ministers of foreign affairs, war, the interior, finance, public works, commerce, religion and education, and justice. The king and the national assembly, or Narodna Skupshtina, of 130[1] members, together form the legislature. A general election must be held every fourth year. Each member receives 15 dinars for every day of actual attendance, and travels free on the railways. There is also a state council which deals with various legal and financial matters. Of its 16 members, half are chosen by the king, and half by the Skupshtina. Apart from soldiers of the active army, all male citizens of full age may vote, if they pay 15 dinars in direct taxes; while, apart from priests, communal mayors and state servants, all citizens of 30 years, paying 60 dinars, are eligible to the Skupshtina. The Velika Skupshtina or Grand Skupshtina is only convoked to discuss the most serious national questions, such as changes in the succession, the constitution or the territories of the kingdom. Its vote is regarded as a referendum, and its members are twice as numerous as those of the Narodna Skupshtina. For purposes of local government Servia is divided into 17 departments (okrug, pl. okruzhi), each under a prefect (nachalnik), who is assisted by a staff of civil servants, dealing with finance, public works, sanitation, religion, education, police, commerce and agriculture. He also commands the departmental constabulary or pandurs. Every department is divided into districts (srez), administered by the sub-prefect (sreski nachalnik); and the districts are sub-divided into communes or municipalities, each having its salaried mayor (kmet or knez), who presides over a council elected on a basis of population. Within the smaller spheres of their jurisdiction, the sub-prefect and mayor have the same duties to fulfil as their superior, the prefect. The mayor is, further, responsible for the maintenance of the communal granary, forests and other property. He presents to the councillors (odbornik, pl. odbornitsi) a yearly statement of accounts and estimates, which they may reject or amend. All taxes levied by the state are paid by the communal council, which assesses the property owned by each family under its authority, collects the amount due and has the right to retain one-fourth, or more, for local requirements. The central government cannot veto the election of a communal mayor or councillor.
Justice.—The highest judicial authority in Servia is the Court of Cassation, created in 1855 and reorganized in 1865. The court of appeal (1840) has two sections, one competent for Belgrade and the seven northern departments, the other for the rest of the kingdom. There are also departmental tribunals of first instance in every department, and a commercial court of first instance in Belgrade. Communal courts exist in every commune or municipality, and certain judicial powers are delegated to the police, under laws dated 1850–1904. Trial by jury, which existed among the Serbs at least as early as the 13th century and fell into desuetude under Turkish rule, was revived in 1871.
Defence.—The medieval citadels of Belgrade, Nish, Pirot and Semendria have no military value, but some strategic points on the Bulgarian frontier were entrenched between 1889 and 1899, while the modern forts of Nish, Pirot and Zayechar were strengthened and re-armed at the beginning of the 20th century. The defensive force of the country, as reorganized in 1901, consists of the national army (narodna voyska) and the landsturm. In the national army, which is organized in 5 divisions, with headquarters at Nish, Belgrade, Valyevo, Kraguyevats and Zayechar, every able-bodied citizen must serve (for two years in the artillery and cavalry or eighteen months in other branches) between his 21st and his 45th year. He must also belong to the landsturm at the ages of 17-21 and 45-50. Exemption from service is granted in a few exceptional cases. The national army, consists of three bans or classes; the first is the field army, the units of the second exist in peace as cadres only, the third is unorganized. On a peace footing the strength of the army is 35,000 men; in war it might reach 225,000, including landsturm. The infantry were armed in 1910 with the Mauser rifle (model 99); the field artillery with quick-firing guns on the Schneider-Canet system.
Religion.—The Servian Church is an autocephalous branch of the Orthodox Eastern communion. It is subject, as a whole, to the ministry of education; for internal administration its governing body is a synod of five prelates, presided over by the archbishop of Belgrade, who is also the metropolitan of Servia. Belgrade is the only archiepiscopal see; the four dioceses are Nish, Shabats, Chacha and the Timolc (episcopal see at Zayechar). The synod is the highest ecclesiastical tribunal; there are also two ecclesiastical courts of appeal and diocesan courts of first instance in every bishopric; the canon law is an important part of the law of the land. In 1910 there were 54 monasteries, but only 110 monks, all belonging to the order of St Basil. Studenitsa, near Kralyevo, and Manasia and Ravanitsa, near Chupriya, are the most interesting monasteries. Much political influence is wielded by the priests, who played a prominent part in the struggles for national independence. They marry and work, and sometimes even bear arms like their parishioners, from whom a large part of their income is derived, in the shape of offerings and fees. The remainder comes principally from church lands; only the highest dignitaries being paid by the state. No able-bodied man may become a priest or monk unless he has served in the army. Liberty of conscience is unrestricted. Liberty of worship is accorded to Roman Catholics, Jews, Mahommedans and certain Protestant communities. The Mahommedans (about 3000 Turks and 11,000 gipsies) are the largest religious body apart from the national Church.
Education.—In 1910, 17% of the population could read and write. Primary education in the state schools is free and compulsory; the reading of Church Slavonic, nature-study and agriculture (for boys), domestic science (for girls), certain handicrafts, singing and gymnastics are among the subjects taught. There are higher schools (mostly Real-Gymnasien) in many of the larger towns, besides (1910) one theological seminary, 4 training schools for teachers, 4 technical schools, a military academy, and 5 secondary schools for girls. The communes and municipalities pay the entire cost of primary education, except the salaries of teachers, which, with the cost of higher education, are paid by the state. In February 1905 the Great School (Velika Shkola) in Belgrade was reorganized as the University of Servia, with faculties of theology, philosophy, law, medicine and engineering. Other important institutions of a semi-educational character are the Royal Servian Academy (1836), which controls the national museum and national library in Belgrade, and publishes periodicals, &c.; the, ethnographical museum (1891), the natural history museum (1904), the national theatre (1890), the State Archives (1866, reorganized 1901), and the state printing office, (1831), all in Belgrade.
See Servia by the Servians, ed. A. Stead (London, 1909); J. Mallat, La Serbie contemporaine (Paris, 1902); E. Lazard and J. Hogge, La Serbie de nos jours (Paris, 1901). For topography:—the Servian and Austrian General Staff Maps; P. Coquelle, La Royaume de Serbia (Paris, 1894); and A. de Gubernatis, La Serbie et les Serbes (Florence, 1897). For geology and minerals:—J. Cvijic (Tsviyich), Grundlinien der Geographie und Geologie, &c. (Belgrade, 1908); J. M. Zhuyovich (Zujović), Geologiya Srbiye (with map, Belgrade, 1893); D. J. Antula, Revue générale des gisements métallifères en Serbie (with map, Paris, 1900); Th. Mirkovich (Mirković), Les Eaux minérales en Serbie (Paris, 1892). For commerce:—Annual British Consular Reports; Statistical Reports of the Servian Ministry of Commerce. For agriculture:—L. R. Yovanovich (Jovanović), L’Agriculture en Serbie (Paris, 1900). For religion:—Bishop N. Ruzhichich (Ružic̀ić), Istoriya Srpske Tsrkve (Belgrade, 1893–1895); and, by the same author, Das kirchlich-religiöse Leben bei den Serben (Göttingen, 1896). (X.)
History
The Serbs (Srbi, as they call themselves) are a Slavonic nation, ethnically and by language the same as the Croats (Hrvati, Horvati, Croati). The Croats, however, are Roman Catholics and use the Latin alphabet, while the Serbs belong to the Orthodox Church and use the Cyrillic alphabet, augmented by special signs for the special sounds of the Serb language. (See Slavs.) The earliest mention of the Serbs is to be found in Ptolemy (Σίρβοι) and in Pliny (Sirbi). Nothing is known of their earlier history except that they lived as an agricultural people in Galicia, near the sources of the rivers Wissla and Dniester. In the beginning of the 6th century they descended to the shores of the Black Sea. Thence they began to move on in a westerly direction along the lefty shore of the Danube, crossed that river and occupied the north-western corner of the Balkan Peninsula. According to the emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus, the emperor Heraclius (610–640) invited the Serbs to come over to settle down in the devastated north-western provinces of the Byzantine empire and to defend them against the incursions of the Avars. According to newer investigations, Heraclius only made peace with them, confirming them in the possession of the provinces which they already had occupied, and obtaining from them at the same time the recognition of his suzerainty. Their known history as a Balkan nation begins towards the middle of the 7th century.
The Zhupaniyas.—In their new settlements the Serbs did not form at once a united political organization. The clans (plemena, sing. pleme), more or less related to each other, occupied a certain
- ↑ One member is chosen to represent every 4500 electors.
