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The first Serbian Orthodox Church was established. Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius translated Christian religious service from Greek to Old Slavic language, and therefore encouraged Orthodox Christianity to spread throughout the Byzantine cultural circle, carrying out huge influence.
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Autonomous Serbian Orthodox Church was established in Kosovo, so when the Ottomans Turks arrived it sparked the Battle of Kosovo, where Serbian prince Lazar got killed. Serbs interpreted his defeat as analogous to the crucifixion of Christ, because he was betrayed by many Slavs who sided with the Ottoman Muslims.
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Official Turkish Occupation began. The feeling of otherness between Serbs and Croats were fueled by the fact that former belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the latter to the Ottoman Empire. Islam spread dominance in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Macedonia. The Turks gave Muslims unfair privileges.
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Austro- Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Hapsburg dynasty significantly decreases Muslim faith and increase Roman Catholic influence.
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Alexander I founded the state of Yugoslavia by reorganizing the kingdom into 6 republics: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia. Kosovo and Vojvodina were autonomous. The Serbs and Bosnians wrote with Eastern or Cyrillic alphabet, whereas Croats and Slovenes used the Western or Roman alphabet. Slovenia and Croatia became more economically developed, and Serbia and Montenegro became politically stronger.
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World War II ended. In Yugoslavia region, Muslim population grew while Christian population diminished.
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After increasing tension and separatist tendencies, the Civil War begins in Bosnia. Nearly 800 Serbian Orthodox parishes, monasteries, churches, and chapels were damaged or destroyed. Additionally, 300 mosques and Islamic sacred buildings were destroyed in Kosovo. This accompanied ethnic cleansing, where Serbs and Croats carried out massacre in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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Bosnia and Herzegovina was recognized independent. The Battle of Sarajevo began where the Serbian force joined with Yugoslav National Army seized Sarajevo, a Muslim region.
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U.N. put sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro to stop the massacre. However, the problem was not solved fully because the sanction favored the better-armed Serbs.
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NATO intervened and turned the tide against Serbs. It forced them to sign a peace agreement with Bosnia and Croatia. Finally, the Civil War ended, the agreement was made, and Bosnian Serbs gained the right to have a Serb Republic within Bosnia.
