The Emperor’s Bosniaks

Bosnia-Herzegovina was occupied by Austria-Hungary in 1878, annexed in 1908 and was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918. This book, illustrated in colour, with 352 pages and nearly 600 photographs, presents a picture of the Bosnian soldiers in the Austro-Hungarian army and their military history under Austro-Hungarian administration. Starting with the political and military reasons for the occupation, through the annexation to the end of the First World War, it takes the reader to a world that at the time was seen as highly exotic.
The Bosniaks, who were seen as an elite group within the k.u.k. Army and who – with their strange uniform and fez headgear – attracted much attention from the various formations of the Austro-Hungarian Army, are the focus of the book. This richly illustrated volume also offers a detailed view of the uniforms, equipment and weaponry of the Bosniaks, from the formation of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian infantry and Jäger troops to their first deployment in the First World War, 1914 –1918. Finally, short biographies of numerous well-known people who served with the Bosniaks, for instance the once Austrian President, Dr Adolf Schärf, give the Old Army a face.
Feared by their enemies, respected by their comrades for their fighting spirit, the Bosnian-Herzegovinian troops were a reliable component of the Austro-Hungarian Army until the end of the First World War.
This book, produced in co-operation with the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum Vienna, the Austrian Federal Armed Forces and the Army Museum Budapest, as well as private collectors, is also a project intended to bring together different religious and ethnic groups.