Greater Bosnian Empire

The Greater Bosnian Empire was an empire in the Balkan Peninsula lasting from 1475 to 1884. The empire was known for being a powerful, warring nation. It is a precursor to Bosnia Mapper’s official nation, the Republic of Bosnia. It will be used in their AHOE series.

Forming an Empire
Commonly known as the Bosnian Empire, many say the empire began after a series of failed invasions by the Ottomans that led to a Bosnian victory. Bosnia gained power in northern Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia. They then joined the Hundred Years’ War on the English side and launched a surprise attack on France. This led to an English victory, no Wars of the Roses, and a strong and permanent Lancastrian rule of Great Britain.

The Ottomans attempted an invasion of Bosnia from the north, but a combined Hungarian-Bosnian counterattack pushed Ottoman forces away. With assistance from Venice, Albania, Moldavia, and Epirus, the Ottomans lost the First Bosnan-Ottoman War. The Bosnian Empire then went on a ruthless campaign of mass killing and “genocide” of many other nations until Bosniaks were the ethnic majority in the Balkans and the only remaining power. By the end of the Second Bosnia-Ottoman War in 1475, Bosnia had taken all of modern-day Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, and much of Greece and Romania. this is when the Empire truly started.

Over the next 400 years, Bosnia continued to involve itself in wars to gain territory. In the Third Bosnian-Ottoman War from 1527 to 1530, Bosnia completely removed the Ottomans from Europe and gained reputation as a powerful kingdom. Due to this, the Ottomans spread East rather than West. The Bosnians also were heavily involved in the Italian Wars, where they helped ensure a French loss. This deepened the rivalry between the two kingdoms. After the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis, the Bosnians continued to wage war on the Spanish, but eventually lost most of their control over Italy by 1561.

Rise and Fall
Bosnia joined the 80 Years War in an attempt to regain their possessions in Italy taken by Spain. Although no sufficient progress was made, Bosnian intervention lead to a greater Dutch victory. They left the war after the Twelve Years’ Peace in 1609.

After signing a pact with the Ottoman Empire, the Bosnians assisted in the Ottoman-Safavid War, leading to an Ottoman victory and the expansion of the Ottomans into Persia. The Bosnians would continue to assist with Ottoman campaigns through the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.

Wars with Spain
The Bosnian Empire fought in the Franco-Dutch War from 1673 to 1677 as a third party, during which they successfully re-conquered their Italian claim. They gained land on the French side of the Alps and raided many coastal cities around Spain. Thousands of mercenaries were sent to the Netherlands, where they pushed the French back many times but ultimately had to surrender.

In 1688, the Ottomans and Bosnians fought in the Nine Years’ War alongside France, where they successfully defeated Spain. After Bosnia sold France all of their Italian claims, they launched multiple naval invasions and gained Catalonia. The Spanish managed to push into France, however, and with the help of England and Sweden, had completely removed Bosnia and the Ottomans from Iberia by 1693.

During the War of the Quintuple (OTL Quadruple) Alliance, the Bosnian Empire again fought Spain. They managed to take all of Spain’s Italian claims, and also a variety of small Holy Roman Empire states. After the 1720 Treaty of The Hague, Bosnia declared war on France as well, and they successfully captured much of France’s coast.

Duing the American Revolution, Bosnia fought many battles against Spain and France. They re-conquered the Italian peninsula from the French in 1779, but then lost control of the southern half to the Spanish by the war’s end in 1783. They provided as a major distraction for French and Spanish, and resulted in a much costlier war. America gained independence, but only after Canadian unrest resulted in their revolution as well. America and Canada became independent at the same time and quickly grew to be allies.

Napoleonic Wars and Beyond
Bosnia fought in each of the seven Napoleonic Coalition Wars. As a result, Northern Italy became a major battlefield, and many cities were destroyed. During the wars, the Bosnian army learned many tactics to use in the Alps to gain an upper hand. For the majority of the wars, France was unable to take control of Italy, and most of France’s forces shifted north to Germany and Russia. Due to Bosnian interference, nearly all of Prussia had fallen to the French by 1815. Napoleon would stay in power for another decade before his death.

In 1824, Bosnian forces were at the front of the war of the Eighth Coalition against France. Rebellions were supported throughout France by the Russians, Bosnians, Spanish, Dutch, British, Swedish, and Ottomans. Once it was clear that the French were overwhelmed, the seven allied nations as well as the Bavarian Empire (a remnant of the HRE) invaded the French countryside and surrounded Paris. Napoleon was killed after a fire destroyed the building he was hiding in and collapsed. The French fell quickly, and a pro-British government was installed. France was divided between the newly formed Italian Union, Bavaria, the Dutch, and the Swedish Empire.

Bosnia entered a long peaceful period until 1862, when a large pro-Italian rebellion in the northern states caused a large distraction for Bosnian forces. This sparked a great opportunity, and the Ottoman Empire (now a very strong empire spanning Anatolia to India) went against their pact and invaded. The Italian Union fought the Bosnians as well. Bosnia held off Italy, but required help against the Ottomans. They managed to convince the British to invade from India, and they together managed to beat the Ottomans. Spain assisted against the Italian Union, until France joined to protect Italy and their focus shifted north. After a short war with France, Britain came to assist in Italy, and the three allied nations each gained land on the peninsula. Spain, Britain, and Bosnia signed the Pact of Barcelona, stating that the three would assist each other in any war, and the three empires became allies.

Seven Months’ War
The Bosnian Empire soon started colonies in far-away places. During the Seven Months’ (OTL Seven Weeks) War in 1866, Bosnia entered the war to balance out Bavarian influence. The Austrian Republic, a small remnant of the Austrian Empire, was annexed by Bavaria and they fought Bosnia over Vienna. Meanwhile, in the north, Bosnia-backed Dutch forces and Bavaria—backed Swedish and Prussian-Lithuanian forces were locked in a stalemate. Bosnia lost control of Austria and backed out, leading to peace between the two empires and the start of a Proxy War spanning the final five months of the war.

Bosnian-Dutch forces collided with the Swedish invasion at Hamburg and locked into a stalemate. Kassel and Koblenz saw the full force of the Dutch forces and various German states. Prussian-Lithuanian forces stopped the invasion dead at Hanover and Braunschweig. In the end, a treaty was signed that resulted in German states being given the choice between joining Sweden, Prussia, the Netherlands, or Bavaria. Although Bosnia did gain a colony at Schleswig-Holstein, the war is generally seen as a loss for Bosnian forces.

Colonies in Africa
In the early 1880s, Bosnia made many landings in Libya and Egypt, sparking a war against the Ottomans. The Anatolian Peninsula became a major battleground, and Bosnian forces eventually pushed the Ottomans back to the Sinai Peninsula, when they signed a peace treaty in 1885.

As other European powers got involved in Africa, more wars broke out. Finally, the leaders of 13 nations met in London to discuss the future of Africa. These nations include the British Empire, French Republic, Spanish Empire, Portuguese Empire, Italian Union, Bosnian Empire, Ottoman Empire, Russian Empire, Swedish Empire, Prussian States, Bavarian States, Dutch Empire, and the USA. They made rules over colonization, and eventually decided on borders based on country’s needs, wants, power, and location. Eventually, all nations present except Russia had chosen a claim in Africa. The following map shows each nation present and their colonies (only African colonies are shown). After the Conference of London, the Greater Bosnian Empire reformed and was renamed to the Kingdom of Bosnia.