Serbianisation
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Serbianisation (serbianization[1], serbization) (Serbian: србизација, srbizacija, Bulgarian: сърбизация, посръбчване) is a term used to describe a cultural change in which something ethnically non-Serbian is made to become Serbian.
It is commonly used in connection with minority ethnic groups living in Serbia and sharing the same Orthodox religion with Serbs. Such ethnic groups are Macedonians, Bulgarians[2], Montenegrins, Romanians (especially Vlachs), Roma, Greeks, Cincars, etc.
Such cultural change is much less common for other minorities that do not share the same religion with Serbs. This includes ethnic groups such as the Croats and Bosniaks.
During the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the government of the Kingdom pursued a linguistic Serbization policy towards the Macedonians in Macedonia[3] , then called "Southern Serbia" (unofficially) or "Vardar Banovina" (officially). The dialects spoken in this region were referred to as dialects of Serbo-Croatian.[4] Either way, those southern dialects were suppressed with regards education, military and other national activities, and their usage was punishable[5]. The Serbianization of the Bulgarian language and population in Republic of Macedonia increased after WWII. Persons declaring their Bulgarian identity were imprisoned or went into exile, and in this way Vardar Macedonia was effectively de-Bulgarized.[6]
On the Serbian census from 1895, 159,000 Romanians (comprising 6,4 % of the country's population) had been counted in Serbia (Central Serbia). On the 2002-census, only 4,157 persons were counted as "Romanians" while another 40,054 persons were counted as "Vlachs". An exodus of the Romanian population from Serbia is not known, so the missing persons (around 110,000) are supposed to have been serbianized.
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[edit] De-serbization
Islamisation and Turkification occurred under Ottoman rule occurred from the 15th century to the 19th century. Christian Serbs were converted to Islam under their own will for more benefits within the Ottoman Empire. They had changed common customs and rituals and had adopted more Turkish customs, as well as naming.
De-serbization occurred in Montenegro when Josip Broz Tito came to power in Yugoslavia, prior to 1948, the ethnic group of "Montenegrins" did not exist, since the arrival of Serbs to the Balkans in the 7th century, the slavic citizens of Montenegro were predominantly Serbs, and Montenegrins was in the 18th century used as a regional affiliation. Serbs composed 98.4% of an independent princedom of Montenegro in 1911 (i.e. when government of a separate country, Serbia, could have had no influence on the self-identification), 80.88 % of the region of Montenegro in 1931, but declined to mere 1.78 % in 1948, after the new Montenegrin nationality was promulgated by the Communists, this very Montenegrin nationality numbered 90.67% at the time, but dwindled later. Tito encouraged Montenegrins to sever their ties to Serbdom and the Serbs in general, purportedly to create a non-nationalistic and Socialist Yugoslavia. The so-called Montenegrin Orthodox Church has gained little popularity among the population of Montenegro, but it is supported by some in theat country's leadership; it has the aims to snatch the property of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Magyarization took place under the Austro-Hungarian rule of Vojvodina.
[edit] Re-serbization
In 1921, Serbs composed 92.96%, numbering 231,686 in Montenegro. From 1948 to 1991, the percentage of Serbs never exceeded 10% (ranging from 3-10% every 10 years) as a result of the Montenegrin national awakening. In 2003, Serbs composed 31.99%, numbering 198,414, as to the percentage in 1948 was 1.78%, a third of previously declared Montenegrins now re-declared as Serbs.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ The Real Face of Serbian Education in Macedonia (English). newspaper "Makedonsko Delo", No. 9 (Jan. 10, 1926), Vienna, original in Bulgarian. Retrieved on 2007-08-03.
- ^ [http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/en/ban/pww2.html#59 A Petition from the Bulgarian Population in Vardar Macedonia to the League of Nations Concerning the Unbearable National and Political Oppression] (English). Veritas, Macedonia under oppression 1919-1929, Sofia, 1931, pp. CXCI-CXCV, original in Bulgarian. Retrieved on 2007-08-03.
- ^ An article by Dimiter Vlahov about the persecution of the Bulgarian population in Macedonia (English). newspaper "Balkanska federatsia", No. 140, Aug.20, 1930, Vienna, original in Bulgarian. Retrieved on 2007-08-03.
- ^ Friedman, V. (1985) "The sociolinguistics of literary Macedonian" in International Journal of the Sociology of Language. Vol. 52, pp. 31-57
- ^ By the Shar Mountain there is also terror and violence (English). newspaper "Makedonsko Delo", No. 58, Jan. 25, 1928, Vienna, original in Bulgarian. Retrieved on 2007-08-03.
- ^ Europe Since 1945: An Encyclopedia by Bernard Anthony Cook ISBN 0815340583[1]
