Auckland Museum · Pou KanohiLetters from the front line
Serbian refugees on the road during the retreat to the Adriatic Sea, December 1915.© IWM (Q52302)

War chronicle · October 1915–February 1916 · Belgrade, Serbia

Serbia’s catastrophic defeat

The Serbian Government is banished and its citizens suffer forced labour, jail, and execution.

On 14 October, the Kingdom of Bulgaria declares war on Serbia. With the Central Powers, they join in a coordinated attack on multiple fronts. Serbian forces – having already fought off three previous invasion attempts – are unable to cope.

But the Serbian Government refuses to surrender and goes into exile in Paris. Some 300,000 Serbian soldiers follow their example by trying to cross the Albanian mountains – during winter. Over half perish attempting this route. The rest make it to the Adriatic coast where they join the Allies to return to Serbia to fight again.

For the next three years, Serbs suffer grievously with tens of thousands of civilians put into internment camps or deported as forced labourers. Thousands more are executed on the spot, or jailed and tortured by Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian occupation forces.

Photos & objects

A Serbian officer looking at a dead Serbian soldier, frozen on the side of the road, during the retreat to the Adriatic Coast, December 1915.
A Serbian officer looking at a dead Serbian soldier, frozen on the side of the road, during the retreat to the Adriatic Coast, December 1915.© IWM (Q52284)