Serbia's history began in the seventh century when Serb tribes settled this Balkan region. Under the Byzantines, it adopted the Eastern Church by the ninth century. It developed slowly and only in 1217 was its prince, Stefan Nemanja, recognized as king, due to his political skills. His younger brother, Rastko-Sava, who had opted for the priesthood, was influential in this turn of events, and two years later became Serbia's first archbishop.

Two generations later, the ruling brothers Dragotin and Milutin would construct churches and monasteries of great importance to the Serbs. Among these were Gracanica Monastery in Kosovo, the Hilandar Monastery Cathedral on Mt. Athos, and the St. Archangel Church in Jerusalem. Milutin, who was married five times, three of which were to neighboring princesses, was nonetheless beatified because of his great building projects. Milutin's son Stefan would go on to build the Visoki Decani Monastery in Metohija, Kosovo, the supreme example of medieval Serbian architecture.

Stefan Dusan (1331-1355) inherited this quickly developing kingdom and built it into an empire, taking land from the Byzantine Empire in the east, southeast and south, as the latter was preoccupied, defending itself against the rising Ottomans further east. Dusan was also responsible for a legal code, (Dushan's Code), unusual for the feudal states of the period.

Eventually the Ottomans attacked Serbia, having taken everything along the way. They came from the South, taking Macedonia in 1371 and then the decisive battle in Kosovo, in 1389.

Subjugated by the Islamic theocratic state, the Serbs left their urban centers and became shepherds in the mountainous regions. They often joined forces with the Habsburg Empire in wars between Christianity and Islam. Ultimately peace treaties would be signed, and the Austrians would abandon their Serbian allies to the Ottoman rulers. Following the Great War of 1683-1690, with Serb losses heavier than usual, the Austrians invited them to settle in Christian lands under Habsburg control. The Serbs, fearful of Ottoman retribution, accepted the offer, leaving Kosovo and Macedonia to be Islamized.

The tide began to turn in 1716-18 when another war was won by the Austrian Prince Eugene of Savoy. The Turks were forced to relinquish the Danube basin, northern Serbia, northern Bosnia and parts of Dalmatia.

As the great empires began to disintegrate, Serbia fought to regain its independence. It was recognized as a principality in 1878 and a kingdom in 1882. At the same time the Serbs went about rebuilding their society, trying to modernize their renewed institutions. A coup d'etat in 1903 put Petar I on the throne. This western educated monarch introduced parliamentary democracy to Serbia.

The Turks finally retreated from the Balkan Peninsula following the Balkan War of 1912-13. The newly independent states then skirmished with each other in an attempt to enlarge their territories. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo was used by the Austrians to start World War I. Because of the various treaties signed by European nations, the Serbs went to war with the western powers and Russia. This meant that they were under attack from Hungary to the north and Bulgaria to the east. Romania's neutrality left Serbia alone in the fray. Serbia would pay a particularly high price, 1.25 million casualties of its population of 4.5 million – 58% of its men.

Between the wars, an attempt was made to unite Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia into a single kingdom. This did not succeed, with the various parties aligning with different foreign nations, which looked to gain influence in the Balkans. Thus the new state, renamed Yugoslavia in 1929, became a battleground between Fascists and Communists. King Alexander I, trying to maintain Yugoslavian unity, found himself surrounded by enemies and was assassinated in 1934. The results of World War II tipped the balance in favor of the Soviets. The Soviets ignored ethnic differences and banned religion. The old borders disappeared and the more dominant Croats and Serbs were free to settle anywhere in the newly constituted People's Republic, thus sewing the seeds for the recent ethnic wars.