"Serbian Army in the Great War " Topic

"The centenary of the First World War has inspired a large number of books on the campaigns and armies of the conflict. However, very few cover the early campaigns between the Austro-Hungarian and Serbian forces, and fewer still cover the Serbian army in any detail. This is just one reason why Dusan Babac's book is so welcome…."

Full review here

link

Amicalement
Armand

"… the author's patriotism oozes from the pages of this book, even if, on occasions, at the price of objectivity."

I think that this is a huge understatement. It is an interesting book, and I do like it, but boy oh boy. The pro-Serbian viewpoint made me put it down a couple of times and read some other books on the same campaign for a little bit of objectivity.

Thanks!.

Amicalement
Armand

I always figured that if a time traveler went back in time to spring 1914 and showed a documentary on WWI to the assembled heads of Europe, and told them that they could avoid the tragedy as long as no one pushed this shiny red button, everyone would be shocked and immediately start trying to resolve their differences, until the Serbian representative said 'screw it' and pushed the button anyway.

The Serbians did try very hard to avoid war and made concessions that were quite demeaning. The Austrians always intended to try by any means to subjugate Serbia so made their demands impossible.

Germany encouraged them but failed to realise how stupid their leadership was and how out of touch with the poor morale in both the army and the country in general.

Don't confuse modern attitudes and myths with those of reality as it was in 1914. Serbia was weak, poor and politically unstable – they were in no condition to fight.

Which gives you an idea of just how bad the Austrian army was in 1914.

Good point!.

Amicalement
Armand