VOJVODINA : SWAYING OVER CENTURIES

VOJVODINA

SWAYING OVER CENTURIES

The Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province in Serbia, containing about 27% of its total population according to the 2002
Census. It is located in the northern part of the country, in the Pannonian plain. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad, at over 300,000 people,
while its second largest city is Subotica. It has gained extensive rights of self-rule under the 1974 Yugoslav constitution, which gave both Kosovo
and Vojvodina de facto veto power in the Serbian and Yugoslav parliaments, as changes to their status could not be made without the consent of the two Provincial Assemblies. The 1974 Serbian constitution, adopted at the same time, reiterated that “the Socialist Republic of Serbia
comprises the Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo, which originated in the common
struggle of nations and nationalities of Yugoslavia in the National Liberation War (the Second World War) and socialist revolution”.

Throughout history, the territory of present day Vojvodina has been a part of Dacia, the Roman Empire, the Hun Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Gepid Kingdom, the Avar Khanate, the Frankish Kingdom, the Pannonian Croatia, the Great Moravia, the Bulgarian Empire, the Serbian Empire of Jovan Nenad, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the Independent State of Croatia, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and Serbia and Montenegro.

Since 2006, Vojvodina is part of an independent Serbia Between 1849 and 1860, this region was referred to as Voivodship of Serbia and

Tamiš Banat. The region was granted in 1918 by the allied powers to the Kingdom of Serbia, and in 1945 it became part of the People’s Republic of Serbia. Together with Kosovo, it enjoyed autonomous status between 1974 and 1988.

This undergone periods of occupation of ……………………………………………..

ROMAN RULE

During Roman rule, Sirmium (today’s Sremska Mitrovica) was one of the four capital cities of the Roman Empire and six Roman Emperors were
born in this city or in its surroundings. The city was also the capital of several Roman administrative units, including the Lower Pannonia, the
Pannonia Secunda, the Diocese of Pannonia, and the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum. Roman rule lasted until the 5th century, after which the
region came into the possession of various peoples and states. While Banat was a part of the Roman province of Dacia, Syrmium and Backa belonged to a Roman province of Lower Pannonia.

HUNGARIAN RULE

Most of Vojvodina became part of the Hungarian kingdom in the 10th century. It stayed part of Hungary until 1918, excepting for the period of the Ottoman conquest.Its demographic balance started changing at the end of the 14th century, as it welcomed Serbian refugees fleeing from territories conquered by the Ottoman army. At the time of the first Turkish census, in 1557-8, the northern parts of the territory still had a Hungarian majority. Large numbers of Serbs were settled as a conscious policy on the part of the Habsburg emperor at the end of the 17th century. They were granted widespread exceptions and communal rights, in exchange for providing a border militia that could be mobilised against invaders from the south, as well as in case of civil unrest in Hungary.In 1716, Vienna temporarily forbade settlement by Hungarians and Jews in the area, and large numbers of German speakers were settled instead. From 1782, Protestant Hungarians, Germans and Slovakians settled in large numbers again.

During the 1848-49 uprising, Vienna successfully mobilised the Serbian militias against the Hungarian government and the local Hungarians. The
civil war hit this area perhaps the hardest, with terrible atrocities committed against the civilian populations. Following victory by the Habsburgs, a new administrative territory was created in the south that was maintained until 1860, with German and Illyrian as official languages.The era following 1867 was a period of economic flourishing but strained ethnic relations under the surface. The peace treaty of 1918 gave Vojvodina to
the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croatians and Slovenes. Between 1918 and 1940, 80 000 Serbs were settled in the province.

OTTOMAN RULE (1527-1716)

After the defeat of the Hungarian Kingdom at Mohács by the Ottoman Empire, the region fell into a period of anarchy and civil wars. In 1526

Jovan Nenad, a leader of the Serb mercenaries, established his rule in Bačka, northern Banat and a small part of Syrmia. He created an ephemeral independent state, with Subotica as its capital. At the peak of his power, Jovan Nenad proclaimed himself Serbian Emperor in Subotica. Taking advantage of the extremely confused military and political situation, the Hungarian noblemen from the region joined forces against him and defeated the Serbian troops in the summer of 1527. Emperor Jovan Nenad was assassinated and his state collapsed. A few decades later, the region was added to the Ottoman Empire, which ruled over it until the end of the 17th and the first half of the 18th century, when it was incorporated into the Habsburg Monarchy. The Treaty of Karlowitz of 1699, between Holy League and Ottoman Empire, marked the withdrawal of the Ottoman forces from Central Europe, and the supremacy of the Habsburg Empire in that part of the continent. According to the treaty, western part of Vojvodina passed to Habsburgs. Eastern part of it remained in Ottomans as Tamışvar Eyaleti until Austria conquest in 1716. This statement is ratified by treaty of Passarowitz in 1718.

PERIODS OF SERBIAN AUTONOMY BEFORE 1918

At the beginning of Habsburg rule, most of the region was integrated into the Habsburg Military Frontier district, while western parts of Bačka were put under civil administration within Bač county. Later, the civil administration was expanded to other (mostly northern) parts of the region, while southern parts remained under military administration. Eastern part of it occupied by Ottomans between 1787-1788 during Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792).
At the May Assembly in Sremski Karlovci (May 13-15, 1848),Serbs declared the constitution of the Serbian Voivodship (Serbian Duchy),a Serbian autonomous region within the Austrian Empire. The Serbian Voivodship consisted of Syrmia, Bačka, Banat, and Baranja. The metropolitan of Sremski Karlovci, Josif Rajačić, was elected patriarch, while Stevan Šupljikac was chosen as first voivod (duke).

In November 1849, in accordance with a decision made by the Austrian emperor, this Serbian region was transformed into the new Austrian
crown land known as Voivodship of Serbia and Tamiš Banat. It consisted of Banat, Bačka and Syrmia, excluding the southern parts of these regions which were part of the Military Frontier. An Austrian governor seated in Temeschwar ruled the area, and the title of voivod belonged to the emperor himself. The full title of the emperor was “Grand Voivod of the Voivodship of Serbia” (German: Großwoiwode der Woiwodschaft Serbien). The province was abolished in 1860, and from 1867 was located again within the Hungarian Kingdom (part of Austria-Hungary).

At the end of World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed. On October 29, 1918, Syrmia became a part of the State of Slovenes, Croats
and Serbs. On October 31, 1918, the Banat Republic was proclaimed in Temeschwar. The government of Hungary recognized its independence,
but it was short-lived.

UNIFICATION WITH SERBIA

On November 25, 1918, the Assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci, and other nations of Vojvodina in Novi Sad proclaimed the union of Vojvodina (Banat, Bačka and Baranja) with the Kingdom of Serbia (The assembly numbered 757 deputies, of which 578 were Serbs, 84 Bunjevci, 62 Slovaks, 21 Rusyns, 6 Germans, 3 Šokci, 2 Croats, and 1 Hungarian). One day before this, on November 24, the Assembly of Syrmia also proclaimed the union of Syrmia with Serbia. On December 1, 1918, Vojvodina officially became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

Between 1929 and 1941, the region was known as the Danube Banovina, a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Its capital city was Novi Sad.

The Banovina consisted of the Syrmia, Bačka, Banat, Baranja, Šumadija, and Braničevo regions.Between 1941 and 1944, during World War II, the Axis Powers divided and occupied Vojvodina. Bačka and Baranja were attached to Horthy’s Hungary and Syrmia was attached to the Independent State of Croatia. A smaller Danube Banovina (including Banat, Šumadija, and Braničevo) existed as part of what was known as “Nedic’s Serbia.” The administrative centre of this smaller province was Smederevo. However, Banat itself was a separate autonomous region ruled by its German minority.

Axis occupation ended in 1944 and the region was politically restored in 1945 as an autonomous province of Serbia (incorporating Syrmia, Banat, and Bačka). Instead of the previous name (Danube Banovina), the region regained its historical name of Vojvodina, while its capital city