Gavrilo or Gabriel Rodić, ''
Freiherr
(; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...
'' (Baron) von Rodich, (13 December 1812 – 21 May 1890) was an Austro-Hungarian general in the
Imperial Austrian and
Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...
.
Biography
Rodić was born in
Vrginmost,
Habsburg Croatia, and raised as a devout
Serbian Orthodox
The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches.
The majority of the population in ...
believer, but did not express a
Serb nationality and instead devoted his life to service in the
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n imperial army, like many others in their day.
He began his military career at the age of 14 when he was accepted into the cadet company at
Graz
Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...
. By 1847 he had achieved the rank of captain-lieutenant. The following year he was made a member of the
Croatian ban
Ban of Croatia ( hr, Hrvatski ban) was the title of local rulers or office holders and after 1102, viceroys of Croatia. From the earliest periods of the Croatian state, some provinces were ruled by bans as a ruler's representative (viceroy) an ...
Josip Jelačić
Count Josip Jelačić von Bužim (16 October 180120 May 1859; also spelled ''Jellachich'', ''Jellačić'' or ''Jellasics''; hr, Josip grof Jelačić Bužimski; hu, Jelasics József) was a Croatian lieutenant field marshal in the Imperial-Roy ...
's cabinet during the
1848 Revolutions
The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europe ...
. When the army of
Croatia-Slavonia
The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia ( hr, Kraljevina Hrvatska i Slavonija; hu, Horvát-Szlavónország or ; de-AT, Königreich Kroatien und Slawonien) was a nominally autonomous kingdom and constitutionally defined separate political nation with ...
crossed the
to retake
Međimurje, Rodić was appointed assistant to the ban's adjutant general. He later participated in fighting in
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
. For his service during these years he received the title of
Ritter
Ritter (German for "knight") is a designation used as a title of nobility in German-speaking areas. Traditionally it denotes the second-lowest rank within the nobility, standing above "Edler" and below "Freiherr" (Baron). As with most titles an ...
in the Austrian court.
By 1859 Rodić was promoted to general-major. He was made brigade commander at
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...
and later
Kotor
Kotor (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Котор, ), historically known as Cattaro (from Italian: ), is a coastal town in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative c ...
. He remained in
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...
until 1862. Afterwards he saw action against both
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
and
Prussian
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...
forces. In the 1866
Austro-Prussian War
The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...
, he was made an attached
Feldmarschall-Lieutenant in the Army of the South (Südarmee) in Italy. He commanded the V Corps in the
Battle of Custoza, and after this victory he was officially promoted to the rank of Feldmarschall-Lieutenant and awarded the Knight's Cross of the
Military Order of Maria Theresia.
In 1869 he returned to Dalmatia as a military commander. He soon put down a rebellion in Kotor which helped him become governor of the
Kingdom of Dalmatia
The Kingdom of Dalmatia ( hr, Kraljevina Dalmacija; german: Königreich Dalmatien; it, Regno di Dalmazia) was a crown land of the Austrian Empire (1815–1867) and the Cisleithanian half of Austria-Hungary (1867–1918). It encompassed the entir ...
in 1870. During his time as governor Rodić worked for the
unification of Dalmatia with Croatia-Slavonia. During the Austro-Russian negotiations between the
Treaty of San Stefano
The 1878 Treaty of San Stefano (russian: Сан-Стефанский мир; Peace of San-Stefano, ; Peace treaty of San-Stefano, or ) was a treaty between the Russian and Ottoman empires at the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-18 ...
and the
Treaty of Berlin he was proposed by
Nikolai Pavlovich Ignatiev as the leader of an autonomous
Macedonia within the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
. His forces took part in the
occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878.
He retired from this position and from military service in 1881 as a ''Feldzeugmeister''. He returned to
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, where he died in 1890.
See also
*
Petar Preradović
Petar Preradović (19 March 1818 – 18 August 1872) was a Croatian poet, writer, and military general. He was one of the most important Croatian poets of the 19th century Illyrian movement and the main representative of romanticism in Croatia.
...
*
Svetozar Borojević Svetozar (Cyrillic script: Светозар) is a Slavic names, Slavic origin given name and may refer to:
*Svetozar Boroević (1856–1920), Austro-Hungarian Field Marshal
*Svetozar Čiplić (born 1965), Serbian politician
*Svetozar Đanić (1917 ...
*
Paul Davidovich
Baron Paul Davidovich or Pavle Davidović ( sr-cyr, Павле Давидовић) (1737, Buda – 18 February 1814, Komárom) became a general of the Austrian Empire and a Knight of the Military Order of Maria Theresa. He played a major ro ...
*
Arsenije Sečujac
Arsenije Sečujac ( sr-cyr, Арсеније Сечујац, german: Arsenius Feiherr Seczujacz von Heldenfeld; 1720 – 13 January 1814) was a Habsburg general who earned the rank of major general at the very end of his military career and was awa ...
*
Paul von Radivojevich
*
Peter Vitus von Quosdanovich
Peter Vitus Freiherr von Quosdanovich ( Croatian: Petar Vid Gvozdanović; 12 June 1738 – 13 August 1802) was a nobleman and general of the Habsburg monarchy of Croatian descent. He achieved the rank of Feldmarschall-Lieutenant and was awarded t ...
*
Mathias Rukavina von Boynograd
Mathias Rukavina von Boynograd (1737 - 3 May 1817) was a Croatian general in the Habsburg monarchy imperial army service. He joined the army in 1755 and fought against the Kingdom of Prussia, Ottoman Turkey, and the First French Republic. For mos ...
*
Maximilian Njegovan
Maksimilijan Njegovan (31 October 1858 – 1 July 1930) was an Austro-Hungarian admiral of Croatian descent. He was the Navy's senior administrator as well as its fleet commander in World War I, from 1917 to 1918. He "inherited a competent but ...
References
External links
Rodić at ''Austro-Hungarian Army'', by Glenn Jewison & Jörg C. Steiner
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodic, Gabriel
1812 births
1890 deaths
Croatian Austro-Hungarians
Barons of Croatia
Croatian military personnel in Austrian armies
Austrian generals
Serbs of Croatia
Kingdom of Dalmatia
People of the Military Frontier
Austro-Hungarian Serbs
People of the Austro-Prussian War