Nationality Serbs who are they. People famous for their beauty

Epochs of development of the Serbian people

Name Serbs connects the representatives of the current Serbian people with one tribe as part of the Proto-Slavic community and with the era of the Great Migration, when part of this tribe moved far south, to the territory of the Roman Empire. The memory of this tribal migration remained in the names of some cities in modern Poland, as well as in the vast territory of modern Germany, where along the Elbe (Laba) and Sala rivers stretched limes Sorabicus and where until the XII century. there were political alliances of the Serbs (surbi, sorabi, zribia). On one of the small plots of the former territory of the Serbs, their distant descendants, the Lusatian Serbs, still live.

The extremely scarce data of that time do not give us an idea of ​​how the Slavic tribes differed from each other, as well as what the originality of the Serbs consisted of. Does anything else, besides the name, connect the representatives of groups so far removed from each other in time and space? This connection was once thought to be common origin: there was an idea that the people multiplied numerically, like a large family, and retained their originality thanks to their cultural heritage. In the era of romanticism, a new belief appeared, according to which every nation has a "folk spirit", which, in turn, finds expression in language, customs and folk art. However, for the Lusatian Serbs, who are descendants of the Serbs from the north, as well as for the Serbs from the Balkan Peninsula, a common "folk spirit" is hardly possible. According to linguists, "in the circle of Slavic language types Lusatian and Shtokavian dialects are the most distant from each other in their features” (Pavle Ivic). So, the linguistic data do not support the idea of ​​a possible genealogical connection between Serbs from the Balkans and Serbs from Laba; or else we must assume that in the centuries that have passed since the migrations, the language has changed fundamentally even in its most stable elements.

In any case, the great distances that separated the tribes at the end of the migrations interrupted and made impossible the ties and mutual influence of the northern and southern Slavs, despite the fact that the latter still remembered their northern origin for some time. But in contrast to the spatial and temporal disunity with ancestors from the north, the spatial and temporal continuity between the tribes of the Serbs who settled in the Balkans and the Serbian people who developed here in the following centuries is beyond doubt. Thus, it becomes clear that the natural starting point of the history of this people is their resettlement to the Balkan Peninsula in the 6th-7th centuries. AD

This later and humble beginnings the history of the Serbs, however, could not satisfy patriotic journalism. Since the middle of the XIX century. Authors began to appear who disputed the fact of resettlement and represented the Serbs as autochthonous inhabitants not only of the Balkan Peninsula, but also of a significant part of Europe and Asia Minor. For some of these authors, all Slavs were descendants of Serbs, dating back to the time of construction Tower of Babel. Such pseudo-historical literature has not disappeared even today; in the latest publications in this direction, an attempt was made to shift Serbian history into antiquity, where there is room for an unbridled fantasy game.

Undoubtedly, the Serbs brought their Slavic heritage to the Balkans: language, material culture, pagan religion and origin legends. The oldest material culture is very poorly known, since archaeological data are unsuitable for any conclusions: the settlements of the first Slavic settlers from the point of view of archeology cannot be distinguished from other settlements, they are not visible, unrecognizable. Religious ideas can be vaguely guessed from the names of pagan deities preserved in toponymy and in literary works later times. The names of deities and toponyms testify to the connection between the religion of the Serbs and the religion of the rest of the Slavs, but these data are not enough to talk about differences in the religious ideas of individual tribes. Despite the efforts of researchers, it is still impossible to reliably say who was the supreme god of the Serbian pagan pantheon.

Legends about the northern origin and migration are found not only among the Serbs, but also among their neighbors the Croats: both of them survived until the 10th century. and became famous due to the fact that they were recorded in the scientific work of the Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus (Porphyrogenet). The first centuries after the resettlement of the Serbs are in the full sense of the "dark ages", in which it is impossible to recognize a single element of the Serbian individuality, except for the names and legendary tales about the origin of the ruling clans - however, everything that is known about them, we know from the testimonies of other peoples.

The first epochal turning point in the history of the Serbs was Christianization (around 870), the adoption of the religion of Scripture, accompanied by the creation of special alphabets adapted to Slavic dialects (Glagolitic and Cyrillic). Thus, the foundation was laid for the development of culture and literature. In the literature, originally composed only of liturgical books, instructive Christian literature soon appeared, and then business documents and works of art. Thus, along with baptism and writing, the Serbs had the opportunity to preserve their historical memory and self-consciousness, and at the same time to survive as a people.

Together with pagan beliefs, the first Christian missionaries also supplanted tribal customs and traditions, eliminating differences between tribes rooted in paganism. But, on the other hand, with the spread of Christianity, new differences arose related to the activities of various missionary centers: these are differences in the language of worship, in the forms of writing (Cyrillic and Latin), which subsequently spread to spiritual culture in general and significantly affect the processes of differentiation and integration. ethnic groups in the Balkans.

Christianity influenced the changes in public organization, formed a different worldview, a different view of themselves and their place in the world. The new faith legitimized the ruling structures, which consisted of representatives of very ancient families, included them, together with their subjects, in the Christian Universe, which was personified by the Roman Empire, headed by the vicar of Christ on earth. Local rulers found themselves in the position of imperial governors, and, as the history of political relations shows, they were not always satisfied with such a position; among them there were also renegades who united with the enemies of the emperor.

For the Slavs who lived in the eastern and central parts of the Balkan Peninsula, the period from the 9th century. - the time of the adoption of Christianity, until the end of the XII century. was simultaneously a period of absolute hegemony of the Byzantine Empire. For three centuries, Byzantium continuously and strongly influenced the Bulgarians and Serbs, as a result of which they adopted many characteristic features from Byzantium. Byzantine influence continued into the next era.

From the time of the rapid fall of Byzantium (after 1180) and the formation of the Latin Empire in 1204, the era of independent development of the Balkan Slavs (XII-XV centuries) began, which became decisive for the formation of the individuality and identity of their peoples. The fall of Byzantium created the conditions for the development of strong states with vast expanses, and within these emerging states began processes - though not yet very active - of social integration. The rulers of the Bulgarians and Serbs - the first with the title of king, and the second with the title of king borrowed from the West - ruled "by the grace of God" their subjects, the faithful children of the Bulgarian and Serbian churches, each with its own leader and cathedral. Like Byzantine Empire, these states were both secular and religious communities, and their rulers were appointed by the will of God and directly responsible to God. Saints appeared in the Serbian dynasty of rulers, first of all, the founder of the dynasty, Stefan Nemanja (1166–1196), and then his son, the first Serbian archbishop Savva (1175–1236). The cults of Saints Stefan Nemanja and Sava of Serbia developed a special Serbian tradition within the framework of the common Christian tradition. These Serbian historical figures presented on icons and frescoes, in the church calendar and in liturgical texts. The emergence of the holy dynasty began to be considered the beginning of Serbian history proper, and all the events preceding it were supplanted and forgotten. Thus, the image of the Serbs by the time of the existence of the holy dynasty was supplemented and enriched: the Eastern Byzantine Christian tradition was layered on the foundation of the Slavic language and Slavic customs, and within the framework of this tradition, special features were formed that would become characteristic features the national identity of the Serbs and will be passed down from generation to generation for centuries.

New borders were also defined that separated Serbs not only from those who spoke a different language (Greeks, Hungarians, ancestors of Albanians - in Serbian manuscripts arbanas), but also from those who spoke a dialect understandable to the Serbs, but who had a Latin worship (Slavs in coastal cities and in neighboring territories under the jurisdiction of Catholic centers). In a later era, belonging to Catholicism or Orthodoxy will be a decisive factor in the demarcation of Serbs and Croats. With the emergence of an autocephalous Serbian archbishopric and the unification of the Church Slavonic language of the Serbian edition (edition), the differences in the Church Slavonic language heritage also became apparent: Serbian scribes and scribes complained about difficulties in translating books not only from Greek, but also from Bulgarian (the Church Slavonic language of the Bulgarian edition).

The longer political independence was maintained, the more peculiarly Serbia developed, the more stable society and more holistic culture. Beginning in the mid-14th century, when the Balkan Christian states faced Ottoman conquest, they drew closer, overcame the once-existing rivalry with Byzantium for hegemony in the region and in the religious sphere; within the framework of Byzantine Orthodoxy, Christian solidarity develops, which did not pose a threat to the identity of individual peoples.

The era of "Turkish slavery" (XV-XVIII centuries) interrupts the integration processes. Serbs like ethnic community undergo great changes, as the state and its institutions cease to exist, the complex social structure collapses, and the nobility loses the function of the ruling class. The only factor of continuity and identity remains the Serbian Orthodox Church, which operates in difficult conditions. The theocratically organized Ottoman power emphasized religious differences by introducing a system of unequal rights and obligations for its subjects, and this, in turn, led to the fact that belonging to the church became a decisive factor in ethnic self-determination. Those who left the society of Orthodox believers ceased to belong to the Serbian people and no longer shared its traditions, they had a different attitude towards the Ottoman Empire and its authorities, they gradually changed their way of life. Dependent peasants remain from the Serbian people (in old Serbian Raya) and much more free pastoralists. For both of them, self-identity is preserved in the home, family and the Orthodox Church, which keeps the memory of the rulers, the saints, the glorious past, and folk poetry, an essential element of folk culture, keeps memories of heroes and warriors.

AT early XVIII in. the era of modernization and Europeanization begins, which has not yet ended and which is open to the future. Many turning points are distinguished in it, of which two are the most important: 1804, when the struggle for the creation of a Serbian state began, which would unite the divided and scattered across different lands the Serbian nation, and 1848, when, along with the destruction of feudal privileges and the remnants of the estate system, the nation is consolidated on the basis of linguistic unity and equality, when the opposition of religious and secular views on the signs of Serbian identity begins. The era of modernization at first embraced only that part of the Serbian people who had freed themselves from Ottoman rule. At first, Europe is represented by the Habsburg monarchy and Russia, which itself then took the first steps along the path of modernization; later - the great powers, the "guarantors" of the security of Serbia, and finally, the entire developed world, which includes the Serbs.

(581 thousand people) [over the period that has elapsed after the collapse of the SFRY (1991), accompanied by tragic events in the life of the peoples of this country, the ratio of the number of Serbs in individual states that emerged in the post-Yugoslav space has changed], in neighboring European states- Germany, Romania, Austria, Hungary, as well as in the USA, Canada, Argentina, Australia.

Serbs speak the Serbian language of the Slavic group of the Indo-European family. In those regions where Serbs live together with other peoples, they are often bilingual. Writing based on Cyrillic. Most believers are Orthodox, a small part are Catholics and Protestants, there are Sunni Muslims.

The ethnic history of the Yugoslav peoples, including the Serbs, is associated with the mass migration of Slavic tribes to the Balkans in the 6th-7th centuries. The local population was mostly assimilated, partly pushed to the west and to the mountainous regions. Slavic tribes - the ancestors of the Serbs, Montenegrins and the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina (actually Serbs, Duklians, Tervunians, Konavlyans, Zahlumyans, Narechans) occupied a significant part of the territory in the basins of the southern tributaries of the Sava and Danube, the Dinaric Mountains, the southern part of the Adriatic coast. The center of the settlement of the ancestors of the Serbs was the region of Raska (the basins of the Drina, Lim, Piva, Tara, Ibar, Western Morava rivers), where an early state was formed in the second half of the 8th century.

In the middle of the 9th century, the Serbian principality was created. In the 10th-11th centuries, the center of political life shifted either to the southwest, to Duklja, Travuniya, Zahumia, or again to Raska. From the end of the 12th century, the Serbian state intensified its policy of conquest and in the 13th - first half of the 14th centuries. significantly expanded its borders, including at the expense of the Byzantine lands. This contributed to the strengthening of Byzantine influence on many aspects of the life of Serbian society, in particular on the system of social relations, art, etc. After the defeat at Kosovo Field in 1389, Serbia became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, and in 1459 was included in its composition. Ottoman domination, which lasted almost five centuries, held back the processes of consolidation of the Serbs.

During the period of Ottoman rule, the Serbs repeatedly moved both within the country (mainly to the mountainous regions) and abroad, especially to the north to Vojvodina - to Hungary. These movements contributed to a change in the ethnic composition of the population. The weakening of the Ottoman Empire and the intensified movement of the Serbs for liberation from foreign power, especially the First Serbian Uprising (1804-13) and the Second Serbian Uprising (1815), led to the creation of an autonomous (1833), and then independent (1878) Serbian state. The struggle for liberation from the Ottoman yoke and state unification was an important factor in the formation of the national identity of the Serbs. There were new major population movements in the liberated regions. In one of the central regions - Shumadia - the absolute majority were immigrants. This area became the center of consolidation of the Serbian people, the process began national revival. The development of the Serbian state and market relations, economic and cultural ties between individual regions led to some leveling in the culture of their population, the blurring of regional borders and the strengthening of a common national identity.

The historical destinies of the Serbs developed in such a way that for a long time they were separated politically, economically and culturally as part of different states (Serbia, the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary). It left an imprint on the culture and life different groups Serbian population (some specificity remains today). So, for the villages of Vojvodina, the development of which was carried out according to the plans approved by the authorities, a typical layout is in the form of a rectangle or square with wide streets, with a rectangular central square around which various public institutions are grouped. Separate elements of the culture of the Serbian population of this region were formed under the influence of the culture of the population of Vojvodina, with whom the Serbs lived in close contact.

The Serbs are aware of their national unity, although the division into regional groups (Shumadi, Uzhichan, Moravian, Macvan, Kosovo, Srem, Banachan, etc.) is preserved in the memory of the people. There are no sharply defined boundaries in the culture of certain local groups of Serbs.

The unification of the Serbs within the framework of a single state took place in 1918, when the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was created (later the name and partly the borders of this state changed). However, after the collapse of the SFRY, the Serbs again found themselves divided by the borders of the countries that emerged in the post-Yugoslav space.

In the past, the Serbs were mainly engaged in agriculture - agriculture (mainly cereals), horticulture (the cultivation of plums retains a special place), viticulture. An important role was played by cattle breeding, mainly of the distant-pasture type, and pig breeding. They were also engaged in fishing and hunting. Crafts have received significant development - pottery, wood and stone carving, weaving (including carpet weaving, mostly lint-free), embroidery, etc.

The Serbs were characterized by a scattered (mainly in the mountainous regions of the Dinaric massif) and crowded (eastern regions) type of settlement with a diverse form of planning (cumulus, ordinary, circular). In most settlements, quarters were distinguished, separated from each other by 1-2 km.

The traditional dwellings of the Serbs are wooden, log cabins (they were widespread in mid-nineteenth century in the regions abounding in forest), as well as stone (in karst areas) and frame (Moravian type). Houses were built on high foundations (the exception is the Moravian type), with four- or gable roofs. The oldest dwelling was single-chamber, but in the 19th century the two-chamber dwelling became predominant. Stone houses could have two floors; The first floor was used for business purposes, the second - for housing.

The folk clothes of the Serbs vary considerably by region (if there are common elements). The oldest elements of men's clothing are a tunic shirt and trousers. Outerwear- vests, jackets, long raincoats. Beautifully decorated belts were an obligatory accessory for a man's costume (they differed from women's in length, width, and ornament). Characteristic leather shoes such as moccasins - opanki. The basis of the women's traditional costume was a tunic-shaped shirt richly decorated with embroidery and lace. Women's costume included an apron, a belt, as well as various vests, jackets, dresses, sometimes oar. Folk clothes, especially women's clothes, were usually decorated with embroidery, woven ornaments, cord, coins, etc.

Traditional food also differed by regions and depended not only on the financial status of the family, but also on the direction of the economy. Everywhere they ate bread - sour or unleavened. significant place corn (bread was baked from it, porridge was cooked from it), beans, potatoes, cabbage (fresh and sauerkraut), pepper. Ate dairy products. Meat dishes (most of all, Serbs love pork) were eaten mainly in winter and on holidays.

For public life Serbs in the past are characterized by rural communities. Various forms of mutual assistance and joint work were widespread, for example, when grazing livestock. The Serbs had two types of family - simple (small, nuclear) and complex (large, zadruzhnaya). Back in the first half of the 19th century, the zadruga was widespread (up to 50 or more people). Zadrugs were characterized by collective ownership of land and property, collective consumption, virilocality, etc.

Among the calendar and family customs - family fame(a kind of collective name day of the whole family), the customs of twinning and sisterhood, the institution of nepotism.

In the oral folk art of the Serbs, a special place is occupied by epic genre(youth songs), which reflected the historical fate of the Serbian people, their struggle for freedom. Folk dances are characterized by a circular movement (kolo), close to a round dance.

The cardinal socio-economic transformations that took place in the life of the Serbs in the second half of the 20th century, the transition of a significant number of them from agriculture to industry, the service sector, and the growth of the intelligentsia lead to some leveling of culture. However, the Serbs, who have defended their independence and freedom in the centuries-old struggle, carefully treat historical and cultural monuments, folk architecture, traditional crafts, oral folk art. folk traditions are combined with innovations in the layout of dwellings, the cut and decoration of clothing, etc. Some elements of traditional culture (clothing, food, architecture, crafts) are sometimes revived artificially (including to attract tourists). The traditional folk art- decorative weaving, pottery, carving, etc.

Let's try to lift the curtain on a very complex and quivering topic about the relationship between several peoples inhabiting the Balkans and being neighbors of the Montenegrins. First of all, we will talk about Albanians and Croats, a little less about Serbs and Bosnians. There is less about the Serbs, primarily because of their more or less the same community as the Montenegrins, although some researchers even have their own well-founded opinion on this fact.

In the days of Broz Tito, there was such an anecdote- Question: When will communism come to Yugoslavia?
Answer: When Macedonian stop being sad when Serb call Croatian your brother when Slovenian will pay in a restaurant for his friend when Montenegrin starts working and when Bosnian all THIS IS will understand!

Serbs-Montenegrins and Croats

So, the Serbs and many Montenegrins do not like the Croats, and the Croats, respectively, pay them the same coin. Let's start with history and religion.

Catholics in Croatia account for 76.5% of the population, Orthodox - 11.1%, Muslims - 1.2%, Protestants - 0.4%. In Serbia, 62% are Orthodox, 16% are Muslims, 3% are Catholics. According to historical facts, in 1054, the Christian Church disintegrated into the Western Roman Catholic and Eastern Greek Catholic “great schism.” Without delving into the causes and subtleties of this process , it should be noted that in the Eastern Roman

empires spoke Greek, and in the West in Latin. Although even in the time of the apostles at the dawn of the spread of Christianity, when the Roman Empire was united, Greek and Latin were understood almost everywhere, and many could speak both languages. By 450, however, very few in Western Europe could read Greek, and after 600, few in Byzantium spoke Latin, the language of the Romans, although the empire continued to be called Roman or Romaic.
If the Greeks wanted to read books Latin authors, and the Latins are the writings of the Greeks, they could do this only in translation.

And this meant that the Greek East and the Latin West drew information from different sources and read different books, as a result, more and more moving away from each other in different directions. The final division between East and West came with the beginning of the Crusades, which brought with them the spirit of hatred and malice, as well as after the capture and devastation of Constantinople by the Crusaders during the IV Crusade in 1204. On April 12, the crusaders of the Fourth Crusade, on their way to Jerusalem, committed, in the words of Sir Stephen Runciman, "the greatest crime in history", sacking Constantinople. Setting fire, looting and raping in the name of Christ, the crusaders destroyed the city and took the loot to Venice, Paris, Turin and other western cities. “Since the creation of the world, no one has seen or conquered such treasures,” exclaimed the crusader Robert de Clary.

Agree that this fact was reflected in the different mentality of these two peoples, although they speak almost the same Serbo-Croatian language.

According to historian Dr.

Each ethnic group its own haplotype, each subgroup and each family also has its own haplotype. Slavic facial features, Russian language, hair color, religion are secondary features, they are relatively recent and could have been smeared over hundreds and thousands of years of mixing genes. Unlike secondary traits, the haplotype is indestructible; it does not change for tens of thousands of years, with the exception of natural mutations. But these mutations have nothing to do with genes. Mutations in genes do not lead to anything good (miscarriage, illness, early death).

Haplotype mutations are marks, notches that show how far a descendant has gone from a common ancestor. Such natural mutations occur every few thousand years. A haplotype is a genus label. It should also be noted that each man in the Y chromosome of DNA has certain sections that are always identical in father with son, with grandson, and further down through the offspring. Let's take a look at this table next. Here are the results genetic research Balkan and nearby living peoples (Hungarians). We see the presence of various genetic lines among the Slavs.
R1a is the so-called "Aryan" gene, and I2 is the "Dinaric" gene - (gene I2a) is mysterious in that it was associated with the Illyrians. Obviously, the Slavs in genetic terms make sense only as a combination of three lines - two "Aryan" and one "Dinaric". And Serbs with Croats at the genetic level are very close and have much more differences with Russians and Ukrainians than between themselves.

Let's move on to the typical representatives of the Serbs visually (clickable to enlarge)

Montenegrins

Ante Starevich was a supporter of the unity of the southern Slavs, however, he believed that the single name of a single people should be the word "Croat", and not the "non-folk" word "Serb" these are just those places in the north and west of the Balkans. In addition to purely religious differences and their prerequisites described above, there were also social problems between these peoples. Croatian feudal lords, landowners, who once received letters of ownership from their rulers, considered as their own those territories in which free Serbian farmers settled. At first, the conflicts that arose on this basis were not of an interethnic nature. But when Ante Starevich, the ideologist of Croatian independence, appeared on the Croatian political scene in the second half of the 19th century, he considered the Serbs not only second-class people, but also called them slaves. Modern Serbian scholars consider this period the beginning of a genocidal ideology, progressing up to the present day. Thus, elements of aggressiveness towards the Serbs were embedded in the self-consciousness of the Croats. Well, during the Second World War and the famous historical fact about the accession of most of the Croats to the Wehrmacht troops and the most brutal movement of the Croatian Ustashe, differences and mutual enmity intensified even more. The more than 60-decade stay of the Serbs and Croats in the united Yugoslavia and the events of 1991, which claimed about 30 thousand people on the territory of Croatia, did not help either. human lives and about 500 thousand refugees and displaced persons, a clear confirmation of this. As a result, it is possible with more or less high probability to say that despite the common genetics and common language (the main difference is in spelling, since Croatian has Latin) and even similar external signs, among the Serbs-Montenegrins and Croats, on this moment, there is little chance of making friends within the framework of a single Europe or even the Schengen zone in the near future.

Single urn burials according to the cremation rite were found in the lower reaches of the Drin (Dvorovi and Zelinje) and on the Danube north of the mouth of the Sava (Novi Slankamen and Chelarevo). In the lower and middle reaches of the Drin (Sase and Yazbina near Boskovic) and in the lower reaches of the Timok (Kula near Mihailovets, Dunav near Slashchina, Lyubichevats and Velesnitsa), settlements with stucco Slavic ceramics were discovered. In Velesnitsa, Prahovo, Petrov Selo and Novi Banovtsi, finger-shaped brooches were found indicating the Antian origin of the Slavic population who settled in the Serbian Danube region. It must be assumed that this region was the area of ​​the initial settlement of the Balkan Serbs (Fig. 102).

The Serbs who settled in the Balkans, like the Sorbs on the Elbe, were parts of the Proto-Slavic tribe that lived in Roman times somewhere in the Antian region of the Northern Black Sea region. The Iranian or Indo-Aryan origin of the ethnonym Serbs seems undeniable. L. Niederle, in this regard, suggested that the Serbs are a group of Slavs who settled in the 6th century. on the middle Danube and got its name from the local Sarmatians, who were Slavicized. More likely is the idea of ​​the appearance in the Slavic world of the ethnonym Serbs in the Antian region of the Northern Black Sea region in the conditions of the Slavic-Iranian symbiosis.

The origins of this ethnonym go back to the ancient Serbs mentioned in the works of Ptolemy and Pliny and localized in the North Caucasus. Obviously, it was some kind of non-Slavic tribe, Iranian-speaking or, as O.N. Trubachev believes, Indo-Aryan. This researcher etymologically connects the ethnonym with the ancient Indian siras 'head' and supposes the migration of this Indo-Aryan tribe (after the 2nd century AD) from the North Caucasus through the Crimean peninsula, where its stay is recorded by toponymy, to the borders of Slavism in the Northern Black Sea region with its subsequent assimilation . The most likely area for the entry of non-Slavic Serbs into the Slavic world, according to O.N. Trubachev, was the Southern Bug.

The impetus for the migration of Serbs from the Northern Black Sea region to the west was the Avar invasion. In all likelihood, they were included in the powerful migration flows that headed to the Middle Danubian lands. The appearance of Serbs in the Serbian Danube, it must be assumed, is directly related to the first Avar migration wave. Apparently, very soon from the Danube, the Serbs settled in the southern and south-western directions, having mastered the western Balkan regions of central Serbia (Rashki), Vojvodina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, up to the coast of the Adriatic Sea.

There are very few known archeological monuments in this territory immediately preceding the Serbian colonization. One of these is the Mihalevici burial ground in Bosnia, in which, as a result of excavations, corpses of the end of the 5th-6th centuries were discovered. The necropolis belongs to the local Romanized population with the remains of the Ostrogoths. Obviously, the former Romanized population of these lands suffered greatly from the Avar raids and robberies and survived only in small islands.

In the work of Constantine Porphyrogenitus "On the management of the empire" there is a story about the origin of the Serbs of the Balkan Peninsula. At the heart of it, as G. A. Ostrogorsky showed, is information from the “Chronicle of Serbian Rulers” that has not come down to us, compiled between 927/8 and 944.

Konstantin Porphyrogenitus writes that “the Serbs are descended from unbaptized Serbs, also called “whites” and living on the other side of Turkia in the area called Voiki. Frangia borders them, as well as Greater Croatia, unbaptized, also called "White". That is where these Serbs live from the very beginning. But when two brothers received power over Serbia from their father, one of them, taking half of the people, asked for asylum from Heraclius, the basil of the Romans. It is further told that the Byzantine emperor Heraclius (610-641) settled the Serbs in the "theme of Thessalonica", but soon they decided to return to their former places of residence. However, when crossing the Danube, the Serbs changed their intention and again asked to be settled on the lands of the Empire. “Since the current Serbia, Pagania, the so-called country of zahlums, Tervunia and the country of the Canalites were under the rule of the Vasileus of the Romans, and these countries turned out to be deserted because of the Avars (after all, they expelled the Romans living in present-day Dalmatia and Dyrrarchia from there), then Vasileus settled designated Serbs in these countries.”

From the text of Constantine Porphyrogenitus it also follows that earlier the Balkan Serbs lived in the neighborhood of the Frankish state (Frangia) and Greater Croatia. However, it is not possible to localize this region reliably. Moreover, in the next chapter of the work “On the Management of the Empire” it is reported that the Serbs were also zakhlums who arrived “... from unbaptized settlers on the Vistula River (they are called little faces) and settled on the river called Zakhluma.” This information of Constantine Porphyrogenitus served as the basis for a number of hypothetical constructions.

Archaeological materials do not allow us to agree with any of the guesses made in the historical literature. Apparently, one can join L. Niederl, who argued that there is no evidence of the existence of Great Serbia and, most likely, "Konstantin created northern Great Serbia only as a folii to the tradition of Great Croatia."

Based on the passage quoted above from the work of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, the development of the western lands of the Balkan Peninsula by the Serbs should be dated to the second - third decades of the 7th century. It is very likely that the Byzantine administration, which was interested in protecting its territories from encroachments by the Avar Khaganate, took part in this process.

Paul the Deacon reports on a major campaign of the Slavs of the Adriatic in 662 against the Lombards of Southern Italy. On the "many ships" the Slavs crossed the Adriatic Sea and reached the city of Siponta. In this regard, historians believe that in the second third of the 7th century. in the coastal part of the Serbian area, a large Serbian tribal formation arose. Obviously, it had a pro-Byzantine orientation and the military operation of 662 was organized by Byzantium. According to Constantine Porphyrogenitus, the Serbs adopted Christianity already under Emperor Heraclius.

The antiquities of the period of the initial development of the Balkans by the Serbian tribes are very difficult to capture by archaeological methods.

Of undoubted interest in this regard is the recent work of D. Yankovic, which contains data on specific funerary monuments called "thugs". These are burial grounds, consisting of a small number of low kurgan-shaped mounds built of soil with numerous stones. When excavating a number of such mounds, it is usually not possible to find the remains of burials; among the stones of individual "thugs" there are scattered animal bones and fragments of ceramics. Only in a few "thugs" weak traces of the remains of burials were recorded. During excavations in some burial grounds, individual items were found, which, along with ceramic finds, make it possible to date the monuments as a whole to the second half of the 1st millennium AD. e. D. Yankovic believes that the “thugs” were ethnographically Serbian funerary monuments, and based on their distribution, he outlines the territory where the Serbs lived in the 9th century.

In the VIII-IX centuries. throughout the territory of the settlement of the Serbian ethnos, a rather homogeneous culture is developing, known mainly from funerary monuments. These are soil necropolises, usually consisting of many dozens, and sometimes hundreds of graves with burials according to the rite of burial with a latitudinal orientation. It is assumed that the dominance of inhumation in Serbia was due to the impact Christian religion. This is true, but at the same time, it should be borne in mind that the ritual of cadaverization was introduced by the Serbian tribes from their former places of residence in the Antes environment. Early medieval Serbian cemeteries functioned for a long time, some - until the XIV-XV centuries. inclusive. On some of them there were churches, but the burials contain material finds, reflecting the pagan heritage.

These Serbian cemeteries are reviewed in two works by G. Marjanovic-Vujevic. There are also publications of individual monuments studied by excavations.

The earliest cemeteries with burials of the 8th–9th centuries. found mainly in the Danube region. So, in the necropolis near the village. Grabovica in the Pozaimishte area, 26 burials were excavated, including those with vine-shaped earrings. A ruined cemetery, from which objects of the 8th-12th centuries come, was recorded in Brestovik in the Belgrade region.

A more numerous group is made up of necropolises founded in the 9th–10th centuries. They are already known throughout the territory of the settlement of Serbian tribes. The funeral rite in these monuments is monotonous - the dead were buried in rectangular pits with somewhat rounded corners, on their backs, with their heads to the west (with seasonal deviations). Often the buried were furnished with large stone slabs. In some cemeteries, stone sarcophagi with gable ceilings were also discovered, clearly reflecting the Late Antique heritage. In the funeral ritual of the Serbian necropolises, some features dating back to Slavic paganism are also noted. A detailed description of the rituals of the Serbs based on the materials of the burial grounds of the 10th-12th centuries. given in a special work by G. Maryanovich-Vuevich.

In the burials of the considered necropolises, big number various finds. A variety of decorations are common in female burials (Fig. 104). For IX-X centuries. very characteristic are bronze and silver earrings with four biconical or berry-shaped thickenings, of which two are on a wire rod, and the other two protrude beyond it; grape-like granulated and crescent-shaped earrings with pendants; rings of the simplest types and neck necklaces made of multicolored paste beads.

Rice. 104. Earrings from Serb monuments.

1 - Branichevo;

2, 3, 7 - Trnjan;

4 - Machvanska Mitrovica;

5, 6 - Vinca.

Most of the decorations of the XI-XII centuries. belong to the products of mass handicraft production. At that time, small-diameter wire temporal rings became widespread. Most of them have closed ends. Wire single-bead earrings are also widely used. The beads are more often biconical, less often berry-shaped. They are usually ornamented with granulation or pseudo-grain. Neck necklaces consisted of a variety of beads, sometimes supplemented with pendants - bells or crosses. In some burials, bracelets made of non-ferrous metals were also found - lamellar or twisted from three to four wires. Quite frequent finds are bronze rings - wire, plate and printed. In many male graves, no items were found; in others, iron knives, armchairs, bronze and iron buckles were found. Both male and female burials were sometimes accompanied by earthenware vessels.

The jewelry craft of the Serbs developed on the basis of the Late Antique heritage under the influence of Byzantine craftsmen. Byzantine influence was also reflected in other elements of early medieval Serbian culture, including ceramic production.

Serb settlements in the 7th-11th centuries. there were mainly open settlements with ground (occasionally with a floor lowered into the ground) buildings of log and frame-pillar technology. Serbs often settled in the surviving or destroyed settlements of the local Romanized population, while they used the old buildings. The heritage of ancient and Byzantine times were cities and fortresses, which were gradually replenished by the Slavic population. Such ancient cities as Sremska Mitrovica, Belgrade, Gamzigrad and others, by the last centuries of the 1st millennium AD. e. became Slavic. According to the research of P. Mijovic, in the Duklja region, the first stage of the Slavic development of these lands did not leave any traces in the urban culture. Only from the ninth century in the cities, a Slavic ethnic component appears, which eventually becomes dominant. The formation of Belgrade as a Slavic city is determined by the 9th-10th centuries. Cultural layers of the 9th century. recorded in the "Upper Town", where at that time there was already a wooden fortress. In the X century. there is an urban settlement in the "Lower City". On the eve of the emergence of the city in the district, there is a concentration of settlements of the 7th-10th centuries.

The part of the Proto-Slavic tribe of Serbs that settled in the Balkans, obviously, was united. No ancient tribal formations are found in its composition. Known from written records of the 10th century. units within the Balkan Serbs were territorial neoplasms. Such are the Duklians - the inhabitants of Dukla, the Zakhlumlians - the inhabitants of Zachlumye, the Travunians - the inhabitants of Travunia, the Moravans, the Timochans, named after the rivers on which they settled. In the area of ​​the Serbs there was also Pagania, that is, the land of the pagans, so named because its settlers "did not accept baptism at the time when all the Serbs were baptized." The completion of the Christianization of the Serbs dates back to the reign of Emperor Basil I (867–886), who, according to Constantine Porphyrogenitus, converted the Serbs to Christianity and appointed princes to them. In Pagania, among the peasantry, paganism dominated as early as the 10th century.

In the "Frankish Annals" in information about the events of the beginning of the 9th century. Serbs figure as a special nationality that occupied a significant part of Dalmatia (in the ancient sense - from the Adriatic coast to the Sava River). Serbs by this time, it must be assumed, assimilated the remnants of the local Romanized population and included in their composition small Slavic groups of non-Serb origin, if there were any on their territory.

In the IX-X centuries. in the Serbian lands there were five - six early feudal principalities subject to Byzantium. Only in 1034-1042. an independent Serbian state was formed, which ended its dependence on Byzantium. The final stage of the formation of the Serbian nationality dates back to the time of the Nemanjichi.

Linguistically, Serbs and Croats form a unity. They use a common Serbo-Croatian language. The differences between the Serbian and Croatian variants of this language are of secondary importance, the Serbs use the Cyrillic alphabet, and the Croats use the Latin script. On the territory of the Serbo-Croatian language, three dialect areas are now distinguished. The Shtokavian dialect, which occupies all areas of settlement of Serbs and Montenegrins, as well as significant adjacent lands of Croats, has received the greatest distribution. The Kajkavian dialect is localized in the northwestern part of the Croatian territory, including the Zagreb region. Chakavian dialects are concentrated in the western regions of Croatia, in Istria, on the coast and islands of the Adriatic. The linguistic community of the Serbs and Croats and their dialectal indivisibility give reason to believe that in the Proto-Slavic period their ancestors were closely related tribal formations in the Antian territory of the Northern Black Sea region.

The history of Serbia is the history of the struggle for freedom and independence. During its history, Belgrade was conquered by 40 armies and rebuilt 38 times. The Serbs have never hoped for anyone except Russia. No wonder they say that Russians and Serbs are brothers forever.

Why "Serbs"?

There is still no unequivocal opinion on the origin of the ethnonym "Serbs", but there are many versions. Slavist Pavel Shafarik raised the word "Serbs" to the Proto-Slavic forms *srb and * srb, which, in turn, came from the Indo-European word with the meaning "sow, give birth, produce."

Max Vasmer interpreted the word "Serbs" as "belonging to the same genus, the same tribe." A similar meaning was also supported by philologists Ilyinsky and Kovalev. In their opinion, "Serb" is "a person, a member of a tribal union."

Also interesting, but unproven, is the version of the Slavist Moshchinsky, who connected the origin of the word "Serb" with the Indo-European root *ser-v-, which means "guard, protect livestock".

In 1985, the researcher Shuster-Shevts suggested that the word "Serbs" is related to the Russian dialectal verb "Serbat" (slurp). This version is interesting, because in all Slavic languages ​​there are words with the root stem "s-r", the meaning of which is "to separate, highlight, squeeze out."

This root stem is a metathesis of the Indo-European *res>*ser, which means "cut, cut, separate". In the Old Slavic language, the predominant meaning of the root stem *ser became "separate, highlight, squeeze out." This meaning is preserved, for example, in the Russian glavgol "scoop", which comes from the same verb "Serbat". The word "sulphur" is of the same origin. This is nothing more than the resinous secretions of a tree.

Thus, we can say that the word "Serbs" most likely means "separated, separated on some basis." If we take into account that the Wends were considered the ancestors of the Slavs in European historiography, then, most likely, the Serbs were named that way during the separation, separation from the Wends.

There is also a version that those who dislike Serbs adhere to. Harvatian nationalists, following Ante Starcevic, believe that the ethnonym "Serbs" comes from the Latin word servus - slave. Within the framework of this version, it is believed that the Croats are the heirs of the Germans who switched to Slavic in order to better deal with Serbian slaves. As they say, comments are superfluous.

Fight for freedom

Serbs were first mentioned by Herodotus and Ptolemy as early as the 2nd century AD, while Serbia as a territorial entity dates back to the 6th century, in the 8th century Serbian proto-state formations already arose. In the XIII century, the Nemanjić dynasty came to power in the Serbian state, at the same time the country was freed from the power of Byzantium.

Serbia reached great heights and developed into a large state, which began to occupy almost the entire south-west of the Balkan Peninsula. The Serbian state reached its greatest dawn during the reign of Stefan Dusan (1331-1355), but after the death of the monarch, the history of Serbia changed dramatically. The Ottoman Empire in the middle of the 14th century was rapidly conquering territories. The Serbian prince Lazar Khrebelyanovich sought to unite the Serbian lands in order to more successfully resist Turkish aggression, but he did not have enough time for this.

In 1382, Murad took the fortress of Tsatelitsa. The Serbs did not have the strength to resist the powerful Osana army, and Lazar made a difficult decision to conclude a truce on onerous terms. Under the terms of the agreement, he undertook to give the Sultan 1000 of his soldiers in case of war.
This state of affairs did not suit either side: the Turks sought to develop expansion, and the Serbs were unhappy with the dubious terms of the truce.

The military aggression of the Turks continued, and in 1386 Murad I took the city of Nis, after which the Serbs announced the beginning of a popular uprising. On June 15, 1389, the powerful army of the Ottoman Empire defeated the army of Serbian princes in the Battle of Kosovo. This led to Serbia's recognition of the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. Serbia was finally conquered by the Turks in 1459.

Since that time, Serbia has been under the rule of the Ottoman Empire for almost 400 years. However, throughout the Ottoman rule in Serbia, the liberation movement did not stop. Every now and then, uprisings broke out, which were supervised by the Patriarchate of Pec, who managed to establish ties with Spain, Hungary and Spain. The greatest success was achieved by the uprisings in the 19th century (the first and second Serbian uprisings). However, it was not until 1878 that Serbia gained its long-awaited independence.

Brothers forever

The Serbs themselves admit that nowhere do they like Russians as much as in Serbia. The history of relations between our peoples has deep roots and begins at least from the time of the baptism of Russia. Until now, it is Orthodoxy that is one of the "spiritual bonds" connecting Russians and Serbs.

During the Mongol-Tatar yoke, the Serbs supported the monastery of St. Panteleimon on Athos, since the time of Ivan III, Serbian monasteries have been actively supported. In 1550, Ivan the Terrible, after communicating with the Serbian hierarchs, sent a letter Turkish sultan Suleiman II, urging him to honor the shrines of Hilandar and other Serbian monasteries.

Six years later, the Russian tsar even gave the monks of the Hilandar Monastery a room for a monastery compound in the center of Moscow, which immediately became a Serbian diplomatic center, where funds were collected for sending to Serbia. During the years of Boris Godunov's rule, Serbian migrants were already receiving serious support from Russia.

Russian-Serbian relations received special development under Peter the Great. During the reign of the emperor, Serbs were accepted into the Russian army, close ties were established in cultural environment. Separately, it must be said about Savva Vladislavlich-Raguzinsky, a Russian diplomat of Serbian origin. It was he who signed the Treaty of Kyakhta, served as the Russian ambassador to Constantinople and Rome, and also translated the book by Mavro Orbini "The Slavic Kingdom".

In 1723, Peter the Great allowed Ivan Albanez, a Montenegrin by birth, to create a settlement near the city of Sumy, where more than a hundred Serbian families moved. From here, two Serbian territorial entities that existed in Russian Empire- Slavic Serbia and New Serbia.

Ice Golgotha

To the first world war(which actually began in Serbia) Nicholas II sided with the fraternal state. Not being able to help the Serbian army with Russian troops, Russian emperor organized the delivery of ammunition, military equipment and provisions to Serbia. Several sanitary detachments were also sent to Serbia. At the very beginning of the war, the Serbian army was able to withstand several frontal offensives of the Austrian army, and twice cleared its territory of the invaders.

However, in October 1915, Bulgaria stabbed the Serbs in the back. Serbia found itself in a difficult situation. Belgrade fell on October 9, the very next day the Bulgarians joined the Austrians in Nis.

Winter battles with superior enemy forces did not bode well, so in order to avoid capture, the Serbian military decided to retreat the 300,000th army south to the Adriatic Sea. However, in order to get there, the Serbs had to go through the Albanian mountains. Together with soldiers and ordinary people, who were forced to leave their lands so as not to fall under the draft (recruits were sent to the Galician front, where they had to fight the Russians), the elderly Serbian king Petar also went to the mountains.

This retreat of the Serbs went down in history under the name of "icy Golgotha". One in three died. Later, the Serbs began to say: "They ask us why we call children non-Christmas names? Every third boy froze on Ice Golgotha, so since then we have all the names of saints."

Chetniks

The Serbs are characterized by a high degree of people's self-organization, especially on the basis of the national liberation movement. Such a phenomenon in the history of Serbia as "Chetnism" deserves special mention.

Its creation can be attributed to 1903, when the so-called Serbian Committee was established in Belgrade, which, in addition to external activities, was engaged in the creation of armed Chetnik formations for the further fight against the Turkish authorities in the Balkans.

Detachments were convened as needed and took part in both the Balkan and the First World Wars. In the interwar period, after Serbia gained independence, Chetnism "educated" the youth - it was a veteran organization that carried out ideological propaganda, and also supported the invalids of military operations and the families of the dead.

The negative connotation of the term "Chetnik" has its roots in the events of the Second World War. On the territory of Yugoslavia, it developed into an internal armed confrontation. Part of the Yugoslav army, led by Colonel Dragoljub Mikhailovich (a veteran of the Balkan and World War I), refused to recognize the surrender of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Mihailović himself did not rely directly on previous Chetnik organizations, considering himself still an integral part of the Army of the Kingdom, and called the forces under his control the Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland. The people have already called them Chetniks. The nationalist monarchists initially tried to fight the Axis together with the partisans of Joseph Broz-Tito, but after a few months, the alliance between the nationalists and the communists fell apart.

Separate Chetnik groups began to openly cooperate with the occupying authorities against the Red partisans. Mikhailovich to the last maneuvered between the rejection of the communist ideology (despite the respectful attitude towards the armed forces of the Soviet Union), and unwillingness to cooperate with the occupation authorities.

In the end, who was already in the rank of General Mikhailovich, was removed by the émigré government from all commanding posts. Despite this, he continued the armed struggle until March 1946, when his detachment was defeated by the forces of Broz-Tito after the occupation of Yugoslavia by the Red Army. Dragoljub Mihailović was executed on July 15, 1946 after a trial that did not take into account the testimony of American Air Force pilots rescued by the Chetniks (there were about 500 people in total).

Birthplace of the Roman emperors

Serbia is the birthplace of many Roman emperors. The city of Sremska Mitrovica, in ancient times was called Sirmium and was part of the Roman Empire. This city is considered the birthplace of sixteen Roman emperors. Serbia was also the birthplace of Constantine the Great.

In Serbia, olivier is called Russian salad, sweet kvass is called Russian kvass, but for some reason black is called Russian sweet bread, which can be with marmalade.

Serbia is a real "raspberry country". A third of the world's raspberries are grown here.