Bosnia

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

a province of Jugoslavia, in the N. W. of the Balkan Peninsula, W. of Servia. Area including Herzegovina and Novi-bazar, 23,570 square miles (of which Bosnia proper occupies 16,000), pop. about 1,900,000, mostly of Slavonian origin, and speaking the Serbian language. They are partly Mohammedans, partly Roman and Greek Catholics. The country is level toward the N.; in the S. mountainous. Its chief rivers are the Save, the Verbas, the Bosna, Rama, and Drina. About half the area is covered with forests. Tillage is carried on in the valleys and low grounds; maize, wheat, barley, rye, buckwheat, hemp, tobacco, etc., being grown. Fruits are produced in abundance. Sheep, goats, and swine are numerous. The minerals include coal, which is worked in several places, manganese, antimony, iron, etc. Among the iron goods, arms, manufactures are leather, linens, and woolens. Sarajevo, the capital, was the scene of the assassination of the GRAND-DUKE FRANCIS FERDINAND (q. v.) and his consort on June 24, 1914, which led to the World War. Bosnia, in ancient times a part successively of Illyria, Pannonia, and Dalmatia, was, during the great migrations occupied by Slavs or Slavonized Illyrians, at first dependent on Hungary; but it became a kingdom in 1376, under Tivartko, a native prince. Occupied by the Turks in 1401, it was annexed in 1463, but not recognized by Europe as a Turkish province till 1699. Extortionate taxation caused a rebellion of the Christians, in 1849, suppressed by Omar Pasha; but a more determined rising in 1875, which the Turks failed to put down, led to the occupation of the province by the Austro- Hungarians, which the Moslem population opposed in a fierce but unavailing struggle. The Treaty of Berlin formally intrusted the administration to Austria- Hungary, the nominal supremacy of the Sultan being recognized in 1879. From 1880 Austrian methods of government were gradually introduced. On Oct. 5, 1908, in violation of the Treaty of Berlin, Austria extended her sovereignty over Bosnia and Herzegovina, supported in the war by Germany. Serbia was all for war against her powerful neighbor, but Russia being unprepared for a conflict with Austria and Germany, urged moderation. After the break-up of Austria in 1918, Bosnia became a part of the new state of Jugoslavia. BOSPORUS or BOSPHORUS, the strait, 19 miles long, joining the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmora, called also the Strait of Constantinople. Prior to the World War it was defended by a series of strong forts; and by agreement of the European powers no ship of war belonging to any nation could pass the Bosporus without the permission of Turkey. Over this channel (about 3,000 feet wide) Darius constructed a bridge of boats on his Scythian expedition. The Cimmerian Bosporus was the name given by the ancients to the strait that leads from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov. There was also, anciently, a kingdom of the name of Bosporus, so called from this strait, on both sides of which it was situated. The Bosporus was the scene of great activities during the World War. See DARDANELLES; TURKEY; WORLD WAR.