The Idea of Establishing the University of Sarajevo at the Beginning of 20th Century: Austro-Hungarian Authority in Bosnia and Herzegovina Between Cultural Mission and Political Reality

Abstract

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Balkans was the epicentre of numerous crises and some of them (the Annexation Crisis 1908–1909 and the Balkan Wars 1912–1913) had a major effect on social activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Therefore, faced with a very complex political situation in the Balkans, Austro-Hungary was about to develop a strategy of increasing its own influence in the mentioned area. Consequently, Sarajevo was bound to play an important role in these plans. This paper argues that, by promoting the idea of establishing a university in Sarajevo, the Austro-Hungarian authorities were actually oscillating between their previous plan of conducting a cultural mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina and political machinations aimed at the annihilation of Serbian influence. The public reactions in Bosnia, as well as in the remainder of the Monarchy, forced the solicitors of this idea to re-examine their own political considerations.

Keywords

• university
• sarajevo
• austro-hungarian rule
• joint ministry of finance
• provincial government in sarajevo