Activities of the Consular Missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the First Years of the Austro-Hungarian Occupation 1878 – 1881

Abstract

The system of capitulations was dominant from the 16th century in economic and political relations of the Ottoman Empire and the European countries. Capitulations had always emphasized the right of foreign consuls to execute consular jurisdiction in the territory of the Ottoman Empire. Since the Eyalet of Bosnia was an integral part of the Ottoman Empire, the consular jurisdiction of foreign consuls included that area, which had especially become significant in the 19th century when the leading European powers increasingly started to open their consulates in this part of the Empire. However, after Austria-Hungary occupied Bosnia in 1878, it aimed at terminating everything the capitulations contained regarding this area. The paper analyses the dynamics of termination of the consular jurisdiction of foreign consuls, the termination of the Austro-Hungarian consulates and the establishment of the new practice of appointment of foreign consuls in Bosnia and Herzegovina after 1878.