Kingdom of Serbia (1718–39)

The Kingdom of Serbia (Serbian: Краљевина Србија, Kraljevina Srbija; German: Königreich Serbien; Latin: Regnum Serviae) was a province (crownland) of the Habsburg monarchy from 1718 to 1739. It was formed from the territories to the south of the rivers Sava and Danube, corresponding to the paşalık of Belgrade, conquered by the Habsburg armies from the Ottoman Empire in 1718. It was abolished and returned to the Ottoman Empire in 1739.

Although Habsburg rule was more oppressive than Ottoman and exploited the local Serb majority, the latter did benefit from self-government, including an autonomous militia, and economic integration with the Habsburg monarchy—reforms that contributed to the growth of the Serb middle class and were continued by the Ottomans “in the interest of law and order”. Serbia's population increased rapidly from 270,000 to 400,000, but the decline of Habsburg power in the region provoked the second Great Serb Migration (1737–39).

History
In the 17th century, entire territory of present-day Serbia was under Ottoman administration. In 1688–89, during the Great Turkish War, the Habsburg troops temporarily took control over most of present-day Serbia, but were subsequently forced into retreat. The Treaty of Karlowitz of 1699 recognized Ottoman authority over most of present-day Serbia, while the region of Bačka and the western part of Syrmia were assigned to the Habsburgs.

After the gains of 1718, the Habsburgs sought to integrate Serbia into their empire. The land was officially named the "Kingdom of Serbia", because it was neither a part of the Holy Roman Empire nor the Kingdom of Hungary. The actual administration of the province was in the hands of an appointed governor. Not all the Serb-inhabited territory conquered by the Habsburgs in 1718 was included into Kingdom of Serbia. A large eastern province was administratively separate as the Banat of Temeswar.

In 1720, the Habsburg authorities declared Belgrade a German and Roman Catholic city. All non-German and non-Catholic inhabitants had to live outside the city walls.

After a new Austro-Turkish War (1737–39), the Habsburg monarchy lost all territories south of the rivers Sava and Danube, including whole territory of the Kingdom of Serbia. (It retained, however, the Banat of Temeswar.)

Governors of Serbia

 * Johann Joseph Anton O'Dwyer (1718–1720) (known as "General Odijer")
 * Charles Alexander, Duke of Württemberg (1720–1733)
 * Karl Christoph von Schmettau (1733–1738)
 * George Oliver de Wallis (1738–1739)

Aftermath
Although the Habsburg administration over this part of present-day Serbia was short-lived, the consciousness about separate political entity was left behind by the Habsburgs, thus local inhabitants never again fully accepted Ottoman administration, which lead to Koča's frontier rebellion in 1788 and to the First Serbian Uprising in 1804, which ended direct Ottoman rule over this part of present-day Serbia.