The first major political organisation of Bosniaks from Sandžak happened at the Sjenica conference, held in August 1917, during the Austro-Hungarian occupation of the former Sanjak of Novi Pazar.

The Bosniak representatives at the conference decided to ask the Austro-Hungarian authorities to separate the Sanjak of Novi Pazar from Serbia and Montenegro and merge it with Bosnia and Herzegovina, or at least to give it autonomy in the region.

[3] After the end of World War I and the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918, the Sandžak region also become a part of the newly created country.

The main reason for supporting the radicals was a promise made to several influential Bosniaks that they would be compensated for losing their lands during the agrarian reform.

Over the years a large number of Bosniaks from the Sandžak region left to other countries, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Germany, Sweden, United States, Canada, Australia, etc.