Serbian campaign (1915)

Regarding the Kingdom of Serbia as a threat to their territorial integrity and the stability of their multi-ethnic empire, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Bosnian-Serb nationalist. This triggered a series of alliances and escalations among European powers, ultimately leading to the outbreak of World War I.[9]

In August 1914, Austria-Hungary launched an invasion of Serbia. Against all odds, the Serbian army, led by General Radomir Putnik managed to repel multiple offensives from a much larger and better-equipped enemy. The Serbian campaign of 1914 ended late on 14 December with a victory for Serbia. The Austro-Hungarians suffered heavy casualties with over 224,000 dead, wounded or prisoner[10] and were unable to achieve their objectives but the victory also brought heavy losses to the Serbian army with 170,000 casualties a much higher percentage for the small kingdom, making further offensive operations impossible.[11]

In early 1915, following Ottoman defeats at the Battle of Sarikamish and during the First Suez Offensive, German Chief of the General Staff Erich von Falkenhayn attempted to persuade Austro-Hungarian Chief of Staff Conrad von Hötzendorf about the strategic importance of capturing Serbia. The rationale behind this proposition was to establish a direct rail connection from Germany through Austria-Hungary, ultimately reaching Istanbul and beyond. This proposed rail link would facilitate the transportation of military resources, and potentially troops, to support the Ottoman Empire.

Russia posed a significant threat as an adversary, and the entry of Italy into the war on the side of the Allies further complicated the challenges faced by the Austro-Hungarian forces. On 8 September 1915, Erich von Falkenhayn and Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf signed a military convention in Pless. The conference called for an immediate attack on Serbia.[12]

Both the Allies and the Central Powers attempted to persuade Bulgaria to align with their respective sides. Bulgaria and Serbia had a history of conflict, having engaged in two wars in the previous three decades: the Serbo-Bulgarian War in 1885 and the Second Balkan War in 1913. By aligning with the Central Powers, Bulgaria was promised not only disputed lands from Serbia but also additional territories in Macedonia and Thrace; in addition Germany and Austria-Hungary, offered Bulgaria military and economic support. Following the Allied defeat in the Gallipoli campaign and the Russian setback at Gorlice, Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria signed a treaty with Germany and on 23 September 1915 started mobilisation for war.[13] During the preceding nine months, the Serbs had tried and failed to rebuild their battered armies and improve their supply situation.

Austro-Hungarian river boat on the Danube and Sava with Kalemegdan fortress during Austrian attack in 1915

Despite their efforts, the Serbian army was only about 30,000 men stronger than at the start of the war (around 225,000) and was still poorly equipped. The first Serbian Campaign had taken the lives of 100,000 soldiers and had been followed by an epidemy of typhus caused by the sick and wounded that the Austro-Hungarians had left behind. The disease claimed the lives of another 135,000 Serbs.[14]

The Serbian army was commanded by Voivode Radomir Putnik who had defeated the Austro-Hungarians in 1914, Putnik's main commanders were Voivode Živojin Mišić leading the Serbian First Army, Voivode Stepa Stepanović commander of the Second Army while the Serbian Third Army was under Pavle Jurišić Šturm.[15] The Serbian army had about 780 guns, most of them heavy, the Serbians were forced to spread their forces by the entry of Bulgaria on the side of the Central powers.[16] The commander (Serdar) of the Montenegrin forces was Janko Vukotić.[17]

Against Serbia were the German Eleventh Army led by Generaloberst Max von Gallwitz,[18] the Austro-Hungarian Third Army commanded by General der Infanterie Hermann Kövess and the Bulgarian First Army under Generalleutnant Kliment Boyadzhiev (comprising the Sixth, Eighth, Ninth and First Divisions);[19] all under the supreme command of Field Marshal August von Mackensen.[20] In addition, the Bulgarian Second Army commanded by Georgi Todorov (comprising the Third and Seventh Divisions, a cavalry division and a group of volunteers),[19] which remained under the direct control of the Bulgarian high command, was deployed in Macedonia to block any advance by the entente forces from Salonika.[21]

A column of the Serbian Army during its retreat towards the Adriatic coast.

To escape the encirclement by the Central Powers, on 25 November 1915, the government and the supreme command made the decision to withdraw across the Accursed Mountains of Montenegro and Albania. The objective was to reach the Adriatic coast, where the Serbs could regroup and replenish.[38] The retreat involved the remaining army forces, the King, hundreds of thousands of civilian refugees, and war prisoners. It was a perilous journey undertaken in the midst of winter, with severe weather conditions, difficult roads, and the constant threat of attacks by enemy forces and Albanian tribal bands.[6]

Between November 1915 and January 1916, during the trek across the mountains 77,455 soldiers and 160,000 civilians, succumbed to freezing temperatures, starvation, diseases, or enemy actions. Austrian pilots employed new aerial bombardment technology, dropping bombs on the retreating columns, marking what has been described as 'the first aerial bombardment of civilians.'

Out of the initial 400,000 people who began this journey, only 120,000 soldiers and 60,000 civilians managed to reach the Adriatic coast. They then boarded Allied transport ships that took them to the island of Corfu, before eventually being sent to Salonika.[39] The evacuation of the Serbian army was completed on 5 April 1916.[40] Some survivors were in such weakened conditions that thousands of them died in the weeks following their rescue. Marshal Putnik, who had to be carried throughout the entire retreat, died fifteen months later in France. The period known as the "Great Retreat", also known as the Albanian Golgotha, is regarded in Serbian history as one of the nation's greatest tragedies.[41]

Serbia was divided by the Central Powers, between separate Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian military occupation zones. In the northern and central part of Serbia, which fell under Austro-Hungarian control, a Military General Governorate of Serbia was established, headquartered in Belgrade. The Bulgarian-occupied territory saw the formation of a military government with its center in Niš, with the area further divided into two administrative zones. Both the Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian occupation administrations implemented stringent measures,[42][43] subjecting the population to various forms of repression, including mass internment, forced labor, concentration camps for political opponents, famine, denationalisation, and policies aimed at cultural assimilation.[44][45] Kosovo was divided into two Austro-Hungarian occupational zones and the Bulgarian Military Region of Macedonia.[46]

The Army of Montenegro did not follow the Serbs into exile but retreated to defend their own country. The Austrian-Hungarians launched their Montenegrin campaign on 5 January 1916. Despite some success of The Montenegrins in the Battle of Mojkovac, they were defeated within two weeks.

In 1916, over 110,000 Serbian troops were relocated to Salonika, where they subsequently joined the Allied forces following Greece's entry into the war. These Serbian units would ultimately play a pivotal role in the breakthrough of the Macedonian Front in September 1917 and the subsequent liberation of Serbia a year later when French and Serbian forces defeated Bulgarian and German forces at the Battle of Dobro Pole.[47]

This was a nearly complete victory for the Central Powers the as railroad from Berlin to Istanbul was opened, costing around 67,000 casualties compared to around 94,000 Serbs killed or wounded and 174,000 captured, of which 70,000 were wounded.[4]

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