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154-579: The RAM (lit. "frame") Plan was developed over the course of 1990. It was finalized in Belgrade , Serbia during a military strategy meeting in August 1991 by a group of Serb officers of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), including General Blagoje Adžić , General Major Milan Gvero , Major Čedo Knežević , Lieutenant Colonel Radenko Radinović , and General Aleksandar Vasiljević , and experts from

308-557: A Territorial Defense system . On paper, the JNA seemed a powerful force, with 2,000 tanks and 300 jet aircraft (mainly Soviet or locally produced). However, by 1991, the majority of this equipment was 30 years old, as the force consisted primarily of T-54/55 tanks and MiG-21 aircraft. Still, the JNA operated around 300 M-84 tanks (a Yugoslav version of the Soviet T-72 ) and a sizable fleet of ground-attack aircraft , such as

462-526: A Yugoslav Partisan in World War II , was loyal to Yugoslavia and not a Greater Serbia; Kadijević believed that if Slovenia left Yugoslavia the state would collapse and thus he discussed with Jović about possibly using the JNA to impose martial law in Slovenia to prevent this potential collapse and was willing to wage war with the secessionist republics to prevent their secession. Kadijević considered

616-561: A greater Serbia . That RAM was to follow the lines of Virovitica, Karlovac, Karlobag , which we saw confirmed in reality later on with the decision on the withdrawal of the JNA, the Yugoslav People’s Army, from Slovenia and partly from Croatia to those positions." Jerko Doko , former Bosnian Minister of Defense in his testimony before the Hague The plan's purpose was organizing Serbs outside Serbia, consolidating control of

770-490: A fatally strategic position, the city has been battled over in 115 wars and razed 44 times, being bombed five times and besieged many times. Being Serbia's primate city , Belgrade has special administrative status within Serbia. It is the seat of the central government, administrative bodies, and government ministries, as well as home to almost all of the largest Serbian companies, media, and scientific institutions. Belgrade

924-519: A great number of desertions, and the army responded by mobilizing Serbian reserve troops. Approximately 100,000 evaded the draft , and the new conscripts proved an ineffective fighting force. The JNA resorted to reliance on irregular militias . Paramilitary units like the White Eagles , Serbian Guard , Dušan Silni, and Serb Volunteer Guard , which committed a number of massacres against Croat and other non-Serbs civilians, were increasingly used by

1078-517: A new " Ustashe state". In one instance, TV Belgrade showed Tuđman shaking hands with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl (who would be the first government leader in the world to recognise independent Croatia and Slovenia) accusing the two of plotting "a Fourth Reich". Aside from the firing of many Serbs from public sector positions, another concern among Serbs living in Croatia was the HDZ's public display of

1232-506: A number of " Serbian Autonomous Oblasts " with the intent of later unifying them to create a Greater Serbia. In 1990, the Bosnian Territorial Defence was disarmed, artillery was positioned to encircle major cities, and a number of arms factories were moved from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Serbia. As early as September or October 1990, the JNA had begun arming Bosnian Serbs and organizing them into militias. By March 1991,

1386-542: A number of them had been founded, including the Croatian Democratic Union ( Croatian : Hrvatska demokratska zajednica ) (HDZ), led by Franjo Tuđman , who later became the first president of Croatia . Tuđman ran on a nationalist platform with a program of "national reconciliation" between Croatian communists and former Ustašes (fascists) being a key component of his party's political program. Accordingly, he also integrated former Ustaše members into

1540-575: A rebellion. From the beginning of the Log Revolution and the end of April 1991, nearly 200 incidents involving the use of explosive devices and 89 attacks on the Croatian police were recorded. The Croatian Ministry of the Interior started arming an increasing number of special police forces, and this led to the building of a real army. On 9 April 1991, Croatian President Tuđman ordered

1694-587: A secret arms deal with conservative Soviet Union military leaders during their March 1991 visit to Moscow . Marković pressed Kadijević to comment on the RAM plan. The transcript of the tape leaked said: Milošević: Go to Uzelac, he'll tell you everything. If you have any problems, telephone me. Karadžić: I've got problems down in Kupres. Some Serbs there are rather disobedient. Milošević: We can deal with that. Just call Uzelac. Don't worry, you'll have everything. We are

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1848-470: A significant influence on Belgrade. He conceptualised a regulation plan for the city in 1867, in which he proposed the replacement of the town's crooked streets with a grid plan . Of great importance also was the construction of independent Serbian political and cultural institutions, as well as the city's now-plentiful parks. Pointing to Josimović's work, Serbian scholars have noted an important break with Ottoman traditions. However, Istanbul—the capital city of

2002-453: A single plan was in operation." The United Nations Commission of Experts (UNCoE) had examined that: First, Bosnian Serb paramilitary forces, often with the assistance of the JNA, seize control of the area. In many cases, Serbian residents are told to leave the area before the violence begins. The homes of non-Serb residents are targeted for destruction and cultural and religious monuments, especially churches and mosques, are destroyed. Second,

2156-419: A small scale. Compared to the results from 25 years before, Croatia was the republic with the highest increase in ethnic distance. Furthermore, there was significant increase of ethnic distance among Serbs and Montenegrins toward Croats and Slovenes and vice versa. Of all respondents, 48% of Croats said that their affiliation with Yugoslavia is very important to them. In February 1990, Jovan Rašković founded

2310-642: A third of these refugees having settled in Belgrade. After the 2000 presidential elections , Belgrade was the site of major public protests, with over half a million people taking part. These demonstrations resulted in the ousting of president Milošević as a part of the Otpor movement. In 2014, Belgrade Waterfront , an urban renewal project, was initiated by the Government of Serbia and its Emirati partner, Eagle Hills Properties . Around €3.5 billion

2464-406: A year when the maximum temperature is at or above 30 °C (86 °F), and 95 days when the temperature is above 25 °C (77 °F), On the other hand, Belgrade experiences 52.1 days per year in which the minimum temperature falls below 0 °C (32 °F), with 13.8 days having a maximum temperature below freezing as well. Belgrade receives about 698 mm (27 in) of precipitation

2618-419: A year, with late spring being wettest. The average annual number of sunny hours is 2,020. Belgrade may experience thunderstorms at any time of the year, experiencing 31 days annually, but it's much more common in spring and summer months. Hail is rare and occurs exclusively in spring or summer. The highest officially recorded temperature in Belgrade was 43.6 °C (110.5 °F) on 24 July 2007, while on

2772-415: Is Serbia", and expressed support for Milošević. The first free elections in Croatia and Slovenia were scheduled for a few months later. The first round of elections in Croatia was held on 22 April, and the second round on 6 May. The HDZ based its campaign on greater sovereignty (eventually outright independence) for Croatia, fueling a sentiment among Croats that "only the HDZ could protect Croatia from

2926-744: Is classified as a Beta- Global City . The city is home to the University Clinical Centre of Serbia , a hospital complex with one of the largest capacities in the world ; the Church of Saint Sava , one of the largest Orthodox church buildings ; and the Belgrade Arena , one of the largest capacity indoor arenas in Europe . Belgrade hosted major international events such as the Danube River Conference of 1948 ,

3080-529: Is confiscated. Many have been forced to sign documents relinquishing their rights to their homes before being deported to other areas of the country. Reports sent by Arkan to Milošević, Mladić, and Adžić state the plan were progressing, noting that the psychological attack on the Bosniak population in Bosnia and Herzegovina was effective and should continue. Evidence acquired by humanitarian organizations, including

3234-780: Is considered to be the most successful project of fixing the problem. During the construction of the neighbourhood from the 1970s, the terrain was systematically improved and the movement of the land is today completely halted. Under the Köppen climate classification , Belgrade has a humid subtropical climate ( Cfa ) bordering on a humid continental climate ( Dfa ) with four seasons and uniformly spread precipitation. Monthly averages range from 1.9 °C (35.4 °F) in January to 23.8 °C (74.8 °F) in July, with an annual mean of 13.2 °C (55.8 °F). There are, on average, 44.6 days

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3388-529: Is established that a certain number of young women, the numbers to be agreed upon, will be transferred to Slavonia and Baranja for the needs of the Serb forces and also for the UNPROFOR officers. Belgrade Belgrade ( / b ɛ l ˈ ɡ r eɪ d / bel- GRAYD , / ˈ b ɛ l ɡ r eɪ d / BEL -grayd ; Serbian : Београд , Beograd , Serbian: [beǒɡrad] )

3542-666: Is known for its very large settlements, one of the earliest settlements by continuous habitation and some of the largest in prehistoric Europe. Also associated with the Vinča culture are anthropomorphic figurines such as the Lady of Vinča , the earliest known copper metallurgy in Europe, and a proto-writing form developed prior to the Sumerians and Minoans known as the Old European script , which dates back to around 5300 BC. Within

3696-481: Is not what is sought. Gentlemen, what they want is territory. — Stjepan Mesić on Belgrade's intentions in the war In August 1990, an unrecognized mono-ethnic referendum was held in regions with a substantial Serb population which would later become known as the Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) (bordering western Bosnia and Herzegovina ) on the question of Serb "sovereignty and autonomy" in Croatia. This

3850-539: Is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe and the world. One of the most important prehistoric cultures of Europe , the Vinča culture , evolved within the Belgrade area in the 6th millennium BC. In antiquity, Thraco - Dacians inhabited the region and, after 279 BC, Celts settled the city, naming it Singidūn . It was conquered by the Romans under the reign of Augustus and awarded Roman city rights in

4004-637: Is the capital and largest city of Serbia . It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula . The population of the Belgrade metropolitan area is 1,685,563 according to the 2022 census. It is one of the major cities of Southeast Europe and the third most populous city on the Danube river . Belgrade

4158-628: The šahovnica (Croatian checkerboard) in the Croatian coat of arms , which was associated with the fascist Ustaše regime. This was a misconception as the checkerboard had a history going back to the fifteenth century and was not identical to the one that was used in the WW2-era Independent State of Croatia . However, Tuđman's xenophobic rhetoric and attitude towards Croatian Serbs as well as his support for former Ustaše leaders did little to ease Serb fears. Immediately after

4312-524: The Belgrade forest . Belgrade was made the seat of the Pashalik of Belgrade (also known as the Sanjak of Smederevo), and quickly became the second largest Ottoman town in Europe at over 100,000 people, surpassed only by Constantinople . Ottoman rule introduced Ottoman architecture , including numerous mosques, and the city was resurrected—now by Oriental influences. In 1594, a major Serb rebellion

4466-662: The Bosniaks ' (Bosnian Muslims) "morale, desire for battle, and will could be crushed more easily by raping women, especially minors and even children, and by killing members of the Muslim nationality inside their religious facilities." According to the minutes , a variant of the RAM Plan written had concluded that: Our analysis of the behavior of the Muslim communities demonstrates that the morale, will, and bellicose nature of their groups can be undermined only if we aim our action at

4620-582: The Croatian Army ( Croatian : Hrvatska vojska ) by 1993. Weaponry was in short supply, and many units were either unarmed or were equipped with obsolete World War II-era rifles. The Croatian Army had only a handful of tanks, including World War II-surplus vehicles such as the T-34 , and its Air Force was in an even worse state, consisting of only a few Antonov An-2 biplane crop-dusters that had been converted to drop makeshift bombs. In August 1991,

4774-956: The Hungarian king , made Smederevo his new capital. Even though the Ottomans had captured most of the Serbian Despotate , Belgrade, known as Nándorfehérvár in Hungarian, was unsuccessfully besieged in 1440 and 1456. As the city presented an obstacle to the Ottoman advance into Hungary and further, over 100,000 Ottoman soldiers besieged it in 1456 , in which the Christian army led by the Hungarian General John Hunyadi successfully defended it. The noon bell ordered by Pope Callixtus III commemorates

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4928-628: The Independent State of Croatia in occupied Yugoslavia, another puppet state, where Ustashe regime carried out the Genocide of Serbs . During the summer and autumn of 1941, in reprisal for guerrilla attacks, the Germans carried out several massacres of Belgrade citizens; in particular, members of the Jewish community were subject to mass shootings at the order of General Franz Böhme ,

5082-500: The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and lawsuits filed by each country against the other . In 2007, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) returned a guilty verdict against Milan Martić , one of the Serb leaders in Croatia, for having colluded with Slobodan Milošević and others to create a "unified Serbian state". Between 2008 and 2012,

5236-489: The Neolithic Starčevo culture , which flourished between 6200 and 5200 BC. There are several Starčevo sites in and around Belgrade, including the eponymous site of Starčevo . The Starčevo culture was succeeded by the Vinča culture (5500–4500 BC), a more sophisticated farming culture that grew out of the earlier Starčevo settlements and also named for a site in the Belgrade region ( Vinča-Belo Brdo ). The Vinča culture

5390-696: The SAO Krajina was proclaimed by the municipalities of the regions of Northern Dalmatia and Lika , in south-western Croatia. Article 1 of the Statute of the SAO Krajina defined the SAO Krajina as "a form of territorial autonomy within the Republic of Croatia" in which the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, state laws, and the Statute of the SAO Krajina were applied. On 22 December 1990,

5544-543: The Second Serbian Uprising in 1815, Serbia achieved some sort of sovereignty, which was formally recognised by the Porte in 1830. The development of Belgrade architecture after 1815 can be divided into four periods. In the first phase, which lasted from 1815 to 1835, the dominant architectural style was still of a Balkan character, with substantial Ottoman influence. At the same time, an interest in joining

5698-778: The Serb Democratic Party (SDS) in Knin , whose program aimed to change the regional division of Croatia to be aligned with ethnic Serb interests. Prominent members of the RSK government, including Milan Babić and Milan Martić , later testified that Belgrade directed a propaganda campaign portraying the Serbs in Croatia as being threatened with genocide by the Croat majority. On 4 March 1990, 50,000 Serbs rallied at Petrova Gora and shouted negative remarks aimed at Tuđman, chanted "This

5852-506: The Serbian Democratic Parties (SDS), and preparing arms and ammunition in an effort of establishing a country where "all Serbs with their territories would live together in the same state." In their plan, the officers described how artillery, ammunition, and other military equipment would be stored in strategic locations in Croatia and then in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Secret Police would be used in arming and training

6006-476: The Serbian Revolution , Belgrade was once again named the capital of Serbia in 1841. Northern Belgrade remained the southernmost Habsburg post until 1918, when it was attached to the city, due to former Austro-Hungarian territories becoming part of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes after World War I . Belgrade was the capital of Yugoslavia from its creation to its dissolution. In

6160-668: The Slovenian parliamentary election and the Croatian parliamentary election in April and May 1990, the JNA announced that the Tito -era doctrine of "general people's defense", in which each republic maintained a Territorial defense force ( Serbo-Croatian : Teritorijalna obrana ) (TO), would henceforth be replaced by a centrally directed system of defense. The republics would lose their role in defense matters, and their TOs would be disarmed and subordinated to JNA headquarters in Belgrade, but

6314-722: The Soko G-4 Super Galeb and the Soko J-22 Orao , whose armament included AGM-65 Maverick guided missiles. By contrast, more modern cheap anti-tank missiles (like the AT-5 ) and anti-aircraft missiles (like the SA-14 ) were abundant and were designed to destroy much more advanced weaponry. Before the war the JNA had 169,000 regular troops, including 70,000 professional officers . The fighting in Slovenia brought about

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6468-707: The Tripartite Pact , joining the Axis powers in an effort to stay out of the Second World War and keep Yugoslavia neutral during the conflict. This was immediately followed by mass protests in Belgrade and a military coup d'état led by Air Force commander General Dušan Simović , who proclaimed King Peter II to be of age to rule the realm. As a result, the city was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe on 6 April 1941, killing up to 2,274 people. Yugoslavia

6622-690: The UNESCO General Conference . Josip Broz Tito died in May 1980 and his funeral in Belgrade was attended by high officials and state delegations from 128 of the 154 members of the United Nations from all over the world, based on which it became one of the largest funerals in history . On 9 March 1991, massive demonstrations led by Vuk Drašković were held in the city against Slobodan Milošević . According to various media outlets, there were between 100,000 and 150,000 people on

6776-541: The propaganda machines on both sides. During his testimony before the ICTY, one of the top Krajina leaders, Milan Martić, stated that the Serb side started using force first. The conflict escalated into armed incidents in the majority-Serb populated areas. The Serbs attacked Croatian police units in Pakrac in early March, while one Josip Jović is widely reported as the first police officer killed by Serb forces as part of

6930-570: The romanised Singidunum in the 1st century AD and, by the mid-2nd century, the city was proclaimed a municipium by the Roman authorities, evolving into a full-fledged colonia (the highest city class) by the end of the century. While the first Christian Emperor of Rome — Constantine I , also known as Constantine the Great —was born in the territory of Naissus to the city's south, Roman Christianity's champion, Flavius Iovianus (Jovian/Jovan),

7084-480: The weakening of the communist states in Eastern Europe towards the end of the Cold War , as symbolized by the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. In Croatia, the regional branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia , the League of Communists of Croatia , had lost its ideological potency. Slovenia and Croatia advocated decentralization . SR Serbia , headed by Slobodan Milošević , adhered to centralism and single-party rule, and in turn effectively ended

7238-399: The Army in March 1991 supported a coup d'état as a way out of the crisis but then changed their minds four days later. Kadijević's response to this was that "Jović is lying". Kadijević claims he was invited to a meeting in March 1991 in Jović's office, two days after huge protests organized by Vuk Drašković on the streets of Belgrade, where Milošević, according to Kadijević, requested that

7392-493: The Army met with the Presidency of the SFRY in an attempt to convince them to declare a state of emergency which would allow for the army to take control of the country. Yugoslav army chief Veljko Kadijević declared that there was a conspiracy to destroy the country, saying: An insidious plan has been drawn up to destroy Yugoslavia. Stage one is civil war. Stage two is foreign intervention. Then puppet regimes will be set up throughout Yugoslavia. Jović claims that Kadijević and

7546-512: The Balkans and Central Europe was held in Belgrade in June 1896 by André Carr, a representative of the Lumière brothers . He shot the first motion pictures of Belgrade in the next year; however, they have not been preserved. The first permanent cinema was opened in 1909 in Belgrade. The First World War began on 28 July 1914 when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Most of the subsequent Balkan offensives occurred near Belgrade. Austro-Hungarian monitors shelled Belgrade on 29 July 1914, and it

7700-476: The Basic Principles of the Constitution identified that self-determination including secession "belonged to the peoples of Yugoslavia and their socialist republics". The matter of Kosovo secession was addressed in May 1991 with the court claiming that "only the peoples of Yugoslavia" had the right to secession, Albanians were considered a minority and not a people of Yugoslavia. The 1990 survey conducted among Yugoslav citizens showed that ethnic animosity existed on

7854-412: The Bosnian government, which decided to proclaim independence on 15 October. At the time the Croatian War of Independence was in full swing, and Serbian actions in Bosnia mirrored those of the Serbs in Croatia. In December 1991, Ante Marković resigned in protest against the excessive use of the Yugoslav budget on military spending which was dedicated 86 percent. "The substance of the plan was to create

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8008-413: The Croatian Army had fewer than 20 brigades . After general mobilization was instituted in October, the size of the army grew to 60 brigades and 37 independent battalions by the end of the year. In 1991 and 1992, Croatia was also supported by 456 foreign fighters, including British (139), French (69), and German (55). The seizure of the JNA's barracks between September and December helped to alleviate

8162-466: The Croatian and Serbian fans and with the police. On 30 May 1990, the new Croatian Parliament held its first session. President Tuđman announced his manifesto for a new Constitution (ratified at the end of the year) and a multitude of political, economic, and social changes, notably to what extent minority rights (mainly for Serbs) would be guaranteed. Local Serb politicians opposed the new constitution. In 1991, Croats represented 78.1% and Serbs 12.2% of

8316-466: The Croatians' equipment shortage. By 1995, the balance of power had shifted significantly. Serb forces in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina were capable of fielding an estimated 130,000 troops; the Croatian Army, Croatian Defence Council ( Croatian : Hrvatsko vijeće obrane ) (HVO), and the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina could field a combined force of 250,000 soldiers and 570 tanks. Ethnic hatred grew as various incidents fueled

8470-401: The Croats but that it never actually undermined their own dominance in SR Croatia. After the HDZ came to power, many Serbs employed in the public sector, especially the police, were fired and replaced by Croats. This, combined with Tuđman's remarks, i.e. "Thank God my wife is not a Jew or a Serb", were distorted by Milošević's media to spark fear that any form of an independent Croatia would be

8624-401: The Danube valley, and Umka , and especially its neighbourhood of Duboko, in the Sava valley. They have moving and dormant phases, and some of them have been recorded for centuries. Less active downhill creep areas include the entire Terazije slope above the Sava (Kalemegdan, Savamala ), which can be seen by the inclination of the Pobednik monument and the tower of the Cathedral Church , and

8778-415: The Danube, was opened in 1935, while King Alexander Bridge over the Sava was opened in 1934. On 3 September 1939 the first Belgrade Grand Prix , the last Grand Prix motor racing race before the outbreak of World War II, was held around the Belgrade Fortress and was followed by 80,000 spectators. The winner was Tazio Nuvolari . On 25 March 1941, the government of regent Crown Prince Paul signed

8932-493: The European mainstream allowed Central and Western European architecture to flourish. Between 1835 and 1850, the amount of neoclassicist and baroque buildings south of the Austrian border rose considerably, exemplified by St Michael's Cathedral (Serbian: Saborna crkva) , completed in 1840. Between 1850 and 1875, new architecture was characterised by a turn towards the newly popular Romanticism , along with older European architectural styles. Typical of Central European cities in

9086-453: The German Military Governor of Serbia . Böhme rigorously enforced the rule that for every German killed, 100 Serbs or Jews would be shot. Belgrade became the first city in Europe to be declared by the Nazi occupation forces to be judenfrei . The resistance movement in Belgrade was led by Major Žarko Todorović from 1941 until his arrest in 1943. Just like Rotterdam , which was devastated twice by both German and Allied bombing, Belgrade

9240-431: The Hungarian king in 1427. Noon bells in support of the Hungarian army against the Ottoman Empire during the siege in 1456 have remained a widespread church tradition to this day. In 1521, Belgrade was conquered by the Ottomans and became the seat of the Sanjak of Smederevo . It frequently passed from Ottoman to Habsburg rule, which saw the destruction of most of the city during the Ottoman–Habsburg wars . Following

9394-518: The ICTY had prosecuted Croatian generals Ante Gotovina , Mladen Markač and Ivan Čermak for alleged involvement in the crimes related to Operation Storm . Čermak was acquitted outright, and the convictions of Gotovina and Markač were later overturned by an ICTY Appeals Panel. The International Court of Justice dismissed mutual claims of genocide by Croatia and Serbia in 2015. The Court reaffirmed that, to an extent, crimes against civilians had taken place, but it ruled that specific genocidal intent

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9548-520: The JNA had distributed an estimated 51,900 firearms to Serb paramilitaries and 23,298 firearms to SDS. As a result of the operation, Croatian and Bosnian Serbs were "well armed" by summer of 1991. According to historian Noel Malcolm the "steps taken by Karadžić and his party — [declaring Serb] "Autonomous Regions", the arming of the Serb population, minor local incidents, non-stop propaganda, the request for federal army "protection" – matched exactly what had been done in Croatia. Few observers could doubt that

9702-521: The JNA's Psychological Operations Department. In the same month Serbian president Slobodan Milošević and Radovan Karadžić met to discuss when to attack Bosnia and Herzegovina during which Karadžić was told his weapons delivery would arrive soon from General Nikola Uzelac , JNA commander of Banja Luka . During the conversation, Milošević mentioned RAM, asking Karadžić “You know what RAM is?“ to which Karadžić responded positively. Milošević and Karadžić were in regular contact by phone. In September 1991,

9856-429: The Military Line was created. Jovica Stanišić was installed as its head with Mihalj Kertes taking part as the "Minister of Ethnic Cleansing". It was determined Colonel Željko Ražnatović (Arkan) would direct it and that General Ratko Mladić and General Andrija Biorčević would coordinate "autonomous" groups like Vojislav Šešelj 's White Eagles and Arkan's Serbian Volunteer Guard (SDG). Their research showed that

10010-444: The Parliament of Croatia ratified the new constitution, which was seen by Serbs as taking away rights that had been granted by the Socialist constitution. The constitution did define Croatia as "the national state of the Croatian nation and a state of members of other nations and minorities who are its citizens: Serbs ... who are guaranteed equality with citizens of Croatian nationality ..." Following Tuđman's election and

10164-482: The Presidency meeting failed to achieve the results the Army wanted that Kadijević met with him with the proposed coup d'état against the secessionist republics. During the meeting Marković responded to Kadijević by saying that the plan failed to arrest Milošević. Kadijević replied "He is only one fighting for Yugoslavia. Without him, we could not be proposing this." Marković rejected the plan and afterwards communication between Kadijević and Marković broke down. The JNA

10318-482: The RSK encompassed 13,913 square kilometers (5,372 sq mi), more than a quarter of Croatia. In 1995, Croatia launched two major offensives known as Operation Flash and Operation Storm ; these offensives effectively ended the war in its favor. The remaining United Nations Transitional Authority for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) zone was peacefully reintegrated into Croatia by 1998. The war ended with Croatian victory, as it achieved

10472-428: The Serbian people living in either Croatia or Bosnia or anywhere else. If that were the case, then we could look and see what it is in the Croatian constitution , see what is in the declaration on minorities, on the Serbs in Croatia and on minorities, because the Serbs are treated separately there. Let us see if the Serbs have less rights than the Croats in Croatia. That would be protecting the Serbs in Croatia. But that

10626-448: The United Nations and Human Rights Watch , corroborated that a policy of rape was organized and carried out. Their findings determined that "research, planning, and coordination of rape camps was a systematic policy of the Serbian government and military forces with the explicit intention of creating an ethnically pure state". The UNCoE concluded that "the practices of ethnic cleansing, sexual assault and rape have been carried out by some of

10780-454: The Voždovac section, between Banjica and Autokomanda . Landslides encompass smaller areas, develop on the steep cliffs, sometimes being inclined up to 90%. They are mostly located in the artificial loess hills of Zemun: Gardoš , Ćukovac and Kalvarija . However, the majority of the land movement in Belgrade, some 90%, is triggered by the construction works and faulty water supply system (burst pipes, etc.). The neighbourhood of Mirijevo

10934-432: The Yugoslav and Serb forces. There were also foreign fighters supporting the RSK, mostly from Russia . With the retreat of the JNA forces in 1992, JNA units were reorganized as the Army of Serb Krajina , which was a direct heir to the JNA organization, with little improvement. By 1991, the JNA officer corps was dominated by Serbs and Montenegrins ; they were overrepresented in Yugoslav federal institutions, especially

11088-458: The agreement. Milošević later claimed that RAM was a codename indicating switching to secure communications and did not stand for a war plan , even though no such switch subsequently happened which Milošević did not explain as to why. Croatian historian Davor Marijan subsequently described the RAM plan claims as based on circumstantial evidence, saying no specific evidence of the plan has been provided as of 2012. The September 1991 leak alarmed

11242-406: The air force. The European Community is in session. Vreme had reported that in addition to Bosnian Serb declarations of autonomy, effort was being taken to arm Serb villages and towns in Bosnia and Herzegovina as early as 1990 and continued into 1991. It detailed the origin of the weaponry and the JNA's involvement in the matter. During Milošević's trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for

11396-481: The area around Belgrade was inhabited by nomadic foragers in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic eras. Some of these tools are of Mousterian industry —belonging to Neanderthals rather than modern humans. Aurignacian and Gravettian tools have also been discovered near the area, indicating some settlement between 50,000 and 20,000 years ago. The first farming people to settle in the region are associated with

11550-480: The area falls under the control of paramilitary forces who terrorize the non-Serb residents with random killings, rapes, and looting. Third, the seized area is administered by local Serb authorities, often in conjunction with paramilitary groups. During this phase, non-Serb residents are detained, beaten, and sometimes transferred to prison camps where further abuse, including mass killings, have occurred. Non-Serb residents are often fired from their jobs and their property

11704-708: The area was ravaged by Attila the Hun . In 471, it was taken by Theodoric the Great , king of the Ostrogoths, who continued into Italy. As the Ostrogoths left, another Germanic tribe, the Gepids , invaded the city. In 539, it was retaken by the Byzantines. In 577, some 100,000 Slavs poured into Thrace and Illyricum , pillaging cities and more permanently settling the region. The Avars , under Bayan I , conquered

11858-491: The army take control of the country through a military coup. Kadijević's apparent response was to inform Milošević that he could not make such a decision by himself, and that he'd discuss the request with army leaders and later inform Jović's office about their decision. Kadijević then said that their decision was against the putsch and that he informed Jović's office in written form about it. Jović claims that such document doesn't exist. Ante Marković has described that after

12012-488: The army", most of whom had already begun to desert en masse. The Croatian military was in a much worse state than that of the Serbs. In the early stages of the war, lack of military units meant that the Croatian Police force would take the brunt of the fighting. The Croatian National Guard ( Croatian : Zbor narodne garde ), the new Croatian military, was formed on 11 April 1991, and gradually developed into

12166-421: The army. 57.1% of JNA officers were Serbs , while Serbs formed 36.3% of the population of Yugoslavia. A similar structure was observed as early as 1981. Even though the two peoples combined comprised 38.8% of the population of Yugoslavia, 70% of all JNA officers and non-commissioned officers were either Serbs or Montenegrins. In July 1991, the JNA was instructed to "completely eliminate Croats and Slovenes from

12320-507: The aspirations of Milošević towards a Greater Serbia". It topped the poll in the elections (followed by Ivica Račan 's reformed communists, Social Democratic Party of Croatia ) and was set to form a new Croatian Government . A tense atmosphere prevailed on May 13, 1990, when a football game was held at Zagreb in Maksimir Stadium between Zagreb 's Dinamo team and Belgrade's Red Star . The game erupted into violence between

12474-552: The autonomy of the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina by March 1989, taking command of their votes in the Yugoslav federal presidency . Nationalist ideas started to gain influence within the ranks of the still-ruling League of Communists, while Milošević's speeches, notably the 1989 Gazimestan speech in which he talked of "battles and quarrels", favored continuation of a unified Yugoslav state — one in which all power would continue to be centralized in Belgrade . In

12628-518: The autumn of 1989, the Serbian government pressured the Croatian government to allow a series of Serb nationalist rallies in the country, and the Serbian media and various Serbian intellectuals had already begun to refer to the Croatian leadership as " Ustaše ", and began to make reference to genocide and other crimes committed by the Ustaše between 1941 and 1945. The Serbian political leadership approved of

12782-606: The beginning of court cases being brought to Yugoslavia's Constitutional Court on the matter of secession. The first was the Slovenian Constitutional Amendments case after Slovenia claimed the right to unilateral secession pursuant to the right of self-determination. The Constitutional Court ruled that secession from the federation was only permitted if there was the unanimous agreement of Yugoslavia's republics and autonomous provinces. The Constitutional Court noted that 1974 Constitution's Section I of

12936-537: The behest of Serbia. According to Jović, on 27 June 1990 he and Veljko Kadijević , the Yugoslav Defence Minister, met and agreed that they should, regarding Croatia and Slovenia, "expel them forcibly from Yugoslavia, by simply drawing borders and declaring that they have brought this upon themselves through their decisions". According to Jović, the next day he obtained the agreement of Milošević. However, Kadijević, of mixed Serb-Croat heritage and

13090-670: The best combat units came from Serbia. These were special police commandos called Red Berets. They're from the Secret Service of Serbia. My forces took part, as did others. We planned the operation very carefully, and everything went exactly according to plan." Vojislav Šešelj, founder and president of the Serbian Radical Party In 1990 and 1991, Serbs in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina had proclaimed

13244-719: The capital of the Kingdom of Syrmia , a vassal state to the Kingdom of Hungary. Dragutin (Hungarian: Dragutin István ) is regarded as the first Serbian king to rule over Belgrade. Following the battles of Maritsa (1371) and Kosovo field (1389) , Moravian Serbia, to Belgrade's south, began to fall to the Ottoman Empire . The northern regions of what is now Serbia persisted as the Serbian Despotate , with Belgrade as its capital. The city flourished under Stefan Lazarević ,

13398-531: The centre of the Principality's administrative, military and cultural institutions. His project of creating a new market space (the Abadžijska čaršija), however, was less successful; trade continued to be conducted in the centuries-old Donja čaršija and Gornja čaršija. Still, new construction projects were typical for the Christian quarters as the older Muslim quarters declined; from Serbia's autonomy until 1863,

13552-441: The city is under rapid development and reconstruction, especially in the area of Novi Beograd , where (as of 2020) apartment and office buildings were under construction to support the burgeoning Belgrade IT sector , now one of Serbia's largest economic players. In September 2020, there were around 2000 active construction sites in Belgrade. The city budget for 2023 stood at 205,5 billion dinars (1.750 billion Euros). The budget for

13706-464: The city of Belgrade has been estimated to be more than 2 billion Euros for 2024. Belgrade lies 116.75 m (383.0 ft) above sea level and is located at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers. The historical core of Belgrade, Kalemegdan , lies on the right banks of both rivers. Since the 19th century, the city has been expanding to the south and east; after World War II, New Belgrade

13860-469: The city proper, on Cetinjska Street, a skull of a Paleolithic human dated to before 5000 BC was discovered in 1890. Evidence of early knowledge about Belgrade's geographical location comes from a variety of ancient myths and legends. The ridge overlooking the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, for example, has been identified as one of the places in the story of Jason and the Argonauts . In

14014-629: The city terrain is mass wasting . On the territory covered by the General Urban Plan there are 1,155 recorded mass wasting points, out of which 602 are active and 248 are labeled as 'high risk'. They cover almost 30% of the city territory and include several types of mass wasting. Downhill creeps are located on the slopes above the rivers, mostly on the clay or loam soils, inclined between 7 and 20%. The most critical ones are in Karaburma , Zvezdara , Višnjica , Vinča and Ritopek , in

14168-828: The city would become a battleground between the Byzantine Empire , the medieval Kingdom of Hungary , and the Bulgarian Empire . Basil II (976–1025) installed a garrison in Belgrade. The city hosted the armies of the First and the Second Crusade , but, while passing through during the Third Crusade , Frederick Barbarossa and his 190,000 crusaders saw Belgrade in ruins. King Stefan Dragutin (r. 1276–1282) received Belgrade from his father-in-law, Stephen V of Hungary , in 1284, and it served as

14322-473: The coordination between decisive interventions and a well-planned information campaign can provoke the spontaneous flight of many communities. Vladimir Srebrov , a politician who co-founded the SDS with Karadžić, had read the RAM Plan in 1992 and says the officers put forth a large campaign of ethnic cleansing "to destroy Bosnia economically and completely exterminate the Muslim people." He elaborated that: The plan

14476-482: The decisions of the meeting of the military hierarchy, that arms should be distributed and that the TO of Krajina and Bosnia be armed and utilized in the realization of the RAM plan.". He accused the JNA of having "placed itself directly in the service of one side" and requested that Yugoslav Defense Minister Veljko Kadijević and Adžić resign, claiming the two were "waging their own war in Croatia" and that they had arranged

14630-640: The election of Tuđman and the HDZ, a Serb Assembly was established in Srb , north of Knin, on 25 July 1990 as the political representation of the Serb people in Croatia. The Serb Assembly declared "sovereignty and autonomy of the Serb people in Croatia". The new Croatian government implemented policies that were seen as openly nationalistic and anti-Serbian in nature, such as the removal of the Serbian Cyrillic script from correspondence in public offices. Greater Serbian circles have no interest in protecting

14784-410: The existence of the RAM Plan was leaked by Yugoslav Prime Minister Ante Marković and its details were published in the Belgrade weekly Vreme . He says "the line has been clearly established [between the Serbian government, the army and Serb politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina]. I know because I heard Milošević give the order to Karadžić to get in contact with General Uzelac and to order, following

14938-745: The first Non-Aligned Movement Summit (1961), the first major gathering of the OSCE (1977–1978), the Eurovision Song Contest ( 2008 ), as well as sports events such as the first FINA World Aquatics Championships ( 1973 ), UEFA Euro ( 1976 ), Summer Universiade ( 2009 ) and EuroBasket three times ( 1961 , 1975 , 2005 ). On 21 June 2023, Belgrade was confirmed host of the BIE- Specialized Exhibition Expo 2027 . Chipped stone tools found in Zemun show that

15092-439: The former Yugoslavia a tape played from 8 July 1991 stated: Milošević: Of strategic importance is the future of RAM, you know what RAM is? Karadžić: Yes, I know everything, I know everything. Milošević: The Banja Luka group is capable and mobile. Karadžić: Good. Milošević: So you have, one, that you ensure it is fit and mobile and that there are no problems. And, two, that in one hour you report to Uzelac with reference to

15246-485: The goals it had declared at the beginning of the war: independence and preservation of its borders. Approximately 21–25% of Croatia's economy was ruined, with an estimated US$ 37 billion in damaged infrastructure, lost output , and refugee-related costs. Over 20,000 people were killed in the war, and refugees were displaced on both sides. The Serbian and Croatian governments began to progressively cooperate with each other, but tensions remain, in part due to verdicts by

15400-571: The largest ethnic group in the country as a whole. From 1967 to 1972 in Croatia and 1968 and 1981 protests in Kosovo , nationalist doctrines and actions caused ethnic tensions that destabilized Yugoslavia. The suppression by the state of nationalists is believed to have had the effect of identifying Croat nationalism as the primary alternative to communism itself and made it a strong underground movement. A crisis emerged in Yugoslavia with

15554-568: The last quarter of the 19th century, the fourth phase was characterised by an eclecticist style based on the Renaissance and Baroque periods. In 1841, Prince Mihailo Obrenović moved the capital of the Principality of Serbia from Kragujevac to Belgrade. During his first reign (1815–1839), Prince Miloš Obrenović pursued expansion of the city's population through the addition of new settlements, aiming and succeeding to make Belgrade

15708-561: The local Serbs to create "shadow" police forces and paramilitary units within the Croatian Krajina and in Bosnia and Herzegovina. These organized and armed Bosnian Serb paramilitary forces were to form the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS). In implementing the plan, a consensus was formed on the chain of command being as limited as possible and resembling a "slim company". An informal group with selected generals that came to be known as

15862-598: The mid-2nd century. It was settled by the Slavs in the 520s, and changed hands several times between the Byzantine Empire , the Frankish Empire , the Bulgarian Empire , and the Kingdom of Hungary before it became the seat of the Serbian king Stefan Dragutin in 1284. Belgrade served as capital of the Serbian Despotate during the reign of Stefan Lazarević , and then his successor Đurađ Branković returned it to

16016-591: The new Slovenian government acted quickly to retain control over their TO. On 14 May 1990, the weapons of the TO of Croatia, in Croat-majority regions, were taken away by the JNA, preventing the possibility of Croatia having its own weapons as was done in Slovenia. Borisav Jović , Serbia's representative in the Federal Presidency and a close ally of Slobodan Milošević, claimed that this action came at

16170-402: The number of Belgrade quarters even decreased, mainly as a consequence of the gradual disappearance of the city's Muslim population . An Ottoman city map from 1863 counts only 9 Muslim quarters ( mahalas ). The names of only five such neighbourhoods are known today: Ali-pašina, Reis-efendijina, Jahja-pašina, Bajram-begova, and Laz Hadži-Mahmudova. Following the Čukur Fountain incident , Belgrade

16324-415: The opening of a railway to Niš , Serbia's second city. In 1900, the capital had only 70,000 inhabitants (at the time Serbia numbered 2.5 million). Still, by 1905, the population had grown to more than 80,000 and, by the outbreak of World War I in 1914, it had surpassed the 100,000 citizens, disregarding Zemun , which still belonged to Austria-Hungary . The first-ever projection of motion pictures in

16478-717: The other end, the lowest temperature was −26.2 °C (−15 °F) on 10 January 1893. The highest recorded value of daily precipitation was 109.8 millimetres (4.32 inches) on 15 May 2014. Croatian War of Independence Croatian victory [REDACTED] 15,007 dead or missing (8,685 soldiers and 6,322 civilians) [REDACTED] 7,134 dead or missing (4,484 soldiers and 2,650 civilians) [REDACTED] 1,279 soldiers killed [REDACTED] [REDACTED] 7,204 dead or missing (3,486 soldiers, 2,677 civilians and 864 unidentified) [REDACTED] [REDACTED] 7,204–8,413 dead or missing in total 1992 1993 1994 1995 The Croatian War of Independence

16632-433: The parties so systematically that they strongly appear to be the product of a policy." It stated in a follow-up report that it was "convinced that this heinous practice [rape and abuse of women] constitutes a deliberate weapon of war in fulfilling the policy of ethnic cleansing carried out by Serbian forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and [...] that the abhorrent policy of ethnic cleansing was a form of genocide." In pursuit of

16786-601: The party and state's apparatus. In January 1990, the League of Communists broke up on ethnic lines, with the Croatian and Slovene factions demanding a looser federation at the 14th Extraordinary Congress. At the congress, Serbian delegates accused the Croatian and Slovene delegates of "supporting separatism, terrorism and genocide in Kosovo". The Croatian and Slovene delegations, including most of their ethnic Serb members, eventually left in protest, after Serbian delegates rejected every proposed amendment. January 1990 also marked

16940-493: The perceived threat from the new constitution, Serb nationalists in the Kninska Krajina region began taking armed action against Croatian government officials. Croatian government property throughout the region was increasingly controlled by local Serb municipalities or the newly established "Serbian National Council". This would later become the government of the breakaway Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK). After it

17094-485: The plan's "decisive intervention", Milan Dedić, the commander of the third battalion of the VRS, reported to Kertes that: "Sixteen hundred and eighty Muslim women of ages ranging from twelve to sixty years are now gathered in the centers for displaced persons within our territory. A large number of these are pregnant, especially those ranging in age from fifteen to thirty years. In the estimation of Boćko Kelević and Smiljan Gerić,

17248-481: The point where the religious and social structure is most fragile. We refer to the women, especially adolescents, and to the children. Decisive intervention on these social figures would spread confusion [...], thus causing first of all fear and then panic, leading to a probable retreat from the territories involved in war activity. In this case, we must add a wide propaganda campaign to our well-organized, incisive actions so that panic will increase. We have determined that

17402-461: The political crisis and ethnic conflict to have been caused by the actions of foreign governments, particularly Germany, which he accused of seeking to break up Yugoslavia to allow Germany to exercise a sphere of influence in the Balkans. Kadijević regarded the Croatian government of Tuđman to be a fascist-inspired and that Serbs had the right to be protected from Croatian "armed formations". After

17556-475: The psychological effect is strong and therefore we must continue." Kertes told the Serb army that: The Yugoslav Ministry of Internal Affairs [Serbian government] will open no inquests on the rapes since these constitute a part of the [army's] psychological and strategic pressure activities. In accordance with the Ministries of Health and Security, and upon the request of Dr. Vida Mandić and Colonel Loginov, it

17710-537: The rhetoric and accused the Croatian leadership of being "blindly nationalistic" when it objected. Having completed the anti-bureaucratic revolution in Vojvodina , Kosovo, and Montenegro, Serbia secured four out of eight federal presidency votes in 1991, which rendered the governing body ineffective as other republics objected and called for reform of the Federation. In 1989, political parties were allowed and

17864-469: The right bank of the Sava, central Belgrade has a hilly terrain, while the highest point of Belgrade proper is Torlak hill at 303 m (994 ft). The mountains of Avala (511 m (1,677 ft)) and Kosmaj (628 m (2,060 ft)) lie south of the city. Across the Sava and Danube, the land is mostly flat, consisting of alluvial plains and loessial plateaus . One of the characteristics of

18018-624: The same government after alleged electoral fraud in local elections. These protests brought Zoran Đinđić to power, the first mayor of Belgrade since World War II who did not belong to the League of Communists of Yugoslavia or its later offshoot, the Socialist Party of Serbia . In 1999, during the Kosovo War , the NATO bombing campaign targeted a number a buildings in Belgrade. Among

18172-455: The scene, but were intercepted by SFR Yugoslav Air Force fighter jets and forced to turn back to Zagreb . The Serbs felled pine trees or used bulldozers to block roads to seal off towns like Knin and Benkovac near the Adriatic coast . On 18 August 1990, the Serbian newspaper Večernje novosti claimed "almost two million Serbs were ready to go to Croatia to fight". On 21 December 1990,

18326-682: The secession and advocated Serb-claimed lands to be in a common state with Serbia. Most Serbs sought a new Serb state within a Yugoslav federation, including areas of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina with ethnic Serb majorities or significant minorities, and attempted to conquer as much of Croatia as possible. Croatia declared independence on 25 June 1991, but agreed to postpone it with the Brioni Agreement and cut all remaining ties with Yugoslavia on 8 October 1991. The JNA initially tried to keep Croatia within Yugoslavia by occupying all of Croatia. After this failed, Serb forces established

18480-575: The self-proclaimed proto-state Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) within Croatia which began with the Log Revolution . After the ceasefire of January 1992 and international recognition of the Republic of Croatia as a sovereign state, the front lines were entrenched, the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) was deployed, and combat became largely intermittent in the following three years. During that time,

18634-743: The sites bombed were some ministry buildings, the RTS building, hospitals, Hotel Jugoslavija , the Central Committee building , Avala Tower , and the Chinese embassy . Between 500 and 2,000 civilians were killed in Serbia and Montenegro as a result of the NATO bombings, of which 47 were killed in Belgrade. After the Yugoslav Wars , Serbia became home to the highest number of refugees and internally displaced persons in Europe, with more than

18788-626: The son of Serbian prince Lazar Hrebeljanović . Lazarević built a castle with a citadel and towers, of which only the Despot's tower and the west wall remain. He also refortified the city's ancient walls, allowing the Despotate to resist Ottoman conquest for almost 70 years. During this time, Belgrade was a haven for many Balkan peoples fleeing Ottoman rule, and is thought to have had a population ranging between 40,000 and 50,000 people. In 1427, Stefan's successor Đurađ Branković , returning Belgrade to

18942-591: The state to which Belgrade and Serbia de jure still belonged—underwent similar changes. In May 1868, knez Mihailo was assassinated with his cousin Anka Konstantinović while riding in a carriage in his country residence. With the Principality 's full independence in 1878 and its transformation into the Kingdom of Serbia in 1882, Belgrade once again became a key city in the Balkans, and developed rapidly. Nevertheless, conditions in Serbia remained those of an overwhelmingly agrarian country, even with

19096-426: The streets. Two people were killed, 203 were injured and 108 were arrested during the protests, and later that day tanks were deployed onto the streets to restore order. Many anti-war protests were held in Belgrade, with the largest protests being dedicated to solidarity with the victims from the besieged Sarajevo . Further anti-government protests were held in Belgrade from November 1996 to February 1997 against

19250-403: The strongest. Karadžić: Yes, yes. Milošević: Don't worry. As long as there is the army no one can touch us. ... Don't worry about Herzegovina, Momir [Bulatović, president of Montenegro] said to his men: 'Whoever is not ready to die in Bosnia, step forward fives paces.' No one did so. Karadžić: That's good ... But what's going on with the bombing in – Milošević: Today is not a good day for

19404-667: The time of antiquity, too, the area was populated by Paleo-Balkan tribes , including the Thracians and the Dacians , who ruled much of Belgrade's surroundings. Specifically, Belgrade was at one point inhabited by the Thraco-Dacian tribe Singi; following Celtic invasion in 279 BC, the Scordisci wrested the city from their hands, naming it Singidūn ( d|ūn , fortress). In 34–33 BC, the Roman army reached Belgrade. It became

19558-427: The total population of Croatia, but the latter held a disproportionate number of official posts: 17.7% of appointed officials in Croatia, including police, were Serbs. An even greater proportion of those posts had been held by Serbs in Croatia earlier, which created a perception that the Serbs were guardians of the communist regime. Serbian politician and sociologist Vesna Pešić states that this caused discontent among

19712-503: The victory throughout the Christian world to this day, which is now a cultural symbol of Hungary . Seven decades after the initial siege, on 28 August 1521, the fort was finally captured by Suleiman the Magnificent with 250,000 Turkish soldiers and over 100 ships. Subsequently, most of the city was razed to the ground and its entire Orthodox Christian population was deported to Istanbul to an area that has since become known as

19866-551: The war ended, the city was left with 11,500 demolished housing units. During the post-war period, Belgrade grew rapidly as the capital of the renewed Yugoslavia , developing as a major industrial centre. In 1948, construction of New Belgrade started. In 1958, Belgrade's first television station began broadcasting. In 1961, Belgrade hosted the first and founding conference of the Non-Aligned Movement under Tito's chairmanship. In 1962, Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

20020-599: The war, during the Plitvice Lakes incident in late March 1991. In March and April 1991, Serbs in Croatia began to make moves to secede from that territory. It is a matter of debate to what extent this move was locally motivated and to what degree the Milošević-led Serbian government was involved. In any event, the SAO Krajina was declared, which consisted of any Croatian territory with a substantial Serb population. The Croatian government viewed this move as

20174-570: The whole region and its new Slavic population by 582. Following Byzantine reconquest, the Byzantine chronicle De Administrando Imperio mentions the White Serbs , who had stopped in Belgrade on their way back home, asking the strategos for lands; they received provinces in the west, towards the Adriatic, which they would rule as subjects to Heraclius (610–641). In 829, Khan Omurtag

20328-726: Was able to add Singidunum and its environs to the First Bulgarian Empire. The first record of the name Belograd appeared on April, 16th, 878, in a Papal missive to Bulgarian ruler Boris I . This name would appear in several variants: Alba Bulgarica in Latin, Griechisch Weissenburg in High German, Nándorfehérvár in Hungarian, and Castelbianco in Venetian, among other names, all variations of 'white fortress' or ' Bulgar white fortress'. For about four centuries,

20482-632: Was an armed conflict fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia — which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) — and the Serb -controlled Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat operations in Croatia by 1992. A majority of Croats supported Croatia's independence from Yugoslavia, while many ethnic Serbs living in Croatia, supported by Serbia , opposed

20636-556: Was an attempt to counter changes made to the constitution. The Croatian government sent police forces to police stations in Serb-populated areas to seize their weapons. Among other incidents, local Serbs from the southern hinterlands of Croatia, mostly around the city of Knin , blocked roads to tourist destinations in Dalmatia. This incident is known as the " Log Revolution ". Years later, during Martić's trial, Babić claimed he

20790-865: Was bombed once more during World War II , this time by the Allies on 16 April 1944, killing at least 1,100 people. This bombing fell on the Orthodox Christian Easter . Most of the city remained under German occupation until 20 October 1944, when it was liberated by the Red Army and the Communist Yugoslav Partisans . On 29 November 1945, Marshal Josip Broz Tito proclaimed the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia in Belgrade (later renamed to Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 7 April 1963). When

20944-455: Was bombed by the Ottomans. On 18 April 1867, the Ottoman government ordered the Ottoman garrison, which had been since 1826 the last representation of Ottoman suzerainty in Serbia, withdrawn from Kalemegdan . The forlorn Porte's only stipulation was that the Ottoman flag continue to fly over the fortress alongside the Serbian one. Serbia's de facto independence dates from this event. In the following years, urban planner Emilijan Josimović had

21098-447: Was born in Singidunum. Jovian reestablished Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire , ending the brief revival of traditional Roman religions under his predecessor Julian the Apostate . In 395 AD, the site passed to the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire . Across the Sava from Singidunum was the Celtic city of Taurunum (Zemun) ; the two were connected with a bridge throughout Roman and Byzantine times. In 442,

21252-443: Was built on the left bank of the Sava river, connecting Belgrade with Zemun . Smaller, chiefly residential communities across the Danube, like Krnjača , Kotež and Borča , also merged with the city, while Pančevo , a heavily industrialised satellite city, remains separate. The city has an urban area of 360 km (140 sq mi), while together with its metropolitan area it covers 3,223 km (1,244 sq mi). On

21406-457: Was built. In 1968, major student protests led to several street clashes between students and the police. In 1972, Belgrade faced a smallpox outbreak , the last major outbreak of smallpox in Europe since World War II. Between October 1977 and March 1978, the city hosted the first major gathering of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe with the aim of implementing the Helsinki Accords from, while in 1980 Belgrade hosted

21560-486: Was crushed by the Ottomans. In retribution, Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha ordered the relics of Saint Sava to be publicly torched on the Vračar plateau ; in the 20th century, the church of Saint Sava was built to commemorate this event. Occupied by the Habsburgs three times ( 1688–1690 , 1717–1739 , 1789–1791 ), headed by the Holy Roman Princes Maximilian of Bavaria and Eugene of Savoy , and field marshal Baron Ernst Gideon von Laudon , respectively, Belgrade

21714-409: Was discovered that Martin Špegelj had pursued a campaign to acquire arms through the black market in January 1991 an ultimatum was issued requesting disarming and disbanding of Croatian military forces considered illegal by the Yugoslav authorities. Croatian authorities refused to comply, and the Yugoslav army withdrew the ultimatum six days after it was issued. On 12 March 1991, the leadership of

21868-409: Was drawn up in the 1980s by the General Staff of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). It envisaged a division of Bosnia into two spheres of interest, leading to the creation of a Greater Serbia and Greater Croatia . The Muslims were to be subjected to a final solution: more than 50% of them were to be killed, a smaller part converted to Orthodoxy, while an even smaller part - those with money, of course -

22022-423: Was initially formed during World War II to carry out guerrilla warfare against occupying Axis forces . The success of the Partisan movement led to the JNA basing much of its operational strategy on guerrilla warfare, as its plans normally entailed defending against NATO or Warsaw Pact attacks, where other types of warfare would put the JNA in a comparatively poor position. That approach led to maintenance of

22176-443: Was liberated by Serbian and French troops on 1 November 1918, under the command of Marshal Louis Franchet d'Espèrey of France and Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia . Belgrade, devastated as a front-line city, lost the title of largest city in the Kingdom to Subotica for some time. After the war, Belgrade became the capital of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929. The Kingdom

22330-442: Was not present. In the 1970s, Yugoslavia's socialist regime became severely splintered into a liberal-decentralist nationalist faction led by Croatia and Slovenia that supported a decentralized federation to give greater autonomy to Croatia and Slovenia, versus a conservative-centralist nationalist faction led by Serbia that supported a centralized federation to secure Serbia's and the Serbs' interests across Yugoslavia—as they were

22484-401: Was predominantly inhabited by a Muslim population. Traces of Ottoman rule and architecture—such as mosques and bazaars , were to remain a prominent part of Belgrade's townscape into the 19th century; several decades, even, after Serbia was granted autonomy from the Ottoman Empire. During the First Serbian Uprising , Serbian revolutionaries held the city from 8 January 1807 until 1813, when it

22638-399: Was quickly recaptured by the Ottomans and substantially razed each time. During this period, the city was affected by the two Great Serbian Migrations , in which hundreds of thousands of Serbs, led by two Serbian Patriarchs , retreated together with the Austrian soldiers into the Habsburg Empire, settling in today's Vojvodina and Slavonia . At the beginning of the 19th century, Belgrade

22792-683: Was retaken by the Ottomans. In 1807, Turks in Belgrade were massacred and forcefully converted to Christianity. The massacre was encouraged by Russia in order to cement divisions between the Serb rebels and the Porte . Around 6,000 Muslims and Jews were forcibly converted to Christianity. Most mosques were converted into churches. Muslims, Jews, Aromanians and Greeks were subjected to forced labour, and Muslim women were widely made available to young Serb men, and some were taken into slavery. Milenko Stojković bought many of them, and established his harem for which he gained fame. In this circumstances Belgrade demographically transformed from Ottoman to Serb. After

22946-512: Was split into banovinas and Belgrade, together with Zemun and Pančevo , formed a separate administrative unit. During this period, the city experienced fast growth and significant modernisation. Belgrade's population grew to 239,000 by 1931 (with the inclusion of Zemun), and to 320,000 by 1940. The population growth rate between 1921 and 1948 averaged 4.08% a year. In 1927, Belgrade's first airport opened, and in 1929, its first radio station began broadcasting. The Pančevo Bridge , which crosses

23100-402: Was taken by the Austro-Hungarian Army under General Oskar Potiorek on 30 November. On 15 December, it was re-taken by Serbian troops under Marshal Radomir Putnik . After a prolonged battle which destroyed much of the city, starting on 6 October 1915, Belgrade fell to German and Austro-Hungarian troops commanded by Field Marshal August von Mackensen on 9 October of the same year. The city

23254-457: Was then invaded by German , Italian , Hungarian , and Bulgarian forces. Belgrade was captured by subterfuge, with six German soldiers led by their officer Fritz Klingenberg feigning threatening size, forcing the city to capitulate. Belgrade was more directly occupied by the German Army in the same month and became the seat of the puppet Nedić regime , headed by its namesake general. Some of today's parts of Belgrade were incorporated in

23408-446: Was to be jointly invested by the Serbian government and their Emirati partners. The project includes office and luxury apartment buildings, five-star hotels, a shopping mall and the envisioned ' Belgrade Tower '. The project is, however, quite controversial—there are a number of uncertainties regarding its funding, necessity, and its architecture's arguable lack of harmony with the rest of the city. In addition to Belgrade Waterfront ,

23562-457: Was to leave for Turkey , by way of a so-called "Turkish corridor." The aim was cleanse Bosnia-Herzegovina completely of the Muslim nation, and to divide the country along the River Vrbas . The very name of Bosnia was to disappear. This was the aim behind the creation of " Republika Srpska ." In his attempts to plead with Serb nationalists to not pursue the plan, he was imprisoned and tortured by Serb militias. "The Bosnian Serbs did take part. But

23716-460: Was tricked by Martić into agreeing to the Log Revolution, and that it and the entire war in Croatia was Martić's responsibility, and had been orchestrated by Belgrade. The statement was corroborated by Martić in an interview published in 1991. Babić confirmed that by July 1991 Milošević had taken over control of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). The Croatian government responded to the blockade of roads by sending special police teams in helicopters to

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