第四次奥土战争

The campaign to establish Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina lasted from 29 July to 20 October 1878 against the local resistance fighters, Muslims and Orthodox Serbs, supported unofficially by troops of the Ottoman Empire. The Austro-Hungarian Army entered the province 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 19 August 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.

Background

Following the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), the Congress of Berlin was organized by the new German Empire for the Great Powers, on demand of the British Empire. By article 25 of the resulting Treaty of Berlin (13 July 1878), Bosnia and Herzegovina remained under the sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire, but the Austro-Hungarian Empire was granted the provisional authority to occupy the vilayet (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 the sanjak of Novi Pazar:

The provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be occupied and administered by Austria-Hungary.……

Troops

The Austro-Hungarian Army engaged in a major mobilization effort to prepare for the assault on Bosnia and Herzegovina, 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 the Kingdom of Dalmatia. The primary commander was Josip Filipović, while the head of the operational bureau was Leonidas von Popp; the forward XVIII infantry division was under the command Stjepan Jovanović, while the rear army commander in Dalmatia was Gavrilo Rodić. The occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina started on 29 July 1878 and was over on 20 October.

Occupation

The original occupying force, the 13th Corps under General Josip Filipović, crossed the river Sava near Brod, Kostajnica and Gradiška. The various Abteilungen assembled at Banja Luka and advanced down the road on the left side of the Vrbas river. They encountered resistance by local Muslims under the dervish Hadži Lojo, supported (almost openly) by the evacuating Ottoman Army troops. On 3 August a troop of hussars was ambushed near Maglaj on the Bosna river, prompting Filipović to institute martial law. On 7 August a pitched battle was fought near Jajce and the Austro-Hungarian infantry lost 600 men. Most of the men that fought in the battle were from the Carniolan XVII infantry division.

Aftermath

Following the occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria-Hungary also occupied the Sanjak of Novi Pazar on September 10, 1879, implementing another one of the conclusions of the Congress of Berlin.

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 "model colony".……

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.