First Serbian Uprising

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First Serbian Uprising
Part of the
Pashalik of Belgrade, parts of the Sanjak of Vidin
Result Ottoman victory
(see Aftermath section)
Territorial
changes
Abolishment of the Serbian rebel government
Belligerents  Revolutionary Serbia
Supported by:
 Russian Empire (1807–1812)
 Wallachia (1804)

From 1805:
Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire
Bosnia Eyalet Ayans
Pashalik of Scutari
Pashalik of Yanina


From 1813:

Commanders and leaders
Casualties and losses 20,000 soldiers killed[1]
60,000 civilians killed 70,000 soldiers killed[1]

The First Serbian Uprising (Serbian: Prvi srpski ustanak; Serbian Cyrillic: Први српски устанак; Turkish: Birinci Sırp Ayaklanması) was an uprising of Serbs in Orašac against the Ottoman Empire from 14 February 1804, to 7 October 1813. The uprising began as a local revolt against the Dahije, who had seized power in a coup d'état. It later evolved into a war for independence, known as the Serbian Revolution, after more than three centuries of Ottoman Empire rule and brief Austrian occupations.

In 1801, the

forced labour
, and reduced taxes.

Serbia's military successes continued over the years, spurred on by the

absolute monarchy
, and other leaders who wanted to limit his power because some of his colleagues abused their privileges for personal gain. After the Russo-Ottoman War ended in 1812, the Ottoman Empire took advantage of these circumstances and reconquered Serbia in 1813.

Although the uprising was unsuccessful, the Serbs were the first Christian population in Ottoman history to rise up against the Sultan and succeed in creating a short-lived independent state. Their uprising eventually became a symbol of the nation-building process in the Balkans and inspired unrest among neighbouring Balkan peoples.[2] The uprising soon resumed with the Second Serbian Uprising in 1815.

Background

Serbia had been under Ottoman rule since the Battle of Kosovo in 1389. Over the centuries, the Serbs experienced oppression, heavy taxation, and cultural assimilation under the Ottoman Empire. By the 18th century, the conditions for Serbs living under Ottoman rule had become increasingly harsh. In addition to high taxes, they faced discrimination and the imposition of the Devshirme system, which required Christian families to provide sons for the Ottoman military.[3] The Serbs lived in wide areas in the western Balkans; a high percentage of them, experienced fighters, had fought under their own officers in the Serbian Freicorps of the Austrian army. They came from the Sanjak of Smederevo (also known in historiography as the Pashalik of Belgrade), a border district containing a population of around 368,000 prior to 1804.[4]

Belgrade, which was the seat of the eponymous pashalik became the second largest Ottoman city in Europe, with over 100,000 inhabitants, surpassed only by Constantinople.[5] During the Austro-Turkish War of 1788, the eastern Šumadija region was occupied by the Austrian-Serbian Free Corps and Hajduks, which led to the occupation of most of the Sanjak of Smederevo by the Habsburg Monarchy (1788–1791). From 15 September to 8 October 1789, an Austrian force besieged the fortress of Belgrade. The Austrians held the city until 1791, when they returned it to the Ottomans under the terms of the Treaty of Sistova. The withdrawal was a disappointment for the Serbs, according to historian Theodor N. Trâpcea.[6]

After the return of the sanjak to the Ottoman Empire, the Serbs expected reprisals from the Turks for their support of the Austrians. Sultan

beglerbeg of Rumelia Eyalet. He left Serbia for Plovdiv to fight against the Vidin rebels of Pazvantoğlu. During Mustafa Pasha's absence, Pazvantoğlu's troops captured Požarevac and besieged the Belgrade Fortress.[10][11] In November 1797, the Obor knez Aleksa Nenadović, Ilija Birčanin and Nikola Grbović arrived in Belgrade with their troops. They successfully forced the besieging Janissary troops to retreat to Smederevo.[12][10]

On 30 January 1799, Selim III allowed the Janissaries to return, calling them local Muslims from the Sanjak of Smederevo. At first, the Janissaries accepted the authority of Hadži Mustafa Pasha. However, in Šabac, a Janissary named Bego Novljanin demanded a surcharge from a Serb and murdered him when he refused to pay. Fearing the worst, Hadži Mustafa Pasha marched to Šabac with a force of 600 men to ensure that the Janissary was brought to justice and that order was restored. The Janissaries not only decided to support Bego Novljanin, but Pazvantoğlu also attacked the Belgrade Pashalik in support of the Janissaries.[13]

Prelude

On 15 December 1801, Belgrade

Hadži Mustafa Pasha was executed by Kučuk-Alija, one of four Janissaries originally from the Sanjak of Vidin (modern north-western Bulgaria). Alongside Haji Mustafa Pasha. Mehmed Foça-oğlu, Aganli-Bayraktar and Mülla Yusuf, the four Janissaries referred to themselves as Dahije.[14][15] As a result, Belgrade was captured and the Sanjak of Smederevo was divided among them independently of the Ottoman government, and in defiance of the Sultan, despite the dispatch of a new Pasha from Constantinople.[15]

The Janissaries enforced a system of arbitrary abuse unparalleled in the entire history of Ottoman misrule in the Balkans.[16] The leaders divided the Sanjak into pashaliks,[16] immediately suspending Serbian autonomy and significantly increasing taxes. Land confiscation and the introduction of forced labour, known as chiflik, prompted many Serbs to flee to the mountains.[17]

The Serbs petitioned the Sultan to inform him of the tyranny they were suffering,[18] upon learning of this and in an attempt to prevent a rebellion, the Dahije decided to act first. At the end of January 1804, throughout the Sanjak, between 70 and 150 knezes (village leaders), livestock merchants and Orthodox priests were executed by the Dahije in an event known as the Slaughter of the Knezes.[19] According to contemporary sources from Valjevo, the severed heads of the leaders were displayed on the central square as a warning to those who might plot against the Dahije's rule.[19] Janissary atrocities fueled fear and anger among the Serbs, leading some to flee with their families into the woods while others organised themselves into self-defence units,[16] as uncoordinated resistance erupted throughout the region.[15]

The events in Serbia were being closely monitored by neighbouring Christian states such as

Phanariote Prince Constantine Ypsilantis (who was secretly hostile to Ottoman rule). During the early stages of the rebellion, the Belgrade Pashalik was visited by Ypisilantis' agents, including Dositei Filitti.[20]

Uprising against the Dahije

Orašac Assembly

On 14 February 1804, a group of leading Serbs gathered at Marićević Gully, in the small village of Orašac (near Aranđelovac) to support a call for a general uprising. The meeting was held after the massacre and the resentment against the Dahije, who had revoked the privileges granted to the Serbs by Selim III. Among those present were Stanoje Glavaš, Atanasije Antonijević, and Tanasko Rajić. They elected Đorđe Petrović, a cattle trader known as Karađorđe, as their leader. Karađorđe, a former member of the Freikorps during the Austro-Turkish War and an officer in the national militia, had considerable military experience.[21] Serbian forces quickly took control of Šumadija, leaving the Dahije with only Belgrade under their control. The Istanbul government ordered the pashas of the neighbouring Pashaliks not to help the Dahije.[22] At first the Serbs fought on the side of the Sultan against the Janissaries, but later they were supported by an Ottoman official and the Sipahi cavalry corps.[23] Despite their small numbers, the Serbs achieved significant military victories, capturing Požarevac and Šabac and launching successful attacks on Smederevo and Belgrade in quick succession.[23]

In July 1804, the Sultan, fearing that the Serbian movement might get out of control, sent

Ada Kale, an island in the Danube.[24] Bekir demanded the surrender of the Dahije. Meanwhile, Karađorđe sent his commander, Milenko Stojković, to the island.[25] The Dahije refused to surrender, so Stojković attacked and captured them. He had them beheaded on the night of 5–6 August 1804.[25] After destroying the power of the Dahije, Bekir Pasha wanted the Serbs disbanded. However, since the Janissaries still held important towns such as Užice, the Serbs were unwilling to stop without guarantees.[24] In May 1804, Serbian leaders under Dorđe Petrović met in Ostružnica to continue the uprising. Their goals were to seek protection from Austria, to petition Sultan Selim for greater autonomy, and to request Russian protection from the Russian ambassador in Istanbul. The Russian government maintained a neutral policy toward the Serbian revolt until the summer of 1804 due to the recent Russo-Turkish friendship, which was a response to the growing influence of France. At the beginning of the uprising, the Russian envoy in Montenegro refused to deliver the message when the Serbs asked for help and instructed the Serbs to petition the Sultan. However, in the summer of 1804, after the meeting in Ostružnica, the Russian government changed its policy to be recognized by Istanbul as the guarantor of peace in the region.[22]

Negotiations between the Serbs and the Ottomans began in May 1804, mediated by the Austrian governor of Slavonia. As Trâpcea notes, the Serbs made only modest demands, seeking autonomy within the borders of the Pashalik.[26] This autonomy was to be under the control of a Serbian knez with the power to collect taxes for the Sublime Porte. In addition, the Serbian leaders demanded further restrictions on the Janissaries. In 1805, negotiations between the Porte and the Serbs broke down over the Porte's inability to accept an agreement guaranteed by a foreign power and the Serbs' refusal to lay down their arms. Fearing a Christian uprising, the Porte issued a decree on 7 May 1805, ordering the rebels to disarm and rely on regular Ottoman troops to protect them from the Dahije. The Serbs, however, summarily ignored the decree.[27][24] Selim responded by ordering Hafiz Pasham, the Pasha of Niš, to march against the Serbs and take Belgrade.[28]

Uprising against the Ottomans

The seal of the Ruling Council (Praviteljstvujušči sovjet)
The Battle of Mišar (1806), by Afanasij Šeloumov
Flintlock pistols from the First Serbian Uprising
Ibrahim Bushati and Ali Pasha's two sons, Muktar Pasha and Veli Pasha, the Ottomans were consistently defeated. In December 1806, the rebels, led by Petar Dobrnjac, captured Belgrade and gained control of the entire Pashalik. The rebels sent the Belgrade merchant Petar Ičko as their envoy to the Ottoman government in Constantinople. He succeeded in obtaining a favourable treaty named after him, the Ičko's Peace,[29]
which granted a measure of Serbian autonomy. However, Serbian leaders rejected the treaty and may have poisoned Ičko for his dealings with the Ottomans.

In 1805, the Serbian rebels established a rudimentary government to administer the lands under Serbian control. The government was divided into the

Narodna Skupština (People's Assembly), the Praviteljstvujušči Sovjet (Ruling Council), and Karađorđe himself. The Ruling Council was established on the recommendation of Russian Foreign Minister Chartorisky and at the suggestion of some dukes, including Jakov and Matija Nenadović, Milan Obrenović, and Sima Marković.[30] Their purpose was to check Karađorđe's powers. Boža Grujović, the first secretary, and Matija Nenadović, the first president, envisioned the Council as the government of the new Serbian state.[31] The revolutionary government was responsible for organizing and supervising various aspects of government, including administration, economy, army supply, law and order, justice, and foreign policy.[31] In addition to abolishing forced labour and reducing taxes, they also abolished all feudal obligations in 1806, emancipating peasants and serfs and marking a major social break with the past. The poll tax on non-Muslims (jizya
) was also abolished.

The Battle of Deligrad in December 1806 was a decisive victory for the Serbs, which boosted the morale of the outnumbered rebels. To avoid total defeat, Ibrahim Pasha negotiated a six-week armistice with Karađorđe. By 1807, the demands for self-government within the Ottoman Empire had evolved into a war of independence, supported by the Russian Empire. Combining patriarchal peasant democracy with modern national aspirations, the Serbian Revolution attracted thousands of volunteers among Serbs from across the Balkans and Central Europe. It eventually became a symbol of the nation-building process in the Balkans and provoked unrest among Christians in both Greece and Bulgaria. After a successful siege with 25,000 men in late 1806, Karađorđe proclaimed Belgrade the capital of Serbia on 8 January 1807, after the surrender of the remaining fortifications on St. Stephen's Day.[32] The Serbian efforts were supported by the Imperial Russian Army, which had established itself in Wallachia during the parallel Russo-Turkish War. This allowed the Serbian rebels to concentrate on the Timok Valley, deep in the Sanjak of Vidin. A local rebel named Hajduk Veljko pledged his allegiance to Karađorđe.[33]

Earlier rebellions against the Ottoman Turks were suppressed with great violence and repression.[34] In February 1804, the Janissaries executed seventy-two Serbs and displayed their heads on the citadel of Belgrade. These actions led to equally brutal reprisals when the situation was reversed.[35] The liberation of Belgrade was followed by a massacre of Turks.[36] The event was described by the Serbian historian Stojan Novakovic as a "thorough cleansing of the Turks".[37] After the Serbs finally stormed the fortress of Belgrade, Archbishop Leontii reported that the commander was killed "as well as all other Muslim inhabitants"; Turkish women and children were baptized.[35][38] The slaughter was accompanied by widespread destruction of Turkish and Muslim property and mosques.[39] A significant portion of those killed were not of actual Turkish descent, but were local Slavs who had converted to Islam over the centuries.[citation needed] The massacre sparked a debate within the rebel faction. The older generation of rebels viewed the massacre as a sin, but the prevailing principle was the removal of all Muslims.[40]

In 1808, Sultan Selim was executed by

gunpowder magazine of his entrenchment, causing an explosion that killed all the rebels and Ottoman troops in the vicinity. Afterwards, Hurshid Pasha ordered the construction of a tower made from the skulls of Serbian revolutionaries. The resulting Skull Tower
stands ten feet tall and contains 952 Serbian skulls embedded in 14 rows on all four sides. In July 1810, Russian troops arrived in Serbia for the second time. This time they provided military cooperation by sending weapons, ammunition and medical supplies. Marshal
Habsburgs and Napoleon, but to no avail.[41] At this point, the Serbian rebels shifted to a defensive strategy, focusing on holding their territories rather than making further gains.[41][42] Meanwhile, Russia, preoccupied with a French invasion, prioritized signing a final peace treaty and acted against Serbia's interests.[42] In particular, the Serbs were not informed of the negotiations and only learned of the final terms from the Ottomans.[42] This second Russian retreat occurred at the height of Karađorđe's power and the rise of Serbian expectations.[42] The Treaty of Bucharest, signed in May 1812, contained Article 8, which dealt with the Serbs. According to the treaty, Serbian fortifications were to be destroyed unless they were of value to the Ottomans. Pre-1804, Ottoman installations were to be reoccupied and garrisoned by Ottoman troops. In return, the Porte promised a general amnesty and certain autonomous rights. The Serbs were granted control over the administration of their own affairs and the collection and payment of a fixed tribute.[43] The reaction in Serbia was strong, with particular concern over the reoccupation of fortresses and towns and the expectation of feared reprisals.[43]

Serbia in 1813, before the Ottoman reconquest

During the rebellion, some of the leaders abused their privileges for personal gain. Disagreements arose between Karađorđe and other leaders as Karađorđe sought absolute power while his dukes sought to limit it. After retaking Belgrade, the Ottoman Empire took advantage of the Russian retreat to reconquer Serbia in 1813. As part of this effort, Wallachia was also recaptured and secured by the Ottomans under the loyalist Phanariote John Caradja, along with its Great Banship (Oltenia). In July 1813, an Ottoman–Wallachian force, including "several hundreds of Caradja's Romanians" arriving in through Oltenia, moved up the Timok River and killed Veljko at Negotin.[44] The Ottoman forces burned villages along the main invasion routes, massacred or displaced their inhabitants, and enslaved many women and children. Karađorđe and other rebel leaders fled the country, and the exiles scattered throughout the Austrian Empire, Wallachia, and Russia.[45]

Aftermath

The Skull Tower built by the Turks with embedded Serbian skulls, as depicted in an 1863 sketch by Felix Philipp Kanitz

As a clause of the Treaty of Bucharest, the Ottomans agreed to grant a general amnesty to the participants of the uprising.[46] However, as soon as Turkish rule was re-established in Serbia, villages were burned and thousands were sent into slavery. Belgrade became the scene of brutal vengeance. On 17 October 1813 alone, 1,800 women and children were sold into slavery.[46] Various acts of violence and confiscation of property also took place. Islamized Serbs and Albanians in particular participated in such actions.[47]

Under direct Ottoman rule, all Serbian institutions were abolished. In 1814, tensions continued and Hadži Prodan, one of Karađorđe's former commanders, launched a

Miloš Obrenović. The uprising eventually succeeded in turning Serbia into a semi-autonomous state.[48]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Protić 1893.
  2. ^ Glenny 2012, p. 13.
  3. ^ Jelavich 1983, p. 41.
  4. ^ Jelavich 1983, p. 193.
  5. ^ "The History of Belgrade". Belgradenet.com. Archived from the original on 30 December 2008. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
  6. ^ Trâpcea 1942, p. 264.
  7. ^ The Ottoman Empire and the Serb Uprising, S J Shaw in The First Serbian Uprising 1804–1813 Ed W Vucinich, p. 72
  8. ^ Ranke 1847.
  9. ^ Paxton 1968, p. 13.
  10. ^ a b Ćorović 2001.
  11. ^ Trâpcea 1942, pp. 267–268.
  12. ^ Filipović, Stanoje R. (1982). Podrinsko-kolubarski region. RNIRO "Glas Podrinja". p. 60. Ваљевски кнезови Алекса Ненадовић, Илија Бирчанин и Никола Грбовић довели су своју војску у Београд и учествовали у оштрој борби са јаничарима који су се побеђени повукли.
  13. ^ Ranke 1847, p. 115.
  14. ^ Ćorović 2001, ch. Почетак устанка у Србији.
  15. ^ a b c Djokić 2023, p. 213.
  16. ^ .
  17. .
  18. ^ Morison 2012, p. xvii.
  19. ^ a b Ranke 1847, p. 119–120.
  20. ^ Trâpcea 1942, p. 270.
  21. ^ a b Jelavich et al. 1983, p. 200.
  22. ^ a b Vucinich, Wayne S. The First Serbian Uprising, 1804–1813. Social Science Monographs, Brooklyn College Press, 1982.
  23. ^ a b c d Morison 2012, p. xviii.
  24. ^ a b c Morison 2012, p. xix.
  25. ^ a b Petrovich 1976, p. 34.
  26. ^ Trâpcea 1942, p. 269.
  27. OCLC 882844266
    .
  28. ^ Jelavich et al. 1983, p. 198.
  29. ^ Petrovich 1976, p. 98-100.
  30. ^ Janković 1955, p. 18.
  31. ^ a b Čubrilović 1982, p. 65.
  32. ^ Srđan Rudić et al. 2018, p. 299.
  33. ^ Trâpcea 1942, pp. 270–277.
  34. ^ Mojzes 2011, p. 10.
  35. ^ a b Berend 2005, p. 123.
  36. .
  37. ^ Sudanow. Ministry of Culture and Information. 1994. p. 20.
  38. . Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  39. . Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  40. .
  41. ^ a b c d Jelavich 1983, p. 201.
  42. ^ a b c d e f Jelavich & Jelavich 1977, p. 34.
  43. ^ a b Jelavich & Jelavich 1977, p. 35.
  44. ^ Trâpcea 1942, pp. 277–278.
  45. ^ a b "The Serbian Revolution and the Serbian State".
  46. ^ a b Judah 1997, p. 188.
  47. .
  48. ^ Judah 1997, p. 189.

Sources

Further reading