The legal - political position of

Bosnia and Herzegovina in the

Austro-Hungarian monarchy
Jasmina Šukalić

International relations and

diplomacy
 Period of Austro-Hungarian occupation

The period of Austro-Hungarian occupation, is undoubtedly one of the most significant periods in the
recent history of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

First of all, because during those forty years, Bosnia and Herzegovina underwent huge changes, both
in the economic field and in terms of cultural and political life, which created an opportunity for modern
capitalist social relations.

The Austro-Hungarian politics in Bosnia and Herzegovina caused deep changes in all areas of social
life, but they were not entirely radical.

For thirty years, Austria-Hungary was forced to wait for international recognition of its administration in
Bosnia and Herzegovina, and precisely because of its unregulated status towards the occupied
territory and international conflicts on the one hand, and due to numerous internal social and national
contradictions on the other, it could not solve the problems that it encountered in Bosnia and
Herzegovina after the occupation
 Benjamin Kallay
In 1882, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy appointed
Benjamin Kallay as the administrator of Bosnia and
Herzegovina. He knew the Balkan conditions, was an
experienced politician, intellectual, polyglot and historian.
Kallay supported the Bosnian idea of a multi-confessional
society. Kállay worked to defend Hungarian interests from
the beginning of his leadership of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
At that time, the Hungarians saw the greatest danger in the
unification of the Austro-Hungarian Slavs against Hungarian
interests. That is why Kállay tried to lead such a policy in
Bosnia and Herzegovina that would prevent the
strengthening unification of the South Slavic peoples. He
found allies for his plans in the Agas and Beys, who were
still the economically strongest class of the Bosnian
population. Kállay's alliance with the Bosnian nobility had
serious consequences for social relations. The main
modernization issue in the countryside was the issue of
agrarian reform
 Modernization of BiH
The Austro-Hungarian period was an era of
moderate modernization of Bosnia and
Herzegovina (beginnings of industrialization,
reforms in education and social relations), which
aimed to keep BiH as a separate administrative
unit within the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.

During Kállay's time, Bosnia and Herzegovina

experienced visible progress in the field of
economy and culture.

A cathedral was built in Sarajevo, the National

Museum was opened in Sarajevo, and in 1896
the City Hall. Across the country, schools were
opened and roads were built. The construction
of the railroad was particularly significant.
 The status of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the period from
1878-1914

During the period of Austro-Hungarian administration, Bosnia and Herzegovina had a special legal
position based on Article XXV of the Berlin Congress and the Constantinople Convention.

The state law position of Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot be fully determined without lightening up, firstly,
the problem of sovereignty, secondly, the position of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the constitutional and
political system of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the problem of citizenship.
The position of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the dualistic system
of the monarchy

Bosnia and Herzegovina did not belong to either the Austrian or the Hungarian part of the Monarchy.

Taking into account the complex and specific structure of its legal system, which significantly differed
from other areas of the Monarchy, Bosnia and Herzegovina can be interpreted as a third state in the
Monarchy, but Bosnia and Herzegovina did not have the external characteristics of a state because it
was in a subordinate position towards Austria and towards Hungary.
 The problem of sovereignty

Turkey had sovereignty over Bosnia and Herzegovina, but in the internal life of Bosnia and
Herzegovina it was practically completely meaningless, because the real power was in the hands of
the Monarchy.

Along with the issue of sovereignty, there is also the issue of citizenship of the population of Bosnia
and Herzegovina, which remains open for the reason that according to the definition of citizenship,
as a legal term, it is not possible to consider the inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina as citizens
of the Monarchy or as citizens of Turkey, because they did not enjoy the civil and political rights that
the inhabitants of Austria-Hungary or the Ottoman Empire had.

Defining the state legal position of Bosnia and Herzegovina, its legal and financial system, the
agrarian issue, and the problem of the administrative and political order were taken into account.
 Political relations in Bosnia and Herzegovina after the
occupation

Bosniakness represented, on the one hand, the official politics of the ruling factors of the Monarchy,
which opposed the Serbian and Croatian national movement, and on the other hand it meant the
possibility for the national self-identification of a part of Muslims.

In its attempt to evoke a sense of Bosnian specialness in the population, official Bosniaks justified
themselves and tradition, trying to achieve a balance between religions and nationalities in order to
strengthen the position of the Monarchy in the occupied country.

But the efforts of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian administration to build a sense of Bosnian specialness
did not succeed because they did not find the support of the majority of Muslims, and it should be
pointed out that this politics of the Monarchy was also resisted by the Croatian and Serbian national
movements.
 Political development of the Serbian citizenry

The process of political development of the Serbian citizenry was mainly interpreted as a continuous
struggle against the Austro-Hungarian government.

However, this cannot be true because it should be taken into account that the Serbian population in
Bosnia and Herzegovina was not class-unified.

The most influential part of the Serbian citizenry cooperated with the regime, but some of them wanted a
solution to the agrarian issue and unification with Serbia.

The movement for the autonomy of the church and education is a movement of the richer class of the
Serbian urban population, but the real goals of their struggle were political — the weakening of Austro-
Hungarian poweroccupied territory so that unification with Serbia could be carried out at a best moment.

It is also necessary to point out that the struggle for church-school autonomy should also be understood
as a movement whose background was the struggle for political autonomy of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
which was based on an alliance with Muslims.
 Political development of the Croatian citizenry

The development of Croatian civil politics in Bosnia and Herzegovina represents a very
complex process of differentiation between two currents — clerical and civil-liberal,
which disagreed with each other.

In connection with the problem of the political development of Muslims after 1878 in
Bosnia and Herzegovina in the period from the occupation until the beginning of the
movement for religious and educational autonomy (1899), there were no significant
political movements among the Muslim population.
 The movement for religious autonomy

A strong process of emigration of the Muslim population toTurkey was because of difficult economic
conditions.

The movement for religious autonomy grew out of Muslims efforts to keep identity within the Habsburg
Monarchy and this movement found great support among the Muslim population.

It is also important to point out that already at the very beginning of the movement there was cooperation
with the Serbian movement for church-school autonomy.

It is believed that Serbian civic politicians supported the Muslim movement for religious-educational
autonomy, in order to create support for the realization of their own interests in cooperation with Muslims
 Formation and politics of moderncivil political
movements

The beginning of organizations with a party character is attributed to the change in

Austro-Hungarian politics after 1903.

It should be noted that a short time after the occupation in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
political life began during which no real political parties could be created, but the
process of linking into national organizations was going on where there were of
different political affiliations.

These were the Muslim organization under the leadership of the Beyvats, the Serbian
organization under the leadership of citizens and Croatian organization under the
leadership of citizens and Franciscans.
 Annexation and constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the event by which the Austro-Hungarian
monarchy annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908.

Circumstances that forced the Austro-Hungarian monarchy to annex were revolutionary events in
the Ottoman Empire, namely the Young Turk Revolution that broke out in July 1908.

The intellectuals forced the sultan to return the Constitution from 1876. Convening the parliament
meant electing representatives from all parts of the Ottoman Empire, which included Bosnia and
Herzegovina because even though it was under the Austro-Hungarian protectorate, it formally
belonged to the Ottoman Empire.

After the annexation, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy worked on preparations for the introduction
of a constitutional state in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was reached in 1910. when the
Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina was promulgated.
 Sarajevo assassination and the beginning of the war

In 1912, Serbia entered the First Balkan War, in which Turkey was suppressed with help of other
countries, in the Second Balkan War in 1913, together with its allies, it defeated Bulgaria, and
expanded to the south.

Then it was Bosnia and Herzegovina's turn, where, from Serbia and Montenegro, they worked to
establish public and secret societies and organizations, whose only goal was the overthrow of the
Austro-Hungarian monarchy and the creation of Great Serbia.

Mlada Bosna, which emphasized its liberating Yugoslav program, was also under their influence. In
1914, on June 28, heir to the throne Franjo Ferdinand and his wife Sofia were killed in Sarajevo.
Since the assassination was organized by the pro-Serbian organization Mlada Bosna, the murder
led to the First World War.
Thank you for your attention!