Assemblies of the Serbian Revolution

There were various types of assemblies (Serbian: скупштине/skupštine) and meetings (зборови/zborovi) in Revolutionary Serbia during the First Serbian Uprising (1804–13). While the Serbian Governing Council represented the supreme state administration, the Assembly of Rebel Leaders represented the law-making political power, and Karađorđe the supreme commander.[1] They various types of assemblies thus include:

  • Assembly of Rebel Leaders (Скупштина устаничких старешина), included notables not only with the title vojvoda, but those ranked knez and obor-knez (part of civilian administration), and clergy (monks and protojerej), and from the military also captains.[2] Examples of such assemblies are Pećani (1805) and Smederevo (1805).
  • People's Assembly or National Assembly (народне скупштине)
  • Secret Assembly (чрезвичајне), secret meetings such as at Palanka (1809).

List

The following assemblies were held between 1804 and 1815:

  • Brankovina Assembly (15 February [O.S. 3 February] 1804), in Brankovina, gathering of Valjevo nahiya Serbs.
  • Ostružnica Assembly (24 April–3 May 1804), in Ostružnica outside Belgrade, regarding peace talks with the Dahije in Zemun, further actions and armament, administrative organization, etc.
  • Pećani Assembly (17 April–3 May 1805), in Pećani (Скупштина устаничких старешина у Пећанима), regarding Russian relations, delegation to the Porte, division of taxes and costs of the uprising to date.
  • Bogovađa Assembly (August 1805), at Bogovađa, not held, the gathered went to Borak.
  • Smederevo Assembly (25–30 November 1805), in Smederevo (Скупштина устаничких старешина у Смедереву), regarding no tribute to be paid the Porte; taxes collected from both Serbs and Turks for the Serbian Army; expansion of Army personnel, improvement of trenches and camps and strict military discipline, all military affairs put under Karađorđe, feeding of soldiers, desertion punishable by death; repair and expansion of Smederevo Fortress to house a garrison of 4–5,000; acceleration of siege of Belgrade and if no surrender take it through assault; if Turks attack, have good defensive points outside the Belgrade Pashalik.
  • Minor Assembly at Ostružnica (1–12 January 1806), in Ostružnica outside Belgrade.
  • Smederevo Assembly (1 July 1806)
  • Smederevo Assembly (1–5 November 1806), in Smederevo, regarding the Porte's conditions for peace and delegation to Constantinople; giving thanks for appointment of "Hasanaga" as muhasil; continuation of war; acceleration of takeover of Belgrade; ask Habsburgs that their Frontier stop feeding the kırcalı; ask all Serbs, wherever they are, to aid in food and money; taxation.
  • Belgrade Assembly (21 November 1807)
  • Belgrade Assembly (14–15 December 1808), in Belgrade, regarding proclamation of Karađorđe as the supreme leader for the third time, with hereditary rule, to rule Serbia in agreement with the Governing Council, that is the supreme national court in all of the country.
  • Belgrade Assembly (1809)
  • Palanka Assembly (2–8 October 1809), secret assembly in Smederevska Palanka, regarding need for Russian troops in Serbia to secure survival; the negative feelings for Rodofinikin and his intrigue, and that he nor Metropolitan Leontius or Serbs who were with them ever be allowed back to Serbia; the appointment of archimandrite and commander Melentije Stefanović as the hierarch of Serbia in place of fleeing Leontius; ask for Russian commission to investigate Serbian accusations against Rodofinikin; to send a delegation of three to Wallachia to inform the Russian Command of all this.
  • Belgrade Assembly (1–2 January 1810), in Belgrade, confirming points of the Palanka Assembly, need of Russian troops, taxation, President of Governing Council Mladen Milovanović removed and replaced by Jakov Nenadović.
  • Belgrade Assembly (13 May 1810).
  • Vraćevšnica Assembly (6 September 1810).
  • Loznica Assembly (October 1810).
  • Topola Assembly (17 July 1812), in Topola, regarding the refusal to alone deal with the Porte and of giving over cities to the Turks as per Treaty of Bucharest (1812), accept tribute to the Porte but refuse that Serbs and Turks live together; ask the Russian army to stay in Serbia and that Russia sends ammunition; send Interior Minister Jakov Nenadović to the Russian Command to inform of all this.
  • Vraćevšnica Assembly (15–16 August 1812), at Vraćevšnica, regarding thanks to the Russian emperor and continuation of talks with Ottoman deputy Mustafa Çelebi.
  • Kragujevac Assembly (1–12 January 1813), in Kragujevac, regarding Serbian borders; Karađorđe affirmed as supreme leader; Ottoman firman to establish an independent internal administration of Serbia; a Pasha or Vizier to be accepted in Belgrade as proof of loyal subjection; a promise of military support to the enemies of the Ottoman Empire; Serbs to protect Imperial cities. After this, the uprising was quelled and Ottoman rule returned to Serbia.
  • Topčider Meeting (8 August 1814), Miloš Obrenović, Milić Drinčić, Radovan Grbović, Aksentije Miladinović, Lazar Mutap, Arsenije Loma, Vasilije Jovanović, Panta Ilić, Milivoje Tadić, Vasilije Pavlović, Georgije Lazarević and others meet and send a letter to the Serbian revolutionary exiles to ask Russia for help regarding atrocities in Serbia.
  • Rudovci Meeting (late February 1815), leaders from Belgrade, Valjevo and Rudnik nahiyas meet regarding a new uprising.
  • Vreoci Meeting (5 March 1815), leaders from Belgrade, Valjevo and Rudnik nahiyas meet regarding a new uprising. Nikola Stanković sent to general Chervenka in Zemun to ask for Austrian aid, Pavle Gošnjić sent to Ostružnica to talk with emigrants in Vojvodina.
  • Rudovci Meeting 19 April [O.S. 7 April] 1815), leaders meet at the house of priest Ranko and decide that Miloš Obrenović lead the uprising. Armed conflict began the next day.

See also

References

Sources

  • Стевановић, Миладин (2003). Устанички зборови и скупштине: Први и Други српски устанак. Београд: Службени гласник. стр. 257. ISBN 86-7549-328-2.
  • Ристић, Милован (1955). Народне Скупштине у Првом српском устанку. Просвета.
  • Stojančević, Vladimir (1994). Prvi srpski ustanak: ogledi i studije. Vojna knj.
  • Marković, Života (1994). "Представници Рудничке и Пожешке (Чачанске) нахије у Правитељствујушчем совјету и скупштинама народних старешина од 1804. до 1813. године" [Représentants des nahies de Roudnik et de Pojéga (Tchatchak) au Conseil d'administration et aux assemblées des chefs du peuple entre les années 1804 et 1813]. Зборник радова Народног музеја у Чачку. XXIV: 61–82.
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