Herzegovina Uprising 1875–77 | |||||||
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Part of Rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire | |||||||
An illustrated depiction of Bogdan Zimonjić, Mićo Ljubibratić, Stojan Kovačević, and Pecija in the 1876 issue of Orao, a Serb annual magazine published in Novi Sad. |
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Ottoman Empire | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Omar Pasha | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
50,000+ | Unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown |
The Herzegovina uprising of 1875–77 (Serbo-Croatian: Hercegovački ustanak, Serbian Cyrillic: Херцеговачки устанак) was an uprising led by ethnic Serbs against the Ottoman Empire, firstly and predominantly in Herzegovina (hence its name), from where it spread into Bosnia. It is the most significant of the rebellions against Ottoman rule in Herzegovina. The uprising was precipitated by the harsh treatment under the beys and aghas of the Ottoman province (vilayet) of Bosnia — the reforms announced by the Turkish Sultan Abdülmecid I, involving new rights for Christian subjects, a new basis for army conscription, and an end to the much-hated system of tax-farming, were either resisted or ignored by the powerful Bosniak landowners. They frequently resorted to more repressive measures against their Christian subjects. The tax burden on Christian peasants constantly increased.
The rebels were aided with weapons and volunteers from the Principalities of Montenegro and Serbia, whose governments eventually jointly declared war on the Ottomans on 18 June 1876, leading to the Serbo-Turkish War (1876–78) and Montenegrin–Ottoman War (1876–78), which in turn led to the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78) and Great Eastern Crisis. A result of the uprisings and wars was the Berlin Congress in 1878, which gave Montenegro and Serbia independence and more territory, while Austro-Hungary occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina for 30 years, although it remained de jure Ottoman territory.