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Countries inhabited by South Slavs (in teal)
The South Slavs are a southern branch of the Slavic peoples that live in the Balkans, the southern Pannonian Plain and the eastern Alps. They speak the South Slavic languages.
Numbering close to 35 million, the group includes the Bulgarians and Macedonians in the east, and the Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks, Slovenians and Montenegrins in the west.
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Main article: Slavic peoples
Little is known about the Slavs before the fifth century. Their history prior to this can only be tentatively hypothesized via archeological and linguistic studies. Much of what we know about their history after the 500s is from the works of Byzantine historians.
In his work De Bellis, Procopius portrays the Slavs as unusually tall and strong, with a tan complexion and reddish-blonde hair, living a rugged and primitive life. They lived in huts, often distant from one another and often changed their place of abode. They were not ruled by a single leader, but for a long time lived in a "democracy" (ie anarchy). They probably believed in many Gods, but Procopius suggests they believed in one, perhaps supreme god. He has often been identified as Perun -the creator of lightening. The Slavs went into battle on foot, charging straight at their enemy, armed with spears and small shields, but they did not wear armour.
This information is supplanted by Pseudo-Marice\'s work Strategion, describing the Slavs as a numerous but disorganised and leaderless people, resistant to hardship and not allowing themselves to be enslaved or conquered. They made their homes in forests, by rivers and wetlands.The Cambridge Medieval History, vol I, Paul Fouracre Jordannes states that the Slavs "have their homelands on the Danube, not far from the northern bank”.
Subsequent information about early Slavic states and the Slavs\' interaction with the Greeks comes from De Adminitrando Imperio by Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, the compilations of Miracles of St Demetrius, History by Theophylact Simocatta and the Royal Frankish Annals.
Scholars tend to place the Slavic Urmeheit in the Pripet marshes of Ukraine. From the 5th century they spread outward in all directions. The Balkans was one of the regions which lay in the path of the expanding Slavs.
As far as the Slavs mentioned by the 6th century Byzantine chroniclers are concerned, Florin Curta suggests that their \'homeland\' was north of the Danube, not in Ukraine Southestern Europe in the Middle Ages. Florin Curtin. 2006. ISBN 100-521081539-8. He clarifies that their itinerant form of agriculture (they lacked the knowledge of crop rotation) "may have encouraged mobility on a microregional scale". Material culture from the Danube suggests that there was an evolution of Slavic society between the early 600s and the 700s. As the Byzantines re-asserted the Danubian defences in the mid 500s, the Slavs yield of pillaged goods dropped. As a reaction to this economic isolation, and external threats (eg from Avars and Byzantines), political and military mobilisation occurred. Archeological sites from the late 600s show that the earlier settlements which were merely a non-specific collection of hamlets began to evolve into larger communities with differentiated areas (eg designated areas for public feasts as well as an \'industrial\' area for craftsmanship). As community elites rose to prominence, they came to "embody a collective interest and responsibility" for the group. "If that group identity can be called ethnicity, and if that ethnicity can be called Slavic, then it certainly formed in the shadow of Justinian\'s forts, not in the Pripet marshes." Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages
The Byzantines broadly grouped the numerous Slav tribes into two groups - the Sclavenoi and Antes The Balkans. D P Hupchik. Apparently the Sclavenes group were based along the middle Danube, whereas the Antes were at the lower Danube, in Scythia Minor. Some, such as Bulgarian scholar Zlatarsky, suggest that the Sclavenes group settled the western Balkans, whilst offshoots of the Antes settled eastern regions (roughly speaking) Dennis Hupchik. The Balkans : From COnstnatinople to Communism. From the Danube, they commenced raiding the Byzantine Empire from the 520s, on an annual basis. They spread about destruction, taking loot and herds of cattle, seizing prisoners and taking fortresses. Often, the Byzantine Empire was stretched defending its rich Asian provinces from Arabs, Persians and Turks. This meant that even numerically small, disorganised early Slavic raids were capable of causing much disruption, but could not capture the larger, fortified cities on the Aegean coast. By the 580s, as the Slav communitites on the Danube became larger and more organised, and as the Avars exerted their influence, raids became larger and resulted in permanent settlement. In 586 AD, as many as 100, 000 Slav warriars raided Thessaloniki. By 581, many Slavic tribes had settled the land around Thessaloniki, though never taking the city itself, creating a Macedonian Sclavinia Cambridge Medieval Encyclopedia, Vol II. As John of Ephesus tells us in 581: “the accursed people of the Slavs set out and plundered all of Greece, the regions surrounding Thessalonica, and Thrace, taking many towns and castles, laying waste, burning, pillaging, and seizing the whole country.”. By 586, they took the western Peloponnese, Attica, Epirus, leaving only the east part of Peloponnese, which was mountainous and inaccessible. The final attempt to restore the northern border was from 591-605, when the end of conflicts with Persia allowed Emperor Maurice to transfer units to the north. However he was deposed after a military revolt in 602, and the Danubian frontier collapsed one and a half decades later (Main article: Maurice’s Balkan campaigns)
The Iron Gate on the Serbo-Romanian border
The Avars arrived in Europe in 558. Although their identity would not last, the Avars greatly impacted the events of the Balkans. They settle the Carpathian plain, west of the main Slavic settlements. They crushed the Gepid Kingdom and pushed the Lombards into Italy, essentially opening up the western Balkans. They asserted their authority over many Slavs, who were divided into numerous petty tribes. Many Slavs were relocated to the Avar base in the Carpathian basin and were galvinised into an effective infantry force. Other Slavic tribes continued to raid independently, sometime coordinating attacks as allies of the Avars. Others still spilt into Imperial lands as they fled from Avar authority. Despite being paid stipends, the Avars and their Slavic allies continued to raid the entire Balkans. The Avars and their Slavic allies tended to focus on the western Balkans, whilst independent Slavic tribes predominated in the east. Following the unsuccessful siege of Constantinople in 626, the Avars reputation dimished, and the confederacy was troubled by civial wars between the Avars and their Bulgar and Slav clients. Their rule contracted to the region of the carpathian basin. Archeological evidence show that there was intermixing of Slavic, Avar and even Gepid cultures, suggesting that the later Avars were an amalgamation of different peoples. This contributed to the rise of a Slavic noble class. The Khanate collapsed after ongoing defeats at the hands of Franks, Bulgars and Slavs (c. 810), and the Avars name ceased to exist. What remained of the Avars were absorbed by the Slavs and Bulgars.
Serbs and Croats are two tribes mentioned amongst the many Slavic tribes already in the Balkans. We know little about their origins. According to De administrando Imperio, Emperor Heraclius invited them as foederati to defeat the Avars. They migrated from their homeland in southern Poland between 615 and 640 AD. However, apart from this (often disputed) document, we have no evidence of their migration specifically. Some suggest that they arrived to the Balkans with the rest of the Slavic migrations, only to rise to prominence as some sort of a leading clan amongst neighbouring Slavic tribes.
By 700 AD, Slavs inhabited the entire Balkans, from Austria to the Peloponesse, and from the Adriatic to the Black seas.
The Balkans region is, and always has been, home to a diverse range of peoples. Prior to Roman conquest, a number of ‘native’ or ‘autochthonous’ peoples had lived there since ancient times. There were, of course, the Hellenes south of the Jicerek line. To the north, there were "Illyrians" in the western portion -Illyricum-(roughly corresponding to what was Yugoslavia), Thracians in Thrace (modern Bulgaria and eastern Macedonia), and Dacians in Moesia (northern Bulgaria and northeastern Serbia) and Dacia (modern Romania). These people were quite diverse and un-unified. They led tribal lives and generally lacked awareness of any greater ethno-political affiliation. Over the classical ages, they were at times invaded, conquered and influenced by Celts, Macedonians, Greeks and finally, conquered by the Romans. In reality, Roman influence was limited to the cities, which were concentrated along the Dalmatian coast, in Greece, and a few scattered cities inside the Balkan interior- particularly along the river Danube (Sirmium, Belgrade, Nis). Roman citizens from throughout the empire settled these cities and the adjacent countryside. The vast hinterland was still populated by indegenous peoples who likely retained their own tribal character Early medieval Balkans. John Fine Jr
Following the fall of Rome and numerous barbarian raids, the Balkans\' population dropped, as did commerce and general standard of living. Many people were killed, or taken prisoner by invaders. The fall in the population is particularly attributed to a drop in the number of indegenous peasants living in the rural countryside. They were the most vulnerable to raids and were also hardest hit by the financial crises that plagued the falling empire[7]. However, the Balkans were not desolate. Only certain areas tended to be hit by the raids- the lands around major land highways. People sought refuge inside fortified cities, whilst others fled to remote mountains and forests, joining their non-Romanized kin for a transhumant pastoral lifestyle. The larger cities were able to persevere, even flourish, through the hard times. Archeological evidence suggests that the culture in the cities changed- Roman-styled forums and large public buildings were abandoned and cities were modified - built on top of hills or cliff-tops and fortified by walls. The centrepiece of such cities was the church. This transformation from a Roman culture to a Byzantine one was paralleled by a rise of a new ruling class: the old land-owning aristocracy gave way to rule by military elites and the clergy Southeastern Europe in the middle ages, 500-1250. Florin Curta.
In addition to the autochthons, there were remnants of previous invaders such as "Huns" and various Germanic peoples when the Slavs arrived. Sarmatian tribes (such as the Iazyges) are recorded to have still lived in the Banat region of the Danube.
As the Slavs spread south into the Balkans, they interacted with the numerous peoples and cultures. Since their lifestyle revolved around agriculture, they preferentially settled rural lands along the major highway networks which they moved along. Whilst they could not take the larger fortified towns, they looted the countryside, capturing many prisoners. In his Strategion, Pseudo-Maurice noted that it was commonplace for Slavs to accept newly acquired prisoners into their ranks. Despite the Byzantine\'s accounts of \'pillaging\' and \'looting\', it is likely that many indegenous peoples volutarily assimilated with the Slavs. The Slavs lacked an organised, centrally ruled organisation which actually hastened the process of wilfull Slavicisation [8]. The strongest evidence for such a co-existence is from archeological remains along the Danube and Dacia- the so-called Ipotesti-Cindesti culture. Here, the villages dating back to the 6th century represent a continuity with the earlier Slavic Pen\'kovka culture; modified by admixture with Dato-Getic, Daco-Roman and/or Byzantine elements within the same village[9]. Such a interactions awarded the pre-Slavic populace protection within the ranks of a dominant, new tribe. In turn, they contributed to the genetic and cultural development the South Slavs. There was a flow of loan-words in either direction. For example the Slavic name for Greeks- Grci- is derived from the Latin Graecus- presumably encountered through the local Romanised populace. Conversely we know that the Vlachs borrowed many Slavic words, especially pertaining to agricultural terms. Whether any of the original Thracian or Illyrian culture and language remained by the time Slavs arrived is a matter of debate. It is a difficult issue to analyse because of the overriding Greek and Roman influence in the region.
Overtime, more and more of the Latin speaking natives (generally referred to as Vlachs) were assimilated (such that, in the western Balkans, Vlach came be a socio-occupational term rather than ethnic term The Serbs. Sima Cirkovic). The Romance speakers within the fortified Dalmatian cities managed to retain their culture and language for a longer time, Dalmatian was spoken until the high Middle Ages. However, they too were eventually assimilated into the body of Slavs. In contrast, the Romano-Dacians in Wallachia managed to maintain their Latin-based language, despite much Slavic influence. After centuries of peaceful co-existence, the groups fused to form Romanians.
The mixed ancestry of today\'s South Slavs is evident, as one can see a plethora of different physical characteristics. Carleton Coon, in his The Races of Europe, remarks that the original Slavs were of Nordic stock (blonde, dolicocephalic), who mixed with shorter-statured, brachycephalic Balkaners. He suggests that such fusion produced the predominant Dinaric form in the western Balkans (Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia). Bulgarians, he suggests, are a mixture of Dinaric and Atlanto-Mediterranean subtypes. The Dinaric type predominates in the west (ie Macedonia) where average height is the greatest, whereas a small proportion of Bulgarians in the south and east show Mongoloid features - the result of later invaders (Cumans, Pechenegs, Tartars).
As the Slavs settled the Balkans, they formed independently ruled, tribe-based units referred to as Sclavenes. Over twenty different Sclavines may have existed. Some retained original names from old tribes which were also encountered amongst their kin to the north and east- Abordrites, Severi, Dragovits, Serbs and Croats. Others took on new names from the regions they settled, such as the Carantanians, Neretvans, Dukljiani and Strumanci to name a few The Serbs. Sima Cirkovic. Byzantium tried to incorporate the Slavs immediately adjacent to the imperial border into the Byzantine socio-economic system. Whilst the Thracian theme was returned to imperial rule in 680-681, the Slavs in Greece and Macedonia proved more stubborn, and resisted Hellenization. Emperors Constans (656) and Justinian II (686) had to resort to military expeditions. Although he succeeded in subduing a number of Slavic tribes, he was ambushed and defeated by Han Kuber\'s Slavo-Bulgars from Macedonia, and was subsequently deposed for the first time. The difficulty of subduing Slavs also lay in the lack of centralized ruling core of Slavic tribal leaders which could be defeated or bribed. Some Byzantines took refuge in the defended larger Greek cities along the Aegean. During these early stages of attempted re-Hellenization, some historians, such as Dennis Hupchick, suggest that assimilation actually operated in an opposite direction, where the surrounded Hellenic peoples were acculturated into the more primitive culture of their encirclers The Balkans. D P Hupchick.
The recovery of Greece was not achieved until the 9th century. The Emperors actively re-settled Greeks from other regions of the Empire to the Peloponnese and central Greece. To ensure Helleniziation of the Slavs living in Greece, Orthodox church organization using exclusively Greek language was imposed. The result was an inevitable intermixture of Greek and Slavic peoples The Balkans: From Communism to Constantinople. Dennis P Hupchik. Greece reclaimed linguistic jurisdiction over what is now central and southern Greece, yet pockets of independent Slavs remained even until late medieval times as deep as the Peloponesse. Macedonia, Thrace, Rumelia, Moesia remained overwhelmingly Slavic, save coastal strips of land along the Aegean Sea.
There were also moments of cooperation. In the 717 siege of Constantinople by the Arabs, the Slavs and Bulgars were instrumental in repelling the attacks. In terms of saving medieval Europe from Islamic conquest, this is an achievement equal to that of Charles Martel in defeating the Moors in France in 731 AD.
The Slavic inroads into the Balkans, whilst causing much territorial loss, never destroyed the classical Hellenic culture. The political, economic and military strength of the Eastern Roman Empire ensured its survival for one thousand years longer. This contrasts the situation in the Latin West, where the Germanic tribes created states of their own retaining a \'bastardised\' form of Latin Hellenism, loosely modelled after the Western Empire which they destroyed. Although the Byzantines could only manage to linguistically Hellenize the Slavs deep inside Greece, a Hellenic tradition was nonetheless implaced upon the Slavs who remained outside the empire. This was manifest in two major forms: Christianity (subsequently Orthodox Christianity) and Cyrillicism - a unique Slavic written language inspired by Greek literary forms. Byzantine culture, administrative and legal systems were mirrored by the courts of Bulgarian and Serbian Princes. The Balkan: From Constantinople to Communism. Dennis P Hupchik
The Byzantine influence in the northwestern Balkans, (ie Croatia and Slovenia) was initially limited to the Adriatic coastline of Dalmatia. This ceased all together by the 11th century, being supplanted by Venetian dominance. This explains why the Croats and Slovenes are Catholic and traditionally orient themselves toward the western European sphere of culture. However, its legacy can still be seen in the historic churches of the area.
By the end of 7th century, the Slavs occupied every region of the Balkans. Despite having taken much land from the Byzantines, and successfully revolted against Avar dominance, they remained split into many different tribes. Other invaders of the Roman Empire, such as the Franks in the west, for example, formed a somewhat unified Kingdom incorporating various ‘Frankish’ and other Germanic tribes. However, as noted earlier, the Slavs tended to dislike centralized rule, and there was no one king or warrior who could forge a unified kingdom or supra-tribal union (which otherwise would have spanned half of Europe).
Asparuch’s Bulgars arrived in Dobrudja and Moesia Inferior in the 670s. Either by subjugation or alliance, they gained the service of Slavic tribes living in the area (as the Avars had done earlier). They moved the Severi and ‘The Seven Slavic clans’ to defend strategic areas of their early Khanate. The Byzantines were aware of this new threat, but could not stop the formation of the First Bulgarian ‘Empire’ by 681. As the Bulgars expanded their influence, many Slavic tribes in Macedonia joined the ‘Bulgar League’, which was becoming progressively Slavonicized. Others are noted to have been loyal to the Byzantines. As they spread northwest, they subjugated the Abordrites and Timochans, who rebelled and appealled to the Franks for help.
In the western Balkans, the tribal configurations of the 600s eventually formed a basis for early statelets, no doubt influenced by Feudalism from the west. During the 700s, the Franks extended into the northwestern Balkans. In 745, they incorporated the Alpine Slavs of Carantania, the area serving as a march. The Slavs in northern Pannonia (north of the Drava) were included in the Balaton Principality, given by the Franks to an exiled Prince from Nitra, whereas those south of the Drava were part of ‘Savia’- a territory we know little about. The Franks and Bulgars fought for control over it initially, later becoming an area of conflict between Hungary and Croatia.
The Croats were Frankish vassals until they successfully rebelled during the 850s, forming the Duchy of the Croats in northern Dalmatia. In the southern half of the Dalmatian coast, four small Slavic duchies arose- Pagania, Zahumlje, Travunia and Duklja. Inland to these was the land of Serbia. Today there is much debate about ‘historical rights’ to certain areas. However, these early states were composed of ethnically very similar people split into different tribal territories. At times, one would grow powerful enough to exert influence over its neighbours. Centuries later, some tribal or regional designations evolved to identify a people with a common national awareness (ie a nation-state), somewhat distinct from its neighbours. As the tribes and early states were never unified, they experienced different histories and cultural influences which has coloured their identity today. One cannot deny their uniqueness, but should not overlook their common origins either.
Although referred to as \'Slavs\' and speaking a Slavic language, modern South Slavic peoples \'genetic roots\' actually stem from a wide variety of genetic backgrounds, attesting the complexity of the ethnogenetic processes in Eastern Europe, namely the symbiosis of ancient, native Balkan populations with that of the 6th century Slavs. A recent genetic study Rebala K et al. (2007), Y-STR variation among Slavs: evidence for the Slavic homeland in the middle Dnieper basin, Journal of Human Genetics, 52:406-14 researched several Slavic populations with the aim of localizing the Proto-Slavic homeland. A significant finding of this study is that two genetically distinct groups of Slavic populations exist. The first group encompassed most Slavic populations except some Southern Slavs. According to the authors, most Slavs share a high frequency of Haplogroup R1a. Its origin is purported to trace to the middle Dnieper basin of Ukraine from Ukrainian LGM refuge 15 kya.ibid., p. 408. The second group is comprised of southern Slavic populations: Bulgarians, Croatians, Macedonians and Serbians, who have a significantly lower frequency of R1a. According to the authors, this phenomenon is explained by "...contribution to the Y chromosomes of peoples who settled in the Balkan region before the Slavic expansion to the genetic heritage of Southern Slavs..."ibid., p. 410
South Slavs are divided into two groups — eastern and western. Please note that some of the subdivisions of the South Slavic ethnicities remain debatable, particularly for smaller groups and national minorities in former Yugoslavia.
List of the South Slavic peoples and ethnic groups, including population figures: Mile Nedeljković, Leksikon naroda Sveta, Beograd, 2001.
Eastern group:
Western group:
Besides ethnic groups, South Slavs often identify themselves with the geographical region in which they live. Some of the major regional South Slavic groups include: Zagorci, Istrani, Dalmatinci, Slavonci, Bosanci, Hercegovci, Krajišnici, Semberci, Srbijanci, Šumadinci, Vojvođani, Sremci, Bačvani, Banaćani, Sandžaklije, Kosovci, Crnogorci, Bokelji, Torlaks, Shopi, Pelagonci, Tikvešjani, Trakiytsi, Dobrudzhantsi, Balkandzhii, Miziytsi, Pirintsi, Rodoptsi, Bessarabian Bulgarians, etc.
There are seven countries in which South Slavs form the majority of population: [1]
In addition, there are traditional sizable South Slavic minorities in non-Slavic neighbouring countries such as Italy (Slovenians, Molise Croats), Austria (Slovenians, Burgenland Croats), Hungary (Serbs, Croats, Bunjevci, Šokci, Slovenians), Romania (Krashovani, Banat Bulgarians, Serbs), Moldova (Bessarabian Bulgarians), Greece (Bulgarians, Macedonians), Turkey (Pomaks, Bosniaks) and Albania (ethnic Macedonians, Serbs, Montenegrins, Gorani), as well as emigrant communities in various countries around the world.
Largest cities with South Slavic majority:
The religious and cultural diversity of the region the South Slavs inhabit has had a considerable influence on their religion. Originally a polytheistic pagan people, the South Slavs have also preserved many of their ancient rituals and traditional folklore, often intermixing and combining it with the religion they later converted to.
Today, most of the Bulgarians, ethnic Macedonians, Serbs, Montenegrins, and Yugoslavs are Eastern Orthodox Christians; most of the Slovenians, Croats, Bunjevci, Šokci, Krashovans, and Palćene are Roman Catholics; while most of the Bosniaks, Muslims by nationality, Gorani, Torbesh, and Pomaks are Muslims.
South Slavic standard languages are:
In addition, there are also two more South Slavic languages, Montenegrin and Bunjevac, that do not have official status, but that are widely used by their speakers. Formerly, the Šokac language was also listed in the censuses conducted during Austro-Hungarian administration.
However, this language division is more political than linguistic. Naming local dialects is made difficult by the fact that Slovenes from Austria and Italy are linked with their most remote South Slavic peoples - the Pomaks and Bulgarians of European Turkey - by a dialect continuum (ie. Bulgarian and Slovenian are mutually unintelligible, but are linked via a chain of intermediate dialects, all intelligible to adjactent regions; these include the standard languages, whose impact is anyhow softened by chains of intermediate non-standard dialects). A non-political classification of the South Slavic dialects is as follows:
Within Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia (the regions home to the former Serbo-Croat language), a secondary yat-orientated accent system is known. These are an extra feature, one of which applies to every dialect spoken in all of the republics.
Kajkavian, Chakavian, and Torlakian were all at various times classified as a forth dialect of Serbo-Croatian language. On principle, Serbo-Croat Shtokavian forms along with Kajkavian and Chakavian are themselves closer to standrad Slovenian than to Torlakian (standard Serbian included), which is arguably an eastern south Slavic dialect, closer to Bulgarian and Macedonian. See main article.
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Serb bagpiper in traditional attire wearing opanci and šajkača. |
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A Montenegrin Bokelj in traditional garb. |
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Petar II Petrović-Njegoš, the Prince-Bishop of Montenegro. |
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Josip Jelačić, the ban of Croatia. |
tsar Jovan Nenad, the ruler of Vojvodina. |
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Pomak village in Xanthi, Western Thrace. |
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Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. |
Bulgarians in national dress dancing choro |
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