Great Serb Migrations
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The term Great Serb Migrations refer to the two large migrations of Serbs from the Ottoman Empire to the Habsburg Monarchy:
- First Serbian Migration in 1690 under Patriarch Arsenije III Čarnojević
- Second Serbian Migration in 1737 under Patriarch Arsenije IV Jovanović
Serbs from these migrations settled in parts of present-day Vojvodina, Slavonia, and Hungary (they settled as far in the north as the town of Szentendre in Hungary, in which they formed the majority of population in the 18th century).
The large Serb migrations from Balkans to the Pannonian plain started in the 14th century and lasted until the end of the 18th century. The great migrations from 1690 and 1737 were the largest ones and were important reason for issuing the privileges that regulated the status of Serbs within Habsburg Monarchy. The Serbs that in these migrations settled in Vojvodina and Slavonia increased the existing Serb population in these regions and made the Serbs an important political factor in the area.
The first great migration happened after Emperor Leopold of Austria had promised Serbs benefits regarding their education, religion and property. After this migration, parts of Southern Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro became underpopulated and as Serbs were leaving what was once the core of their Serbian Empire, the Muslims have settled in; during the course of centuries Serbs have became a minority in those areas that are still considered cultural heartlands of the Serbian state. Serbian cultural and political centre has moved to the north where Serbs enjoyed political and cultural privileges, while Serbs living under Ottoman rule had nothing of that until First Serbian Uprising which marked the rebirth of modern Serbia.
