Serbian Newspapers from the Beginning of the 20th Century to 1914: A Look at Russia

Abstract

This article explains the development of Serbian journalism, paying special attention to the beginning of the 20^th century up to 1914. The author studied Serbian-Russian relations of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and his book was published in the Serbian language. As a historian, who graduated from the university in Serbia, his personal attention is related to Serbian-Russian political relations. At the beginning of the 20^th century, newspapers and magazines were found under the strong influence of political parties and movements, most of which sympathized with the Russian Empire. Apart from Serbia, the Serbs published their newspapers also in Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and the USA, and almost all of them, with the exception of socialists, had as their goal the unification of the Serbian people on the Balkan Peninsula into one state. Serbian journalists were interested in Russia's foreign policy, because it was also important for the Serbian people on the Balkan Peninsula. Under the influence of political parties and the royal dynasty, the Serbian newspapers treated Russia favorably, while the Serbs behind Serbia hoped to help Russia unite with Serbia. The Serbian press followed in detail the Russo-Japanese war, Russian negotiations with the Western powers, journalists often analyzed the political situation in Russia itself, as well as its foreign policy. Reading the articles, one gets the impression that they were too worried about the Russian defeat in the war with Japan, the revolution of 1905, but later optimism about Russian help in the Balkan Peninsula began to appear.