5th October (Serbia)

Serbian opposition

Yugoslav Government

The overthrow of Slobodan Milošević occurred on 5 October 2000, in Belgrade, in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, following the presidential election on September 24th, and culminating in the downfall of Slobodan Milošević's government on 5 October 2000. It is sometimes referred to as the 5 October Overthrow and sometimes colloquially called the Bager revolucija, translated into English as Bulldozer Revolution, after one of the most memorable episodes from the day-long protest in which an engineering vehicle operator Ljubisav Đokić fired up his engine (which was actually neither bulldozer nor bager (excavator), but a wheel loader), and used it to charge the RTS building, which was considered a symbol of regime propaganda of Slobodan Milosevic and his ruling party, who controlled and censored outflow of information for the public.

Milošević's overthrow was reported as a spontaneous revolution. However, there had been a year-long battle involving thousands of Serbs in a strategy to strip the leader of his legitimacy, turn his security forces against him, and force him to call for elections, the result of which he would not acknowledge.

In 1998, a dozen students met to form Otpor! (Serbian for "resistance"). Analysing the mistakes of 1996–97 protests, they realised they needed a more effective organisation (strategy, planning, recruiting) and all else necessary for a sustained fight. Galvanised by outrage over new laws that imposed political control of their universities and harassment of independent media, the Otpor students called for the removal of Milošević and the establishment of democracy and the rule of law.