Abstract
This study examines reported atrocities, ethnic violence, and coercive practices directed against Hungarians, Germans, Romanians, Montenegrins, and other civilian populations during the Serbian-Hungarian conflicts of 1848–1849 and during subsequent political and military upheavals in the Banat, Bačka, Montenegro, and the wider Yugoslav territories between 1912 and 1923. The study draws on a heterogeneous body of sources, including contemporary newspapers, political publications, memoirs, regional histories, archival material, and later historical works. Across these sources, recurring allegations concern looting, killings, physical abuse, destruction of homes and villages, forced displacement, imprisonment, and other forms of violence against civilians.
Particular attention is given to the conflicts in the Banat and Bačka during 1848–1849, when the revolutionary crisis within the Habsburg Monarchy developed into armed conflict between competing national and political movements. The sources examined contain numerous accounts of violence against Hungarian and German civilians, while also documenting atrocities committed by Hungarian forces and local actors against Serbian civilians and prisoners. The study therefore approaches the violence as an escalating and reciprocal process rather than as an exclusively one-sided phenomenon. It also examines reports concerning Serbian military and paramilitary activities in the Banat and Montenegro between 1918 and 1923, including reports of collective punishment, confiscation of property, imprisonment, destruction of settlements, and coercive measures against local populations.
Serbian Atrocities Against Hungarians and Germans in the 1848–1849 Hungarian War of Independence
The Hungarian Revolution of 1848, part of the broader European Spring of Nations, sought liberal reforms, independence from Habsburg dominance, and national unification. However, it quickly escalated into multi-ethnic civil wars within the Kingdom of Hungary. In southern regions like Bácska (Bačka) and the Banat, significant Serbian populations—often supported by Austrian interests and volunteers from the Principality of Serbia—rose up, demanding autonomy or separation. Hungarian contemporary accounts, such as those in Geschichte des ungarischen Freiheits-Kampfes, portray these events as Serbian banditry and atrocities instigated by the Viennese camarilla against loyal Hungarian populations.
Background
Serbian leaders, including Patriarch Rajachich (Rajačić), convened national assemblies, such as the one in Karlovitz (Sremski Karlovci) in May 1848. These gatherings declared Serbian political independence from Hungary and sought confirmation from the Austrian emperor.
Agitators used inflammatory language emphasizing complete separation of Serbian territories. According to Hungarian sources, this movement was not spontaneous but fueled by external support: Austrian officers and resources armed Serbian forces, turning ethnic tensions into open rebellion.
By late June 1848, Serbian forces had grown to around 28,000 troops, with concentrations at Alibunar (5,000) and Perlas (4,000). They established fortified positions and launched raids. Hungarian accounts describe how Serbian irregulars, including border guards, attacked settlements, plundering and burning Hungarian, German, and other non-Serbian villages. The conflict degenerated into cycles of revenge, with mobile columns on both sides.
Reported atrocities and devastation
Hungarian narratives detail specific incidents of Serbian violence:
Temerin and Jarek: These places “fell victim, abandoned to the Serbian arsonists without a single sword stroke.” No efforts were made to recapture them immediately, leaving populations exposed to burning and looting.
Földvár and surrounding areas: Captured but then abandoned, allowing Serbian forces to consolidate gains.
Raids and Devastation: After failed assaults, Serbian troops reportedly “mercilessly devastating everything they found in their path” while retreating from places like Kikinda. Serbian forces operated from entrenchments at Tomassovácz, Alibunar, and Ördöghid, using them as bases for raids.
The accounts accuse Serbian leaders like Stratimirović of inciting the population to defend “national identity” through force. Hungarian civilians faced murder, arson, and expulsion. One passage claims the camarilla “lured the Serbian robbers into the country to murder the Hungarian people” and assigned them rich lands as rewards. Serbian irregulars were labeled “bandit hordes,” with actions including plundering and massacring defenseless populations.
In response, Hungarian forces under commanders like Damjanich and others conducted counteroffensives, recapturing positions such as Pancsova. Damjanich’s troops stormed entrenchments, and there are mentions of harsh treatment of prisoners (e.g., stripping Serbian captives naked in Moholy). Hungarian Honvéd troops and volunteers, including the “Red Caps,” engaged in bayonet charges and grapeshot barrages to break Serbian lines.
Context
These events occurred amid Austrian divide-and-rule tactics. Jelačić’s Croatian campaign and Romanian uprisings in Transylvania compounded Hungary’s multi-front war. Serbian volunteers from across the border bolstered rebel numbers, and imperial flags flew alongside Serbian ones in places like St. Tamás.
The Serbian uprising contributed to the eventual defeat of the Hungarian Revolution in 1849, aided by Russian intervention. It led to the short-lived Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar under direct Austrian control. The events deepened ethnic animosities in the region that persisted into later conflicts.
Source
Geschichte des ungarischen Freiheits-Kampfes in den Jahren 1848-1849. Andras Vargyas. Mehner. 1879
Serbian atrocities against Hungarians of Sikoviza of Orsova, Moldova and Weizenried in 1881
In 1881, the “Leipaer Zeitung” reported about Serbian robberies in Sikoviza (Orsova), Moldova and Weizenried.
“Robbery in Hungary. From Temesvar, 15th day, it is reported that in Sikoviza, in the Orsova district, tobacco planters opposed the financial authorities. Violence ensued, and many arrests were made. 120 Honvéds and 5 officers were dispatched there. In the same district, a well-organized Serbian band of robbers invaded. The robbers robbed and assaulted the inhabitants of Moldova and Weizenried. Several of them were seriously injured, including the county custodian and the district knight. A squadron of Hussars was dispatched there.”
Source
Samstag den 1 Jänner 1881. Jahrg 31. Leipaer Zeitung Unabhängiges polit Organ für den Leipaer Kreisgerichtssprengel Localblatt für Dauba Gabel Haida Niemes Iwickau und Umgebung.
Serbian atrocities against the Hungarian families of Albert Schönzweig and Weiss in Örvényes, Oradea (Nagyvárad) and Temes Kubin in 1894
In 1894, the paper “Rottaler Bote” reported of Serbian atrocities, robbery, torture and rape of Hungarian civilians in Örvényes, Oradea and Temes Kubin.
Cited:
“Robbery in Hungary: In Örvényes, a masked gang of robbers broke into the apartment of the tenant farmer Albert Schönzweig at night and committed unspeakable cruelties against the family. They threw the landlord, who refused to hand over any money, to the ground and cut chunks of flesh from his body until he gave up his last penny. They also beat his wife mercilessly, but to put an end to their atrocities, they cut off both ears of Schönzweig’s beautiful daughter. The robbers took everything of value and left old Schönzweig for dead.
In Oradea, a large armed gang of robbers was arrested. They broke into the home of the merchant Weiss in the middle of the city and shot at the landlord without hitting him, whereupon they fled. In Temes Kubin, a Serbian gang of robbers broke into the house of the pig dealer Paul Janics. He watched the robbers activities through the glass door of his bedroom and shot one of them through the heart with his rifle. The robber died instantly. The others fled in horror”.
Source
Rottaler Bote Pfarrkirchener Tag und Anzeigeblatt. 1894, 7/12.
Serbian atrocities against Hungarians in Kumand in 1849
In this publication from 1849 written by Ludwig Kossuth we can read of a report of Serbian bandits kidnapping Hungarian civilians in Kumand, eported from Közlöny.
Cited:
“From the Közlöny we learn the following news from the lower regions of Kumand: Yesterday, the 21st, between 5 and 6 pm, a Serbian band of robbers arrived here in 15 wagons, broke into the homes of the local priest Veselinovic and Szekulic, and, after smashing and plundering everything in the house, dragged them away bound with their wives and children to the camp. Several inhabitants were persuaded by their threats to go with them. A commissioner sent to the scene, Sigmund Kazri, was also bound and dragged away. N Becskerek, July 22nd. The [unclear] lying in the Zsablaer swamp”
Source
Ludwig Kossuth und Ungarns neueste Geschichte, Volume 1. Arthur Frey. 1849
Serbian religious fanaticism and crimes against Hungarians of Banat Vojvodina in 1848-49
Summary:
During the 1848 uprising in the Banat region, Serbian rebels attacked Hungarian civilians. The author, a Hungarian soldier, explains how Serbian rebels had been incited through propaganda claiming that Hungarians sought to impose their Reformed religion and language on the Serbs. This manipulation fueled intense religious and national fanaticism.
In the story, the narrator tries to convince a young Serbian woman that the Hungarians did not come to harm her people, but only to punish the bandits who had attacked Hungarian families. She refuses to believe him, seeing him as the enemy since her own relatives are among the rebels.
The text then portrays the brutal reality of the civil conflict — guerrilla warfare, massacres, arson, looting, and the suffering of innocent civilians.”
In the book “Deutsche Monatsschrift für Politik, Wissenshaft kunst and leben, Volumes 1–2” from 1851 we find a passage about the Serbian-Hungarian conflict of 1848-49. The author mentions that Serbian religious fanaticism was directed towards the Hungarians after Serbian leaders claimed that the Hungarians wanted to impose a new religion on the Serbian population. On page 310 we can read:
“As is well known, attempts were made to convince the Serbian people that the Hungarians wanted to impose the Reformed faith and their language on the Serbs. With a people as superstitious as the Serbians, religious fanaticism is much easier to stir up than nationalistic fanaticism.
I told her that we share the same God as them and that we would neither impose our language nor our religion on them, much less mistreat or kill them or their fathers. We had only come to fire upon the persecuted Hungarian families against their robbers and murderers, and only to punish Lestere, but certainly not the entire Serbian people, for the atrocities they had committed.
My words, however, had little effect; the twofold fanaticism had already taken too deep root in her youthful heart for Lestere to be receptive to the words of her enemy, for whom she saw me. After all, the robbers and murderers we had come to punish were her brothers and relatives; therefore, she prayed for them and wedded.
At times, she fixed her dark eyes thoughtfully on me, then she smiled with a wonderful mixture of the wild and the gentle, and she said she pityed me for being Hungarian. I only briefly participated in the Nacenkampf in the Banat. Continuous guerrilla fighting, night raids, murder, robbery, arson, and devastation of all kinds.
Homeless families wandering the fields, violated virgins, despair, misery, and nameless wretchedness—these are the elements that provide me with the richest material for hair-raising tales from that time, which I, however, spare the reader and instead ask him to accompany me to another scene of no less interesting events.”
Reference
Deutsche Monatsschrift für Politik, Wissenshaft kunst and leben Volumes 1–2. 1851
Serbian Patriarch Josif Rajačić and the Serbian atrocities against Germans and Hungarians in 1848
Summary – Serbian War Crimes in the 1848 Uprising
During the 1848–1849 Serbian uprising in southern Hungary (Vojvodina), Serbian rebel forces, supported by elements of the Austrian army and clergy, carried out widespread atrocities against Hungarian and German civilians. Under the spiritual and political leadership of Patriarch Josif Rajačić and other nationalist figures, Serb militias looted villages, burned homes, and committed brutal massacres.
Civilians—including elderly people, women, and children—were tortured, impaled, mutilated, or burned alive in towns such as Neusatz (Novi Sad), Weißkirchen (Bela Crkva), St. Thomas (Srbobran), and Dorozlo. The violence was driven by ethnic and political hatred and was part of the wider chaos of the 1848 revolutions in the Habsburg Empire. These acts are remembered as some of the most severe atrocities of the 1848 uprisings in Central Europe, revealing how the nationalist and religious fanaticism of the Serbian insurgents led to large-scale crimes against civilians.
On page 128 in the book “Ludwig Kossuth sein Leben, sein Wirken, sein Exil” of Volme 2, we can read:
“The uprising which had broken out in Kikinda at Easter spread quickly throughout the country, and by mid-June 8,000 Raizen were under arms. Here, as in Croatia, the Austrian garrison either remained neutral or secretly supported the rebels. Colonel Meyerhofer even supplied the Serbian leaders with ammunition, and Lieutenant Colonel Dreihahn helped them in a raid on the town of Weißkirchen.
The most fanatical instigator was the eighty-year-old, stooped Patriarch of Karlowicz, Joseph Rajacic, who, dressed in the black, red-bordered vestments of Saint Lazarus Remanovic and girded with the saber of the heroic Georg Brankowic, toured towns and villages to instruct the Serbs to plunder the property of the Hungarians and Germans and to designate the battle victims for art and knife.
At his side was Jellachich’s ally, Pastor Hurban, the missionary of Slavism, who intended to invade Hungary with Bohemian volunteers. The numerous emissaries of the Viennese Hoxham Party prepared the ground for him to sow the seeds of fanaticism by inciting the greed and rapacity of the savage people.
In Neusaz, the Germans were surrounded and slaughtered; even the elderly and nursing women were painfully impaled. In Weißkirchen, the Germans fought for weeks in the streets behind entrenchments against Serbian bandits on all sides of burning houses. They were surrounded until the church was their last refuge.
In St. Thomas, prisoners were mutilated, roasted alive, or had their hands and feet sawn off. In Dorozlo, an old Hungarian man was covered with wounds and then tied to a stake. An old woman was crucified, her hands and feet smashed. In Szireg, prisoners were buried alive after their eyes had been gouged out. In Neus Verbas, Germans were impaled and roasted. Against these atrocities, the Hungarians armed themselves with all their might.”
Reference
Ludwig Kossuth sein Leben, sein Wirken, sein Exil. Volume 2. Robert Springer, 1851.
Serbian atrocities on Germans and Hungarians in Banat during the 1848-49 revolutions
Summary: This report from Banat (dated September 12th, mid-19th century, likely during the 1848–49 revolutions) describes violent conflicts between Germans, Serbs, and Magyars (Hungarians) in the region. Hungarians and Germans and Serbian insurgents killed and attacked each other. It was first published Leipziger Zeitung in 1848.
Key points:
The Germans of Weißkirchen refused all attempts at reconciliation with the Serbs and declared they would rather perish under the ruins of their town than join them. They committed atrocities against local Serbs, killing 160 and maiming many.
On August 29, the Magyars crossed the Begej River near Alibunar and set fire to 1,000 haystacks. In retaliation, the Serbs burned the entire village the next day.
After the fall of Perlas fortress on September 6 (allegedly due to betrayal), the Serbian Patriarch, acting as interim regent, ordered a detachment to march on Perlas.
At Jabuka, villagers resisted the Serbs and hid weapons; only after threats with cannons did they allow passage, but were fined 10,000 florins.
On September 8 at Debeljača, villagers who had declared neutrality fired on Serbian troops.
The Serbs surrounded the village, set it on fire from four sides (burning almost all 350 houses), looted it, and took inhabitants prisoner.
A number of Banat villages (Tarasch, Ecska, Uzdin, Debeljača, Vračev Gaj, Weißkirchen, Bošnjaka, Perlas, etc.) were left devastated, their fields destroyed and harvests lost.
Serbian insurgents plunders in Moldova and burning of Szaska
“I have another success of the mobile guards to report to you. 200 men of the same penetrated on the 28th from Szaska over the mountains to Moldova, attacked the Serbs who were still reveling in their plunder, chased them to flight, killed 17 of their men and drilled a vehicle loaded with 30 Serbs on the Danube.
The border village of Old Moldova went up in flames and the victors brought back a large part of the booty stolen from the Serbs in New Moldova, along with 400 head of captured cattle and horses from this expedition. I am reporting to you as a rumor a report that has just arrived that the mountain village of Szaska was attacked and burned down by the Serbs, since I doubt the truth of this for other reasons. “
Magyar reprisals: atrocities against Serbs
“The mistreatment of the Serbian villages which the Magyars have seized is terrible. The Serbian clergy are dragged from the church to the gallows and hanged in a vile manner. The houses are plundered, the men are murdered, the women and innocent children are impaled. In Földvar the holy liquor of the Serbian Church is desecrated, the church images are pierced with bayonets, the church is lit and boiled, the chalice is defiled and everything is smashed and desecrated.”
Serbian plunders in Banat and Backa
“The plundering and atrocities committed by the Turkish Serbs in the Banat were of a terrible nature. The South Slavic newspaper, a pan-Slavic organ, itself admits this and also shares a letter from one of the heroes, which we are sharing as typical. It reads:
“I am already heartily fed up with the goings-on in the Banat and in the Backa. I have taken whatever was available and could be grabbed. My money bag is well stocked and now I am going to tend to my hearth because I cannot know whether and what kind of trick the Turks will cook up for us. In the end, I would rather fight and strike against the Turk than in the belt of a Turk. I think I have brought him down always some ducats and thalers whereas the pockets of the Magyar boys are always completely empty despite the withdrawal of the Turkish.”1
References
Leipziger Zeitung 1848. Austrian national library. German.
Erganzungs-Conservationslexicon. Ergänzungsblätter zu allen Conversationslexiken. Hrsg. unter der Red. von Fr. Steger Volume 5. Fr. Steger. 1850.
The Serbian oppression of Albanians, Macedonians, Hungarians, Germans, Romanians, and Montenegrins (1912-1923)
Summary:
The excerpts describe a pattern of violent repression, terror, and forced demographic manipulation carried out by Serbian or Yugoslav authorities and armed groups during the early 20th century. Reports include massacres of civilians, arson attacks on churches and villages, forced expulsions, and systematic intimidation of non-Serb populations such as Hungarians, Germans, Romanians, Macedonians, Montenegrins, and Albanians. Political opponents, teachers, and rural civilians were targeted; villages were burned; livestock and property were destroyed; and entire communities were pressured to flee. Agrarian reform and colonization policies were used to weaken minority populations economically and alter ethnic balances, especially in Kosovo. Overall, the material portrays a broad strategy of coercive Serbianization supported by state institutions and paramilitary violence.
Between 1912 and 1923, the Greater Serbian empire known as “Yugoslavia” carried out various discriminatory policies against its non-Slavic inhabitants, going as far as using Serbian bands (komitadjis) to burn villages and kill civilians. In this valuable book from 1929 we can read the following:
“On the order of Matkovich, 75 people, including 14 women, were killed. On November 16, 1923, a Serbian gang set fire to the church of Klischarowo in the village of Presena, Kotschari district, set fire to 6 houses, dragged their owners to the village of Orizartzi, and killed them there. On November 20, 1923, the bandits set fire to two villages in the Kotschani district, burning 8 houses to the ground in Bela, and stealing household goods and livestock.”
“In the early years of Yugoslavia, the police exerted terrorist pressure on Hungarians to force them to leave the country. Yugoslav prisons were constantly overcrowded with Hungarian workers and peasants who were considered traitors.”
“Against these three nationalities, the Germans, Hungarians, and Romanians, the Greater Serbian regime pursued a policy of economic weakening and impoverishment”.
“When the Montenegrins attempted to resist the destruction of their independence, Serbian troops, along with the Montenegrin supporters of Yugoslavia, invaded Montenegro. This bloody campaign began at Christmas 1918 and resulted in several thousand acts of arson, the destruction of houses, livestock, and belongings, and the killing of a large number of people.”
“The “agrarian reform” was used in Kosovo to benefit the colonization and Serbization of this territory. Some colonies, consisting of Serbian and Montenegrin elements, were formed as an active part of the Serbization of Kosovo, for the purpose of assisting the government in terrorizing the Albanian population. Much of the feudal estate was acquired by Serbian capitalists”.
“Before the conclusion of the Balkan War against the Turks (1912), the Macedonian population suffered under the cruel measures of the terror orgies orchestrated by military authorities. Here are some examples of their actions:
On December 18, 1912, the teacher Anastasius Luteview was killed in the town of Prilep because he had expressed his sympathy for Bulgaria at one of the banquets held by the Serbian authorities on occasion for the Serbian national celebration”.
Commentary:
These accounts reflect the darker side of state-building in the Balkans, where ethnic homogenization was pursued through violence, coercion, and institutionalized discrimination. Rather than integrating diverse populations, the emerging Serbian-dominated state often relied on punitive measures to assert authority and reshape demographic realities. Such actions sowed deep resentment and long-lasting interethnic tensions that continued to shape Yugoslavia’s political trajectory throughout the 20th century. The examples illustrate how state policy, paramilitary violence, and economic restructuring combined to produce systematic marginalization of minority communities—a pattern that underscores the fragility of multiethnic coexistence when power is exercised without accountability.
Source
Die Lage der unterdrückten Völker auf dem Balkan 1929.
Serbian atrocities and attacks against Hungarians, Romanians, Germans and Jews (1848-1849)
In the year 1848-1849, Serbian insurgents committed many atrocities killing Hungarian, German, Romanian and Jewish civilians. This followed the trend of other atrocities committed against Albanians in the years of 1803, 1807, 1830, 1844 and 1878. The following article cites a source on these events. Original article by Robert Hermann and edited by Ildikó Laszák.
1848.06.22. St. Thomas
Serbian insurgents massacre hundreds of Hungarian civilians.
On June 22, 1848, in Szenttamás, Bács County, local and surrounding Serbian insurgents physically assaulted the Hungarian residents, committed robberies and other acts of violence. On July 14, the Serbians repelled the siege of the Hungarian army. During and after the assault, the defenders massacred most of the local Hungarian citizens. The number of victims may have been several thousand.
26.06.1848. Novi Sad
Hungarian-Serbian clashes .
At the end of June, by order of the royal commissioner Peter Czernovits, parliamentary elections were held in Novi Sad. During this time, a clash broke out between the Hungarian and Serbian residents of the city, and the Serbian volunteers (Servians) who came to the aid of the latter. Three Hungarians and one Serb were killed in the fighting.
1848.07.06. Vlajkovec
The Serbian population and volunteers kill two Hungarians, the Hungarian National Guard fights back.
On July 6, 1848, in Vlajkovec, the local Serbian population, with the help of border guards and Serbs, ransacked the houses of Hungarians and tortured two people to death. Two days later, the Hungarian national guards from Versec recaptured the settlement. Several people were captured, two were shot in the head.
16-17.07.1848. Földvár
The Serbs who occupied the settlement murdered most of the Hungarian, German and Jewish population.
On the night of July 16-17, 1848, Serbian insurgents attacked Földvár. The Hungarian and Czechoslovak troops repelled the attack, then evacuated the settlement on the orders of Lieutenant General Bechtold. The Serbs murdered most of the remaining Hungarian, German and Jewish population.
1848.07.23. Uzdin
Serbian rebels burn a Romanian village.
On July 23, 1848, Serbian insurgents from Perlas attacked and burned the Romanian-populated village of Uzdin.
1848.08.23-08.30. White Church
Hungarian troops defending the settlement execute a Serbian priest and several insurgents.
On August 23, 1848, the troops of Colonel Stevan Knićanin attacked Belatemplom, but the 9th battalion of the Home Guard repelled the attack. The Hungarians lost 6, the Serbs 20 men and 1 cannon. The defenders captured and shot dead a Serbian priest and several border guards. A week later, Knićanin launched another attack on Belatemplom, but the 9th battalion and the city national guard again successfully resisted. The c. kir. troops led by Colonel Blomberg did not intervene in the fight. The captured Serbian insurgents were executed.
15.10.1848. Szeged
The hysterical Hungarian population murders several Serbs in Szeged .
On October 15, 1848, mass hysteria broke out among the population of Szeged because they mistook an approaching herd of oxen for a Serbian troop. The Hungarians attacked the Serbs of Szeged and massacred several of them. The atrocities were put to an end by the Hungarian National Guard. A similar massacre took place in Szőreg.
1848.11.09. Strazsa
Hungarian units kill Serbian prisoners and abuse civilians.
On November 9, 1848, Lieutenant Colonel János Damjanich took over the Bessarabić cs. kir. Strážsa (Táborfalva, Lagersdorf) under the command of Lieutenant General Bessarabić. On the orders of an officer of the 9th Home Guard Battalion, several Serbian border guards who had been taken prisoner of war were shot dead, and a group of sixty insurgents were burned alive in a barn. The Székely border guards and some of the soldiers of the 9th Home Guard Battalion who participated in the attack shoved Serbian women and children fleeing towards the Karas River into the water with bayonets.
15.12.1848. Jarkovac.
In response to a Serbian attack, Hungarian troops shoot their prisoners and armed Serbian civilians.
On December 15, 1848, Colonel János Damjanich’s troops stationed in Jarkovác were attacked in the early hours of the morning by the local population, the Serbian troops of Supljikać and Knićanin. Damjanich drove the enemy out of the village and then burned the settlement. The captured attackers and civilians caught with weapons in their hands were shot dead on the spot.
1849.02.01-03. Senta
Anti-Hungarian mass murder by Serbian troops.
Following Hungarian provocations (lynching of envoys), Serbian troops occupied Zenta in early February 1849 and massacred the Hungarian armed men and then the local Hungarian population. The number of victims of the killings, which continued in the first three days and after the Serbian troops withdrew, is estimated at 2,000-2,800.
References
Serbian atrocities against Romanians of Banat in 1918
Summary
The accounts collected in Nicolae Ilieșiu’s, Dumitru Țeicu’s, and Minodora Damian’s Monografia istorică a Banatului describe a period of severe unrest and violence in Banat following the arrival of Serbian forces in 1918. The testimonies portray Serbian military and paramilitary forces as engaging in requisitioning, livestock seizures, looting, intimidation, and physical abuse of civilians. Serbian comitagi are also described as crossing into local communities, attempting to seize local clergy, and conducting raids in cooperation with elements of the Serbian gendarmerie. Resistance to these actions resulted in arrests and prolonged imprisonment, while Serbian authorities reportedly restricted participation in the December 1, 1918, political gathering at Alba Iulia and later limited participation in a plebiscite in Biserica Albă.
In 1918, the Serbian comitagues from across the Danube entered Cozla, broke into the stores, looted the director’s house, and returned to Serbia loaded with rich loot.
Pavel Liuba and Pavel Lungu took part in the meeting in Alba Iulia on December 1, 1918. Under the Serbian occupation, an occupation of terror, it was ordered that all residents who had more than three heads of cattle should take the surplus to the City Hall for the army. At this disposition, the residents left the commune, taking their cattle to the forest.
It seemed that things had calmed down, but when no one expected it, the commune was surrounded by Serbian soldiers, the people were captured and beaten, then 36 cattle were hastily taken and taken to Serbia. Other soldiers, while the people were trying to save their cattle, entered the houses and rummaged through the cupboards, taking the money, the white goods and valuables.
At first, Serbian comitagi entered the commune, seeking to capture priest Blaşiu. Suspecting the comitagi’s intentions, he fled the commune in good time. The Serbian soldiers mistreated the peaceful inhabitants: Ioan Gruia, Dumitru Gruia, Dumitru Brânduşa, Vasile Radu, Jiva Ianculovici.
For the gathering in Alba Iulia on December 1, 1918, priest Arsenie Golumba leaves, but at the train station in Timişoara he is detained by the Serbs and sent home under escort. When the so-called plebiscite was held in Biserica Albă, the Serbian army only allowed residents of Serbian origin to take part.
In the autumn of 1918, soldiers returning from the front devastated the Cooperative and the City Hall. In these turbulent times, a Serbian gendarme who was making a pact with the comitagues from across the Danube, facilitating their robberies, was killed by the inhabitants of the commune.
For this act, 28 inhabitants were arrested and held in the prison at Biserica Albă for almost 2 years. Some of them deserted (escaped n.n.) from prison, disarming the sentries.
Source
Monografia istorică a Banatului judeţul Caraş. Nicolae Ilieșiu, Dumitru Țeicu, Minodora Damian. 2011.
Serbian Atrocities Against Romanians and Other Groups in the Banat Region, 1848
During the turbulent Spring of Nations in 1848, ethnic tensions in the multi-national Habsburg Empire erupted into open conflict, particularly in the Banat region of southern Hungary (today’s Vojvodina in Serbia and parts of western Romania). While Serbs sought greater political autonomy or even a separate Voivodeship with Vienna’s tacit support against Hungarian centralism, their irregular forces committed documented acts of plunder, arson, and violence against non-cooperating communities, notably Romanians, Hungarians, and Germans.
One of the clearest accounts comes from contemporary reports preserved in Südostdeutsches Archiv. In June 1848, Serbian camps targeted the border town of Sz. Mihály. Its inhabitants, primarily Romanians, refused to cooperate with the Serbian forces. In response, the camps set the town on fire and plundered it. Around the same time, similar attacks struck Urményháza, Sz. János, and other provincial villages inhabited by Hungarians, Germans, and Romanians.
These actions were not isolated incidents but part of a broader pattern where Serbian irregular troops (“narodni vojski” – national soldiers from the interior of Serbia) operated with greater brutality than the more disciplined Habsburg border troops. The latter often had Imperial and Royal officers and maintained better order, while the volunteers from Serbia proper engaged in looting and destruction.
The multi-ethnic town of Werschetz (modern Vršac) became a flashpoint. Local Germans, fearing nighttime attacks, held a meeting in the town hall and decided to erect barricades, physically separating the German part of the town from the Serbian quarters. A delegation appealed to Imperial and Royal Colonel Blomberg for protection.
Serbian leader Bobalits allegedly ordered the arrest of prominent German and Serbian-speaking citizens. During interrogations, he reportedly used a wooden axe to beat them. Looted goods, including items from the manor house in Jabuka, were sent back to Serbia or Belgrade. Serbian forces organized celebrations while excluding the German population.
In Great Kikinda, Serbs raised the Serbian flag at Easter 1848, persecuted and killed some local magistrates, and clashed with Imperial troops. This contributed to the withdrawal of Habsburg garrisons, leaving towns like Vršac more vulnerable.
While regular Habsburg-allied Serbian border troops sometimes behaved correctly, the irregular national forces frequently did not. Plundering and arson against non-cooperating Romanian settlements, along with targeted violence against German and Hungarian civilians, reflected ethnic retaliation amid revolutionary chaos.
These events highlight the tragic ethnic dimension of the 1848 revolutions in the Banat. Romanians, who often aligned differently, became targets when they refused to join the Serbian side. Germans (Swabian settlers) and Hungarians suffered similarly. The source material from Südostdeutsches Archiv reflects the perspective of the German-speaking population in the region, who documented these incidents.
Reference
Südostdeutsches Archiv. Munich: Verlag des Südostdeutschen Historischen Kommission, n.d. Google Books edition.
When Serbian troops placed women and children in front of them to prevent the Montenegrins from defending themselves in 1919
Cited from the (c) New York Times 1919:
“Fierce fighting by the Montenegrir people against the Serbian occupation occurred around Cetinje between De cember 1 and December 12. The state ment asserts that the Serbians placed women and children in front of them to prevent the Montenegrins from defending themselves.”
Context
The article refees to the fighting around Cetinje during the Christmas Uprising (Božićni ustanak), which peaked on January 7, 1919. Montenegrin separatists (Greens) fought against the forced annexation of Montenegro to Serbia backed by the Serbian Army, led by Krsto Popović (military leader) and Jovan Plamenac (political leader) for the rebels.
Casualties
Roughly 30 killed on the rebel side during the main clashes in Cetinje, with nearly 100 total casualties
Serbian injustice against Montenegrins in 1918
Summary
The Montenegrin Forum demands that Serbia officially apologize for the violent annexation and destruction of Montenegro in 1918. Citing international authors (Perić, Bajza, Whitney, Devine) and Serbian military documents, the Forum describes the events as an unlawful occupation, abolition of Montenegro’s statehood, identity, and Orthodox Church, carried out against international law and the will of the Montenegrin people. It calls for Serbia, as legal successor of the Kingdom of Serbia, to acknowledge this historical injustice and address the issue of war reparations that rightfully belonged to Montenegro as an Allied nation. The Forum sees this as essential for opening a new chapter of truthful and respectful relations between the two countries.
Montenegrin Forum Remembers Serbia’s Crimes Against Montenegro
The Montenegrin Forum addresses public opinion regarding the historical facts and numerous international testimonies that confirm that the year 1918 constituted a violent and criminal destruction of Montenegro, the abolition of its state and identity, as well as severe repression against the Montenegrin people and the Montenegrin Orthodox Church. This act remains one of the greatest historical injustices in modern European history, something that foreign authors of that time also clearly spoke about.
The events of 1918 were also written about by the well-known Serbian jurist and academic Živojin Perić, who emphasized that Montenegro was an internationally recognized state with its own distinct identity and dynasty, and that its violent unification was carried out in violation of international law and without the right of its people to vote. Even then, he warned that this was a procedure that had deeply offended and violated the Montenegrin people.
The Hungarian academic Jožef Bajza, in his work The Montenegrin Question (1927), pointed out that Montenegro was the only kingdom recognized by the Allies that, after the First World War, disappeared from the political map of Europe. He clearly stated that this was an unlawful liquidation of a historic state, carried out by force and political manipulation.
The American author Warren Whitney, in his book The Crime of the Peace Conference (1922), describes how the decisions of the Great Powers and the policy of Belgrade resulted in the “tragic disappearance of a small but proud ally.” Whitney clearly stresses that the decision to abolish Montenegro constituted a crime against a people that had made a great contribution to the Allied victory.
The British writer and publicist Alexander Devine, in several of his works, describes Montenegro as a martyr nation, emphasizing that 1918 was an act of occupation, not unification. He explains that Montenegro was the only kingdom recognized by the Allies that was violently removed from the world map, highlighting the political and military repression that followed.
The weight of the occupation of Montenegro is also confirmed by a document from the Serbian Supreme Command. In a telegram from Živojin Mišić dated 19 November 1918, the commander of Serbian forces in Cetinje is ordered to suppress all agitation in the territory of Montenegro — which he calls “occupied” — “by all available means, without any hesitation.” This document constitutes one of the most authentic proofs that official Serbia did not treat Montenegro as an equal allied state, but as a territory under military occupation.
Taking into account all these historical facts, testimonies from foreign authors, and official military documents from 1918, the Montenegrin Forum considers that the time has come to open a new chapter in relations between Montenegro and Serbia, based on truth, respect, and mutual cooperation.
For these reasons, we consider it essential that the Republic of Serbia, as the legal successor of the Kingdom of Serbia, send an official request for apology for the historical injustice inflicted upon Montenegro, the Montenegrin people, and the Montenegrin Orthodox Church, which in 1918 was violently erased from the political map of Europe in violation of international law and the will of the Montenegrin people. Such an action would constitute a civilized act and the first step toward a sincere and stable relationship between the two states and the two peoples.
Furthermore, in the spirit of historical responsibility and inter-state justice, we consider it necessary to open the issue of war reparations that, after the First World War, were awarded to Serbia, even though they belonged to Montenegro as an internationally recognized allied state. The return of these reparations or the reaching of a fair bilateral solution would be a powerful symbol of goodwill and a new foundation for building truly partnership-based relations.
Source
Montenegro news
Serbian atrocities against Montenegrins (1918-1920) – Srpski zločini nad Crnogorcima
This section discusses an event of Serbian atrocities and war crimes committed against Montenegrins (1918-1920).
Ovaj odeljak razmatra događaj o srpskim zverstvima i ratnim zločinima počinjenim nad Crnogorcima (1918-1920).
“The entanglement of the Serbian mentality with the ideology of genocide is evidenced by the systematic methods of sadistic violence that the Serbian state applied to the people of Montenegrins, this people, whom Serbian literature, history and folklore, until now, have had a national inspiration. Serbs and Montenegrins are allegedly one people, of one religion, and one language. The involvement of the Serbian church in this operation gives it a new dimension.
Some of the visions of the sadistic methods of violence of the state and the church Serbian from Montenegrins: “General Joko Adzic, 65, did not want to swear an oath to the King of Serbia, but for a year he remained ‘neutral’. The entire area where he lived acted like him. For this, In December 1919, Serbs looted and burned down the house where he lived in Piva (district of Niksic).
In addition, they arrested him, beat him on the soles of his feet with a wooden stick, and rifle, then they forced him to walk barefoot from Piva to the prison in Niksic (a few hours walking)…. Marko K. Martinović 75 years old, judge, retired from Nikšić… He, not only was he beaten, but they pulled out his mustache and beard, which was quite large. (p. 20). Captain Mojaša Perović, in January 1919, the Serbian government, in order to humiliate him, put the saddle on his back and with the saddle on, the Serbian agents took him for a ride through Niksic. (21)
In June 1919, after looting and burning the village of Oçiniqe (Cetinja district), Serbian troops took with them 30 women and children from this village, whom they kept. They suffered for several months in the Cetinje prison. (p. 24). In June 1919, the Serbs imprisoned 120 women and children from the village of Krinjicë and Buçidabić (Coastal district) and held them in prison for 5 months. (p. 24).
On December 18, 1919, Serbian troops tortured the wife of Milan K. Mišić, from Duba village (Bjelice municipality, Cetinje district) in order to show where her husband is hiding her insurgent. When he didn’t tell them, the Serbian soldiers slapped the child in the face ten months old. During the beating, the child began to bleed from the nose and mouth, after a few days, and he dies from this. (p. 25).
In February 1920, in order to reveal where his sons were, he was tortured by the Serbs. wife of Milan B. Martinović, from Prosep Doli (Cuce municipality, Cetinje district). For them forced to show, they put his feet in hot coals and at the same time held his head.
In December 1919, 83 houses were burned in the municipality of Bjelica (Cetinja district). Homeowners and their relatives were forced to set their own homes on fire. This it was the punishment for those inhabitants who were considered not loyal enough to the king Peter. In this municipality there were villagers who have been forced to take the oath six times for the Serbian king. (p. 30).
In December 1918 and January 1919, the Serbs brought and imprisoned 450 Montenegrins, all from the Cetinje district. Every day they were sent in groups to the basement of Government Building, which was filled with water up to the knees and they were kept there by six hours. For the smallest thing they were beaten with wet ropes.
A large number of these unfortunate people paid with their lives for this humiliating game of the Serbian government (p. 31). In January 1920, the peasant Marko Jakovljević from Župa (district) was killed with a bayonet. Niksic) only publicly stated that it is not fair to loot and set fire to houses. (p. 31). On August 6, 1919, the wounded insurgents surrendered to the Serbian government: Antonije Bojović, law student at the University of Belgrade, Mileta Andrijević, lawyer, Tmash Marković, a high school student, Sergeant Blažo Bojanić and the Chetniks Masanić and Simeunović.
These unfortunate young men were killed in the most cruel way. To force them to give information for the rebels, the Serbian government tortured them beforehand with the most cruel tortures: they cut them nose, ears and tongue, and finally their eyes were also taken out. (p. 32). Petr Rakojevic, from Lower Moraca, was beaten and tortured in a brutal manner.
In the end, two Serbian soldiers pierced his ears and tongue with hot nails. (f. 34) … for 24 hours, four times they were hung by the hands, with metal rods. They beat their hands and feet, then flayed them alive. (p. 38) … since he didn’t say anything, they pierced his tongue with a hot nail. (p. 38) … these women tied the bottom of their dresses, as previously in the middle. They had two cats at their feet. After that, after they had locked the cats, they began to hit them and in their attempt to free themselves, they gnawed at them with their claws and teeth and They bit the bodies of these unfortunate people.” (p. 38)”.
Source
Fadil Kajtazi “Dosja, Ideologjia Serbe e Gjenocidit”, 2025.
Serbian atrocities against Montenegrins in the village of Miraca at Lovćen in 1919
In 1919 the Innsbrucker Nachrichten published an article about Serbian atrocities against Montenegrins in the village of Miraca at Lovćen. The Serbs demanded food and weapons from the village. The Montenegrin men, numbering 70, refused. This resulted in 4 Montenegrins killed and the village being burned down.
Serbian: Године 1919, Инсбрукер Нахрихтен је објавио чланак о српским злочинима над Црногорцима у селу Мирача на Ловћену. Срби су захтевали храну и оружје од села. Црногорски мушкарци, њих 70, су то одбили. То је резултирало убиством 4 Црногорца и спаљивањем села.
“Montenegrins and Serbs. Lugano, March 31. (Priv.) Reports from Nom: As the “Corriere dell’Italia” reports, bloody Serbian reprisals are said to have taken place in Montenegro. The village of Miraca on the slope of Lovćen has disappeared from the face of the earth. A few days ago, two hundred armed Serbian gendarmerie under the command of a Serbian officer entered the village and wanted to force the population to hand over weapons and food.
The male population of the village, about 70 men, resisted, and a fierce battle ensued, which ended with the Montenegrins being overpowered, the village being burned, and four Montenegrins being executed by the Serbs. The prefect of Cetinje issued an order to the Serbian command to arrest all Muslim Montenegrins who enter the city without his permission.
The prisons are already overcrowded with prisoners. A few days ago, a suffrage meeting of supporters of the new government took place in Cetinje, which was kept strictly secret and dealt with military matters.”
Reference
Serbian atrocities against Montenegrins in 1920
In 1920, the Danish paper “Sorø Amts Dagblad – Slagelse (1916-1957)” published an article about Serbian atrocities against Montenegrins in the 1920s. Cited from the paper:
“Serbian Atrocity in Montenegro. A Montenegrin Address to the Peace Conference. Neuilly-sur-Seine, , Thursday.
The Montenegrin Government has addressed the Peace Conference with a raft of protests regarding the Serbs’ progress. During their advances, these force Montenegrin old men, women and children to go in front of them. Under the screams of these unfortunates, the Serbian army advances and, both by the rifle fire and by the artillery fire, takes no notice of those who are forced to go in front.
The victory has come, it is said, the victory to which the voluntary sacrifices of the Montenegrin people have contributed, but precisely at this point in time the most tragic days have come, when the freedom of the Montenegrin people and its right to exist are being suppressed even threatened by those for whom they have sacrificed everything.
In the letter of protest, the High Command of the Serbian Troops in Montenegro is accused of allowing the Serbian soldiers and officers to dress in American, English, Italian and French uniforms, after which the disguised go to call on the Chiefs of the Montenegrin Insurgents to meet for negotiations with the Serbian High Command. Some of the Montenegrin Chiefs who have gullibly followed the call have been captured by the Serbs and shot.
The Montenegrin Government has requested the Peace Conference to put an end to this vandalism and to return the land to the Montenegrin people.”
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