the Week of Proper 25 / Ordinary 30
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Bible Encyclopedias
Bosnia - Herzegovina
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
or "BOSNIA - HERZEGOVINA ( see 4.279). - Until Oct. 1918 BosniaHerzegovina remained a territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A proclamation issued on the occasion of its annexation to the Habsburg Monarchy in 1908 promised these lands constitutional institutions, which should secure to their inhabitants full civil rights and a share in the management of their own affairs by means of a local representative assembly. In performance of this promise a constitution was promulgated on Feb. ro 1910. This included a Territorial Statute ( Landesstatut ) with the setting up of a Territorial Diet, regulations for the election and procedure of the Diet, a law of associations, a law of public meetings, and a law dealing with the district councils (Bezirksrl te). According to this statute Bosnia-Herzegovina formed a single administrative territory under the responsible direction and supervision of the Ministry of Finance of the Dual Monarchy in Vienna. The administration of the country, together with the carrying out of the laws, devolved upon the Territorial Government in Sarajevo, which was subordinate and responsible to the Common Ministry of Finance. The existing judicial and administrative authorities of the Territory retained their previous organization and functions. The statute guaranteed generally the civil rights of the inhabitants of the Territory, namely citizenship, personal liberty, protection by the competent judicial authorities, liberty of creed and conscience, preservation of the national individuality and language, freedom of speech, freedom of learning and education, inviolability of the domicile, secrecy of posts and telegraphs, inviolability of property, the right of petition, and finally the right of holding meetings.
The Diet (Sabor ) set up consisted of a single Chamber, elected on the principle of the representation of interests. It numbered 92 members. Of these 20 consisted of representatives of all the religious confessions, the president of the Supreme Court, the president of the Chamber of Advocates, the president of the Chamber of Commerce, and the mayor of Sarajevo. In addition to these were 72 deputies, elected by three curiae or electoral groups. The first curia included the large landowners, the highest taxpayers, and people who had reached a certain standard of education without regard to the amount they paid in taxes. To the second curia belonged inhabitants of the towns not qualified to vote in the first; to the third, country dwellers disqualified in the same way. With this curial system was combined the grouping of the mandates and of the electors according to the three dominant creeds (Catholic, Serbian Orthodox, Moslem). To the adherents of other creeds the right was conceded of voting with one or other of the religious electoral bodies within the curia to which they belonged.
All males 24 years of age, and natives of and residing in the Territory, possessed the franchise, as also Austrian and Hungarian citizens engaged as officials in the administration and on the railways in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Qualifications for election as deputy were the same as for the franchise, save that the minimum age limit was fixed at 30, and public officials and teachers were excluded. The law on district councils created a district council (Bezirksrat ) for every district (Bezirk ) to take part in the administration of local public affairs.
The Diet
On June 25 1910 the first session of the Diet of Bosnia-Herzegovina was opened. Shortly before this the Emperor Francis Joseph had visited the country for the first time, and had met with an enthusiastic reception. The Diet was composed of three great religious parties. The strongest was that of the Serbs (Orthodox), the next that of the Moslems (Mahommedan), and lastly that of the Croats (Catholics). Each of these parties struggled for the hegemony, but since none commanded a majority, efforts at coalition began among the three groups. The opposition between Serbs and Croats, which had come more sharply into evidence after the annexation, had become softened, and all three parties combined in a demand for far-reaching autonomy. The constitution had not contented the political parties, since it did not satisfy the desire in the country for full self-government. The Government had not a strong majority on the opening of the Diet, but under the favourable impression produced by the Emperor's visit, the first budget laid before the Diet was approved even by the opposition groups, and in this the Government saw also a kind of vote of indemnity for their administration in pre-constitutional times. The Diet started a fruitful activity, and the Government was able to secure a majority, consisting of Croats,. Moslems and moderate Serbs.
In the spring of 1911, during the discussion of the Road Construction Bill, the language question for the first time led to quarrels in the Diet in connexion with the notices on signposts; throughout the year party wrangles, discontent with the constitution, and the obstructive tactics of the radical Serbs hampered business; and the Government no longer had a certain majority. Early in 1912 the Austro-Hungarian Minister of Finance, Baron Burian - the author of the Bosnian constitution - resigned office, and was succeeded by Ritter Leo von Bilinski. To the new minister the representatives of the various parties in the Diet presented a memorandum asking for a revision of the constitution and of the rules of procedure in the Diet; for an alteration of the electoral law; for a Government responsible to the Diet and at least partly recruited from among its members; for an extension of the sphere of activity of the Territorial Government in political and economic matters; for an independent policy of railway rates, the appointment of an audit office for the financial control of the Government, and the regulation of the language to be used by officials and functionaries. The object for which the parties were striving became more and more evident: the greatest possible autonomy for the Territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina and independence of the central Government of Vienna. With the rejection of the budget of 1912 began an open conflict between the Government and the parties in the Diet, which had as its result a long pause in the activity of the Diet.
After wearisome negotiations and the acceptance by the Government of a series of the demands set forth in the memorandum, a combination of Croats, Moslems and moderate Serbs, in a working majority, was arrived at during the summer of 1912, under which conditions the third session of the Diet was opened on Oct. 22. The Government succeeded in obtaining the indemnity for the 1912 budget, and passed through the Diet a great number of the laws which it had drafted. New difficulties cropped up in the discussions of the proposed law on the language question. The draft law specified Serbo-Croatian as the future official language in all affairs, both internal and external, connected with the civil administration, with public educational establishments, and State railways so far as their external traffic was concerned. The parties also demanded Serbo-Croatian as the official language of the railways in BosniaHerzegovina itself; but this the Government refused to concede; and, since no agreement could be reached, the Diet was prorogued, and the fourth session was not opened until Dec, 20 1913.
For this session the Government had managed to secure a working majority consisting of Croats, Moslems and moderate Serbs. The language law and several other important measures were passed. A resolution was also carried in support of a law drafted by the Government with a view to a solution of the agrarian question which should do equal justice to the interests of the landlords and the Kmets (see Agrarian QuES Tion p. 474).
The business of the Diet was suddenly interrupted by the assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand at Sarajevo on June 28 1914. The session was closed on July 9, and on Feb. 5 1915 the Diet was dissolved. Owing to later political developments, ending with the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, there were no new elections. In spite of political obstacles the Diet had done much towards the development of the constitution, and during its four sessions had framed numerous laws, many of which were important. Their discussion was generally conducted on a notably high plane and bore witness to a thorough and many-sided examination of the matters requiring consideration.
| 825,418 Serbian Orthodox | =43.5% | 612,137 Moslems | =32.3% | 434, 061 Catholics | =22.9% AdministrationAccording to the census of 1910 the pop. of Bosnia-Herzegovina on Oct. 1910 numbered 1,898,044 persons, of whom 52.4% were males and 47.6% females. As compared with the year 1895 the population showed an increase of 21%. The civil pop. of the capital, Sarajevo, had risen from 38,000 to 51,900 persons. According to religion the population was divided as follows: occupation the figures were: - Agriculture . Industry. . Trade and Commerce.. 3% and in the public service and the liberal professions in round numbers.. 2 Of the whole pop. from the age of seven upwards 87.84% were illiterate. The part taken in the public service by the indigenous element was on the increase (in 1908, 31%; in 1910, 44.5% of all public officials). Pupils of the secondary schools in Bosnia-Herzegovina who passed on to the universities or other higher educational institutions of the monarchy, on their return entered the Government service or the liberal professions. The number of public schools in Bosnia-Herzegovina during the period 1910-8 was, at its highest, as follows: 568 elementary schools, 4 higher elementary girls' schools, 3 training colleges for male and female teachers, 9 trade schools, commercial academy, 2 technical schools, special technical school, 4 grammar schools (Gymnasien), 2 higher Realschulen, 1 lower Realgymnasium, i military lower Realschule, 3 theological colleges. In addition to these there were numerous denominational and private elementary schools, Turkish mektebs and medresses (lower and upper Moslem schools) and three private grammar schools. In 1911 the Diet unanimousl y decided upon compulsory school attendance for four years for children over seven years of age. In 1885 the Landesmuseum was founded, and provided with a modern building in 1912. It contains collections of scientific, artistic and historical interest. In 1912 was established the Bosnian and Herzegovinian Institute for research connected with the Balkan Peninsula. Worth attention are the Wissenschaftliche Mitteilungen aus Bosnien and Hercegovina, published by the Museum, of which the 13th and last volume appeared in 1916. The Press underwent a rapid development. In 1914 there appeared 43 periodicals, six of which were daily papers, three weeklies, and 32 monthlies. Of these 38 were published in the Serbo-Croatian, two in German, and the rest in both languages. There was also a great increase in clubs and societies, which in 1913 numbered 833 with 102,000 members, one-third of them being Serb. The Agrarian QuestionShortly before the opening of the Diet in 1910 a strong agitation had begun among the Kmets, i.e., peasants holding of the great landlords under the metayage system and, in some cases, by personal services in addition ( see 4.280). In 1911 the Diet unanimously passed a law for the conversion of these tenancies into freeholds by voluntary agreement between landlords and tenants with Government assistance. For this purpose the Government was empowered to issue bonds ( Kmetenablosungsobligationen ), and a special office (Kmetenablosungsamt ), akin to the Irish Land Commission, was established at Sarajevo to carry out the law. The process of redemption now proceeded rapidly. Whereas during the 33 years (1879-1911) 32,681 Kmet tenancies had been converted into freeholds at a cost of 29 million kronen, 13,371 were converted between June 1911 and the end of 1915. According to the calculations of the Sarajevo office, redemption in this form, which proceeded without friction and had no unfavourable influence on the existing agrarian situation, would have been completed within 20 years. Military ServiceIn the year 1913 a new military service law came into force in Bosnia-Herzegovina, by which the liability for military service was put on the same footing as that in AustriaHungary. The Landsturm was not introduced into Bosnia-Herzegovina, but in its place the 2nd and 3rd Reserves were formed. Liability for military service began with the completion of the 19th year of age, and ended in the year in which the man liable for service completed his 42nd year. By a law of 1915 the military service law was modified to make the liability for service for the duration of the war extend from the end of the 18th to the end of the 50th year of age. The military establishment for Bosnia-Herzegovina comprised four infantry regiments and one Feldjdger battalion. Public HealthIn the field of public health the Diet decreed in 1914 the extension of the Territorial hospital in Sarajevo, and the erection of larger hospitals in the chief town of each district (Kreis) and of smaller hospitals in the chief town of each sub-district ( Bezirk ), and granted 12 million kronen for this purpose. The execution of this decree was interrupted by the war, but an open-air hospital for tuberculous patients was erected in Sarajevo. The water supply of Sarajevo was extended, and in i i towns a water supply was either newly provided or extended. The cooperation of the town councils in the sphere of public health and other administrative affairs was of considerable importance. The budget of the Sarajevo town council for 1914 made a demand for 4 million kronen, those of all the other town councils together 5 million kronen. In many places electric light was introduced. JusticeIn the sphere of justice the independence of judges in the exercise of their judicial functions, and their security of tenure, were established by law, together with the responsibility of the judges for damage caused by a breach of their professional duty. Inspectors of the law courts were introduced, the setting up of a house of correction for women in Zenica was decreed, and law courts erected in Sarajevo which included all the courts in Sarajevo and the prison. In 1914 an audit office was set up to supervise the expenditure of the administration. AgricultureThe most important branch of production in BosniaHerzegovina had always been agriculture, in which 87% of the population were employed. The efforts of the Government for the improvement of agriculture (agricultural departments, schools of viticulture and fruit culture, ploughing demonstrations, loans for implements, instruction in agriculture, schools of rural economy, Sunday instruction) were continued.
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