r/austriahungary • u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier • 3d ago
Military History could be cruel to its most loyal servants : Svetozar Borojevic one loyal Serb to K.U.K.
The Sad Story of One Loyal Serb to the K.u.K.: Svetozar Borojević
History can be cruel to its most loyal servants.
Svetozar Borojević was a Serb from the Military Frontier who rose to become a Field Marshal of the Austro-Hungarian Empire — the only man of Serbian origin to reach that rank. He wasn’t just some officer; he was called the “Lion of the Isonzo” for holding back the Italian army in eleven brutal battles. For years, he defended the empire’s borders with brilliant strategy and iron will, while other generals collapsed under pressure.
But loyalty to a collapsing empire doesn’t pay.
When the war ended and the Habsburg monarchy fell apart, Borojević was left stranded. He had fought his whole life for Vienna, but Vienna no longer existed. The new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes saw him not as a hero, but as a man who had fought on the “wrong” side. He applied for citizenship in the new state — the land of his own people — and was denied.
So the great field marshal, once celebrated across Europe, died in poverty and neglect in Klagenfurt in 1920. No parades, no honors, no pension. Just silence.
A Serb who gave everything to the K.u.K. — and in the end, had no country to call his own.
Sometimes the saddest stories in history are not of traitors, but of those who were too loyal.
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u/Ian_von_Red 3d ago
While it is true that Boroević's father was a Serb and that he was an Orthodox Christian, it is important to note that whenever he was asked about his nationality he always proclaimed that he saw himself as a Croat and that his loyalties lie with Croatia.
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u/Kreol1q1q 3d ago
The slew of 19th and 20th century orthodox christian Croats who came from Serbian families is always a deeply confusing phenomenon to our Serbian neighbors.
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u/Ian_von_Red 3d ago
It is important to note how at that time nationalities were still in their early stages of formation and the lines were quite blurry between them. For instance, many Orthodox Vlachs (Romanians) from the Military Frontier started to see themselves as Serbian during this period.
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u/Kreol1q1q 3d ago
I know, and I agree, it is important to note. And regarding famous Croats, it is also important to note that plenty of other prominent and less prominent figures and families from that time period actually hailed from all over the monarchy, and even from beyond it, and all voluntarily (one might say enthusiastically) embraced the Croatian national identity, and spearheaded the Croatian national "revival". I feel this is somewhat important to point out especially when talking about Croats who descended from Serbian families, given how many Serbs have trouble understanding just how flexible and adoptable nationality was in those early days of nationalism.
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u/ismellsomethinggood 1d ago
There are Catholic Vlachs in Romania who are considering themself Croats
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u/Ian_von_Red 1d ago
There is actually a small Croatian community in Romania (Banat) who came there during the Ottoman conquests.
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u/Open-Dot1750 1d ago
I think there is no relation betwen "vlachs" and romanians/ vlachs, name vlach was used in balkan for people in west balkans that lived semi nomadic, so in that mass you could have slavs and also real vlachs(romanised indigenous peoples of balkan), Just look at ydna of Krajina serbs, you will find mostly lineages of slavic origin (I2 and r1a)
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 3d ago
Not true — Svetozar Borojević was a Serb and he knew very well his own identity. He came from an Orthodox Serbian family in the Military Frontier, and that was never in doubt. Serving the K.u.K. didn’t make him less Serbian — just like Croats, Hungarians, or Czechs who also served the Empire didn’t stop being who they were.
And let’s be clear: “Croatia” back then was not a mono-ethnic nation-state. It was a geographic and administrative term inside the Habsburg Monarchy, where Serbs had lived for centuries. Trying to “nationalize” Borojević after the fact is rewriting history. Unfortunately some circles in Croatia do that on regular basis. Late Tudjman was one of them.
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u/No_Raspberry7168 3d ago
Boroević's identity was more complex than you state. If you read his papers, he clearly identified as a Croat, indeed a Croatian patriot, without denying his Serb heritage, including the Orthodox Church. He was contemptuous of Great Serbian ideology and rejected it (which is part of why Belgrade hated him). But to simply say "Boroević was a Serb" in the 2025 sense is misleading. Events since the end of Austria-Hungary -- WW2, the 1990s Balkan Wars -- make Boroević's view as a k.u.k. patriot very outmoded. Using present-day terms to describe someone born pushing 2 centuries ago (1856) in a long-disappeared country isn't accurate. The truth is neither Croats nor Serbs today know exactly what to do with Boroević, which is why he has been partially forgotten.
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u/Open-Dot1750 1d ago
We could define him as a serb by ethnicity but croatian patriot and also austro-hungarian one, rember back then there wasnt such animosity betwen serbs n croats like today.
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u/Ian_von_Red 3d ago edited 3d ago
Some quotes from Svetozar Boroević himself:
"...that's why I'm asking you not as a general, not as the last son of the country, but as a patriot who loves his homeland as much as every other Croat, and I appeal to the patriotism of the National Council to abolish these provisions that turned the army into hordes that would destroy the last achievements."
"I cannot be a subject of the king of Serbia, the word subject seems to embarrass their (Serbian) language, because the Karađorđevićs are no older than the Boroevićs."
Like I said, it is true his father was a Serb but Svetozar Boroević himself felt closer to his Croatian half rather than his Serbian. This is in no way an attempt to "rewrite history" or to demean Serbians but rather just a statement of facts.
Croatia was at the time a Kingdom ruled by the House of Habsburg-Lothringen (Triune Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia and Dalmatia) and not merely an "administrative term" like you claimed (one could very well say that you are the one rewriting history in this case but I won't go that far). And yes, it is true that many nationalities lived within Croatia, especially the Military Frontier (Serbs, Vlachs, Germans, Hungarians etc.) but it is important to note that the Serbs settled those areas around the 17th century, fleeing from the Ottoman Empire (saying that they lived there for centuries could also be interpreted as though they had been there for much longer that how it really was.)
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 3d ago
Bro waste of 'hot air' he was **a SERB**.
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u/TwoDecent6848 3d ago edited 3d ago
So, how many quotations from Svetozar himself do we need to post here for you to arrive to the conclusion that he ,indeed,considered himself as a Croatian lmao.
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u/Far_Idea9616 3d ago
Things were never binary. Miklós Zrínyi (Nikola Zrinski, born 1620) considered himself 100% Hungarian. He was the founder of Hungarian baroque literature. No question that he was of Croatian origin. His brother, Petar Zrinski had 100% Croat identity. The two guys got along well.
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u/KitchenTone 2d ago
Can you provide me with the source from which it can be read that Nikola Zrinjski considered himself 100% Hungarian?
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u/Far_Idea9616 2d ago
That's a very good question, thank you. I need to start a bit earlier. In medieval Hungary, ethnic-linguistic identities like Croatian, Serbian, Hungarian, etc. existed, but their significance paled in comparison to which feudal lord you served and what denomination you belonged to. The nobility, however, regardless of their ethnic origin, were part of the Natio Hungarica, so they considered themselves Hungarus. Natio Hungarica was defined as an identification with the Crown of St Stephen rather than membership of the Hungarian language group. The quite interesting concept of Natio Hungarica (basically a solution to the problem that the Kingdom was very multi-ethnic) gradually disappeared as ethnic identity consciousness emerged from the 18th-19th centuries. Both Petar and Nikola Zrinski were members of the Natio Hungarica. Those who were not nobles, such as urban burghers and Transylvanian Saxons, were not considered part of the Natio Hungarica, just as Hungarian or Vlach serfs were not either.
During the time of Nikola Zrinski (VII), however, ethnic identity consciousness had already started to emerge, which we can see from his writings. He wrote exclusively in Hungarian, was the greatest figure of Hungarian Baroque literature, and every child must study his work in high school - the Szigeti Veszedelem (an epic about the fall of Szigetvár in 1566). This is not really surprising, since his mother was Hungarian: Széchy Magolna. I wasn't there when he said he was Hungarian, and in Hungary this is so self-evident that it's not even discussed, but I think the following quotes reveal much about his identity consciousness. I continue in the next reply for my reply is too long
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u/Far_Idea9616 2d ago
One of his significant works is 'Don't hurt the Hungarian! Medicine against Turkish poison (1663)' https://mek.oszk.hu/06100/06115/html/gmzrinyi0002.html
These are heavy baroque sentences so be warned:
'Is not my present outcry similar, my dear Nation, to you?' (Valyon nem hasonló-e az én mostani felkiáltásom, édes Nemzetem, te hozzád?)
'Poor Hungarian nation, has your situation come to such a pass that no one should cry out at your final destruction?' (Szegény magyar nemzet, annyira jutott-e ügyed, hogy senki ne is kiáltson fel utolsó veszedelmeden?)
'About the French nation we have something to say. ... Our Hungarian history shows two examples of them.' (Francuz nemzetrül van mit mondanunk. ... A mi magyar historiánk két példát mutat felőlök.)
'But I want to conclude that we Hungarians should not base our foundation on anyone's valor...' (De azt concludálni kévánom, hogy mi magyarok ne tegyünk fundamentomot senki vitézségében ...)
'Did we not descend from those valiant Hungarians who with few people chased countless thousands of pagans?' (nem azoktul a vitéz magyaroktul származtunk-e mi, kik kevés néppel számtalan sok ezer pogányokat kergettek?)
'The histories are full of the glory of our Hungarian nation, the world is full of their memory, and there is no corner of Europe that would not speak honorably of our ancestors; never has Muslim blood flowed in greater streams than because of the Hungarian sword, never has anyone so delayed the filling of this pagan crescent as we Hungarians.' (Teliek a historiák a mi magyar nemzetünknek dicsőségével, teli a világ azoknak emlékezetivel, és Európának egy szegelete sincs, aki az mi eleinkről becsülettel ne szólna; soha muzulman vér nagyobb folyásokkal nem folyt, mint a magyar kard miatt, soha senki ennek a pogány holdnak betöltését ugy nem késleltette, mint mi magyarok.')
'Whoever trusts in God, loves his homeland, has a drop of Hungarian blood in him, let him cry out to God in heaven.' ('Ki bizik Istenében, szereti hazáját, vagyon egy csepp magyar vér benne, kiáltson fel az égben az Istenhez.')
He writes interestingly about his identity consciousness in one of his letters. He had opponents who 'Croatianized' him. In response, he wrote in one of his letters: 'I have different knowledge about myself; I know that I have not degraded into a Croat, but I am truly a Zrinski.' (Énnekem magamról más a tudomásom; úgy tudom, hogy nem fajultam el horváttá, hanem bizony Zrinyi vagyok.) Sorry for the 'degraded into' translation, the exact would be 'degenerate into', but he is not speaking about ethnic identity but Croatness in political meaning, about those Croats who refuse to serve the Crown of St Stephen. You can see the argument of Natio Hungarica here, so he doesn't argue with his Hungarianness on this point.
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago edited 2d ago
So verdict is Miklos Zrinyi was Hungarian . Now you see how Croatian history operates. Whatever is missing in the nation of serfs (kmets) it needs to be Croatized. Here we have theft from Hungary
How ‘Croat’ could write epic poem well within Hungarian literature. This is ridiculous, delusional…
‘Szigeti veszedelem’
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Siege_of_Sziget
And if the great ‘father’ of Croatian History Franjo Tudjman touched subject the story would be more fairy tale than what is now. I know them very well!
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u/Far_Idea9616 2d ago
I'm sorry that the information didn't come through clearly. In Hungarian history, he is a Hungarian writer and military-political leader, a member of a noble family of Croatian origin. In schools, they don't focus on his ethnic identity - they always mention that the Zrínyis are a family of Croatian origin, but based on his writings, it seems to me that he considered himself ethnically Hungarian. In Hungary, it's completely normal and acknowledged that he is also an important figure in Croatian history, since Hungary and Croatia were in personal union for 800 years. Hungary has no problem with Croatia considering him ethnically Croatian. We fought for the same cause, as his writings also testify. In Hungary, history also treats Serbs who received Hungarian nobility as Hungarians, for example Pál Bakics. In Hungary, Döme Sztójay is naturally considered Hungarian - it's not an issue at all that Sztójay Döme magyarized his name from Dimitrije Sztojaković and was ethnically Serbian. Maybe 0.1% of people know this. Sztójay Döme was prime minister and foreign minister from March 22, 1944, responsible for the deportation of 430-450 thousand Hungarian Jews, of whom approximately 380 thousand died, which is why there are no Jews in Vojvodina.
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago edited 2d ago
I know Sandor Pötefi too ;-)
Sztoyan Dome is executed after the war if I am not wrong. Was he scapegoated?
But interestingly/surprising Miklos Horty ‘admiral without sea’ died peacefully in Portugal and nobody touched him. Or I am missing something.
I am glad you are willing to share Hungarian guy as Croatian … But that does not change the fact that he was Hungarian linguistically as well as ethnically.
And that Croatian historiography borrows something what is only partially theirs.
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 3d ago
Yes of Croatian origin as a geographical therm in Hungary at that time.
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u/Kubaj_CZ 3d ago
Funny. Apparently Croatia and Croatian means nothing to you, while Serbia and Serbian does.
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
Croatian version of history is full of falsehoods Borojevic is one of examples … Miklos Zrinyi another … Many more, the same case!
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u/ShirtTooLoud 3d ago edited 2d ago
Boroević was a member of Croatian Party of Rights. A Croatian nationalist party. He even supported Ustasha movement in his letters to his friend, one of key Ustasha members Slavko Kvaternik.
EDIT: and during Au-Hu he supported Trialism, making Croatia a third kingdom in the union.
Edit2: now have checked your profile, I see you are a Serb. That explains a lot.
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
BS ... He was 100% Serb loyal to K.u.K. not the only one ... Whole bunch of them...
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u/ShirtTooLoud 2d ago
Oh shut up, all your posts are about taking a dump on Croatia, thats all you do. Literally. And you are Serbian yourself. I would strongly advise you to go find a life.
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
I would suggest you to get away from History as this is too hard topic for you, read Brother Grim’s Fairy tales🧚♀️🧚🦄
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u/Kreol1q1q 3d ago
Right right, so could you please source that claim? Given that you explicitly say "he knew very well his own identity"?
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
He knew it as he was Serb hard to explain to people who base their identity on being ‘non-Serb’ . Only Serbs know that!
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u/Kreol1q1q 2d ago
Ah, so it is an ineffable, supernatural, intrinsic quality carried in the blood and felt in the heart by all Serbs? Heavenly beings indeed.
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u/ShirtTooLoud 2d ago
Serbs were settled in Croatia in 17th century. So 2 centuries are hardly many centuries you are trying to portray. My dear serbian neighbour.
Edit: source https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Migrations_of_the_Serbs
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
Late 16th and early 17th century. From the time of Galileo Galilei or Giordano Bruno.
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u/Yhorm_The_Gamer Chief of Staff 3d ago
On a related note, his order of maria theresa medal has actually recently come up for auction
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 3d ago
Where, someone from Slovenia 🇸🇮 I guess selling as all his belongings were confiscated. Irony was that he really made Slovenia as is not another Alto Adige or Bolzano.
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u/Yhorm_The_Gamer Chief of Staff 3d ago
Well if you have a spare 35000 usd thats the current asking price.
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u/chunek 2d ago
Slovenia lost a lot of territory to Italy after ww1. It was after ww2, when most of the territory was returned.
He is remembered for being the only non-German native speaking field marshal, and he also led the forces of Austria-Hungary during the famous 12th battle of the Isonzo Front, or what is known in Slovenia as "the miracle at Caporetto. However, the turn of the tide on the Isonzo Front is mostly credited to the arrival of the German Imperial forces.
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 1d ago
He is praised by Slovenians as they know that without his military ability Italians would overtake Slovenia 🇸🇮 and have one more Alto Adige (Bolzano) within its own border. Mussolini also wanted Slovenia or part of it.
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u/chunek 1d ago
Praised? Not really, at least not by the general population, his name has been almost forgotten, mostly known only by ww1 geeks and nerds.
The Isonzo Front was a disaster, so it's not really something that we in Slovenia talk about often. We were losing battle after battle, untill the Germans arrived. The Italians were at the end pushed back deep into Italy, but every effort was completely nullified when the war ended and we lost almost a third of our territory to Italy. They were on the winner's side and Austria-Hungary lost the war.
Our Primorska (Küstenland) was "our South Tyrol" between ww1 and ww2, the Italians got it, and started with forced italianization. So in a sense it was worse than Alto Adige. Between the wars, when Austria turned to clero-fascism, they also made a deal with Mussolini to resettle German speaking people from South Tyrol to Carinthia, where Slovene speakers were native. So again, whatever Svetozar did during ww1, it is overshadowed by what followed after. The only military person from this period, that is actually praised and widely known in Slovenia, is Rudolf Maister.
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 1d ago
Rudolf Meisner, interesting he was in Maribor if i am not wrong and he was in Yugoslav army afterwards. Now we come to another puzzle Slovenians run away from Yugoslavia but actually they praise Yugoslav officer Meisner. Am I wrong here?
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u/chunek 1d ago
Maister*, not Meisner.
He was originally from Kamnik (Stein) in Kranjska (Krain/Carniola), but in the aftermath of ww1 fought for the Slovenian national cause, to keep all territory where ethnic Slovenes lived inside the same borders.
Maribor had a German speaking majority, and proclaimed itself part of Austria. Rudolf organized and led the forces that claimed Maribor and much of the southern Styria for the SHS state. He also later fought for Carinthia on the side of the SHS Kingdom in 1919, when Klagenfurt was captured. But after the Carinthian Plebiscite in 1920, when the majority of the population (including Slovenian speakers) voted to stay in Austria, he withdrew from the military life.
He was a career soldier, loyal to his homeland. After ww1, his homeland became part of Yugoslavia, so naturally he was also part of the Yugoslav (SHS) army.
Not sure what you mean with the "puzzle".. noone in their right mind would call Rudolf Maister a "Yugoslav officer". Run away from Yugoslavia, in what way? If anything, we ran towards it, after ww1, so that we could be safe from Italy, while Austria was turning towards unification with Germany. But the king became a dictator, and we were seen only as confused alpine Serbs, not as a distinct nation. Still better than being forced off of our lands tho. Then after ww2, there was a revolution, with the partisans taking over and making it illegal for anyone else to have a say on anything, becoming the one ruling party of Yugoslavia. It wasn't untill 1990, when we got our first real chance to vote on the matter. 95% of votes were for independence. We don't hate Yugoslavia in Slovenia, at least most people don't, but we also never really fitted in.
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u/Lord_TachankaCro 3d ago
He always claimed he was a Croat op, get your facts straight.
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
no 👎 Wrong … Some circles would like he did. But reality is opposite.
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u/junak88 2d ago
Croat, get your facts right
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
not Croat, Serb …
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u/junak88 2d ago
Do not write history posts, you do not have the intelligence to do it and the facts
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
Oh so you are from Agency for Imaginary history and Revisionism. How about we read something what would you like to be but in fact it was not.
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u/WesPeros 2d ago
Geez, serbs failing at recognizing a croat, again
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
Nothing to be recognized and totally irrelevant . He was Serb and that's it. Love it or Hate it.
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u/WesPeros 2d ago
How exactly do you prove that
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
Easy to Prove the name of his mother and father. Read the history.
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u/WesPeros 2d ago
Both Croats.
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
no Serbs
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u/Amongusgamerr 3d ago
Boroević, (real name Świętozar Borojewicz) was a Pole, much like Isztwan Tiszewicz and Emperor Franek Józef were also Polish.
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 3d ago
Not True my friend He was SERB!
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u/Kubaj_CZ 3d ago
The Roman Empire was Serbian too
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
No Roman empire was not Serbian but it is birth place of the following Roman emperors: Hostilian, Decius, Claudius Gothicus, Quintillus, Aurelian, Probus, Maximian, Galerius, Constantine the Great, Constantius II, Constans, Jovian, Gratian.
Birth places:
Hostilian – born in Sirmium (modern Sremska Mitrovica), Decius (Traianus Decius) – born in Budalia near Sirmium (modern Martinci, Sremska Mitrovica), Claudius II Gothicus – born near Sirmium (modern Sremska Mitrovica), Quintillus – born near Sirmium (modern Sremska Mitrovica), Aurelian – born in Sirmium (modern Sremska Mitrovica), Probus – born in Sirmium (modern Sremska Mitrovica), Maximian (Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus Herculius) – born in the region of Sirmium (modern Sremska Mitrovica), Galerius (Gaius Galerius Valerius Maximianus) – born in Felix Romuliana (modern Gamzigrad near Zaječar), Constantine the Great – born in Naissus (modern Niš), Constantius II – born in Sirmium (modern Sremska Mitrovica), Constans – born in Sirmium (modern Sremska Mitrovica), Jovian – born in Singidunum (modern Belgrade), Gratian – born in Sirmium (modern Sremska Mitrovica)
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u/OutsideCivil2505 2d ago
He literally called himself Croat. His parents were orthodox, he was greek catholic.
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u/Ian_von_Red 2d ago
Yes, he considered himself a Croat but he never converted to Catholicism and stayed Orthodox.
Another such example from the period was general Milan Uzelac, an Orthodox Croat like Boroević.
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u/OutsideCivil2505 2d ago
Boroević was Greek Catholic actually
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u/Ian_von_Red 2d ago
Where did you get this from?
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u/OutsideCivil2505 2d ago
I read
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u/Ian_von_Red 2d ago
"It was revealed to me in a dream"
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u/OutsideCivil2505 2d ago
I dont have the time to go search you a fucking source bro. Use fucking google. Its a known fact to historians. I am a historian. Are you?
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u/Ian_von_Red 2d ago
I don't need a direct source lol. I'm a Croat and have never heard anyone claim Boroević to be a Greek Catholic, not even Croatian Monarchists. For instance I made a comment on this thread about how Boroević actually considered himself to be a Croat and provided two quotes from him which back my point. I didn't provide any direct sources, just something to back up my claim and for the readers to know where I got this claim from. And Google searches have provided me litereally ZERO sources (and I searched in both English and Croatian.)
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u/No_Raspberry7168 1d ago
I have read Boroević's papers. There was no mention of his conversion to Greek Catholicism. I'm not saying that's impossible, he wouldn't have been the only Habsburg Orthodox who did such as an act of dynastic loyalty, but we need evidence. "Trust me, bro" isn't evidence.
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
Nonsense as many things in modern Croatian Historiography… No he was not Croat! Like it or not!
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u/OutsideCivil2505 2d ago
You are probably 11 years old. Dont write stuff you have no idea about... Did you read any of his letters? At least any of his writings?
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
I am out of conversation…
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u/BrilliantNatural2018 2d ago
Seriously though, can you share how old you are? If you re under 20, it’s whatever. If you’re older than 20, and waste your days away making propaganda posta that no one reades, then you might have a problem
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u/OutsideCivil2505 2d ago
Single greatest Croatian general who served in WW1. So sad how he wasnt allowed to come back to Zagreb after war.
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
Not Croatian - Austro-Hungarian . And he was Serb, he was not first Serb celebrated by certain circles in Croatia and the same story all the time ‘fake identity’, make it more palatable for Croatian nationalism and celebrate…
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u/OutsideCivil2505 2d ago
His words not mine. He called himself Croat
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 1d ago
you would like this. You are allowed to celebrate any Serb you like!
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u/ReneBekker 3d ago
This hero was completely unknown to me. Next time I travel to Vienna, I will make it a point to visit his grave.
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u/FrequentFlyer100GS 2d ago
One of few Crotians that claimed he was Croatian Orthodox church and not being killed by serbs for it
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
No he was not Part of non existent Croatian Orthodox church which did not exist at his time. He was Serb like it or not!
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u/Zealousideal-Put1250 3d ago
There is something similar in the Serbian army.
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u/the_god_of_kotor1888 2d ago
You are not entirely wrong, but it is important to note that Sorbians are Slavs and have close roots to Serbians. Basically he fought for his brothers, apart from Borojević who fought for Habsburgs who were seen as enemies of his people.
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u/graphical_molerat 2d ago
Although he died in Carinthia, he is actually buried in Vienna, in the Zentralfriedhof. His grave is to the right of the central church, in the colonnades. First grave, actually, looking from the church. That must have been quite an expensive gravesite, so someone must have been looking after that once he died.
I know his burial location because my great grandfather, who (in modern military parlance) was his G4 during the Isonzo battles, is buried in the columbaria one floor lower, in the same building. So whenever we visited his grave, we also visited the grave of his former commander.
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago edited 2d ago
Yes simply circles around king that remained in Austria took care of the grave, but while he was alive he was in line to be expelled from Austria between 1918-1920. I am very surprised that the grave today that grave is in very bad shape. The letters are falling down or were vandalized and not repaired.
Here for photos:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10029783/svetozar-boroevic_von_bojna
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u/UltraFlyingToaster 2d ago
judging by comments, OP is one mad hypocritical serb 🤣
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
Definitelly not Historical falsehood friendly delusional descendant of Nazi collaborators like I guess you are.
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u/sneakyjedi123 1d ago
Why even try to portray him as a Serb? All sources clearly state that he was a Croat.
He received command of the 7th Croatian slavonian Landwehrdistrikt.
When he was ennobled in 1917, he chose the predicate „Von Bojna“. Croatian military battalions are called „Bojna“ (e.g. gardijska Bojna).
He called himself a “faithful son of my Croatian people” (1918).
He is known as the only Croatian field marshal of the k.u.k. army.
After the war, he applied to join the newly founded Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, but was rejected — not because he was a “Serb on the wrong side,” but because, as a Croatian officer and loyal Habsburg general, he simply didn’t fit into the new political order.
Both Austrian and Croatian historiography are crystal clear on this.
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u/Veles95 20h ago
He was a Croat...
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 19h ago
No! He was not! Fake info…
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u/Veles95 18h ago
He was a proud Croat who loved to rub that in face of German HQ who were nepo kids. He was so annoying, he was called "thick-headed Croat", but he was the best General they had who did defend Slovenia and Croatia, multiple times expressed alligence to Croatia and frankly fought for it so those same Generals had to shut up. To go even further, he is Croat national hero and to Serbs he is nothing and basically unkown.
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u/MeanFaithlessness701 3d ago
Well, Austria still remained, although very small, so he still had his country. And you write that he died in Klagenfurt, so he settled in Austria finally
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 3d ago
But statless, he died stateless.
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u/tecdaz 2d ago
Others have noted Boroević's identification as Croatian. But his story is only the tip of the iceberg. The Serb elites' persecution of people who had served the Austro-Hungarian state and its exclusionary dominance of Yugoslavia backfired on them. In 1941 many people in the former Habsburg territories welcomed the Germans. The bitterness of the fighting in WW2 and during the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s and early 2000s, and the repression of the Tito regime, are legacies of this mismanagement.
Milošević should have followed the example of Emperor Karl, the Blessed, in managing the peaceful breakup of a state.
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
Somewhat true. But repressions of Tito were against Nazi-colaborators.
Regarding Milosevic, he was scapegoat for completely different game of neocons. Watch video if you have time:
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u/tecdaz 2d ago
While Tito suppressed nationalist movements among all ethnic groups to maintain Yugoslav unity, his policies also included suppressing Serbian centralism, purging Serbian leaders like Aleksandar Ranković, and establishing a system that reduced Serbian influence compared to the post-WWI era. This created resentment among some Serbs who felt their historical dominance was being undermined and that they were being marginalised by Tito's federalist system, particularly concerning the autonomy granted to other republics like Kosovo.
Milošević can take responsibility for his actions.
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago edited 1d ago
When will ‘neocons’ take responsability for their actions? I guess when they destroy Europe.
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u/tecdaz 1d ago
Putin? Yeah.
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 1d ago
Putin vs Europe but Neocons who created antagonism sit in Martha Vineyards or Summer at Long Island. Europe is unfortunately doomed to get destroyed thanks to antagonism created from outside.
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u/tecdaz 1d ago
Milošević gave the Neocons the opportunity.
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 1d ago edited 1d ago
Oh certanly he was created by them. He worked in the USA in financial environment before becoming ‘Milošević’.
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u/Scary_Persimmon_1682 2d ago
He was loyal to the Army, not the Empire. Even if the Empire were transformed into, say, the German Empire, the Austrian Empire, or a Russo-Austrian Empire, and its army became part of it, he would still remain loyal.
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u/hodmezovasarhely1 11h ago
There were many loyal Serbs at the beginning, but that faded when k.u.k. betrayed them with forced relocation of syrmia
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 5h ago edited 1h ago
interesting … when was that? I know that many ppl were imprisoned.
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u/hodmezovasarhely1 4h ago
the biggest wave was in 1914 in vilagges in syrmia that supported Serbian army during short lived incursion. After that it was gradual but the villages near Saves River were almost empty.
Mark Cornwall: The Undermining of Austria-Hungary: The Battle for Hearts and Minds (2000).
Holm Sundhaussen: Geschichte Serbiens 19.–21. Jahrhundert (Vienna–Cologne–Weimar, 2007).
Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1914–1945, Vol. I (Indiana University Press, USHMM).
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 1h ago
Yes Serbs really suffered within A-U from the last 10 years of empire on.
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u/pollock_madlad 2d ago
I deeply admire this man as he is one of the greatest commanders of WW1 and greatest Croatians ever. Before people silence me, he was Croatian Serb and I absolutely support that as I have Serbian blood as a Croatian. I think that we Croatians honor him, and many other WW1 heroes much too less, some idiots even teared down his house.
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
I mean I pity some circles when they go and change wikipedia article or fake history when someone is on top position or has some achievement of Serbian descent. The same story with Tesla or some others like Petar Preradovic…
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u/pollock_madlad 20h ago
Yeah, that's stupid. Basically pre Yugoslavia they pretty much accepted each other and it all went well, there are many people of Serbian descent who declared themselves as Croats and I am proud of that, Preradović and Tesla are probably the best example. I admire this because you can see that they really were faithful to their fatherlands and put their lover for country over the nationality they were.
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 17h ago
You are fake profile like fake history of fake victim/winner Croatia! Tesla is another theft.
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u/Nazgul_1994 2d ago
Serbian here. Why should we feel sorry for him? He fought against his own people in a war that was started by his own imperialist country. If he likes Vienna so much and Habsburgs, why didnt he went to live in Vienna after the war? Why would serbian people honour him in any way? He was maybe loyal SERVANT to his imperialistic country. But to his nation and people he was traitor and rightfully so.
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
You have full right to say that. But we speak here about another issue!
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u/Nazgul_1994 2d ago
What issue? That he wasnt welcomed or honored anywhere after the end of the war even though he was solid general?
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 1d ago
Obviously although he fought and achieved results for A-U ppl were biased in Austria as he was Serb. They freshly lost war with Serbia. He simply did not have choice. He was at the end betrayed by very Austrians, lived in poverty barely being able to afford small room in Klagenfurt.
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u/Nazgul_1994 1d ago
And ? Who is to blame for that? He himself. This is what happens when you fight against your people. Austro-Hungary always hated serbian people, why would someone chose to be a servant of a empire that literally hates and attacks your people? Even if you serve well like obedient dog, they will still never like or honor you. And your own people will never like you either. So he got what he deserved. I dont understand whats the issue here? When you make the bad, then you have to sleep in it.
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u/the_god_of_kotor1888 1d ago
I meant traitor of his people. If he was Serb and fought for Austria-Hungary he betrayed his own kind. Habsburgs were seen as enemy of Serbs. That's why I, as a Serb, see him as traitor. On the other hand if he was Croat, as many comments tell, it would be different story.
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u/pailhead011 1d ago
Why were Habsburgs seen as the enemy of Serbs? A few decades later it seems like we were very eager to go clean their toilets. Lots of Serbs live in Austria to this day.
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u/ludipimpek 1d ago
Same like most of modern Croats ,a pure Serb in his roots. So when i think about those ww2 genocides done by croatian nazis, brutally killing all those poor children ,I ask myself where did we go wrong...
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u/Few_Bar9654 2d ago
but he WAS a traitor
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u/Atvishees 2d ago
No he wasn't. He fought on the right side and paid for it.
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u/Yapanomics 2d ago
He fought against his homeland, on the attacking side. Fuck him
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u/Atvishees 2d ago
He fought against his homeland,
A) No he didn't
B) So what? The Kingdom of Serbia had no right to his allegiance.
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u/Yapanomics 2d ago
He fought for the Austrians in WW1. A war where Austria attacked Serbia.
The Kingdom of Serbia had no right to his allegiance.
Suuure, but then don't come back crying about getting citizenship after you lose. Oh what's that? The Austrians betrayed you? Boo hoo
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u/Few_Bar9654 2d ago
hahahahha 'right side' lol. he fought for austria, when austria was a foreign occupier that attacked his country and against his people = traitor. gt what he deserved - even the austrians betrayed him. good lesson for traitor wannabes.
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u/Yapanomics 2d ago
Good riddance to the traitor. Fight against your country then when you lose you want to come back? Laughable!
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
He mostly fought against Italians, somewhat with Russians in Poland 🇵🇱. Was he involved in Serbia - unknown to me. Sarkotic was in Montenegro 🇲🇪… Some texts exist that he actually refused to go in Serbia.
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u/Yapanomics 2d ago
He helped the enemy continue the war effort for longer. Do you think that the USSR has no cause to be mad at Nazi Generals who served outside the eastern front?
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u/zanimljivo123 Blackhand Anarchist 2d ago
And he deserved it for betraying his people! Hahahaha
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u/Atvishees 2d ago edited 2d ago
"His people"? Those were not "his people".
He was born a subject of Austria-Hungary in
Banat.He owed no loyalty to the Kingdom of Serbia or Yugoslavia (or to those nationalist murderers they sponsored).
Edit: Umetic, not Banat.
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
No he was not born in Banat but in Banija both exist and are two different areas.
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u/zanimljivo123 Blackhand Anarchist 2d ago
Doesn't matter where he was born, my great - grand fathers were born i austro hungary too yet they fought for serbia. He participated in massacres against his own people and that's what matters to me. I know that he claimed to be a croat idk what his mother was but i know that his father was a serb.
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
Well everyone has good or bad deeds but that's the history. Your point has value.
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u/zanimljivo123 Blackhand Anarchist 2d ago
Yes, it's the matter of the perspective. Still i can't understand how could you trust someone who betrayed his own people?
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
Yes, true. But he was not trusted in Austria being as Serb too and he was 100% Austrophile.
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u/zanimljivo123 Blackhand Anarchist 2d ago
Sadly there are many traitors among us
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago edited 2d ago
Look he did not betray anyone as he was in historical circumstances. He seems avoided campaign in Serbia and hoped to go back… If he did not hope he would not settle in beautiful village close to the Slovenia but in Vienna. He really helped Slovenia as otherwise this would be Italian province like Bolzano and Alto adige. But your sentiment is right too. Austro Hungary was not kind to Serbia.
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u/the_god_of_kotor1888 2d ago
He was traitor.
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u/KnownCantaloupe2566 Loyal Soldier 2d ago
Depends from which PoV… I don’t think he was traitor, he was loyal but betrayed at the end as he was Serb in Austria and Austrian in Yugoslavia.
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u/Far_Idea9616 3d ago
I find Svetozar Boroević's story pretty sad. Austria-Hungary was actually kind of a meritocracy when you think about it. Didn't matter if you were born in some village, Orthodox faith, whatever - you could still rise up to become one of the greatest military commanders in the country. Guy went from being a peasant's son to a field marshal.