ABSTRACT
Habsburg soldiers quickly stamped their mark on the city of Trebinje. A white memorial pyramid for the fallen of the 74th Graf Nobili Regiment was built in 1880. 1 Just fifteen minutes from the city center, on a path lined with pines and cypresses, the limestone was quarried in Čičevo and a cross was chiseled into it “by an expert hand.” 2 In November 1879, just a year into the occupation, Franz Ivanetič reported that the city had transformed: there was now a café (kafana) as well as two places to purchase tobacco, guesthouses, and a bookshop whose owner had moved up from Dubrovnik. 3 The urban modernization of Trebinje was shaped by the “paternal rule” of Djuro Babić, who had commanded the 74th Infantry Regiment of Graf Nobili since November 1878. 4 Babić personified the style of leadership already present in Dalmatia under Gavrilo Rodić and Stjepan Jovanović, in which direct and fluent communication with local people was a vital strategy to build up trust. 5 Like Jovanović, Babić had been seriously injured, in his case by a gunshot wound to the chest in 1859: he slowly recovered his full strength and was described as “dashing and heroic.” 6 A veteran of the 1878 campaign, who had fought at Stolac and Klobuk, Babić was tall, well-built with rosy cheeks, silver hair, and a cheerful, friendly voice. Nevertheless, he had strong and firm ideas about the changes he wanted to see, or as he put it: “In Trebinje, I command.” 7 Babić became synonymous with the creation of a new urban space. 8
