SERBIA 



5312 



SERBIA 



which form the northern boundary of the coun- 

 try, and the Drina and the Drin, which follow 

 the western boundary. The climate is health- 

 ful, and is rigorous in the mountains but mild 

 and equable in the lowlands. 



Natural Resources. Serbia is a country of 

 peasants, and agriculture is the chief occupa- 

 tion of the overwhelming majority of the in- 

 habitants. The land is divided into a great 

 number of small farms, for almost every peas- 

 ant owns the land he tills. The chief crops, in 

 normal times, are corn, which forms the staple 

 food of the people, wheat and other grains. 

 Large quantities of flax, hemp and tobacco are 

 also raised. Fruit growing forms an important 

 industry, some districts being specially suited 

 for the cultivation of grapes, and others being 

 given over to plum trees. Dried and preserved 

 plums form an important item of export from 

 the country. Forests cover about one-third of 

 the total surface of Serbia and constitute an 

 important source of wealth. The raising of live 

 stock, especially hogs, is one of the important 

 occupations of the people. The country is rich 

 in mineral wealth, the chief minerals found be- 

 ing coal, copper, iron and zinc. Lack of capi- 

 tal and transportation facilities have hindered 

 the developing on an extensive scale of the 

 mining industry. 



There are nearly 1,000 miles of railroads. The 

 trunk lines traverse the country from north to 

 south through the two valleys of the Morava 

 and the Vardar. One of the chief railroad lines 

 runs from Belgrade to Nish and from there to 

 Sofia (which see), the capital of Bulgaria. This 

 line is a part of the transcontinental railroad 

 line which unites Berlin and Vienna with Con- 

 stantinople. At Nish the trunk line which runs 

 south to Saloniki connects with the northern 

 lines. 



Government. Serbia was a constitutional mon- 

 archy and was governed under a constitution 

 adopted in 1889. The legislative power was 

 vested in an assembly, called the Skupshtina, the 

 members of which were elected by the people 

 for a period of four years. The executive power 

 was vested in the king and a Cabinet of eight 

 ministers, who were responsible for their acts to 

 the Skupshtina. There was no Serbian govern- 

 ment between 1915 and the end of the War of 

 the Nations. 



History. In ancient times Serbia formed a 

 part of the Roman province of Moesia. At the 

 time of the invasion of the barbarians it was 

 occupied in succession by Huns, Ostrogoths, 

 Lombards and Avars. At the invitation of the 



Byzantine emperors of Constantinople, the 

 Serbs settled in this region during the seventh 

 century. In the eleventh century the Serbs 

 threw off their allegiance to the Byzantine em- 

 perors and established an independent king- 

 dom. This Serb kingdom extended its terri- 

 tory and in the middle of the fourteenth cen- 

 tury it occupied a great part of the Balkan 

 Peninsula and included, besides the present 

 kingdom of Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Al- 

 bania, part of Bulgaria, and the northern part 

 of Greece. 



The Turks then invaded the country, and the 

 Battle of Kossovo (1389), which was a defeat 

 for the Serbs, decided the fate of Serbia. By 

 the end of the century the Turks were masters 

 of the country, as well as of the remainder of 

 the Balkan Peninsula. Serbia remained a part 



COMPARATIVE AREAS 



Serbia, as it existed to 1918, was not quite as 

 large as the state of Indiana. 



of the Ottoman Empire for over four hundred 

 years. At the beginning of the nineteenth cen- 

 tury the Serbs revolted and compelled the Turks 

 to grant the country an autonomous govern- 

 ment headed by national princes. In 1876 

 Serbia, in order to help the revolt of the Serbs 

 in Bosnia, declared war against Turkey. The 

 Treaty of Berlin (1878) recognized the com- 

 plete independence of the country, and in 1882 

 the principality was proclaimed a kingdom. 



Recent Events. Serbia, together with Bul- 

 garia, Greece and Montenegro, formed the Bal- 

 kan Alliance which defeated Turkey in the first 

 Balkan War and conquered the vast territory 

 which formed the greater part of the Turkish 

 Empire in Europe. The quarrel between the 

 allies over the division of this territory led to 

 the second Balkan War, in which Bulgaria was 

 defeated. Serbia obtained in consequence a 



