The Serbian Army was the military force of Revolutionary Serbia, active during the First Serbian Uprising (1804–13) fighting against the Ottoman Empire. Established at first as a peasant army against the oppressive Dahije who had wrested the Pashalik of Belgrade from the Sultan, it became a resistance movement to the Ottomans which managed to create an independent state, restoring Serbian statehood in the Central Balkans after centuries of Ottoman rule. Distinguished community leaders, the Serbian Free Corps veterans and hajduks mustered a militia which transformed into an army with decisive victories and relations with Austria and Russia.
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Serbian Army (revolutionary) in the context of First Serbian uprising
The First Serbian Uprising was an uprising of Serbs in Orašac against the Ottoman Empire from 14 February 1804 to 7 October 1813. The uprising began as a local revolt against the Dahije, renegade janissary officers who had seized power in a coup d'état against the Ottoman sultan. It later evolved into a war for independence, known as the Serbian Revolution, after more than three centuries of Ottoman Empire rule and brief Austrian occupations.
In 1801, the Janissary commanders assassinated the Ottoman Pasha and took control of the Pashalik of Belgrade, ruling it independently of the Ottoman Sultan. This led to a period of tyranny, during which the Janissaries suspended the rights previously granted to the Serbs by the Sultan. They also raised taxes, imposed forced labour, and made other changes that negatively affected the Serbs. In 1804, the Janissaries feared that the Sultan would use the Serbs against them, which led to the assassination of many Serbian chiefs. An assembly chose Karađorđe to lead the uprising, and the rebel army quickly defeated and took over towns throughout the sanjak, technically fighting for the Sultan. Sultan Selim III, fearing their power, ordered all the Pashaliks in the region to crush them. The Serbs marched against the Ottomans and, after major victories in 1805–06, established a government and parliament that returned land to the people, abolished forced labour, and reduced taxes.