Member-only story
WW1: A Remarkable Victory Of Serbian Farmers Over The Austo-Hungarian Empire
It takes wit to decimate the enemy
Once upon a time, an army of barefoot peasants from the Balkans (Southeastern Europe) defeated a European force. In 1914, the Serbian troops won the impossible Battle of Kolubara against the Habsburg Monarchy.
Before the crucial battle, the Austro-Hungarians had been attacking the Serbs for months—no wonder tiny Serbia was on the verge of disaster. Mobilized farmers didn’t have enough ammunition, clothes, or even food to resist the blows of the mighty enemy.
The European media reported that Serbia had already lost the war. Vienna officials believed it was a matter of days before Belgrade (the Serbian capital) would fall into ruins. Oh, the sweet smell of victory!
No one thought exhausted soldiers could crush a military Goliath. Also, Petar Bojović (1858–1945), the commander of the Serbian First Army, got wounded in the leg two days before the battle, and it’s not like you could find a good general anywhere in the land of the illiterate.
Then came the controversial army man Mišić who replaced Bojović. Over time, Živojin Mišić (1855–1921) became the most brilliant military leader of the Great War. He was the most decorated Serbian military officer in history…
