Research Article

JOSEPHINE REFORM OF THE MILITARY FRONTIER AND THE AUSTRO-OTTOMAN WAR (1788 - 1791) ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE PETROVARADIN REGIMENT

Volume: 10 Number: 28 November 28, 2023
  • Pavao Nujıć
  • Damir Matanovıć
TR EN

JOSEPHINE REFORM OF THE MILITARY FRONTIER AND THE AUSTRO-OTTOMAN WAR (1788 - 1791) ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE PETROVARADIN REGIMENT

Abstract

Petrovaradin Regiment was a part of the Military Frontier, a border system of Habsburg Monarchy towards the Ottoman Empire and was located in Syrmia. Frontier regiments were both territorial, as well as military units, introduced in the mid-18th Century, and were of special interest for Emperor Joseph II in his military reforms. During the 1780s several solutions were discussed and tested, and in 1787 one final reform was implemented. The reform was introduced under the umbrella of a new cantonal system and brought significant changes to monolithic military structures of governance, economy, and life in Military Frontier territory. Among others, the cantonal system aimed to dissolve the unity of military governance in the frontier territory, as well as to reduce burdens imposed on local populations by the need to maintain a set number of soldiers on active duty even during a time of peace, which significantly diminished populations economic prosperity, while simultaneously increasing regiments strength and efficiency in times of war. The reform was fully enforced less than 10 months before the outbreak of the Austro-Ottoman War (1788 – 1791), where the new system saw its first major appliance. The process of implementation, as well as the experience of war, is observed in the case of the Petrovaradin Regiment.

Keywords

References

  1. Unpublished sources
  2. Croatian State Archive, Collection of sources concerning Croatia from foreign archives, archive signature HR-HDA-1450, Grenz Infanterie Regiment no. 9.
  3. Published sources and literature
  4. Aksan, Virginia H. Ottoman Wars 1700-1870 – An Empire Besieged. London and New York: Routledge, 2007.
  5. Bach, Franz. Povijest Otočke pukovnije. Zagreb, Otočac, 2010.
  6. Beales, Derek. Joseph II: Volume 2, Against the World, 1780-1790. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
  7. Blanning, T. C. W. Joseph II. New York and London: Routledge, 2013.
  8. Buczynski, Alexander. “Jozefinska reforma Vojne krajine.” In Pa to su samo Hrvati, 11-75. Zagreb: Croatian Institute of History, 2011. Buczynski, Alexander. “Jozefinska reforma Vojne krajine.” In Pa to su samo Hrvati, 11-75. Zagreb: Croatian Institute of History, 2011.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Ottoman history

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Damir Matanovıć This is me
0000-0002-9485-6699
Croatia

Publication Date

November 28, 2023

Submission Date

August 30, 2023

Acceptance Date

October 20, 2023

Published in Issue

Year 2023 Volume: 10 Number: 28

Chicago
Nujıć, Pavao, and Damir Matanovıć. 2023. “JOSEPHINE REFORM OF THE MILITARY FRONTIER AND THE AUSTRO-OTTOMAN WAR (1788 - 1791) ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE PETROVARADIN REGIMENT”. Osmanlı Mirası Araştırmaları Dergisi 10 (28): 619-40. https://doi.org/10.17822/omad.2023.258.