Today the Serbs care about Vidovdan

Today, June 28, Serbs celebrate Vidovdan, Saint Vitus Day. By the way, it's an extraordinary date for Serbia's history.

The conflict of the Kosovo Field – an armed clash in which on 15 June 1389 Ottoman troops commanded by Sultan Murad I defeated the army commanded by the Prince of Serbian Lazarus, composed of Serbs and their Slavic allies. Both sides suffered dense losses. Sultan Murad I and Prince Lazarus died, and he was immediately declared a holy martyr. Half a century later, erstwhile Serbia was ruled by the Brankovites, Serbia was completely absorbed by the Ottoman state.

However, in 1389, in the celebrated conflict of the Serbian army against the Turks on the Kosovo Field, on that very day, having previously chosen the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven, the martyrdom was borne by the Tsar Lazarus. The conflict and this choice, many times later in the past of the Serbian people repeated, are the most crucial moments of Serbia's history. The old name of that day remained due to the fact that for the Serbs fighting in this conflict he was an crucial patron of the day – St.

The battles and events related to it became 1 of the main themes of Serbian folk poetry, they besides went to literature and national story shaping the national consciousness of the Serbs.

Vidovdan, (Saint Vitus Day ) celebrated on June 28, is 1 of the largest festivals of Serbian Church. As the name suggests, originally that day was mentioned only by St. Wit, martyr of the first centuries.
On Vidovdan, solemn services and concerts take place throughout Serbia, however, peculiar celebrations are held in the Gračanica monastery located close Kosovo Field. To this day, this story is simply a origin generating the main events of the Serbian-Albanian conflict.

It is an authoritative state vacation in Serbia, as a sign of remembrance and respect for all who suffered for their homeland. This conflict has become a key determinant of Serbia's history, primarily due to conscious dedication.

Sultan Murat besides died in battle, which is the only case in Turkey's history. Due to the different circumstances, Vidovdan proved to be an crucial date in a number of moments in the Serbian past.

In this sense, it is usually remembered that in Widowdan 1914 Gavrilo Princip killed Francis Ferdinand Habsburg, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Which turned out to be the beginning of planet War I. It was on the Widowdan in 1919 that a peace agreement was signed between the Entent countries and Germany, the perpetrators of planet War I.

The consequence of the Serbian triumph in this war was the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians, which achieved Serbian war goals and gathered under 1 state roof the countries that Serbia was curious in. At the time, this was seen as the eventual accomplishment of national objectives.

On Vidovdan Day in 1921. The Legislative Assembly of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians passed the first constitution of the common state to be remembered as – Widowdan. The state was declared a constitutional parliamentary monarchy headed by the Karadjordjevic dynasty.

The Constitution was in force until 1929, erstwhile King Alexandar Karadjordjevic suspended it after the introduction of a individual government to stabilise the situation in the country.

In 1881, the Secret Convention between Serbia and Austro-Hungary was signed, the consequence of the disappointment of Prince Milan Obrenovic with the conduct of Russia, starting with the imposition of the agreement with San Stefano in March 1878, erstwhile Russia attempted to make large Bulgaria to the detriment of the Serbs. The large powers then partially fulfilled Serbian aspirations at the Berlin Congress, and in addition to territorial expansion its full sovereignty was recognized.

The secret convention provided Serbia with peace, stableness and serious economical growth in the coming decades.

On Widowdan 1948, a resolution was published in Bucharest on the situation in the KPCh (Communist organization of China) in which russian leader Stalin via the Information Office of the Communist organization (Informationbiro or Kominform) challenged the authority of the KPCh. The resolution besides called for healthy forces to overthrow the leaders of CPY (the Communist organization of Yugoslavia) due to revisionism.

In 2001, in Widowdan Slobodan Miloszević, formerly president of Serbia and the national Republic of Yugoslavia, was issued to the Court of erstwhile Yugoslavia in The Hague. At the time, the authorities in Serbia claimed that this was an different coincidence, meaning that no of them even understood in a peculiar situation what date it was.

Jacek Mędrzycki