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The political theory of anarchism has been present within Serbia and is at the centre of the political and social turmoil that the country has been a part of for years. Through every government and period of political ruling from Monarch Milan Obrenovic to the current President Aleksandar Vucic there has been discontent with authority and running of these governments. Many Key figures and groups within the country have been at the centre and the driving force behind the anarchism within Serbia.
History
[edit]Throughout various periods the territory that is now known as Serbia has experienced many periods of changing government and authoritarian rule that was met with resistance from the people and other political parties.
1880’s - Milan Obrenovic
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Milan Obrenovic assumed the title of king of Serbia in 1882-1889, and remained in charge of the Habsburg Monarchy, led by Austro-Hungarian influence[1]. His ruling over the territory of Serbia with met with much opposition as his close relations with Austrian empire were considered to be unfavourable[2]. Milan Obrenovic sided with the Serbian Progressive party that held government, and proclaimed reforms and westernisation [3]. On the opposing side of this conflict was the new People's Radical Party which was centred around the idea of the political self-government[3]. Obrenovic and the progressive party viewed the Radicals as anarchists that presented as a danger to the law and order held within the country[3]. While the radicals viewed the progressive party and Obrenovic as abusing the power of the state[3]. The Radical party became a movement, instead of just a political party, that the progressive party attempted to stop[3]. This political tension came to a head in January 1882 when the parliament was obstructed by the Radicals[3].
In 1883, the Timok Rebellion (Timoka buna) occurred as the King, Milan Obrenovic, refused to offer the government to the radical party who held the majority of the votes, on the September 7 election (Djordjević 1979, pg. 237)[3]. Instead he appointed Nikola Hrstic, to head of government[3]. Struggle between the king and the radicals ensued, and the radicals had planned to assassinate the King, but failed[3]. The fear of an uprising form the radicals was believed a possibility by the government.
The tensions between the peasants in eastern Serbia and the government were at an all-time high when the Progressivist Parliament enacted new laws relating to the establishment of a modern military as opposed to the popular army that was established previously [3]. This law placed emphasis on the collection of old riffles from peasant-soldiers who had formed previous armies[3]. Through this the progressivist government attempted to lessen the strength of the radicals and gain the full control of the army[3]. The radicals actively opposed this change and the president of the Radicals, Nikola Pašić, published an article condemning the government and accusing it of acting for the Austro-Hungarians, which many people had severe distrust of [3]. Conflicts between the authorities that were sent to collect riffles and the peasants occurred [3].
Early 1900’s
[edit]Fall of the monarchy
[edit]Rise of the communist party
[edit]Breaking up of Yugoslavia
[edit]Anarchist Groups
[edit]Anarcho-Syndicalists
[edit]The anarcho-syndicalism initiative (ASI) is present and currently one of the more active anarchist groups operating in Serbia in recent times. They are known as the Union Confederation Anarcho Syndicalist Initiative section that forms part of the International Workers Association[4]. They have committees in many Serbian cities and towns including Kragujevac, Kula, Crevenka and Vrsac[5]. They spread their ideology through their magazine, Direct Action (Direktna Akcija), which is distributed through various channels to workers instead of being sold in stands. They share their dislike for the state, authoritarian control and capitalism[5]. There is believed to be approximately one thousand anarchists part of this group mainly consisting of students and workers, present within Serbia[5].
Arrest of Anarcho-syndicalists
[edit]On September 3rd 2009, six members (Tadej Kurepa, Ratibor Trivunac, Sanja Dojkić, Ivan Vulović, Nikola Mitrović and Ivana Savić) where charged with international terrorism, after they were involved in a Molotov attack on the Greek embassy in Belgrade[4]. This attack was conducted in response to the brutality of the Greeks in dealing with people that opposed their authority[4]. This charge carried the possibility of 3-15 years imprisonment[4]. The state was opposed to the actions of the anarcho-syndicalists and viewed them as a threat to public security[4]. The six were imprisoned for a total of five months[4].
Otpor
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This was a movement driven by cumulative civil resistance in Serbia which began with anger over the alleged corruption and vote rigging in the Slobodan Milosevic government in 1991[6]. By 1996, primarily students at the time organised demonstrations and protests that where held across the country for four months[6]. Otpor (the Serbian word for resistance), attempted to achieve change but was met with large amounts of resistance from Milosevic’s government and eventuated in a political stalemate [6].They used a variety of techniques and events to subvert the authority of the government, not just through protest but also satire, parody and black humour in order to spread its message using humour [6]. In response to, disregard by the government over the 2000 election results, resulted in increasing number of protests[7]. This movement established student networks in the major cities across the country[6].
Anarchism today
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The most recently elected president, Aleksandar Vucic and his party the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), has be faced with controversy over his alleged censorship and media manipulation as well as claims of corruption and the forceful silencing of anyone in opposition to them. The catalyst for these protests started with the attack of the opposition politician and leader of the Alliance of Serbia, Borko Stefanovic [8]. There has been the start of the alliance of Serbia a group of 30 opposition parties and organisations that claim that the current government is corrupt[8]. Stefanovic, was attacked and struck on the head by unknown attackers on the 23rd of November, 2018 in Krusevac[9]. The first protest was held on the 8th of December in Belgrade where thousands of people emerged in order to express their anger against the authoritarian control of the president and his party that held the majority of the country[9]. These rallies have been held every weekend from the first rally in December. Protesters however have been upset be the limited coverage that the rallies have received[9]. They broke into a state-run television network’s building on Saturday to in a sign of protest against the control of the media coverage[10]. These protests are continuing to be held weekly.
- ^ Armour, Ian D. (2012). "The Sensitivities of Small, Backward Nations AustriaHungary Serbia and the Regulation of the Danube 1870-71". Canadian Journal of History. 47 (3): 515–544. doi:10.3138/cjh.47.3.515. ISSN 0008-4107.
- ^ "Milan IV (or II) | king of Serbia". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Djordjević, Dimitije (1979). "The 1883 peasant uprising in Serbia". Balkan Studies. 20 (2): 235–255.
- ^ a b c d e f "The Belgrade Six - Serbian Anarchists Arrested for 'International Terrorism'". libcom.org. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
- ^ a b c BBC (2009). "Belgrade daily examines leading anarchist groups in Serbia". BBC Monitoring European.
- ^ a b c d e Sombatpoonsiri, Janjira. (2015). Humor and Nonviolent Struggle in Serbia. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0815634072. OCLC 994456566.
- ^ Thompson, Mark R.; Kuntz, Philipp (2004). "Stolen Elections: The Case of the Serbian October". Journal of Democracy. 15 (4): 159–172. doi:10.1353/jod.2004.0074. ISSN 1086-3214. S2CID 154045557.
- ^ a b "Thousands rally in Belgrade against Serbian president". Reuters. 2019-01-05. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
- ^ a b c Reuters (2019-03-17). "Thousands Protest in Serbia to Demand Free Press and Elections". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
{{cite news}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ Srebotnjak, H (2019). ""All as One – 1 out of 5 million": Serbian protesters mobilise against growing authoritarian rule". Open Democracy.