Gajret was a cultural society established in 1903 that promoted
Serb identity among the Slavic Muslims of
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
(today's
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
). After 1929, it was known as the
Serb Muslim Cultural Society.
History
After the 1914
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was one of the key events that led to World War I. Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg ...
leadership of the association was interned in
Arad.
The organization viewed that the
South-Slavic Muslims were Serbs lacking ethnic consciousness. The view that South-Slavic Muslims were Serbs is probably the oldest of three ethnic theories among the
Bosnian Muslims themselves. After the
Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Bosnian Muslims, feeling threatened by
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
Habsburg rule, established several organizations. These included, apart from Gajret, the
Muslim National Organization (1906) and the
United Muslim Organization (1911). In 1912, after the death of
Osman Đikić, the editing of Gajret was entrusted to
Avdo Sumbul.
Gajret's main rival was the pro-Croat Muslim organization
Narodna Uzdanica, established in 1924. In interwar
Yugoslavia
, common_name = Yugoslavia
, life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation
, p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia
, flag_p ...
, members experienced persecution at the hands of non-Serbs due to their political inclinations. In this period association run a number of student dormitories in
Mostar
Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina.
Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...
, Sarajevo,
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
and
Novi Pazar
Novi Pazar ( sr-cyr, Нови Пазар) is a List of cities in Serbia, city located in the Raška District of southwestern Serbia. As of the 2022 census, the urban area has 71,462 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 106,720 inha ...
.
During World War II, the association was dismantled by the
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...
. Some members, non-Communists, joined or collaborated with the
Yugoslav Partisans
The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...
(such as M. Sudžuka, Z. Šarac, H. Brkić, H. Ćemerlić, and M. Zaimović).
Ismet Popovac and
Fehim Musakadić joined the
Chetniks
The Chetniks,, ; formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland; and informally colloquially the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationalist m ...
.
In 1945, a new Muslim organization,
Preporod, was founded in order to replace the pro-Serb Gajret and pro-Croat Narodna Uzdanica. The former organizations voted for and were merged into Preporod. In 1996 it was reestablished as a
Bosniak
The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...
cultural association.
Notable members
*
Osman Đikić (founder)
*
Safvet-beg Bašagić (founder)
*
Edhem Mulabdić (founder)
*
Avdo Sumbul
*
Osman Nuri Hadžić
*
Ismet Popovac
*
Fehim Musakadić
*Muhamed Sudžuka
*Zaim Šarac
*Husein Brkić
*Hamdija Ćemerlić
*Murat-beg Zaimović
See also
*
Prosvjeta (1902)
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
{{Authority control
Bosniak history
Bosnia and Herzegovina Muslims
Yugoslav Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ethnic organizations based in Yugoslavia
Ethnic organizations based in Austria-Hungary
Organizations established in 1903
1903 establishments in Austria-Hungary
1900s establishments in Bosnia and Herzegovina
1941 disestablishments in Europe
Islamic organizations based in Yugoslavia
Organizations based in Bosnia and Herzegovina