Review article
The Organisation of Administration in Boka kotorska in the Period between the French Administration in 1807 and the End of the Second Austrian Administration in 1918
Frane Ivković
Abstract
The paper addresses the organisation of administration in Boka kotorska in the period between the French rule in 1807 and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1918. In the first year of the French rule, the decree on the temporary organisation of Boka kotorska was issued; according to this document, a king’s delegate seated in Kotor and two vice-delegates seated in Herceg Novi and Budva managed the county. After the collapse of the Dubrovnik Republic (31st January 1808), Boka kotorska and Dubrovnik were organised as one administration area with a common manager; they were however continually considered two counties. Following the Treaty of Schönbrunn of 14 October 1809, the Kingdom of Illyrian Provinces with the seat in Ljubljana was established. Pursuant to the decree of 15 April, Illyrian Provinces were divided into seven counties, including the Dubrovnik County, which included the entire Boka kotorska. According to the territorial division of 30 November 1811, the Dubrovnik county consisted of two districts: Dubrovnik and Kotor. The Kotor District further consisted of three districts: Kotor, Herceg Novi and Budva, with 12 municipalities and 52 localities. Vice-delegates managed the districts, while mayors, deputy mayors, chairmen and deputies managed the municipalities. In Kotor, eight municipalities had a mayor and two deputy mayors, while the other four had a chairman and a deputy. The criterium for it was the number of inhabitants in a municipality. The French rule had endeavoured to apply the French administration system and abolish the old mediaeval one. The implementation of the French administration reforms was suspended by the Austrian occupation of Boka kotorska in 1814. The Second Austrian administration in Boka kotorska began in July 1814. Austria formed one county consisting of the former counties of Dubrovnik and Dalmatia – the Kingdom of Dalmatia, with the seat in Zadar. A governor accountable to the ministries in Vienna headed this county. On 23rd August 1816, the entire Boka kotorska became one district with the seat in Kotor. In 1822, Austria implemented the organisation of minor administration bodies in Dalmatia, while in Boka kotorska, this was done as late as in 1836. According to this organisation of 1836, the Kotor District included three districts: Kotor, Herceg Novi and Budva, as well as eighteen municipalities. In 1853, Austria implemented a new administration reform, according to which the Kotor District was divided to four districts (Kotor, Herceg Novi, Budva and Risanj), seventeen political municipalities and 103 tax municipalities. Districts were abolished in 1865, while pursuant to the new act of 1868, the administration was separated from the judiciary, and in Boka kotorska, one district with the seat in Kotor, fifteen political municipalities and 104 tax municipalities was established. Following the Berlin Congress of 1878, the municipality of Spič was annexed to the Kotor District, while Montenegro was for the first time given the exit to the sea in Bar. Following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Boka kotorska entered the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, while in 1923, it was seceded from Dalmatia and became a part of the district of Zeta.
Keywords
Boka kotorska, Dalmatia; organisation of administration; French rule; Austrian rule; 1807 – 1918
Hrčak ID:
75197
URI
Publication date:
23.12.2011.
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