16th century After the
Croatian Parliament elected the
Austrian Habsburgs as
kings of Croatia in 1526,
Ferdinand I promised the Croatian Parliament that he would give them 200 cavalrymen and 200 infantrymen, and that he would pay for another 800 cavalrymen who would be commanded by the Croatians. Soon the
Habsburg monarchy founded another captaincy in
Bihać. In the short term, all this was ineffective, as in 1529 the Ottomans swept through the area, captured
Buda and besieged
Vienna, wreaking havoc throughout the Croatian border areas. The Habsburgs aimed at holding the Ottoman forces on Hungarian and Croatian territory before they could reach Austria, but did not have a clear defense plan. In the 1530s, significant reinforcements were sent only to the most important forts on the border with the Ottoman Empire. In the 1540s and following the Ottoman campaign of 1552, several conferences were held in which a new defense strategy was adopted. Separate defense zones were to be established in parts of Hungary and Croatia around the border forts. Austrian and Bohemian provinces were obligated to help finance this new system, beginning in the 1550s. At the end of the 1560s, the new border system consisted of around 100–120 forts and extended from the
Adriatic Sea to
Transylvania. It was organized into six Border Fortress Captain Generalcies (): • The Croatian and Adriatic Border Fortress Captain Generalcy (), centred initially in
Bihać, and from 1579 in
Karlovac; • The Slavonian or Wendish Captain Generalcy (), centred in
Varaždin, after 1578 known as the Wendish-Bajcsavár Captain Generalcy; • The Kanizsa Captain Generalcy (), centred in
Kanizsa. Renamed the Captain Generalcy across from Kanizsa () following the loss of Kanizsa in 1600; • The Györ Captain Generalcy (), protecting Vienna; • The Captain Generalcy Defending the Mining Towns (), centred in
Léva, and in
Érsekújvár after 1589; • The
Upper Hungary or Kassa Captain Generalcy (), centred in
Kassa. In addition, there were four District Captain Generalcies (). From the 1530s, immigration to the Military Frontier began to include a large number of
Martolos, Vlach military colonists and other irregulars who were part of the Ottoman military system, they were mostly Christians and some were Muslims. The new military expenditures became a considerable concern, and the Congress of
Inner Austrian lands in
Bruck an der Mur in 1578 defined the obligations of each land in covering the military expenses and defined the priorities in improving the defensive strategy. It was determined that the
Duchy of Styria will finance the Slavonian and Hungarian Frontiers, and the
Duchy of Carniola will finance the Croatian Frontier. The
Duchy of Carinthia put their finances at the disposal of Styria and Carniola, to direct the money where needed. In the 2nd half of the 16th century, there were around 20,000 troops stationed in Hungarian and Croatian border forts. By the end of the 16th century Slavicized Vlachs, other
Vlachs and
Serbs flee from Ottoman territory to Military Frontier and
Dalmatia. In November 1630,
Emperor Ferdinand II proclaimed the so-called
Statuta Valachorum ("Vlach Statute"), which regulated the status of so-called Vlach settlers (which included
Croats,
Serbs and
Vlachs) from the Ottoman Empire with regard to military command, their obligations, and rights to internal self-administration. Over time, the population of the Frontier (as it was then) became mixed between the autochthonous
Croats and Croatian serfs who had fled the Ottoman territories, and the numerous minority of the
Serb and
Vlach (who were later assimilated into
Croats and
Serbs) refugees who strove to expand their rights as a major contributor in the defense of the land. By creating the new military class in the Frontier, the territory of the Frontier eventually became fully detached from the Croatian Parliament and the
ban. As freedom of faith was granted to them, they preserved their Orthodox faith in spite of their living in a Catholic country. Eventually, the whole male population of the Military Frontier became professional soldiers who served the Empire on several fronts and through many European wars, even after the relaxation of the Ottoman threat. , portrays Serbian Patriarch
Arsenije III Čarnojević, surrounded by soldiers, flocks of sheep and women with babies, leading some 36,000 families from his seat in
Peć, to what is now Vojvodina in 1690, after the failure of a Serb revolt. During the 17th century territory of the Military Frontier was expanded towards the East and new sections were created. By then, it stretched from Croatia in the west to eastern
Transylvania in the east and included parts of present-day
Croatia,
Serbia,
Romania and
Hungary. The area was settled primarily with Croatian, Serbian and German colonists (known as
grenzer and
graničari) who, in return for land grants, served in the military units defending the empire against Ottomans.
18th century When in 1699 and 1718 the lands of Croatia and Hungary returned, which was previously occupied by the Ottomans, the vast majority of that area became the Military Frontier. Throughout the entire region of this frontier various ethnic groups were settled including Croats, Serbs, Albanians and others which were also all together called Vlachs. From 1718 to 1739 the Military Frontier also included the Habsburg-controlled northern parts of present-day
Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the mid-18th century the Frontier was once again reorganized and modelled after the Imperial army and its regular regiments. In 1737 the Vlach Statute was formally abolished. All previous captaincies and voivodships were discarded, and the area was instead subdivided into general-commands, regiments () and companies: •
Varaždin general command •
Križevci regiment •
Đurđevac regiment •
Karlovac general command •
Lika regiment •
Otočac regiment •
Ogulin regiment •
Slunj regiment •
Zagreb general command •
Glina regiment •
Petrinja regiment •
Slavonia general command •
Gradiška regiment •
Brod regiment •
Petrovaradin regiment •
Banat general command • Serb (Illyrian) section • German section • Romanian (Vlach) section After 1767, every twelfth inhabitant of the Military Frontier was a soldier – in contrast to every 62nd inhabitant in the rest of the Habsburg Monarchy. The Frontier soldiers became a professional military, ready to move to all European battlefields. Due to further immigration of refugees from the Ottoman domain, and to the expansion of the territory to places previously controlled by the Ottomans, the population of the Frontier became even more mixed. There were still many autochthonous Serbs and Croats in Slavonia and in parts of present-day Vojvodina (in Syrmia, Bačka and Banat). However, at this time they became outnumbered by the Serb, Croat and Vlach refugees/immigrants. Some
Germans,
Poles,
Magyars and
Slovaks also came to the Frontier, mostly as administrative personnel, and a number of other settlers and military personnel arrived from other parts of the Habsburg Empire –
Czechs,
Poles,
Slovaks,
Ukrainians,
Rusyns and others. In 1783 the Croatian and Slavonian frontiers came under the unified control of the Croatian General Command headquartered in
Zagreb. The
Serbian Free Corps of 5,000 soldiers had been established in Banat, composed of refugees who had fled earlier conflicts in the Ottoman Empire. The Corps would fight for the liberation of Serbia and for unification under Habsburg rule. The Austrians used the Corps in two failed attempts to seize Belgrade, in late 1787 and in early 1788. By 1791, however, the Austrians were forced into withdrawal across the
Danube and
Sava rivers, joined by thousands of Serb families who feared Ottoman persecution. The
Treaty of Sistova (1791) ended the
Austro-Turkish War of 1787. In 1787 the civil administration became separate from the military, but this was reversed in 1800.
19th century By the end of the 18th century, it had already become apparent for some time that the Ottomans
were on the decline and were not likely to attempt any further invasions north of the Sava River. The Military Frontier thus began to outlive its usefulness. In 1848,
Josip Jelačić,
Ban of Croatia, became the commander of the Military Frontier. He pressed for the unification of Croatia, Slavonia, Dalmatia, and the Croatian-Slavonian Frontier. Although he did not have the power to abolish it, he secured approval for reforms and in 1848 the Military Frontier sent representatives to the Croatian Sabor, however, this was revoked in the 1850s. From 1850 the Frontier, Croatia and Slavonia formally constituted a single land, but with separate administration and representation. The whole area of Military Frontier was under military administration. All population, regardless of age and sex, belonged to the army and was subject to Austrian military legislation. The Main Command had its headquarters in
Zagreb, but remained directly subordinate to the Ministry of War in Vienna. The Croatian Parliament made numerous pleas to demilitarize the Frontier after the Turkish wars subsided. The demilitarization began in 1869 and on 8 August 1873, under
Franz Joseph, the
Banat Frontier was abolished and incorporated into the
Kingdom of Hungary, while part of the
Croatian Frontier (Križevci and Đurđevac regiments) was already incorporated into
Croatia-Slavonia on 1 August 1871. The decree in which the rest of the Croatian and
Slavonian frontiers were incorporated into Croatia-Slavonia was proclaimed on 15 July 1881, while incorporation began on 1 August 1881, when
Ban of Croatia Ladislav Pejačević took over from the Zagreb General Command. == Administration ==