Editing Belgrade (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Belgrade}}
{{For timeline}}

===Prehistory===
{{See also|Prehistoric sites in Serbia|Prehistory of Southeastern Europe}}
[[File:Vinca_clay_figure_02.jpg|thumbnail|150px|left|[[Vinča culture]] figurine, 4000–4500 BC.]]
[[Lithic reduction|Chipped stone tools]] found in [[Zemun]] show that the area around Belgrade was inhabited by [[hunter-gatherer|nomadic foragers]] in the [[Palaeolithic]] and [[Mesolithic]] eras. Some of these tools are of [[Mousterian|Mousterian industry]]—belonging to [[Neanderthals]] rather than modern humans. [[Aurignacian]] and [[Gravettian]] tools have also been discovered near the area, indicating some settlement between 50,000 and 20,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Saric |first1=J. |doi=10.2298/STA0858009S |title=Paleolithic and mesolithic finds from profile of the Zemun loess |journal=Starinar |issue=58 |pages=9–27 |year=2008 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
The first farming people to settle in the region are associated with the [[Neolithic]] [[Starčevo culture]], which flourished between 6200 and 5200 BC.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Fragmentation in Archaeology: People, Places, and Broken Objects |last=Chapman |first=John |year=2000 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-0-415-15803-9 |page=236}}</ref> There are several Starčevo sites in and around Belgrade, including the eponymous site of [[Starčevo]]. The Starčevo culture was succeeded by the [[Vinča culture]] (5500–4500 BC), a more sophisticated farming culture that grew out of the earlier Starčevo settlements and also named for a site in the Belgrade region ([[Vinča-Belo Brdo]]). The Vinča culture is known for its very large settlements, one of the earliest [[List of cities by time of continuous habitation|settlements by continuous habitation]] and some of the largest in prehistoric Europe.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Vinča culture of south-east Europe: Studies in chronology, economy and society (2 vols) |last=Chapman |first=John |year=1981 |publisher=BAR |location=Oxford |isbn=0-86054-139-8 |series=BAR International Series |volume=117}}</ref> Also associated with the Vinča culture are anthropomorphic figurines such as the [[Lady of Vinča]], the earliest known [[Copper Age|copper metallurgy]] in Europe,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Radivojević |first1=M. |last2=Rehren |first2=T. |last3=Pernicka |first3=E. |last4=Šljivar |first4=D. A. |last5=Brauns |first5=M. |last6=Borić |first6=D. A. |doi=10.1016/j.jas.2010.06.012 |title=On the origins of extractive metallurgy: New evidence from Europe |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |volume=37 |issue=11 |page=2775 |year=2010|bibcode=2010JArSc..37.2775R }}</ref> and a [[proto-writing]] form developed prior to the [[Sumer]]ians and [[Minoans]] known as the [[Old European script]], which dates back to around 5300 BC.<ref>{{cite book |last=Haarmann |first=Harald |title=Geschichte der Schrift |publisher=C.H. Beck |year=2002 |isbn=978-3-406-47998-4 |page=20 |language=de}}</ref> Within the city proper, on Cetinjska Street, a skull of a Paleolithic human dated to before 5000 BC was discovered in 1890.<ref>{{cite book |title=Српска породична енциклопедија, књига 3, Ба-Би |trans-title=Serbian family encynclopedia, Vol. 3, Ba-Bi |date=2006 |page=116 |editor-first=Radivoje |editor-last=Mikić |publisher=Narodna Knjiga, Politika |isbn=86-331-2732-6}}</ref>

===Antiquity===
{{See also|Serbia in the Roman era}}
[[File:Guardian of the city.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|left|[[Belgrade Fortress]], built during a long period of time from the 2nd to the 18th century, located on the confluence of the two rivers Sava and [[Danube]]]]
Evidence of early knowledge about Belgrade's geographical location comes from a variety of ancient myths and legends. The ridge overlooking the confluence of the [[Sava]] and [[Danube]] rivers, for example, has been identified as one of the places in the story of [[Jason]] and the [[Argonauts]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b7RWayXdH0UC&pg=PA3 |title=Belgrade A Cultural History |access-date=16 January 2016 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780199704521 |date=29 October 2008 |archive-date=16 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416091412/https://books.google.com/books?id=b7RWayXdH0UC&pg=PA3 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/2259344/Jason-and-the-Argonauts-sail-again.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/2259344/Jason-and-the-Argonauts-sail-again.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Jason and the Argonauts sail again |access-date=16 January 2016 |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In the time of antiquity, too, the area was populated by [[Prehistory of Southeastern Europe|Paleo-Balkan tribes]], including the [[Thracians]] and the [[Dacians]], who ruled much of Belgrade's surroundings.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.beogradskatvrdjava.co.rs/Belgrade-Fortress-history_2178-74_2176 |title=Belgrade Fortress history |access-date=18 January 2011 |publisher=Public Enterprise "Belgrade Fortress" |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110905092854/http://www.beogradskatvrdjava.co.rs/Belgrade-Fortress-history_2178-74_2176 |archive-date=5 September 2011}}</ref> Specifically, Belgrade was at one point inhabited by the Thraco-Dacian tribe Singi;<ref name="city of belgrade-3"/> following [[Gallic invasion of Balkans|Celtic invasion]] in 279 BC, the [[Scordisci]] wrested the city from their hands, naming it ''Singidūn'' (''d|ūn'', fortress).<ref name="city of belgrade-3"/> In 34–33 BC, the Roman army reached Belgrade. It became the [[Roman Empire|romanised]] ''[[Singidunum]]'' in the 1st century AD and, by the mid-2nd century, the city was proclaimed a ''[[municipium]]'' by the Roman authorities, evolving into a full-fledged ''[[Colonia (Roman)|colonia]]'' (the highest city class) by the end of the century.<ref name="rich-1992">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_uMP91pRf0UC&pg=PA113 |title=The City in Late Antiquity |last=Rich |first=John |page=113 |publisher=CRC Press |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-203-13016-2 |access-date=1 October 2020 |archive-date=16 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416093705/https://books.google.com/books?id=_uMP91pRf0UC&pg=PA113 |url-status=live }}</ref> While the first Christian [[Roman Emperor|Emperor of Rome]]—[[Constantine I]], also known as [[Constantine the Great]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9109633/Constantine-I |title=Constantine I – Britannica Online Encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Britannica.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080618100901/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9109633/Constantine-I |archive-date=18 June 2008 |url-status=live |access-date=7 July 2009}}</ref>—was born in the territory of [[Naissus]] to the city's south, Roman Christianity's champion, Flavius Iovianus (Jovian/Jovan), was born in Singidunum.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://artfl.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.25:1:283.harpers |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070813044518/http://artfl.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.25:1:283.harpers |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 August 2007 |title=Philologic Results- |publisher=The ARTFL Project |access-date=7 July 2009}}</ref> Jovian reestablished Christianity as the official religion of the [[Roman Empire]], ending the brief revival of [[Religion in ancient Rome|traditional Roman religions]] under his predecessor [[Julian the Apostate]]. In 395&nbsp;AD, the site passed to the Eastern Roman or [[Byzantine Empire]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.beograd.rs/cms/view.php?id=201172 |title=History (Ancient Period) |publisher=Beograd.rs |access-date=10 July 2007 |archive-date=16 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216090323/http://www.beograd.rs/cms/view.php?id=201172 |url-status=live }}</ref> Across the Sava from Singidunum was the Celtic city of [[Zemun|Taurunum (Zemun)]]; the two were connected with a bridge throughout Roman and Byzantine times.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.beograd.rs/cms/view.php?id=201172 |title=City of Belgrade – Ancient Period |publisher=Beograd.rs |date=5 October 2000 |access-date=7 July 2009 |archive-date=16 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216090323/http://www.beograd.rs/cms/view.php?id=201172 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Middle Ages===
{{See also|Serbia in the Middle Ages}}
[[File:Bellgrad-Weissenburg 1400.jpg|thumb|left|Belgrade 1400, before Ottoman occupation.]]
In 442, the area was ravaged by [[Attila the Hun]].<ref>{{cite book |first1=Gerard |last1=Friell |first2=Stephen |last2=Williams |title=The Rome that Did Not Fall: The Survival of the East in the Fifth Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tGLN47tfT4UC&pg=PA67 |year=1999 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-15403-1 |page=67 |access-date=19 October 2015 |archive-date=10 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610173616/https://books.google.com/books?id=tGLN47tfT4UC&pg=PA67 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 471, it was taken by [[Theodoric the Great]], king of the Ostrogoths, who continued into Italy.<ref>{{cite book |author=Roy E. H. Mellor |title=Eastern Europe: a geography of the Comecon countries |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uUoeAAAAMAAJ |year=1975 |publisher=Macmillan |page=43 |isbn=9780333173114 |access-date=19 October 2015 |archive-date=8 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508041945/https://books.google.com/books?id=uUoeAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> As the [[Ostrogoths]] left, another Germanic tribe, the [[Gepids]], invaded the city. In 539, it was retaken by the Byzantines.<ref>Procopius, De Bello Gothico, III:34, quoted in Pohl 1997, pp. 89–90</ref> In 577, some 100,000 Slavs poured into [[Thrace]] and [[Illyricum (Roman province)|Illyricum]], pillaging cities and more permanently settling the region.
<ref>{{cite book |last=Bury |first=J. B. |author-link=J. B. Bury |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wDIJNvWb48YC |title=History of the Later Roman Empire from Arcadius to Irene Vol. II |publisher=Cosimo Classics |location=New York |year=2009 |orig-year=1889 |page=117 |isbn=978-1-60520-405-5 |access-date=1 October 2020 |archive-date=4 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404203221/https://books.google.com/books?id=wDIJNvWb48YC |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Avars (Carpathians)|Avars]], under [[Bayan I]], conquered the whole region and its new Slavic population by 582.<ref>''Warriors of the Steppe: a military history of Central Asia, 500 B.C. to 1700'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=yVwsxl_OI18C&pg=PA76 p. 76] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503013333/https://books.google.com/books?id=yVwsxl_OI18C&pg=PA76 |date=3 May 2016 }}</ref> Following Byzantine reconquest, the Byzantine chronicle ''[[De Administrando Imperio]]'' mentions the [[White Serbs]], who had stopped in Belgrade on their way back home, asking the ''[[strategos]]'' for lands; they received provinces in the west, towards the Adriatic, which they would rule as subjects to [[Heraclius]] (610–641).<ref>Bohlau, 1964, ''Slavistische Forschungen, Volume 6'', p. 103. University of California.</ref> In 829, [[Khan Omurtag]] was able to add Singidunum and its environs to the First Bulgarian Empire.<ref>''A Concise History of Bulgaria'', R. J. Crampton, Edition 2, revised, Cambridge University Press, 2005, {{ISBN|1139448234}}, p. 10.</ref><ref>Земя на световен кръстопът, Борис Стоев Чолпанов, Изд. на Българската академия на науките, 1993, стр. 39.</ref> The first record of the name ''Belograd'' appeared on April, 16th, 878, in a Papal missive<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.promacedonia.org/libi/2/gal/2_151.html |title=LIBI, t. II (1960) (2_151.jpg) |publisher=promacedonia.org |access-date=16 July 2015 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924124620/http://www.promacedonia.org/libi/2/gal/2_151.html |url-status=live }}</ref> to [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian ruler]] [[Boris I]]. This name would appear in several variants: ''Alba Bulgarica'' in Latin, ''Griechisch Weissenburg'' in High German, ''Nándorfehérvár'' in Hungarian, and ''Castelbianco'' in Venetian, among other names, all variations of 'white fortress' or '[[Danube Bulgar Khanate|Bulgar]] white fortress'. For about four centuries, the city would become a battleground between the [[Byzantine Empire]], the medieval [[Kingdom of Hungary]], and the [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian Empire]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.belgradenet.com/belgrade_history_ancient.html |title=The History of Belgrade |publisher=Belgradenet.com |access-date=16 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707223012/http://www.belgradenet.com/belgrade_history_ancient.html |archive-date=7 July 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Basil II]] (976–1025) installed a garrison in Belgrade.<ref>''Byzantium in the year 1000'',[https://books.google.com/books?id=CSZQ-VPFKoMC&pg=PA121 p. 121]</ref> The city hosted the armies of the [[First Crusade|First]] and the [[Second Crusade]],<ref name="beligradcom-1934">{{cite web |url=http://www.beligrad.com/history.htm |title=How to Conquer Belgrade – History |publisher=Beligrad.com |date=16 December 1934 |access-date=7 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090616085512/http://www.beligrad.com/history.htm |archive-date=16 June 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> but, while passing through during the [[Third Crusade]], [[Frederick Barbarossa]] and his 190,000 [[Third Crusade|crusaders]] saw Belgrade in ruins.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.belgradenet.com/belgrade_history.html |title=The History of Belgrade |publisher=Belgradenet.com |access-date=7 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090628031001/http://www.belgradenet.com/belgrade_history.html |archive-date=28 June 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[File:Panorama i ratna scena zauzimanja Beograda 1521. god.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Siege of Belgrade (1521)|Conquest of Belgrade, 1521]], Sultan [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] laid siege to the [[Belgrade Fortress]]]]

King [[Stefan Dragutin of Serbia|Stefan Dragutin]] (r. 1276–1282) received Belgrade from his father-in-law, [[Stephen V of Hungary]], in 1284, and it served as the capital of the [[Kingdom of Syrmia]], a vassal state to the Kingdom of Hungary. Dragutin (Hungarian: ''Dragutin István'') is regarded as the first [[List of Serbian monarchs|Serbian king]] to rule over Belgrade.<ref name="beogradrs-4">{{cite web |url=http://www.beograd.rs/cms/view.php?id=201247 |title=History (Medieval Serbian Belgrade) |publisher=Beograd.rs |access-date=10 July 2007 |archive-date=24 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924073223/http://www.beograd.rs/cms/view.php?id=201247 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Following the battles of [[Battle of Maritsa|Maritsa (1371)]] and [[Battle of Kosovo|Kosovo field (1389)]], Moravian Serbia, to Belgrade's south, began to fall to the [[Ottoman Empire]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9050991/Battle-of-the-Maritsa-River |title=Battle of Maritsa |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=10 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614084904/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9050991/Battle-of-the-Maritsa-River |archive-date=14 June 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9046112/Battle-of-Kosovo |title=Battle of Kosovo |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=10 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626175037/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9046112/Battle-of-Kosovo |archive-date=26 June 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The northern regions of what is now Serbia persisted as the [[Serbian Despotate]], with Belgrade as its capital. The city flourished under [[Stefan Lazarević]], the son of Serbian prince [[Lazar Hrebeljanović]]. Lazarević built a castle with a citadel and towers, of which only the [[Despot Stefan Tower|Despot's tower]] and the west wall remain. He also refortified the city's ancient walls, allowing the Despotate to resist Ottoman conquest for almost 70 years. During this time, Belgrade was a haven for many Balkan peoples fleeing Ottoman rule, and is thought to have had a population ranging between 40,000 and 50,000 people.<ref name="beogradrs-4" />

In 1427, Stefan's successor [[Đurađ Branković]], returning Belgrade to the [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungarian king]], made [[Smederevo fortress|Smederevo]] his new capital. Even though the Ottomans had captured most of the [[Serbian Despotate]], Belgrade, known as Nándorfehérvár in Hungarian, was [[Siege of Belgrade (1440)|unsuccessfully besieged in 1440]]<ref name="beligradcom-1934"/> and 1456.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ćorović |first=Vladimir |author-link=Vladimir Ćorović |title=Istorija srpskog naroda |url=http://www.rastko.org.rs/rastko-bl/istorija/corovic/istorija/index_l.html |year=1997 |publisher=[[Project Rastko]] |location=Banja Luka / Belgrade |language=sr |chapter=V. Despot Đurađ Branković |chapter-url=http://www.rastko.org.rs/rastko-bl/istorija/corovic/istorija/4_5_l.html |access-date=17 July 2007 |isbn=86-7119-101-X |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130319070121/http://www.rastko.org.rs/rastko-bl/istorija/corovic/istorija/index_l.html |archive-date=19 March 2013}}</ref> As the city presented an obstacle to the Ottoman advance into Hungary and further, over 100,000 Ottoman soldiers<ref name="belgradenetcom">{{cite web |url=http://www.belgradenet.com/belgrade_history_middle_ages.html |title=The History of Belgrade |publisher=Belgradenet.com |access-date=7 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081230032249/http://www.belgradenet.com/belgrade_history_middle_ages.html |archive-date=30 December 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Siege of Belgrade (1456)|besieged it in 1456]], in which the Christian army led by the Hungarian General [[John Hunyadi]] successfully defended it.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kovach |first=Tom R. |url=http://www.historynet.com/magazines/military_history/3030796.html |title=Ottoman-Hungarian Wars: Siege of Belgrade in 1456 |work=Military History |access-date=10 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626184935/http://www.historynet.com/magazines/military_history/3030796.html |archive-date=26 June 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The ''[[noon bell]]'' ordered by [[Pope Callixtus III]] commemorates the victory throughout the Christian world to this day, which is now a cultural symbol of [[Hungary]].<ref name="beligradcom-1934"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mek.oszk.hu/02000/02085/02085.htm |title=Hungary: A Brief History |publisher=Mek.oszk.hu |access-date=16 November 2010 |archive-date=24 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024132929/http://mek.oszk.hu/02000/02085/02085.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Ottoman rule and Austrian invasions===
{{See also|History of Ottoman Serbia|Ottoman–Habsburg wars}}
[[File:Belgrade_1684.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.6|Belgrade in 1684]]
Seven decades after the initial siege, on 28 August 1521, the fort was finally captured by [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] with 250,000 Turkish soldiers and over 100 ships. Subsequently, most of the city was razed to the ground and its entire Orthodox Christian population was deported to [[Istanbul]]<ref name="beligradcom-1934"/><ref>{{cite web |last=Serbia |first=RTS, Radio televizija Srbije, Radio Television of |title=Ко су потомци Београђана које је Сулејман Величанствени пре пет векова одвео у Истанбул |url=http://www.rts.rs/page/magazine/ci/story/501/zanimljivosti/4279377/beograd-istambul-sulejman-velicanstveni.html |access-date=4 March 2021 |website=www.rts.rs |archive-date=4 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304093012/https://www.rts.rs/page/magazine/ci/story/501/zanimljivosti/4279377/beograd-istambul-sulejman-velicanstveni.html |url-status=live }}</ref> to an area that has since become known as the [[Belgrade forest]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.roughguides.co.uk/website/travel/Destination/content/default.aspx?titleid=104&xid=idh573385336_0211 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120909184933/http://www.roughguides.co.uk/website/travel/Destination/content/default.aspx?titleid=104&xid=idh573385336_0211 |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 September 2012 |title=The Rough Guide to Turkey: Belgrade Forest |publisher=Rough Guides |access-date=5 May 2009}}</ref>

Belgrade was made the seat of the [[Pashalik of Belgrade]] (also known as the Sanjak of Smederevo), and quickly became the second largest Ottoman town in Europe at over 100,000 people, surpassed only by [[Constantinople]].<ref name="belgradenetcom"/> Ottoman rule introduced [[Ottoman architecture]], including numerous mosques, and the city was resurrected—now by [[Oriental]] influences.<ref name="beogradrs-3">{{cite web |url=http://www.beograd.rs/cms/view.php?id=201251 |title=History (Turkish and Austrian Rule) |publisher=Beograd.rs |access-date=10 July 2007 |archive-date=24 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924061435/http://www.beograd.rs/cms/view.php?id=201251 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1594, a major [[Banat Uprising|Serb rebellion]] was crushed by the Ottomans. In retribution, [[Grand vizier|Grand Vizier]] [[Sinan Pasha]] ordered the [[relic]]s of [[Saint Sava]] to be publicly torched on the [[Vračar plateau]]; in the 20th century, the [[church of Saint Sava]] was built to commemorate this event.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://balkanologie.revues.org/index494.html?file=1 |title=Nationalism In Construction: The Memorial Church of St. Sava on Vračar Hill In Belgrade |last=Aleksov |first=Bojan |journal=Balkanologie |volume=VII |issue=47 |pages=52–53 |date=December 2003 |access-date=15 September 2010 |archive-date=23 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723063232/http://balkanologie.revues.org/index494.html?file=1 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Occupied by the [[Habsburg monarchy|Habsburgs]] three times ([[Siege of Belgrade (1688)|1688–1690]], [[Kingdom of Serbia (1718–39)|1717–1739]], [[Siege of Belgrade (1789)|1789–1791]]), headed by the [[Holy Roman Empire|Holy Roman Princes]] [[Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria|Maximilian of Bavaria]] and [[Prince Eugene of Savoy|Eugene of Savoy]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://razgledanje.tripod.com/tvrdjava/english.htm |title=Belgrade Fortress: History |publisher=Razgledanje.tripod.com |date=23 August 2004 |access-date=7 July 2009 |archive-date=10 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910052943/http://razgledanje.tripod.com/tvrdjava/english.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[field marshal]] [[Baron Ernst Gideon von Laudon]], respectively, Belgrade was quickly recaptured by the Ottomans and substantially razed each time.<ref name="beogradrs-3" /> During this period, the city was affected by the two [[Great Serbian Migrations]], in which hundreds of thousands of Serbs, led by two [[Serbian Patriarchs]], retreated together with the Austrian soldiers into the Habsburg Empire, settling in today's [[Vojvodina]] and [[Slavonia]].<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=http://www.suc.org/culture/library/Oci/tajne-poruke-svetoga-save-16-03-03.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071023044533/http://www.serbianunity.net/culture/library/Oci/tajne-poruke-svetoga-save-16-03-03.html |archive-date=23 October 2007 |title=Oči u oči |chapter=Tajne poruke svetog Save" Svetosavska crkva i velika seoba Srba 1690. godine |author-link=Dejan Medaković |publisher=BIGZ (online reprint by Serbian Unity Congress library) |location=Belgrade |isbn=978-86-13-00903-0 |last=Medaković |first=Dejan |access-date=17 May 2007 |year=1990 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Principality and Kingdom of Serbia===
{{See also|Principality of Serbia|Kingdom of Serbia}}
[[File:Belgrade_Cathedral_&_Landing_Place_1.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0|View of Belgrade in 1890]]
At the beginning of the 19th century, Belgrade was predominantly inhabited by a Muslim population. Traces of Ottoman rule and architecture—such as mosques and [[bazaar]]s, were to remain a prominent part of Belgrade's townscape into the 19th century; several decades, even, after Serbia was granted autonomy from the Ottoman Empire.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Basare und Boulevards: Belgrad im 19. Jahrhundert. |last=Mišković |first=Nataša |year=2008 |location=Vienna |page=16}}</ref>

During the [[First Serbian Uprising]], Serbian revolutionaries held the city from 8 January 1807 until 1813, when it was retaken by the Ottomans.<ref name="beogradrs-2">{{cite web |url=http://www.beograd.rs/cms/view.php?id=201255 |title=History (Liberation of Belgrade) |publisher=Beograd.rs |access-date=10 July 2007 |archive-date=24 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924080603/http://www.beograd.rs/cms/view.php?id=201255 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1807, Turks in Belgrade were massacred and forcefully converted to Christianity. The massacre was encouraged by Russia in order to cement divisions between the Serb rebels and the [[Ottoman Porte|Porte]]. Around 6,000 Muslims and Jews were forcibly converted to Christianity. Most mosques were converted into churches. Muslims, Jews, Aromanians and Greeks were
subjected to forced labour, and Muslim women were widely made available to young Serb men, and some were taken into slavery. [[Milenko Stojković]] bought many of them, and established his harem for which he gained fame. In this circumstances Belgrade demographically transformed from Ottoman to Serb.<ref name="AMH">{{cite book | last=Hoare | first=M.A. | title=Serbia: A Modern History | publisher=Hurst Publishers | year=2024 | page=50}}</ref> After the [[Second Serbian Uprising]] in 1815, Serbia achieved some sort of sovereignty, which was formally recognised by the Porte in 1830.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Nations into States: National Liberations in Former Yugoslavia |last=Pavkovic |first=Aleksandar |journal=National Europe Centre Paper No. 5 |publisher=The Australian National University |date=19 October 2001 |url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/41654/3/pavkovic.pdf |access-date=13 September 2019 |archive-date=31 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200331000615/https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/41654/3/pavkovic.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

The development of Belgrade architecture after 1815 can be divided into four periods. In the first phase, which lasted from 1815 to 1835, the dominant architectural style was still of a Balkan character, with substantial Ottoman influence. At the same time, an interest in joining the European mainstream allowed Central and Western European architecture to flourish. Between 1835 and 1850, the amount of [[Neoclassicism|neoclassicist]] and [[baroque]] buildings south of the Austrian border rose considerably, exemplified by [[St. Michael's Cathedral, Belgrade|St Michael's Cathedral]] (Serbian: ''Saborna crkva)'', completed in 1840. Between 1850 and 1875, new architecture was characterised by a turn towards the newly popular [[Romanticism]], along with older European architectural styles. Typical of Central European cities in the last quarter of the 19th century, the fourth phase was characterised by an [[Eclecticism|eclecticist]] style based on the Renaissance and Baroque periods.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Istorija Beograda |editor-last=Antonić |editor-first=Zdravko |year=1995 |location=Belgrade |pages=263–264}}</ref>

In 1841, Prince [[Mihailo Obrenović]] moved the capital of the [[Principality of Serbia]] from [[Kragujevac]] to Belgrade.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kragujevac.rs/History-152-2 |title=History |publisher=City of Kragujevac |access-date=15 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329035624/http://www.kragujevac.rs/History-152-2 |archive-date=29 March 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.beograd.rs/cms/view.php?id=201239 |title=History (Important Years Through City History) |publisher=Beograd.rs |access-date=10 July 2007 |archive-date=24 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924063201/http://www.beograd.rs/cms/view.php?id=201239 |url-status=live }}</ref> During his first reign (1815–1839), Prince Miloš Obrenović pursued expansion of the city's population through the addition of new settlements, aiming and succeeding to make Belgrade the centre of the Principality's administrative, military and cultural institutions. His project of creating a new market space (the Abadžijska čaršija), however, was less successful; trade continued to be conducted in the centuries-old Donja čaršija and Gornja čaršija. Still, new construction projects were typical for the Christian quarters as the older Muslim quarters declined; from Serbia's autonomy until 1863, the number of Belgrade quarters even decreased, mainly as a consequence of the gradual [[Exodus of Muslims from Serbia (1862)|disappearance of the city's Muslim population]]. An Ottoman city map from 1863 counts only 9 Muslim quarters (''mahalas''). The names of only five such neighbourhoods are known today: Ali-pašina, Reis-efendijina, Jahja-pašina, Bajram-begova, and Laz Hadži-Mahmudova.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Beogradski odonimi. |last=Radović |first=Srđan |year=2014 |location=Belgrade |pages=47–48}}</ref> Following the [[Čukur Fountain incident]], Belgrade was bombed by the Ottomans.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Vesković |first1=Ivana |title=Čukur česma=Čukur fountain |date=2010 |publisher=The Cultural Heritage Protection Institute of the City of Belgrade |location=Belgrade |isbn=978-86-81157-45-9}}</ref>
[[File:De Eerste Balkanoorlog 1912, SFA022816172.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0|Belgrade 1912]]

On 18 April 1867, the Ottoman government ordered the Ottoman garrison, which had been since 1826 the last representation of Ottoman suzerainty in Serbia, withdrawn from [[Kalemegdan]]. The forlorn Porte's only stipulation was that the Ottoman flag continue to fly over the fortress alongside the Serbian one. Serbia's ''de facto'' independence dates from this event.<ref>Stanford J. Shaw and Ezel Kural Shaw, ''History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Volume 2: Reform, Revolution and Republic—The Rise of Modern Turkey, 1808–1975'' (Cambridge University Press, 1977), p. 148.</ref> In the following years, urban planner [[Emilijan Josimović]] had a significant influence on Belgrade. He conceptualised a regulation plan for the city in 1867, in which he proposed the replacement of the town's crooked streets with a [[grid plan]]. Of great importance also was the construction of independent Serbian political and cultural institutions, as well as the city's now-plentiful parks. Pointing to Josimović's work, Serbian scholars have noted an important break with Ottoman traditions. At the time of independence, Belgrade had a mainly Ottoman look, and Josimović stated  
he wanted to rebuild Belgrade so that "the capital does not retain the form that barbarism gave it".{{sfn|Calic|2019|p=18}} Josimović designed Belgrade to resemble Vienna, right down to building grand boulevards inspired by the ''Ringstrasse''.{{sfn|Calic|2019|p=18}} All that remains of Ottoman Belgrade today are two mosques, the citadel, and a fountain with Arabic inscriptions.{{sfn|Calic|2019|p=18}} However, Istanbul—the capital city of the state to which Belgrade and Serbia ''de jure'' still belonged—underwent similar changes.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Nationalism and Architecture. |editor-last=Quek |editor-first=Raymond |year=2012 |location=Farnham |page=97}}</ref> 

In May 1868, ''knez'' Mihailo was assassinated with his cousin [[Anka Konstantinović]] while riding in a carriage in his country residence.<ref>{{citation |last=Hawkesworth |first=Celia |title=''Voices in the Shadows: Women and Verbal Art in Serbia and Bosnia'' |publisher=Budapest and New York: Central European University Press |year=2000 |isbn=963-9116-62-9 |page=101}}</ref>

With the [[Principality of Serbia|Principality]]'s full independence in 1878 and its transformation into the [[Kingdom of Serbia]] in 1882, Belgrade once again became a key city in the Balkans, and developed rapidly.<ref name="beogradrs-2"/><ref name="beogradrs">{{cite web |url=http://www.beograd.rs/cms/view.php?id=201259 |title=History (The Capital of Serbia and Yugoslavia) |publisher=Beograd.rs |access-date=10 July 2007 |archive-date=24 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924062838/http://www.beograd.rs/cms/view.php?id=201259 |url-status=live }}</ref> Nevertheless, conditions in Serbia remained those of an overwhelmingly agrarian country, even with the opening of a railway to [[Niš]], Serbia's second city. In 1900, the capital had only 70,000 inhabitants<ref>{{cite web |last=Lahmeyer |first=Jan |url=http://www.populstat.info/Europe/yugoslft.htm |title=The Yugoslav Federation: Historical demographical data of the urban centers |publisher=populstat.info |date=3 February 2003 |access-date=17 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011232754/http://populstat.info/Europe/yugoslft.htm |archive-date=11 October 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> (at the time Serbia numbered 2.5&nbsp;million). Still, by 1905, the population had grown to more than 80,000 and, by the outbreak of World War I in 1914, it had surpassed the 100,000 citizens, disregarding [[Zemun]], which still belonged to [[Austria-Hungary]].<ref>{{Cite CE1913|wstitle=Belgrade and Smederevo}}</ref>

The first-ever projection of motion pictures in the Balkans and Central Europe was held in Belgrade in June 1896 by André Carr, a representative of the [[Auguste and Louis Lumière|Lumière brothers]]. He shot the first motion pictures of Belgrade in the next year; however, they have not been preserved.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.rastko.org.rs/isk/index_e.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130319065325/http://www.rastko.org.rs/isk/index_e.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 March 2013 |chapter-url=http://www.rastko.org.rs/isk/dkosanovic-cinematography.html |title=The history of Serbian Culture |chapter=Serbian Film and Cinematography (1896–1993) |last=Kosanovic |first=Dejan |isbn=1-870732-31-6 |publisher=Porthill Publishers |access-date=10 July 2007 |year=1995}}</ref> The first permanent cinema was opened in 1909 in Belgrade.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Деретић |first=Јован |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zI7pAAAACAAJ&q=kulturna+istorija+Srba |title=Културна историја Срба: предавања |date=2005 |page=312 |publisher=Народна књига |isbn=978-86-331-2386-0 |language=en |access-date=1 October 2020 |archive-date=17 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417205051/https://books.google.com/books?id=zI7pAAAACAAJ&q=kulturna+istorija+Srba |url-status=live }}</ref>

===World War I: Austro–German invasion ===
[[File:Bg-7 Panorama s Topčiderskog brda 1920.jpg|thumb|900px|center|Belgrade seen from [[Topčider]] hill in 1920.]]

The First World War began on 28 July 1914 when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Most of the subsequent Balkan offensives occurred near Belgrade. [[Austro-Hungarian Navy|Austro-Hungarian]] [[Monitor (warship)|monitors]] shelled Belgrade on 29 July 1914, and it was taken by the [[Austro-Hungarian Army]] under General [[Oskar Potiorek]] on 1 December. On 16 December, it was re-taken by [[Serbian Campaign (World War I)|Serbian troops]] under Marshal [[Radomir Putnik]]. After a prolonged battle which destroyed much of the city, starting on 6 October 1915, Belgrade fell to [[German Army (German Empire)|German]] and Austro-Hungarian troops commanded by Field Marshal [[August von Mackensen]] on 9 October of the same year. The city was liberated by Serbian and [[French Army|French troops]] on 1 November 1918, under the command of Marshal [[Louis Franchet d'Espèrey]] of France and [[Alexander I of Yugoslavia|Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia]]. Belgrade, devastated as a front-line city, lost the title of largest city in the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Kingdom]] to [[Subotica]] for some time.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.balkanology.com/serbia/article_vojvodina.html |title=Serbia :: Vojvodina |publisher=Balkanology |access-date=7 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312085105/http://balkanology.com/serbia/article_vojvodina.html |archive-date=12 March 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Kingdom of Yugoslavia===
After the war, Belgrade became the capital of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, renamed the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia]] in 1929. The Kingdom was split into [[Subdivisions of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia|banovinas]] and Belgrade, together with [[Zemun]] and [[Pančevo]], formed a separate administrative unit.<ref>{{ISBN|86-17-09287-4}}: Kosta Nikolić, Nikola Žutić, Momčilo Pavlović, Zorica Špadijer: Историја за трећи разред гимназије, Belgrade, 2002, p. 144.</ref>
During this period, the city experienced fast growth and significant modernisation. Belgrade's population grew to 239,000 by 1931 (with the inclusion of Zemun), and to 320,000 by 1940. The population growth rate between 1921 and 1948 averaged 4.08% a year.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://scindeks.nb.rs/article.aspx?artid=0350-03730101087P&redirect=ft |title=Industrija i urbani razvoj Beograda |first2=R |last2=Arold |last1=Petrović |first1=Dragan |journal=Industrija |year=2001 |volume=21 |issue=1–4 |pages=87–94 |access-date=10 July 2007 |issn=0350-0373 |format=PDF |id=0350-03730101087P |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217212301/http://scindeks.nb.rs/article.aspx?artid=0350-03730101087P&redirect=ft |archive-date=17 December 2008}}</ref>

In 1927, Belgrade's first airport opened, and in 1929, its first radio station began broadcasting. The [[Pančevo Bridge]], which crosses the Danube, was opened in 1935,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.serbia-info.com/g3/images/1930-50-e.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080118092237/http://www.serbia-info.com/g3/images/1930-50-e.htm |archive-date=18 January 2008 |title=Twentieth Century – Innovations in Belgrade |publisher=Serbia-info.com (Government of Serbia website) |access-date=21 July 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> while [[King Alexander Bridge]] over the Sava was opened in 1934. On 3 September 1939 the first [[Belgrade Grand Prix]], the last [[Grand Prix motor racing]] race before the outbreak of World War II, was held around the [[Belgrade Fortress]] and was followed by 80,000 spectators.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.automagazin.rs/sport/kruzne-trke/10094/poslednji-grand-prix-u-beogradu |title=Poslednji Grand Prix u Beogradu |work=Auto Magazin |date=2 September 2011 |language=sr |access-date=12 December 2012 |archive-date=11 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121211042448/http://www.automagazin.rs/sport/kruzne-trke/10094/poslednji-grand-prix-u-beogradu |url-status=live }}</ref> The winner was [[Tazio Nuvolari]].<ref>{{citation |last=Krivokapić |first=Branislav |url=http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Reportaza/121839/Preteca-Formule-1-na-Kalemegdanu |title=Preteča formule 1 na Balkanu |date=22 September 2009 |language=sr |access-date=12 December 2012 |archive-date=20 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520202008/http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Reportaza/121839/Preteca-Formule-1-na-Kalemegdanu |url-status=live }}</ref>

===World War II: German invasion ===
[[File:Demonstracije u Beogradu 27. marta 1941.jpg|thumb|left|People of Belgrade demonstrate their support for break-up with the [[Tripartite Pact]] on 27 March 1941]]

On 25 March 1941, the government of [[regent]] [[Prince Paul of Yugoslavia|Crown Prince Paul]] signed the [[Tripartite Pact]], joining the [[Axis powers of World War II|Axis powers]] in an effort to stay out of the Second World War and keep Yugoslavia neutral during the conflict. This was immediately followed by mass protests in Belgrade and a military [[coup d'état]] led by Air Force commander General [[Dušan Simović]], who proclaimed [[Peter II of Yugoslavia|King Peter II]] to be of age to rule the realm. As a result, the city was [[Operation Retribution (1941)|heavily bombed]] by the [[Luftwaffe]] on 6 April 1941, killing up to 2,274 people.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blic.rs/vesti/beograd/da-nije-bilo-6-aprila-najlepse-srusene-zgrade-beograda/9hjel3n |title=DA NIJE BILO 6. APRILA Najlepše srušene zgrade Beograda |date=25 November 2015 |access-date=29 March 2017 |archive-date=5 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170405182628/http://www.blic.rs/vesti/beograd/da-nije-bilo-6-aprila-najlepse-srusene-zgrade-beograda/9hjel3n |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xbg6AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA84 |title=Lovački avioni Drugog svetskog rata |first=Samir |last=Aslani |date=1 June 2004 |publisher=Samir Aslani |via=Google Books |isbn=9788690553501 |access-date=29 March 2017 |archive-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225222859/https://books.google.com/books?id=Xbg6AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA84 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/balkan/20_260_2.htm |title=The German campaign in the Balkans (Spring 1941) |chapter=Part Two the Yugoslav Campaign |publisher=[[United States Army Center of Military History]] |url=http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/balkan/intro.htm |access-date=7 July 2009 |id=CMH Pub 104-4 |year=1986 |orig-year=1953 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090619234443/http://history.army.mil/books/wwii/balkan/intro.htm |archive-date=19 June 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Yugoslavia was then [[Invasion of Yugoslavia|invaded]] by [[Nazi Germany|German]], [[Kingdom of Italy|Italian]], [[Hungary between the two world wars|Hungarian]], and [[Military history of Bulgaria during World War II|Bulgarian]] forces. Belgrade was captured by subterfuge, with six German soldiers led by their officer [[Fritz Klingenberg]] feigning threatening size, forcing the city to capitulate.[[File:Belgrád, Szerbia. A Moszkva szálló a Terazijén. Fortepan 16206.jpg|thumb|right|Ruins in Belgrade after [[Operation Retribution (1941)|German bombing of 1941]].]]

<ref>Taking Belgrade by bluff. By: Heaton, Colin D., World War II, 08984204, Jan98, Vol. 12, Issue 5</ref> Belgrade was more directly occupied by the [[German Army (Wehrmacht)|German Army]] in the same month and became the seat of the puppet [[Nedić regime]], headed by its namesake general.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005456 |title=Axis Invasion of Yugoslavia |encyclopedia=Holocaust Encyclopedia |publisher=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum |access-date=19 April 2016 |archive-date=3 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503181152/https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005456 |url-status=live }}</ref> Some of today's parts of Belgrade were incorporated in the [[Independent State of Croatia]] in occupied Yugoslavia, another puppet state, where [[Ustashe]] regime carried out the [[Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia|Genocide of Serbs]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Barić |first=Nikica |year=2011 |title=Politika Nezavisne Države Hrvatske prema Srbiji |publisher=Institut za savremenu istoriju |journal=Istorija 20. Veka |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=115–126 |doi=10.29362/ist20veka.2011.1.bar.115-126|doi-access=free}}</ref>

During the summer and autumn of 1941, in reprisal for guerrilla attacks, the Germans carried out several massacres of Belgrade citizens; in particular, members of the [[History of the Jews in Serbia|Jewish community]] were subject to mass shootings at the order of General [[Franz Böhme]], the German [[Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia|Military Governor of Serbia]]. Böhme rigorously enforced the rule that for every German killed, 100 Serbs or Jews would be shot.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rubenstein |first1=Richard L |last2=Roth |first2=John King |title=Approaches to Auschwitz: The Holocaust and Its Legacy |year=2003 |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |isbn=0-664-22353-2 |page=170 |url=https://www.questia.com/library/book/approaches-to-auschwitz-the-holocaust-and-its-legacy-by-john-k-roth-richard-l-rubenstein.jsp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013012423/http://www.questia.com/library/book/approaches-to-auschwitz-the-holocaust-and-its-legacy-by-john-k-roth-richard-l-rubenstein.jsp |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 October 2008}}</ref> Belgrade became the first city in Europe to be declared by the Nazi occupation forces to be ''[[judenfrei]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Morton |first1=J. |last2=Forage |first2=P. |last3=Bianchini |first3=S. |last4=Nation |first4=R. |title=Reflections on the Balkan Wars: Ten Years After the Break-Up of Yugoslavia |date=2004 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-40398-020-5 |page=5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZfPFAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA5 |access-date=27 May 2020 |archive-date=16 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416081357/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZfPFAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA5 |url-status=live }}</ref> The resistance movement in Belgrade was led by Major [[Žarko Todorović]] from 1941 until his arrest in 1943.<ref>[https://znaci.org/00001/4_14_1_6.htm Zbornik dokumenata vojnoistorijskog instituta: TOM XIV, Knjiga 1] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005185357/http://www.znaci.net/00001/4_14_1_6.htm |date=5 October 2011 }}, znaci.net; accessed 15 March 2016.</ref>

Just like [[Rotterdam]], which was devastated twice by both German and Allied bombing, [[Allied bombing of Yugoslavia in World War II#1944 Easter bombing|Belgrade was bombed]] once more during [[World War II]], this time by the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] on 16 April 1944, killing at least 1,100 people. This bombing fell on the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christian]] [[Orthodox Easter|Easter]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spc.rs/eng/anniversary_allied_bomb_attacks_against_belgrade |title=Anniversary of the Allied Bomb Attacks Against Belgrade |publisher=Radio-Television of Serbia |date=17 April 2008 |access-date=5 May 2009 |archive-date=6 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906090715/http://www.spc.rs/eng/anniversary_allied_bomb_attacks_against_belgrade |url-status=live }}</ref> Most of the city remained under German occupation until 20 October 1944, when it was liberated by the [[Red Army]] and the Communist [[Partisans (Yugoslavia)|Yugoslav Partisans]].

On 29 November 1945, Marshal [[Josip Broz Tito]] proclaimed the [[Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia]] in Belgrade (later renamed to [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]] on 7 April 1963).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.napredniklub.org/tekstovi.php?subaction=showfull&id=1255532834&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1& |title=Tekstovi (Texts) |publisher=Napredniklub.org |access-date=16 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727110857/http://www.napredniklub.org/tekstovi.php?subaction=showfull&id=1255532834&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1& |archive-date=27 July 2011}}</ref>

===Socialist Yugoslavia===
[[File:Konferencija_Pokreta_nesvrstanih_1961._godine.jpg|thumb|left|The First [[Non-Aligned Movement]] Summit Conference took place in Belgrade, [[Yugoslavia]] in September 1961]]
When the war ended, the city was left with 11,500 demolished housing units.<ref>{{Citation |title=Rastao je na ruševinama (reprint on 20 October 2017) |trans-title=(Belgrade) rose on the ruins |newspaper=Politika |language=sr |date=20 October 1967}}</ref> During the post-war period, Belgrade grew rapidly as the capital of the [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|renewed Yugoslavia]], developing as a major industrial centre.<ref name="beogradrs"/>

In 1948, construction of [[New Belgrade]] started.  In the late 1940s and 1950s, the new regime made a point of rebuilding Belgrade in a modernistic style inspired by Le Corbusier to show that Yugoslavia was in the forefront of progress.{{sfn|Calic|2019|p=196}} In 1958, Belgrade's first television station began broadcasting. In 1961, Belgrade hosted the first and founding conference of the [[Non-Aligned Movement]] under Tito's chairmanship.{{sfn|Norris|2008|p=134}} In 1962, [[Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport]] was built. In the 1960s, a number of prestige buildings were put up such as the parliament building, the [[Ušće Towers]] which served as the headquarters for the Central Committee of the League of Communists, and the [[Hotel Jugoslavija]].{{sfn|Calic|2019|p=196}} An American journalist from the ''Washington Post'' newspaper wrote in 1967: "Belgrade is a lively, frivolous, noisy, jam-packed city compared with the one I remember from twenty years ago"..{{sfn|Calic|2019|p=196}} In 1964, Tito embarked upon the policy of "market socialism" that allowed capitalism to co-exist with communism. As a result, Western visitors to Belgrade in the late 1960s were astonished to see that the main streets were dominated by gigantic and garish billboards promoting Western brands such as Coca-Cola, Volkswagen, Siemens and Pan Am, giving Belgrade a very Western feel.{{sfn|Calic|2019|p=196}} Likewise, the Belgradians in the 1960s were described as dressed very much in fashionable Western styles with visitors noting that many women had an obsession with having their hair bleached blonde.{{sfn|Calic|2019|p=196}} The German historian Marie-Jannine Calic wrote that in the 1960s Belgrade "a vibrant hustle and bustle prevailed in the streets, squares, and numerous cafes."{{sfn|Calic|2019|p=196}} She also noted that the core of Belgrade had a very modern look, but that "along the mighty boulevards huddled pathetic little stores selling cloth, metal goods and dishware next to the dingy workshops of shoemakers, silversmiths and candle makers".{{sfn|Calic|2019|p=197}} On the periphery of Belgrade, there was a semi-rural feel as chickens and cows wandered about the streets while the people lived in dire poverty, making their living as peddlers, wandering musicians, rag pickers, panhandlers, shoe shiners, scissor grinders, casual laborers and other marginal occupations.{{sfn|Calic|2019|p=197}} In 1968, [[1968 student demonstrations in Belgrade|major student protests]] led to several street clashes between students and the police.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.boell.eu/downloads/mai_68_uk.pdf |page=49 |last=Popov |first=Nebojša |title=Belgrade, June 1968 |journal=1968 Revisited: 40 Years of Protest Movements |publisher=Heinrich Böll Foundation |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130618055051/http://www.boell.eu/downloads/mai_68_uk.pdf |archive-date=18 June 2013}}</ref> 

By 1969, the population of Belgrade passed the one million mark for the first time.{{sfn|Calic|2019|p=195}} The population increase was largely due to people moving from rural areas to Belgrade as it was estimated in 1969 that two of three Belgradians had been born in the countryside.{{sfn|Calic|2019|p=195}} The population increase in the 1960s imposed serious social strains as more people were moving to Belgrade faster than the pace of housing construction, leading a housing crisis.{{sfn|Calic|2019|p=197}} The 1961 Yugoslav census showed that an average of 2.5 people lived per one room in Belgrade compared to the average of 1.6 people per room in the rest of Yugoslavia.{{sfn|Calic|2019|p=197}} In 1965, it was estimated that there was a shortage of 50, 000 housing units in Belgrade, which led to many people to make illegal makeshift homes in shops, basements, laundry rooms and even elevator shafts while on the periphery of Belgrade people built wooden huts and cottages.{{sfn|Calic|2019|p=197}} The mayor of Belgrade, [[Branko Pešić]], told a journalist in 1965: "In the last seven or eight years, 20,000 to 30,000 people have come to Belgrade each year. That equals an entire small town...And all of these people find shelter somewhere, hole up someplace. Some get an apartment, but that is the smallest percentage of them. A great number are forced...to house in basement, in unhygienic apartments and barracks. And whoever has not yet seen this should definitely see what this looks like...Something like this doesn't even exist in Africa".{{sfn|Calic|2019|p=197}}  

In 1972, Belgrade faced a [[1972 Yugoslav smallpox outbreak|smallpox outbreak]], the last major outbreak of [[smallpox]] in [[Europe]] since World War II.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Trifunović |first=Vesna |title=Temporality and discontinuity as aspects of smallpox outbreak in Yugoslavia |journal=Glasnik Etnografskog instituta SANU |date=July 2018 |volume=65 |issue=1 |pages=127–145 |doi=10.2298/GEI1701127T|doi-access=free|hdl=21.15107/rcub_dais_7666 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Between October 1977 and March 1978, the city hosted the first major gathering of the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]] with the aim of implementing the [[Helsinki Accords]] from, while in 1980 Belgrade hosted the [[UNESCO General Conference]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bilandžić |first1=Vladimir |last2=Dahlmann |first2=Dittmar |last3=Kosanović |first3=Milan |title=From Helsinki to Belgrade: The First CSCE Follow-up Meeting and the Crisis of Détente |publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht |isbn=9783899719383 |year=2012 |pages=163–184}}</ref> Josip Broz Tito died in May 1980 and his [[Death and state funeral of Josip Broz Tito|funeral]] in Belgrade was attended by high officials and state delegations from 128 of the 154 [[Member states of the United Nations|members of the United Nations]] from all over the world, based on which it became one of the [[List of largest funerals|largest funerals in history]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Tito: A Biography |last=Ridley |first=Jasper |year=1996 |publisher=Constable |isbn=0-09-475610-4 |page=19}}</ref>

===Breakup of Yugoslavia===
[[File:Beograd - Zgrade Generalštaba Vojske Srbije i Crne Gore i Ministarstva odbrane (43221947840).jpg|alt=|right|thumb|Former [[Yugoslav Ministry of Defence building|Ministry of Defence building]] damaged in the [[NATO bombing of Yugoslavia|1999 NATO bombing]]]]
On 9 March 1991, [[March 9, 1991 protest|massive demonstrations]] led by [[Vuk Drašković]] were held in the city against [[Slobodan Milošević]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mc.rs/prvi-udarac-milosevicevom-rezimu.6.html?eventId=24600 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814193726/http://www.mc.rs/prvi-udarac-milosevicevom-rezimu.6.html%3FeventId%3D24600 |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 August 2019 |title=Prvi udarac Miloševićevom režimu |work=[[Danas (newspaper)|Danas]] |date=9 March 2006 |language=sr |access-date=10 July 2007}}</ref> According to various media outlets, there were between 100,000 and 150,000 people on the streets.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Graff |first=James L. |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,972607-1,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930073731/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,972607-1,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 September 2007 |title=Yugoslavia: Mass bedlam in Belgrade |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=25 March 1991 |access-date=10 July 2007}}</ref> Two people were killed, 203 were injured and 108 were arrested during the protests, and later that day tanks were deployed onto the streets to restore order.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vreme.com/arhiva_html/450/2.html |title=Srbija na mitinzima (1990–1999) |work=[[Vreme]] |date=21 August 1999 |language=sr |access-date=10 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070619005413/http://www.vreme.com/arhiva_html/450/2.html |archive-date=19 June 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> Many [[1991–1992 anti-war protests in Belgrade|anti-war protests]] were held in Belgrade, with the largest protests being dedicated to solidarity with the victims from the [[Siege of Sarajevo|besieged Sarajevo]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Burn This House: The Making and Unmaking of Yugoslavia |url=https://archive.org/details/burnthishousemak00udov |url-access=limited |first1=Jasminka |last1=Udovicki |first2=James |last2=Ridgeway |publisher=[[Duke University Press]] |year=2000 |isbn=9781136764820 |location=Durham, North Carolina |pages=[https://archive.org/details/burnthishousemak00udov/page/n265 255]-266}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fridman |first1=Orli |title='It was like fighting a war with our own people': anti-war activism in Serbia during the 1990s |journal=The Journal of Nationalism and Ethnicity |year=2010 |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=507–522 |doi=10.1080/00905992.2011.579953 |s2cid=153467930}}</ref> [[1996–1997 protests in Serbia|Further anti-government protests]] were held in Belgrade from November 1996 to February 1997 against the same government after alleged electoral fraud in local elections.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.beograd.rs/cms/view.php?id=201267 |title=History (Disintegration Years 1988–2000) |publisher=Beograd.rs |access-date=10 July 2007 |archive-date=24 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924063500/http://www.beograd.rs/cms/view.php?id=201267 |url-status=live }}</ref> These protests brought [[Zoran Đinđić]] to power, the first [[mayor of Belgrade]] since World War II who did not belong to the [[League of Communists of Yugoslavia]] or its later offshoot, the [[Socialist Party of Serbia]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Perlez |first=Jane |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40616F83B5A0C708EDDAB0894DF494D81 |title=New Mayor of Belgrade: A Serbian Chameleon |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=23 February 1997 |access-date=17 May 2007}}</ref>

In 1999, during the [[Kosovo War]], the [[NATO bombing of Yugoslavia|NATO bombing]] campaign targeted a number a buildings in Belgrade. Among the sites bombed were some ministry buildings, the [[Radio Television of Serbia|RTS]] building, hospitals, [[Hotel Jugoslavija]], the [[Ušće Tower|Central Committee building]], [[Avala Tower]], and the [[NATO Bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade|Chinese embassy]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.beograd.rs/cms/view.php?id=201271 |title=NATO bombing |publisher=Beograd.rs |access-date=17 May 2007 |archive-date=16 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150816025147/http://www.beograd.rs/cms/view.php?id=201271 |url-status=live }}</ref> Between 500<ref>{{Cite news| newspaper=Washington Post| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/2000-02/07/000r-020700-idx.html| date=February 7, 2000| title=Report Says NATO Bombing Killed 500 Civilians in Yugoslavia |author=Bradley Graham| page=A02}}</ref> and 2,000 civilians<ref>{{Cite web |title=220. Bombing to Bring Peace {{!}} Wilson Center |url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/220-bombing-to-bring-peace |access-date=2023-01-29 |website=www.wilsoncenter.org |date=7 July 2011 |language=en}}</ref> were killed in Serbia and Montenegro as a result of the NATO bombings, of which 27 were killed in Belgrade.<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.hlc-rdc.org/db/nato/index.html| work=[[Humanitarian Law Center]]| title=Ljudski gubici u NATO bombardovanju (Srbija, Kosovo i Crna Gora)| date=March 23, 2018}}</ref> After the [[Yugoslav Wars]], Serbia became home to the highest number of [[refugee]]s and [[internally displaced person]]s in Europe, with more than a third of these refugees having settled in Belgrade.<ref>{{cite web |title=Serbia: Europe's largest proctracted refugee situation |url=http://www.osce.org/serbia/24323?download=true |publisher=[[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe|OSCE]] |access-date=5 May 2020 |archive-date=26 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326082139/http://www.osce.org/serbia/24323?download=true |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=S. Cross|author2=S. Kentera|author3=R. Vukadinovic|author4=R. Nation |title=Shaping South East Europe's Security Community for the Twenty-First Century: Trust, Partnership, Integration |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=el-YZHB8hzYC&pg=PP1 |access-date=5 May 2020 |date=7 May 2013 |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] |page=169 |isbn=9781137010209 |archive-date=26 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326082403/https://books.google.rs/books?id=el-YZHB8hzYC&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a8b92c.html |title=U.S. Committee for Refugees World Refugee Survey 1998 – Yugoslavia |publisher=[[U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants]] |access-date=5 May 2020 |archive-date=2 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302142950/https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a8b92c.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Housing and Property Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia, and Montenegro |first1=Veljko |last1=Mikelić |publisher=[[United Nations Human Settlements Programme]] |year=2005 |isbn=9789211317848 |page=120}}</ref>

After the [[2000 Yugoslavian general election|2000 presidential elections]], Belgrade was the site of major public protests, with over half a million people taking part. These demonstrations resulted in the [[Overthrow of Slobodan Milošević|ousting of president Milošević]] as a part of the [[Otpor]] movement.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=10&dd=05&nav_category=90&nav_id=44315 |title=Parties, citizens mark October 5 |publisher=B92 |date=5 October 2007 |access-date=7 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418190114/http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=10&dd=05&nav_category=90&nav_id=44315 |archive-date=18 April 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.beograd.rs/cms/view.php?id=201275 |title=October 5, 2000 |publisher=City of Belgrade |access-date=7 May 2009 |archive-date=24 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924062458/http://www.beograd.rs/cms/view.php?id=201275 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Development===
[[File:Belgrade Waterfront 1.jpg|thumb|220px|[[Belgrade Waterfront]]]]
In 2014, [[Belgrade Waterfront]], an urban renewal project, was initiated by the [[Government of Serbia]] and its [[United Arab Emirati|Emirati]] partner, [[Eagle Hills Properties]]. Around €3.5 billion was to be jointly invested by the Serbian government and their Emirati partners.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Ekonomija/435629/Ovako-ce-izgledati-Beograd-na-vodi |title=Ovako će izgledati "Beograd na vodi" |publisher=Blic.rs |date=19 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222204657/http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Ekonomija/435629/Ovako-ce-izgledati-Beograd-na-vodi |archive-date=22 February 2014}}</ref>{{update inline|date=December 2021}} The project includes office and luxury apartment buildings, five-star hotels, a shopping mall and the envisioned '[[Belgrade Tower]]'. The project is, however, quite controversial—there are a number of uncertainties regarding its funding, necessity, and its architecture's arguable lack of harmony with the rest of the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2016/12/08/inside-abu-dhabis-bad-joke-the-belgrade-waterfront-project/#49c14d826c12 |title=A Look at Abu Dhabi's 'Bad Joke': The Belgrade Waterfront Project |website=[[Forbes]] |access-date=7 November 2017 |archive-date=7 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107172658/https://www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2016/12/08/inside-abu-dhabis-bad-joke-the-belgrade-waterfront-project/#49c14d826c12 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In addition to [[Belgrade Waterfront]], the city is under rapid development and reconstruction, especially in the area of [[New Belgrade|Novi Beograd]], where (as of 2020) apartment and office buildings were under construction to support the burgeoning [[Belgrade IT sector]], now one of Serbia's largest economic players. In September 2020, there were around 2000 active construction sites in Belgrade.<ref>{{cite web |last=Online |first=Piše: Danas |date=19 September 2020 |title=Vesić: U Beogradu se ove godine gradi više nego lane |url=https://www.danas.rs/beograd/vesic-u-beogradu-se-ove-godine-gradi-vise-nego-lane/ |access-date=22 December 2020 |website=Dnevni list Danas |language=sr-RS |archive-date=23 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023014923/https://www.danas.rs/beograd/vesic-u-beogradu-se-ove-godine-gradi-vise-nego-lane/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The city budget for 2023 stood at 205,5 billion dinars (1.750 billion Euros).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://n1info.rs/english/news/belgrade-2023-budget-adopted/|title=Belgrade 2023 budget adopted|date=27 December 2022|website=N1}}</ref> The budget for the city of Belgrade has been estimated to be more than 2 billion Euros for 2024.