Austro-Hungarian campaign in

Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878

The campaign to establish Austro-Hungarian rule
Austro-Hungarian invasion of Bosnia
in Bosnia and Herzegovina lasted from 29 July to
20 October 1878 against the local resistance Part of the Great Eastern Crisis
fighters supported by the Ottoman Empire. The
Austro-Hungarians entered the country in two
large movements: one from the north into Bosnia,
and another from the south into Herzegovina. A
series of battles in August culminated in the fall of
Sarajevo on the 19th after a day of street-to-street
fighting. In the hilly countryside a guerrilla
campaign continued until the last rebel stronghold
fell after their leader was captured.

Northern Austro-Hungarian camp near Mostar,

Contents painted by Alexander Ritter von Bensa and
Adolf Obermüller
Background
Troops
Date July 29 – October 20, 1878
Location Bosnia and Herzegovina
Occupation
Result Austro-Hungarian victory; Bosnia
Results
and Herzegovina occupied
Legacy
Territorial Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia
Notes
changes and Herzegovina
References
Belligerents
Austria-Hungary Bosnia Vilayet
Background Ottoman Empire
(not openly)
Following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, the
Congress of Berlin was organized by the Great Commanders and leaders
Powers. By article 25 of the resulting Treaty of Josip Filipović Hadži Loja
Berlin (13 July 1878), Bosnia and Herzegovina Gavrilo Rodić
remained under the sovereignty of the Ottoman Stjepan Jovanović
[4]
Empire, but the Austro-Hungarian Empire was Strength
granted the authority to occupy the vilayet
198,930 (total) 79,000 insurgents
(province) of Bosnia and Herzegovina indefinitely, [1]
91,260 (average) 13,800 soldiers[2]
taking on its military defence and civil
Casualties and losses
administration. The Austro-Hungarians also
received the right to indefinitely occupy strategic 1,205 killed Unknown
posts in the sanjak of Novi Pazar: 2,099 died of disease
 The provinces of Bosnia and 3,966 wounded
Herzegovina shall be occupied and 177 missing
administered by Austria-Hungary. Total: 7,447[3]
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. Bosnia, Herzegovina and
Nevertheless, in order to assure the Novi Pazar on a map from
maintenance of the new political 1904
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
Turkey reserve to themselves to come
to an understanding on the details.[5]

Although the Ottomans protested the occupation of Novi Pazar, the Imperial and Royal (K.u.K.) Foreign
Minister Gyula Andrássy secretly assured the former that the occupation in Novi Pazar was "to be regarded
as provisional".[6] This Austro-Hungarian expansion southward at the expense of the Ottoman Empire was
designed to prevent the extension of Russian influence and the union of Serbia and Montenegro.

The Austro-Hungarians expected no trouble in carrying out their occupation. It would be, in Andrassy's
words, "a walk with a brass band" (Spaziergang mit einer Blasmusikkapelle). This opinion did not take
into account that the Serbs had just fought a war for independence from the Ottoman Empire, while
Herzegovina had revolted. Resistance to the Austro-Hungarian takeover came mainly from the Orthodox
Serbs (43% of the population) and the Bosnian Muslims (39%), barely at all from the Catholic Croats
(18%).[7] The Muslim population stood to lose the most under the new Christian government. The resistors
were characterised by the Austro-Hungarian government as "uncivilised" (unzivilisiert) and "treacherous"
(verräterisch).[8]

Troops
The Austro-Hungarian Army engaged in a major mobilization effort to prepare for the assault on Bosnia
and Herzegovina,[9] commanding by the end of June 1878 a force of 82,113 troops, 13,313 horses and 112
cannons in the VI, VII, XX, and XVIII infantry divisions as well as a rear army in the Kingdom of Dalmatia.
[10]
The primary commander was Josip Filipović; the forward
XVIII infantry division was under the command Stjepan
Jovanović, while the rear army commander in Dalmatia was
Gavrilo Rodić.[11] The occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
started on 29 July 1878 and was over on 20 October.[12]

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.[13] Fierce Infantry Regiment No. 17 crossing
resistance from Muslims was expected as Austro-Hungarians the Sava by Karl Pippich (1905)
realized their occupation meant that Bosnian Muslims would
lose their privileged status based on their religion.[4]

Occupation
The original occupying force, the 13th Corps under General
Josip Filipović, crossed the river Sava near Kostajnica and
Gradiška. The various Abteilungen assembled at Banja Luka
and advanced down the road on the left side of the Vrbas river.
[14]
They encountered resistance by local Muslims under the
dervish Hadži Loja, supported (almost openly) by the
evacuating Ottoman troops.[15] On 3 August a troop of hussars
Battle of Jajce, painting by Karl was ambushed near Maglaj on the Bosna river, prompting
Pippich
Filipović to institute martial law. On 7 August a pitched battle
was fought near Jajce and the Austro-Hungarian infantry lost
600 men.

A second occupying force, the 18th Division of 9,000 men under General Stjepan Jovanović, advanced out
of Austrian Dalmatia along the Neretva.[16][17] On 5 August the division captured Mostar, the chief city of
Herzegovina.[16][17] On 13 August at Ravnice in Herzegovina more than 70 Hungarian officers and soldiers
were killed in action. In response, the Empire mobilised the 3rd, 4th and 5th Corps.[18]

The Austro-Hungarian troops were occasionally met with

ferocious opposition from elements of both Muslim and
Orthodox populations there, and significant battles occurred
near Čitluk, Stolac, Livno and Klobuk.[19] Despite setbacks at
Maglaj and Tuzla, Sarajevo was occupied in October 1878.[20]

On 19 August the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, a town of 50,000

inhabitants at the time, was captured only after the deployment Assault on Livno (15 August 1878)
of 52 guns and violent street fighting.[16][8] A day earlier by Karl von Blaas.
Filipović had arrested the former Ottoman governor, Hafiz
Pasha.[8] A formal report of the Austro-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 "Storming of the Castle of
civilian casualties. In the days following there were many Sarajevo", from The Graphic (1878)
executions of accused rebels following summary trials.[8]

After the fall of Sarajevo the main insurgents retreated into the
mountainous country beyond the city and there maintained
their resistance for several weeks.[15] Hadži Loja surrendered to
the K.u.K. Hungarian Infantry Regiment No. 37 Erzherzog
Joseph on 3 October in the ravine by Rakitnica. He was
sentenced to death, but his sentence was later commuted to five
years' imprisonment.[22] The castle of Velika Kladuša
[18]
surrendered on 20 October.
Battle for Sarajevo, by G. Durand,
Tensions remained in certain parts of the country (particularly from The Graphic (1878)
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 "model colony". With the
aim of establishing the province as a stable political model that would help dissipate rising South Slav
nationalism, Habsburg rule did much to codify laws, to introduce new political practices, and generally to
provide for modernization.

Results
The Austro-Hungarian Empire was forced to use five corps with a collective strength of 153,300 soldiers
[6][16]
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[23] with about 77 guns. Total
Austro-Hungarian losses were about 5,000:[24] 946 dead, 272 missing, and 3,980 wounded.[25] Austro-
Hungarian casualties amounted to over 5,000 and the unexpected violence of the campaign led to
recriminations between commanders and political leaders.[20] There is no reliable estimate of Bosnian or
Ottoman losses. During the campaign, an article in the German-language Hungarian newspaper Pester
Lloyd criticising the army's preparedness for the occupation was censored on the orders of King-Emperor
Franz Joseph.[16]

Legacy
There is an exhibition in the Museum 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.[26][27]

Notes
a. Der ganze äußere Umkreis Sarajevos war stark besetzt. Aber auch im Inneren der Stadt gestatteten
die engen Gassen mit ihren vielen Häusergruppen und einzelnen in den Erdgeschossen leicht zu
verrammelnden Gebäuden, deren kleine Fenster der Stockwerke und zahlreiche Dachlücken die
Abgabe des Feuers nach verschiedenen Richtungen zuließen, die nachhaltigste Verteidigung. Von
der Umfassung der Stadt vertrieben, warfen sich die Insurgenten meist in die nächsten Häuser,
verbarrikadierten alle Eingänge und unterhielten ein vernichtendes Feuer gegen die nachstürmende
Infanterie.[21]
b. Es entspann sich einer der denkbar gräßlichsten Kämpfe. Aus jedem Hause, aus jedem Fenster, aus
jeder Tür spalte wurden die Truppen beschossen; ja selbst Weiber beteiligten sich daran. Das fast
ganz am westlichen Stadteingange gelegene Militärspital, voll von kranken und verwundeten
Insurgenten. . .[15]

References
Citations

1. Michael Clodfelter, "Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia", p. 196

2. Plaschka 2000, p. 99–100.
3. Michael Clodfelter, "Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia", p. 196
4. Zovko 2007, p. 13.
5. Modern History Sourcebook: The Treaty of Berlin, 1878—Excerpts on the Balkans
(http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1878berlin.asp) hosted by Fordham University
6. Matsch 1982, p. 213.
7. Džaja 1994, pp. 37ff.
8. Gabriel 2011.
9. Oršolić & June 2000, pp. 289-291.
10. Oršolić & June 2000, p. 299.
11. Oršolić & June 2000, p. 294.
12. Oršolić & June 2000, p. 304.
13. Oršolić & June 2000, p. 301.
14. Richter 1907, pp. 455–57.
15. Plaschka 2000, p. 45.
16. Lackey 1995, pp. 78–79.
17. Zeinar 2006, pp. 402–03.
18. Klaic 1885, pp. 454–55.
19. Oršolić & June 2000, pp. 302-303.
20. Rothenberg 1976, p. 101-02.
21. Plaschka 2000, p. 44.
22. Plaschka 2000, p. 97.
23. Plaschka 2000, p. 99–100.
24. Calic 2010, p. 46.
25. Plaschka 2000, p. 102.
26. Popelka 1988, p. 52.
27. Rauchensteiner & Litscher 2000, p. 59.

Bibliography

◾ Albertini, Luigi; Massey, Isabella M., trans. (1952). The Origins of the War of 1914, Volume 1. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
◾ Bencze, László (2005). Schubert, Frank N., ed. The Occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878.
East European Monographs. 126. New York: Columbia University Press.
◾ Calic, Marie-Janine (2010). Geschichte Jugoslawiens im 20. Jahrhundert. Munich: Beck. ISBN 978-3-
406-60645-8.
◾ Džaja, Srećko M. (1994). Bosnien-Herzegowina in der österreichisch-ungarischen Epoche (1878
–1918): Die Intelligentsia zwischen Tradition und Ideologie. Südosteuropäische Arbeiten. 93. Munich:
Verlag Oldenbourg. ISBN 3-48656-079-4.
◾ Gabriel, Martin (2011). "Die Einnahme Sarajevos am 19. August 1878. Eine Militäraktion im
Grenzbereich von konventioneller und irregulärer Kriegsführung"
(http://www.kakanien.ac.at/beitr/fallstudie/mgabriel3.pdf) (PDF). Kakanien Revisited: 1–6.
◾ Klaic, Vjekoslav (1885). Geschichte Bosniens von den ältesten Zeiten bis zum Verfalle des
Königreiches. Leipzig: Friedrich.
◾ Lackey, Scott (1995). The Rebirth of the Habsburg Army. Friedrich Beck and the Rise of the General
Staff. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 0313031312.
◾ Matsch, Erwin, ed. (1982). November 1918 auf dem Ballhausplatz. Erinnerungen Ludwigs Freiherrn
von Flotow, des letzten Chefs des Österreichisch-Ungarischen Auswärtigen Dienstes 1895–1920.
Vienna: Böhlau Verlag. ISBN 3-205-07190-5.
◾ Pavičić, Slavko (1943). Hrvatska vojna i ratna poviest i Prvi svjetski rat. Zagreb: Hrvatska Knjiga.
◾ Plaschka, Richard Georg (2000). Avantgarde des Widerstands: Modellfälle militärischer Auflehnung
im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert. Vienna: Böhlau Verlag. ISBN 3-205-98390-4.
◾ Popelka, Liselotte (1988). Heeresgeschichtliches Museum Wien. Graz: Verlag Styria. ISBN 3-222-
11760-8.
◾ Rauchensteiner, Manfried; Litscher, Manfred, eds. (2000). Das Heeresgeschichtliche Museum in
Wien. Graz: Verlag Styria. ISBN 3-222-12834-0.
◾ Richter, Eduard (1907). "Beiträge sur Landeskunde Bosniens und der Herzegowina"
(https://archive.org/details/wissenschaftlic00hercgoog). Wissenschaftliche Mitteilungen aus Bosnien
und der Hercegowina. 10: 383–548.
◾ Rothenburg, G. (1976). The Army of Francis Joseph. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press.
ISBN 0911198415.
◾ Schindler, John (2004). "Defeating Balkan Insurgency: The Austro-Hungarian Army in Bosnia-
Hercegovina, 1878–82". Journal of Strategic Studies. 27 (3): 528–52.
doi:10.1080/1362369042000283010 (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F1362369042000283010).
◾ Zeinar, Hubert (2006). Geschichte des Österreichischen Generalstabes. Vienna: Böhlau Verlag.
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◾ Zovko, Ljubomir (2007). Studije iz pravne povijesti Bosne i Hercegovine: 1878. - 1941 (in Croatian).
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