Serbia in 1914

Overview

Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war on Serbia began the First World War. Initially Serbia repulsed the subsequent invasion. However, Bulgaria’s entry into the war at the end of 1915 brought about the defeat of Serbia. The remainder of the Serbian Army, together with many civilians, crossed Albania and were evacuated to Corfu. The army continued to fight on the Salonika front in Greece and reoccupied Serbia by the end of the war. Serbia became a major constituent of a new state, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia). Serbia suffered terribly during the invasion and subsequent military occupation, losing a quarter of its population.

Austria declares war

Declaration of war with Serbia, July 1914 FO 371/2159

The government of Austria-Hungary regarded Serbia, which had become increasingly prominent during the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, as a centre of pan-Slavic nationalism.  This threatened the integrity of the Austro-Hungarian Empire which incorporated a large Slavic population in its southern territories. The assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the Austrian Archduke, on 28 June 1914 at Sarajevo in Bosnia,  further  strained relations between Austria-Hungary and Serbia and provoking a diplomatic crisis across Europe, which lasted throughout July.  (FO 371/1899).

The Austro-Hungarian government believed that the Serbs were complicit in the assassination. On 23 July it sent an ultimatum to the Serbian King Peter which made extraordinary demands, including permitting its police to operate within Serbia. The British Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, described it as, “The most formidable document I have ever seen addressed by one state to another that was independent’ (FO 371/2158). The Serbian government rejected the ultimatum and began mobilizing its army.

On Tuesday 28 July, exactly one month after the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Austria declared war on Serbia, effectively beginning the First World War (FO 371/2159). Later, Austrian artillery began shelling Belgrade across the Danube.  The Serbian Government, together with the elderly King Peter, withdrew to the city of Nis, in the country’s interior.

The war in Serbia

Hostile forces in Serbia WO 32/5122

The Austro-Hungarian Army began the invasion of Serbia on 12^th August. The Serbian Army, which numbered around 400,000, was outnumbered, but defeated the Austro-Hungarian forces decisively at the battle of Cer, which began on 15^th August in the northwest of the country, in August 1914. After the defeat, the invaders retreated from Serbia completely. In November 1914, the Austro-Hungarians attempted another invasion, but they were defeated at the Battle of Kolubara River and in December were again forced to retreat from Serbia with heavy casualties (WO 106/1398).

In December 1914, the Serbian Parliament at Nis declared the nation’s commitment to continue the war with the aim of establishing a unified Slavic nation, incorporating Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Nevertheless, in spite of the initial successes, the war had  already had a serious impact upon Serbia. The army had absorbed most of the adult male population and had suffered serious casualties. The economy, now dependent on Allied assistance, had suffered badly and there were widespread food shortages, while disease, particularly typhus, spread throughout the population (FO 371/2246–2248, FCO 371/2250–2251).

At the end of 1914, Britain sent a naval mission to assist Serbia. It remained throughout 1915 and was active on the Danube against the Austro-Hungarian forces (ADM 137/1141). In September 1915, Serbia became more vulnerable  as Bulgaria joined the Central Powers and increased the forces available for a further invasion. The German Government intended to defeat Serbia and establish a direct link between Berlin and the Turkish capital, Constantinople (CAB 37/136/17). The Bulgarian Government declared war on Serbia on 12 September, precipitating an attack by the Central Powers (FO 371/2251-2252). Already weakened and facing overwhelmingly superior forces, the Serbian Army was forced to retreat and Nis fell to the invaders on 6 November 1915 (WO 107/55).

British and French troops had landed in Salonika, in northern Greece, in October 1915 with the intention of assisting the Serbs against the Bulgarian incursion, but failed to make progress. The commander of the British forces, General Sir Bryan Mahon, reported that the defeat of the Serbian Army was imminent (WO 32/5122). Rather than surrender, at the end of 1915, the Serbian Government ordered its army to retreat to the Mediterranean coast, westwards across the mountains of Albania. Many civilian refugees, together with the government and King Peter, crossed the Albanian mountains during the winter of 1915-1916. An estimated 145,000 Serbian men, women and children died under harsh winter conditions. The death of thousands of boys, who had been ordered to join the retreat, was a national tragedy (WO 107/55, CAB 37/141/24).

Exile to unification

British Admiralty account of the Serbian refugees ADM 137/1141

In January 1916, the Allies agreed to transport the Serbs on the Albanian coast to the Greek island of Corfu (WO 106/1407). Some 170,000 Serbs arrived on the island. Here, the Serbian Government, under Prime Minister Nicola Pasic, re-established itself in exile and the army was reorganised and equipped. Many Serbs, including a large number of students, emigrated to other European countries for the duration of the war (FO 371/3025).

The remaining population in Serbia suffered terribly under the draconian rule of the military authorities and the populist  Toplica Rebellion of February 1917 was violently suppressed.  It has been estimated that 1.2 million Serbs, a quarter of the population, died in the course of the war (FO 371/2883, FO 371/2884, FO 371/2893).

In autumn 1916, the Serbian Army of over 100,000 men joined the Allied forces at Salonika, where British and French troops had landed in October 1915 with the intention of assisting Serbia. The Serb Army took part in subsequent campaigns on the Salonika Front, including the Monastir Offensive. After the collapse of the Bulgarian Army in September 1918, the Serbian Army reoccupied Serbia (FO 608/44/12).

Before 1917, the Serbian Prime Minister, Nicola Pasic, was already planning a wider nation of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. On January 20 1917, exiled representatives of Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro and Slovenia agreed the Declaration of Corfu, which proposed a new state of Yugoslavia (FO 371/2889). At the end of the war, Serbia became part of the new Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, joining with Montenegro and southern territories of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire (FO 608/51/12, FO 608/44/3).  This became the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1928.

Key documents

Houses of Parliament Allies frieze WORK 29/3395

• Extracts from a private letter by Alfred Stead held in Cabinet Office papers regarding Montenegro, Serbia and Albania. Document reference CAB 37/141/24
• General B T Mahon's account of the military situation in the Balkans and of the threatened fall of Serbia, 1915. Document reference WO 32/5122
• The Serbian victory. Document reference WO 106/1398
• Private letters of the British military attaché to Serbia, December 1915 to January 1916. Document reference WO 107/55
• Balkans War. Document reference FO 371/2884
• Balkans War. Document reference FO 317/2883