Rusko-Austro-Ugarski sporazumi o Bosni i Hercegovini 1876-1908. godine

The aim of this paper is to analyze several secret and public agreements between Russia and Austro-Hungary from 1876 to 1908 in order to draw conclusions about the intentions of these two great powers regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina and why it was so important for their foreign policy goals. These agreements marginalized the interests of the people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as those of other Balkan nations. Although they were agreements, they concealed insincere alliances of a short-term nature. Additionally, this paper will analyze the specific legal and political status of Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Berlin Congress, why Austro-Hungary decided to annex it, why Russia accepted this, and under what conditions. The Russian-Austrian agreements regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina during the specified period must be viewed within the context of broader international circumstances, as they were largely made at a time when other great powers were preoccupied with different foreign policy issues or, as was the case with Austro-Hungary, had the support of its ally Germany. Although the great powers agreed at the Paris Congress (1856) to respect the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire, it quickly became evident that Europe was unwilling to uphold this promise. New alliances—particularly the rapprochement between Austro-Hungary, Germany, and Russia, which resulted in the creation of the Three Emperors' League in 1873—were not formed to maintain the status quo in the East. In addition to the formation of alliances, the provisions of the Paris Peace were undermined by numerous uprisings of Christian peoples, which required intervention from the great powers. In the alleged suppression of uprisings in the Balkans, Russia and Austro-Hungary played the main role, especially from the 1870s onwards. The dominant Russian influence in the Balkans was shaken after the formation of the Dual Monarchy (1867) and the ousting of Austria from Central Europe. Austrian expansionist policy turned towards the Balkans, where it came into conflict with Russian interests. Both empires stubbornly pursued their plans in the Balkans, leading to the conclusion of multiple alliances between them. Through skilled and wise diplomatic negotiations, Austro-Hungary benefited more from these alliances, effectively dictating its terms to Russia. When it secured Russia's consent to occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina, it advocated for maintaining the status quo in the Balkans until a favorable moment arose to execute the annexation of these two provinces. Bosnia and Herzegovina were significant for Vienna from both a political-strategic and economic perspective, and to assert its right to occupy them, it needed Russia's consent, which held the greatest political influence in the Balkans among the great powers. Russian diplomats were more than naive, believing that in exchange for their consent to Austrian control over Bosnia and Herzegovina, they would secure control over the Bosporus and Dardanelles. The Raštak Agreement (1876) and the Budapest Convention (1877) concluded with Russia had already secured Austro-Hungary’s right to Bosnia and Herzegovina even before the Eastern Crisis had concluded and the Berlin Congress began its work (1878). From the Austro-Russian agreements from 1876 to 1908, it can be concluded that Austro-Hungary succeeded in its expansionist aims to penetrate the East. The focal point of these plans was indeed Bosnia and Herzegovina. Gradually, Austria would displace Russian influence by exploiting Russia's preoccupation with conquests in Asia and subsequently with the crisis in the country due to the February Revolution of 1905.