Encirclement and Destruction of the First Yugoslavia

Abstract

In the gardens of Kalemegdan, the old Turkish fortress in Belgrade, stands a monument to the Great War, a massive relief of figures exuding struggle and sacrifice. The inscription commands passers-by to ‘love France as she loved us’. This striking memorial is a reminder that, for the Serbs, independence always meant some kind of dependence, reliance on a patron among the great powers. Even when their protector was Russia, Serbs looked to French institutions for models of state-building, and with the coming of the twentieth century France became the main bulwark against the Teutonic threat. The fall of the Romanovs left France preeminent in Serbs’ affections. The Serbian army fought its way back into the homeland alongside French troops, and the rivalries between Paris and Rome afforded some degree of protection from Mussolini’s Italy.