Bosnia and Hercegovina, Former Yugoslavian Political Geography

Related Category: Former Yugoslavian Political Geography

Foreign Domination

Under Turkish rule, Bosnia and Hercegovina's economy declined. Physical remoteness facilitated the retention of medieval social structure, including serfdom (remnants of which lasted until the 20th cent.). Refusal by the Turkish to institute reforms led to a peasant uprising (1875) that soon came to involve outside powers and led to the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78. After the war, the Congress of Berlin (1878) placed Bosnia and Hercegovina under Austro-Hungarian administration and occupation, while recognizing the sovereignty of the Turkish sultan. Austria-Hungary improved economic conditions in the area but sought unsuccessfully to combat rising Serb nationalism, which mounted further when Bosnia and Hercegovina were completely annexed in 1908.

The assassination (1914) of Archduke Francis Ferdinand by a Serb nationalist in Sarajevo precipitated World War I. In 1918, Bosnia and Hercegovina were annexed to Serbia. The dismemberment of Yugoslavia during World War II led to Bosnia and Hercegovina's incorporation into the German puppet state of Croatia. Much partisan guerrilla warfare raged in the mountains of Bosnia during the war. In 1946, Bosnia and Hercegovina became one of the six constituent republics of Yugoslavia. Under the Communist regime Bosnia remained relatively undeveloped. Economic problems and ethnic quarrels during the 1980s led to widespread dissatisfaction with the central government.