The Serbian Campaign of 1914 was a significant military operation during World War I. It marked the first major confrontation between the Central Powers, primarily Austro-Hungary, and the Allied Powers, led by the Kingdom of Serbia. The campaign started on 28 July 1914, when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and bombarded Belgrade. On 12 August, the Austro-Hungarian forces, led by General Oskar Potiorek, launched their first offensive into Serbia.
A Škoda 305 mm mortar used by the Austro-Hungarian army to fire on Belgrade
First Attack on Serbia, August 1914
Serbian infantry during the Battle of the Drina.
"The defeat of the Serbian Timok division" an illustration in Wort und Bild—A German / Austrian soldiers' propaganda magazine published during the war.
Oskar Potiorek was an officer of the Austro-Hungarian Army, who served as Governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1911 to 1914. He was a passenger in the car carrying Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Duchess Sophie of Hohenberg when they were assassinated in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. Potiorek had failed to inform the driver of a change of route which led the royal car to take a wrong turn, stalling after trying to turn around, and ending up in front of Gavrilo Princip. In World War I, Potiorek commanded the Austro-Hungarian forces in the failed Serbian Campaign of 1914. He was removed from command, retiring from the army shortly afterward.
Oskar Potiorek in 1908
Latin Bridge, Sarajevo
Anti-Serb violence in Sarajevo
Mobilized Austro-Hungarian troops sent across Sarajevo for Serbia.