Austria-Hungary annexes Bosnia-Herzegovina | October 6, 1908 | HISTORY

On October 6, 1908, the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary announces its annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, dual provinces in the Balkan region of Europe formerly under the control of the Ottoman Empire.

Though Bosnia and Herzegovina were still nominally under the control of the Ottoman Sultan in 1908, Austria-Hungary had administered the provinces since the Congress of Berlin in 1878, when the great powers of Europe awarded the Dual Monarchy the right to occupy the two provinces, with the legal title to remain with Turkey. As the provinces were coveted by many—in fact, both Austria and Hungary wanted Bosnia and Herzegovina for themselves—the decision was more or less a stopgap to preserve the delicate balance of power in Europe. To make matters more complicated, the largely Slavic population of the two provinces had nationalist ambitions of their own, while their fellow Slavs in nearby Serbia yearned to annex them to further their pan-Slavic ambitions.