Balkan Studies | Info

Serbia was the country attacked first in world war one. On July 29th 1914 forces of the Austria-Hungarian Empire began bombarding the Serbian capital of Belgrade. The tiny Serbian army fought like lions for two years and was only overcome by impossible odds. The Serbian National Army, led by Chief of Staff Voyvoda (Field Marshall) Radomir Putnik, was small as was its country. Drawing from a population of only 4.7 million the peacetime strength of the Serbian army was some 45,000 men spread over 70 infantry and 12 cavalry regiments. The army of the 56 million inhabitants Austria-Hungarian Empire was more than seven times this size. Officer training, especially for techinal skills like artillery and engineering, was undertaken in russia and several russian officers even served in the serbain army.

The regular Serbian soldier wore a uniform made from thin, airy grey-green cloth. The trousers were loose, tight from the knee, worn either with black or brown marching boots, or with the traditional woolen socks with the opanci moccassin-style shoes. A slung light brown bread bag and boxy German pattern leather ammunition pouches completed the marching uniform. The back pack was of a rucksack variety and pretty light, giving the Infantry men a standard load of only some 12kg (26 pounds), compared with, the Austro-Hungarian 25kg (55 pounds) per man, which increased the mobility of the Serb fighters. Uniform shortages however meant that the majority of reservists called to the colors simply wore their own clothing, only being issued the traditional Serb sajkaca cap. Reservists even had to carry their ammunition in their pockets as no pouches were available.

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