Original scientific paper
A circle of hope and disappointment: The Bosnian Muslim religious leadership and World War One (1914-1918)
Adnan Jahić
; Faculty of Philosophy, University of Tuzla, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Abstract
The author analyzes the relationship between the Bosnian Muslim religious
leadership and the events of World War I, including Austro-Hungarian war aims and
the idea of a Yugoslav state and national unification. Muslim religious authorities
and officials, led by the reis-ul-ulema, Mehmed Džemaludin ef. Čaušević, provided
significant support to the Austro-Hungarian war effort, encouraging Bosniaks to be
patriotic and conscientous in embracing sacrifice for the sake of their emperor and
their homeland, but also for the sake of the Caliph and the well-being of the entire
Islamic world. Čaušević, however, over time began to perceive the scale of recklessness
and negligence displayed by the Austro-Hungarian military and political authorities
towards Bosniaks and started to protest, lobbying the authorities to mitigate the
suffering and distress of the domestic population. During 1917 the first advocates of
the Yugoslav idea began to apear among the Bosnian Muslims, quickly winning the
support of part of the Bosnian Muslim religious elite.
Keywords
Bosnia and Herzegovina; Austria-Hungary; the Sarajevo assassination; the Great War; Islamic community; reis-ul-ulema; the Yugoslav idea; war; society; politics
Hrčak ID:
265677
URI
Publication date:
15.12.2015.
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