The Habsburg Industrial Achievement in Bosnia-Hercegovina, 1878–1914: An Economic Spurt That Succeeded?

Abstract

In 1878 The Habsburgs exercised their rights under the Treaty of Berlin and marched an army of occupation into the former Ottoman provinces of Bosnia and Hercegovina. Between then and their expulsion in 1918, the Habsburg authorities attempted to weld their new province into the Austro-Hungarian polity and economy. Responsibility for governing Bosnia-Hercegovina was entrusted to the Common Finance Ministry. Its officials, especially during the administration of Count Benjamin Kalláy (1882–1903), saw their task as a “civilizing mission” and the Bosnian economy as clay to be worked according to their prescriptions. The developmental outcome of their endeavors forms the subject of this paper.