ТHE FIRST DECEMBER UNIFICATION IN THE PUBLIC OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA IN 1918 AND 1919

Abstract

After the breakthrough of the Thessaloniki front and the liberation of the territory of the pre-war Kingdom of Serbia, at the beginning of November 1918, at the urgent request of the National Council, the Serbian army entered the territory of the former Austro-Hungarian monarchy. The call to the Serbian army was a consequence of the inability of local authorities in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to ensure internal order and peace and to resist the invasion of Italian forces on the Adriatic. Sources indicate that the Serbian army was welcomed with joy and high hopes, in majority Serbian areas with genuine enthusiasm. The December unification was hailed throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina as one of the most important dates in history, which should have marked a happier future for all South Slavic peoples. The creation of the first Yugoslav state was also welcomed by those individuals or groups who before and during the war represented a strong support of the Austro-Hungarian authorities. A year later, the optimism of December 1 subsided, and inter-ethnic tensions and party conflicts gave birth to the first serious doubts about the future of the Kingdom of SHS. Not long after unification, different national mentalities, different understandings of state tasks and conflicting views on future state organization came to full expression. Political opportunism, party conflicts, national antagonisms and economic backwardness burdened the interwar society of Bosnia and Herzegovina until the collapse of the first Yugoslav state.