| Austro-Hungarian invasion of Bosnia and Herzegovina | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theGreat Eastern Crisis | |||||||||
 Northern Austro-Hungarian camp near Mostar, painted by Alexander Ritter von Bensa and Adolf Obermüller | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Austria-Hungary | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 198,930 (total) 91,260 (average)[2] |  79,000 insurgents 13,800 soldiers[3] | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 1,205 killed 2,099 died of disease 3,966 wounded 177 missing Total: 7,447[4] | Unknown | ||||||||
The campaign to establishAustro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina lasted from 29 July to 20 October 1878 against the local resistance fighters, Muslims andOrthodox Serbs, supported unofficially by troops of theOttoman Empire. TheAustro-Hungarian Army entered the country in two large movements: one from the north intoBosnia, and another from the south intoHerzegovina. A series of battles in August culminated in the fall ofSarajevo on the 19 August after a day ofstreet-to-street fighting. In the hilly countryside aguerrilla campaign continued until the last rebel stronghold fell after their leader was captured.
Following theRusso-Turkish War (1877–1878), theCongress of Berlin was organized by the new German Empire for theGreat Powers, on demand of the British Empire. By article 25 of the resultingTreaty of Berlin (13 July 1878), Bosnia and Herzegovina remained under the sovereignty of theOttoman Empire,[5] but the Austro-Hungarian Empire was granted the provisional authority to occupy thevilayet (province) of Bosnia and Herzegovina, taking on its military defence and civil administration. The Austro-Hungarians also received the right to occupy strategic posts in thesanjak of Novi Pazar:
The provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be occupied and administered by Austria-Hungary. The government of Austria-Hungary, not desiring to undertake the administration of the Sanjak of Novi-Pazar, which extends between Serbia and Montenegro in a South-Easterly direction to the other side of Mitrovitza, the Ottoman administration will continue to exercise its functions there. Nevertheless, in order to assure the maintenance of the new political state of affairs, as well as freedom and security of communications, Austria-Hungary reserves the right of keeping garrisons and having military and commercial roads in the whole of this part of the ancient vilayet of Bosnia. To this end the governments of Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire reserve to themselves to come to an understanding on the details.[6]
Although the Ottomans protested both occupations, also that ofNovi Pazar, theImperial and Royal (K.u.K.) Foreign MinisterGyula Andrássy secretly assured on the last day of the congress that the occupation was "to be regarded as provisional".[7] This Austro-Hungarian expansion southward at the expense of the Ottoman Empire was designed to prevent the extension ofRussian influence and the union ofSerbia andMontenegro. This, however, did cause concern for the Ottoman Sultan,Abdul Hamid II, due to the expected discrimination of the Muslim minority.
The Austro-Hungarians expected no trouble in carrying out their occupation. It would be, in Andrássy's words, "a walk with a brass band" (Spaziergang mit einer Blasmusikkapelle). This opinion did not take into account that the Serbs had just foughta war for independence from the Ottoman Empire, whileHerzegovina had revolted. Resistance to the Austro-Hungarian takeover came mainly from theOrthodox Serbs (43% of the population) and theBosnian Muslims (39%), barely at all from theCatholic Croats (18%).[8] TheBosnian Muslim population stood to lose the most under the new Christian government. The resistors were characterised contemptuously by the Austro-Hungarian government as "uncivilised" (unzivilisiert) and "treacherous" (verräterisch).[9]
The Austro-Hungarian Army engaged in a major mobilization effort to prepare for the assault on Bosnia and Herzegovina,[10] commanding by the end of June 1878 a force of 82,113 troops, 13,313 horses and 112 cannons in the VI, VII, XX, XVII and XVIII infantry divisions as well as a rear army in theKingdom of Dalmatia.[11] The primary commander wasJoseph Filipovich; the forward XVIII infantry division was under the commandStjepan Jovanović, while the rear army commander in Dalmatia wasGavrilo Rodić.[12] The occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina started on 29 July 1878 and was over on 20 October.[13]
The Ottoman army in Bosnia and Herzegovina at the time consisted of roughly 40,000 troops with 77 cannons, that combined with local militias to around 93,000 men.[14] Fierce resistance from Muslims was expected as Austro-Hungarians realized their occupation meant that Bosnian Muslims would lose their privileged status based on their religion.[5]
_preaches_insurrection_in_the_front_of_the_gates_of_Sarajevo.jpg)
The original occupying force, the13th Corps under GeneralJosip Filipović, crossed theriver Sava near Brod,[15]Kostajnica andGradiška. The variousAbteilungen assembled atBanja Luka and advanced down the road on the left side of theVrbas river.[16] They encountered resistance by local Muslims under thedervishHadži Lojo, supported (almost openly) by the evacuatingOttoman Army troops.[17] On 3 August a troop ofhussars was ambushed nearMaglaj on theBosna river, prompting Filipović to institutemartial law. On 7 August a pitched battle was fought nearJajce and the Austro-Hungarian infantry lost 600 men. Most of the men that fought in the battle were from the Carniolan XVII infantry division.
A second occupying force, the18th Division of 9,000 men under GeneralStjepan Jovanović, advanced out ofAustrian Dalmatia along theNeretva.[18][19] On 5 August the division capturedMostar, the chief city of Herzegovina.[18][19] On 13 August atRavnice in Herzegovina more than 70 Hungarian officers and soldiers were killed in action. In response, the Empire mobilised the3rd,4th and5th Corps.[20]
The Austro-Hungarian troops were occasionally met with ferocious opposition from elements of both Muslim and Orthodox populations there, and significant battles occurred nearČitluk,Stolac,Livno andKlobuk.[21] Despite setbacks atMaglaj andTuzla,Sarajevo was occupied in October 1878.[22]
On 19 August the Bosnian capital,Sarajevo, a town of 50,000 inhabitants at the time, wascaptured only after the deployment of 52 guns and violent street fighting.[18][9] A day earlier Filipović had arrested the former Ottoman governor,Hafiz Pasha.[9] A formal report of theAustro-Hungarian General Staff remarked "small windows and numerous roof gaps allowed the discharge of fire in different directions and the most sustainable defense" and "the accused insurgents, in the nearest houses, barricaded all entrances and kept up a destructive fire against the infantry."[a] According to Filipović's own account:
There ensued one of the most terrible battles conceivable. The troops were fired upon from every house, from every window, from each split door; and even women took part. Located at the western entrance to the city, the military hospital was full of sick and wounded insurgents. . .[b]
The occupiers lost 57 killed and 314 wounded of the 13,000 soldiers employed in the operation. They estimated the insurgent fatalities at 300, but made no effort to estimate civilian casualties. In the days following there were many executions of accused rebels following summary trials.[9]
After the fall of Sarajevo the main insurgents retreated into the mountainous country beyond the city and there maintained their resistance for several weeks.[17] Hadži Lojo surrendered to the K.u.K. Hungarian Infantry Regiment No. 37Erzherzog Joseph on 3 October in the ravine byRakitnica. He was sentenced to death, but his sentence was later commuted to five years' imprisonment.[24] The castle ofVelika Kladuša surrendered on 20 October.[20]
Tensions remained in certain parts of the country (particularly Herzegovina) and a mass emigration of predominantly Muslim dissidents occurred. However, a state of relative stability was reached soon enough and Austro-Hungarian authorities were able to embark on a number of social and administrative reforms which intended to make Bosnia and Herzegovina into a "modelcolony". With the aim of establishing the province as a stable political model that would help dissipate rising South Slavnationalism, Habsburg rule did much to codify laws, to introduce new political practices, and generally to provide for modernization.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire was forced to use five corps with a collective strength of 153,300 soldiers[7][18] and 112 guns to subdue Bosnia and Herzegovina. The General Staff estimated there were 79,000 armed insurgents assisted (illegally) by 13,800 regular Ottoman soldiers[25] with about 77 guns. Total Austro-Hungarian losses were almost 5,200:[26] 946 dead, 272 missing, and 3,980 wounded.[27] The unexpected violence of the campaign led to recriminations between commanders and political leaders.[22] There is no reliable estimate of Bosnian or Ottoman losses. During the campaign, an article in the German-language Hungarian newspaperPester Lloyd criticising the army's preparedness for the occupation was censored on the orders of Emperor-KingFranz Joseph.[18]
Following the occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria-Hungary also occupied theSanjak of Novi Pazar on September 10, 1879, implementing another one of the conclusions of theCongress of Berlin.
There is an exhibition in theMuseum of Military History in Vienna about the 1878 campaign. It contains several items from the personal property of General Filipović, an insurgent banner and captured Ottoman weapons.[28][29]
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