PITANJE ŽELJEZNIČKE VEZE MONARHIJE SA ISTOKOM U AUSTROUGARSKOJ POLITICI GRADNJE PRIKLJUČNIH ŽELJEZNIČKIH LINIJA U PRAVCU BOSNE POSLIJE BERLINSKOG KONGRESA
THE QUESTION OF THE RAILROAD CONNECTION OF THE MONARCHY WITH THE EAST IN THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN POLICY OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF CONNECTING RAILROAD LINES IN THE DIRECTION OF BOSNIA AFTER THE CONGRESS OF BERLIN

Summary/Abstract: The author first provided an extensive review of the faith of the plans to connect the Habsburg Monarchy with Turkey before the Congress of Berlin, dealing especially with Austro-Hungarian differences concerning the attempt at the realization of the plan to construct the railroad going through Bosnia. The Hungarians, on whose consent after the Agreement of 1867 depended the connection of Balkan railroads with Austrian railroads, stipulated at the beginning for the construction of the Bosnian line by a simultaneous building of a railroad through Serbia which would connect Budapest, in a most direct way, along Morava Valley, with Thessalonica and Istanbul. The Hungarian interests played a significant role in the steps taken by Andrassy, while, on the other hand, there was present for a long time in the Austrian general public a dilemma about the most favorable route for a railroad connection with the Orient. Otherwise, in Austro-Hungarian communications plans and policies, Bosnia before the occupation was considered primarily as a possible transit area on the route leading to the East; only secondarily was it considered in the light of an immediate economic interest when the question of a railroad connection between the Monarchy and Bosnia was raised. In the new political arrangements after the Congress of Berlin the building of a railroad connection with Thessalonica and Istanbul via Serbia became an immediate aim of Austro-Hungarian politics, while securing the right for the building of a railroad through Sandžak could, at the Congress of Berlin, have a significance only for the future. However, in view of new difficulties and uncertainties relating to the realization of the railroad line along the Morava Valley, in the Austrian general public there could be heard voices demanding the construction of the Bosnian line, so that the polemic about the most favorable connection with the Orient was revived. This caused a suspicion with the Hungarians, who were decisively against a possible construction of the Bosnian line before the establishment of a railroad connection through Serbia. This influenced to a significant extent the formulation of Hungarian policy toward the construction of railroads in the direction of Bosnia o-n the territory of Hungary. The problem of the construction of connecting railroads from Sisak, Osijek, and Dalj, where railroad connections ended at the time, on to Dohrljin and Bred, represented a special episode in the Austro-Hungarian railroad policy and overlapped with the basic questions of the Dual Monarchy Balkan politics and with the relationship between Austria and Hungary. . Immediately before the start of military operations for the occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Ministry of War demanded the establishment of a railroad connection between Dalj and Brod and planned the construction of a railroad from Brod in the direction of the Bosnia Valley where the main operation line was meant to take place. At the same time it also demanded the construction of the railroad between Sisak and Dobrljin and the reopening of traffic on the railroad between Dobrljin and Banja Luka. Although, only the construction of the railroad Vinkovci—Brod had been legally agreed upon, the Hungarian government decided on its own responsibility to begin immediately the construction of the railroad Dalj — Vinkovci, having in view the fact that the construction of a railroad in the Bosnia Valley would best suit the comercial and transportation interests of Hungary. It considered desirable the building of the Bosnia Valley railroad before the establishment of the connection Sisak — Novi — Banja Luka, the more so because of the fact that the Serbian railroad had not yet been built. At any event, Hungary desired, as far as its relationship with Austria was concerned to ensure for itself a more suitable connection with the East by way of Bosnia. The Hungarian government refused in 1878 to, circumventing the normal parliamentary procedure, grant the concession to Siidbahn for the building and exploitation of the railroad Sisak — Dobrljin, doing this not only for constitutional reasons but also for fear that a main railroad line might be built from Banja Luka to Thessalonica, thus going outside the Hungarian territory. All the assurances on the part of the Emperor and ministers of both countries about the groundlessness of such fears were not sufficient to make the Hungarian government, which had to take into account the feeling in the Parliament, change its position. Count J. Andrassy came to believe that there would be more political harm in the construction of the railroad Sisak — Dobrljin than benefit in its use for military supplies. He was afraid that on this issue the Hungarian government might fall; therefore he deemed it better to submit the matter to the Parliament later, when it might be possible to convince the public and the representative body that Hungarian interests were not jeopardized. To this solution the Emperor also had to agree. During the debates between the Austrian and the Hungarian government concerning the question of making a commercial and railroad treaty with Serbia, conducted in the spring of 1879 simultaneously with the renewed negotiations between the two governments about the establishment of basic principles of the rule over Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Austrian government tried to make its consent to negotiate about a Serbian railroad convention a condition dependent on the granting of the Sisak — Dobrljin railroad concession to Sudbahn. The Hungarian government was decidedly opposed to this. During the negotiations an agreement was reached by which both governments were bound not to extend the railroad from Banja Luka toward Thessalonica or Istanbul before the completion of the railroad connection along the Morava Valley. Only after an express declaration by the Austrian government that the Serbian connecting line on to Turkish railroads ought to precede the Bosnian one, the Hungarian government accepted the demand for the construction of the Sisak — Dobrljin railroad and agreed to submit a bill thereon in its Parliament, The railroad mentioned just now was not completed until April 10, 1882, at which time the construction of the Serbian railroad line had already been assured and the cartel contract between the Hungarian state railroads and Siidbahn (on September 1, 1881) had taken place, by which these railroads were placed in the position to actually control the Dobrljin — Banja Luka railroad as well. The author described in the end how, generally speaking, it was the Hungarian government that won a decisive victory in the realization of a railroad connection of the Monarchy with the Orient.

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