History of Novi Sad - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

This is history of Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....

.

Early history of Petrovaradin

Human settlement in the territory of present-day Novi Sad has been traced as far back as the Stone Age

Stone Age

The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...

(about 4500 BC). This settlement was located on the right bank of the river Danube in the territory of present-day Petrovaradin.

This region was conquered by Celts (in the 4th century BC) and Romans

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

(in the 1st century BC). The Celts founded the first fortress at this location, which was located on the right bank of the Danube. During Roman rule, a larger fortress was built in the 1st century AD with the name Cusum and was included into Roman province Pannonia

Pannonia

Pannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....

. In the 5th century, Cusum was devastated by the invasion of the Huns

Huns

The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...

By the end of the 5th century, Byzantines

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

had reconstructed the city and called it by the names Cusum and Petrikon. The city in time became conquered by the Ostrogoths, Gepids, Avars

Eurasian Avars

The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...

, Franks

Franks

The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...

, Bulgarians

Bulgarians

The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...

, and again by the Byzantines.

The city was later conquered by the Kingdom of Hungary

Kingdom of Hungary

The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...

(in the 10th-12th century); by the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

(in 1526), and by the Habsburg Monarchy

Habsburg Monarchy

The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...

(in 1687). The city was first mentioned under the name Peturwarad (Pétervárad, Serbian: Petrovaradin) in documents from 1237. Another name used for it was Bélakút. Petrovaradin was known under the name Pétervárad under Hungarian rule, Varadin under Ottoman rule, and Peterwardein under Habsburg

Habsburg

The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...

rule.

During the Ottoman rule, Petrovaradin had 200 houses, and three mosques. There was also a Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

quarter with 35 houses populated with ethnic Serbs

Serbs

The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...

Early history of Sremska Kamenica

Sremska Kamenica was first mentioned in historical documents in 1237. In this time the town was under administration of the Kingdom of Hungary

Kingdom of Hungary

, although its name has a Slavic

Slavic languages

The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...

origin, implying that it was initially inhabited by Slavs. The name of the town derives from the Slavic word "kamen" ("stone" in English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

) and was recorded as "villa Camanch" in 1237 and "Kamenez" in 1349.

Before the Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

conquest in the 16th century, the town had about 150 houses, while during the Ottoman rule, in 1567, the population of the town numbered only 15 houses. The inhabitants of the town during Ottoman rule were Serbs

Serbs

.

After the establishment of the Habsburg

Habsburg Monarchy

rule, the Habsburg census from 1702 recorded 40 houses in the town, almost all of them populated by ethnic Serbs. During the 18th century, the number of Orthodox inhabitants increased to 1,000. During the Habsburg rule, the town was a possession of the Marcibányi and Karácsonyi families.

Other older settlements

Before the foundation of Novi Sad (Ratzen Stadt) in 1694, several other settlements existed on the left bank of the river Danube

Danube

The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

in the territory of present-day Novi Sad (besides Petrovaradin and Sremska Kamenica on the right bank of the Danube). In 1237, several settlements were mentioned to exist at this location. Between the 13th and 16th century, the following settlements existed in the territory of modern urban area of Novi Sad:

Baksa or Baksafalva (Serbian: Bakša or Bakšić) - this settlement was located in the area of modern neighborhood of Stari Grad.
Kűszentmárton (Serbian: Sent Marton) - this settlement was located in the area of modern neighborhood of Telep
Telep
Telep is a neighborhood of Novi Sad, in the Serbian province of Vojvodina. Telep is located in the western part of the city and it covers an area of 3.45 km².-Name:...

.
Bivalyos or Bivalo (Serbian: Bivaljoš or Bivalo) - this settlement was located in the area of modern neighborhood of Slana Bara
Slana Bara
Slana Bara is a quarter of the city of Novi Sad in Serbia.-Name:Its name in the Serbian language means "the salty bog". The name refer to the large bog that existed in this area in the past, and whose remains are still visible.-History:...

.
Vásárosvárad (Serbian: Vašaroš Varad or Varadinci) - this settlement was located in the periphery of modern neighborhood of Klisa.
Zajol I (Serbian: Sajlovo I, Gornje Sajlovo or Gornje Isailovo) - this settlement was located in the area of modern neighborhoods of Klisa and Gornje Livade
Gornje Livade, Novi Sad
Gornje Livade , also known as Gornje Sajlovo and Šumice , is a quarter of the city of Novi Sad in Serbia.-History:...

.
Zajol II (Serbian: Sajlovo II, Donje Sajlovo or Donje Isailovo) - this settlement was located in the area of modern neighborhood of Sajlovo
Sajlovo
Sajlovo or Donje Sajlovo is a neighborhood of the city of Novi Sad in Serbia.-History:...

.
Bistritz (Serbian: Bistrica) - this settlement was (maybe) located in the area of modern neighborhood of Bistrica
Bistrica (Novo Naselje)
Bistrica , also known as Novo Naselje , is a neighborhood of the city of Novi Sad, the capital of the Serbian province of Vojvodina. The first houses at this locality were built in 1957.-Name:...

(Novo Naselje).

Some other settlements existed in the suburban area of Novi Sad:

Mortályos (Serbian: Mrtvaljoš) - this settlement was located in the northern suburban area of Novi Sad.
Csenei (Serbian: Čenej) - this settlement was located in the area of modern village of Čenej
Cenej
Čenej is a village located in the Novi Sad municipality, in the South Bačka District of Serbia. It is situated in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina...

.
Keménd (Serbian: Kamendin) - this settlement was located in the area of modern Kamendin
Kamendin, Sirig
Kamendin is village in municipality Temerin, South Bačka District, Vojvodina, Serbia. Until 2007 it was part of the village of Sirig.-History:...

, which is part of the village of Sirig
Sirig
Sirig is a village located in the Temerin municipality, in the South Bačka District of Serbia. It is situated in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 3,010 people ....

.
Rév (Serbian: Rivica) - this settlement was located in the northern suburban area of Novi Sad.

Etymology of the settlement names show that some of them are of Slavic

Slavic languages

origin, which indicate that some of them were initially inhabited by Slavs. For example, Bivalo (Bivaljoš) was a large Slavic settlement that dates from the 5th-6th century. Some settlement names are of Hungarian

Hungarian language

Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....

origin (for example Kűszentmárton, Vásárosvárad, Rév), which indicate that these settlements were inhabited by Hungarians before the Ottoman invasion. Names of some settlements are of uncertain origin, or it is not clear weather their names are of Slavic or of Hungarian origin.

Tax records from 1522 are showing a mix of Hungarian and Slavic names among inhabitants of these villages, including Slavic names like Bozso (Božo), Radovan, Radonya (Radonja), Ivo, etc. Following the Ottoman invasion in the 16th-17th century, some of these settlements were destroyed and most Hungarian inhabitants have left this area. Some of the settlements also existed during the Ottoman rule, and were populated by ethnic Serbs.

In the year 1590, population of all villages that existed in the territory of present-day Novi Sad numbered 105 houses inhabited exclusively by Serbs

Serbs

. However, Ottoman records mention only those inhabitants that paid taxes, thus the number of Serbs that lived in the area (for example those that served in the Ottoman army) was larger.

The foundation of Novi Sad

At the outset of the Habsburg rule, people of Orthodox faith were forbidden from residing in Petrovaradin

Petrovaradin

Petrovaradin , is part of the agglomeration of Novi Sad in Serbia...

, thus Serbs were largely unable to build homes in the town. Because of this, a new settlement was founded in 1694 on the left bank of the Danube. The initial name of this settlement was Ratzen Stadt (Serbian: Racki Grad, meaning "the Serb City" in English). Another name used for the settlement was Peterwardein Schantz (Serbian: Petrovaradinski Šanac). In 1718, the inhabitants of the village of Almaš

Almaš

Almaš , also known as Ajmaš and Aljmaš , was an ethnic Serb village in Bačka. It existed until the first half of the 18th century. The village was located on Almaška bara , between Temerin, Nadalj, and Gospođinci.The hungarian name means "apple".According to the 1715 census, the population of...

were resettled to Petrovaradinski Šanac, where they founded Almaški Kraj

Almaški Kraj

Almaški Kraj is a part of Novi Sad, Serbia. It is situated between the Almaška church and the Saborna church and includes parts of the Podbara, Salajka and Stari Grad neighborhoods.-History and culture:...

("the Almaš quarter").

According to 1720 data, the population of Ratzen Stadt was composed of 112 Serbian, 14 German, and 5 Hungarian houses. The settlement officially gained the present name Novi Sad (Neoplanta in Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

) in 1748 when it became a "free royal city". In 1780, Novi Sad had about 2,000 houses, of which 1,144 were Serbian.

The edict that made Novi Sad a "free royal city" was proclaimed on February 1, 1748. The edict said: "We, Maria Theresa

Maria Theresa of Austria

Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...

, by the God's mercy Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Hungary

Kingdom of Hungary

, Bohemia

Bohemia

Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

, Moravia

Moravia

Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...

, Dalmatia

Dalmatia

Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....

, Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

, Slavonia

Slavonia

Slavonia is a geographical and historical region in eastern Croatia...

, Rama

Rama

Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...

, Serbia

Serbia

Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

, Galicia, Lodomeria

Lodomeria

Lodomeria is the Latinized name of Volodymyr-Volhynia, a medieval Ruthenian principality, which was part of Halych-Volhynia in the 13th and 14th centuries...

, Carinthia

Duchy of Carinthia

The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....

, etc, etc. Cast this proclamation to anyone, who might concern...so that the famous Petrovaradinski Šanac, which lies on the other side of the Danube

Danube

The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

in Bačka

Backa

Bačka is a geographical area within the Pannonian plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east of which confluence is located near Titel...

province on Sajlovo land, by the might of our divine royal power and prestige...make this town a Free Royal City and to fortify, accept and sign it in as one of the free royal cities of our Kingdom of Hungary

Kingdom of Hungary

and other territories, by abolishing its previous name of Petrovaradinski Šanac, renaming it Neoplanta (Latin), Újvidék (Hungarian

Hungarian language

Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....

), Neu-Satz (German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

), Novi Sad (Serbian

Serbian language

Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....

), Mlada Loza (Bulgarian

Bulgarian language

Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...

)".

Development from 1748 to 1918

For much of the 18th and 19th centuries, Novi Sad was the largest city populated with ethnic Serbs in the World (The reformer of the Serbian language, Vuk Stefanović Karadžić

Vuk Stefanovic Karadžic

Vuk Stefanović Karadžić was a Serbian philolog and linguist, the major reformer of the Serbian language, and deserves, perhaps, for his collections of songs, fairy tales, and riddles to be called the father of the study of Serbian folklore. He was the author of the first Serbian dictionary...

, wrote in 1817 that Novi Sad is the "largest Serb municipality in the world". In 1820 Novi Sad had 20,000 inhabitants, of whom about 2/3 were Serbs. Belgrade, the current largest city populated by Serbs, did not reached similar population before 1853). It was a cultural and political centre of Serbs, who did not have their own national state at the time. Because of its cultural and political influence, Novi Sad became known as the Serb Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

(Srpska Atina in Serbian

Serbian language

Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....

). According to the 1843 data, Novi Sad had 17,332 inhabitants, of whom 9,675 were Orthodox Christians, 5,724 Catholics, 1,032 Protestants, 727 Jews, and 30 adherents of the Armenian church. The largest ethnic group in the city were Serbs, and the second largest were Germans.

During the Revolution of 1848-1849

Revolutions of 1848

The European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations, Springtime of the Peoples or the Year of Revolution, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe in 1848. It was the first Europe-wide collapse of traditional authority, but within a year reactionary...

, Novi Sad was part of Serbian Vojvodina

Serbian Vojvodina

The Serbian Vojvodina was a Serbian autonomous region within the Austrian Empire...

, a Serbian autonomous region within Habsburg Empire. In 1849 the Hungarian army located on the Petrovaradin Fortress bombarded and devastated the city, which lost much of its population (According to 1850 census there were only 7,182 citizens in the city compared with about 20,000 in 1820).

Between 1849 and 1860, the city was part of a separate Austrian crownland known as the Vojvodina of Serbia and Tamiš Banat. After the abolishment of this province, the city was included into Bacsensis-Bodrogiensis

Bács-Bodrog

Bács-Bodrog County was the administrative county of the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary from 18th century to 1918. Its territory is currently in northern Serbia and southern Hungary. The capital of the county was Zombor .-Name:The county was named after two older counties: Bács and Bodrog...

County. After 1867, Novi Sad was located within the Hungarian

Kingdom of Hungary

part of Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

. During this time, the Magyarization

Magyarization

Magyarization is a kind of assimilation or acculturation, a process by which non-Magyar elements came to adopt Magyar culture and language due to social pressure .Defiance or appeals to the Nationalities Law, met...

policy of the Hungarian government drastically altered the demographic structure of the city, i.e. from the predominantly Serbian

Serbs

, the population of the city became ethnically mixed. According to 1880 census, the percent of Serbian language speakers in the city was 41.2%, and the percent of Hungarian language speakers was 25.9%. Until 1910, the percent of Serbian language speakers decreased to 34.52%, while the percent of Hungarian language speakers increased to 39.72%.

According to the 1910 census, the city had 33,590 inhabitants, of which 13,343 (39.72%) most frequently spoke Hungarian language

Hungarian language

Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....

, 11,594 (34.52%) Serbian language

Serbian language

Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....

, 5,918 (17.62%) German language

German language

, 1,453 (4.33%) Slovak language

Slovak language

Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...

, etc. It is not certain whether Hungarians or Serbs were largest ethnic group in the city in this time, since 1910 census is considered partially inaccurate by most historians because this census did not recorded the population by ethnic origin or mother tongue, but by the "most frequently spoken language", thus the census results overstated the number of Hungarian speakers, since this was official language at the time and many non-Hungarian native speakers stated that they most frequently speak Hungarian language in everyday communication. The city was also home to 2,326 Jews, of whom many were native Hungarian speakers. Another aspect of the census was that it not only recorded permanent residents of the city, but also temporary residents, who did not live in the city, but were situated there as part of the civil and military services.

After the First World War

On November 3, 1918, the Serb National Board and the Serb Safeguard were organized in the city. On November 6, the Serb National Board invited the Danube division of the Serbian army, which already entered Srem, to send its troops to Bačka as soon as possible. On November 8, the last Austro-Hungarian soldiers evacuated from the city, and the entire city was under control of the Serb National Board and the Serb Safeguard.

Serbian troops entered the city on November 9, 1918, and on November 25, 1918, the Assembly of Serbs

Serbs

, Bunjevci

Bunjevci

Bunjevci are a South Slavic community and ethnic group living mostly in the Bačka region of Serbia and southern Hungary...

, and other nations of Vojvodina

Vojvodina

Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...

in Novi Sad proclaimed the unification of Vojvodina region with the Kingdom of Serbia

Kingdom of Serbia

The Kingdom of Serbia was created when Prince Milan Obrenović, ruler of the Principality of Serbia, was crowned King in 1882. The Principality of Serbia was ruled by the Karađorđevic dynasty from 1817 onwards . The Principality, suzerain to the Porte, had expelled all Ottoman troops by 1867, de...

(the assembly numbered 757 deputies, of which 578 were Serbs

Serbs

, 84 Bunjevci

Bunjevci

Bunjevci are a South Slavic community and ethnic group living mostly in the Bačka region of Serbia and southern Hungary...

, 62 Slovaks

Slovaks

The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...

, 21 Rusyns

Pannonian Rusyns

Rusyns in Pannonia, or simply Rusyns or Ruthenians , are a Slavic minority in Serbia and Croatia...

, 6 Germans

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

, 3 Šokci, 2 Croats

Croats

Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...

, and 1 Hungarian). Since December 1, 1918, Novi Sad is part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.

According to the 1921 census, the city had 39,122 inhabitants, of which 16,071 were Serbs

Serbs

, 13,065 Hungarians, 6,486 Germans

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

, 2,663 Jews

Jews

The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

, 1,294 Slovaks

Slovaks

, 672 Russians

Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

, 613 Slovenes. In 1929, Novi Sad became the capital of the Danube Banovina

Danube Banovina

The Danube Banovina or Danube Banate was a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1929 and 1941. This province consisted of the geographical regions of Syrmia, Bačka, Banat, Baranja, Šumadija, and Braničevo. The capital city of the Danube Banovina was Novi Sad...

, a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia

Kingdom of Yugoslavia

The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...

.

In 1941, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia

Kingdom of Yugoslavia

The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...

was invaded and partitioned by the Axis Powers

Axis Powers

The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...

, and its northern parts, including Novi Sad, were annexed by Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

. During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, about 5,000 citizens were murdered and many others were resettled (in a 1942 raid alone, Hungarian gendarmerie killed 1,246 citizens, among them 809 Jews, 375 Serbs, 18 Hungarians, 15 Russians and 2 Rusyns, and threw their corpses into the icy waters of Danube ). During the war, the resistance movement was active in the city. Citizens of all nationalities - Serbs, Hungarians, Slovaks and others fought together against the Axis authorities. On August 7, 1944, the Allies

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

bombed the Novi Sad oil facilities as part of the Oil Campaign of World War II

Oil Campaign chronology of World War II

The Oil Campaign chronology of World War II lists bombing missions and related events regarding the petroleum/oil/lubrication facilities that supplied Nazi Germany.-Legend:...

. The partisan forces from Srem and Bačka entered the city on October 23, 1944, and Novi Sad became part of the new socialist Yugoslavia. The post-war

Post-war

A post-war period or postwar period is the interval immediately following the ending of a war and enduring as long as war does not resume. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum when a war between the same parties resumes at a later date...

Yugoslav authorities punished those responsible for war crimes, as well as those that collaborated with the Axis authorities, although there are allegations that members of the partisan army also killed a certain number of innocent people, mainly for personal revenge.

Since 1945, Novi Sad has been the capital of Vojvodina

Vojvodina

Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...

, a province of the Socialist Republic of Serbia

Socialist Republic of Serbia

Socialist Republic of Serbia was a socialist state that was a constituent country of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It is a predecessor of modern day Serbia, which served as the biggest republic in the Yugoslav federation and held the largest population of all the Yugoslav...

and Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The city went through rapid industrialization and its population more than doubled in the period between World War II and the breakup of Yugoslavia.

After 1992, Novi Sad was part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which, in 2003, was transformed into the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro

Serbia and Montenegro

Serbia and Montenegro was a country in southeastern Europe, formed from two former republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia : Serbia and Montenegro. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, it was established in 1992 as a federation called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...

. Since 2006, Novi Sad is part of an independent Serbia

Serbia

.

Devastated by NATO bombardment during the Kosovo War

Kosovo War

The term Kosovo War or Kosovo conflict was two sequential, and at times parallel, armed conflicts in Kosovo province, then part of FR Yugoslav Republic of Serbia; from early 1998 to 1999, there was an armed conflict initiated by the ethnic Albanian "Kosovo Liberation Army" , who sought independence...

of 1999, Novi Sad was left without all of its three Danube bridges, communications, water, and electricity. Residential areas were cluster bomb

Cluster bomb

A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller sub-munitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill enemy personnel and destroy vehicles...

ed several times while its oil refinery

Oil refinery

An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...

was bombarded daily, causing severe pollution

Pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...

and widespread ecological

Ecology

Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...

damage.

General References

Boško Petrović - Živan Milisavac, Novi Sad - monografija, Novi Sad, 1987
Milorad Grujić, Vodič kroz Novi Sad i okolinu, Novi Sad, 2004
Jovan Mirosavljević, Brevijar ulica Novog Sada 1745-2001, Novi Sad, 2002
Jovan Mirosavljević, Novi Sad - atlas ulica, Novi Sad, 1998
Melhior Erdujhelji, Istorija Novog Sada, Novi Sad, 1894
Mirjana Džepina, Društveni i zabavni život starih Novosađana, Novi Sad, 1982
Đorđe Randelj, Novi Sad - slobodan grad, Novi Sad, 1997
Enciklopedija Novog Sada, sveske 1-26, Novi Sad, 1993–2005
Radenko Gajić, Petrovaradinska tvrđava - Gibraltar na Dunavu, Novi Sad, 1994
Veljko Milković, Petrovaradin kroz legendu i stvarnost, Novi Sad, 2001
Veljko Milković, Petrovaradin i Srem - misterija prošlosti, Novi Sad, 2003
Veljko Milković, Petrovaradinska tvrđava - podzemlje i nadzemlje, Novi Sad, 2005
Agneš Ozer, Petrovaradinska tvrđava - vodič kroz vreme i prostor, Novi Sad, 2002
Agneš Ozer, Petrovaradin fortress - a guide through time and space, Novi Sad, 2002
30 godina mesne zajednice "7. Juli" u Novom Sadu 1974-2004 - monografija, Novi Sad, 2004
Branko Ćurčin, Slana Bara - nekad i sad, Novi Sad, 2002
Branko Ćurčin, Novosadsko naselje Šangaj - nekad i sad, Novi Sad, 2004
Zvonimir Golubović, Racija u Južnoj Bačkoj 1942. godine, Novi Sad, 1991
Petar Jonović, Knjižare Novog Sada 1790-1990, Novi Sad, 1990
Petar Jonović - Dr Milan Vranić - Dr Dušan Popov, Znameniti knjižari i izdavači Novog Sada, Novi Sad, 1993
Ustav za čitaonicu srpsku u Novom Sadu, Novi Sad, 1993
Sveske za istoriju Novog Sada, sveske 4-5, Novi Sad, 1993–1994

Early history of Petrovaradin

Early history of Sremska Kamenica

Other older settlements

The foundation of Novi Sad

Development from 1748 to 1918

After the First World War

General References

See also