page_title: Banat
section_title: Serbian Banat since the First World War
hierarchical_section_title: Banat / History / Serbian Banat since the First World War
context_page_description: The Banat is a geographical and historical region straddling between Central and Eastern Europe that is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania; the western part in northeastern Serbia; and a small northern part lies within southeastern Hungary.
  The region's historical ethnic diversity was severely affected by the events of World War II, and today Banat is overwhelmingly populated by ethnic Romanians, Serbs and Hungarians but small populations of other ethnic groups also live in the region and nearly all are citizens of either Serbia, Romania or Hungary.
context_section_description: The region was claimed by the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes between 1918 and 1922 (as the province of Banat, Bačka and Baranja between 1918–1919]) and from 1922 to 1929 it was divided between Belgrade oblast and Podunavlje oblast. In 1929, most of the region was incorporated into the Danube Banovina (Danubian Banat), a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, while the city of Pančevo was incorporated into self-governed Belgrade district.
  During World War II, the Axis Powers occupied this area and partitioned it. Nazi Germany had been intent on expanding into eastern Europe to incorporate what it called the Volksdeutsche, people of ethnic German descent. They established the political entity known as Banat in 1941. It included only the western part of the historical Banat region, which was formerly part of Yugoslavia. It was formally under the control of the Serbian puppet Government of National Salvation in Belgrade led by Milan Nedić. It theoretically had limited jurisdiction over all of the territory under German Military Administration in Serbia, but in practice the local minority of ethnic Germans (Danube Swabians or Shwoveh) held the political power within the Banat. The regional civilian commissioner was Josef Lapp. The head of the ethnic German group was Sepp Janko. Following the ousting of Axis forces in 1944, this German-ruled region was dissolved. As a consequence, much of the local Germans fled from the region together with defeated German army in 1944. Most of its territory was included in the Vojvodina, one of the two autonomous provinces of Serbia within the new SFR Yugoslavia. Following WWII, most ethnic Germans were expelled from the Banat and eastern Europe. Those Germans who remained in the country were sent to prison camps run by the new communist authorities. After prison camps were dissolved (in 1948), most of the remaining German population left Serbia because of economic reasons. Many went to Germany; others emigrated to western Europe and the United States.
  Since 1944–1945, the Serbian Banat (together with Bačka and Syrmia), has been part of the Serbian Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, first as part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and then as part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro. Since 2006, it has been part of an independent Serbia.
  The districts of Serbia in Banat are:
  North Banat okrug (which also includes municipalities of Ada, Senta and Kanjiža, which are situated in the region of Bačka),
  Central Banat okrug, and
  South Banat okrug.
  Serbian Banat also includes the area known as Pančevački Rit, which belongs to the Belgrade municipality of Palilula.
  See also: Geographical regions in Serbia
caption: Serbia and Banat under Nazi occupation 1941–1944
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