History.—Serbia was anciently inhabi ted by Thracian tribes; subsequently it formed part of the Roman province of Mcesia. It was afterward occupied in succession by Huns, Ostrogoths, Lom bards, Avares, and other tribes. The Serbians entered it in the 7th century, and were converted to Christianity in the next century. They acknowledged the supremacy of the Byzantine emperors, but latterly made themselves independent, and under Stephen Dushan (1331-1355) the kingdom of Serbia included all Mace donia, Albania, Thessaly, northern Greece, and Bulgaria. About 1374 a new dynasty ascended the throne in the person of Lazar I., who was captured by the Turks at the battle of Kossovo (in Albania) in 1389, and put to death. Serbia now became tributary to Turkey. About the middle of the 15th century it became a Turkish province, and so remained for nearly 200 years. By the peace of Pas sarowitz in 1718 Austria received the greater part of Serbia, with the capital, Belgrade. But by the peace of Belgrade in 1739 this territory was transferred to Turkey. The barbarity of the Turks led to several insurrections. Early in the 19th century Czerny George placed him self at the head of the malcontents, and, aided by Russia, succeeded after eight years of fighting in securing the inde pendence of his country by the peace of Bucharest, May 28, 1812. The war was renewed in 1813, and the Turks pre vailed. In 1815 all Serbia rose in arms under Milosh, and after a successful war obtained complete self-government, 2,Ii losh being elected hereditary prince of the land. Milosh was compelled to abdi cate in 1839, and was nominally succeeded by his son Milan, who died immediately, leaving the throne vacant to his brother Michael. In 1842 this prince was com pelled to follow the example of his father and quit the country. Alexander Kara Georgevitch, son of Czerny George, was elected in his room; but in December, 1858, he also was forced to abdicate. Milosh was then recalled, but survived his restoration little more than a year. His son Michael succeeded him (1860), but was assassinated by the partisans of Prince Alexander July 10, 1868. The princely dignity was then conferred on Milan (Obrenovitch), grand-nephew of Milosh. After the fall of Plevna in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 Serbia took up arms against Turkey, and ob tained full recognition of its independence. It was erected into a kingdom in 1882. In 1889 Milan abdicated in favor of his son Prince Alexander, born Aug. 14, 1876, who became the ruler of the country as Alexander I.
Alexander married Countess Draga, who was unpopular with the people. On June 11, 1903, soldiers forced their way into the palace and bayoneted King Alex ander, Queen Draga, and her two brothers. Prince Peter Karageorgevitch was then proclaimed King of Serbia, under the name Peter I. Following the accession
of King Peter, the idea of a Greater Ser bia, which had long been cherished by the Serbian people, became intensified. The hostile feeling toward Austria-Hun gary was increased by the tariff policy adopted by the dual monarchy. Bitter ness of feeling increased by Austria's annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908. The Serbian Government retaliated by passing restrictive tariff measures and encouraged war-like preparations. Through the offices of Russia, however, the tension was relieved. In 1912 Serbia entered the Balkan alliance with Bulgaria, Greece and Montenegro and helped to precipitate the Balkan War (q. v.) of 1912 and 1913. As a result of the vic tory over Turkey in this war, Serbia nearly doubled her territory and increased her population by more than one-half. These gains were chiefly at the expense of Bulgaria and the dissatisfaction of that country led to the second Balkan War. Bitterness toward Austria was re vived by the action of the latter in com pelling the Serbs to surrender Durazzo and other territory to the newly created principality of Albania. This hatred of Austria came to a crisis when the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Hapsburg throne, was assassinated on June 28, 1914, at Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, by a Serbian patriot. This act was the direct cause of the World War.
The first military operation in the war was the attempted invasion by Austria undertaken in the last days of July, 1914. This ended in disaster to the Austrian forces, as did a second attempt at in vasion undertaken in September. The Serbian troops fought with great heroism and forced back the Austrians with great losses. The final invasion of Serbia was accomplished only by the combined force of Austrian, German, and Bulgarian troops and this was not undertaken until September, 1915. The Serbian Army was overwhelmed and was compelled to re treat, although it fought with the greatest bravery as long as there was a possibility of resistance. The army escaped, al though with great losses, and Serbia was overrun by hostile armies. Over 700,000 civilians fled before the advancing armies of the enemy, and of these a large por tion died during their flight. The Ser bians reached Avlona or Durazzo and were taken to the island of Corfu, where after reorganization, they again took their place in the battle line and ren dered most brilliant and effective service. For more detailed account of Serbia in the war, see WORLD WAR. The active command of the Serbian Army was in the hands of the Prince Regent. For the history of Serbia following the forma tion of the Jugoslavian State, see JUGO SLAVIA.