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144-640: The Danube River Conference of 1948 was held in Belgrade , Yugoslavia , to develop a new international regime for the development and control of the Danube in the wake of World War II . It was the first postwar conference pitting the victorious Allies of the West against the Soviet Union and its allied states of Eastern Europe , in which the latter held a majority and were expected to win all points of disagreement between

288-781: A candidate, and British judge Sir Christopher Greenwood being withdrawn as a candidate for election for a second nine-year term on the bench in 2017, leaving no judges from the United Kingdom on the court. Greenwood had been supported by the UN Security Council but failed to get a majority in the UN General Assembly. Indian judge Dalveer Bhandari took the seat instead. Article 6 of the Statute provides that all judges should be "elected regardless of their nationality among persons of high moral character" who are either qualified for

432-577: A general international organization, based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all peace-loving States, and open to membership by all such States, large and small, for the maintenance of international peace and security". The following Allied conference at Dumbarton Oaks , in the United States, published a proposal in October 1944 that called for the establishment of an intergovernmental organization that would include an international court. A meeting

576-510: A legal basis for the existing system of Soviet control over the river. To prove this point, it framed its amendments and concentrated its arguments on a few main issues. Britain and France, however, were less idealistic. Ignoring the fact that they had agreed in 1938 to turn the European Commission of the Danube over to the river-bordering powers (headed by Nazi Germany ), they insisted that

720-662: A marked reluctance on the part of a majority of the court to become involved in a dispute in such a way as to bring it potentially into conflict with the Council. The court stated in the Nicaragua case that there is no necessary inconsistency between action by the Security Council and adjudication by the ICJ. However, when there is room for conflict, the balance appears to be in favour of the Security Council. Should either party fail "to perform

864-598: A principal organ of the new United Nations. The statute of this court would form an integral part of the United Nations Charter , which, to maintain continuity, expressly held that the Statute of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) was based upon that of the PCIJ. Consequently, the PCIJ convened for the last time in October 1945 and resolved to transfer its archives to its successor, which would take its place at

1008-406: A professional nature." In addition, Article 17 requires that judges do not show any prior biases on cases before them, specifically, "No member may participate in the decision of any case in which he has previously taken part as agent, counsel, or advocate for one of the parties, or as a member of a national or international court, or of a commission of enquiry, or in any other capacity." Judges of

1152-526: A request, the court decides which states and organizations might provide useful information and gives them an opportunity to present written or oral statements. Advisory opinions were intended as a means by which UN agencies could seek the court's help in deciding complex legal issues that might fall under their respective mandates. In principle, the court's advisory opinions are only consultative in character but they are influential and widely respected. Certain instruments or regulations can provide in advance that

1296-462: A result of reclaiming its old province of Bessarabia ) would draw up a convention and put it into force "regardless of the minority opinion." For this purpose, the Soviet Union introduced a draft convention. So did the United States, but the conference spurned it. The delegates also rejected a Western attempt to have Austria seated, if not at the conference, then in the international commission that

1440-470: A significant influence on Belgrade. He conceptualised a regulation plan for the city in 1867, in which he proposed the replacement of the town's crooked streets with a grid plan . Of great importance also was the construction of independent Serbian political and cultural institutions, as well as the city's now-plentiful parks. Pointing to Josimović's work, Serbian scholars have noted an important break with Ottoman traditions. However, Istanbul—the capital city of

1584-424: A state knows that it will have a judicial officer who can participate in deliberation and offer other judges local knowledge and an understanding of the state's perspective, it may be more willing to submit to the jurisdiction of the court. Although this system does not sit well with the judicial nature of the body, it is usually of little practical consequence. Ad hoc judges usually (but not always) vote in favour of

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1728-508: A strong and vigorous fight for the Western cause. The seven Danubian nations voted to adopt the Soviet draft, with a few changes proposed in the conference by Vishinsky. Britain, France, the U.S., and Austria announced their refusal to sign. The U.K. and France took no part in the final vote, on the grounds that the whole thing was illegal. The U.S. abstained in individual article votes and voted against

1872-627: A third of these refugees having settled in Belgrade. After the 2000 presidential elections , Belgrade was the site of major public protests, with over half a million people taking part. These demonstrations resulted in the ousting of president Milošević as a part of the Otpor movement. In 2014, Belgrade Waterfront , an urban renewal project, was initiated by the Government of Serbia and its Emirati partner, Eagle Hills Properties . Around €3.5 billion

2016-521: A unanimous vote of the other members of the court. Despite these provisions, the independence of ICJ judges has been questioned. For example, during the Nicaragua case , the United States issued a communiqué suggesting that it could not present sensitive material to the court because of the presence of judges from the Soviet bloc. Judges may deliver joint judgments or give their own separate opinions. Decisions and advisory opinions are by majority, and, in

2160-406: A year when the maximum temperature is at or above 30 °C (86 °F), and 95 days when the temperature is above 25 °C (77 °F), On the other hand, Belgrade experiences 52.1 days per year in which the minimum temperature falls below 0 °C (32 °F), with 13.8 days having a maximum temperature below freezing as well. Belgrade receives about 698 mm (27 in) of precipitation

2304-419: A year, with late spring being wettest. The average annual number of sunny hours is 2,020. Belgrade may experience thunderstorms at any time of the year, experiencing 31 days annually, but it's much more common in spring and summer months. Hail is rare and occurs exclusively in spring or summer. The highest officially recorded temperature in Belgrade was 43.6 °C (110.5 °F) on 24 July 2007, while on

2448-708: Is classified as a Beta- Global City . The city is home to the University Clinical Centre of Serbia , a hospital complex with one of the largest capacities in the world ; the Church of Saint Sava , one of the largest Orthodox church buildings ; and the Belgrade Arena , one of the largest capacity indoor arenas in Europe . Belgrade hosted major international events such as the Danube River Conference of 1948 ,

2592-767: Is considered to be the most successful project of fixing the problem. During the construction of the neighbourhood from the 1970s, the terrain was systematically improved and the movement of the land is today completely halted. Under the Köppen climate classification , Belgrade has a humid subtropical climate ( Cfa ) bordering on a humid continental climate ( Dfa ) with four seasons and uniformly spread precipitation. Monthly averages range from 1.9 °C (35.4 °F) in January to 23.8 °C (74.8 °F) in July, with an annual mean of 13.2 °C (55.8 °F). There are, on average, 44.6 days

2736-403: Is entitled to participate in cases before the court. However, being a party to the statute does not automatically give the court jurisdiction over disputes involving those parties. The issue of jurisdiction is considered in the three types of ICJ cases: contentious issues, incidental jurisdiction, and advisory opinions. In contentious cases (adversarial proceedings seeking to settle a dispute),

2880-651: Is known for its very large settlements, one of the earliest settlements by continuous habitation and some of the largest in prehistoric Europe. Also associated with the Vinča culture are anthropomorphic figurines such as the Lady of Vinča , the earliest known copper metallurgy in Europe, and a proto-writing form developed prior to the Sumerians and Minoans known as the Old European script , which dates back to around 5300 BC. Within

3024-902: Is one of the six organs of the United Nations (UN), and is located in The Hague, Netherlands . The ICJ is the successor of the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ), which was established in 1920 by the League of Nations . After the Second World War , the League and the PCIJ were replaced by the United Nations and ICJ, respectively. The Statute of the ICJ , which sets forth its purpose and structure, draws heavily from that of its predecessor, whose decisions remain valid. All member states of

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3168-507: Is what you wish." [The Danube] has always been a political question. As a commercial route it has never lived up to its potentialities. Those Powers which have been concerned with opening or closing it have been more interested in their influence and control in the Danubian region than in navigation on the river itself. Vishinsky said that the Danubian countries (the USSR now being one of them as

3312-515: The Belgrade forest . Belgrade was made the seat of the Pashalik of Belgrade (also known as the Sanjak of Smederevo), and quickly became the second largest Ottoman town in Europe at over 100,000 people, surpassed only by Constantinople . Ottoman rule introduced Ottoman architecture , including numerous mosques, and the city was resurrected—now by Oriental influences. In 1594, a major Serb rebellion

3456-543: The Convention of 1921 was still in force and that their rights could not be abolished without their consent. To illustrate this distinction, the American magazine Life commented that: U.S. Delegate Cavendish Cannon often talked and acted as though merely technical matters were involved and, in the words of one correspondent, showed "all the brilliance of a cigar-store Indian ." . . . Only Britain's Sir Charles Peake put up

3600-911: The Hungarian king , made Smederevo his new capital. Even though the Ottomans had captured most of the Serbian Despotate , Belgrade, known as Nándorfehérvár in Hungarian, was unsuccessfully besieged in 1440 and 1456. As the city presented an obstacle to the Ottoman advance into Hungary and further, over 100,000 Ottoman soldiers besieged it in 1456 , in which the Christian army led by the Hungarian General John Hunyadi successfully defended it. The noon bell ordered by Pope Callixtus III commemorates

3744-606: The Independent State of Croatia in occupied Yugoslavia, another puppet state, where Ustashe regime carried out the Genocide of Serbs . During the summer and autumn of 1941, in reprisal for guerrilla attacks, the Germans carried out several massacres of Belgrade citizens; in particular, members of the Jewish community were subject to mass shootings at the order of General Franz Böhme ,

3888-536: The Neolithic Starčevo culture , which flourished between 6200 and 5200 BC. There are several Starčevo sites in and around Belgrade, including the eponymous site of Starčevo . The Starčevo culture was succeeded by the Vinča culture (5500–4500 BC), a more sophisticated farming culture that grew out of the earlier Starčevo settlements and also named for a site in the Belgrade region ( Vinča-Belo Brdo ). The Vinča culture

4032-624: The Potsdam Conference that freedom of navigation should be assured on Europe's inland waterways. Britain and France were concerned with reestablishing their prewar positions as members of the European Commission of the Danube , which was the prewar administrative body. In 1947, the Paris Peace Treaties signed with Romania , Hungary , and Bulgaria guaranteed free navigation.The foreign ministers of Great Britain , France ,

4176-529: The Second Serbian Uprising in 1815, Serbia achieved some sort of sovereignty, which was formally recognised by the Porte in 1830. The development of Belgrade architecture after 1815 can be divided into four periods. In the first phase, which lasted from 1815 to 1835, the dominant architectural style was still of a Balkan character, with substantial Ottoman influence. At the same time, an interest in joining

4320-760: The Slavs in the 520s, and changed hands several times between the Byzantine Empire , the Frankish Empire , the Bulgarian Empire , and the Kingdom of Hungary before it became the seat of the Serbian king Stefan Dragutin in 1284. Belgrade served as capital of the Serbian Despotate during the reign of Stefan Lazarević , and then his successor Đurađ Branković returned it to the Hungarian king in 1427. Noon bells in support of

4464-683: The Tripartite Pact , joining the Axis powers in an effort to stay out of the Second World War and keep Yugoslavia neutral during the conflict. This was immediately followed by mass protests in Belgrade and a military coup d'état led by Air Force commander General Dušan Simović , who proclaimed King Peter II to be of age to rule the realm. As a result, the city was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe on 6 April 1941, killing up to 2,274 people. Yugoslavia

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4608-576: The UN Security Council from a list of people nominated by the national groups in the Permanent Court of Arbitration . The election process is set out in Articles 4–19 of the ICJ Statute. Elections are staggered, with five judges elected every three years to ensure continuity within the court. Should a judge die in office, the practice has generally been to elect a judge in a special election to complete

4752-612: The UNESCO General Conference . Josip Broz Tito died in May 1980 and his funeral in Belgrade was attended by high officials and state delegations from 128 of the 154 members of the United Nations from all over the world, based on which it became one of the largest funerals in history . On 9 March 1991, massive demonstrations led by Vuk Drašković were held in the city against Slobodan Milošević . According to various media outlets, there were between 100,000 and 150,000 people on

4896-531: The USSR , and the United States stipulated that: Navigation on the Danube shall be free and open for the nationals, vessels of commerce and goods of all states, on a footing of equality in regard to port and navigation charges and conditions for merchant shipping . The foregoing shall not apply to traffic between ports of the same state. The Big Four also decided that a conference should be held within six months after

5040-566: The confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula . The population of the Belgrade metropolitan area is 1,685,563 according to the 2022 census. It is one of the major cities of Southeast Europe and the third most populous city on the Danube river . Belgrade is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe and

5184-562: The romanised Singidunum in the 1st century AD and, by the mid-2nd century, the city was proclaimed a municipium by the Roman authorities, evolving into a full-fledged colonia (the highest city class) by the end of the century. While the first Christian Emperor of Rome — Constantine I , also known as Constantine the Great —was born in the territory of Naissus to the city's south, Roman Christianity's champion, Flavius Iovianus (Jovian/Jovan),

5328-658: The Balkans and Central Europe was held in Belgrade in June 1896 by André Carr, a representative of the Lumière brothers . He shot the first motion pictures of Belgrade in the next year; however, they have not been preserved. The first permanent cinema was opened in 1909 in Belgrade. The First World War began on 28 July 1914 when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Most of the subsequent Balkan offensives occurred near Belgrade. Austro-Hungarian monitors shelled Belgrade on 29 July 1914, and it

5472-556: The Danube valley, and Umka , and especially its neighbourhood of Duboko, in the Sava valley. They have moving and dormant phases, and some of them have been recorded for centuries. Less active downhill creep areas include the entire Terazije slope above the Sava (Kalemegdan, Savamala ), which can be seen by the inclination of the Pobednik monument and the tower of the Cathedral Church , and

5616-474: The Danube, was opened in 1935, while King Alexander Bridge over the Sava was opened in 1934. On 3 September 1939 the first Belgrade Grand Prix , the last Grand Prix motor racing race before the outbreak of World War II, was held around the Belgrade Fortress and was followed by 80,000 spectators. The winner was Tazio Nuvolari . On 25 March 1941, the government of regent Crown Prince Paul signed

5760-496: The Danubian nations themselves as well as non-riparian states, and to prove that the charge of imperialism in the Danube basin lay not against the West but against Russia. The United States, he said, was trying to focus the debate on the major points of difference between the Soviet and the American drafts. . . . The United States was convinced . . . that the Soviet convention was designed not to guarantee freedom of navigation but to give

5904-459: The Eastern and Western press immediately. For months, Russia and Eastern Europe had been on the losing side of nearly every vote of importance in the United Nations sessions at Lake Success, New York . In Belgrade, though, the West was in the minority. Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Vishinsky told the Western delegates: "The door was open for you to come in. The door is open for you to leave, if that

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6048-493: The European mainstream allowed Central and Western European architecture to flourish. Between 1835 and 1850, the amount of neoclassicist and baroque buildings south of the Austrian border rose considerably, exemplified by St Michael's Cathedral (Serbian: Saborna crkva) , completed in 1840. Between 1850 and 1875, new architecture was characterised by a turn towards the newly popular Romanticism , along with older European architectural styles. Typical of Central European cities in

6192-430: The First World War led to the creation of the League of Nations , established by the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 as the first worldwide intergovernmental organization aimed at maintaining peace and collective security. Article 14 League's Covenant called for the establishment of a Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ), which would be responsible for adjudicating any international dispute submitted to it by

6336-428: The General Assembly or the Security Council the power to request the court to issue an advisory opinion on any legal question. Organs of the UN other than the General Assembly or the Security Council require the General Assembly's authorization to request an advisory opinion of the ICJ. These organs of the UN only request an advisory opinion regarding the matters that fall within the scope of their activities. On receiving

6480-453: The German Military Governor of Serbia . Böhme rigorously enforced the rule that for every German killed, 100 Serbs or Jews would be shot. Belgrade became the first city in Europe to be declared by the Nazi occupation forces to be judenfrei . The resistance movement in Belgrade was led by Major Žarko Todorović from 1941 until his arrest in 1943. Just like Rotterdam , which was devastated twice by both German and Allied bombing, Belgrade

6624-413: The Hungarian army against the Ottoman Empire during the siege in 1456 have remained a widespread church tradition to this day. In 1521, Belgrade was conquered by the Ottomans and became the seat of the Sanjak of Smederevo . It frequently passed from Ottoman to Habsburg rule, which saw the destruction of most of the city during the Ottoman–Habsburg wars . Following the Serbian Revolution , Belgrade

6768-439: The ICJ and the Security Council , and the separation of their powers, was considered by the court in 1992 in the Pan Am case . The court had to consider an application from Libya for the order of provisional measures of protection to safeguard its rights, which, it alleged, were being infringed by the threat of economic sanctions by the United Kingdom and United States. The problem was that these sanctions had been authorized by

6912-449: The ICJ produces a binding ruling between states that agree to submit to the ruling of the court. Only states may be parties in contentious cases; individuals, corporations, component parts of a federal state, NGOs, UN organs, and self-determination groups are excluded from direct participation, although the court may receive information from public international organizations . However, this does not preclude non-state interests from being

7056-491: The ICJ, the PCIJ was not part of the league, nor were members of the league automatically a party to its Statute. The United States, which played a key role in both the second Hague Peace Conference and the Paris Peace Conference, was notably not a member of the league. However, several of its nationals served as judges of the court. From its first session in 1922 until 1940, the PCIJ dealt with 29 interstate disputes and issued 27 advisory opinions. The court's widespread acceptance

7200-439: The International Court of Justice , similar to that of its predecessor, is the main constitutional document constituting and regulating the court. The court's workload covers a wide range of judicial activity. After the court ruled that the United States 's covert war against Nicaragua was in violation of international law ( Nicaragua v. United States ), the United States withdrew from compulsory jurisdiction in 1986 to accept

7344-404: The International Court of Justice , the court's rulings and opinions are binding on the parties with respect to the particular case ruled on by the court. The first permanent institution established for the purpose of settling international disputes was the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), which was created by the Hague Peace Conference of 1899. Initiated by the Russian Tsar Nicholas II ,

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7488-514: The International Court of Justice are entitled to the style of His/Her Excellency. Judges are not able to hold any other post or act as counsel. In practice, members of the court have their own interpretation of these rules and many have chosen to remain involved in outside arbitration and hold professional posts as long as there is no conflict of interest. Former judge Bruno Simma and current judge Georg Nolte have acknowledged that moonlighting should be restricted. A judge can be dismissed only by

7632-408: The Peace Palace. The judges of the PCIJ all resigned on 31 January 1946, with the election of the first members of the ICJ taking place the following February at the First Session of the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council . In April 1946, the PCIJ was formally dissolved, and the ICJ, in its first meeting, was elected President José Gustavo Guerrero of El Salvador, who had served as

7776-414: The Security Council, which resulted in a potential conflict between the Chapter VII functions of the Security Council and the judicial function of the court. The court decided, by eleven votes to five, that it could not order the requested provisional measures because the rights claimed by Libya, even if legitimate under the 1971 Montreal Convention , could not be prima facie regarded as appropriate since

7920-421: The UN are party to the ICJ Statute and may initiate contentious legal cases ; however, advisory proceedings may be submitted only by certain UN organs and agencies . The ICJ consists of a panel of 15 judges elected by the UN General Assembly and Security Council for nine-year terms. No more than one judge of each nationality may be represented on court at the same time, and judges collectively must reflect

8064-449: The United States, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Italy, and Greece to the six Eastern nations, ignoring Ukraine. Six months later, in March 1950, the Soviet Union replied that it did not agree and that the new convention "eliminated previous injustices and established jurisdiction over the river by the countries through which or along which the river actually flowed." The river system was thenceforth divided into three administrations —

8208-454: The Voždovac section, between Banjica and Autokomanda . Landslides encompass smaller areas, develop on the steep cliffs, sometimes being inclined up to 90%. They are mostly located in the artificial loess hills of Zemun: Gardoš , Ćukovac and Kalvarija . However, the majority of the land movement in Belgrade, some 90%, is triggered by the construction works and faulty water supply system (burst pipes, etc.). The neighbourhood of Mirijevo

8352-401: The action was ordered by the Security Council. In accordance with Article 103 of the UN Charter, obligations under the Charter took precedence over other treaty obligations. Nevertheless, the court declared the application admissible in 1998. A decision on the merits has not been given since the parties (United Kingdom, United States, and Libya) settled the case out of court in 2003. There was

8496-421: The advisory opinion shall be specifically binding on particular agencies or states, but inherently they are non-binding under the Statute of the court. This non-binding character does not mean that advisory opinions are without legal effect, because the legal reasoning embodied in them reflects the court's authoritative views on important issues of international law. In arriving at them, the court follows essentially

8640-421: The area around Belgrade was inhabited by nomadic foragers in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic eras. Some of these tools are of Mousterian industry —belonging to Neanderthals rather than modern humans. Aurignacian and Gravettian tools have also been discovered near the area, indicating some settlement between 50,000 and 20,000 years ago. The first farming people to settle in the region are associated with

8784-431: The area was ravaged by Attila the Hun . In 471, it was taken by Theodoric the Great , king of the Ostrogoths, who continued into Italy. As the Ostrogoths left, another Germanic tribe, the Gepids , invaded the city. In 539, it was retaken by the Byzantines. In 577, some 100,000 Slavs poured into Thrace and Illyricum , pillaging cities and more permanently settling the region. The Avars , under Bayan I , conquered

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8928-437: The bench. In 2023, judges elected to take office from 2024 did not include a Russian member, so for the first time, from 2024 there will be no member from the Commonwealth of Independent States . This is also the first time that Russia would not have a judge on the ICJ, even going back to its predecessor, the Soviet Union. Article 31 of the statute sets out a procedure whereby ad hoc judges sit on contentious cases before

9072-494: The capital of the Kingdom of Syrmia , a vassal state to the Kingdom of Hungary. Dragutin (Hungarian: Dragutin István ) is regarded as the first Serbian king to rule over Belgrade. Following the battles of Maritsa (1371) and Kosovo field (1389) , Moravian Serbia, to Belgrade's south, began to fall to the Ottoman Empire . The northern regions of what is now Serbia persisted as the Serbian Despotate , with Belgrade as its capital. The city flourished under Stefan Lazarević ,

9216-465: The case unless the court appointed judges to the chamber acceptable to the parties. Judgments of chambers may have either less authority than full Court judgments or diminish the proper interpretation of universal international law informed by a variety of cultural and legal perspectives. On the other hand, the use of chambers might encourage greater recourse to the court and thus enhance international dispute resolution . As of 6 February 2024 ,

9360-417: The centre of the Principality's administrative, military and cultural institutions. His project of creating a new market space (the Abadžijska čaršija), however, was less successful; trade continued to be conducted in the centuries-old Donja čaršija and Gornja čaršija. Still, new construction projects were typical for the Christian quarters as the older Muslim quarters declined; from Serbia's autonomy until 1863,

9504-407: The city has been battled over in 115 wars and razed 44 times, being bombed five times and besieged many times. Being Serbia's primate city , Belgrade has special administrative status within Serbia. It is the seat of the central government, administrative bodies, and government ministries, as well as home to almost all of the largest Serbian companies, media, and scientific institutions. Belgrade

9648-441: The city is under rapid development and reconstruction, especially in the area of Novi Beograd , where (as of 2020) apartment and office buildings were under construction to support the burgeoning Belgrade IT sector , now one of Serbia's largest economic players. In September 2020, there were around 2000 active construction sites in Belgrade. The city budget for 2023 stood at 205,5 billion dinars (1.750 billion Euros). The budget for

9792-412: The city of Belgrade has been estimated to be more than 2 billion Euros for 2024. Belgrade lies 116.75 m (383.0 ft) above sea level and is located at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers. The historical core of Belgrade, Kalemegdan , lies on the right banks of both rivers. Since the 19th century, the city has been expanding to the south and east; after World War II, New Belgrade

9936-413: The city proper, on Cetinjska Street, a skull of a Paleolithic human dated to before 5000 BC was discovered in 1890. Evidence of early knowledge about Belgrade's geographical location comes from a variety of ancient myths and legends. The ridge overlooking the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, for example, has been identified as one of the places in the story of Jason and the Argonauts . In

10080-504: The city terrain is mass wasting . On the territory covered by the General Urban Plan there are 1,155 recorded mass wasting points, out of which 602 are active and 248 are labeled as 'high risk'. They cover almost 30% of the city territory and include several types of mass wasting. Downhill creeps are located on the slopes above the rivers, mostly on the clay or loam soils, inclined between 7 and 20%. The most critical ones are in Karaburma , Zvezdara , Višnjica , Vinča and Ritopek , in

10224-520: The city would become a battleground between the Byzantine Empire , the medieval Kingdom of Hungary , and the Bulgarian Empire . Basil II (976–1025) installed a garrison in Belgrade. The city hosted the armies of the First and the Second Crusade , but, while passing through during the Third Crusade , Frederick Barbarossa and his 190,000 crusaders saw Belgrade in ruins. King Stefan Dragutin (r. 1276–1282) received Belgrade from his father-in-law, Stephen V of Hungary , in 1284, and it served as

10368-549: The composition of the court is as follows: As stated in Article 93 of the UN Charter, all 193 UN members are automatically parties to the court's statute. Non-UN members may also become parties to the court's statute under the Article 93(2) procedure, which was used by Switzerland in 1948 and Nauru in 1988, prior to either joining the UN. Once a state is a party to the court's statute, it

10512-472: The conference involved all the world's major powers, as well as several smaller states, and resulted in the first multilateral treaties concerned with the conduct of warfare. Among these was the Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes , which set forth the institutional and procedural framework for arbitral proceedings, which would take place in The Hague, Netherlands . Although

10656-497: The contesting parties, as well as to provide an advisory opinion upon any dispute or question referred to it by the League of Nations. In December 1920, following several drafts and debates, the Assembly of the league unanimously adopted the statute of the PCIJ, which was signed and ratified the following year by a majority of members. Among other things, the new Statute resolved the contentious issues of selecting judges by providing that

10800-468: The convention and enhanced the rules governing arbitral proceedings before the PCA. During this conference, the United States, Great Britain and Germany submitted a joint proposal for a permanent court whose judges would serve full-time. As the delegates could not agree how the judges would be selected, the matter was shelved pending an agreement to be adopted at a later convention. The Hague Peace Conferences, and

10944-399: The court may have jurisdiction on the basis of tacit consent ( forum prorogatum ). In the absence of clear jurisdiction under Article 36, jurisdiction is established if the respondent accepts ICJ jurisdiction explicitly or simply pleads on the merits . This arose in the 1949 Corfu Channel Case (U.K. v. Albania), in which the court held that a letter from Albania stating that it submitted to

11088-483: The court to indicate interim measures. Incidental jurisdiction of the court derives from the Article 41 of its Statute. Similar to the final judgment, the order for interim measures of the court are binding on state parties to the dispute. The ICJ has competence to indicate interim measures only if the prima facie jurisdiction is satisfied. An advisory opinion is a function of the court open only to specified United Nations bodies and agencies. The UN Charter grants

11232-554: The court's decision before the Security Council. Furthermore, if the Security Council refuses to enforce a judgment against any other state, there is no method of forcing the state to comply. Furthermore, the most effective form to take action for the Security Council, coercive action under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter , can be justified only if international peace and security are at stake. The Security Council has never done that so far. The relationship between

11376-649: The court's history, the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (France, USSR, China, the United Kingdom, and the United States) have always had a judge serving, thereby occupying three of the Western seats, one of the Asian seats and one of the Eastern European seats. Exceptions have been China not having a judge on the court from 1967 to 1985, during which time it did not put forward

11520-480: The court's jurisdiction only on a discretionary basis. Chapter XIV of the United Nations Charter authorizes the UN Security Council to enforce Court rulings. However, such enforcement is subject to the veto power of the five permanent members of the council, which the United States used in the Nicaragua case. The ICJ is composed of fifteen judges elected to nine-year terms by the UN General Assembly and

11664-433: The court. The system allows any party to a contentious case (if it otherwise does not have one of that party's nationals sitting on the court) to select one additional person to sit as a judge on that case only. It is thus possible that as many as seventeen judges may sit on one case. The system may seem strange when compared with domestic court processes, but its purpose is to encourage states to submit cases. For example, if

11808-424: The document as a whole. The conference closed on August 18. The West suffered a slight financial loss in the deal, the new treaty having set up a new Danube Commission that assumed all the assets of the old international Danube conventions but not of the liabilities — which included loans that Britain, France, and Italy had made. A year later, parallel copies of a note rejecting the new convention were dispatched by

11952-664: The event of an equal division, the president's vote becomes decisive, which occurred in the Legality of the Use by a State of Nuclear Weapons in Armed Conflict (Opinion requested by WHO), [1996] ICJ Reports 66. Judges may also deliver separate dissenting opinions. In its 77 years of history, only five women have been elected to the Court, with former UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston calling for states to take seriously questions of representation in

12096-714: The first Non-Aligned Movement Summit (1961), the first major gathering of the OSCE (1977–1978), the Eurovision Song Contest ( 2008 ), as well as sports events such as the first FINA World Aquatics Championships ( 1973 ), UEFA Euro ( 1976 ), Summer Universiade ( 2009 ) and EuroBasket three times ( 1961 , 1975 , 2005 ). On 21 June 2023, Belgrade was confirmed host of the BIE- Specialized Exhibition Expo 2027 . Chipped stone tools found in Zemun show that

12240-462: The formation of ad hoc chambers to hear particular disputes. In 1993, a special chamber was established, under Article 26(1) of the ICJ statute, to deal specifically with environmental matters (although it has never been used). Ad hoc chambers are more frequently convened. For example, chambers were used to hear the Gulf of Maine Case (Canada/US). In that case, the parties made clear they would withdraw

12384-495: The highest judicial office in their home states or known as lawyers with sufficient competence in international law. Judicial independence is dealt with specifically in Articles 16–18. To insure impartiality, Article 16 of the Charter requires independence from their national governments or other interested parties, stating, "No member of the Court may exercise any political or administrative function, or engage in any other occupation of

12528-563: The ideas that emerged therefrom, influenced the creation of the Central American Court of Justice , which was established in 1908 as one of the earliest regional judicial bodies. Various plans and proposals were made between 1911 and 1919 for the establishment of an international judicial tribunal, which would not be realized in the formation of a new international system following the First World War . The unprecedented bloodshed of

12672-435: The issue may be taken before the Security Council for enforcement action. There are obvious problems with such a method of enforcement. If the judgment is against one of the five permanent members of the Security Council or its allies, any resolution on enforcement could then be vetoed by that member. That occurred, for example, after the Nicaragua case , when Nicaragua brought the issue of the United States' noncompliance with

12816-541: The judges be elected by both the council and the Assembly of the league concurrently but independently. The makeup of the PCIJ would reflect the "main forms of civilization and the principal legal systems of the world". The PCIJ would be permanently placed at the Peace Palace in The Hague, alongside Permanent Court of Arbitration. The PCIJ represented a major innovation in international jurisprudence in several ways: Unlike

12960-481: The jurisdiction of the ICJ was sufficient to grant the court jurisdiction. Until rendering a final judgment, the court has competence to order interim measures for the protection of the rights of a party to a dispute. One or both parties to a dispute may apply the ICJ for issuing interim measures. In the Frontier Dispute Case, both parties to the dispute, Burkina Faso and Mali , submitted an application to

13104-562: The last president of the PCIJ. The court also appointed members of its Registry, mainly drawn from that of the PCIJ, and held an inaugural public sitting later that month. The first case was submitted in May 1947 by the United Kingdom against Albania concerning incidents in the Corfu Channel . Established in 1945 by the UN Charter , the court began work in 1946 as the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice . The Statute of

13248-556: The last quarter of the 19th century, the fourth phase was characterised by an eclecticist style based on the Renaissance and Baroque periods. In 1841, Prince Mihailo Obrenović moved the capital of the Principality of Serbia from Kragujevac to Belgrade. During his first reign (1815–1839), Prince Miloš Obrenović pursued expansion of the city's population through the addition of new settlements, aiming and succeeding to make Belgrade

13392-517: The meeting was developing. The final draft said only that Austria would become a member after a peace was signed. Germany was left out of the final draft altogether. A U.S. proposal that the new commission be brought into some kind of liaison with the United Nations, through appeal to the International Court of Justice in case of dispute and in periodic reports to the Economic and Social Council ,

13536-459: The names recorded by the Danube Commission A series of articles on this subject in chronological order Belgrade Belgrade ( / b ɛ l ˈ ɡ r eɪ d / bel- GRAYD , / ˈ b ɛ l ɡ r eɪ d / BEL -grayd ; Serbian : Београд , Beograd , Serbian: [beǒɡrad] ) is the capital and largest city of Serbia . It is located at

13680-402: The number of Belgrade quarters even decreased, mainly as a consequence of the gradual disappearance of the city's Muslim population . An Ottoman city map from 1863 counts only 9 Muslim quarters ( mahalas ). The names of only five such neighbourhoods are known today: Ali-pašina, Reis-efendijina, Jahja-pašina, Bajram-begova, and Laz Hadži-Mahmudova. Following the Čukur Fountain incident , Belgrade

13824-439: The obligations incumbent upon it under a judgment rendered by the Court", the Security Council may be called upon to "make recommendations or decide upon measures" if the Security Council deems such actions necessary. In practice, the court's powers have been limited by the unwillingness of the losing party to abide by the court's ruling and by the Security Council's unwillingness to impose consequences. However, in theory, "so far as

13968-415: The opening of a railway to Niš , Serbia's second city. In 1900, the capital had only 70,000 inhabitants (at the time Serbia numbered 2.5 million). Still, by 1905, the population had grown to more than 80,000 and, by the outbreak of World War I in 1914, it had surpassed the 100,000 citizens, disregarding Zemun , which still belonged to Austria-Hungary . The first-ever projection of motion pictures in

14112-576: The other end, the lowest temperature was −26.2 °C (−15 °F) on 10 January 1893. The highest recorded value of daily precipitation was 109.8 millimetres (4.32 inches) on 15 May 2014. International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice ( ICJ ; French: Cour internationale de justice , CIJ ), or colloquially the World Court , is the only international court that adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on international legal issues. It

14256-484: The parties to the case are concerned, a judgment of the Court is binding, final and without appeal", and "by signing the Charter, a State Member of the United Nations undertakes to comply with any decision of the International Court of Justice in a case to which it is a party." For example, the United States had previously accepted the court's compulsory jurisdiction upon its creation in 1946 but in 1984, after Nicaragua v. United States , withdrew its acceptance following

14400-452: The precise meaning of "main forms of civilization" is contested. There is an informal understanding that the seats will be distributed by geographic regions so that there are five seats for Western countries, three for African states (including one judge of Francophone civil law, one of Anglophone common law and one Arab), two for Eastern European states, three for Asian states and two for Latin American and Caribbean states. For most of

14544-514: The principal civilizations and legal systems of the world. Seated in the Peace Palace in The Hague , Netherlands, the ICJ is the only principal UN organ not located in New York City . Its official working languages are English and French. Since the entry of its first case on 22 May 1947, the ICJ has entertained 191 cases through 13 November 2023. Pursuant to Article 59 of the Statute of

14688-427: The proceedings would be supported by a permanent bureau—whose functions would be equivalent to that of a secretariat or court registry—the arbitrators would be appointed by the disputing states from a larger pool provided by each member of the convention. The PCA was established in 1900 and began proceedings in 1902. A second Hague Peace Conference in 1907, which involved most of the world's sovereign states , revised

14832-513: The regular River Commission, a bilateral Romania-USSR administration between Brăila and the mouth of the Sulina channel , and a bilateral Romania-Yugoslavia administration at the Iron Gates . Both of the latter were technically under the control of the main commission, members of which were Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, the USSR, and Yugoslavia. Listed in the order of and under

14976-418: The right bank of the Sava, central Belgrade has a hilly terrain, while the highest point of Belgrade proper is Torlak hill at 303 m (994 ft). The mountains of Avala (511 m (1,677 ft)) and Kosmaj (628 m (2,060 ft)) lie south of the city. Across the Sava and Danube, the land is mostly flat, consisting of alluvial plains and loessial plateaus . One of the characteristics of

15120-555: The same government after alleged electoral fraud in local elections. These protests brought Zoran Đinđić to power, the first mayor of Belgrade since World War II who did not belong to the League of Communists of Yugoslavia or its later offshoot, the Socialist Party of Serbia . In 1999, during the Kosovo War , the NATO bombing campaign targeted a number a buildings in Belgrade. Among

15264-402: The same rules and procedures that govern its binding judgments delivered in contentious cases submitted to it by sovereign states. An advisory opinion derives its status and authority from the fact that it is the official pronouncement of the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. Advisory opinions have often been controversial because the questions asked are controversial or the case

15408-765: The sites bombed were some ministry buildings, the RTS building, hospitals, Hotel Jugoslavija , the Central Committee building , Avala Tower , and the Chinese embassy . Between 500 and 2,000 civilians were killed in Serbia and Montenegro as a result of the NATO bombings, of which 47 were killed in Belgrade. After the Yugoslav Wars , Serbia became home to the highest number of refugees and internally displaced persons in Europe, with more than

15552-617: The son of Serbian prince Lazar Hrebeljanović . Lazarević built a castle with a citadel and towers, of which only the Despot's tower and the west wall remain. He also refortified the city's ancient walls, allowing the Despotate to resist Ottoman conquest for almost 70 years. During this time, Belgrade was a haven for many Balkan peoples fleeing Ottoman rule, and is thought to have had a population ranging between 40,000 and 50,000 people. In 1427, Stefan's successor Đurađ Branković , returning Belgrade to

15696-400: The state that appointed them and thus cancel each other out. Generally, the court sits as full bench, but in the last fifteen years, it has on occasion sat as a chamber. Articles 26–29 of the statute allow the court to form smaller chambers, usually 3 or 5 judges, to hear cases. Two types of chambers are contemplated by Article 26: firstly, chambers for special categories of cases, and second,

15840-583: The state to which Belgrade and Serbia de jure still belonged—underwent similar changes. In May 1868, knez Mihailo was assassinated with his cousin Anka Konstantinović while riding in a carriage in his country residence. With the Principality 's full independence in 1878 and its transformation into the Kingdom of Serbia in 1882, Belgrade once again became a key city in the Balkans, and developed rapidly. Nevertheless, conditions in Serbia remained those of an overwhelmingly agrarian country, even with

15984-426: The streets. Two people were killed, 203 were injured and 108 were arrested during the protests, and later that day tanks were deployed onto the streets to restore order. Many anti-war protests were held in Belgrade, with the largest protests being dedicated to solidarity with the victims from the besieged Sarajevo . Further anti-government protests were held in Belgrade from November 1996 to February 1997 against

16128-423: The subject of proceedings; for example, a state may bring a case on behalf of one of its nationals or corporations, such as in matters concerning diplomatic protection. Jurisdiction is often a crucial question for the court in contentious cases. The key principle is that the ICJ has jurisdiction only on the basis of consent. Under Article 36, there are four foundations for the court's jurisdiction: Additionally,

16272-510: The term. Historically, deceased judges have been replaced by judges from the same region, though not —as often wrongly asserted— necessarily from the same nationality. Article 3 states that no two judges may be nationals of the same country. According to Article 9, the membership of the court is supposed to represent the "main forms of civilization and of the principal legal systems of the world". This has been interpreted to include common law , civil law , socialist law , and Islamic law , while

16416-645: The time of antiquity, too, the area was populated by Paleo-Balkan tribes , including the Thracians and the Dacians , who ruled much of Belgrade's surroundings. Specifically, Belgrade was at one point inhabited by the Thraco-Dacian tribe Singi; following Celtic invasion in 279 BC, the Scordisci wrested the city from their hands, naming it Singidūn ( d|ūn , fortress). In 34–33 BC, the Roman army reached Belgrade. It became

16560-438: The treaties came into force "to work out a new convention regarding the regime of the Danube." In February 1948 the United States proposed calling a conference, thus averting a multilateral pact that might have been concluded among the Eastern European countries. Germany, still without a government and under four-power control , could not be represented, but the United States championed the entry of Austria . The latter, however,

16704-570: The two sides. As such, it attracted more than the usual share of attention from East and West alike. The major result of the conference was known as the Belgrade Convention , which ousted the non-Danubian powers from the international agencies that had controlled the commerce and physical care of the river for decades. Postwar discussion of the Danube River was begun by the United States in 1945 when President Harry S. Truman proposed at

16848-674: The two-thirds majority in the Senate required for a treaty. Following a peak of activity in 1933, the PCIJ began to decline in its activities due to the growing international tension and isolationism that characterized the era. The Second World War effectively put an end to the court, which held its last public session in December 1939 and issued its last orders in February 1940. In 1942 the United States and United Kingdom jointly declared support for establishing or re-establishing an international court after

16992-497: The victory throughout the Christian world to this day, which is now a cultural symbol of Hungary . Seven decades after the initial siege, on 28 August 1521, the fort was finally captured by Suleiman the Magnificent with 250,000 Turkish soldiers and over 100 ships. Subsequently, most of the city was razed to the ground and its entire Orthodox Christian population was deported to Istanbul to an area that has since become known as

17136-542: The war ended, the city was left with 11,500 demolished housing units. During the post-war period, Belgrade grew rapidly as the capital of the renewed Yugoslavia , developing as a major industrial centre. In 1948, construction of New Belgrade started. In 1958, Belgrade's first television station began broadcasting. In 1961, Belgrade hosted the first and founding conference of the Non-Aligned Movement under Tito's chairmanship. In 1962, Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

17280-449: The war, and in 1943, the U.K. chaired a panel of jurists from around the world, the "Inter-Allied Committee", to discuss the matter. Its 1944 report recommended that: Several months later at the Moscow conference in 1943 , the major Allied Powers— China , the USSR , the U.K. , and the U.S. —issued a joint declaration recognizing the necessity "of establishing at the earliest practicable date

17424-417: The weight of those arguments. Indirectly, they may reach the people of those countries. . . . Nations for which the Danube is a principal route to world markets can scarcely feel happy, in the long run, about a system which puts control of that route in the hands of a single Great Power. . . . All the western Powers could hope to do at Belgrade was to show that their plans for the Danube were conceived to benefit

17568-554: The whole region and its new Slavic population by 582. Following Byzantine reconquest, the Byzantine chronicle De Administrando Imperio mentions the White Serbs , who had stopped in Belgrade on their way back home, asking the strategos for lands; they received provinces in the west, towards the Adriatic, which they would rule as subjects to Heraclius (610–641). In 829, Khan Omurtag

17712-461: The world. One of the most important prehistoric cultures of Europe , the Vinča culture , evolved within the Belgrade area in the 6th millennium BC. In antiquity, Thraco - Dacians inhabited the region and, after 279 BC, Celts settled the city, naming it Singidūn . It was conquered by the Romans under the reign of Augustus and awarded Roman city rights in the mid-2nd century. It was settled by

17856-701: Was able to add Singidunum and its environs to the First Bulgarian Empire. The first record of the name Belograd appeared on April, 16th, 878, in a Papal missive to Bulgarian ruler Boris I . This name would appear in several variants: Alba Bulgarica in Latin, Griechisch Weissenburg in High German, Nándorfehérvár in Hungarian, and Castelbianco in Venetian, among other names, all variations of 'white fortress' or ' Bulgar white fortress'. For about four centuries,

18000-421: Was also defeated. America came to the table with a full delegation of experienced transportation men, maritime lawyers, and other experts who worked out a detailed draft convention. When U.S. Delegate Cavendish Cannon explained the reasons for each article of the American draft, one State Department official observed, some of the satellite Eastern European delegates seated round the table may have recognized

18144-826: Was bombed once more during World War II , this time by the Allies on 16 April 1944, killing at least 1,100 people. This bombing fell on the Orthodox Christian Easter . Most of the city remained under German occupation until 20 October 1944, when it was liberated by the Red Army and the Communist Yugoslav Partisans . On 29 November 1945, Marshal Josip Broz Tito proclaimed the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia in Belgrade (later renamed to Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 7 April 1963). When

18288-505: Was bombed by the Ottomans. On 18 April 1867, the Ottoman government ordered the Ottoman garrison, which had been since 1826 the last representation of Ottoman suzerainty in Serbia, withdrawn from Kalemegdan . The forlorn Porte's only stipulation was that the Ottoman flag continue to fly over the fortress alongside the Serbian one. Serbia's de facto independence dates from this event. In the following years, urban planner Emilijan Josimović had

18432-710: Was born in Singidunum. Jovian reestablished Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire , ending the brief revival of traditional Roman religions under his predecessor Julian the Apostate . In 395 AD, the site passed to the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire . Across the Sava from Singidunum was the Celtic city of Taurunum (Zemun) ; the two were connected with a bridge throughout Roman and Byzantine times. In 442,

18576-443: Was built on the left bank of the Sava river, connecting Belgrade with Zemun . Smaller, chiefly residential communities across the Danube, like Krnjača , Kotež and Borča , also merged with the city, while Pančevo , a heavily industrialised satellite city, remains separate. The city has an urban area of 360 km (140 sq mi), while together with its metropolitan area it covers 3,223 km (1,244 sq mi). On

18720-617: Was built. In 1968, major student protests led to several street clashes between students and the police. In 1972, Belgrade faced a smallpox outbreak , the last major outbreak of smallpox in Europe since World War II. Between October 1977 and March 1978, the city hosted the first major gathering of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe with the aim of implementing the Helsinki Accords from, while in 1980 Belgrade hosted

18864-656: Was crushed by the Ottomans. In retribution, Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha ordered the relics of Saint Sava to be publicly torched on the Vračar plateau ; in the 20th century, the church of Saint Sava was built to commemorate this event. Occupied by the Habsburgs three times ( 1688–1690 , 1717–1739 , 1789–1791 ), headed by the Holy Roman Princes Maximilian of Bavaria and Eugene of Savoy , and field marshal Baron Ernst Gideon von Laudon , respectively, Belgrade

19008-443: Was liberated by Serbian and French troops on 1 November 1918, under the command of Marshal Louis Franchet d'Espèrey of France and Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia . Belgrade, devastated as a front-line city, lost the title of largest city in the Kingdom to Subotica for some time. After the war, Belgrade became the capital of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929. The Kingdom

19152-403: Was once again named the capital of Serbia in 1841. Northern Belgrade remained the southernmost Habsburg post until 1918, when it was attached to the city, due to former Austro-Hungarian territories becoming part of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes after World War I . Belgrade was the capital of Yugoslavia from its creation to its dissolution. In a fatally strategic position,

19296-522: Was predominantly inhabited by a Muslim population. Traces of Ottoman rule and architecture—such as mosques and bazaars , were to remain a prominent part of Belgrade's townscape into the 19th century; several decades, even, after Serbia was granted autonomy from the Ottoman Empire. During the First Serbian Uprising , Serbian revolutionaries held the city from 8 January 1807 until 1813, when it

19440-544: Was pursued as an indirect way of bringing what is really a contentious case before the court. Examples of advisory opinions can be found in the section advisory opinions in the List of International Court of Justice cases article. One such well-known advisory opinion is the Nuclear Weapons Case . Article 94 establishes the duty of all UN members to comply with decisions of the court involving them. If parties do not comply,

19584-508: Was quickly recaptured by the Ottomans and substantially razed each time. During this period, the city was affected by the two Great Serbian Migrations , in which hundreds of thousands of Serbs, led by two Serbian Patriarchs , retreated together with the Austrian soldiers into the Habsburg Empire, settling in today's Vojvodina and Slavonia . At the beginning of the 19th century, Belgrade

19728-511: Was reflected by the fact that several hundred international treaties and agreements conferred jurisdiction upon it over specified categories of disputes. In addition to helping resolve several serious international disputes, the PCIJ helped clarify several ambiguities in international law that contributed to its development. The United States played a major role in setting up the PCIJ but never joined. Presidents Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, and Roosevelt all supported membership, but did not get

19872-465: Was rejected by the eastern bloc on the grounds they were still at war. As a compromise, it was agreed that Austria would attend as a consultant only. The four major powers , with Yugoslavia (then under the control of Marshal Tito and the Communist Party), issued invitations. Austria was occupied by the four powers but with a government granted some autonomy. The conference caught the attention of

20016-777: Was retaken by the Ottomans. In 1807, Turks in Belgrade were massacred and forcefully converted to Christianity. The massacre was encouraged by Russia in order to cement divisions between the Serb rebels and the Porte . Around 6,000 Muslims and Jews were forcibly converted to Christianity. Most mosques were converted into churches. Muslims, Jews, Aromanians and Greeks were subjected to forced labour, and Muslim women were widely made available to young Serb men, and some were taken into slavery. Milenko Stojković bought many of them, and established his harem for which he gained fame. In this circumstances Belgrade demographically transformed from Ottoman to Serb. After

20160-512: Was split into banovinas and Belgrade, together with Zemun and Pančevo , formed a separate administrative unit. During this period, the city experienced fast growth and significant modernisation. Belgrade's population grew to 239,000 by 1931 (with the inclusion of Zemun), and to 320,000 by 1940. The population growth rate between 1921 and 1948 averaged 4.08% a year. In 1927, Belgrade's first airport opened, and in 1929, its first radio station began broadcasting. The Pančevo Bridge , which crosses

20304-625: Was subsequently convened in Washington, D.C., in April 1945, involving 44 jurists from around the world to draft a statute for the proposed court. The draft statute was substantially similar to that of the PCIJ, and it was questioned whether a new court should even be created. During the San Francisco Conference , which took place from 25 April to 26 June 1945 and involved 50 countries, it was decided that an entirely new court should be established as

20448-402: Was taken by the Austro-Hungarian Army under General Oskar Potiorek on 30 November. On 15 December, it was re-taken by Serbian troops under Marshal Radomir Putnik . After a prolonged battle which destroyed much of the city, starting on 6 October 1915, Belgrade fell to German and Austro-Hungarian troops commanded by Field Marshal August von Mackensen on 9 October of the same year. The city

20592-457: Was then invaded by German , Italian , Hungarian , and Bulgarian forces. Belgrade was captured by subterfuge, with six German soldiers led by their officer Fritz Klingenberg feigning threatening size, forcing the city to capitulate. Belgrade was more directly occupied by the German Army in the same month and became the seat of the puppet Nedić regime , headed by its namesake general. Some of today's parts of Belgrade were incorporated in

20736-446: Was to be jointly invested by the Serbian government and their Emirati partners. The project includes office and luxury apartment buildings, five-star hotels, a shopping mall and the envisioned ' Belgrade Tower '. The project is, however, quite controversial—there are a number of uncertainties regarding its funding, necessity, and its architecture's arguable lack of harmony with the rest of the city. In addition to Belgrade Waterfront ,

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