Austria–Serbia relations

Foreign relations exist between Austria and Serbia and their predecessor states. Austria has an embassy in Belgrade. Serbia has an embassy in Vienna and a general consulate in Salzburg. Austria is a European Union member and Serbia is a European Union candidate.

History

The history of relations between the two countries goes back to the Great Turkish War, Habsburg-occupied Serbia (1686–91) and Great Serb Migrations (formation of Military Frontier and building of Petrovaradin Fortress), to the era when the Kingdom of Serbia (1718–1739) had been a province of the Habsburg monarchy, and the last Austro-Turkish War (1787–91) at the time of Habsburg-occupied Serbia (1788–92).

Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were assassinated by Gavrilo Princip ( *Domenica del Corriere*, 12 July 1914)

Foreign relations, as such, date from the proclamation of the Austrian Empire in 1804 and the formation in 1817 of the Principality of Serbia, an autonomous state within the Ottoman Empire. The Habsburg recognized the independence of Serbia and established diplomatic relations in 1874, supported by the Treaty of Berlin (1878).

Hungarian suppression of Serbian revolts during the 1848 Revolutions were not opposed by the Habsburg rulers. Serbian claims were not recognized by Hungary was eventually placated with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, further angering Serbian nationalists. One notable flare-up between the two countries was the 1906-1909 economic conflict known as the Pig War followed with the diplomatic and military crisis over the Austrian annexation of Bosnia which contributed to inflame pan-Serb sentiment and helped lay the grounds for World War I.^[1] Ultimately, the tensions between the two countries could not withstand the strain of the Assassination of the Austrian Archduke, by a young Bosnian Serb, an opportunity for the Austro-Hungarian government to solve Slav nationalism.^[2]

Following the July Crisis, Austro-Hungary launched three unsuccessful offensives to punish Serbia for allegedly supporting the assassins. In October 1915 with the help of German and Bulgarian forces, Serbia was finally conquered and divided into separate occupation zones. The northern three-quarters of Serbia was placed under a harsh Austro-Hungarian occupational regime until its liberation by allied forces in 1918.^[3]

The First World War eventually destroyed the Austro-Hungarian Empire, leaving a shrunken First Austrian Republic as a rump state. Serbia annexed much of the former Austrian holdings in the Balkans to become the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Austria was eventually annexed by Germany in 1938, ending its separate foreign relations. During World War II, Serbian prisoners of war were among Allied POWs held in the Stalag XVII-A, Stalag XVII-B, Stalag XVIII-A, Stalag XVIII-B, Stalag 317/XVIII-C and Stalag 398 German POW camps and forced labour subcamps in German-annexed Austria.^[4]

A number of Serb medical doctors and veterinarians got educated in Austria during the interwar period and earlier as well.^[5]

Population

There are between 200,000 and 300,000 people of Serbian descent living in Austria.^[6] There are also 3,000 Austrian expats in Serbia, making it home to the largest Austrian population in the Eastern European region (besides Romania).

Diplomacy

Serbia has an embassy in Vienna and a consulate-general in Salzburg
Austria has an embassy in Belgrade and a consulate-general in Niš

Austrian Embassy in Belgrade
Serbian embassy in Vienna

References

^ Gardner, H. (2016). The Failure to Prevent World War I: The Unexpected Armageddon. Military Strategy and Operational Art. Taylor & Francis. p. 165. ISBN 978-1-317-03217-5.
^ Martel, G. (2016). Origins of the First World War. Seminar Studies. Taylor & Francis. p. 173. ISBN 978-1-134-85703-6.
^ Calic, M.J.; Geyer, D. (2019). A History of Yugoslavia. Central European studies. Purdue University Press. ISBN 978-1-55753-838-3.
^ Megargee, Geoffrey P.; Overmans, Rüdiger; Vogt, Wolfgang (2022). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. pp. 307, 386, 484–487, 490, 492. ISBN 978-0-253-06089-1.
^ Gašić, Ranka (2005). Beograd u hodu ka Evropi: Kulturni uticaji Britanije i Nemačke na beogradsku elitu 1918–1941. Belgrade: Institut za savremenu istoriju. p. 168. ISBN 86-7403-085-8.
^ 20 Minuten Online: Serben-Demo eskaliert in Wien