Povijesni prilozi, Vol. 42 No. 64, 2023.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.22586/pp.v42i64.25053
Grenzer in the Austrian-Sardinian War of 1859
Juraj Balić
Abstract
During the 1850s, the Austrian Empire mobilized its military forces multiple times due to the threat of armed conflicts with the Kingdom of Prussia, the Ottoman Empire, and the Russian Empire. While war was ultimately averted in these instances, in the last year of the decade, the Empire found itself engaged in an inevitable conflict with the Kingdom of Sardinia and its ally, the French Empire. Prior to this, in 1848 and 1849, Austrian forces had successfully suppressed Sardinian attempts to conquer the territory of Lombardy, but this time they encountered various challenges. One such challenge was the weakened combat morale of certain groups of soldiers, a consequence of heightened national sentiments. Political emigrants like Lajos Kossuth and Eugen Kvaternik sought to exploit these weaknesses, hoping that the Allies’ military successes would inspire revolutions in the Hungarian and Croatian lands, potentially leading to the creation of independent states. In the realization of those plans, an important role was assigned to the frontiersmen. They were expected to provide military support in the event of a French army landing in Dalmatia and to join Kossuth’s Hungarian Legion. However, Austrian military commanders relied on the loyalty and self-sacrifice of the frontiersmen, who had demonstrated their worth in battles against the revolutionary forces a decade earlier. This paper focuses on the role of the frontiersmen in the Austro-Sardinian War, also known as the Second War for Italian Unification. Although the conflict was relatively short-lived, its consequences were significant for the future position of the Austrian Empire among leading European powers and the survival of the multinational state. In addition, the experience of war raised questions about the reliability and necessity of frontiersmen as soldiers in the service of the Habsburg rulers. These questions had an impact on subsequent events in the history of the Military Frontier, including its demilitarization, the abolition of this centuries-old institution, and the Rakovica Uprising in 1871.
Keywords
Eugen Kvaternik; Austrian-Sardinian war; Military Frontier; Lika Regiment; Ogulin Regiment
Hrčak ID:
306909
URI
Publication date:
18.7.2023.
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