.eu/article/serbia-vucic-serbian-progressive-party-brnabic-eu-politics/ | access-date=26 December 2023 | archive-date=26 December 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231226191741/https://www.politico.eu/article/serbia-vucic-serbian-progressive-party-brnabic-eu-politics/ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Press 2023 n745">{{cite web | author=DUSAN STOJANOVIC| agency=Associated Press | title=Police in Serbia fire tear gas at election protesters | website=ABC News | date=24 December 2023 | url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/police-serbia-fire-tear-gas-election-protesters-threatening-105902378 | access-date=26 December 2023 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224194923/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/police-serbia-fire-tear-gas-election-protesters-threatening-105902378 |archive-date=24 December 2023}}</ref><ref name="Balkan Insight 2023 w684">{{cite web | title=Opposition, Students Call for More Mass Protests to Annul Belgrade Election | website=Balkan Insight | date=25 December 2023 | url=https://balkaninsight.com/2023/12/25/opposition-students-call-for-more-mass-protests-to-annul-belgrade-election/ | access-date=26 December 2023 | archive-date=1 January 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240101043233/https://balkaninsight.com/2023/12/25/opposition-students-call-for-more-mass-protests-to-annul-belgrade-election/ | url-status=live }}</ref> On 16 January 2022, a [[2022 Serbian constitutional referendum|Serbian constitutional referendum]] took place in which citizens chose to amend the Constitution concerning the judiciary. The changes were presented as a step towards reducing political influence in the judicial system.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stojanovic |first=Milica |date=2022 |title=Serbia Votes 'Yes' to Judiciary Constitution Changes |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2022/01/16/serbia-votes-yes-to-judiciary-constitution-changes/ |work=BalkanInsight |access-date=31 July 2024 |archive-date=24 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231124105506/https://balkaninsight.com/2022/01/16/serbia-votes-yes-to-judiciary-constitution-changes/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 

The country was chosen to host international [[specialised exposition]] [[Expo 2027]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Expo 2027 Belgrade |url=https://www.bie-paris.org/site/en/2027-belgrade |access-date=27 July 2024 |website=www.bie-paris.org |archive-date=13 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231213214728/https://www.bie-paris.org/site/en/2027-belgrade |url-status=live }}</ref> The Serbian government is working with [[Rio Tinto (corporation)|Rio Tinto]] corporation on a project which aims to develop Europe's biggest [[lithium]] mine.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Rio Tinto hails another step closer to develop Serbian lithium mine |url=https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/rio-tinto-welcomes-serbias-reinstatement-jadar-lithium-project-licence-2024-07-16/ |work=Reuters}}</ref> Mining lithium became a matter of debate in the society and several protests against mining took place.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 July 2024 |title=Kopanje litijuma u Srbiji: "Prilika koja se ne propušta", saglasni Vučić i Šolc |url=https://www.bbc.com/serbian/lat/srbija-69202176 |access-date=27 July 2024 |website=BBC News na srpskom |language=sr-latn |archive-date=26 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726225430/https://www.bbc.com/serbian/lat/srbija-69202176 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Evropa |first=Radio Slobodna |date=25 July 2024 |title=Protesti u Loznici i Novom Sadu zbog Rio Tinta |url=https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/srbija-loznica-novi-sad-protest-rio-tinto/33050360.html |access-date=27 July 2024 |work=Radio Slobodna Evropa |language=sh |archive-date=27 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240727101013/https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/srbija-loznica-novi-sad-protest-rio-tinto/33050360.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=FoNet |first=Beta |title=U Valjevu održan protest protiv Rio Tinta i iskopavanja litijuma |url=https://www.nin.rs/politika/vesti/53545/u-valjevu-odrzan-protest-protiv-rio-tinta-i-iskopavanja-litijuma |access-date=27 July 2024 |website=Nin online |language=sr |archive-date=27 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240727165402/https://www.nin.rs/politika/vesti/53545/u-valjevu-odrzan-protest-protiv-rio-tinta-i-iskopavanja-litijuma |url-status=live }}</ref>