7: The Balkans | Changes in social development in the 19th century led to a new understanding of national histories. Numerous revolutionary movements and fights for national identity took place in various European countries. Certain areas of the Balkans became an especially strong focal point, for example Serbia and Montenegro, site of the rebellion against the Turkish occupation. It was repressed so cruelly that most of the Serbian and Montenegrin population in Bosnia and Herzegovina had to flee to the liberated areas of the country. The events depicted by national painters reached far beyond the borders. They were a strong inspiration for the Czech artist Jaroslav Čermák, whose paintings on this theme are among the first rate works in Czech historical painting.