Vojvodina (; ; ; ; ; Rusyn: Войводина) is an autonomous province located in northern Serbia. It consists of the Pannonian Plain in the south, and the Danube and Sava (part of the Mačva region that belongs to Vojvodina is located south of Sava) rivers in the north.
Etymology The name "Vojvodina" (Војводина) in the Serbian language simply means "voivodeship" or "duchy". Its original historical name in 1848 was "Serbian Voivodeship" (Serbian Vojvodina). The Serbian language uses two more varieties of the word Vojvodina. These varieties are Vojvodovina (Војводовина), and Vojvodstvo (Војводство), the latter being an equivalent to the Polish word for province, województwo (voivodeship).
As for the names of the three historical and geographical regions of which Vojvodina is composed, Syrmia was named after the ancient Roman city of Sirmium, Bačka was named after the town of Bač, and Banat was named after the ruling title Ban.
Territory of present-day Vojvodina throughout history Banat, Bačka and Syrmia: Throughout history, the territory of present-day Vojvodina (including regions of Banat, Bačka and Syrmia) has been (entirely or partially) a part of: the State of the Scordisci (3rd century BC–1st century AD), with capital in Singidunum (present-day Belgrade), Dacia (1st century BC), Roman Empire (1st–5th century), Hun Empire (5th century), Ostrogoth Kingdom (5th century), Gepid Kingdom (5th–6th century), Langobard State (6th century), Byzantine Empire (6th century; 11th–12th century), Avar Khanate (6th–8th century), Frankish Kingdom (8th–9th century), Principality of Pannonian Croatia (9th century), Principality of Lower Pannonia (9th century), Great Moravia (9th century) – according to various sources, Great Moravia included territory of present-day Vojvodina. According to alternative theory presented by Peter Püspöki Nagy, Great Moravia was centered in present-day Serbia: around the river Velika Morava and in present-day Vojvodina, Bulgarian Empire (9th–11th century), Voivodeship of Salan (9th century), Voivodeship of Glad (9th century), Kingdom of Hungary (10th–16th century), Voivodeship of Ahtum (11th century), Voivodeship of Sermon (11th century), Kingdom of Syrmia of Serb king Stefan Dragutin (13th–14th century) – initially, Stefan Dragutin was vassal of Hungarian king, but later became an independent ruler, realm of Ugrin Csák (13th–14th century) – initially, Ugrin Csák was a Hungarian nobleman, but later became an independent ruler, Serb state of Jovan Nenad (1526–1527), Ottoman Empire (16th–18th century), Ottoman vassal duchy of Radoslav Čelnik (1527–1530), Habsburg monarchy (from 1699 to 1804), including: Military Frontier, Banat of Temeswar (until 1778), Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary (which included Habsburg Kingdom of Croatia and Habsburg Kingdom of Slavonia), Austrian Empire (from 1804 to 1867), including: Serbian Vojvodina (1848–49), Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar (1849–60), Military Frontier, Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary (which included the Habsburg Kingdom of Croatia and the Habsburg Kingdom of Slavonia) – after 1849, Kingdom of Slavonia was a separate Habsburg crownland, Austria-Hungary (from 1867 to 1918), including: Military Frontier (until 1882), Kingdom of Slavonia (until 1868), Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary (which included Habsburg Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia), State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (1918), Banat Republic (1918), Kingdom of Serbia (1918), Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (1918–1929), Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1929–41, also during World War – from 1941 to 1944: the area governed by the Military Administration in Serbia (Western Banat was under German minority rule, by “Volksdeutsche”), the Independent State of Croatia and Kingdom Of Hungary, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1944–92), Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1992–2003), Serbia and Montenegro (2003–06), and, Serbia (2006–present)
Mačva: Through the history, the region of Mačva (whose northern part is within present-day Vojvodina) has been a part of: the Roman Empire (1st–4th century), the Byzantine Empire (4th–5th century; 5th–7th century; 11th–12th century), the Hun Empire (5th century), the Slavic-controlled territories (7th–9th century), the Bulgarian Empire (9th–11th century), the Kingdom of Hungary (12th–13th century; 14th century; 15th century; 16th century), the State of Serb king Stefan Dragutin (13th–14th century), the Serbian Empire (14th century), the State of Nikola Altomanović (14th century), the Moravian Serbia (14th century), the Serbian Despotate (15th century), the Ottoman Empire (15th century; 16th–18th century; 18th–19th century), the Habsburg monarchy (1718–39), the Karađorđe's Serbia (1804–13), the vassal Principality of Serbia (1815–78), the independent Principality of Serbia (1878–82), the Kingdom of Serbia (1882–1918), the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (1918–29), the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1929–1941), the Nedić's Serbia (1941–1944), the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1944–92), the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1992–2003), and Serbia and Montenegro (2003–06). Since 2006, the region is part of independent Serbia.
An autonomous region named Serbian Vojvodina was proclaimed in the May Assembly, which was organized by local Serbs in 1848. Due to the advance of the Hungarian army in 1849 and disagreements between Serb leaders, the autonomous Serb region ceased to exist in 1849 and the remains of its army joined the Austrian imperial army. Later that year (1849), after the Austrian and Russian armies defeated the Hungarians, a separate Habsburg crownland named the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar was formed. It existed from 1849 to 1860 and covered a larger territory than the original Serbian Vojvodina. After World War I, in 1918, the Assembly of local Serbs, Bunjevci and other Slavs of Banat, Bačka and Baranja declared the secession of these regions from the Kingdom of Hungary and the creation of an administrative province named Banat, Bačka and Baranja, which joined the Kingdom of Serbia. Its borders with newly independent Hungary were defined by the Treaty of Trianon (1920). In 1929 the region became a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia named Danube Banovina. From 1944 to 1945 until the breakup of Yugoslavia it was an autonomous province, of socialist Serbia and Yugoslavia. Together with Kosovo and Metohija, Vojvodina enjoyed highly autonomous status between 1974 and 1990.
Early history
The territory of present-day Vojvodina has been inhabited since the Paleolithic period. Indo-European peoples moved into this area during three migration waves, in 4200 BC, 3300 BC, and 2800 BC.
Before the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC, Indo-European peoples of Illyrian, Thracian and Celtic origin inhabited the region. Some of the important tribes that lived in the territory of present-day Vojvodina were: Agatirses, Dacians (Thracian tribes), Amantini, Breuci, Pannonians (Illyrian tribes), and Skordisces (Celtic tribe). The later Roman province of Pannonia was named after one of the Illyrian tribes from the region – the Pannonians.
Romans The Romans conquered this region in the 1st century BC. Opposing Roman rule, the Illyrian tribes started an uprising in 6 AD. The leaders of this uprising were Baton and Pines, the first named individuals known to be from the present-day Vojvodina territory. The Banat region was a part of the Roman province Dacia, while the Syrmia region was part of the province Pannonia.
Sirmium (today Sremska Mitrovica) was an important Roman town. It developed into the economic capital of Roman Pannonia and later became one of the four capital cities of the Roman Empire during the Tetrarchy. Six Roman Emperors were born in this city or in its surroundings: Decius Traian (249–251), Aurelian (270–275), Probus (276–282), Maximianus Herculius (285–310), Constantius II (337–361) and Gratian (367–383). These emperors mostly were Romanized Illyrians by origin.
Although the southern and eastern parts of present-day Vojvodina (Syrmia and Banat) were part of the Roman Empire, the north-western parts (Bačka) were inhabited and ruled by the Iazyges, an Iranian tribe.
Migrations The Huns drove the Romans out of Pannonia after A.D. 395. The rule of the Huns lasted a little over half a century, and the region then became part of the Byzantine Empire. Much of Syrmia was part of the Byzantine province of Pannonia in the 6th century; its capital was Sirmium. The area was later conquered by the Gepids and, for a short time, Sirmium became a capital of the Gepid Kingdom. In 567, the Gepids were defeated by the Avars who established their rule over the region.
Slavs
Slavs (Severans, Abodrites, Braničevci, Timočani, and Serbs) settled in the territory of present-day Vojvodina in the 6th and 7th centuries AD, but pockets of Romanized population remained in the area. Serbs were recorded in northern Banat from the year 567. In the beginning of the 9th century, Syrmia was for the short time part of the state of Ljudevit Posavski (Pannonian Duchy or Pannonian Croatia) and after the Frankish conquest of the region, the Bulgarian Empire conquered its eastern part.
In the 9th century, the territory of present-day Vojvodina became a part of the Bulgarian Empire. According to the Gesta Hungarorum, Salan, a Bulgarian voivod (duke), ruled the territory of Bačka, and his capital city was Titel. Another Bulgarian voivod, Glad, ruled in Banat, but there are no other sources mentioning them except from the Gesta, which was written three hundred years later, so their existence is questionable. By the Gesta Ungarorum, Glad's descendant was Ajtony or Ahtum, voivod of Banat, the last ruler who opposed the establishment of the Kingdom of Hungary. Ajtony was probably an Orthodox Christian, and the modern historiography views him as a Hungarian tribal chief.
In the 11th century, the ruler of Syrmia was Sermon, a vassal of the Bulgarian emperor Samuil, who ruled from Ohrid. Sermon produced his own golden coins in present-day Sremska Mitrovica. After the Bulgarian Empire was defeated by the Byzantine Empire, Sermon was captured and killed because he chose not to co-operate with the new authorities.
Kingdom of Hungary and medieval Serbs
The Hungarians (or Magyars) arrived in the Pannonian Plain during the last decade of the 9th century. Hungarian rule was established in parts of the territory of present-day Vojvodina, beginning from the 10th century. Bačka came under Hungarian rule in the 10th century after the Hungarians defeated Salan. Banat came under Hungarian rule in the 11th century after the defeat of Ahtum, while Syrmia came under Hungarian rule in the 12th century after the Kingdom of Hungary conquered it from the Byzantines. Before the Hungarian conquest, a province of the Byzantine Empire named Theme Sirmium existed in the territory of Syrmia.
In the 13th century, the territory of present-day Vojvodina was divided into several counties: Bač (Bacsensis) and Bodrog (Bodrogiensis), both in the region of Bačka, Syrmia (Sirmiensis) and Vukovar (Vukovariensis), both in the region of Syrmia, and Kovin (Covinum) in the region of Banat.
Kingdom of Syrmia