The Pig War ( sr, Свињски рат/Svinjski rat), or Customs War (Царински рат/Carinski rat), was a

trade war A trade war is an economic conflict often resulting from extreme protectionism in which states raise or create tariffs or other trade barriers against each other in response to trade barriers created by the other party. If tariffs are the exclus ...

between

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

and the Kingdom of Serbia in 1906 to 1908 during which the Habsburgs unsuccessfully imposed a customs

blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are leg ...

on Serbian

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved; ...

Background

In the early 20th century,

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

was economically a satellite of the Habsburgs, its major export being pork, most of which was bought by

. When Serbia started trying to evade economic and political control by the Habsburgs and to build links with other countries, particularly

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, the Hungarian government decided to punish the Serbs with economic sanctions. Specifically, in an attempt to reduce its economic dependence on Austria-Hungary, Serbia began to import French, rather than Austro-Hungarian, munitions and established a

commercial treaty A commercial treaty is a formal agreement between Sovereign state, states for the purpose of establishing mutual rights and regulating conditions of trade. It is a bilateral act whereby definite arrangements are entered into by each contracting par ...

with Germany in 1904 and a

customs union A customs union is generally defined as a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff.GATTArticle 24 s. 8 (a) Customs unions are established through trade pacts where the participant countries set up ...

with Bulgaria in 1905 that ended the sale of tariff-laden Austrian goods in Serbia.

History

Long used to setting economic policy, Austria-Hungary responded in April 1906 by closing its borders to Serbian pork. Serbia refused to bow 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 ...

, gained French investment to build new packing plants for international trade, began to order materials from the Austro-Hungarian rival

and pressured the Austrian-administrated provinces of

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

for a trade outlet on the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

. That caused Austria-Hungary to concede the conflict by March 1908, as can be shown shown by the trade statistics of the period in question:

References

*Misha Glenny, ''The Balkans 1804-1999: Nationalism, War and the Great Powers'' (London: Granta, 1999), pp. 281–2. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pig War (1906-08) 1900s in Serbia Pork Causes of World War I Politics of the Kingdom of Serbia Economy of the Kingdom of Serbia Economy of the Russian Empire Trade wars Austria-Hungary–Serbia relations 1906 in Austria-Hungary 1907 in Austria-Hungary 1908 in Austria-Hungary 1906 in Serbia 1907 in Serbia 1908 in Serbia Serbia under Habsburg rule

Background

History

See also

References