History of Novi Sad
The initial name of this settlement was Ratzen Stadt (Serbian: Raski Grad, meaning "the Serb City" in English).
The settlement officially gained the present name Novi Sad (Neoplanta in Latin) in 1748 when it became a "free royal city".
After 1992, Novi Sad was part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which, in 2003, was transformed into the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.
Devastated by NATO bombardment during the Kosovo War, it was left without all of its three Danube bridges, communications, water, and electricity.
Human settlement in the territory of present-day Novi Sad has been traced as far back as the Stone Age (about 4500 BC).
In this time the town was under administration of the Kingdom of Hungary, although its name has a Slavic origin, implying that it was initially inhabited by Slavs.
The name of the town derives from the Slavic word "kamen" ("stone" in English) and was recorded as "villa Camanch" in 1237 and "Kamenez" in 1349.
In the year 1590, population of all villages that existed in the territory of present-day Novi Sad numbered 105 houses inhabited exclusively by Serbs.
[6][page needed] At the outset of the Habsburg rule, people of Orthodox faith were forbidden from residing in Petrovaradin, thus Serbs were largely unable to build homes in the town.
The initial name of this settlement was Ratzen Stadt (Serbian: Racki Grad, meaning "the Serb City" in English).
Finally, the Empress, with out any external suggestions, chose the present names of Neoplanta in Latin, Novi Sad in Serbian, Újvidék in Hungarian and Neustaz in German in 1748 when it became a 'free royal city'.
The edict said: "We, Maria Theresa, by the God's mercy Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Rama, Serbia, Galicia, Lodomeria, Carinthia, etc, etc.
Cast this proclamation to anyone, who might concern...so that the famous Petrovaradinski Šanac, which lies on the other side of the Danube in Bačka province on Sajlovo land, by the might of our divine royal power and prestige...make this town a Free Royal City and to fortify, accept and sign it in as one of the free royal cities of our Kingdom of Hungary and other territories, by abolishing its previous name of Petrovaradinski Šanac, renaming it Neoplanta (Latin), Újvidék (Hungarian), Neu-Satz (German), Novi Sad (Serbian), Mlada Loza (Bulgarian)".
According to the 1843 data, Novi Sad had 17,332 inhabitants, of whom 9,675 were Orthodox Christians, 5,724 Catholics, 1,032 Protestants, 727 Jews, and 30 adherents of the Armenian church.
It is not certain whether Hungarians or Serbs were largest ethnic group in the city in this time, since 1910 census is considered partially inaccurate by most historians because this census did not recorded the population by ethnic origin or mother tongue, but by the "most frequently spoken language", thus the census results overstated the number of Hungarian speakers, since this was official language at the time and many non-Hungarian native speakers stated that they most frequently speak Hungarian language in everyday communication.
On November 6, the Serb National Board invited the Danube division of the Serbian army, which already entered Srem, to send its troops to Bačka as soon as possible.
Serbian troops entered the city on November 9, 1918, and on November 25, 1918, the Assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci, and other nations of Vojvodina in Novi Sad proclaimed the unification of Vojvodina region with the Kingdom of Serbia (the assembly numbered 757 deputies, of which 578 were Serbs, 84 Bunjevci, 62 Slovaks, 21 Rusyns, 6 Germans, 3 Šokci, 2 Croats, and 1 Hungarian).
In 1941, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was invaded and partitioned by the Axis Powers, and its northern parts, including Novi Sad, were annexed by Hungary.
The partisan forces from Srem and Bačka entered the city on October 23, 1944, and Novi Sad became part of the new socialist Yugoslavia.
The city went through rapid industrialization and its population more than doubled in the period between World War II and the breakup of Yugoslavia.
After 1992, Novi Sad was part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which, in 2003, was transformed into the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.
Devastated by NATO bombardment during the Kosovo War of 1999, Novi Sad was left without all of its three Danube bridges, communications, water, and electricity.
