Serbia in World War One

The first decade of the 20th century seemed to its contemporaries as a long period of peace, progress and easy living, often described by the term „la bell époque“. For historians it was a long period of what they called the long nineteenth century, bordered by the French revolution and the onset of World War One. Truly, the first global armed conflict, called by its contemporaries the Great War, was in many ways a crucial turning point in the history of mankind. It was equally a major turning point for Serbia and South Slavic peoples, and during it certain processes began which strongly influenced the history of the Jewish people and the creation of their state.
After the French-Prussian war (1870/1871) and the Great Eastern Crisis (1875-1878) which ended with the Berlin Congress, Europe saw a long period of peace. Wars were waged far away from Europe, in Africa and Asia, where the West European countries were enlarging their colonial power at the cost of destroying millions of lives of the native populations. Accelerated industrialisation and urbanisation gradually spread from West European countries towards the central, eastern and southern parts of the continent. The increasing prosperity was accompanied by social conflicts and increasingly strong differences among the great European powers. Germany became one of the major powers only after unification in 1871, so it practically did not benefit from overseas colonial expansion. Relying on its extremely increased economic and military power, Germany was attempting to establish its supremacy on the European soil and by building its fleet to rival the global naval domination of Great Britain. This inevitably led to the distortion in the balance of power and accelerated the creation of the alliance or the Triple Entente between Great Britain and France in 1904 and subsequently Russia in 1907.
Germany in 1879 created a strong alliance with the AustriaHungarian Monarchy, and they were soon joined by Italy, whereby the Central Alliance was forged. Yet, their actions were often not coherent, and at the same time the common interests of AustriaHungary and Germany grew in importance. Austria-Hungary directed its expansion towards the Balkans, where it was to prove itself as a great power. Simultaneously, national movements of different component nations within it striving for the creation of their national states were getting momentum. Among these movements was the movement for the unification of South Slavic peoples. The first step made by Austria-Hungary on its way to the Balkans was the occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878, based on the decision of the Berlin Congress. Contrary to international law, the Monarchy in 1908 annexed this province. The next step was to be the destruction of Serbia as an independent state whereby the Yugoslav movement was also to be destroyed. For both Vienna and Berlin the key obstacle to their plans of moving into the Balkans and the Middle East was Serbia, which was also perceived as the centre of gathering of all South Slavic peoples and a proponent of Russia. The Austria-Hungary on several occasions made plans for attacking Serbia. The intention to invade Serbia existed also at the time of the Annexation Crisis in 1908/1909 and during the Balkan Wars of 1912/1913, but in both cases Serbia managed not to give a formal pretext for aggression. Under such circumstances, the assassination in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 proved to be an excellent opportunity to achieve the long-reaching plans of both AustriaHungary and Germany.
The Austria-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina had as its main goals economic expansion, preservation of semi-feudal social relations and creation of loyal population. In a territory with strong religious divisions where nation was perceived to be equal to confessional affiliation, a relative majority was made up of Orthodox Christian Serbs. The occupation authorities favoured the Roman-Catholic minority which was systematically empowered by massive immigration from other parts of the Monarchy. The „Europeisation“ of Bosnia and Herzegovina resulted in undoubted civilisational progress and was achieved partly through Jewish capital and entrepreneurship coming from other parts of the Monarchy. Improved living conditions were seen especially in the field of health care, to which the newly arriving physicians of Jewish origin contributed significantly. Yet, the Austria-Hungary occupation was perceived by the majority of the population, primarily Serbs and Muslims, as a brutal threat to vital national interests.
As was the case in other South Slavic countries of the Austria-Hungary Monarchy, there was also in Bosnia and Herzegovina a growing movement aiming at unification of Southern Slavs into a powerful and liberal state which would enable smooth national and economic growth. Serbia was perceived to be the “Piedmont” of unification, its reputation growing after the victorious Balkan wars and the destruction of the centuries-long rule of the Ottoman Empire in Europe. The Yugoslav idea was most strongly supported by the youth, and the youth created its organisation “Mlada Bosna” in Bosnia and Herzegovina after the model of a similar organisation in Italy. Although the most numerous among the membership were Serbs, there were also Muslims and Croats. The same as their peers of the same opinion in Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia, the members of “Mlada Bosna” thought that their goals have to be achieved by violence, including assassinations of the highest representatives of the Monarchy.
The Serbian revolution of 1804 and the renewed statehood in the Principality of Serbia during the first decades of the XIX century ensured for this part of the Serbian people a speedier development and gradual adoption of the legacy of bourgeois liberal society. Social differentiation, as a requirement of such development, was happening alongside with national integration and building of state institutions. Like other nation states, it also strived to include within its borders also other states in which its compatriots were living. The building of a bourgeois liberal society was accelerated after the Berlin Congress in 1878 recognised Serbia’s independence. At the same time, the decision of the Congress to allow Austria-Hungary to occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina was perceived in Serbia as a major defeat of the national policy. Jews in Serbia were not numerous and did not play such a prominent role in the social and economic structure as was the case in Central and Eastern Europe. The conditions under which Jews lived in the Principality, and later the Kingdom of Serbia, during the XIX century were changeable, at times unfavourable, primarily due to the formation of the national market and capital. According to the provisions of the Berlin Congress, the Jews acquired full civic equality which was subsequently confirmed in the Constitution of 1888. This has led to a relatively speedy social integration of Jews in Serbia. They lived mostly in the country’s capital, Belgrade, while smaller communities also lived in Nis, Smederevo, Šabac and a number of smaller towns. Among the 2,911,701 inhabitants of Serbia in 1910, there were 5,997 (0.2%) Jews. More than four fifths of Serbian Jews lived in Belgrade. Of the total population of Belgrade which numbered 89,876 in 1910 there were 4,193 (4.66%) Jews. As was the case before, they mostly lived in the city district of Dorćol, where they made up one quarter of the total population.
Social integration of Jews in Serbia as “Serbs of Moses’ religion” did not mean assimilation, but rather a double identification in which their Jewish and Serbian identities matched each other. Their feeling of freedom and belonging to the community was founded in the parliamentary democracy with civil freedoms, as well as their participation in the wars of liberation. After the Balkan Wars of 1912/1913 and the liberation of Old Serbia and Macedonia, the territory of the Serbian state doubled in size. Its borders included relatively sizable communities of Sephardic Jews, the biggest ones in Bitola and Skopje. During the Balkan Wars, the Serbian Jews made a proportionally significant contribution to the liberation and unification as they shared with the others great losses.
After Petar Karađorđević came to the Serbian throne in 1903, there was an overall economic and social prosperity, accompanied by a change of direction in the Serbian foreign policy from Austria-Hungary towards the western democracies and Russia. The attempt by Vienna to prevent such developments by the Customs Was in the period 1906-1911 had failed. Serbia saw along with the Serbian unification policy also the strengthening of the movement for unification of Southern Slavs. Despite the attempts by Austria-Hungary to put an end to the Yugoslav movement by repression and judicial persecution, after the Annexation crisis and especially after the Balkan Wars, the movement grew even stronger. Although during the Balkan Wars Serbia won major military and political victories, the price paid for this in human lives and material devastation was an extremely high one. The Serbian Government made efforts to consolidate the state and diminish the animosity of Austria-Hungary, which saw the victory of Balkan allies over Turkey as a great and unpleasant surprise. After the defeat of Bulgaria in the Second Balkan War in 1913, AustriaHungary notified its allies Italy and Germany of its intentions to attack Serbia. Although they were not ready at that time to support this, in autumn 1913 a position became dominant in both Vienna and Berlin that the next international crisis should be used for war purposes.
At the great military manoeuvres of the Austria-Hungary Army in eastern Bosnia in 1914 the hypothetical enemy was Serbia, and the great concentration of troops looked as part of preparations for an attack against it. The inspection of the manoeuvres and the upcoming visit of the heir to the throne, Prince Franz Ferdinand to Sarajevo, on Serbian national holiday Vidovdan on 28 June 1914 was perceived by the revolutionary youth to be a great insult and provocation. It was also an opportunity to destroy „the enemy of the sublime Yugoslav idea“, as one of the assassins, Trifko Grabež, said during the trial. The shots from the pistol of Gavrilo Princip killed the poorly secured heir of the Austria-Hungarian throne, Franz Ferdinand. Unintentionally, his wife Sofia was also killed by shots intended for the Governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Oskar Potiorek. Right away, the Government of Serbia was accused for the assassination, which was an indication that the assassination will be given first-class political significance. Through the writing of the press and the speeches of officials an anti-Serbian atmosphere of pogrom was built up. There followed massive destruction and plunder of Serbian property in Sarajevo and other towns across Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbs were targets of humiliation and physical attacks. The situation was similar in Zagreb and some towns in Croatia and Slavonia, but not in Dalmatia. The authorities let the violent perpetrators freely plunder and destroy Serbian property, and there was a boycott of Serbian businesses. Prominent in these calls for persecution of the Serbs were the Roman-Catholic clerical circles, and in Croatia and Slavonia also supporters of the extreme nationalist party of Josip Frank.
Although having no evidence that official Serbia was behind the assassination, already the following day, the key circles of the Monarchy formulated an intention that „war against Serbia should be constructed“. The trial against the assassins before the Military Court in Sarajevo in October 1914 also did not come up with evidence of Serbia’s involvement in the assassination. It later turned out that Serbia had, through diplomatic channels, warned Austria-Hungary of the possibility of assassination. During the investigation, the assassins were exposed to torture, but they did not change their pleas before the court. Instead, they repeated before the court that they secretly organised themselves because they were aware that otherwise the Serbian Government would have prevented them in their intentions. The trial proved that the assassination was an act of youth from Bosnia and Herzegovina who decided, by murdering the tyrant, to end the symbol of national oppression and remove the obstacle to Yugoslav unification. Gavrilo Princip described his deliberation and the position of other assassins during the trial as follows: „I am a Yugoslav nationalist and I believe in the unification of all South Slavs in whatever form of state, free of Austria“.
During the first days of July 1914 a decision was made in Vienna to attack Serbia after first conducting consultations with Berlin. The reply of the German Emperor Wilhelm II to the telegram of the Ambassador in Vienna that Austria-Hungary decided for a radical count-down with Serbia was: „Now or never!“ The German military and political leadership intended to profit from its better armament and the weakness of Russia, convinced that through war it can achieve supremacy over the European continent. Thus, Berlin encouraged Vienna in its intention to attack Serbia, aware that this will result in a great war. On 6 July 1914 the German Government promised Austria-Hungary full support, and the following day the Ministerial Council in Vienna made a decision to initiate a war against Serbia. Encouraged by the belligerent writing of the orchestrated press, a belligerent and patriotic atmosphere developed in Vienna, opposed only by very few sober individuals. An orchestrated campaign as a part of the war preparation propaganda used dehumanising stereotypes of Serbs who were condemned as a nation of bandits and murderers, and Serbia was portrayed as their stronghold. It was suggested implicitly and explicitly that it is a threat to peace and civilisation deserving to be destroyed and that all means are allowed in order to achieve this goal.
During June 1914 in Vienna and Berlin diplomatic preparations for war were underway, while the European public predominantly believed that the crisis was subsiding. When Austria-Hungary delivered its ultimatum to Serbia on 23 July 1914, demanding a response within 48 hours, it became increasingly obvious that the war was about to break up. The ultimatum demanded of the Serbian Government to disable the activity of national and nationalistic organisations in Serbia, as well as allowing Austrian bodies to be involved in „suppressing the subversive movement“, and participate in the investigation „against the conspiracy of 28 June“. Although Serbia was ready to accept practically all demands from the ultimatum, such demands were inacceptable for an independent state. Its sovereignty would have been seriously violated as it was impossible to predict what would be the limits of Austrian authorities in Serbia. It was obvious that the ultimatum was intentionally worded in a way which rendered it impossible to accept. The response of the Serbian Government was exceptionally accommodating, but he inacceptable demands were rejected. Dissatisfied with the response, the Austria-Hungary government on 25 July 1914 terminated diplomatic relations with Serbia and withdrew its representatives from Belgrade. It was clear to the Serbian Government and the Prince Regent Aleksandar that this meant war, and under the circumstances Serbia did not know whether it will have the support of western allies and Russia. The Government moved its seat to Niš, ordered evacuation of Belgrade, and ordered general mobilisation. The Montenegrin King Nikola on 27 July sent to the Serbian Prince Regent Aleksandar a message of solidarity and readiness to jointly fight Austria-Hungary, which began mobilisation on 27 July and the subsequent day, in an unusual manner, by open telegram, declared war on Serbia.
At its first session held on the day of declaration of the war on 28 July 1914 the Serbian Government made a decision that the country’s independence is to be defended with all means available. The Prime-Minister Nikola Pašić in his address stated: „If something were to happen, we will, even if we are completely alone, defend ourselves to the last drop of blood“. Serbia hoped that it would not be left alone in the war which was believed to turn into a pan-European war. Weak, exhausted and peasant-dominated Serbia at that time had a population of 4,550,000 and was up against a developed European country with the population of 51 million capable of mobilising six million troops. With maximum efforts, Serbia could mobilise a total of 707,000 soldiers. In his first wartime announcement made the following day, Prince Regent Aleksandar called the people to defend the country with all their strength „their hearth and the Serbian tribe“. Although itself weakened and exhausted Montenegro sided with Serbia, aware that this is an issue decisive for the future of the whole Serbian nation. King Nikola in his war announcement on 6 August stated that Austria had declared war on Serbia, and thus the whole Serbian and Slavic nation. „Whoever is a hero and walks in the steps of the two Serbian kings, let us die and shed our blood for unity and golden freedom“.
Already the day after the war was declared, on 29 July 1914, the undefended Belgrade was bombed from Austria-Hungarian war ships (monitors). Simultaneously, Austrian troops attempted to cross the Sava river into Belgrade but were, with great losses, sent back. That was the first major war clash of the Great War. The same day Russia declared partial mobilisation making it clear that it shall not allow the destruction of Serbia and shall not allow Austria-Hungary to gain control over the Balkans. Germany followed suit and announced mobilisation and declared war on Russia on 1 August and on France on 3 August. Two days later Great Britain became involved in the war as well. Somewhat later, the Central Allies (Germany and Austria-Hungary) were joined by Turkey, while the Entente was joined by Japan. Italy declared neutrality, but the subsequent year joined the war on the side of the Entente. Thus the war became not only European but global. The German plan consisted of the intention to undertake a quick move across the neutral Belgium and defeat France, and subsequently focus all forces to the East and defeat Russia. Despite initial successes of the German military, after the decisive resistance by French and British troops, a relatively stable Western Front was established and continued to be the site of heavy and blood-shedding trench battles. In the direction of Russia, the German and Austria-Hungarian troops established the Eastern Front which also was the site where millions of people lost their lives during the war.
Although Serbia had just come out of the exhausting Balkan Wars, with modest arms, equipment and ammunition reserves, the success of the mobilisation was extraordinary. There was a commitment across the country to defend the hard won freedom at any cost. Despite all difficulties and deprivations, the Serbian Army was well organised, led by experienced officers under the supreme commander Prince Regent Aleksandar. The Chief of the Supreme Command was Field Marshal Radomir Putnik, and his assistant General Živojin Mišić. The Army was organised in three armies and the Užice army, which acted jointly with the Montenegrin and the Sandžak army. The Serbian Supreme Command based its war plan on the assessment that the key blow of the Austria-Hungarian Balkans army will be from the north (along the line Obrenovac-Belgrade-Požarevac) to be followed by moving on along the valley of the Velika Morava river. However, the key blow came from the west, across the Drina river, which the AustriaHungarian troops started to cross on 12 August 1914. Having noticed that this was the commencement of the decisive attack of the enemy, the Serbian HQ regrouped the troops and in the battle of Cer from 15 to 20 August caused a heavy defeat of the AustriaHungarian troops which were forced to withdraw from Serbia. This was at the same time the first victory of the Allies in the Great War which started with their defeats along the Western Front.
As the Allies insisted to undertake an offensive on the Austria-Hungarian territory and thus relieve pressure from other fronts, the Serbian HQ on 6 September undertook a military operation in Srem. Despite partial successes, the Serbian Army suffered a heavy defeat and was forced to withdraw back to Serbia. At one of the sectors the defeat would have been a total disaster had it not been for the courageous scout Rafailo Anaf, a fighter in both Balkan Wars, who killed the Austrian telephone operator and heard the order to make a siege. He promptly notified his superiors of this and the Army withdrew in a timely manner. Before the whole corps the commander commended Anaf, took off the gold medal from his jacket and placed it on the breasts of the courageous Anaf, from Belgrade, who soon afterwards was killed in combat. In mid September the Užička army and the Sandžak division made a breakthrough in eastern Bosnia and arrived to the vicinity of Sarajevo, but on 22 October they withdrew to their territory.
A new attack on Serbia by the Balkans army led by General Potiorek came on 8 September 1914, again from across the Drina river. Bloody battles lasted during the following week, the biggest among them being the battles at Gučevo and Mačkov Kamen. Austria-Hungarian troops, at the cost of major losses, pushed deep into the Serbian territory. At the end of October, by attack from Srem and from across the Drina, the Austria-Hungarian army took control over the region of Mačva, and continued to make progress and took the towns of Valjevo, Lajkovac, and Obrenovac. In mid-November 1914 a new front line was established at the river Kolubara. In order to shorten the front and separate the enemy, the Serbian Army withdrew and had the opportunity to take a breath and regroup. Belgrade was abandoned and the Austria-Hungarian troops walked into Belgrade, which was met by enthusiasm in Vienna. One of the first measures introduced in the occupied Serbian capital was the hanging of Serbian patriots in the city centre on Terazije square, and the gallows were placed also in other parts of the city.
In the meanwhile, the Serbian Army received new supplies of ammunition which created the conditions for a counter-offensive. On the day of parade of occupation forces in Belgrade, 3 December 1914, the newly appointed commander of the First Army, General Mišić, ordered a decisive offensive. After heavy fighting a victory was achieved in Suvobor, creating pre-conditions for decisive progress by the Serbian Army and a major defeat of the Austria-Hungarian Balkans’ army. During these operations, known as the Kolubara battle, a brilliant victory was won which arrested over 40,000 enemy soldiers and 270 officers, and huge supplies of armaments, equipment and ammunition. Until 16 December 1914 the last Austria-Hungarian soldier was driven out of the country.
The price of Serbian victories was extremely high. By the end of 1914 Serbia lost about 163,500 soldiers and officers, of which more than 69,000 were killed in combat or had died. The losses on the side of Austria-Hungary were much greater, about 274,000 soldiers and officers. However, Serbia had suffered losses not only on the front line, but also in form of great civilian losses due to unprecedented terror. These were not instances of individual killings, but systematic torture and beastly murder as well as concentration camps detaining men, women and children from occupied areas. Advanced towns like Šabac and Loznica, which were located along the lines of Austria-Hungary attacks, were practically completely destroyed. By the beginning of October 1914 Belgrade was bombed for 36 days and nights. The key scientific and cultural institutions of the capital were either destroyed or seriously damaged, the central hospital was bombed repeatedly, the embassies of Russia and Great Britain were damaged. Bombing severely affected the Dorćol district, which was home to the majority of Belgrade Jews, who jointly suffered all hardships of the war with their Serb neighbours.
Since the very beginning of the war against Serbia, AustriaHungary heavily violated international law on warfare, or the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907. Mass crimes committed by its army against the civilians and prisoners of war in western Serbia were systematic and encouraged by military commanders at all levels of command. Thanks to the continued communications efforts by the Serbian Government and Nikola Pašić the international public was informed about the atrocious crimes committed against the Serbs and the destruction of material and cultural assets. In this respect the Serbian Government was significantly assisted by the engagement of Rudolf Archibald Reiss, world renowned criminologist, professor of the University of Lausanne. Through his publications and articles sent to major newspapers, including detailed descriptions of atrocities committed against the Serbian soldiers and civilians he contributed significantly to informing the world public of the true nature of the aggression of the Central Powers against Serbia.
Serbs in Austria-Hungary itself were exposed to mass oppressive treatment, as they were qualified as „politically suspicious“ („politisch verdechtig“) and „subversive elements“. Apart from mass murders executed by the regular army and the police forces, the majority of murders and plundering were performed by para-military units of the „protective corps“ (the so-called “Schutzkorps”) consisting of local Muslims (in eastern Bosnia) and Croats. There was mass detention of the overall male population, mostly from bordering areas in Serbia and Montenegro, under the pretext that the aim was to prevent a Serbian uprising. The Serbian national name and the Cyrillic script were prohibited, Serbian educational and cultural institutions were closed, and orchestrated trials were held as „great treason trials“. The repressive measures, apart from Serbs, also targeted Yugoslav-oriented intellectuals of other nationalities. Some of the most outstanding intellectuals and politicians managed to flee the country and, with the help of the Serbian Government, in April 1915 they established the Yugoslav Committee. The role of the Committee was to inform the world public about the political goals of the Serbian Government and Yugoslavs from Austria-Hungary, and it increasingly served as their political representative office.
While initially at the outset of the war the defined goal of the Serbian Government was the defence against the aggressor, during September and October 1914 gradually a new and more far-reaching objective was formulated, as an intention to transform Serbia into a strong South-West Slavic state that would be comprised of all Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. This was to be a unique, centralised monarchy whose constitution would guarantee full religious and civil equality. Such a war objective of the Serbian Government, formulated by all major civil political parties, was put forward at the time of the battle of Kolubara and was presented to the national Presidency on 7 December 1914. The declaration emphasised that the main goals of the Serbian people were to persevere in the „holy fight to defend its home and its freedom“ and to be victorious in the war which, at the same time, was transformed into a struggle for „liberation and unification of all our unliberated brethren Serbs, Croats and Slovenes“. Through this document, known as the Niš Declaration, the Serbian Government definitely defined as its war goal the unification of the South Slavs. Obstacles standing in the way of achieving such goals were huge, because the achievement of the goal was predicated not only on winning the war, but also on the acceptance of great powers to create on the rubble of the Austria-Hungary new national states, among them the Yugoslav one. This was to happen only during the last year of the war.
Soon after publishing its Declaration the Serbian Government started making efforts to inform the public of allied and neutral countries about its war goals. This led to engaging outstanding scientists and distinguished individuals both from Serbia and from allied countries. A great role in this was played by the Yugoslav Committee which moved its seat from Rome to London. The hardships associated with the war and the massive military and civilian losses further aggravated the generally difficult situation in the Serbian health care services of the time. Apart from great lack of hospital capacities, sanitation materials and medical supplies, the most needed resources were the medical staff, primarily doctors. The deficit was the greatest in what was most needed – surgeons and epidemiologists. At the beginning of the war Serbia had 450 doctors, of which 44 were women. Humanitarian individuals from 45 countries responded to the call of the Serbian Government for help, establishing there assistance committees, which shipped the necessary assistance and informed the public about the struggles of Serbia. Doctors and medical personnel started to arrive from allied and neutral countries, including Russia, Great Britain, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the USA, and Denmark. The International Red Cross from Geneva as well as the Red Cross organisations from Great Britain, Russia and the USA provided significant assistance. The total headcount of international sanitation missions to Serbia was about 200 doctors, 500 nurses and technicians, and about 25 field hospitals were provided.
The Serbian Sanitation Service, despite the arrival of such missions and volunteers, was still far from able to meet all the needs for treatment of the huge number of casualties, including the wounded Austria-Hungary troops. According to all sources, these troops had the same treatment as the Serbian ones. The ratio of doctors to soldiers in the Serbian Army was one doctor to 750 soldiers, while in Germany this ration was one doctor to 30 soldiers, and the ratio in the Austria-Hungary army was similar to that of Germany. A significant number of Serbian doctors lost their lives in combat, and most of them died of typhoid fever epidemic which devastated them during the first months of 1915. A total of 157 doctors lost their lives, of which 124 were victims of the typhoid (other sources also state 132), the number of international doctors in this total being 25. Among them was a reserve sanitation major, a doctor from Šabac, Avram Vinaver, who was decorated for his commitment also during wars of 1913 and 1914, and who had the first x-ray device in Serbia. The epidemic first started in Austria-Hungary and was transmitted to Serbia by their soldiers. Although according to the international warfare law it was obliged to notify Serbia of the epidemic, Austria-Hungary failed to do so and the epidemic spread across Serbia due to the high number of captured soldiers and refugees. At the peak of the epidemic, and at the request of the Serbian Government, on 4 March 1915, sanitation missions arrived from Great Britain and France, which offered the decisive assistance in suppressing the epidemic. It is estimated that during 1914 and 1915 the total number of people infected was about 400,000 and the death toll was over 100,000 civilians along with 35,000 soldiers and about 30,000 prisoners of war. The mortality rate in Austria-Hungary camps for Serbian prisoners of war and civilians was even higher, which further increases the scope of massive death. The US war correspondent John Reed described Serbia as the „country of the dead“.
The first year of the war devastated Serbia. The army and the civilians suffered from warfare, in massacres and from typhoid epidemic, while material devastation was also tremendous. Economy and food production decreased as 83% of the men aged between 18 and 55 were mobilised, and livestock was confiscated for military purposes. Public revenues decreased, while the costs of the war exceeded by almost eightfold the state revenues. The population was in extreme deprivation and on the verge of hunger. There was need to feed not only the local population and the army, but also to provide care for the refugees and the wounded, as well as Austria-Hungarian prisoners of war. At the end of 1914 the number of the wounded in Serbia was about 100,000 on both the Serbian and the Austria-Hungarian side, about 75,000 prisoners of war and about 100,000 Serbian refugees from the northwestern Serbia and the regions of Srem and Bosnia.