The Habsburg Military Border, or Habsburg Military Frontier, existed in the space between the Habsburg and the Ottoman Empires from roughly the early sixteenth century until its dissolution in 1881. Running through what is today Croatia and parts of Slovenia and Serbia, it was an ersatz creation, a patched-together solution to an ongoing problem. Somewhat common in the history of empire, it represented an effort in dealing with the reality of a hostile frontier. This book is an effort to bring social and economic analysis together with history to illuminate the long-term impact of an “extractive” imperial institution. Popescu has brought a significant body of data together, combined with modern analysis, to make his overall point.

The Habsburg Military Frontier was a specific example of colonialism, which is an institutional effort to extract either resources, wealth, or manpower. The book rightly asserts that the Habsburg use of this militarily administered region had the primary purpose of creating readily available manpower for the immediate defense of a peripheral border and later to provide troops for the main army. The soldiers of the border became the celebrated soldier-farmer “Grenzers,” who haunted Central European lore. However, the model does not engage the actual intent of the Habsburg leadership across the period, as seen in the actions of the bureaucratic institutions such as the Hofkriegsrat, or the imperial or army leadership of the time. Famous for their biting stinginess, it is hard to conceive of a Habsburg mindset that would have actively looked to the development of a distant and unproductive frontier. Hence, the outcomes that Popescu illustrates should come as no surprise.

The book is divided into seven chapters and an epilogue. Chapter 1 acts as an introduction to the topic as well as the methodology to be used. Popescu correctly asserts that most of the existing literature, which first emerges in the 1840s, focused primarily on the political and military realities and has not looked at the economic or social legacy of the frontier. Interestingly, the legacy presented through the extensive analysis is mixed. There are both positive and negative outcomes to the border, although much of this is inferred. While the conclusions appear correct, too little is made of the catastrophic impact on the area of the genocidal fighting of the Second World War and the following repressive Communist regime.

Chapter 2 shows the long-term impact of an extractive colonial project upon three topics that are reinforced throughout the book, these being imperial investment in infrastructure, the treatment of property rights, and the use of violence as a means of coercion. Chapter 3 deals, in brief, with the historical background of the frontier from its emergence in the mid-fifteenth century until its end. Importance is correctly placed on the fact that the people inhabiting the area were freed from serfdom and local elites in return for sometimes burdensome military service. On the basis of the evidence given, chapter 4 asserts that a real difference emerged between the areas under study in their development of agriculture and manufacturing. The assertion is that this was a result of underinvestment by the central government. Chapters 5 and 6 move into realm of social impact, specifically that the family clan was the key demographic unit of the military colony for the better part of 300 years. According to Popescu’s research, this lead to a long-term influence on the attitudes and norms that developed and persist today. Modern surveys show that people living in the areas of the original military colonies are more attached to their families, maintain traditional gender roles, and are less politically engaged.

Chapter 7 takes the methodology and work from the Habsburg military frontier and makes a brief but illuminating comparison with contemporary systems in the Russia and the French in Algeria. The Russians, faced with a similar peripheral situation on their southern frontiers, again mostly in the face of Ottoman expansionism, set up or absorbed independent militarized colonies. These were the more famous, and arguably more successful, Cossacks. As with the Habsburg Grenzers, they provided low-cost border defense and eventually a dedicated supply of manpower for the main army. The French example is interesting in that those creating their system were emulating the Habsburg model, and Popescu makes this clear, as well. The main difference is that the colonial administration actually made use of French colonists and local peoples to provide immediate security.

The book, which has merit in its effort to prove its thesis quantitatively, often lacks in enough background to allow the reader to follow along in a narrative fashion. Since most readers will have, at best, an “in name only” knowledge of the frontier, it is often difficult to place what is going on within the context of the Habsburg bureaucratic structure and that empire’s lingering conflict with the Ottomans. Many of the books’ analytical outcomes hinge on these unexplored motivations. A second concern is the failure of the publisher to ensure the legibility of the many graphs, maps, and images used. In many cases images are too light or too small to be read easily. This is in part made up for by the detailed descriptions given, but could have been avoided. That said, the book is a worthwhile study of the realities and impact of a long-lived and important early-modern European imperial institution.