Some people argue that WW1 started in Bosnia with the
assassination of archduke Franz Ferdinand: after this Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and
because of the alliances other countries got dragged in and before you knew there was a
whole worldwide conflict that became known as the Great War and later the First World War...
but what actually happened with Bosnia during the First World War? That is what you're going
to find out in another 'countries in World War I episode': Bosnia during the First World War!
Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country inhabited by Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks), Serbs and Croats. This area
fell under Austro-Hungarian control in 1878; full annexation took place in 1908, raising
tensions domestically and abroad. And one person who was really outraged by this was Gavrilo Princip. He
was a member of Young Bosnia and he traveled to Serbia to obtain weapons and he and his associates
planned to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand who was the next in line to become the emperor of
the Austro-Hungarian Empire. They positioned themselves along the quay and eventually Franz
Ferdinand did arrive in the building you see right there, but he then took a detour because he wanted
to visit the people that were injured during earlier assassination attempt. The car took a wrong
turn, it had to be pulled back and who was standing there? Gavrilo Princip! He fired two shots killing both
the archduke and his wife Sophie. What followed was the July Crisis because Austria-Hungary
demanded a response from Serbia. Because Austro-Hungary wanted to deal with Serbia and they made it look
like Serbia itself was behind the attack, although it was a Bosnian Serb who committed the attack. The
Young Bosnians had obtained weapons and bombs from a Serbian organization known as the Black
Hand but it is very debatable whether the state of Serbia was actually involved in this. Nevertheless,
Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia: the ultimatum contained a list of demands including
allowing Austro-Hungarian officials to investigate the crime on Serbian soil. Serbia agreed to most
demands but not all leading to tensions between the two nations. Frustrated by Serbia's response
Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on the 28th of July 1914 and this act of aggression sparked a
conflict in the Balkans that turned global. While the assassination of archduke Franz Ferdinand
was the immediate trigger, the outbreak of World War I resulted from a complex web of pre-existing
political alliances, territorial ambitions, rising tensions and a chain of declarations
and mobilizations ultimately leading to a devastating global conflict. Princip
was too young to receive the death penalty but he would not live to see the end of World War
I and the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and that was because he died in prison. A part
of the Austro-Hungarian units sent to Serbia were led by Oskar Potiorek who served as the Governor
of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1911 to 1914. Among these troops were many Muslims, Orthodox and Catholics.
After the Congress of Berlin in 1878, Austria-Hungary took control
of Bosnia and Herzegovina. While still technically under Ottoman rule until 1908,
the territories were effectively governed by Austria-Hungary. To bolster their army,
local recruits were enlisted, facilitated by the establishment of a military school in Sarajevo.
This recruitment served as a form of repayment for Austria-Hungary's investments in the region.
Due to the unique circumstances, Bosnian conscripts had to take a specialized oath,
and their uniforms incorporated local attire. Muslim soldiers wore fezzes while non-Muslims
wore black caps. Additionally, distinctive breeches were worn by all members of the
Bosnian-Herzegovinian units. Between 1894 and 1903, four infantry regiments were
established. Later, a company from each regiment was assigned to a recruiting district in Sarajevo.
By the outbreak of World War I, over 10,000 men served in these regiments, along with a
smaller contingent in the Feldjägerbataillon. This represented a significant portion of the
Hungarian-led forces. From 1891 onward, these units were stationed in various garrisons
across the monarchy, including Vienna, Budapest, Graz, Wiener Neustadt, Trieste, and Bruck/Leitha.
During World War I, Bosnian-Herzegovinian soldiers were deployed across various fronts
where Austro-Hungarian forces were engaged in battle. Although they were part of major battles,
their regiments were often fragmented, with individual battalions fighting separately. Records
indicate that Bosnian-Herzegovinian troops served in at least thirty-seven different divisions
during the conflict. Despite initial concerns, the morale of Bosnian troops remained strong at the
war's onset. While some Serbian-Orthodox soldiers felt slighted by doubts about their reliability,
overall, the Bosnian-Herzegovinian forces proved themselves steadfast in combat,
with only minor incidents of wavering. In September 1915, two new Bosnian-Herzegovinian
Feldjägerbataillons (No. 2 and 3) were established, followed by four more in
early 1916 (No. 4 to 8), along with Infantry Regiment No. 5 later that year. By February 1918,
a reorganization of the army led to the formation of new Bosnian-Herzegovinian
Infantry Regiments (No. 6-8), consolidating remnants of earlier units. Additionally,
between October 1917 and March 1918, Infantry Regiment No. 10 was formed from elements of the
disbanded 5th Regiment. At its peak, approximately thirty-five battalions were in service,
each with around 1,000 soldiers. However, these numbers varied significantly throughout the war.
In the Serbian Army there were many volunteers from Bosnia and other Slav areas in Austria-Hungary.
Also Bosnians served in the Montenegrin Army. The Austro-Hungarian authorities under the
leadership of Baron Sarkotić took harsh actions against nationalists and political activists
and anyone who seemed to support the Serbian cause. Anti-Serbian riots already
occurred right after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, but during the war it got
even worse: 5,000 Serbian families were expelled to Serbia and Montenegro. Others were interned:
“At least 3300 and possibly as many as 5500 Bosnian suspects, mainly Serbs, were held in
internment camps in Bosnia and Hungary; between 700 and 2200 are thought to have died there.”
Do notice that most Bosniacs were loyal to the Habsburg monarchy because they did not want to
become a part of a Greater Serbia. When looking at the Croats that's a little bit more complicated:
“An interesting analysis of the Bosnian Croats’ position comes in a letter from
the director of the Catholic seminary in Travnik to the Austrian government. Some,
he said, wanted to join Serbia, while others were absolutely against it. Those who wanted
unconditional unification with Serbia were mainly among the intelligentsia,
and some of these were even willing to give up their Catholicism: ‘their “Freedom from Rome”
tendencies chime with their political “Freedom from Austria” tendencies’.”
What also played a part was the 1915 Serbian agreement to give large parts
of Dalmatia, Istria and Slovenia to Italy on the condition that Italy would join the
Entente. Within AustriaiHungary there existed a Trialist solution where a Yugoslav state
within Austria-Hungary would become an equal partner to the others. Leading Slovenes in the
Austrian parliament, led by Monsignor Anton Korošec, issued a declaration in May 1917. Many Bosnian Serbs
and Croats were won over by this. This divided the Muslims on the other hand who advocated
for Bosnian autonomy within Hungary; they made an appeal to the emperor. At the end the Austro-
Hungarian government did nothing and by the time they were beginning to take this seriously, in
spring of 1918, it was already far too late: desertions and strikes occurred on a daily
basis. There was for example the Cattaro Mutiny. Governor of Bosnia, Baron Sarkotić, began
a series of meetings in order to preserve Habsburg rule: first he advised Bosnia to join Croatia and
later as a separate body within Hungary. In August the Austrian-Hungarian war effort was faltering day by
day. Hungarian Minister Count Tisza arrived in Sarajavo in September hoping to make local politicians
except a new constitution. Arrangement under the Hungarian crown. He got the following replies:
“The Serbs and Croats (led by the Serb politician Vojislav Šola) presented a
joint memorandum in which they said they were all one people and wished to form
a Yugoslav state with all the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. They complained
bitterly of wartime measures such as the suppression of local government,
requisitions and political trials. Their demands included a full amnesty for political prisoners
and the restoration of constitutional rule, with free elections for a new parliament.”
Some Muslim leaders wanted autonomy under Hungary; others favored union with Croatia. Bosnian
politician in the interwar years, Mehmed Spaho, claimed Bosnian Muslims were in favor of the creation
of Yugoslav state. It were the Serbs who felt like victors of the war. Baron Sarkotić wrote on
October 29th: 'In Sarajevo the exaggerated joy of the Serbs seems to have had, to a certain extent, a
calming effect on the Croats and Muslims.’ The Bosnian National Council made various requests.
When Sarkotić was asked if he could free political prisoners he simply replied: ‘You are in power now.’
Two days later the ‘First National Government of Bosnia and Hercegovina’ was formed. Anarchy reigned on
the countryside as Austro-Hungarian power collapsed. As Croats and Bosniaks had served in the Schutzkorps,
executing anti-Serbian policies during the war, hatred between the groups existed
when Serbian and Montenegrin soldiers arrived in Bosnia it is said that over
1,000 Muslims were killed and many villages raided “How many died altogether in Bosnia,
from military action and typhus, is hard to calculate: there was a demographic loss of
more than 300,000, nearly one-sixth of the population, between 1910 and 1921,
but this loss also includes Muslims who fled in a second wave of emigration to Turkey after 1918.”