Zemun Meeting

The Zemun Meeting was a negotiation between the Serbian rebel leadership and the Dahije (renegade Janissaries) regarding matters in the Sanjak of Smederevo ("Belgrade Pashalik"), mediated by the Austrian military command in Semlin (Zemun) in May 1804.

The neighbouring Military Frontier government had friendly relations with the Serbs in the beginning of the uprising, allowing refugees and overlooking arms smuggling. In the early days, the archpriest Matija Nenadović bought ammunition and petitioned Habsburg Serb metropolitan Stefan Stratimirović and the commander of Peterwardein (Petrovaradin), Geneyne, to aid the uprising with ammunition, a cannon, or officers, which was declined, as there was peace between the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy. Following the rebel victory at Jagodina, the pursuit of Kučuk-Alija, and takeover of Šabac, only Belgrade, Smederevo and Požarevac remained outside rebel control in the northern part of the Pashalik. The Habsburg monarchy ("Austria") was alarmed with the rebellion expanding into a war in the south of its borders. The Austrian Peterwardein (Petrovaradin) general-command (of the Slavonian Military Frontier) declined archpriest Matija's petition of aiding the Serbian uprising, answering that the Austrian government was in friendship with the Porte and could not aid in any way, except to mediate between the Serbs and the Dahije. Matija had worked on gaining Austrian aid or mediation since the beginning of March 1804. The Austrian command sent general Geneyne, the commander of Petrovaradin, to Zemun to try to settle the affairs or at least gain knowledge on what was really happening. Back in the Belgrade Pashalik, the Serbian rebels organized a blockade of Belgrade. In April, supreme commander Karađorđe asked the Military Frontier government to put Serbia under its protection.