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{{Short description|1914–1915 invasion of Serbia during WWI}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2025}}
{{Warbox
| conflict = Serbian Campaigncampaign
| partof=[[Balkans Campaign (World War I)| = the [[Balkans Theatretheatre]] (of [[World War I]])
| image = Vojska Ada Ciganlija.jpg
|image=
| image_size = 300px
|caption=
| caption=Serbian infantry positioned at [[Ada Ciganlija]].
|date=August 1914- November 1918
| date = 28 July 1914 – 24 November 1915<br/>({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|month1=07|day1=28|year1=1914|month2=11|day2=24|year2=1915}})
|place= [[Serbia]], [[Greece]], [[Albania]]
| place = [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]], [[Kingdom of Montenegro|Montenegro]], [[Principality of Albania|Albania]]
|result=[[Treaty of Versailles]]
| result = {{ublist|Central Powers victory}}
|combatant1=[[Image:Flag of Austria-Hungary.svg|22px]] [[Austria-Hungary]]<br> [[Image:Flag of the German Empire.svg|22px]] [[German Empire]]<br>[[Image:Bg-1913.gif|22px]] [[History of Independent Bulgaria#World War I|Bulgaria]]
* [[Great Retreat (Serbia)|Serbian retreat through Albania]]
|combatant2=[[Triple Entente]]<br> [[Image:Flaf of Serbia (1882-1918).png|22px]] [[History of Modern Serbia|Serbia]]<br>[[Image:Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg|22px]] [[Kingdom of Greece|Greece]]<br>[[Image:Italy flag 1861.png|22px]] [[Italy]]
* [[Austro-Hungarian occupation of Serbia|Austro-Hungarian occupation]]
|commander1={{flagicon|Austria-Hungary}} [[Oskar Potiorek]]
|commander2=* [[Image:FlafBulgarian occupation of Serbia (1882-1918World War I).png|22px]] [[RadomirBulgarian Putnikoccupation]]
| combatant1 = {{plainlist|
|strength1=
* '''[[Central Powers]]''':
|strength2=
* {{flag|Austria-Hungary}}
|notes=
* {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Bulgaria}} {{small|(from 1915)}}
* {{flagcountry|German Empire}} {{small|(from 1915)}}
}}
| combatant2 = {{plainlist|
* '''[[Allies of World War I|Allied Powers]]''':
* {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Serbia}}
* {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Montenegro}}
}}
| casualties1 = {{plainlist|
* '''340,000+ battle and non-battle casualties '''
}}
| casualties2 = {{plainlist|
* '''405,000+ battle casualties'''
}}
| casualties3 = 450,000<ref name="Urlanis, Boris 1971 Pages 66,79">Urlanis, Boris (1971). Wars and Population. Moscow Pages 66,79,83, 85,160,171 and 268.</ref> to 842,000{{sfn|Milošević|2008|p=7}} Serbian civilians died of war-related causes from 1914 to 1918
}}
{{Campaignbox Serbia WWI}}
{{Campaignbox Balkan theatre (World War I)}}
 
The '''Serbian campaign''' was a series of military expeditions launched in 1914 and 1915 by the [[Central Powers]] against the [[Kingdom of Serbia]] during the [[First World War]].
The '''Serbian Campaign''' was fought from August [[1914]], when [[Austria-Hungary]] invaded [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]] thus starting the [[First World War]], until the end of the war in [[1918]]. The front ranged from the [[Danube]] to southern [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]] and back north again, involving forces from almost all combatants of the war.
 
The [[Serbian campaign (1914)|first campaign]] began after [[Austria-Hungary]] declared war on Serbia on [[July Crisis|28 July 1914]]. The campaign,
==Setting the Stage==
dubbed a "[[Punitive campaign|punitive expedition]]" ({{langx|de|Strafexpedition}}) by the Austro-Hungarian leadership,<ref name="Merrill2001">{{cite book | last=Merrill | first=C. | title=Only the Nails Remain: Scenes from the Balkan Wars | publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Incorporated | series=G - Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Series | year=2001|page=167| isbn=978-0-7425-1686-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iQ3qG1s0LSgC&pg=PA167}}</ref> was under the command of Austrian General [[Oskar Potiorek]]. It ended after three unsuccessful Austro-Hungarian invasion attempts were repelled by the Serbians and their [[Kingdom of Montenegro|Montenegrin]] allies. The victory of the [[Royal Serbian Army]] at the [[battle of Cer]] is considered the first [[Allies of World War I|Allied]] victory in World War I, and the [[Austro-Hungarian Army]]'s defeat by Serbia has been called one of the great upsets of modern military history.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schindler |first1=John R. |date=2002 |title=Disaster on the Drina: The Austro-Hungarian Army in Serbia, 1914 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/26014058 |journal=War in History |publisher=Sage Publications, Ltd. |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=159–95|doi=10.1191/0968344502wh250oa |jstor=26014058 |s2cid=145488166 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Rose 2018 p. 195">{{cite book | last=Rose | first=R.A.D. | title=History of Europe | publisher=EDTECH | year=2018 | isbn=978-1-83947-278-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q-PEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA195 | page=195}}</ref>
{{History of Serbia}}
[[World War I]] was, in at least one sense, started when a group of young men (calling themselves [[Young Bosnia]]), most likely backed by a secret Serbian society (the [[Black Hand]]) [[Assassination in Sarajevo|assassinated the heir]] to the throne of [[Austria-Hungary]], [[Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria|Archduke Franz Ferdinand]]. Austria-Hungary, furious about the murder and many previous Serbian attempts to destabilize their Slavic territories, issued a set of demands, the [[July Ultimatum]]. Serbia accepted all but one of them, but mobilized its army on [[July 25]], 1914. The Austrian's rejected the Serbian response and mobilized their southern army for a war against Serbia.
 
The [[Serbian campaign (1915)|second campaign]] was launched, under [[German Empire|German]] command, almost a year later, on 6 October 1915, when [[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]]n, Austro-Hungarian, and German forces, led by [[Field Marshal]] [[August von Mackensen]], successfully invaded Serbia from three sides, pre-empting an Allied advance from [[Thessaloniki|Salonica]] to help Serbia. This resulted in the [[Great Retreat (Serbian)|Great Retreat]] through Montenegro and [[Albania in World War I|Albania]], the evacuation to [[Kingdom of Greece|Greece]], and the establishment of the [[Macedonian front]].{{Sfn|Hughes|Philpott|2005|p=48}} The defeat of Serbia gave the [[Central Powers]] temporary mastery over the [[Balkans]], opening up a land route from [[Berlin]] to [[Constantinople]], allowing the Germans to re-supply the [[Ottoman Empire]] for the rest of the war.{{Sfn|Hart|2013|p=325}} Mackensen declared an end to the campaign on 24 November 1915. Serbia was then occupied and divided between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and [[Bulgarian occupation of Serbia (World War I)|Bulgaria]].{{Sfn|DiNardo|2015|p=117}}
For complex reasons, the dispute between Austria-Hungary and Serbia escalated into a war which involved [[Russian Empire|Russia]], [[German Empire|Germany]], [[French Third Republic|France]], and [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]. Within a week, Austria-Hungary had to face a war with Russia, which had the largest army in the world at the time. The result was that Serbia became a side-show to the massive fight that started to unfold along Austria-Hungary's border with Russia. Given that Serbia did not have the military power to threaten Austria-Hungary's territory, the Austro-Hungarians might well have ignored Serbia entirely until the war with Russia was concluded. However, Austrian pride prevented such a clear-eyed analysis of the military situation and so the attack on Serbia went ahead anyway.
 
After the Allies launched the [[Vardar Offensive]] in September 1918, which broke through the Macedonian front and defeated the [[Bulgaria]]ns and their German allies, a [[France|Franco]]-Serbian force advanced into the occupied territories and [[Liberation of Serbia, Albania and Montenegro (1918)|liberated Serbia, Albania, and Montenegro]]. Serbian forces entered [[Belgrade]] on 1 November 1918.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofyu0000sing|url-access=registration|quote=ww1 Serbian army entered belgrade.|title=A Short History of the Yugoslav Peoples|first=Fred |last=Singleton|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=1985|isbn=978-0-521-27485-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofyu0000sing/page/129 129]}}</ref>
Serbia's strategy was to hold on as long as they could and hope the Russians could defeat the main [[Austro-Hungarian Army]]. Serbia constantly had to worry about its hostile neighbor to the east, [[History of Independent Bulgaria#World War I|Bulgaria]], with which it had fought in several wars, most recently in [[Second Balkan War|1913]].
 
The Serbian army declined severely from about 420,000<ref name="vojska1914">{{Cite web|url=http://www.vojska.net/eng/world-war-1/serbia/organization/1914/|title=Serbian Army, August 1914}}</ref> at its peak to about 100,000 at the moment of liberation. The estimates of casualties are various: Original Serb sources claim that the Kingdom of Serbia lost more than 1,200,000 inhabitants during the war (including both military and civilian losses), which represented more than 29% of its overall population and 60% of its male population.<ref>Чедомир Антић, [http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Tema-nedelje/Najvecha-srpska-pobeda/Sudnji-rat.sr.html ''Судњи рат''], [[Политика (новине)|Политика]] од 14. септембра 2008.</ref><ref>Владимир Радомировић, [http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Tema-nedelje/Najvecha-srpska-pobeda/55729.sr.html ''Највећа српска победа''], [[Политика (новине)|Политика]] од 14. септембра 2008.</ref> More recent historical analysis has estimated that roughly 177,000 Serbian soldiers lost their lives or were not returned from captivity, while the civilian death toll is impossible to determine, numbering in the hundreds of thousands.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bjelajac |first=Mile |date=2015 |title=Serbia |url=https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/serbia |website=1914-1918 Online: International Encyclopedia of the First World War}}</ref> According to estimates prepared by the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Yugoslav]] government in 1924, Serbia lost 265,164 soldiers or 25% of all mobilized troops. By comparison, France lost 16.8%, Germany 15.4%, Russia 11.5%, and Italy 10.3%.{{sfn|Tucker|2005|p=273}}
The Serbian army at the start of the war was some 200,000 strong. Their general was Marshal (Vojvoda) [[Radomir Putnik]]. He was in bad health and in a hospital in Austria at the start of the war. The Austrian government arrested him at the hospital but then, stupidly, put him on a train back to Serbia just before the war began (C. Falls p. 38). Putnik brilliantly handled the Serbian Army, even though he almost never left his special hospital room in Serbia.
 
==1914 Background ==
{{Main|Causes of World War I|July Crisis}}
The war against Serbia started on [[August 12]], when Austro-Hungarian armies crossed the border, the [[Drina]] River (see map). [[Image:Serbia-WW1-1.jpg|thumb|200px|left|First Attack on Serbia, August 1914]]
Austria-Hungary precipitated the [[Bosnian crisis]] of 1908–09 by annexing the former Ottoman [[Bosnia and Herzegovina in Austria-Hungary|territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina]], which it had occupied since 1878. This angered the [[Kingdom of Serbia]] and its patron, the [[Pan-Slavism|Pan-Slavic]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] [[Russian Empire]].<ref name=keegan48-49>{{cite book |last=Keegan |first=John |date=1998 |title=The First World War |___location=New York |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |isbn=0375400524 |pages=48–49}}</ref> Russian political manoeuvring in the region destabilized peace accords that were already unravelling in what was known as "the [[powder keg of Europe]]."<ref name=keegan48-49 />
[[File:G Princip (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Gavrilo Princip]], a member of the [[Young Bosnia]], [[Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand|assassinated]] Archduke [[Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria|Franz Ferdinand]], the heir to the [[Emperor of Austria|Austro-Hungarian throne]]]]
In 1912 and 1913, the [[First Balkan War]] was fought between the [[Balkan League]] of [[Greece]], [[Bulgaria]], [[Serbia]], and [[Montenegro]] and the fracturing Ottoman Empire. The resulting [[Treaty of London (1913)|Treaty of London]] further shrank the Ottoman Empire by creating an independent [[Principality of Albania]] and enlarging the territorial holdings of Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece. When Bulgaria attacked both Serbia and Greece on 16 June 1913, it lost most of its Macedonian region to those countries, and additionally, the [[Southern Dobruja]] region to Romania and Adrianople (the present-day city of [[Edirne]]) to Turkey in the 33-day [[Second Balkan War]], which further destabilized the region.<ref name=Willmott22-23>{{harvnb|Willmott|2003|pp=2–23}}</ref>
 
On 28 June 1914, [[Gavrilo Princip]], a [[Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnian Serb]] student and member of an organization of national revolutionaries called [[Young Bosnia]], [[Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria|assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria]], the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in [[Sarajevo]], Bosnia.<ref name=Willmott26>{{harvnb|Willmott|2003|p=26}}</ref>
[[Image:Vojska Ada Ciganlija.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Fighting on [[Ada Ciganlija]]]]
Though the political objective of the assassination was the independence of the southern Austro-Hungarian provinces mainly populated by Slavs from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it also inadvertently triggered a chain of events that embroiled Russia and the major European powers. This began a period of diplomatic manoeuvring among Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia, France, and Britain called the [[July Crisis]]. Austria-Hungary delivered the [[July Ultimatum of 1914|July Ultimatum]] to Serbia, a series of ten demands intentionally made unacceptable to provoke a war with Serbia.<ref name=Willmott27>{{harvnb|Willmott|2003|p=27}}</ref> When Serbia agreed to only eight of the ten demands, Austria-Hungary declared war on 28 July 1914.
While the entire Austro-Hungarian Army was very large, due to the Russian declaration of war, the Austro-Hungarians could only attack with two small armies (the Sixth and the Fifth) over the Bosnian border.
[[File:TelegramWW1.jpg|thumb|upright|The Austro-Hungarian government's declaration of war in a telegram sent to the government of Serbia on 28 July 1914, signed by Imperial Foreign Minister [[Count Leopold Berchtold]].]]
They had around 200,000 men, and were much better equipped than the Serbians. Overall, Austrian command was in the hands of the ineffective General [[Oskar Potiorek|Potiorek]].
 
The dispute between Austria-Hungary and Serbia escalated into what is now known as World War I, drawing in [[Russian Empire|Russia]], [[German Empire|Germany]], France, and the [[British Empire]]. Within a week, Austria-Hungary had to face a war with Russia, Serbia's patron, which had the largest army in the world at the time. The result was that Serbia became a subsidiary front in the massive fight that started to unfold along Austria-Hungary's border with Russia. Though Serbia had an experienced army, it was exhausted from the conflicts of the Balkan Wars and poorly equipped, which led the Austro-Hungarians to believe it would fall in less than a month. Serbia's strategy was to hold on as long as it could and hope the Russians could defeat the main [[Austro-Hungarian Army]], with or without the help of other allies. Serbia constantly had to worry about its hostile neighbour to the east, [[History of Independent Bulgaria#World War I|Bulgaria]], with which it had fought several wars, most recently in the Second Balkan War of 1913.
{{main|Battle of Cer}}
The Serbian Army threw back repeated attempts to cross the Drina and Sava rivers (this action is called the Battle of Cer or the Battle of Jadar). After very hard fighting, the Austro-Hungarian Army halted their attempts. In early September, the Serbs launched a small offensive into southern Bosnia, hoping to incite a revolt among their fellow Slavs. However, the offensive had no effect and was driven out within a few weeks.
 
== Military forces ==
[[Image:Serbia-WW1-2.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Later Operations in Serbia, 1914]]
=== Austro-Hungarian ===
{{See also|Alfred Redl}}
The standing peacetime Austro-Hungarian army had 36,000 officers, including [[non-commissioned officer]]s and 414,000 enlisted personnel. During mobilization, this number could be increased to 3,350,000 men of all ranks. The operational army had over 1,420,000 men, while another 600,000 were allocated to support and logistic units (train, munition and supply columns, etc.). The rest (around 1,350,000) were reserve troops available to replace losses and form new units.<ref name="ReferenceA">Österreich-Ungarns letzter Krieg 1914 - 1918, vol. 1, Wienn 1930, p68</ref> This vast military power allowed the Austro-Hungarian Army to replace its losses regularly and keep units at their formation strength. According to some sources, there were an average of 150,000 men per month during 1914 sent to replace the losses in the field army. During 1915 these numbers rose to 200,000 per month.<ref>http://digi.landesbibliothek.at/viewer/image/AC03568741/1/LOG_0003/
Die Entwicklung der öst.-ung. Wehrmacht in den ersten zwei Kriegsjahren, 10</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=November 2013}}{{Better source needed|date=November 2013}} According to the official Austrian documents in the period from September until the end of December 1914, some 160,000 replacement troops were sent to the Balkan theatre of war, as well as 82,000 reinforcements as part of newly formed units.<ref>http://digi.landesbibliothek.at/viewer/image/AC01351505/1/LOG_0003/ Österreich-Ungarns letzter Krieg 1914 -1918, vol. 2 Beilagen, Wienn 1930, table I )</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=November 2013}}
 
The prewar Austro-Hungarian plan to invade Serbia envisioned the concentration of three armies (2nd, 5th and 6th) on Serbia's western and northern borders to envelop and destroy the bulk of the Serbian army. However, with the beginning of the Russian general mobilization, the ''Armeeoberkommando'' (AOK, Austro-Hungarian Supreme Command) decided to move the 2nd army to [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]] to counter Russian forces. Due to the congestion of railroad lines towards Galicia, the 2nd Army could only start its departure on 18 August, which allowed the AOK to assign some units of the 2nd Army to take part in operations in Serbia before that date. Eventually, the AOK allowed General [[Oskar Potiorek]] to deploy a significant segment of the 2nd army (around four divisions) in fighting against Serbia, which caused a delay in the transport of these troops to the [[Eastern Front (World War I)|Russian front]] for more than a week. Furthermore, the Austro-Hungarian defeats suffered during the first invasion of Serbia forced the AOK to permanently transfer two divisions from the 2nd Army to Potiorek's force. By 12 August, Austria-Hungary had amassed over 500,000 soldiers on Serbian frontiers, including some 380,000 operational troops. However on 16 August a significant part of the 2nd army was ordered to the Russian front, thus this number fell to some 285,000 active troops, including garrisons.<ref>http://honsi.org/literature/svejk/dokumenty/oulk/band1.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180910054700/http://honsi.org/literature/svejk/dokumenty/oulk/band1.html |date=10 September 2018 }} Österreich-Ungarns letzter Krieg 1914 - 1918, vol. 1, Wienn 1930, p68</ref> Apart from land forces, Austria-Hungary also deployed its Danube River flotilla of six monitors and six patrol boats.
[[September 7]] brought a renewed attack across the rivers by the Austrian army. Marshal Putnik ordered a retreat into the surrounding hills as the Serbian army was running very low on artillery shells (which had to be supplied by the Allies, and they were short themselves).
 
Many Austro-Hungarian soldiers were not of good quality.<ref>{{harvnb|Jordan|2008|p=20}}</ref> About one-quarter of them were illiterate, and most of the conscripts from the empire's subject nationalities did not speak or understand German or Hungarian. In addition, most of the soldiers — ethnic Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Romanians and South Slavs — had linguistic and cultural links with the empire's various enemies.<ref name=Willmott69>{{harvnb|Willmott|2003|p=69}}</ref>
The Austro-Hungarian Army, having pushed up to the new Serbian positions, launched another attack on [[November 5]]. The Serbians withdrew under pressure and finally evacuated their, essentially indefensible, capital, [[Belgrade]] on November 30. The Austro-Hungarian Army entered the city on [[December 2]].
 
===Battle ofSerbian Kolubara===
[[File:Униформа Српског војника из 1914 године.jpg|thumb|upright|Uniform of Serbian soldiers from 1914]]
{{main|Battle of Kolubara}}
At this point, Marshall Putnik correctly sensed that the Austrian forces were dangerously weakened and so he ordered a full scale counter-attack with the entire Serbian Army on [[December 3]] (this is sometimes called the Battle of Kolubara). The fighting was furious along the front lines for three days until the Austrian General Potiorek lost his nerve and ordered yet another retreat back to across the rivers into Austrian territory. See 2nd map. The Serbian Army recaptured Belgrade on [[December 15]].
 
The Serbian military command issued orders to mobilize its armed forces on 25 July, and mobilization began the following day. By 30 July, mobilization was completed, and the troops began to be deployed according to the war plan. Deployments were completed by 9 August when the troops had arrived at their designated strategic positions. During mobilization, Serbia raised approximately 450,000 men of three age-defined classes (or bans) called ''poziv'', which comprised all capable men between the ages of 21 and 45.
The first phase of the war against Serbia had ended with no change in the border but the casualties were incredible compared to earlier wars, though sadly, not out of keeping with other campaigns of this war. The Austrian army lost around 227,000 (total forces used in the campaign were 450,000 men). Serbian losses were 170,000. Austrian General Potiorek was removed from command and replaced by [[Archduke Eugen]] (C. Falls p. 54). On the Serbian side, a deadly [[typhus]] epidemic killed thousands of Serbian civilians during the winter months.
 
The operational army consisted of {{fraction|11|1|2}} infantry (six of 1st and five of the 2nd ban) and one cavalry division. Aged men of the 3rd ban were organized in 15 infantry regiments with about 45–50,000 men designated for use in rear and line of communications duties. However, some of them were by necessity used as part of the operational army as well, bringing its strength up to around 250,000 men.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lyon |first=James |title=A peasant mob: The Serbian Army in the eve of the Great War |journal=JMH |volume=61 |date=1997 |page=501}}</ref> Serbia was in a much more disadvantageous position when compared with Austria-Hungary concerning human reserves and replacement troops, as its only source of replacements were recruits reaching the age of military enlistment. Their maximum annual number was theoretically around 60,000 and was insufficient to replace the losses of more than 132,000 sustained during operations from August to December 1914. This shortage of military power forced the Serbian army to recruit under and over-aged men to make up for losses in the opening phase of the war.
==1915==
[[Image:Serbian Artillery WW1.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Serbian artillery]]
Early in 1915, with the Ottoman defeats at the [[Battle of Sarikamis]] and in the [[First Suez Offensive]], the German [[Chief of the General Staff]], [[Erich von Falkenhayn]] tried to convince the Austrian Chief of Staff, [[Franz Graf Conrad von Hötzendorf|Conrad von Hotzendorf]], of the importance of conquering Serbia. If Serbia was taken, then the Germans would have a rail link from Germany, through Austria-Hungary and down to [[Constantinople]] (and beyond). This would allow the Germans to send military supplies and even troops to help the [[Ottoman Empire]]. While helping the Ottoman Empire was hardly in Austria's interests, the Austrians did want to defeat Serbia. However, Russia was much more dangerous and with the entry of [[Italy]] into the war on the Allied side, the Austrians had their hands full (see the [[Italian Campaign (World War I)]] for details).
 
[[ImageFile:Serbia-WW1-3Maxim М.1909 of Serbian Royal Army.jpg|thumb|300pxleft|right|ConquestMaxim МG 10 of Serbia,Serbian Royal 1915Army]]
 
Because of the poor financial state of the Serbian economy and losses in the recent Balkan Wars, the Serbian army lacked much of the modern weaponry and equipment necessary to engage in combat with their larger and wealthier adversaries. Only 180,000 modern rifles were available for the operational army, which meant that the Serbian military lacked between one-quarter to one-third of the rifles necessary to fully equip even their front-line units, let alone reserve forces.{{Sfn|Lyon|1997|p=496}} Although Serbia tried to remedy this deficit by ordering 120,000 rifles from Russia in 1914, the weapons did not begin to arrive until the second half of August. Only 1st ban troops had complete grey-green M1908 uniforms, with 2nd ban troops often wearing the obsolete dark blue M1896 issue, and the 3rd ban had no proper uniforms at all and were reduced to wearing their civilian clothes with military greatcoats and caps.<ref>{{cite book|first=Nigel|last=Thomas|page=[https://archive.org/details/armiesbalkansmen00thom/page/n48 38]|title=Armies in the Balkans 1914-18|year=2001|publisher=Bloomsbury USA |url=https://archive.org/details/armiesbalkansmen00thom|url-access=limited|isbn=1-84176-194-X}}</ref> The Serbian troops did not have service issued boots at all, and the vast majority of them wore everyday footwear made of pig skin called ''[[opanak]]''.
Both the [[Allies (World War I)|Allies]] and the [[Central Powers]] tried to get Bulgaria to pick a side in the Great War. Bulgaria and Serbia had fought two wars in the last 30 years, the first in [[1885]] (see [[Serbo-Bulgarian War]] for details), the second in [[1913]] (see the [[Second Balkan War]] for details). The result was, the Bulgarian government felt that Serbia had stolen land which rightfully belonged to it and when the Central Powers offered to give them most of the land they claimed, the Bulgarians were convinced. With the Allied loss at [[Gallipoli]] and the Russian defeat at [[Gorlice]], [[Ferdinand of Bulgaria|King Ferdinand]] signed a treaty with Germany and on [[September 23]], [[1915]] began mobilizing for war.
 
Ammunition reserves were also insufficient for sustained field operations as most had been used in the 1912–13 Balkan wars. Artillery ammunition was sparse and only amounted to several hundred shells per unit. Because Serbia lacked a significant domestic military-industrial complex, its army depended entirely on imports of ammunition and arms from France and Russia, which were chronically short of supplies. The inevitable shortages of ammunition later would include a complete lack of artillery ammunition, which peaked during the decisive moments of the Austro-Hungarian invasion.
During the last nine months, the Serbians had done what they could to rebuild their weakened armies and improve their supply situation. Despite great effort, the Serbian army was only about 30,000 men stronger than at the start of the war (around 225,000) and it still was not well equipped. Although the Allies (Britain and France) had talked about sending serious military forces to Serbia, nothing was done until it was too late. When Bulgaria began mobilization, the French and British sent two divisions to help Serbia but they arrived late in the [[Kingdom of Greece|Greek]] town of [[Salonika]]. Part of the reason for the delay was the [[Greece#World War I and its aftermath|Greek government's conflicted views]] about the war.
 
=== Comparative strength ===
Against Serbia were marshalled the Bulgarian Army, a [[German Army]], and an Austro-Hungarian Army, all under the command of Field Marshal [[August von Mackensen|Mackensen]], totalling more than 300,000 soldiers. The Germans and Austro-Hungarians began their attack on [[October 7]] with a massive artillery barrage, followed by attacks across the rivers. Then, on the [[October 11|11th]], the Bulgarian Army attacked from two directions, one from the north of Bulgaria towards [[Niš]], the other from the south towards [[Skopje]] (see the map). The Bulgarian Army was large, tough, and rapidly broke through the weaker Serbian forces that tried to block its advance. With the Bulgarian breakthrough, the Serbian position was hopeless; either their main army in the north would be surrounded and forced to surrender, or it could try to retreat.
These figures detail the number of all Austro-Hungarian troops concentrated on the southern (Serbian) theatre of war at the beginning of August 1914 and the resources of the entire Serbian army (however, the number of troops available for the operations on both sides was somewhat less):
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Type !! Austro-Hungarian<ref name="ReferenceA"/> !! Serbian
|-
| Battalions || 329 || 209
|-
| Batteries || 200 || 122
|-
| Squadrons || 51 || 44
|-
| Engineer companies || 50 || 30
|-
| Field guns || 1243 || 718
|-
| Machine guns || 490 || 315
|-
| '''Total combatants''' || '''500,000''' || '''344,000'''
|}
[[File:M 45 14 les monténégrins Lovcen au nord de Cettinié.jpg|thumb|right|Montenegrin troops outside of [[Lovćen]], October 1914.]]
Serbia's ally Montenegro mustered an army of about 45–50,000 men, with only 14 modern quick-firing field guns, 62 machine guns and some 51 older pieces (some of them antique models from the 1870s). Unlike the Austro-Hungarian and the Serbian armies, the Montenegrin army was a militia type without proper military training or a career officer's corps.
 
{{large|'''Note:'''}}
[[Image:Serbian retreat WWI.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Serbian Army during its retreat to Albania]]
 
Marshal Putnik ordered a full retreat, south and west through [[Kingdom of Montenegro|Montenegro]] and into [[Albania]]. The weather was terrible, the roads poor, and the army had to help the tens of thousands of civilians who retreated with them. All told, some 125,000 Serbian soldiers reached the coast of the [[Adriatic Sea]] and embarked on French transport ships that carried the army to various Greek islands (many went to [[Corfu]]) before being sent to Salonika. Marshal Putnik had to be carried during the whole retreat and he died a bit more than a year later in a hospital in France.
'''According to Austro-Hungarian military formation,<ref>Österreich-Ungarns letzter Krieg 1914–1918, vol. 1, Wienn 1930, p.82</ref> the average war strength of the following units was:'''
*Battalion: 1000 (combatants)
*Battery: 196
*Squadron: 180
*Engineer companies: 260
 
'''The strength of corresponding Serbian units was similar:'''
*Battalion: 1116 (combatants and non-combatants)
*Battery: 169
*Squadron: 130
*Engineer company: 250
 
'''<big>Heavy artillery</big>'''
{| class="wikitable"
! width=50%| Austro-Hungarian
! Serbian
|-
|
'''12 mobile batteries''': {{plainlist|
*4 {{nobr|305 mm}} mortars
*5 {{nobr|240 mm}} mortars
*20 {{nobr|150 mm}} howitzers
*20 {{nobr|120 mm}} cannons
}}
Additionally, Austro-Hungarian fortresses and garrisons near the Serbian and Montenegrin borders (Petrovaradin, Sarajevo, Kotor etc.) had about 40 companies of heavy fortress artillery of various models.
|
'''13 mobile batteries''': {{plainlist|
*8 {{nobr|150 mm}} mortars Schneider-Canet M97
*22 {{nobr|120 mm}} howitzers Schneider-Canet M97
*20 [[120 mm Schneider-Canet M1897 long gun]]
}}
|}
 
=== Order of battle ===
==== Serbian army ====
{{Main|Order of battle of the Serbian Army in World War I}}
*[[First Army (Serbia)|First Army]], commanded by general [[Petar Bojović]]; Chief of Staff colonel Božidar Terzić.
**Cavalry division, four regiments, Colonel Branko Jovanović
**Timok I division, four regiments, General Vladimir Kondić
**Timok II division, three regiments
**Morava II division, three regiments
**Danube II division (Braničevo detachment), six regiments
**Army artillery, colonel Božidar Srećković
*[[Second Army (Serbia)|Second Army]], commanded by general [[Stepa Stepanović]]; Chief of Staff colonel Vojislav Živanović
**Morava I division, colonel Ilija Gojković, four regiments
**Combined I division, general Mihajlo Rašić, four regiments, regiment commanders Svetislav Mišković, X, X and Dragoljub Uzunmirković
**Šumadija I division, four regiments
**Danube I division, colonel [[Milivoje Anđelković]], four regiments
**Army artillery, Colonel Vojislav Milojević
*[[Third Army (Serbia)|Third Army]], commanded by general [[Pavle Jurišić Šturm]]; Chief of Staff colonel Dušan Pešić
**Drina I division, four regiments
**Drina II division, four regiments, regiment commanders Miloje Jelisijević, X, X and X
**Obrenovac detachment, one regiment, two battalions
**Jadar Chetnik detachment
**Army artillery, colonel Miloš Mihailović
*Užice Army, commanded by General Miloš Božanović
**Šumadija II division, colonel Dragutin Milutinović, four regiments
**Užice brigade, Colonel Ivan Pavlović, two regiments
**Chetnik detachments, Lim, Zlatibor, and Gornjak detachments
**Army artillery
 
==== Austro-Hungarian army ====
August 1914:
*Balkan force
**5th Army, commanded by [[Liborius Ritter von Frank]]
***9. infantry division
***21. landwehr infantry division
***36. infantry division
***[[42nd Home Guard Infantry Division|42. Honvéd (Hungarian home guard) infantry division]]
***13. infantry brigade
***11. mountain brigade
***104. Landsturm infantry brigade
***13. march brigade
**6th Army, commanded by [[Oskar Potiorek]]
***1. infantry division
***48. infantry division
***18. infantry division
***47. infantry division
***40. Honvéd infantry division
***109. Landsturm infantry brigade
**Banat Rayon and Garrisons
***107. Landsturm infantry brigade
***sundry units of infantry, cavalry and artillery
*Parts of the 2nd Army, commanded by [[Eduard von Böhm-Ermolli]]
**17. infantry division
**34. infantry division
**31. infantry division
**32. infantry division, commanded by [[Andreas von Fail-Griessler]]
**29. infantry division
**7. infantry division
**23.infantry division
**10. cavalry division
**4. march brigade
**7. march brigade
**8. march brigade
 
==1914==
{{main|Serbian campaign (1914)}}
 
==1915==
{{main|Serbian campaign (1915)}}
 
==Aftermath==
The French and British divisions marched north from Salonika in late November under the command of French General [[Maurice Sarrail]]. However, the British divisions were ordered by the War Office in London not to cross the Greek frontier. So the French divisions advanced on their own up the [[Vardar]] River. This advance was of some limited help to the retreating Serbian Army as the Bulgarian Army had to concentrate larger forces on their southern flank to deal with the threat. By mid-December, General Sarrail concluded retreat was necessary in the face of determined Bulgarian assaults on his positions.
===1916–1918===
{{Main|Macedonian front|Liberation of Serbia, Albania and Montenegro (1918)}}
[[File:Veljko Stanojević 1976 Yugoslavia stamp.jpg|thumb|A 1976 Yugoslav postage stamp depicting the collapse of the Salonika front by war artist Veljko Stanojević]]
 
The Serbian army was evacuated to Greece and met with the [[Allied Army of the Orient]]. They then fought a trench war against the Bulgarians on the Macedonia Front, which was mainly static. French and Serbian forces re-took limited areas of Macedonia by recapturing [[Bitola]] on 19 November 1916 as a result of the costly [[Monastir Offensive]], which brought stabilization of the front.
This was a nearly complete victory for the Central Powers. The railroad from [[Berlin]] to Constantinople was finally opened and as a result, Germany was able to prop up its weak partner, the Ottoman Empire. The only flaw in the victory was the remarkable retreat of the Serbians Army, which stayed organized and was able to fight again just six months later.
 
The Austro-Hungarian infantry and artillery did not participate with any significant forces in the combat operations on the Macedonian and Serbian front since late 1915. Their military efforts were concentrated on other fronts, leaving the defense and fighting in Macedonia and the Balkan war theater primarily to Bulgarian and German forces. However Austria-Hungary did deploy other essential support elements: Liaison officers and military observers played key roles in coordinating efforts among the Central Powers. Additionally, small technical detachments, logistical units, and laborers were present to maintain supply lines, manage transportation, and facilitate the unloading and movement of materiel. Austro-Hungarian aviation units also conducted limited reconnaissance and support missions in the area.<ref>{{cite book |author=Nigel Thomas and Dusan Babac |title=The Macedonian Campaign 1915-1918 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2001 |pages=14–16 |isbn=9781841763000}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=John Keegan |title=The First World War |publisher=Vintage Books |year=1999 |page=345 |isbn=9780679450637}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Richard C. Hall |title=Bulgaria in the First World War |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |year=2012 |pages=89–91 |isbn=9781474230026}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Norman Stone |title=The Eastern Front 1914-1917 |publisher=Penguin Books |year=1998 |page=201 |isbn=9780140267919}}</ref>
==1916==
The Austria-Hungarian Army attacked Serbia's ally Montenegro and on [[January 25]], the small army of Montenegro surrendered. The Austro-Hungarians continued advancing down the Adriatic Coast, attacking into Italian-controlled Albania. By the end of the winter, the small Italian Army had been forced out of nearly the whole country.
 
At this point, with the war in the Balkans effectively lost, the British General Staff wanted to withdraw all their troops from Greece, but the French government protested strongly. Since the French divisions were staying, the British stayed also, with undisguised antipathy. The Allied armies entrenched themselves around Salonika, which became a huge fortified camp, earning themselves the mocking nickname "the Gardeners of Salonika". The Serbian Army (now under the command of [[Petar Bojović|Marshal Bojović]]), after rest and refit on Corfu, was transported by the French to the Macedonian front.
 
[[Image:Serbia-WW1-4.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Fighting along the Greek border, 1916]]
 
French and Serbian troops finally made a breakthrough in the [[Vardar Offensive]] in 1918, after most German and Austro-Hungarian troops had withdrawn. This breakthrough was significant in defeating Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary, which led to the final victory of World War I. After the Allied breakthrough, Bulgaria capitulated on 29 September 1918.<ref>{{harvnb|Tucker|Wood|Murphy|1999|p=120}}</ref> Hindenburg and Ludendorff concluded that the strategic and operational balance had now shifted decidedly against the Central Powers and insisted on an immediate peace settlement during a meeting with government officials a day after the Bulgarian collapse.<ref name="Doughty">{{Cite book |last=Doughty |first=Robert A. |title=Pyrrhic Victory |date=2005 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-6740-1880-8 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=vZRmHkdGk44C&pg=PA491 491]ff}}</ref> On 29 September 1918, the [[Oberste Heeresleitung|German Supreme Army Command]] informed [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Kaiser Wilhelm II]] and the [[Chancellor of Germany#Chancellor of the German Empire (1871–1918)|Imperial Chancellor]] [[Count]] [[Georg von Hertling]], that the military situation facing Germany was hopeless .{{Sfn|Axelrod|2018|p=260}}
In the meantime, the political situation in Greece was confused. Officially, Greece was neutral, but King [[Constantine I of Greece|Constantine I]] was pro-German, while Prime Minister [[Eleftherios Venizelos|Venizelos]] was pro-French. At first, Greece supported the French-British military support of Serbia, then they opposed it; finally, after Venizelos' resignation, the royalist government settled for officially condemning it, but not actually opposing the superior Allied armies that had landed in Salonika. The Germans, trying to win Greece to their side, were careful not to cross the Greek border.
 
German Emperor [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Wilhelm II]] in his telegram to [[Ferdinand I of Bulgaria|Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand I]] stated: "Disgraceful! 62,000 Serbs decided the war!".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lyon |first=James |date=12 October 2020 |title=The Battle of Dobro Polje – The Forgotten Balkan Skirmish That Ended WW1 |url=https://militaryhistorynow.com/2020/10/12/knock-out-blow-at-dobro-polje-six-facts-about-the-obscure-battle-that-ended-ww1 |access-date=2019-11-21 |website=Military History Now}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Schoppert |first=Stephanie |date=22 February 2017 |title=The Germans Could no Longer Keep up the Fight |url=https://historycollection.co/ten-facts-battle-dobro-polje-battle-led-allied-victory-world-war/9 |access-date=2019-11-21 |website=History Collection}}</ref>
In May of [[1916]], General Sarrail demanded that the [[Greek Army]] demobilize and the Greek government complied with this demand. However, this action further pushed the Greek government to side with the Central Powers.
The collapse of the [[Macedonian front]] meant that the road to [[Budapest]] and [[Vienna]] was now opened for the 670,000-strong Army of General [[Franchet d'Esperey]] as the Bulgarian surrender deprived the Central Powers of the 278 infantry battalions and 1,500 guns (the equivalent of some 25 to 30 German divisions) that were previously holding the line.<ref name=militera/> The German high command responded by sending only seven infantry and one cavalry division, but these forces were far from enough for a front to be re-established.<ref name="militera">{{Cite web |last=Korsun |first=N. |title=The Balkan Front of the World War (in Russian) |url=http://militera.lib.ru/h/korsun_ng4/06.html |access-date=27 September 2010 |publisher=militera.lib.ru}}</ref> In September, Entente armies spearheaded by Serbian and French troops, broke through the remaining German and Bulgarians defense, forcing Bulgaria to exit the war and liberating Serbia two weeks before the ceasefire.<ref name="Moal 2008 p.209 ">{{Cite book |last=Moal |first=F.L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sYDXPQAACAAJ |title=La Serbie: du martyre à la victoire, 1914-1918 |date=2008 |publisher=14-18 Éditions |isbn=978-2-9163-8518-1 |series=Collection "Les nations dans la Grande Guerre." |language=fr}}</ref>
 
===End of the War ===
With certain knowledge that [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]] was about to join the Allied side, General Sarrail began preparations for an attack on the Bulgarian Armies facing his forces. The Germans, with excellent intelligence from Greek supporters, made plans of their own for a "spoiling attack". The German offensive was launched on [[August 17]], just three days before the French offensive was scheduled to start. In reality, this was a Bulgarian offensive, as the Austro-Hungarian Army was in Albania and only a single German division was on the Greek border. The attack achieved early success thanks to surprise, but the Serbian forces held a defensive line after two weeks. Having halted the Bulgarian offensive, the Serbian Army staged a counterattack starting on [[September 12]]. The terrain was rough and the Bulgarians were on the defensive, but the Serbian Army made steady gains. Slow advances by the Serbians continued throughout October and on into November even as the weather turned very cold and snow fell on the hills. The Germans sent two more divisions to help bolster the Bulgarian Army, but by [[November 19]] the French and Serbian Army captured [[Bitola|Monastir]].
The ramifications of the war were manifold. When World War I ended, the [[Treaty of Neuilly]] awarded [[Western Thrace]] to Greece, whereas Serbia received some minor territorial concessions from Bulgaria. Austria-Hungary was broken apart, and Hungary lost much land to Yugoslavia and Romania in the [[Treaty of Trianon]]. Serbia assumed the leading position in the new [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia]], joined by its old ally, [[Montenegro]]. Meanwhile, Italy established a quasi-protectorate over Albania, and Greece re-occupied Albania's southern part, which was autonomous under a local Greek provisional government (see [[Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus]]), despite Albania's neutrality during the war.
 
===Casualties ===
Losses in this campaign were at least 50,000 on the Allied side and likely more than 60,000 killed and captured Bulgarians and Germans (Falls, p. 240). The front had been advanced just 25 miles.
[[File:WorldWarI-MilitaryDeaths-EntentePowers-Piechart.svg|thumb|left|The [[Allies of World War I|Entente]] casualties]]
 
Before the war, the Kingdom of Serbia had 4,500,000 inhabitants.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWinSerbia.htm|title=Serbia in 1914|work=Spartacus |date=22 March 2024 |author1=Chris }}</ref> According to ''[[The New York Times]]'', 150,000 people are estimated to have died in 1915 alone during the worst [[typhus|typhus epidemic]] in world history. With the aid of the [[American Red Cross]] and 44 foreign governments, the outbreak was brought under control by the end of the year.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1915/10/29/105045220.pdf |title=$1,600,000 was raised for the Red Cross |date=29 October 1915 | work=The New York Times}}</ref> The number of civilian deaths is estimated by some sources at 650,000, primarily due to the typhus outbreak and [[famine]], but also direct clashes with the occupiers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.firstworldwar.com/features/minorpowers_serbia.htm|title=The Minor Powers During World War One - Serbia|website=First World War.com}}</ref> Serbia's casualties accounted for 8% of the total Allied military deaths. 58% of the regular [[First Army (Serbia)|Serbian Army]] (420,000 strong) perished during the conflict.<ref>[http://www.vojska.net/eng/world-war-1/serbia/organization/1914/ Serbian army, August 1914]</ref> According to the Serb sources, the total number of casualties is placed around 1,000,000:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.politika.rs/search/searchEngineLanding/a/Sudnji-rat|title=Политика Online|website=www.politika.rs}}</ref> 25% of Serbia's prewar size, and an [[absolute majority]] (57%) of its overall male population.<ref>[http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Tema-nedelje/Najvecha-srpska-pobeda/Svi-srpski-trijumfi.sr.html Тема недеље: Највећа српска победа: Сви српски тријумфи: ПОЛИТИКА] {{in lang|sr}}</ref> ''L.A. Times'' and ''N.Y. Times'' also cited early Serbian sources which claimed over 1,000,000 victims in their respective articles.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/337249982.html?dids=337249982:337249982&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Jun+30%2C+1918&author=PIERRE+LOTI.+Special+Contributor+to+%22The+Times.%22&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=FOURTH+OF+SERBIA'S+POPULATION+DEAD.&pqatl=google|title=Fourth of Serbia's population dead.|access-date=2017-07-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130721100208/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/337249982.html?dids=337249982:337249982&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Jun+30%2C+1918&author=PIERRE+LOTI.+Special+Contributor+to+%22The+Times.%22&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=FOURTH+OF+SERBIA'S+POPULATION+DEAD.&pqatl=google|archive-date=2013-07-21|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/04/05/102687236.pdf|title=Asserts Serbians face extinction}}</ref> Modern western and non-Serb historians put the casualties number either at 45,000 military deaths and 650,000 civilian deaths{{sfn|Sammis|2002|p=32}} or 127,355 military deaths and 82,000 civilian deaths.{{sfn|Tucker|2005|p=273}} These numbers would appear to be a low estimate, given that according to a study by Vemić of the 10 biggest concentration camps (out of more than 300) in Austria-Hungary the number of Serb dead comes to at least 59,524.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vemić |first=Mirčeta |date=2014 |title=The Pomor of Serb POWs and Civilians in Austro-Hungarian camps during WWI 1914-1918, SUMMED NUMBERS |url=https://booksofjeremiah.com/post/the-pomor-of-serb-pows-and-civilians-in-austro-hungarian-camps-during-wwi-1914-1918-summed-numbers/ |website=Books of Jeremiah}}</ref> Vemić indicated that the number is likely higher than 64,597 victims, as some of the camp graveyards were not fully surveyed and excavated, as well as poor record-keeping in the camps and the destruction of some of the record-keeping books in the camps. This number combines POWs and civilian casualties, as the camps were often mixed, as well as people from Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, since they would be mixed in together in the camps.
The Bulgarian advance into Greek-held Eastern Macedonia however, precipitated another internal Greek crisis. The government ordered its troops in the area (the demobized IV Corps) not to resist, and despite occasional local resistance from a few officers, most of the Corps along with its commander was forced to surrender to a token German force, and was interned for the remainder of the war at [[Görlitz]]. The unopposed surrender of recently hard-won territory to the hated Bulgarians was seen by many Venizelist Army officers as the last straw. With the active help of the Allied authorities, they launched a coup which secured Salonika and most of [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]] for Venizelos (see [[Movement of National Defence]]). From that point Greece had two governments, the "official" royalist one at Athens, maintaining her neutrality in the face of increasing Allied pressure, and the "revolutionary", Venizelist government at Salonika, which immediately entered the war on the side of the Entente.
 
[[File:Ostatky Srbů povražděných Bulhary.jpg|thumb|right|The remains of Serbs killed by Bulgarian soldiers during the [[Surdulica massacre]]. It is estimated that 2,000–3,000 Serbian men were killed in the town during the first months of the Bulgarian occupation of southern Serbia.{{sfn|Mitrović|2007|p=223}}]]
At the same time, the Italians had deployed more forces to Albania and these new troops managed to push the Austrian corps back through very hilly country south of Lake [[Ostrovo]].
The extent of the Serbian demographic disaster can be illustrated by the statement of the Bulgarian Prime Minister [[Vasil Radoslavov]]: "Serbia ceased to exist" (''New York Times'', summer 1917).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/11/05/98273895.pdf|title=Serbia restored}}</ref> In July 1918, the [[United States Secretary of State|U.S. Secretary of State]] [[Robert Lansing]] urged the Americans of all religions to pray for Serbia in their respective churches.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/07/28/102728073.pdf| work=New York Times| title=Serbia and Austria| date=28 July 1918 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/07/27/102727338.pdf| work=New York Times| title=Appeals to Americans to pray for Serbians| date=27 July 1918 }}</ref>
 
The Serbian army suffered a staggering number of casualties. It was significantly destroyed near the war's end, falling from about 420,000<ref name="vojska1914"/> at its peak to about 100,000 at the moment of liberation.
==1917==
By the spring of this year, General Sarrail's ''Armee d' Orient'' had been reinforced to the point that he had 22 divisions: 6 French, 6 Serbian, 7 British, 1 Italian, 1 "National Defence" Greek and 2 Russian brigades. Further 2 Greek divisions were being formed. An offensive was planned for late April, but the initial attack failed with major losses and the offensive was called of on [[May 21]].
 
The Serb sources claim that the Kingdom of Serbia lost 1,100,000 inhabitants during the war. Of {{nowrap|4.5 million}} people, there were 275,000 military deaths and 450,000 among the ordinary citizenry. The civilian deaths were attributable mainly to food shortages and the effects of epidemics such as [[Spanish flu]]. In addition to the military deaths, there were 133,148 wounded. According to the Yugoslav government, in 1914, Serbia lost 365,164 soldiers, or 26% of all mobilized personnel, while France suffered 16.8%, Germany 15.4%, Russia 11.5%, and Italy 10.3%.{{no source|date=November 2018}}
Subsequently the Allies, whishing to exert more pressure on Athens, occupied Thessaly, which had been evacuated by the royalist Greek Army, and the [[Isthmus of Corinth]], practically severing the country in two. Further diplomatic pressure resulted in the exile of the Greek king (on [[June 14]]) and the reunification of the country under Prime Minister Venizelos, supported by Allied bayonets. The new government immediately declared waron the Central Powers and started to create a new Army. Despite this favorable outcome, the new French Prime Minister [[Georges Clemenceau]] recalled General Sarrail in November and put a much more diplomatic French General named Guillaumat in his place .
 
At the war's end, there were 114,000 disabled soldiers and 500,000 orphaned children.<ref>{{Cite book|quote=its postwar population included some 114,000 invalids and over half a million orphans|page=222|title=The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics|first=Ivo|last=Banac|author-link=Ivo Banac|publisher=[[Cornell University Press]]|year=1988|isbn=978-0-8014-9493-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KfqbujXqQBkC}}</ref>
==1918==
<!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[Image:BalkansFront1918.gif|thumb|200px|left|Allied campaigns in 1918]] -->
In May, General Guillaumat's Greek troops attacked and captured the strong Bulgarian position of [[Skra-di-Legen]], marking the first major Greek action on the Allied side in the war. However, with the German offensive threatening France, Guillaumat was recalled to [[Paris]] and replaced by General [[Franchet d'Esperey]].
 
===Child guerrilla fighters===
Although d'Esperey urged an attack on the Bulgarian Army, the French government refused to allow an offensive unless all the countries agreed. General [[Guillaumat]], no longer needed in France, traveled from [[London]] to [[Rome]], trying to win approval for an attack. Finally in September, agreement was reached and d'Esperey was allowed to launch his grand offensive.
 
During the Austro-Hungarian invasions of Serbia in 1914–1915, numerous irregular resistance operations were carried out not only by adult fighters but also by boys as young as twelve or thirteen. Many of these children were actively encouraged—sometimes persuaded or ideologically indoctrinated—by nationalist groups, local elders, or guerrilla leaders to support the Serbian cause. Their roles ranged from acting as couriers and lookouts to directly assisting in sabotage and ambushes alongside irregular četa fighters. Although not formally enlisted, their involvement blurred the lines between combatant and civilian, prompting severe reprisals from Austro-Hungarian forces, who increasingly viewed even minors as potential threats.<ref>{{cite book |author=Alan Kramer |title=Dynamic of Destruction: Culture and Mass Killing in the First World War |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2007 |pages=55–57 |isbn=9780192803429}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=John R. Lampe |title=Balkans into Southeastern Europe: A Century of War and Transition |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2006 |page=123 |isbn=9781403964175}}</ref><ref>{{cite report |title=Report of the International Commission to Inquire into the Causes and Conduct of the Balkan Wars |publisher=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |year=1914 |url=https://archive.org/details/reportofinternat00inte |access-date=2025-07-20}}</ref>
The Allied forces were now very large. Not only did they have the Greek army fully on their side (9 divisions strong), but they also had some 6,000 men from the [[Czech Legion]], who had been evacuated from Russia and sailed around the world, ready to fight the hated Austro-Hungarians. However, the Bulgarians had also increased the size of their army during 1917 and in total man power, the two sides were roughly equal (291 Allied battalions vs. 300 Bulgarian battallions, plus 10 German battalions). But in morale, the two sides were completely different. The Allied were certain of their impending victory while the Bulgarians could see the war was lost - the Ottoman Empire was near collapse, the Austro_Hungarian government was in chaos, and the mighty German Army was beaten on the all-important [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]. The Bulgarians were not willing to fight and die for a lost cause.
 
=== Attacks against ethnic Serb civilians ===
The [[Battle of Doiran]] started with the (now traditional) artillery bombardment of enemy positions on [[September 14]]. The following day, the French and Serbians attacked and captured their objective. The next day, some Bulgarian units started surrendering positions without a fight. The Allies then launched attacks all along their lines and the Bulgarian command ordered a retreat. Allied planes bombed the retreating Bulgarian troops and the retreat became a rout. On [[September 30]], the Bulgarians were granted an armistice by General d'Esperey, ending their war. Tsar [[Ferdinand of Bulgaria]] abdicated and went into exile four days later.
{{Main|Anti-Serb riots in Sarajevo|Schutzkorps}}
 
The assassination in Sarajevo of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife [[Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg]] was followed by violent anti-Serb demonstrations of angry Croats and Muslims<ref name=bennett>{{cite book|author=Christopher Bennett|title=Yugoslavia's Bloody Collapse: Causes, Course and Consequences|year=1995 |publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers|access-date=7 September 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FeiKg3TuNl0C&pg=PA259|page=259|isbn=978-1-85065-232-8}}</ref> in the city during the evening of 28 June 1914 and for much of the following day. This happened because most Croats and many Muslims considered the archduke the best hope for establishing a South Slav political entity within the Habsburg Empire. The crowd directed its anger principally at shops owned by ethnic Serbs and the residences of prominent Serbs. Two ethnic Serbs were killed on 28 June by crowd violence.<ref>{{cite book|author=Robert J. Donia|title=Sarajevo: A Biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ACvJHam2_-oC&pg=PA123|year=2006|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=0-472-11557-X|pages=123–}}</ref> That night there were anti-Serb demonstrations in other parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.<ref>{{cite book|author=Joseph Ward Swain|title=Beginning the twentieth century: a history of the generation that made the war|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7tA4AAAAIAAJ|year=1933|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Christopher Bennett|title=Yugoslavia's Bloody Collapse: Causes, Course and Consequences|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FeiKg3TuNl0C&pg=PA31|date=January 1995|publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers|isbn=978-1-85065-232-8|pages=31–}}</ref>
At this point, the British army headed east towards the European side of the Ottoman Empire, while the French and Serbian forces continued north. With the war nearly over in Europe, the French and Serbian offensive was a sideshow about which almost no one (except the Serbs) cared. The British Army neared Constantinople and with no serious Ottoman forces to stop it, the Ottoman government asked for an armistice on [[October 26]] ([[Enver Pasha]] and his partners had fled just days earlier to Berlin).
 
Incited by anti-Serbian propaganda and collusion with the command of the Austro-Hungarian Army, soldiers committed numerous atrocities against the Serbs in both Serbia and Austria-Hungary. According to the German-Swiss criminologist and observer [[Archibald Reiss|R.A. Reiss]], it was a "system of extermination." In addition to executions of prisoners of war, civilian populations were subjected to mass murder and rape. Villages and towns were burned and looted. Fruit trees were cut down, and water wells were poisoned in an effort on the Austro-Hungarian part to discourage Serb inhabitants from ever returning.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/howaustriahungar00reis How Austria-Hungary waged war in Serbia (1915)] German criminologist R.A. Reiss on atrocities by the Austro-Hungarian Army</ref><ref>[http://www.kakanien.ac.at/beitr/fallstudie/AHolzer1/?page=2&alpha=h Augenzeugen. Der Krieg gegen Zivilisten. Fotografien aus dem Ersten Weltkrieg] Anton Holzer, Vienna</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ww1-propaganda-cards.com/executions(3).html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010124000000/http://www.ww1-propaganda-cards.com/executions(3).html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=24 January 2001|title=Executions, various|website=www.ww1-propaganda-cards.com}}</ref>
With ''Desperate Frankie'' (as the British called d'Esperey) pushing ever forward, the Franco-Serbian Army re-captured Serbia and overran several weak German divisions that tried to block its advance. On [[November 10]], d'Esperey's army crossed the [[Danube]] river and was poised to enter the heartland of [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungary]] when the war finally came to an end. Count [[Gyula Károlyi|Karolyi]], leading the revolutionary Hungarian government, came to Belgrade and asked for an armistice.
 
<gallery>
==Summary==
File:Austria-Hungary WWI propaganda card against Serbs - 005.JPG|[[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]] propaganda postcard saying "Serbs, we'll smash you to pieces!"
[[Image:Armija Parade Paris.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Serbian Army on parade in [[Paris]]]]
File:Austria-Hungary WWI propaganda card against Serbs - 006.JPG|Anti-Serbian propaganda postcard
The remarkable story of the Serbian Army fighting on for years after their country was conquered should not distract from the fact that, from January 1916 till the end of the war, the fighting here was completely pointless. As General Esposito writes, "This campaign is a glaring example of unnecessary disperion of effort. For three years, half the Bulgarian Army successfully pinned down from 300,000 to 600,000 Allied troops - troops that were urgently needed on the Western Front." (West Point Atlas of American Wars). Once Bulgaria entered the war as a Austro-German ally, Serbia was doomed. Greece was not a major power, not friendly to the Allies, and the northern border of Greece offered superior defensive positions for a minor power like Bulgaria to defend.
File:Hromadná poprava Srbů.jpg|upright|Austro-Hungarian soldiers executing Serbian civilians during World War I (1916).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Honzík|first1=Miroslav|last2=Honzíková|first2=Hana|title=1914/1918, Léta zkázy a naděje|year=1984|publisher=Panorama|___location=Czech Republic}}</ref>
File:Austrians executing Serbs 1917.JPG|Austro-Hungarian firing squad executing Serbian civilians in 1917
File:Jindřichovice mauzoleum červen 2019 (1).jpg|Memorial to military and the concentration camp victims in [[Jindřichovice (Sokolov District)|Jindřichovice]]
File:Štip Massacre6.jpg|Remains of the [[Štip massacre]] victims
</gallery>
 
== See also ==
The fact that the Allies, in the last months of the war, were finally able to shatter the Bulgarian Army and advance like lightning north is a testament to the war weariness felt by the losing side of World War I. General d'Esperey deserves some credit for the speed and depth of his advance, but it is hardly great generalship to beat an enemy who has already been defeated.
* [[Austro-Hungarian occupation of Serbia]]
* [[Bulgarian occupation of Serbia (World War I)]]
* [[World War I in Albania]]
* [[Momčilo Gavrić (soldier)]]
* [[Great Retreat (Serbia)]]
* [[World War I casualties]]
 
== Notes ==
The ramifications of the war were manifold. In the [[Treaty of Neuilly]], Greece got [[Western Thrace]], and Serbia received some minor territorial concessions from Bulgaria. Serbia was also given the lead position in the new state of [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]], joined by their old ally, Montenegro. Austria-Hungary broke apart and Hungary lost much land to both Yugoslavia and Romania. Italy established a quasi-protectorate over Albania, which was to last until [[1939]].
{{Notelist}}
 
==Serbian lossesReferences ==
{{Reflist|30em}}
Serbia had suffered enormous casualties during the war. The [[Serbian Army]] had been decimated towards the end of the war, falling from about 500,000{{fact}} at its peak to less than 100,000 at the moment of liberation. The Kingdom of Serbia lost 1.3 million inhabitants during the war[http://www.krischanphoto.com/austria/1848/1914war1.htm]- (both army and civilian losses)- which represented 33% of its overall population and 60% [http://killeenroos.com/link/war.htm] of its male population- a demographic disaster whose effects are still evident today. More specifically, Serbia lost 370,000 soldiers, or 26 percent, of all mobilized manpower (for comparison: France 16.8; Germany 15.4; Russia 11.5; Italy 10.3 percent). In addition, Serbia suffered 1,100,000 civilian casualties during the war, amounting to more then 1/4 of all inhabitants of pre-war Serbia. In the end of the war there were 114,000 disabled soldiers and 500,000 orphaned children.,--cit. Serbian History : Dusko M.Kovacevic, Dejan Mikavica, Branko Beslin, Biljana Simunovic-Beslin)
 
=== Sources ===
==Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian genocide against Serbian citizens==
{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* {{Cite book |last=Axelrod |first=Alan |author-link=Alan Axelrod |title=How America Won World War I |date=2018 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4930-3192-4}}
* {{Cite book |last=DiNardo |first=Richard L. |title=Invasion: The Conquest of Serbia, 1915 |date=2015 |publisher=Praeger |isbn=978-1-4408-0093-1 |___location=Santa Barbara}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hart |first=Peter |title=The Great War: A Combat History of the First World War |date=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1999-7627-0}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Hughes |first1=M. |title=The Palgrave Concise Historical Atlas of the First World War |last2=Philpott |first2=W. |date=29 March 2005 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |isbn=978-0-2305-0480-6}}
* {{Cite book |last=Jordan |first=David |title=The Balkans, Italy & Africa 1914–1918: From Sarajevo to the Piave and Lake Tanganyika |date=2008 |publisher=Amber Books |isbn=978-1-9066-2614-3 |___location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last=Milošević |first=Krsman |title=Србија у великом рату |publisher=CIP |year=2008 |isbn=978-86-82777-16-8 |___location=Народна Библиотека Србије, Београд |language=Serbian}}
* {{Cite book |last=Mitrović |first=Andrej |author-link=Andrej Mitrović |title=Serbia's Great War 1914-1918 |date=2007 |publisher=Purdue University Press |isbn=978-1-5575-3476-7 |___location=West Lafayette}}
* Österreich-Ungarns letzter Krieg 1914 - 1918, vol. 1, Wienn 1930 [http://digi.landesbibliothek.at/viewer/image/AC03202139/1/LOG_0003/]
* Österreich-Ungarns letzter Krieg 1914 - 1918, vol. 2 Beilagen, Wienn 1931 [http://digi.landesbibliothek.at/viewer/image/AC01351505/1/LOG_0003/]
* {{Cite book |last=Sammis |first=Kathy |title=Focus on World History: The Twentieth Century |date=2002 |publisher=Walch Publishing |isbn=978-0-8251-4371-7 |volume=5 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=hYIRuzh5Ew8C&pg=PA32 32]}}
* Silberstein, Gerard E. "The Serbian campaign of 1915: Its diplomatic background." ''American Historical Review'' 73.1 (1967): 51-69 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1849028 online]
* {{Cite book |last1=Tucker |first1=Spencer |title=The European Powers in the First World War: An Encyclopedia |last2=Wood |first2=Laura M. |last3=Murphy |first3=Justin D. |date=1999 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-8153-3351-7 |oclc=40417794}}
* {{Cite book |last=Tucker |first=Spencer |author-link=Spencer C. Tucker |title=World War I: Encyclopedia, Volume 1 |date=2005 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-8510-9420-2 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=2YqjfHLyyj8C&pg=PA273 273]}}
* {{Cite book |last=Willmott |first=H. P. |title=World War I |date=2003 |publisher=Dorling Kindersley |isbn=978-0-7894-9627-0}}
{{Refend}}
 
== Further reading ==
==Sources==
{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* Falls, Cyril '''The Great War''' (1960).
* Esposito, Vincent (ed.) (1959). The West Point Atlas of American Wars - Vol. 2; maps 46-50. Frederick Praeger Press.
 
* {{Cite book |last=Babac |first=Dušan M. |title=The Serbian Army in the Great War, 1914-1918 |date=2016 |publisher=Helion |isbn=978-1-9107-7729-9 |___location=Solihull}}
==See also==
* {{Cite book |title=Histoire du peuple serbe |date=2005 |publisher=L’Age d’Homme |isbn=978-2-8251-1958-7 |editor-last=Bataković |editor-first=Dušan T. |editor-link=Dušan T. Bataković |___location=Lausanne |language=fr |trans-title=History of the Serbian People}}
{{WWITheatre}}
* {{Cite book |last=Buttar |first=Prit |title=Collision of Empires: The War on the Eastern Front in 1914 |date=2014 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-1-7820-0972-6 |___location=Oxford}}
* {{Cite book |last=Buttar |first=Pritt |title=Germany Ascendant: The Eastern Front 1915 |date=2015 |publisher=Osprey Publishing/Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-4728-0795-3 |pages=361–388}}
* {{Cite book |last=Ćirković |first=Sima |author-link=Sima Ćirković |title=The Serbs |date=2004 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |isbn=978-1-4051-4291-5 |___location=Malden}}
* {{Cite book |last=Cox |first=John K. |title=The History of Serbia |date=2002 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-3133-1290-8 |___location=Westport, Connecticut}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Đorđević |first1=M. P. |title=Srbija i Jugosloveni za vreme rata 1914-1918 |last2=Živojinović |first2=D. R. |date=1991 |publisher=Biblioteka grada Beograda |volume=5 |___location=Beograd}}
* {{Cite book |last=Dragnich |first=Alex N. |title=Serbia Through the Ages |date=2004 |publisher=East European Monographs |isbn=978-0-8803-3541-6 |___location=Boulder}}
* Falls, Cyril, ''The Great War'' (1960) 978-1440800924
* {{Cite book |last=Fryer |first=Charles |title=The Destruction of Serbia in 1915 |date=1997 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-8803-3385-6 |___location=New York}}
* {{Cite book |last=Gumz |first=Jonathan E. |title=The Resurrection and Collapse of Empire in Habsburg Serbia, 1914-1918 |date=2009 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-5218-9627-6 |___location=Cambridge}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hadži-Vasiljević |first=Jovan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iL7FAAAAMAAJ |title=Bugarska zverstva u Vranju i okolini, 1915-1918 |date=1922 |publisher=Zastava}}
* {{Cite book |last=Larned |first=Josephus Nelson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mjsFAAAAIAAJ |title=The New Larned History for Ready Reference, Reading and Research: The Actual Words of the World's Best Historians, Biographers and Specialists; a Complete System of History for All Uses, Extending to All Countries and Subjects and Representing the Better and Newer Literature of History |date=1924 |publisher=C.A. Nichols}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lyon |first=James B. |title=Serbia and the Balkan Front, 1914: The Outbreak of the Great War |date=2015 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-4725-8005-4 |___location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last=Pavlowitch |first=Stevan K. |author-link=Stevan K. Pavlowitch |title=Serbia: The History behind the Name |date=2002 |publisher=Hurst & Company |isbn=978-1-8506-5477-3 |___location=London}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Pisarri |first=Milovan |date=2013 |title=Bulgarian Crimes Against Civilians in Occupied Serbia during the First World War |url=http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/ft.aspx?id=0350-76531344357P |journal=Balcanica |issue=44 |pages=357–390 |doi=10.2298/BALC1344357P |doi-access=free}}
* {{Cite book |last=Radić |first=Radmila |title=The Serbs and the First World War 1914-1918 |date=2015 |publisher=Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts |isbn=978-8-6702-5659-0 |___location=Belgrade |pages=263–285 |chapter=The Serbian Orthodox Church in the First World War}}
* {{Cite book |last=Radojević |first=Mira |title=The Serbs and the First World War 1914-1918 |date=2015 |publisher=Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts |isbn=978-8-6702-5659-0 |___location=Belgrade |pages=187–204 |chapter=Jovan M. Jovanović on the outbreak of the First World War}}
* {{Cite book |last=Strachan |first=Hew |url=https://archive.org/details/worldwarihistory00stra |title=World War I: A History |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1982-0614-9 |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |last=Temperley |first=Harold W. V. |author-link=Harold Temperley |url=https://archive.org/download/historyofserbia00temp/historyofserbia00temp.pdf |title=History of Serbia |date=1919 |publisher=Bell and Sons |edition=2 |___location=London |orig-date=1917}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Tomac |first1=Petar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXNY16EoeAoC |title=Prvi svetski rat, 1914-1918 |last2=Đurašinović |first2=Radomir |date=1973 |publisher=Vojnoizdavački zavod}}
{{Refend}}
 
== External links ==
[[Category:World War I]]
{{Commons category|Serbia in World War I}}
[[Category:History of Serbia]]
* Bjelajac, Mile: [https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/serbia Serbia], in: [https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/home/ 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War].
* Tasić, Dmitar: [https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/warfare_1914-1918_south_east_europe Warfare 1914-1918 (South East Europe)], in: [https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/home/ 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War].
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQuKMMjTbD0&feature=youtu.be Years which changed the war - WWI in documents from Archive of Serbia]
*{{cite web|title=Jugoslovenska kinoteka|publisher=Kinoteka|url=http://www.kinoteka.org.rs/di/efg/Http/EFG/00-efg_S_index01.htm|language=sr}}
*{{cite book|author=Popović, Andra|year=1926|script-title=sr:Ратни албум : 1914-1918|title=Збирка књига Универзитетске библиотеке у Београду|publisher=Digital National Library of Serbia|url=http://scc.digital.bkp.nb.rs/document/UBSM-album-1914-1918|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150422064034/http://scc.digital.bkp.nb.rs/document/UBSM-album-1914-1918|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 April 2015|language=sr}}
*{{cite book|author=W. H. Crawfurd Price|title=Serbia's Part in the War ...|url=https://archive.org/stream/serbiaspartinwa01pric|year=1918|publisher=Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Company}} (Public Domain)
 
{{World War I}}
{{Bulgaria in World War I}}
{{Wars and battles involving Serbs}}
{{Authority control}}
 
[[Category:Military operations of World War I involving Austria-Hungary]]
[[fr:Campagne de Serbie (1915)]]
[[Category:Campaigns and theatres of World War I|Serbia]]
[[Category:Bulgaria in World War I]]
[[Category:Wars involving the Balkans]]
[[Category:Serbia in World War I]]
[[Category:Austria-Hungary–Serbia relations]]