This map is part of a series of 24 animated maps showing the history of Europe and nations, 1815-1914.
In the course of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, Serbia managed to free itself from the sovereignty of the Bulgars and the emperors of Constantinople. This Serbian kingdom attains its height in the middle of the fourteenth century under the reign of Stefan Dusan, and at that time includes Macedonia and a part of Greece.
During the same era, the Ottomans gain a foothold in Europe and will gradually subdue the Serbian kingdom, which broke up into multiple principalities.
This Ottoman domination was never accepted, and in the early years of the nineteenth century, several nationalist insurrections break out. The one of 1815 allows Serbia to obtain the status of vassal principality; then, under pressure from the European powers, the Turks recognize Serbian autonomy in 1830.
