Consequences of the Suffering in the Aleksinac District During the Serbo-turkish War of 1876–1877

Abstract

The territory of the Aleksinac district was the scene of military operations in the war between Serbia and Turkey from mid-August until the end of October 1876. Because irregular Turkish units systematically burned and plundered the settlements occupied by the Turkish army, the population — which fled en masse to the interior of Serbia — suffered significant material losses. The refugees returned to their homes aft er peace was concluded in March 1877. Only then was the government able to devote itself seriously to aiding the war sufferers. Since regular state revenues could not cover those needs, an emergency surtax of 3 dinars per tax head was levied in 1877, and a surtax of 1 dinar per tax head was levied in 1878 to finance assistance for the war sufferers. In 1877 the government formed a Commission that administered the collected funds and purchased food, seed for crops, livestock and tools for the population in need. Th e Commission operated formally until 1881. According to the commission’s records, compiled from nominal lists, the Aleksinac district had a total of 19,722 war sufferers (34% of the district’s 1874 population) and 2,962 destroyed houses (33% of the number of houses in 1874). Th e greatest damage was inflicted on the settlements in the Morava county, where all 41 villages suffered, amounting to 87% of the houses and 89% of the population compared with the 1874 census. Th e population recovered slowly in material terms, so that the number of taxable households in the Aleksinac and Banja counties had only returned to the prewar level of 1876 by 1881, while this had not yet happened in the Morava county even by 1882.