Page "Bečej" Paragraph 5

In the end of the 17th century the Ottoman administration was replaced by Habsburg one and settlement was populated by ethnic Serbs from Banat who ran away from the Ottoman Empire.

Between 1702 and 1751, the town belonged to the Tisa-Mureş section of the Habsburg Military Frontier.

After the abolishment of this part of the Frontier in 1751, many Serbs that lived in the town emigrated to Russia ( notably to New Serbia and Slavo-Serbia ).

They founded a new settlement with name Bečej in New Serbia.

To prevent this emigration, the Habsburg authorities formed autonomous District of Potisje with seat in Bečej.

District of Potisje existed between 1751 and 1848.

The three privileges were given to the district in 1759, 1774 and 1800.

First privilege of the District defined its autonomous status, while the second one allowed ethnic Hungarians to settle in the district.

In the following period many Hungarians settled in Bečej ( the first ones in 1757 ) and they replaced Serbs as a dominant nation in the town.

In 1751, the entire population of the town was composed of Serbs, while in 1774 half of the population was composed of Serbs and another half was composed of Hungarians.

According to the 1910 census, the population of Bečej municipality numbered 54, 275 people, of whom 30, 465 spoke Hungarian and 22, 821 Serbian.

The town of Bečej had 19, 372 inhabitants in 1910, of which 12, 488 spoke Hungarian ( 64. 46 %), 6, 582 Serbian ( 33. 98 %) and 193 German ( 1 %).