Stjepan Sarkotić was born in Sinac near the Croatian town of Otočac on 4 October 1858 as one of four siblings.

As soon as he became major, he was assigned to be commander of staff of the 7th Infantry Division in Osijek, where he remained for four years.

[1] On 10 April 1912 Sarkotić became general of the VI Royal Hungarian Honvéd District, succeeding his countryman Svetozar Boroević in this post.

On 24 November 1914, after a third attempt, Austro-Hungarian troops finally captured Belgrade, General Sarkotić is appointed military governor of the occupied Serbian territory by Emperor Franz Joseph; General Johann von Salis-Seewis took over command of the 42nd Division.

[2] On 2 December, the Royal Serbian Army launched an unexpected sustained counterattack, decisively defeating the Austro-Hungarians at the Battle of Kolubara and recapturing Belgrade just a day after the establishment of Stjepan Sarkotic’s new military government, effectively ending his brief governorship and bringing the first Austro-Hungarian Serbian Campaign to an end.

[3] On 22 December 1914, he replaced as Governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina Oskar Potiorek who had been commander of the Balkanstreitkräfte (Balkan Armed Forces) during the failed campaign.

As governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina he understood the need for reforms in the region by both Austria and Hungary due to what he saw as the danger of a Yugoslav state.

István Tisza, Prime Minister of Hungary suggested a plebiscite be held, but the actions were too little too late.

On Sarkotić's recommendation Tisza met with Ivo Pilar and Josip Vancaš, anti-Yugoslav members of the Croat People's Union in the Diet of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during his visit to Sarajevo in September 1918.

[6] After the defeat and the dissolution of the Dual Monarchy, Sarkotić was incarcerated by officials from the newly proclaimed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, along with other conspirators, after it was found that he was trying to start an insurrection in the Yugoslav army.

[8][citation needed] In 1932, fascist Croat nationalist Ante Pavelić founded the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionary Movement in Italy with an important base in Austria.

On 9 October 1934, a joint Ustaše-IMRO conspiracy led to the assassination of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia.