Herzegovina uprising (1875–1877)

For other uses, see Herzegovina Uprising.

The Herzegovina uprising (Serbian: Херцеговачки устанак, romanized: Hercegovački ustanak) was an uprising led by the Christian Serb population against the Ottoman Empire, firstly and predominantly in Herzegovina, from where it spread into Bosnia and Raška. It broke out in the summer of 1875, and in some regions lasted until the beginning of 1878. It was followed by the Bulgarian April Uprising of 1876, and coincided with the Serbian-Turkish wars (1876–1878); these events were each situated within the Great Eastern Crisis (1875–1878).

Herzegovina Uprising of 1875
An illustrated depiction of Bogdan Zimonjić, Mićo Ljubibratić, Stojan Kovačević and Pecija in the 1876 issue of Orao, a Serb annual magazine published in Novi Sad
Date 19 June 1875 Location Bosnia Vilayet, Ottoman Empire Result Uprising suppressed
Belligerents
Serb rebels Aided by: Montenegro Serbia	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Bogdan Zimonjić Petar Popović Pecija † Mićo Ljubibratić Stojan Kovačević Petar Mrkonjić Mileta Despotović	Abdi Pasha Dervish Pasha Selim Pasha Reuf Pasha Mukhtar Pasha
Strength
Unknown	24,000+

The primary cause of the uprising was the harsh treatment of peasants in the Ottoman province of Bosnia by its governors and landowners, who resisted the implementation of Sultan Abdülmecid I's reforming policies. The reforms, which provided that all should have religious liberty and equal civil rights; that tax farming be abolished; and that taxes be fairly imposed, were frequently opposed in more distant parts of the empire. As such, in Bosnia, peasants continued to be heavily taxed and Christians continued to be oppressed.

The rebels were aided with weapons and volunteers from the principalities of Montenegro and Serbia, whose governments eventually jointly declared war on the Ottomans on 18 June 1876, leading to the Serbian-Ottoman War (1876–78) and Montenegrin–Ottoman War (1876–78). These led to the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78) and the Great Eastern Crisis. The crisis ended in 1878 with the Congress of Berlin, which granted Montenegro and Serbia independence and placed Bosnia and Herzegovina under Austro-Hungarian occupation for 30 years, although it remained de jure Ottoman territory.

Background

During early 19th century, a large part of the Balkans were under Ottoman rule. However, Ottoman influence in the region declined as a result of the Serbian Revolution and the Greek War of Independence, in which Christian Serbs and Greeks rebelled against the Ottomans and established the Principality of Serbia and the Hellenic Republic, respectively. The growth of the independence and power of provincial lords also indicated the decline of centralized Ottoman authority; Osman Pazvantoğlu, Ali Pasha, and Husein Gradaščević each led uprisings against the empire, and Muhammad Ali established de facto control over Egypt. By the 1830s, the Ottoman Empire seemed to many European observers to be on the verge of collapse.

Christian and Muslim peasants in the Bosnia Vilayet had experienced economic hardship under Bosnian Muslim beys for at least two centuries. Sometimes as much as half of each peasant's annual harvest was collected, as well as other taxes on farm products and animals. Tax farmers (mütesellim) levied additional taxes on the remaining yield. This longstanding discontent, in addition to the failure of the 1874 crop, was the direct cause of the rebellion; Austrian sympathy for the rebels and Pan-Slavic and Pan-Serbian movements were additional precursors to the uprising.

Other notable preceding Serb peasant rebellions in the region were the Herzegovina Uprising (1852–62) and Pecija's First Revolt (1858).

Preparations

Weapons from the Uprising.

In Herzegovina

The Serbian leaders of the people of Herzegovina: Jovan Gutić, Simun Zečević, Ilija Stevanović, Trivko Grubačić, Prodan Rupar and Petar Radović, at the end of August and beginning of September 1874, met and decided to start preparing a rebellion. They began collecting weapons and ammunition and establishing safe-places. With the assistance of Montenegro in the uprising, it was to begin in springtime 1875. The group entered in talks with Montenegrin ruler Nikola I Petrović, but he was unwilling to break and risk the unreadiness of Russia in its war with the Ottomans. The preparations continued; and in Bileća and Trebinje region, serdar Todor Mujičić, Gligor Milićević, Vasilj Svorcan and Sava Jakšić lead the revolt in these regions. Lazar Sočica led the Piva tribe in Old Herzegovina.

The Ottomans heard of the talks between Nikola I and tried to capture the ringleaders, who fled into Montenegro in the winter of 1874. In 1875, Austria was drawn in, who with its interests in Bosnia and Herzegovina, asked the Ottomans to give the ringleaders amnesty. The Ottomans agreed to enter discussions with Austria.

In Bosnia

The preparations started somewhat later than the Herzegovinian and did not manage to coordinate actions of the two regions. In the preparations are Vaso Vidović, Simo and Jovo Bilbija, Spasoje Babić and Vaso Pelagić. The plans began with firstly liberating the villages of Kozara; Prosara and Motajica, then attacking the communications and blocking the cities of the Sava river, later to take over Banja Luka. The start of the uprising was envisaged on 18 August 1875. The Ottomans imprisoned priests in Prijedor, which put further pressure on the people, therefore villagers from Dvorište, Čitluka, Petrinje, Bačvani, Pobrđani and Tavija attacked the Turks in Dvorište on 15 August. The uprising sparked wide; and the leader of the uprising was chosen to be Ostoja Kormanoš.

Uprising in Herzegovina

Death of Vojvoda Trifko

Gabela

The revolt first began in the summer of 1865 among Christians in the village of Gabela. The date on which it started is disputed; the skirmish began on either 11 June or 3 July. On 9 July, the British consul in Sarajevo, William Holmes, reported that a band of rebels had blocked the bridge over the Krupa river and road between Metković and Mostar. In Trebinje was gathered about 2,000 Catholic and Orthodox participants and they selected Fr. Ivan Musić as leader of the uprising. Dervish Pasha, governor-general of Bosnia and Herzegovina at that time, claimed that both Catholics and Orthodox took part in the revolt. According to a correspondent for the Times in Herzegovina, William James Stillman, violence in Herzegovina started as a revolt of "the Catholic population between Popovo and Gabela" who "anticipated an Austrian intervention" and he also observed that Catholics at that time were "the most enthusiastic in the revolt". Soon new conflicts erupted in northern Bosnia and a large number of people fled to Croatia and Montenegro. By the end of 1876, the number of refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina was between 100,000 and perhaps 250,000 people. According to Richard C. Hall, 150,000 people fled to Croatia.

Nevesinje

Elders (1875).

Herzegovinians in Ambush, 1875.

The leaders returned in 1875 and continued their plans for revolt, the plan was for the liberation of Nevesinje region, then expansion to the rest of Herzegovina. In the meantime, Turks seek hajduk Pera Tunguz, who on 5 July, had attacked a caravan on Bišini mountain. On 9 July, the Turks clashed with the armed villagers of Jovan Gutić on the Gradac hill north of Krekovi. This conflict would be known in Serbian as Nevesinjska puška ("Nevesinje rifle") and marked the beginning of the uprising in all of Herzegovina. Firstly Nevesinje, Bileća and Stolac were involved, then in August, Gacko and the frontier towards Montenegro. Bands (known as četa) of 50–300 people and detachments of 500–2,000 people gathered and attacked Ottoman border posts and bey towers.

The Ottomans had 4 battalions of the regular army (Nizami) with a total of 1,800 soldiers, situated in Mostar, Trebinje, Nikšić, Foča and the border posts, also a larger number of başıbozuk were present all over the province. The Ottoman troops were commanded by Selim Pasha (Selim-paša) who in turn is under Dervish Pasha (Derviš-paša), the commander of the Bosnia Vilayet. After the outbreak of the uprising, the Turks tried to gain time by starting negotiations while reinforcements arrived. The rebels wanted lower taxes, which the Turks refused, and the fighting continued. In August, 4,000 Nizami arrived from Bosnia, and later 4 more battalions by sea through Klek in Trebinje. The rebels had by July and August destroyed the majority of border posts and besieged Trebinje by 5 August. The Turks regained Trebinje by 30 August. In the end of August, fighting broke out in Bosnia, and Serbia and Montenegro promised aid, sparking an intensification of the uprising.

Prince Nikola sent Petar Vukotić, while a large number of Montenegrin volunteers arrived at the command of Peko Pavlović. The Serbian government dared not to publicly assist because of international pressure but secretly sent Mićo Ljubibratić (who took part in the 1852–1862 uprising) among others. There was a conflict between the rebels because of disagreement between the representatives of the Montenegrin and Serbian governments, causing failures in the ongoing uprising.

Prince Peter used the surname Mrkonjić during the uprising.

Many Europeans took part in the uprising with the idea of bringing down Muslim rule over Christians (mainly Italians, former Garibaldinians).

Uprising in Bosnia

Golub Babić.

According to Herr Fritz, the Serb rebels were "extremely numerous and in some cases well armed" and were divided among following troops and bands:

• Risovac and Grmeč, in West Bosnia, under the leadership of well-known Golub Babić, Marinković, Simo Davidović, Pop-Karan and Trifko Amelić. The Serbian colonel Mileta Despotović held supreme leadership and had formed 8 battalions out of the scattered bands.
• Vučjak, in East Bosnia.
• Pastirevo and Kozara, in North Bosnia, bands led by Marko Djenadija, Ostoja, Spasojević, Marko Bajalica, hegumen Hadzić and Pop-Stevo. The new camp of Brezovac, not far from Novi, was held by Ostoja Vojnović. The former camp of Karađorđevići in Ćorkovac was held by Ilija Sević.

The aim of the Bosnian rebel bands was to prevent any greater concentration of Ottoman troops on the Drina, which was the western frontier of Serbia. As a systemically organised insurrection in Bosnia was impossible, the rebels pursued and drove back the "Turk" (Muslim) population into their towns. The bands protected and helped the exiles into hiding in the woods and leading unarmed men, women and children, to reach the frontier of Austria or Serbia through safe conduct.

According to Mackenzie and Irby who travelled the region in 1877, the state of the common Christian people was serious, and the number of fugitives exceeded 200,000 all round the frontier by January 1877.

The rebels in South Bosnia had cleared the region of Muslims, presently under the command of Despotović, between the Austrian frontier and the Ottoman fortresses of Kulen Vakuf, Ključ and Glamoč.

In August 1877, all Bosnian Muslims men from 15 to 70 were ordered to fight, although there was already 54 battalions, each with 400–700 men.

Aftermath

"Refugees from Herzegovina", 1889 painting by Uroš Predić.

The uprising was the starting point of the Great Eastern Crisis, the reopening of the "Eastern Question". The unrest rapidly spread among the Christian populations of the other Ottoman provinces in the Balkans (notably the April Uprising in Bulgaria) setting off what would become known as the Great Eastern Crisis. The Ottoman atrocities in suppressing unrest in the Balkan provinces eventually led to the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, which ended in Turkish defeat, and the signing of the Treaty of San Stefano in March 1878, followed in July of the same year by the Treaty of Berlin, severely reducing Ottoman territories and power in Europe. The Congress of Berlin decided that Bosnia and Herzegovina, while remaining nominally under Turkish sovereignty, would be governed by Austria-Hungary. Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908. The occupation and annexation enraged Serbs and was a catalyst for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by the Bosnian Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip.

Legacy

The Nevesinje municipality has a coat of arms with two rifles, symbolising the revolt. The government of Republika Srpska together with the Nevesinje municipality annually organises the anniversary of the revolt.

In 1963, a Yugoslav film by Žika Mitrović about the Nevesinje rebellion was released, titled in Serbian as Невесињска пушка and in English as Thundering Mountains.

Jovan Bratić (born 1974), a comic artist from Nevesinje, made a cartoon series on the Herzegovina Uprising, titled Nevesinjska puška, the first part released in 2008, and the second part Nevesinjska puška 2: Bitka na Vučjem dolu.

According to historian Edin Radušić: "Milorad Ekmečić gave the main word in interpretations of a wide range of issues related to the uprising in domestic historiography, in the 1960s he from Vaso Čubrilović took over the primacy as the main interpreter of the uprising, and since then he had the greatest influence on other historians who have dealt with this thematic framework". Also, "Ekmečić became more openly politically engaged in recent works, openly linking the motives of the 19th century uprising with the insurgent movements from WWII and violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina from the end of the 20th century, with the thesis of religious war as the appearance of the long duration, which has one of its key episodes in the uprising of 1875–1878".

See also

• Austro-Hungarian campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878

Sources

• Bataković, Dušan T. (1996). The Serbs of Bosnia & Herzegovina: History and Politics. Paris: Dialogue. ISBN 978-2911527104.
• Bataković, Dušan T., ed. (2005). Histoire du peuple serbe [History of the Serbian People] (in French). Lausanne: L’Age d’Homme. ISBN 978-2825119587.
• Bogićević, Vojislav (1950). Stanje raje u Bosni i Hercegovini pred ustanak 1875–1878 godine: povodom 75-godišnjice ustanka u Hercegovini i bosanskoj krajini 1875–1878. Državna štamparija u Sarajevu.
• Ćirković, Sima (2004). The Serbs. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 978-1405142915.
• Čubrilović, Vasa; Antonić, Zdravko (1996). Bosanski ustanak 1875–1878 [Bosnian Uprising 1875–1878]. Službeni list SRJ. ISBN 978-8635502885.
• Ekmečić, Milorad (1973). Ustanak u Bosni 1875–1878 [Uprising in Bosnia 1875–1878]. Sarajevo: Veselin Masleša.
• Gutić, Vasilije M. (1980). Opšta i diplomatska istorija ustanka u Hercegovini i Bosni iz 1875–1878. godine. V. Gutić.
• Harris, David (1928). Balkan diplomacy, July, 1875 to July, 1876: from the revolt in Herzegovina to the Reichstadt agreement ... Leland Stanford Junior University.
• Jagodić, Miloš (2004). Насељавање Кнежевине Србије : 1861–1880. Istorijski institut. ISBN 978-8677430467.
• Ković, Miloš (2010). "The beginning of the 1875 Serbian uprising in Herzegovina: the British perspective". Balcanica (41): 55–71. doi:10.2298/BALC1041055K. hdl:21.15107/rcub_reff_968.
• Mackenzie, G. M.; Irby, A. P. (2010) [1877]. Travels in the Slavonic Provinces of Turkey-In-Europe (Vols. I and II). New York: Cosimo. ISBN 978-1616404055.
• Milojković-Djurić, Jelena (1994). Panslavism and national identity in Russia and in the Balkans, 1830–1880: images of the self and others. East European Monographs. ISBN 978-0880332910.
• Reid, James J. (2000). Crisis of the Ottoman Empire: Prelude to Collapse 1839–1878. Franz Steiner Verlag. ISBN 978-3515076876.
• Никифоров, Д.И. (2015). Петр Карагеоргиевич в Боснийском восстании 1875–1878 годов.. Новая и новейшая история (in Russian). 2: 183–191.
• Radoičić, Mirko S. (1966). Hercegovina i Crna Gora 1875–1878 (in Serbo-Croatian). Savez udruženja boraca NOR-a, Opštinski odbor.
• Rupp, George Hoover (1941). A Wavering Friendship: Russia and Austria, 1876–1878. Harvard University Press.
• Stojanović, Mihailo D. (1968) [1939]. The Great Powers and the Balkans, 1875–1878. Cambridge University Press.
• Šipovac, T. (1979). Nevesinjska puška.
• Ustanak u Bosni od 1875. do 1878. god: građa za noviju srpsku istoriju rata za oslobođenje. Pajević. 1884.

External links

• "У организацији Одбора за његовање традиција ослободилачких ратова Владе Републике Српске: Обиљежена 134. годишњица Невесињске пушке". Frontal. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012.