Belgrade
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Belgrade. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
the capital of Servia. It is situated on the Danube, midway between Vienna and the Black Sea . It occupies a position strongly fortified by nature. The citadel is built on a lofty promontory and is a sort of Gibraltar, commanding the pass through which travel up or down the river must go. For that reason it is the key to the upper Danube. Originally garrisoned by a Roman legion, it has been fortified, stormed, surrendered, and ceded a score of times. Greeks, Turks, Austrians, and Hungarians have fought desperately for its possession. One of the most memorable sieges was conducted by Prince Eugene in 1717, when he took the citadel after he had defeated an army of 200,000 Turks "under the walls of high Belgrade." Since 1878 it has been the capital of an independent state. Its position has made it the center of communication between the Upper Danube and the Black Sea region. Lines of steamers ply in both directions. The main railway of the Danube Valley passes through Belgrade on the way to Constantinople. The population in 1902 was reported at 69,097. The city has a large wholesale and shipping business. The exports are chiefly grain, fruits, especially fresh plums, marmalade, meats, and live stock. Street railways, telephones, electric lights, waterworks, new public buildings, and fine shops give the city quite a modern appearance. See Servia
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a city and capital of Serbia, on the right bank of the Danube in the angle formed by the junction of the Save with that river, consists of the citadel or upper town, on a rock 100 feet high; and the lower town, which partly surrounds it. Of late years buildings of the European type have multiplied, and the older ones suffered to fall into decay. The chief are the royal and episcopal palaces, the government buildings, the cathedral, barracks, bazars, National theater, and various educational institutions. Pop. about 91,000. It manufac tures carpets, silk stuffs, hardware, cutlery, and saddlery; and carries on an active trade. Being the key of Hungary, it was long an object of fierce contention between the Austrians and the Turks, remaining, however, for the most part, in the hands of the Turks until its evacuation by them in 1867. As a result of the treaty of Berlin (July, 1878) it became the capital of Serbia. In the World War (1914-1918) Belgrade suffered heavily from bombardments by the Austrians in 1914-1915-1916. The Austrians captured it twice and were driven out by Serbian troops, but with the help of Germans and Bulgars held it from the third year of the war to the close. See SERBIA; WORLD WAR.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's counted 69,097 people in 1902 and Collier's "about 91,000" in 1921; the built-up city now holds well over a million, with roughly 1.7 million in its wider metropolitan area. Both entries call it the capital of Serbia, but within months of Collier's going to press it had become the capital of the new Yugoslav kingdom, and it stayed the Yugoslav capital until 1992 — through German bombing and occupation from April 1941, liberation in October 1944, and Tito's four decades — reverting to being capital of Serbia alone when the last federation dissolved in 2006. Collier's account of bombardment by Austrian guns in 1914-16 was not the last: NATO aircraft struck the city during the Kosovo campaign of March to June 1999, hitting the army headquarters, the state television building and the Chinese embassy. The citadel Aiton's called "a sort of Gibraltar" is now Kalemegdan park, the city's chief public garden rather than a key to the Danube.
Written for this edition, 2026.