Kingdom of Serbia (1718–1739)

For other uses, see Kingdom of Serbia (disambiguation).

The Kingdom of Serbia (Serbian: Краљевина Србија, romanized: Kraljevina Srbija, German: Königreich Serbien, Latin: Regnum Serviae) was a province (crownland) of the Habsburg monarchy from 1718 to 1739. It was formed from the territories to the south of the rivers Sava and Danube, corresponding to the Sanjak of Smederevo (or "Belgrade Pashalik"), conquered by the Habsburgs from the Ottoman Empire in 1717. It was abolished and returned to the Ottoman Empire in 1739.

Kingdom of Serbia Königreich Serbien (German) Краљевина Србија (Serbian)
1718–1739
Flag Coat of arms
Kingdom of Serbia (1718–1739)
Status	Crownland of the Habsburg monarchy
Capital	Belgrade
Common languages	Serbian, German
Religion	Roman Catholic, Serbian Orthodox
Government	Crownland
Governor
• 1718–1720	Johann O'Dwyer
• 1738–1739	George de Wallis
Historical era	Early modern period
• Treaty of Passarowitz	21 July 1718
• Austro-Turkish War	1737–39
• Treaty of Belgrade	18 September 1739
Currency	Kreuzer
ISO 3166 code	RS
Preceded by Succeeded by Sanjak of Smederevo Sanjak of Smederevo
Today part of	Serbia

During this Habsburg rule, Serbian majority did benefit from self-government, including an autonomous militia, and economic integration with the Habsburg monarchy — reforms that contributed to the growth of the Serb middle class and continued by the Ottomans "in the interest of law and order". Serbia's population increased rapidly from 270,000 to 400,000, but the decline of Habsburg power in the region provoked the second Great Migrations of the Serbs (1737–1739).

History

Siege of Belgrade (1717)

In 1688–1689, during the Great Turkish War, the Habsburg troops temporarily took control over most of present-day Serbia, but were subsequently forced into retreat. The Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699 recognized Ottoman authority over most of present-day Serbia, while the region of Bačka and the western part of Syrmia were assigned to the Habsburgs.

Another Austro-Turkish war broke out in 1716–1718, in which Serbs massively joined the Habsburg troops. After the gains of 1718 (following the Treaty of Passarowitz), the Habsburgs sought to integrate Serbia into their empire. The land was officially named the "Kingdom of Serbia", because it was neither a part of the Holy Roman Empire nor the Kingdom of Hungary. The actual administration of the province was in the hands of an appointed governor. Not all the Serb-inhabited territory south of the Sava and Danube rivers that was conquered by the Habsburgs in 1718 was included in the Kingdom of Serbia. A large eastern area was administratively separate as part of the Banat of Temeswar.

After a new Austro-Turkish War (1737–39), the Habsburg monarchy lost all territories south of the Sava and Danube, including the whole territory of the Kingdom of Serbia, and Orșova north of the Danube. It retained, however, the rest of the Banat of Temeswar. The end of Habsburg rule resulted in the second Great Serb Migration (1737–1739).

Government

Gate of Charles VI

Serbia was jointly supervised by the Aulic War Council and the Court Chamber, and subordinated to a local military-cameral administration.

Governors

• Johann Joseph Anton O'Dwyer (1718–1720) (known as "General Odijer")
• Charles Alexander (1720–1733)
• Karl Christoph von Schmettau (1733–1738)
• George Oliver de Wallis (1738–1739)

Serbian Militia

Growth of the Habsburg monarchy showing Serbia in 1718–1739.

Main article: Serbian Militia (1718–1739)

Following the Treaty of Passarowitz (1718), the Habsburgs established the Kingdom of Serbia and appointed the first command cadre of the Serbian National Militia, composed out of two obor-kapetans, ten kapetans, two lieutenants and one major. The obor-kapetans were Vuk Isaković "Crnobarac" and Staniša Marković "Mlatišuma". During the Austro-Russian–Turkish War (1735–1739), the Serbian Militia was divided into 18 companies, in four groups (obor-kapetanije).

Demographics

A 1720 regulation declared that Belgrade was to be settled mainly by German Catholics, while the Serbs were to live outside the city walls in the "Rascian" part. It has been estimated that the population in Belgrade in the 1720s did not exceed 20,000. The population increased rapidly from 270,000 to 400,000, but the end of Habsburg power in the region resulted in the second Great Serb Migration (1737–1739).

Aftermath

Although the Habsburg administration over this part of present-day Serbia was short-lived, the consciousness about separate political entity was left behind by the Habsburgs, thus local inhabitants never again fully accepted Ottoman administration, which led to Koča's frontier rebellion in 1788 and to the First Serbian Uprising in 1804, which ended direct Ottoman rule over this part of present-day Serbia.

Sources

• Ágoston, Gábor (2011). "The Ottoman Wars and the Changing Balance of Power along the Danube in the Early Eighteenth Century". The Peace of Passarowitz, 1718. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press. pp. 93–108. ISBN 978-1-61249-195-0.
• Bataković, Dušan T., ed. (2005). Histoire du peuple serbe [History of the Serbian People] (in French). Lausanne: L’Age d’Homme. ISBN 9782825119587.
• Ćirković, Sima (2004). The Serbs. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 9781405142915.
• Dabić, Vojin S. (2011). "The Habsburg-Ottoman War of 1716-1718 and Demographic Changes in the War-Afflicted Territories". The Peace of Passarowitz, 1718. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press. pp. 191–208. ISBN 978-1-61249-195-0.
• Đorđević, Miloš (2013). "Kraljevstvo Srbija (1720-1739)". Универзитет У Нишу. Универзитет у Нишу, Филозофски факултет.
• Đorđević, Miloš Z. (2010). "A Background to Serbian Culture and Education in the First Half of the 18th Century according to Serbian Historiographical Sources". Empires and Peninsulas: Southeastern Europe between Karlowitz and the Peace of Adrianople, 1699–1829. Berlin: LIT Verlag. pp. 125–131. ISBN 978-3-643-10611-7.
• Hochedlinger, Michael (2013). Austria's Wars of Emergence: War, State and Society in the Habsburg Monarchy, 1683–1797. London & New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-88793-5.
• Hupchick, Dennis P. (2004). The Balkans: From Constantinople to Communism. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4039-6417-5.
• Ingrao, Charles; Samardžić, Nikola; Pešalj, Jovan, eds. (2011). The Peace of Passarowitz, 1718. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press. ISBN 9781557535948.
• Karagöz, Hakan (2018). "The 1717 Siege of Belgrade and the Ottoman War Equipment Captured by the Habsburgs after the Siege". Belgrade: 1521-1867. Belgrade: The Institute of History. pp. 129–154. ISBN 978-86-7743-132-7.
• Langer, Joseph (1889). "Serbien unter der kaiserlichen Regierung : 1717 – 1739". Mittheilungen des k.k. Kriegsarchivs, Wien, Bd. III.
• Pavlović, Dragoljub M. (1901). Austriska vladavina u Severnoj Srbiji od 1718-1739, po građi iz bečkih arhiva. Štamp. Kralj. Srbije.
• Rudi, Fabrizio (2020). "Austrian "Kingdom of Serbia" (1718- 1739). The Infrastructural Innovations introduced by the Habsburg Domination" (PDF). Yearbook of the Society for 18th Century Studies on South Eastern Europe: 142–153.
• Stefanović-Vilovsky, Theodor von (1908). Belgrad unter der Regierung Kaiser Karls VI: (1717-1739) mit Benützung Archivalischer und Anderer Quellen. Holzhausen.
• Schwicker, Johann Heinrich (1881). "Die Vereinigung der serbischen Metropolien von Belgrad und Carlowitz im Jahre 1731". Archiv für österreichische Geschichte. 62: 305–450.
• Točanac-Radović, Isidora (2018). "Belgrade - Seat of the Archbishopric and Metropolitanate (1718–1739)". Belgrade 1521-1867. Belgrade: The Institute of History. pp. 155–167. ISBN 978-86-7743-132-7.

External links

• Karl A. Roider, Jr. (1972): The Perils of Eighteenth-Century Peacemaking: Austria and the Treaty of Belgrade, 1739