Krug nade i razočaranja: bosanskomuslimansko vjersko vodstvo i Veliki rat (1914.-1918.)
A Circle of Hope and Disappointment: the Bosnian Muslim Religious Leadership and World War One (1914-1918)

Summary/Abstract: The author analyzes the relationship between the Bosnian Muslim religious leadership and the events of World War I, including Austro-Hungarian war aims and the idea of a Yugoslav state and national unification. Muslim religious authorities and officials, led by the reis-ul-ulema, Mehmed Džemaludin ef. Čaušević, provided significant support to the Austro-Hungarian war effort, encouraging Bosniaks to be patriotic and conscientious in embracing sacrifice for the sake of their emperor and their homeland, but also for the sake of the Caliph and the well-being of the entire Islamic world. Čaušević, however, over time began to perceive the scale of recklessness and negligence displayed by the Austro-Hungarian military and political authorities towards Bosniaks and started to protest, lobbying the authorities to mitigate the suffering and distress of the domestic population. During 1917 the first advocates of the Yugoslav idea began to appear among the Bosnian Muslims, quickly winning the support of part of the Bosnian Muslim religious elite.

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