Summary
In the 19th century, Serbian and Montenegrin bands, often backed by Russian money, destabilized the Balkans through guerrilla warfare. In the 1869–1882 period, they conducted incursions into Bosnia and Herzegovina to incite uprisings, notably in Krivošćije. The Sjenica-Nova Varoš border region became a major hotspot during the 1875 insurrection and Serbo-Turkish War. Under leaders like Pope Žarko Lešević and Archimandrite Nikifor Dučić, Serbian bands waged continuous guerrilla war against Ottoman troops and local Muslims. This fueled deep ethnic hatred, kept the border in constant tension, and caused significant local economic and social disruption. These activities continued in 1903-1904 up to 1917, and crimes were committed against Albanians, Macedonians and Bulgarians.
Border Insurrections and Guerrilla Warfare (1875–1878)
“In the mid-1870s, the region around Sjenica and Nova Varoš became a hotspot for Serbian guerrilla activities. The Christian (Serbian) population in the villages around Nova Varoš and along the Serbian border gravitated towards Serbia and sided with the Principality of Serbia in the last Serbo-Turkish War. This situation was further exacerbated by Serbian bandits and numerous other armed groups.
Their size and exceptionally strong horn development made them stand out, so much so that they were formerly kept as rare domestic animals by wealthy people far and wide and were often used as gifts in the local custom. Sjenica used to have a significant cattle trade with Bosnia, particularly with Posavina and Ragusa.
After the separation of the Novibazar Sandžak from Bosnia as a result of the Austro-Hungarian occupation, this trade ceased, causing considerable damage to the entire region. Efforts were being made to gain a foothold in the Greek market, with Greek traders frequently coming to Sjenica to buy cattle.
North of the Prjepolje road, just an hour from the Serbian border, lies the district town of Nova Varoš at an altitude of 1013m, surrounded by hills and forests on the rugged Zlatar planina. Due to its location, the climate there is not particularly favorable. The town is insignificant and already bears the characteristics of typical Serbian country towns.
Until 1878, the main route from Rumelia to Bosnia ran from Sjenica via Nova Varoš to Priboj and from there via Višegrad and Rogatica to Sarajevo, while the route to Herzegovina led from Sjenica via Prjepolje and Plevlje.
Understandably, Nova Varoš suffered greatly due to the rerouting of the main communication route. The villages around Nova Varoš and along the Serbian border are inhabited exclusively by Serbian Christians, while the few Muslims in the district reside in the town.
The Christian population naturally gravitated towards Serbia. During the insurrection of summer 1875 and the subsequent war, newcomers from other Turkish districts joined them under the command of Pope Žarko Lešević and later Archimandrite Nikifor Dučić.
These forces conducted an uninterrupted guerrilla war against Turkish troops and their Muslim compatriots in the border region from Sjenica to Priboj. As a result of these events, the Muslims in Nova Varoš became filled with intense hatred of Christians.
From Prjepolje, a poor, steep mule track leads to Nova Varoš in four hours. This point is only an hour from the Serbian border at Vraneš. On the Serbian side, a road had been built from Užice allowing easy access to the border in seven hours. From Nova Varoš to Sjenica the journey also takes four hours.
At the steep Dervent pass, roughly halfway along the route, lies the municipality of Kladnica, which stretches to the Javor border station. The population there consists mostly of quarrelsome highland farmers who formed a constantly battle-ready border guard against incursions from their Serbian neighbors.
They had frequent opportunities to indulge their warlike tendencies, as numerous refugees from the neighboring Turkish districts lived on the other side of the border. These refugees, in turn, gave violent expression to their hatred of their former oppressors as often as possible. Thus, the border remained constantly smoldering with the flames of renewed battles.”
Cited from “Novibazar und Kossovo.”
Emergence and Government Support (1903–1904)
Following the Bulgarian-led Ilinden Uprising of 1903, Serbian bands emerged in 1904. This development occurred as around sixty thousand inhabitants of the so called “Old Serbia” had sought refuge in the Kingdom of Serbia. Like their Bulgarian counterparts, the Serbian bands consisted of young teachers, academics, and officers driven by a thirst for “adventure and liberation”. They were joined by small groups of desperate peasants. Prominent vojvods included Jovan Stojković Babunski and Voja Tankosić.
The Serbian government provided active support for these gangs. The Royal Order Chancellery and former Minister of War, General Atanazkovich, equipped the bands with weapons taken from military depots and provided money to patriotic associations such as Srpska Bratscha and Kolo Srpskich Sestara.
Leaders of the gangs included active Serbian officers, while members comprised non-commissioned officers and soldiers. Although officially denied, this support was an open secret: insurgents moved freely through the streets of Belgrade and traveled to the border via scheduled trains. The Turkish envoy in Belgrade, Fethi Pasha, was fully informed about the movements of every gang.
In autumn 1904, St. Simich admitted the Serbian government’s involvement, listing the gangs that had been equipped and sent using official documents. At this time, the dispatch of gangs from Serbia had decreased, but Serbian gangs were now being equipped within Macedonia itself. These groups sometimes severely harassed the Bulgarians, who had been weakened since the 1903 uprising. This activity heightened bitterness in Bulgaria and raised the possibility of a Serbian-Bulgarian war, which was temporarily averted by the proclamation of the constitution in Turkey.
Macedonian Propaganda and State-Supported Bands (1903–1907)
To learn about the activities of Serbian gangs as exponents of Serbian state policy, it is important to note that Serbian consulates, schools, and some clergy helped maintain them. The Serbian gangs that “work” for national propaganda in Macedonia were entirely artificial products, imported from Serbia.
Source: Bulgarian historical review, Volum 32. 2004
Serbian gangs killing Bulgarian civilians
Serbian gangs were therefore not primarily fighting against Turkish violence or against the Bulgarian gangs; they were killing civilian and defenseless Bulgarians, including women and children. This brutality contributed to cooperation between opposing gangs against the Serbian bands.
Source: imbid
Operations and Propaganda (1904–1907)
Serbian band members spent winters in Belgrade or Sofia, often working as milkmen or bakers, recognizable by their tall, sinewy figures and white caps bearing the double-headed Macedonian eagle and the inscription “Freedom or Death.” With the first snowmelt, they returned to fight in their homeland. Turkish High Command records from 1906 to 1907 documented fifty-six skirmishes with Bulgarian bands and only eleven with Serbian bands.
Propaganda efforts continued under Jovan Jovanovitsch (Simich’s successor as envoy) and later Dr. Spalaykowitsch, who advanced Greater Serbian propaganda. In May 1907, a Serbian conference in Sarajevo adopted a resolution containing the demands of the Serbian population in Bosnia. This resolution, backed by the general Serbian party, did not recognize Austria-Hungary’s mandate in Bosnia and emphasized the sovereignty of the Sultan.
The bands targeted Serbs and Serbophile Slavic Macedonians, but especially local IMORO sympathizers and gang fighters who held municipal and district leadership positions. Former mayors, administrative officials, and state employees from the Ottoman and Serbian periods were sometimes brutally murdered. Such killings were generally not prosecuted, and surviving Serbian notables were often financially ruined through expropriation.
World War I Period (1915–1917)
During the Bulgarian occupation in World War I, anti-Serbian policies intensified. Serbian troops had committed many atrocities against Bulgarians in 1913. The Bulgarian Red Cross refused to share information with the Serbian Red Cross. Bulgarian authorities and the army implemented harsh measures, prompting protests even from radical socialist deputies in the Bulgarian parliament in early 1916. Serbian officers captured by Bulgarian forces feared being transported to the Bulgarian rear, where prisoners often disappeared without a trace.
On December 19, 1915, the Bulgarian General Staff ordered that all male Serbs between 18 and 50—including teachers, journalists, parliament members, former ministers, and priests—be sent to Bulgaria as prisoners of war and interned. In January 1917, a conference chaired by deputy oblast head Protogerov advocated harsher policies, including resettlement of Serbs.
In March 1917, Serbian resistance groups—often composed of former Serbian army soldiers who had gone into hiding—emerged in the southern Morava region. Under Bulgarian leaders such as General Protogerov and Major Darvingov, this uprising was brutally suppressed. Numerous villages were burned, and thousands of Serbs were interned. A bloody guerrilla war between Serbian bandits and Bulgarian contračeti continued for several months afterward.
Serbian war crimes and atrocities in 1915-1916
Cited:
“The report addresses the false portrayal of the incidents in Vajandovo, as reported in the foreign press, and then continues: “We categorically assure you that the situation in Macedonia is completely unbearable as a result of the reign of terror exercised by the Serbian authorities. In the last three months, 93 people have been killed in the Malesh region, 360 have been physically punished, 230 women have been raped, and 160 people have been imprisoned. In the Kotschana region, seven people were killed.”
Source: Der Völkerkrieg eine Chronik der Ereignisse seit dem 1. Juli 1914 ·. Volumes 9–10. 1916 https://www.google.se/books/edition/Der_V%C3%B6lkerkrieg/gYpPAAAAYAAJ?hl=sv&gbpv=0&bsq=serbischer%20Schreckensherr
References
Novibazar und Kossovo. https://www.google.se/books/edition/Novibazar_und_Kossovo/cLjOvghem24Chl=sv&gbpv=1&dq=serbischer+Banden&pg=PA108&printsec=frontcover.
Österreichische Rundschau. Österreichische Rundschau. https://www.google.se/books/edition/%C3%96sterreichische_rundschau/WSgENVX7IW4Chl=sv&gbpv=1&dq=serbischer+Banden&pg=PA5&printsec=frontcover.
Im Schatten des Krieges. https://www.google.se/books/edition/Im_Schatten_des_Krieges/IPknoQzKm9sChl=sv&gbpv=1&dq=serbischer+Banden&pg=PA117&printsec=frontcover.
Der Kampf der Südslawen um Freiheit und. https://www.google.se/books/edition/Der_Kampf_der_S%C3%BCdslawen_um_Freiheit_und/xzcxAQAAIAAJhl=sv&gbpv=1&dq=serbischer+Banden&pg=PA512&printsec=frontcover.
