JOSEPHINE REFORM OF THE MILITARY FRONTIER AND THE AUSTRO-OTTOMAN WAR (1788 - 1791) ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE PETROVARADIN REGIMENT

Abstract

Petrovaradin Regiment was a part of the Military Frontier, a border system of Habsburg Monarchy towards the Ottoman Empire and was located in Syrmia. Frontier regiments were both territorial, as well as military units, introduced in the mid-18th Century, and were of special interest for Emperor Joseph II in his military reforms. During the 1780s several solutions were discussed and tested, and in 1787 one final reform was implemented. The reform was introduced under the umbrella of a new cantonal system and brought significant changes to monolithic military structures of governance, economy, and life in Military Frontier territory. Among others, the cantonal system aimed to dissolve the unity of military governance in the frontier territory, as well as to reduce burdens imposed on local populations by the need to maintain a set number of soldiers on active duty even during a time of peace, which significantly diminished populations economic prosperity, while simultaneously increasing regiments strength and efficiency in times of war. The reform was fully enforced less than 10 months before the outbreak of the Austro-Ottoman War (1788 – 1791), where the new system saw its first major appliance. The process of implementation, as well as the experience of war, is observed in the case of the Petrovaradin Regiment.