Chapter 190: East-West Division

Western Bosnia.

There are 150,000 Croats in Western Bosnia, accounting for 35% of the local population. However, after a large number of Bosniaks and Serbs left, they became the largest ethnic group here.

As for Eastern Bosnia, there are almost no Croats living there, so they don't have to suffer the pain of migration, let alone participate in the unlimited chicken-eating competition.

These people used to be called "Laiya", which means livestock, that is, the so-called three-class people. In the past, the first-class people were obviously Bosniaks, the second-class people were the larger Serbs, and the third-class people were Croats.

Historically, in order to maintain the stability of the rule, the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not Austrianize this area, but tried to maintain the status quo, and even strengthened the local traditional authority (religion and patriarchy).

This directly led to Bosnia becoming the poorest and most chaotic province in the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire, previously Dalmatia.

The Croatians were naturally very welcome to join the Austrian Empire.

After all, they became "first-class people" overnight, and a Croatian general was sent to rule them.

Now the local Croatians are truly singing the song of serfs who have risen from the dead, and their compatriots in the Austrian Empire have also begun to support them.

The Croatian region has always been a relatively poor province in Austria, but they still gathered a lot of food, weapons, and livestock to support their brothers who have just returned.

The Bosnians are more miserable. They either convert to become Croatians, or go to East Bosnia to participate in the unlimited chicken-eating competition, or stay where they are and be beaten by the supported Croatians.

The local Serbs are similar. They either choose to be obedient subjects of the Austrian Empire or go to New Serbia. If they want to continue to fight against the country, Austria has many troops good at mountain warfare waiting for them.

In the Belgrade area, Austria sent heavy troops to defend it, preparing to build it into a truly impregnable city.

As for the Austrian newspapers, they will not mention the deal between the Austrian Empire and Serbia, but will only write about Archduke Franz leading his army to recapture Belgrade.

Hungarians have always believed that Croatians are a great threat to them because their territory is too large, and like Hungary, they have a military tradition and are also rich in elite troops.

Hungary has never given up suppressing Croatia, whose land area is second only to Hungary in the territory of the Crown of St. Stephen.

However, the population of the latter is only about one-third of that of Hungarians, and the population growth rate is ridiculously slow, from 2.4 million in the early 19th century to just over 3 million at the end of the 19th century.

You must know that the 19th century was a stage of explosive population growth in Europe, and the population of Germany doubled during the same period.

If Western Bosnia is included in the Kingdom of Croatia, its strength will be further strengthened. In this way, Hungary, which was already weak, will find it even more difficult to rule Croatia.

Of course, the Hungarians will definitely not agree, and will even obstruct it in every possible way, which will further increase the contradiction between Croatia and Hungary.

In the eyes of the Croatians, the merger with Western Bosnia was to save their fellow countrymen, and the Hungarians had no reason to interfere.

The three old ways Hungary used to deal with Croatia were to suppress Croatian officials, increase land rents and taxes, and at the same time throw dirty water on Croatia, saying that they were preparing for independence, and then take the opportunity to arrest some Croatian officers.

In fact, a large amount of arable land and pastures in Croatia were in the hands of Hungarians, but the people responsible for farming and grazing were Croatians.

There were indeed many people in Croatia who served as officials in Hungary, after all, they belonged to the Crown of St. Stephen. And for ordinary Croatian officials, this was their only way to be promoted.

At the same time, except for a few local defense forces, most of the military was also controlled by Hungary.

And they really had no intention of rebelling, so they were controlled by Hungary every time.

However, at this time, under the opposition of Hungary, West Bosnia became the royal territory, and as the governor, General Jelačić could use various legitimate reasons to allocate food and other materials from Vojvodina Province through Croatia.

At the same time, civil servants no longer had to look at Hungary's face for promotion. They could enter the royal territory and then be directly promoted to Neretania as an official like Count Korolav.

The registration office of the Imperial Army in the West Bosnia region was almost overwhelmed. After all, joining the St. Stephen's Champion Team in Croatia only cost 43 florins, while joining the Imperial Army could get 100 florins.

The division of East and West was the best way to transform the West Bosnia region into Austrian territory in a short period of time.

Croatia had a disadvantage, that is, it was poor, the land was barren, the products were scarce, and it lacked important resources. Even food could not be self-sufficient for a long time.

During this period, almost all Croatian men had joined the army of the Austrian Empire because being a soldier could provide a stable income to support their families, and if they died in battle, they could receive a pension.

It is also because of this that the Croatians never thought of breaking away from the empire and becoming independent.

There is no need to worry about the Hungarians taking advantage of the food problem to attack Croatia, because the rich Vojvodina can definitely feed the whole of Croatia, and if that doesn't work, it can continue to transport through the Danube waterway.

As Hungary's sanctions intensify and Croatians' dependence on Hungary decreases, the contradictions between the two sides will become greater and greater.

As for the importance of Belgrade, it has been mentioned many times before, so I won't repeat it. One of the bigger impacts is that Austria's southeastern defense focus will be transferred from Novi Sad to Belgrade.

East Bosnia.

The massacre of foreigners by Serbian locals came to an abrupt end with the arrival of an envoy from Belgrade.

This envoy was none other than Milos.

He was not willing to fail, and the Serbs in East Bosnia were unwilling to accept a new government. The two hit it off, but the Serbian army was not the corrupt and incompetent army of the Ottomans.

The Serbian army was best at guerrilla warfare, so they needed allies to fight against the powerful Serbian army together.

At first, the Bosnians thought it was a trap, but as soon as the Serbian army entered East Bosnia, a fierce conflict broke out between the two sides.

The Bosnians were no match for the Serbs on the front battlefield, so they captured young men who had migrated from West Bosnia on the one hand, and on the other hand, they extended an olive branch to Milos.

But the coalition forces in East Bosnia were still no match for the Serbian army. The coalition forces could only turn to underground guerrilla warfare and capture young men more frantically.

The Serbian army, which had suffered losses, also needed to capture young men to replenish its troops. Although their nominal monarch was Milos's son, the actual power was controlled by the Seventeen-Man Parliament.

The Seventeen-Man Parliament would naturally not let Milos succeed, because this was not only related to their rights, but also to their lives.

As the ultimate victims of this unlimited chicken-eating competition, the West Bosnians were unwilling to be slaughtered, and they formed their own teams to counterattack.

In fact, the Seventeen-Man Parliament was also forced to do so, because after giving up Belgrade, Serbia's original land would have no defenses.

Sarajevo in East Bosnia is not only a Serbian settlement, but also a strong city that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. In addition, Milos fled there.

The Seventeen-Man Parliament had to capture it. East Bosnia nominally belonged to the Ottoman territory. Although Austria and Serbia made a deal, they could not get the recognition of the local natives.

At first, the Seventeen-Man Parliament thought that as long as the local Bosniaks were eliminated, the local Serbs would be willing to accept them.

But unexpectedly, the opposite happened. The Serbs and Bosniaks in East Bosnia joined hands to defend Sarajevo. This time, Serbia became the invader, but they had to fight.

Because they wanted to leave a piece of white land for the Austrian Empire, the Seventeen-Man Parliament moved as many local people in Belgrade as possible and promised them that they would give them a better life.

Unlimited chicken-eating competition means that men, women, old people, and even children may become your enemies on the side of the road, in the rice fields, and in the alleys of the city, regardless of day or night. This kind of battle is a heavy blow to the morale of the army and a mental torture.

However, misfortunes never come alone. Vucic, who has been silent for a long time, once again raised the banner of rebellion. This time he wants to overthrow Milos and the 17-member parliament.

(Vucic is an agent supported by the Russians, but he failed because of misjudgment of the situation before.)