Syrmia

Syrmia (Serbian: Srem (Cyrillic: Срем), Croatian: Srijem) is a fertile region of the Pannonian plain in Europe, between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia in the east and Croatia in the west.

Most of Syrmia is located in the Srem and South Bačka districts of Serbia's Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. A small part of the region around Novi Beograd, Zemun, and Surčin is a part of Central Serbia. The westernmost part lies in eastern Croatia, in the Vukovar-Srijem county.

Name

Today, the name Srem is usually used in Serbian to designate the region, whereas the name Srijem is used in Croatian. However, the name Srijem is also used in the Ijekavian variety of the Serbian language, and in the past it was often used by Serbs who inhabited the region. For example, the title of an old Serbian national song, "Od Srijema Rajko", that speaks about Radoslav Čelnik, the 16th century ruler of Syrmia, uses the Ijekavian name of the region.

Other names for the region include:

Latin: Syrmia or Sirmium
German: Syrmien
Hungarian: Szerémség or Szerém
Slovak: Sriem
Rusyn: Срим

History

Throughout its history, Syrmia has successively been a part of the Roman Empire, the Hun Empire, Avar Khaganate, the Gepid Kingdom, the Byzantine Empire, the Frankish Empire, the Bulgarian Empire, the Pannonian Croatia, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Since 1991/1992, the region has been divided between Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (in the east) and Croatia (in the west). In 2003, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was transformed into state union of Serbia and Montenegro, which was abolished in 2006, making the eastern part of Syrmia part of an independent Serbia.

The name Syrmia derives from the name of the ancient city of Sirmium, today Sremska Mitrovica. Sirmium was originally an Illyrian town conquered by Romans in the 1st century BC. Opposing Roman rule, Illyrian tribes from the region started an uprising in AD 6 lead by Baton and Pines.

Sirmium was an important city in the Roman Empire. It was the economic capital of Roman Pannonia and one of four capital cities of the Empire. Six Roman Emperors were born in this city or in its surroundings: Decius Traian (249-251), Aurelian (270-275), Probus (276-282), Maximianus Herculius (285-310), Constantius II (337-361) and Gratian (367-383). These emperors were mostly Romanised Illyrians by origin. The Roman province Pannonia Secunda, which included Syrmia and parts of present day Slavonia and Bosnia was administered from Sirmium.

Pannonia, a province of the Byzantine Empire, existed in Syrmia in the 6th century and capital city of this province was Sirmium. In the 7th century, the ruler of Syrmia was Kuber, a Bulgar leader, who ruled over the region as Avar vassal. In the beginning of the 9th century, Syrmia was for the short time part of state of Ljudevit Posavski (Pannonia), and after the Frankish conquest of the region, Bulgarians conquered its eastern part. The mountain Fruška Gora got its name after the old Serbo-Croatian name for Frankish people - Fruzi (Frug=Frank, Fruzi=Franks, fruški=Frankish).

In the 11th century, the ruler of Syrmia was duke Sermon, vassal of Bulgarian emperor Samuil. Sermon produced his own golden coins in present day Sremska Mitrovica. After Bulgarians were defeated by Byzantine Empire, Sermon was captured and killed, because he refused to comply with new authorities.

After the defeat of Sermon, the area was included into the Byzantine Empire, and the new duke who ruled over the region was Diogenes. The Thema of Sirmium was a province of the Byzantine Empire in the 11th century. This province included both, the region of Syrmia and the present day region of Mačva, thus the name of Syrmia became designation for the both regions. The region was captured by the Kingdom of Hungary in the 12th century. It is recorded that in 1231, a duke of Syrmia was Giletus. During the 13th century, the territory of Syrmia was divided into two counties: Syrmia in the east and Vukovar in the west.

Kingdom of Syrmia (Lower Syrmia) and Upper Syrmia.

Between 1282 and 1316 the Serb King Stefan Dragutin ruled the Kingdom of Syrmia, which consisted of the parts of northern Serbia, Mačva, Usora and Soli. His capital city was Debrc (between Belgrade and Šabac). Before that time he was King of Serbia. In that time the name "Syrmia" was designation for two territories: Upper Syrmia (present day Syrmia) and Lower Syrmia (present day Mačva). Kingdom of Syrmia under the rule of Stefan Dragutin existed in Lower Syrmia, while another local ruler, Ugrin Čak, ruled over Upper Syrmia and Slavonia from Ilok.

At first, Stefan Dragutin was a vassal of the Hungarian king, but since the central power in the Kingdom of Hungary collapsed, both, Stefan Dragutin and Ugrin Čak were de facto independent rulers. Stefan Dragutin died in 1316, and was succeeded by his son, King Stefan Vladislav II (1316-1325), while Ugrin Čak died in 1311. Stefan Vladislav II was defeated by the king of Serbia, Stefan Uroš III Dečanski, in 1324, and after this, Lower Syrmia became a subject of dispute between the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Hungary. The Upper Syrmia was, after 1311, included into the possession of the Hungarian king, while its western part (the Vukovar county) was later included into Banovina of Slavonia.

After the Ottoman Empire conquered Serbia in 1459, Despots of Serbia continued to rule in parts of Syrmia as vassals of the Hungarian kings. The residence of the despots was Kupinik (today Kupinovo). The despots were: Vuk Grgurević (1471-1485), Đorđe Branković (1486-1496), Jovan Branković (1496-1502), Ivaniš Berislavić (1504-1514), and Stefan Berislavić (1520-1535). The last of the Serbian despots in Syrmia, Stevan Berislav, moved in 1522 to Slavonia, since Kupinik was seized by the Ottoman forces. Another important local ruler was Lovro Iločki, a duke of Syrmia (1477-1524), who ruled over parts of the region from Ilok.

Parts of the region were captured by the Ottomans in 1521, and by 1538, the entire region was included into the Ottoman Empire. Between 1527 and 1530, a duke of Syrmia was Radoslav Čelnik, who ruled over this region as Ottoman vassal. During the Ottoman rule, an administrative unit known as the sanjak of Syrmia existed in this region.

Proclaimed borders of the Serbian Voivodship in 1848, including most of Syrmia.

The Habsburg Monarchy took Syrmia from Ottomans between 1699 and 1718, and incorporated entire region into its Military Frontier. The County of Syrmia was established in Syrmia in 1745 as part of the Kingdom of Slavonia, a Habsburg land, mainly inhabited by Serbs and Croats. According to 1790 data, population of the Kingdom of Slavonia was composed of: Serbs (46.8%), Croats (45.7%), Hungarians (6.8%), and Germans (0.7%). The southern parts of Syrmia remained part of the Military Frontier.

In 1848 and 1849, most of Syrmia was part of the Serbian Voivodship, a Serb autonomous region within the Austrian Empire, while between 1849 and 1860, its northern part (municipalities of Ilok and Ruma) was part of the Voivodship of Serbia and Tamiš Banat, a separate Austrian crown land. According to the census from 1857, 59.4% of population of the part of Syrmia under civil administration and 63.2% of population of the part of Syrmia under military administration (Petrovaradin regiment) were ethnic Serbs. The second largest ethnic group were Croats, while other ethnic groups were Germans, Hungarians, etc.

After 1860 the County of Syrmia was established again, and it was again incorporated into the Kingdom of Slavonia, which was a separate Austrian crown land in that time. The Kingdom of Slavonia was incorporated into the Kingdom of Hungary in 1868, and it became part of Croatia-Slavonia, an autonomous region within the Kingdom of Hungary. According to the census from 1910, 44.20% of population of the Syrmia county spoke Serbian language, 25.64% Croatian language, 16.44% German language, etc.

On October 29, 1918, Syrmia became a part of the newly independent State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, while on November 24, the Assembly of Syrmia proclaimed the union of Syrmia with the Kingdom of Serbia. From December 1, 1918, it was a part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

The County of Syrmia within Croatia-Slavonia in 1881.

The region was first a county of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes between 1918 and 1922, then a province (oblast) of the Kingdom between 1922 and 1929. In 1929, after a new territorial division, the region was divided between Danube Banovina and Drina Banovina, which were provinces of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and in 1931 it was divided between Danube Banovina and Sava Banovina. In 1939, the western part of Syrmia was included into the newly formed Banovina of Croatia.

In 1941 Syrmia was occupied by the World War II Axis powers and its entire territory was attached to the Independent State of Croatia. In 1945 there had been created new borders in this area between federal states of Democratic Federal Yugoslavia and, since then, Eastern Syrmia (formerly part of Danube Banovina), together with Bačka and Banat, has been part of the Serbian Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, while Western Syrmia (formerly part of Sava Banovina) has been part of Croatia.

When Croatia declared its independence in 1991, Serbs who lived in the Croatian part of Syrmia proclaimed their autonomous region over portions of western Syrmia. The region was known as the Serbian Autonomous Region of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia. This region was one of the two Serbian autonomous regions that formed the Republic of Serbian Krajina in 1991. The creation of Krajina was triggered by the fact that new Croatian government changed constitual status of Serbs in Croatia from nation to national minority. Although change was made by more than 2/3 majority, and there was given garanties for civil rights for every Croatian citizen, from the point of view of the Serbs this revoking of their nation status was illegal, thus the creation of Krajina (internationally unrecognized entity) was seen by them as legal way to protect their rights. After in 1995 Croatian forces regained control over western part of Krajina, the eastern part was turned over to the UNTAES, and was peacefully reintegrated into Croatia by January 1998 (These events were part of war in Croatia).

Ethnic groups

According to the 2002 census in Serbia, the population of the Serbian part of Syrmia (in geographical borders) is composed of: Serbs (84.58%), Croats, Slovaks, Rusyns, Hungarians, etc.

According to the 2001 census in Croatia, the population of the Croatian Vukovar-Srijem county is composed of: Croats (78.27%), Serbs (15.45%), Hungarians (1%), Rusyns, Slovaks, etc.^[1]

Geography

Borders

The present international border was drawn in 1945 by the Đilas commission, as the divide between the Yugoslav constituent republic of Croatia and the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, itself part of Serbia, within Yugoslavia. Milovan Đilas, a Montenegrin and then a confidante of Tito, drew the border according to demographic criteria, which explains why the Croatian town of Ilok on the Danube, with a Croat majority, lies east of Šid in Serbia, with a Serb majority. Nonetheless, the border drawn in 1945 was very similar to internal Kingdom of Yugoslavia border of 1929-1939 between the Danube Banovina and the Sava Banovina.

There are two particularly isolated chunks of territory along the border - one is the Croatian territory of Ilok, which is mostly surrounded by Serbian territory from land, while the other is the Serbian territory of Jamena, which is mostly surrounded by Croatian territory from land.

Bordering regions

Bačka to the north, across Danube
Banat to the east, also across Danube
Šumadija the south-east, across Sava
Mačva to the south, across Sava
Semberija to the south-west, across Sava
Slavonia to the west. The border between Syrmia and Slavonia is unclear. According to one interpretation, it runs roughly along a line through Vukovar, Vinkovci, and Županja. According to another interpretation, the border follows the Bosut, Barica and Vuka rivers.