Although the museum was established on August 10th 1878 with a decree of prince Milan Obrenovic, it was not opened to the public until 1904 in a small octangular building on a Roman well located in the Upper Town. Since it was destroyed during the First World War, it was reopened on April 2nd, 1937 in a part of the building and a hut in the Upper Town of Belgrade Fortress. During the whole Second World War, the museum’s collection remained in Belgrade. The Germans took some valuable and very rare items. At the end of 1944 the museum reopened. A new collection of the museum was displayed on October 20, 1961 in a renovated building of the former Military Geographical Institute. It represents the military history of Yugoslavian people from their settlement on the Balkans to the twentieth century. This installation is basically well preserved. It includes: armaments, uniforms, flags, medals, archival materials, art works, photographs, scale models, etc. Some parts of thecollection are exposed in the open.