"Bože pravde" (
Serbian Cyrillic: Боже правде, Serbian pronunciation:[bǒʒeprâːʋde], 'O God of Justice')[2] is the
national anthem of
Serbia, as defined by the Article 7 of the
Constitution of Serbia.[3] "Bože pravde" was adopted in 1882 and had been the national anthem of the
Kingdom of Serbia until 1919 when Serbia became a part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.[4] It was re-adopted as the national anthem at first by the parliamentary recommendation in 2004 and then constitutionally sanctioned in 2006, after Serbia restored its independence.[5]
History
After the assassination of Prince
Mihailo,
Milan Obrenović came to the throne in 1872, celebrating his coming of age. Then he ordered a play from the manager of the
National Theater in Belgrade,
Jovan Đorđević, who quickly wrote and presented the play "
Marko names the Emperor" (Marko kazuje na kome je carstvo), with the aim of glorifying Serbian history and the
Obrenović dynasty, and song "God of justice" (Bože pravde), composed by
Davorin Jenko. Song gained more popularity among the people than the piece itself, and in 1882, on the occasion of Milan's enthronement as Serbian king, Đorđević reworked the text and so his new version became the first official anthem of Serbia.[6][7] In 1903, after the
May Coup, the Obrenović dynasty died out and the
Karađorđevićs came to the helm of Serbia. The new Serbian king
Peter I wanted to change the state symbols, even the anthem. The Austrian composer from Vienna, August Stol, composed a song for the Serbian king. Peter did not like the composition. Various competitions in which many Serbian poets (
Aleksa Šantić among others) participated were also unsuccessful. In the end, in 1909, it was decided to make the anthem Bože pravde official again, with minor changes to the text.
Various rulers of Serbia changed the words of the anthem to suit them. During the rule of Prince
Milan I of Serbia, the words were "God, save Prince Milan" (knez Milana Bože spasi), which changed to God, save King Milan (kralj Milana Bože spasi) when Serbia became a kingdom. Later it was tailored to
Alexander I ("God, save King Alexander"; kralja Aleksandra Bože spasi) and
Peter I ("God, save King Peter"; kralja Petra Bože spasi) as well.[8] During the
World War I, in the territories of Serbia occupied by
Austria-Hungary and
Bulgaria, the performance of the national anthem, as well as the display of the symbols of the Kingdom of Serbia, was prohibited. During the time of the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (which later became the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia), "Bože pravde" was part of
its national anthem. On the eve of the
World War II, at the great international gathering of the Music Confederation, held in
Paris, this anthem was declared one of the three most beautiful in the world.[6]
"Bože pravde" anthem was officially abandoned and banned after the World War II in 1945, in favour of "
Hey, Slavs" (under its Serbo-Croatian title Hej, Sloveni), which was the
national anthem of
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for 47 years, from 1945 to 1992. After the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1991-1992, only
Serbia and
Montenegro remained in the federation i.e. the newly-formed
Serbia and Montenegro, but since no agreement over the anthem could be reached, "Hey, Slavs" remained the national anthem. Many Serbs disliked the song during this period and booed it whenever it was played, such as at sporting events.[9]
The recommendation on the use of "Bože pravde" was adopted unanimously by the
National Assembly in 2004 and constitutionally sanctioned in 2006, after Serbia restored its independence, while the recommended text was promulgated into the law in 2009.[2][5]
It utilizes slightly modified original lyrics, asserting that Serbia is no longer a
monarchy — all the verses that had a monarchist overtone were changed. In three verses, "Serbian king" (srpskog kralja) is changed to "Serbian lands" (srpske zemlje) and in one, "God save the Serbian king" (srpskog kralja Bože hrani, literally "The Serbian king, O God, bless") is changed to "O God, save; O God, defend" (Bože spasi, Bože brani). In public performances, verse "God, protect, God bless/Serbian lands and Serbian race" are often sung on the repeat as "Our Serbia, God defend/Our whole race prays to you" (Srbiju nam Bože brani/moli ti se sаv naš rod).
The full Serbian national anthem as officially defined consists of eight
stanzas, but usually only the first two are performed on public occasions for reasons of brevity.[5] The third verse is also usually omitted in full performances.[14]
^Translated by
Elizabeth Christitch, originally published in The Times. Note: this is a free, not literal, translation of the lyrics, also fitting the metre of the original.
^
abIn public performances, often sung on the repeat as Srbiju nam, Bože brani/moli ti se sаv naš rod ("Our Serbia, God defend/ Our whole race prays to you")[14][16]
^
abcd"Zakon o izgledu i upotrebi grba, zastave i himne Republike Srbije" [Law on the Appearance and Use of the Coat of arms, the Flag and the Anthem of the Republic of Serbia]. Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia – No. 36/2009 (in Serbian). Narodna skupština Republike Srbije – JP "Službeni glasnik". 2009-05-11. Archived from
the original on 2009-12-19. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
^
abJovanović, Nenad M. (2010). Grbovi, zastave i himne u istoriji Srbije. Belgrade-Cetinje. p. 132.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)