Prehistory and antiquity In the
Neolithic period, two important archaeological cultures flourished in this area: the
Starčevo culture and the
Vinča culture.
Indo-European peoples first settled in the territory of present-day Vojvodina in 3200 BC. During the
Eneolithic period, the
Bronze Age and the
Iron Age, several Indo-European archaeological cultures were centered in or around Vojvodina, including the
Vučedol culture, the
Vatin culture, and the
Bosut culture, among others. Before the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC, Indo-European peoples of
Illyrian,
Thracian, and
Celtic origin inhabited this area. The first states organized in this area were the Celtic
State of the Scordisci (3rd century BC-1st century AD) with capital in
Singidunum (modern-day
Belgrade), and the
Dacian Kingdom of
Burebista (1st century BC). During
Roman rule,
Sirmium (modern-day
Sremska Mitrovica) was one of the four capital cities of the
Roman Empire, and six
Roman Emperors were born in this city or in its surroundings. The city was also the capital of several Roman administrative units, including
Pannonia Inferior,
Pannonia Secunda, the
Diocese of Pannonia, and the
Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum. Roman rule lasted until the 5th century, after which the region came into the possession of various peoples and states. While
Banat was a part of the Roman province of
Dacia,
Syrmia belonged to the Roman province of
Pannonia.
Bačka was not part of the Roman Empire and was populated and ruled by Sarmatian
Iazyges.
Early Middle Ages After the Romans were driven away from this region, various
Indo-European and
Turkic peoples and states ruled in the area. These peoples included
Goths,
Sarmatians,
Huns,
Gepids, and
Avars. For regional history, the largest in importance was a Gepid state, which had its capital in Sirmium. According to the 7th-century
Miracles of Saint Demetrius,
Avars gave the region of Syrmia to a
Bulgar leader named
Kuber circa 680. The Bulgars of Kuber moved south with Maurus to Macedonia where they co-operated with
Tervel in the 8th century.
Slavs settled today's Vojvodina in the 6th and 7th centuries, shortly before some of them crossed the rivers Sava and Danube and settled in the Balkans. Slavic tribes that lived in the territory of present-day Vojvodina included
Obotrites,
Severians,
Braničevci, and
Timočani. In the 9th century, after the fall of the Avar state, the first forms of Slavic statehood emerged in this area. The first Slavic states that ruled over this region included the Bulgarian Empire,
Great Moravia and Ljudevit's Pannonian Duchy. During the Bulgarian administration (9th century), local Bulgarian dukes,
Salan and
Glad, ruled over the region. Salan's residence was Titel, while that of Glad was possibly in the rumoured rampart of Galad or perhaps in the modern-day
Kladovo (Gladovo) in eastern Serbia. Glad's descendant was the duke
Ajtony, another local ruler from the 11th century who opposed the establishment of Hungarian rule over the region. In the village of
Čelarevo archaeologists have also found graves of people who practised the
Judaism, containing skulls with Mongolian features (possibly Avars or Bulgars, while some attribute them to the
Kabars) and Judaic symbols, to the late 8th and 9th centuries.
Hungarian rule in 1190 church Following territorial disputes with
Byzantine and Bulgarian states, Vojvodina was part of the
Principality of Hungary and
Kingdom of Hungary from the 10th century and remained under Hungarian administration until the 16th century. The regional demographic balance started changing in the 11th century when
Hungarians began to replace the local Slavic population. But from the 14th century, the balance changed again in favour of the Slavs when Serb refugees fleeing from territories conquered by the Ottoman army settled in the area. Most of the Hungarians left the region during the Ottoman conquest and early period of Ottoman administration, so the population of Vojvodina in Ottoman times was predominantly Serb, with a significant presence of Muslims of various ethnic backgrounds.
Ottoman rule Following the defeat of the
Kingdom of Hungary at
Mohács by the
Ottoman Empire, the region fell into a period of anarchy and civil wars. In 1526,
Jovan Nenad, a leader of Serb mercenaries, established his rule in
Bačka, northern
Banat, and a small part of
Syrmia. He created an ephemeral independent state, with
Subotica as its capital. At the peak of his power,
Jovan Nenad proclaimed himself Serbian Emperor. Taking advantage of the extremely confused military and political situation, the Hungarian noblemen from the region joined forces against him and defeated the Serbian troops in 1527. Jovan Nenad was assassinated, and his state collapsed. After the fall of his state, the supreme military commander of Jovan Nenad's army,
Radoslav Čelnik, established his own temporary state in the region of Syrmia, where he ruled as an Ottoman vassal. A few decades later, the entire region was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire, which ruled over it until the end of the 17th and the first half of the 18th century, when it was incorporated into the
Habsburg monarchy. The
Treaty of Karlowitz of 1699, between the
Holy League and
Ottoman Empire, marked the withdrawal of the Ottoman forces from
Central Europe and the supremacy of the Habsburg monarchy in that part of the European continent. According to the treaty, the western part of Vojvodina passed to the Habsburgs while the eastern part (eastern Syrmia and
Temeşvar Eyalet) remained in Ottoman hands until the Austrian conquest in 1716. This new border change was ratified by the
Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718.
Habsburg rule from Ottoman territories to the Habsburg monarchy at the end of the 17th century;
Migration of the Serbs, 1896 painting by
Paja Jovanović During the
Great Migrations of the Serbs, Serbs from Ottoman territories settled in the Habsburg monarchy at the end of the 17th century. Most settled in what is now Hungary, with the rest settling in present-day Serbian part of Bačka. All Serbs in the Habsburg monarchy gained the status of a recognized nation with extensive rights, in exchange for providing a border militia (in the
Military Frontier) that could be mobilized against Ottoman invaders from the south, as well as in case of civil unrest in the
Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary. Wallachian Rights became the point of reference in the 18th century for military settlement in lowland region. The Vlachs who settled there were actually mainly Serbs, although there were also
Romanians, while
Aromanians lived in the urban areas. At the beginning of
Habsburg rule, most of the region was integrated into the Military Frontier, while the western parts of Bačka were put under civil administration within the County of Bač. Later, the civil administration was expanded to other (mostly northern) parts of the region, while southern parts remained under military administration. The eastern part of this area was held again by the
Ottoman Empire between 1787 and 1788, during the
Russo-Turkish War. In 1716,
Vienna temporarily forbade settlement by Hungarians and Jews in the area, while large numbers of
Germans were settled in the region from
Swabia and
Bavaria, to repopulate it and develop agriculture. From 1782,
Protestant Hungarians and Germans started settling in larger numbers. , 1848 During the
1848–49 revolutions, Vojvodina was a site of a war between Serbs and Hungarians, due to the opposite national conceptions of the two peoples. At the
May Assembly in
Sremski Karlovci in May 1848, Serbs declared the constitution of the
Serbian Vojvodina (
Serbian Duchy), a Serbian autonomous region within the
Austrian Empire. The Serbian Vojvodina consisted of Syrmia, Bačka, Banat, and
Baranya. The head of the
metropolitanate of Sremski Karlovci,
Josif Rajačić, was elected
patriarch, while
Stevan Šupljikac was chosen as first
voivod (duke). The ethnic war erupted violently in the area, with both sides committing atrocities against the civilian populations. Following the Habsburg-Russian and Serb victory over the Hungarians in 1849, a new administrative territory was created in the region, in accordance with a decision made by the
Emperor of Austria. By this decision, the Serbian autonomous region created in 1848 was transformed into the new Austrian
crown land known as
Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar. It consisted of Banat, Bačka, and Syrmia, excluding the southern parts of these regions, which were part of the Military Frontier with significant Serbian populations. An Austrian governor seated in
Temeschwar ruled the area, while the title of Voivod belonged to the
emperor himself. The full title of the
emperor was "
Grand Voivod of the Voivodship of Serbia". German and Serbian were the official languages of the crown land.
Hungarian rule in
Sremski Karlovci, 1861 Vojvodina remained Austrian Crown land until 1860, when Emperor
Franz Joseph decided that it would be Hungarian Crown land again. After 1867, the Kingdom of Hungary became one of two self-governing parts of
Austria-Hungary, and the territory was returned again to Hungarian administration. In 1867, a new county system was introduced. This territory was organized among
Bács-Bodrog,
Torontál, and
Temes counties. The era following the
Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 was a period of economic flourishing, and the
Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen had the second-fastest growing economy in Europe between 1867 and 1913, but ethnic relations were strained. According to the 1910 census, the last census conducted in Austria-Hungary, the population of Vojvodina consisted of 34% Serbs, 28% Hungarians, and 21% Germans. By the end of the 19th century, on the territory of present-day Vojvodina there were up to 800 Serbian Orthodox churches, 28 monasteries, and a theological college.
Kingdom of Yugoslavia in
Novi Sad, 1918 At the end of
World War I, Austria-Hungary collapsed. On 31 October 1918, the
Banat Republic was proclaimed in
Timișoara. The government of Hungary recognized its independence, but it was short-lived. On 24 November 1918, the Assembly of Syrmia proclaimed the unification of Syrmia with Serbia. The following day, the
Great People's Assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci and other Slavs in Banat, Bačka and Baranja in Novi Sad also proclaimed the
unification of Banat, Bačka and Baranja with the
Kingdom of Serbia. The assembly numbered 757 deputies, of which 578 were Serbs, 84
Bunjevci, 62 Slovaks, 21 Rusyns, 6 Germans, 3 Šokci, 2 Croats, and 1 Hungarian. On 1 December 1918, Vojvodina, as part of the Kingdom of Serbia, became part of the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Between 1929 and 1941, the region was part of the
Danube Banovina, a province of the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia, with administrative center in Novi Sad. Apart from the core territories of Vojvodina and Baranya, it included significant parts of
Šumadija and
Braničevo regions south of the Danube, but not the
capital city of Belgrade itself.
World War II , dedicated to the
Yugoslav Partisans' resistance in
occupied Vojvodina During
World War II,
Nazi Germany and its allies,
Hungary and the
Independent State of Croatia,
occupied Vojvodina and divided it among themselves. Bačka and Baranya were
annexed by Hungary while Syrmia was included in the Independent State of Croatia. The rest of former Danube Banovina (including Banat, Šumadija, and Braničevo) was designated as part of the area governed by the
German Military Administration in Serbia. The administrative center of this smaller province was
Smederevo. The occupying powers committed numerous attrocities against the civilian population; the Jewish population of Vojvodina was almost completely killed or deported. In total,
Axis occupational authorities killed about 50,000 people in Vojvodina (mostly Serbs,
Jews, and
Roma) while more than 280,000 people were interned, arrested, or tortured. In 1942, in the
Novi Sad Raid, a military operation carried out by the
Royal Hungarian Army, resulted in the deaths of 3,000–4,000 civilians. Under the Hungarian authority, 19,573 people were killed in Bačka, of which the majority of victims were of Serbs, Jews, and Roma. During the war,
Yugoslav Partisans established a strong presence in
Fruška Gora and fought against the division of Vojvodina between the occupying forces, advocating for the post-war multicultural autonomous Vojvodina within socialist Yugoslavia. In 1944, vast majority of ethnic Germans (about 200,000) fled the region, together with the retreating German army. Those ethnic Germans who remained in the region (about 150,000) were sent to some of the villages cordoned off as prisons or camps where 8,049 people died from disease, hunger, malnutrition, mistreatment, and cold. It has also been estimated that post-war Yugoslav communist authorities killed some 15,000–20,000 Hungarians. In addition to that, 23,000–24,000 Serbs were killed as well, during
post-war communist purges.
Socialist Yugoslavia The region was politically restored in 1944 (incorporating Syrmia, Banat, Bačka, and Baranya) and became an
autonomous province of Serbia in 1945. Instead of the previous name (Danube Banovina), the region regained its historical name of Vojvodina, while its administrative center remained Novi Sad. When the final borders of Vojvodina were defined, Baranya was assigned to Croatia, while the northern part of the Mačva region was assigned to Vojvodina. Up until the 1970s, the province enjoyed a limited level of autonomy within the
Socialist Republic of Serbia. Under the
1974 Yugoslav constitution, it gained extensive rights of self-rule, as both Kosovo and Vojvodina were given
de facto veto power as changes to their status could not be made without the consent of the provincial assemblies. It represented the peak of the decentralization within Serbia while the late 1980s
anti-bureaucratic revolution, initiated by
Slobodan Milošević, made the sharp turn in the direction of the renewed centralization embodied in numerous constitutional amendments reaffirming and strengthening the link of the province with Serbia.
Breakup of Yugoslavia During the 1990s, Vojvodina underwent significant social changes amid the broader context of the
dissolution of Yugoslavia and subsequent
Yugoslav Wars. Although Vojvodina was spared direct armed conflict, it felt the indirect effects as large influxes of Serb refugees from
Croatia and
Bosnia and Herzegovina, settled in Vojvodina (primarily Syrmia and southern Bačka) significantly altering the demographic and social makeup of the province. At the same time, significant number of ethnic minorities, primarily Croats and Hungarians, emigrated. Hungarians emigrated to Hungary due to economic and political challenges, including disproportionate conscription into the Yugoslav People's Army during the
Croatian War of Independence, prompting many young Hungarians to emigrate to Hungary to avoid being drafted. The
persecution of Croats in 1991 and 1992, resulted in more than 10,000 Croats leaving the province for Croatia, exchanging their property for the property of Serb refugees from Croatia. All these migrations altered the ethnic composition of the province, with the share of Serb population increasing from 57% in 1991 to 65% by 2002, and share of ethnic minorities falling correspondingly.
Contemporary period Following the
overthrow of Slobodan Milošević in 2000, Vojvodina’s autonomy was partially restored, although the scope of autonomy remains fairly limited. In the last two decades, regional economy grew considerably solidifying its role as Serbia’s economic engine, driven traditionally by agriculture, but also from industrial diversification and a growing IT industry, with corresponding big foreign investments made by major multinational companies. ==Geography==