Gavrilo or Gabriel Rodić, ''

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , ) and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in ...

'' (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, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...

, of Serbian descent.

Biography

Rodić was born in Vrginmost, Habsburg Croatia, and raised as a devout

Serbian Orthodox The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. The majority of the populat ...

believer, but did not express a Serb nationality and instead devoted his life to service in the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

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 () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

. By 1847 he had achieved the rank of captain-lieutenant. The following year he was made a member of the Croatian ban

Josip Jelačić Count Josip Jelačić von Bužim (16 October 180120 May 1859; also spelled ''Jellachich'', ''Jellačić'' or ''Jellasics''; ; ) was a Croatian lieutenant field marshal in the Imperial Austrian Army and politician. He was the Ban of Croatia betw ...

'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 revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

. When the army of Croatia-Slavonia crossed the

Drava The Drava or Drave (, ; ; ; ; ), historically known as the Dravis or Dravus, is a river in southern Central Europe.

to retake Međimurje, Rodić was appointed assistant to the ban's adjutant general. He later participated in fighting in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, 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 and ...

. 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 "" (Baron). As with most titles and desig ...

in the Austrian court. By 1859 Rodić was promoted to general-major. He was made brigade commander at

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

and later

Kotor Kotor (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Котор, ), historically known as Cattaro (from Italian language, Italian: ), is a town in Coastal Montenegro, Coastal region of Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. The city has ...

. He remained in

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

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, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

and

Prussian Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzoll ...

forces. In the 1866

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War (German: ''Preußisch-Österreichischer Krieg''), also known by many other names,Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Second War of Unification, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), ''Deutsc ...

, 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 The Military Order of Maria Theresa (; ; ; ; ; ) was the highest military honour of the Habsburg monarchy, Austrian Empire and Austro-Hungarian Empire. History Founded on 18 June 1757, the day of the Battle of Kolín, by the Empress Maria ...

. 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 (; ; ) was a crown land of the Austrian Empire (1815–1867) and the Cisleithanian half of Austria-Hungary (1867–1918). It encompassed the entirety of the region of Dalmatia, with its capital at Zadar. History The Habs ...

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 Preliminary Treaty of San Stefano (; 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 1877–1878. It was signed at San Ste ...

and the Treaty of Berlin he was proposed by Nikolai Pavlovich Ignatiev as the leader of an autonomous

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

within the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. His forces took part in the

occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The campaign to establish Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina lasted from 29 July to 20 October 1878 against the local resistance fighters, Muslims and orthodox Serbs, supported unofficially by troops of the Ottoman Empire. The Austro ...

in 1878. He retired from this position and from military service in 1881 as a ''Feldzeugmeister''. He returned to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, where he died in 1890.

References

External links

Rodić at ''Austro-Hungarian Army'', by Glenn Jewison & Jörg C. Steiner
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodic, Gabriel 1812 births 1890 deaths Croatian Austro-Hungarians Croatian barons Austrian lieutenant field marshals Serbs of Croatia Kingdom of Dalmatia People of the Military Frontier Serbian Austro-Hungarians People of the Austro-Prussian War

Biography

See also

References

External links