Serbia's Great War, 1914-1918 by Andrej Mitrović (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS 561 Mitrovic, Andrej. Serbia's GreatWar, 1914?1918. C. Hurst & Company, London, 2007. xvi + 386 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index. ?45.00; ?19.99. Given the important role played by Serbia in theFirstWorld War, it is rather surprising thatprior to the publication ofAndrej Mitrovic's Serbia's GreatWar, 1914-1918, not a single general history of Serbia's experience in this great conflict had been published in the English language. With the centenary of thewar's commencement only five years away, the publication ofMitrovic's respected work is both well timed and long overdue. Originally published in Serbo-Croatian in 1984 under the tide Srbija u Prvom Svetskom Rata, this is a 'newly-edited and shortened version' (p. vii) of one of the best studies on Serbia in the FirstWorld War, written by one of the most respected contemporary Serb historians. Basing his monograph on an impressive array of primary and secondary materials in a number of languages, Mitrovic's chronological general history isdivided into seven chapters. The first, 'July 1914', examines the period from the Sarajevo assassination (28 June) to the Austro-Hungarian declaration of war against Serbia (28 July). It looks at the men who organized and committed the assassination; anti-Serb publications, demonstrations and riots throughout theHabsburg Empire; and diplomatic activity, particularly between Austria-Hungary and Germany. Chapter 2 ('The Yugoslav Programme') begins by providing a brief survey of Serbia in 1914 (area, economy, ethnic structure, and population) and intro duces the central theme ofMitrovic's work: the importance of the ideology of Yugoslavism in the thinking of the Serbs and other South Slavs. The ideas and perceptions ofNikola Pasic, the Serbian Prime Minister, leader of the Radical Party, and one of themain characters in the story,are explored. The chapter also looks at domestic repression inAustria-Hungary in the initial stages of thewar; thebattles of 1914 (Mount Cer and Kolubara River); Austro Hungarian war crimes in Serbia in 1914; and support for Serbia amongst the South Slavs of theHabsburg Empire. It ends with a comparison ofAustria Hungary's and Serbia's war aims ? the latter'swere primarily defensive, but also aimed at the creation of a state encompassing all South Slavs, a plan which was finalized by the autumn. The following chapter, 'Serbia Suffers', looks at themilitary and political crisis of 1915.Militarily, Serbia was exhausted; ithad sufferedhuge military losses in 1914 and was economically drained. Furthermore, a devastating typhus epidemic raged throughout the country. To make matters worse, the Central Powers were attempting to convince Bulgaria to join them, and Austria-Hungary was encouraging theAlbanians inKosovo to rebel. Politi cally, the Serbian government was racked by infighting, and problems emerged as the Yugoslav programme began to be elaborated, with King Nikola of Montenegro raising concerns about the impact of unification on his state. Entente plans to cede South Slav lands to Bulgaria and Italy in exchange for their support also threatened theYugoslav project.When the combined armies ofAustria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Germany attacked Serbia inOctober 1915, Serbia's defences collapsed. 562 SEER, 88, 3, JULY 2010 Chapter 4 (On Foreign Soil') recounts the horrors of the great retreat through Albania to Corfu, where the Serbian army recovered and reorga nized, before being sent to the Salonika Front. Political struggles intensified and were centred on threepower blocs: 1) theBlack Hand nationalistic society; 2) Crown Prince Aleksandar, togetherwith a group ofmilitary officers and a splintergroup of theRadicals; and 3) Pasic and theOld Radicals. The conflict ended with a rapprochement between Aleksandar and Pasic, followed by the Salonika Process, inwhich the Black Hand was destroyed. This period was also marked byKing Nikola's reaffirmation ofMontenegrin independence in the face of an ever-swelling tide of popular support for the idea of union with Serbia not only in Montenegro, but also in theHabsburg Empire. The next two chapters (Occupation', Armed Resistance') return the story to occupied Serbia and discuss the occupation regimes in Serbia and Monte negro which were exploitative, oppressive and violent. Particularly disturbing are the details of the 'Bulgarianisation programme' (pp. 222-26, 240-43, 253) in theBulgarian occupation zone which, depending on one's definition,might be considered genocide. It also looks at armed resistance in...