World War II After the collapse of the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia in the
April War (1941), the entire country was occupied and partitioned between
Axis powers. Central territories of Serbia and the northern region of
Banat were occupied by
Nazi Germany, that enforced direct control over the
Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia, with a puppet
Government installed in Belgrade. Southern regions of
Metohija and
Kosovo were occupied by
Fascist Italy and annexed into the
Italian Albania. The region of
Bačka was annexed by
Hungary, while
Syrmia was possessed by the
Independent State of Croatia. Southeastern parts of Serbia were occupied by
Bulgaria. At the beginning of the occupation, there were two resistance movements:
Chetniks and
Partisans. They had conflicting ideological and political programs, with Chetniks abandoning initial joint resistance efforts alongside Partisans by the end of the
Uprising in Serbia, switching instead to extensive collaboration with Axis forces. Partisans advocated transformation of Yugoslavia into a federation, with Serbia becoming one of its federal units. In the autumn of 1941, first provisional institutions were established by partisans in some liberated territories, headed by the
Main National Liberation Committee for Serbia. It was seated in
Užice, and thus the movement became known as the
Republic of Užice. However, the German offensive crushed this proto-state in December of the same year. After that, main partisan forces moved to Bosnia.
People's Republic of Serbia Serbia was liberated in the autumn of 1944, by partisan forces and the
Red Army. Soon after the liberation of
Belgrade on 20 October, creation of new administration was initiated. In November 1944, the
Anti-fascist Assembly for the People's Liberation of Serbia was convened, affirming the policy of reconstituting Yugoslavia as a federation, with Serbia as one of its federal units. Thus was laid the foundation for the creation of the
Federated State of Serbia (), as a
federated state within new
Democratic Federal Yugoslavia. The process was formalised in April 1945, when the provisional ''
People's Assembly of Serbia was created, also appointing the first People's Government of Serbia. Two newly created regions, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and Autonomous Region of Kosovo and Metohija, decided to merge into Serbia. On November 29 (1945), Yugoslavia was officially proclaimed as federal republic, and in January 1946, after the first Constitution of federal Yugoslavia was adopted, the Federated State of Serbia was renamed to People's Republic of Serbia'' (). In November 1946, elections for the
Constitutional Assembly of Serbia were held, and in January 1947, Constitution of Serbia was adopted, reaffirming its position within Yugoslav federation, and also regulating the position of autonomous units (Vojvodina as autonomous province; Kosovo and Metohija as autonomous region). In 1953, a constitutional law was adopted, introducing further social reforms. By that time, internal political life in Serbia was fully dominated by the
Communist Party of Serbia, formed in May 1945 as a branch of the ruling
Communist Party of Yugoslavia. In order to suppress remaining
monarchist opposition, communists initiated the creation of a wider political coalition, thus establishing the
People's Front of Yugoslavia (PFY), in August 1945. Other political parties were soon dissolved, and remnants of political life were constrained within the PFY, that was under full control of the ruling Communist Party.
Socialist Republic of Serbia , vice-president of ASNOS and Peoples's Assembly (1944–1946), and vice-president of Yugoslavia (1963–1966) In 1963, a new
Yugoslav Constitution was adopted, renaming the federal state into the
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and its federal units into
socialist republics, thus introducing the name:
Socialist Republic of Serbia (). In 1966, one of the most prominent Serbs in the Communist party and also vice-president of Yugoslavia (1963–1966) and founder of Yugoslav intelligence agency
OZNA,
Aleksandar Ranković was removed from positions due to allegations of spying on SFRY President
Josip Broz Tito. After
the Croatian Spring in 1971, almost whole party leadership of Serbia was removed from office, under the charge of being "liberal".
Latinka Perović and
Marko Nikezić were marked as leaders of this liberal movement inside League of Communists of Serbia. In 1974, new constitution was adopted, increasing the powers of provinces, and making them
de facto republics. For the first time the institution of president was formed, as
President of the Presidency of Socialist Republic of Serbia. Assembly was electing 15 members of the presidency and one president for a 4-year term, and later 2-year term. The new constitution practically suspended Serbia's authority over the provinces. After the new constitution was adopted,
Dragoslav Marković, then President of Serbia ordered a secret study on this issue. In January 1975, the Presidency of the Socialist Republic of Serbia requested a revision of constitutional solutions with explanation that the constitution divided the republic into three parts, thus preventing Serbia from exercising its "historic right to a nation state in the Yugoslav federation". After 1990, the state was known simply as
Republic of Serbia (), and in December of the same year, Slobodan Milošević was elected as first President of the Republic. In 1992, when the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was formed, Serbia became one of its two constituent republics. In 2003, this state union was re-formed into
Serbia and Montenegro, and in 2006,
Serbia became an independent republic after
Montenegro separated. ==Administrative divisions==