Draft:Battle of Tuzla (1878)

The battle of Tuzla was a two-month battle during the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Part of the Muslims was in favor of the fact that if the Ottoman Empire cannot remain, let another superpower come to power. Among the people, mostly Muslims, there was an opposing current that wanted and worked to keep things as they were and to defend the homeland from any attacker who would go to Bosnia. Many Muslims agreed with this trend. The Austrian imperial army advanced in the occupation of Bosnia and the settlements in Bosnia fell one after the other.

Battle of Tuzla
Part of the Austro-Hungarian campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Date End of July – 22 September 1878 Location Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina Result Austro-Hungarian victory
Belligerents
Austria-Hungary	Bosnia Vilayet Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Szapary Bienert	Mehmed Vehbi Šemsekadić

However, some pockets of resistance were extremely persistent. Tuzla and Zvornik remained among the last. Tuzla fell after a long battle. Zvornik surrendered without weapons and without resistance five days after the capture of Tuzla.  After interventions III. and IV. choir and fierce skirmishes on Mount Majevica, Tuzla was captured on September 22.

Arrival of the Austro-Hungarian army

Austro-Hungarian forces came before Tuzla. On August 8, 1878, six Austrian battalions, 5,000 infantry, one squadron of cavalry, a total of 130 horsemen and three battalions with eight guns each headed for it.

Among the Muslims who opposed the occupation, the leaders were Hadži Hašimaga Mutevelić, muderis Tosun ef. Kifić, Salih Tučić Sahačija and others from the armed people ("ehalija"). The last Pasha in Tuzla, Muhetin Pasha, was interned in his house. A few days before the first Austro-Hungarian invasion, the Kladniks came to Tuzla on horseback and stripped Pasha of his clothes and dressed him in Bosnian clothes instead of his uniform. Then they immediately returned.

Turmoil among Muslims

A few days later, the Muslim interim government lasted until a new leader was appointed. The people of Zvornik came and with them Alijaga Talirević who lived there. Armed Muslim opponents of the occupation appointed Alijaga Talirević to the position of elder. Armed Zvornik residents with an armed regiment from Tuzla were preparing to meet the Austro-Hungarian attack. They took the youth and women to the Tuzla area, so only adults who could fight remained in the village. Part of the Muslims collected signatures for the Austro-Hungarian government. Muslim supporters of Austria-Hungary had to hide from the supporters of the resistance. They were hiding from the armed Muslim opponents of the occupation, and before the arrival of Mufti Taslidžak, they took refuge in Tuzla, disguised as Ferez. One prominent opponent took refuge in Morančani with the Catholic Croats, where he was hidden by friars. However, he was found, taken to his Dobrna where he was imprisoned until the Austro-Hungarian victory. Mufti Ganibegović took refuge in Dolove near Ibra Jahić.

The first fights

The first skirmishes with imperial troops were near Planin, near the later Bistarca station, on a Thursday at the end of July. On that day, the imperial forces camped in Bukinje in front of Donja Tuzla . On the other side, the people of Rogatic came to the aid of Tuzla and immediately entered the battle at Ravna Trešnja . In Tuzla, on that day, they opened a military ammunition depot in Gradina, which they distributed to the people for the fight. In the area of the Tuzla region, the resistance of local Muslims was led by Mufti Mehmed Vehbi Šemsekadić of Pljeval. On August 7, 1878, he arrived in Tuzla with his 1,000 soldiers, and on the western approaches to Tuzla he was joined by defenders from Kladnje, Srebrenik, Lukavac and Zvornik.

Around 10 am on August 9, the fighting for Tuzla began. The forces of the Muslim opponents were 3,000 men. Mufti of Pljeval , Mehmed Vehbi Šemsekadić was the main organizer of the defense.

On Friday, the bitter fight continued. Around noon of the same day, about two hundred horsemen arrived with Mufti Taslidžak. Taslidžak immediately took command of all the fighting units, and he forced the previously unengaged forces of the armed people to join the fighters and fight together with other Muslims who participated in the battle. The mufti reluctantly forced all those who opposed the fight and those who tried to avoid the fighting to fight with a whip. Mufti Taslidžak further organized the Muslim popular resistance by placing four cannons, one at each point: at Ilinčica, at Papinac, where a hospital was later built, the third at Borić, and the fourth at Bukovčice. The remaining ammunition from the warehouse at Gradina Taslidžak was collected and distributed to the fighters. In the meantime, the Austro-Hungarian forces came to the Moluccas and Rasovac.

On August 9, the mufti ordered firing from those four positions. The infantry readily clashed with the Austro-Hungarian army at Kozlovac, Ravna Trešnja and Mosnik . The Austro-Hungarian army was stopped by fierce resistance. Fights were fought throughout Friday, lasted into the night and continued until Saturday noon. The stubborn resistance of the locals forced the Austro-Hungarian forces to retreat. Fierce firing from all sides and the arrival of the Muslim peasantry from the surrounding area to the aid of the mufti and the armed Muslim citizens achieved an effect.  Thus, already on that day, the Austro-Hungarian forces were stopped in front of Tuzla on Moluhama and Husin, beaten and forced to retreat towards Gračanica.

The morning hours of August 10 saw decisive battles on the Moluccas. On the southern side, the Muslim forces were more successful, and on the northern side of the battlefield, the Austro-Hungarian army achieved good results and penetrated to the Tušanjski potok. The main battle was fought on the site of today's Slobode Stadium. There were many dead and seriously wounded Austrian soldiers lying on the battlefield mixed in with the Muslim opponents of the occupation who had died storming the positions of Szapary's army. Due to fierce defense, the Austro-Hungarian army stopped the attack in the afternoon. On that day, the people of Tuzla filled the units of the opponents of the occupation where there were losses. Austro-Hungarian troops had many dead on the battlefield, which he buried on the Moluccas . The buried soldiers were later transferred to Borić , where there was also a Catholic cemetery, but until then there was no such place.

Muslim insurgents captured Tuzla on August 13. The lateral positions of the Austro-Hungarian forces were exposed to attacks by mufti's troops from the direction of Tušanj - Moluha and Mosnik - Miladije, so Field Marshal Szapary, the commander of the Austro-Hungarian forces, had to retreat all the way to Doboj.  Taslidžak engaged in persecution of the Austro-Hungarian forces. He chased them to Becelje near Trbuk and Šahin kamen.  Szapary managed to stop Šemsekadić's attacks near Doboj and they dug in there. At that, the Muslim forces dug in and held their position for six weeks.

The situation on the surrounding battlefields was not favorable for the Muslim opponents of the occupation. Imperial forces advanced everywhere and captured Sarajevo, Travnik, Rogatica, Krajina and other places, and recently captured Brčko from where they were approaching Tuzla. It is estimated that around 100,000 new Austro-Hungarian soldiers went to the increasingly isolated Tuzla. They advanced towards it from two sides: from Brčko and Doboj. They were commanded by Generals Bienert and Szapary. The favorable position achieved by the rejection was risky to hold, so the mufti, seeing the danger of being surrounded and cut off, retreated back to Tuzla.  Austro-Hungarian forces penetrated through Brčko and Bijeljina towards Tuzla, which forced the Muslim forces to retreat. Tuzla was finally occupied by Austria-Hungary on September 22, 1878

Majevica

He was preparing a new defensive line on Majevica . Towards the imperial forces, Taslidžak sent the troops of Hadži Hasimaga Mutevelić with armed people, who were motivated and held back the Austro-Hungarian forces for a while. Mufti Taslidžak held a defensive position on the western side of Tuzla. A fierce battle took place on Majevica.

Regrouping and environment

The forces of III arrived. and IV. call to help. The Austro-Hungarian forces could now regroup and attack. Gračanica was liberated on September 16 and Lukavac on September 19.

Austro-Hungarian forces broke through from the eastern side. There was a threat of encirclement, because in the meantime the imperial forces had occupied Bijeljina and Brčko, and only Zvornik remained. The end of Ramadan was approaching for Muslims . Therefore, on September 23, Taslidžak was forced to withdraw and go to Zvornik. He moved along the Drina with his Taslidžians and some Bosnian leaders, among whom were: Selim bey Šahinpašić from Šapka, Alijaga Tahirević, Esad ef. Alikadić from Zenica and others. The mufti and his company continued their escape towards the Ottoman Empire, where they remained.

Before entering

Austro-Hungarian forces camped in front of Tuzla and spent the night before entering. The day after, the Austro-Hungarian army was met by envoys from Tuzla. Živko Crnogorčević, Hadži Ibriš and Croat Boško Štitić appeared in front of General Szapary on the western side. On the eastern side, Mustajbeg Azabagić, a Toscan Jew also known as "Gjorgjo Kalajđija" or Niko Petrić, appeared before General Bienart. They entered Tuzla on September 22 and the Habsburg flag fluttered on the Tuzla fortress.

Showdown with opponents

After a few days, an investigation followed. It was directed against armed peoples ("echalia") and their champions who fought. Salih Salačija, the closest associate of Pljeval mufti Šemsekadić, was shot under Bukovčići , because he went to call for help the mufti of Taslidžak in order to resist Austria-Hungary. The pardon came too late. Hadžije Hašim-aga Mutevelić and his brother Hadži-Alijaga, and Hadžije-Mujaga Ćilimković and Hašim-aga Hadžiefendić were immediately imprisoned.

Five days after Tuzla, Zvornik surrendered, without weapons or resistance.  Livno was liberated on September 28, and Velika Kladuša on October 20.

References

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• Battles of the Austro-Hungarian campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878