Srem in Serbian or Srijem in Croatian or Szerémség in Hungarian or Syrmien in German (from Latin: Sirmium) is a fertile region of the Pannonian plain in Europe, between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia and Montenegro and Croatia.

Most of Srem is located in Serbia's northern province of Vojvodina, in the Srem District. A small part of the region around Belgrade and Zemun is a part of Serbia proper. The westernmost part lies in eastern Croatia, in the Vukovar-Srijem county.

History

Throughout history Srem has been a part of the Roman Empire, Hun Empire, Avar Caganate, the Gepid Kingdom, Byzantium, Bulgaria, Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, Austria, Austria-Hungary, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Yugoslavia and finally Serbia & Montenegro.

Name Srem come from the name of ancient Sirmium city (today Sremska Mitrovica). Sirmium originally was Illyrian town conquered by Romans in the 1st century BC. Opposing the Roman rule, Illyrian tribes started uprising in 6 AD. Leaders of this uprising were Baton and Pines.

Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica) was an important town in Roman Empire. It was main city of Roman Pannonia and one of four capital cities of Roman Empire. Six Roman Emperors were born in this city or in its surroundings: Decius Traian (249-251), Aurelian (270-275), Probus (276-282), Maximianus Herculius (285-310), Constantius II (337-361) and Gratian (367-383). These emperors were Romanised Illyrians by origin.

Pannonia (province of Byzantium) existed in Srem in the 6th century and capital city of this province was Sirmium.

In the 11th century, ruler of Srem vas Sermon, vassal of Bulgarian emperor Samuel. Sermon produced his own golden coins in present day Sremska Mitrovica. After Bulgarians were defeated by Byzantine Empire, Sermon was captured and killed, because he didn’t want to comply with new authorities.

Theme Sirmium was province of Byzantium Empire in the 11th century.

Between 1282 and 1316 Serbian king Dragutin ruled a state consisted of Srem, Macva, Usora and Soli. Name of his state was: Kingdom of Srem. His capital city was Debrc (between Belgrade and Šabac). After Dragutin died, the ruler of Kingdom of Srem become his son, king Vladislav II (1316-1325).

After Turks conquered Serbia (in 1459), Serbian despots ruled in parts of Srem territory as vassals of Hungarian kings. Residence of Serbian despots was city Kupinik (today Kupinovo). Here are the names of these Serbian despots: Vuk Grgurevic (1471-1485), Djordje Brankovic (1486-1496), Jovan Brankovic (1496-1502), Ivanis Berislav (1504-1514), Stevan Berislav (1520-1535), Radic Bozic (1527-1528), Pavle Bakic (1537) and Stefan Stiljanovic (1537-1540). The last three didn’t ruled in the territory of Srem, but they had possessions in the territories of present day Romania, Hungary and Croatia.

During Turkish rule, Sandzak of Srem existed in this region.

Srem county was established in Srem in 1745, after it was taken from Ottoman Empire in 1718.

Between 1849 and 1860 Srem was part of Vojvodina of Serbia and Tamis Banat, which was province of Austria.

After 1860 Srem/Srijem (Szerém) County was established again, and it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Hungary, which was part of Austrian Empire.

Territory of Srem united with the Kingdom of Serbia in 1918.

Region was County of Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes between 1918 and 1922, then Province (Oblast) of Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes between 1922 and 1929, and in 1929 it was divided between Dunavska banovina (Danubian Banat) and Savska banovina (Savian Banat), which were provinces of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

In 1941 Srem was occupied by the Axis powers, and its territory was attached to Independent State of Croatia. Provincial frontier was restored in 1945 with the end of the Second World War. Since 1945 Eastern Srem (former part of Danubian Banat), together with Backa and Banat, is part of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, while Western Srem (former part of Savian Banat) is part of Croatia.

Geography

The regions principal hill is Fruška Gora .

Bordering regions

• Bačka to the north, across Danube
• Banat to the east, also across Danube
• Šumadija the south-east, across Sava
• Mačva to the south, across Sava
• Semberija to the south-west, across Sava
• Slavonia to the west. The border between Srem/Srijem and Slavonia is unclear. It runs somewhere along the line Vukovar-Vinkovci-Županja . According to another interpretation, the western border follows the Bosut , Barica and Vuka rivers.

Cities in Srem/Srijem

• Serbia-Montenegro
  • Zemun
  • New Belgrade
  • Vojvodina
    • Ruma
    • Šid
    • Sremska Mitrovica
    • Sremski Karlovci
• Croatia
  • Ilok
  • Vinkovci
  • Vukovar
  • Županja