History of Military Border: 1871-1881

Rothenberg's The Military Border in Croatia, 1740-1881

Period: 1871-1881
Chapter 10: The Last Years of the Military Border: 1871-81

Key Family History Connections / Information of Interest:

• The military border officially ends 10 years after the Emperor had first signed the decree for its dissolution.

[NOTE: The Udbina area is located in Lika which was located in the Karlstadt generalcy.  Any references to these larger units provides insights into life in the Udbina area.]

Quotes from Chapter:

"The resolutions of June 8, 1871, signaled the actual start of the dissolution of the Croatian-Slavonian Military Border.  To be sure, the process was slow and it was only in 181 that the last remnant s of the military administration were liquidated.  Certain Hungarian and Croatian circles blamed the slow pace on the 'military who still were able to delay implementation of this important, decision,' but actually there was no longer any military opposition. The problem of the Croatian Military Border had moved out of the realm of military affairs and into the arena of Croatian party policies and the wider context of the nationality struggle within the Habsburg Empire."   (Page 180)

"During the final years f the military administration, there were great efforts to improve the economic and cultural circumstances of the Grenzer that had remained well below the level of the other provinces of the empire.  This was not so readily apparent in the Warasdin and Slavonian districts, always the most prosperous, but in western Croatia, especially in the Lika, Szluin, Ogulin, and Ottoschatz districts there prevailed 'ignorance, superstition, brutality, even barbarism.' There were few schools, and only one institution beyond the elementary level, at Karlstadt.  Only 33 per cent of the boys and 25 per cent of the girls attended schools of any kind.  Over 75 per cent of the population were illiterate.  Agriculture had remained retarded and by 1870 the level of productivity had not risen above that achieved at the beginning of the century, despite the continual rise in population.  This in part explained the low state of public safety in these regions.  After two hundred years of military government, it was still necessary for Mollinary to take a strong escort on his first tour of inspection." (Page 187)

Links to the posts for the various time periods (each covered in a chapter of the book):
1500-1740
1740-1756
1756-1780
1780-1790
1790-1809
1804-1814
1815-1847
1848-1859
1859-1871
1871-1881