On the history of tobacco in Herzegovina until the end of the First World War

Abstract

From the first appearance of tobacco in Herzegovina in the seventeenth century, to the 1880, there was no organized  production of this plant in this area, but just individual cases of breeding. Tobacco smoking was expanding rapidly here like in the other parts of the Ottoman Empire, even the death penalties have failed to eradicate this habit. Since the beginning of the Austro-Hungarian occupation, the main task of the new government was to take advantage of the natural resources of this area and make it more profitable. In 1880 Tobacco Factory of Mostar was founded, and all over the region of Herzegovina were organized offices for purchasing tobacco. The high quality of tobacco from Herzegovina testified prizes at the end of the nineteenth century, at the exhibitions in different European centers (Amsterdam 1896, Brussels 1897, Vienna 1898 and Paris 1900). The systematic cultivation of tobacco has significantly changed the lifestyle of people in Herzegovina. Possibility of higher earnings influenced that growing number of population have abandoned animal husbandry and started agriculture. For the first time Herzegovinian women are getting jobs in purchasing offices and in Tobacco Factory of Mostar, and it comes to exploitation of child labor in machine service.