The Habsburg Occupation Regime in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1878-1908): An Ottoman Perspective

• In Event: Administration Practices between Persistence and Change: Towards a Transitory and Entangled Perspective on the History of Habsburg Administration and Its Legacy

Abstract

This paper provides a rather uncommon perspective on the Habsburg occupation regime of the Ottoman province Bosnia in the period of 1878 and 1908. Although this region was occupied by Austro-Hungarian forces after 1878, it remained an integral part of the Ottoman Empire until the Viennese court opted for its annexation 30 years later. Neither did the century-long Ottoman military, religious, and civil administration disappear overnight nor did the Habsburg rule mean the introduction of “modernity” from one day to the next. Ottoman realities were still very much alive.

What was left of the Ottomans? In which areas did the Ottoman administration remain untouched (if at all)? How did the Sublime State react and comment on the Austro-Hungarian rule in general and the treatment of the hitherto privileged Muslim population (boşnaks) in particular? What happened to the Muslim élites who held control over the region and the wealthy Muslim landowning families? And what survived from the Ottoman jurisdiction (şeriat) and the religious charitable endowments (waqf) after the occupation?

The intention is to listen to the Ottoman voice without the undertone of “occidental arrogance” and to conflate it into a choir of international, imperial, and local voices. Hence, both unpublished and published Ottoman and Habsburg sources as well as relevant literature in Turkish, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, English, and German will be taken into account for this contribution.

Author

• Michael Portmann, Austrian Academy of Sciences (Austria)