Austrian forces had taken Serbian regions south of the Sava from Turkey in 1718, but Jesuits following the army have proselytized so heavily that the Serbs have come to hate the Austrians as well as the Turks.

The Turkish economy and social fabric have begun deteriorating in the eighteenth century, and the Serbs who remain under the Ottoman Empire suffer attacks from bands of soldiers.

Corrupt Greek priests who had replaced Serbian clergy at the sultan's direction also take advantage of the Serbs.