Description
Book SynopsisWinner of the 2015 Norman B. Tomlinson, Jr. Book PrizeSerbia and the Balkan Front, 1914 is the first history of the Great War to address in-depth the crucial events of 1914 as they played out on the Balkan Front. James Lyon demonstrates how blame for the war's outbreak can be placed squarely on Austria-Hungary's expansionist plans and internal political tensions, Serbian nationalism, South Slav aspirations, the unresolved Eastern Question, and a political assassination sponsored by renegade elements within Serbia's security services. In doing so, he portrays the background and events of the Sarajevo Assassination and the subsequent military campaigns and diplomacy on the Balkan Front during 1914.The book details the first battle of the First World War, the first Allied victory and the massive military humiliations Austria-Hungary suffered at the hands of tiny Serbia, while discussing the oversized strategic role Serbia played for the Allies during 1914. Lyon challenges e
Trade ReviewA century on,
Serbia and the Balkan Front stands alongside Glenn E. Torrey's research on Romania as a vital and long-overdue contribution to the conflict's historical reassessment. * European History Quarterly *
None will cover the Serbian campaigns of 1914 in as much detail as
Serbia and the Balkan Front. * British Journal for Military History *
In the flood of historical literature brought to market for the centenary of the First World War, this book stands as a unique and significant contribution. In contrast to most other histories of the war, which either ignore the Balkan front altogether or else base their accounts of it on German-language sources reflecting the sensibilities of Serbia’s opponents, Lyon’s work is grounded in extensive research in Serbian archives. He provides perhaps the most accurate assessment yet published in the English language of the mentality and actions of Serbia’s leaders in 1914, as they alternately rode and reined in the passions of Serbian nationalism in the wake of their country’s spectacular successes in the Balkan Wars. * Lawrence Sondhaus, Professor of History, University of Indianapolis, USA *
This well-written, thoroughly researched and vivid account juxtaposes the heroism of common soldiers on both sides with the disconcerting mix of knaves, fools and fanatics who sent them all to hell in 1914. It also underscores the catastrophic failure of Habsburg generalship to preserve the great society with which it had been entrusted. * Charles Ingrao, Professor of History, Purdue University, USA *
Table of Contents1. A Sunday in Sarajevo 2. A Third Balkan War? 3. Parallel Structures and Hostile Neighbors 4. “A Peasant Mob” 5. The Guns of July 6. Lightening on Mount Cer 7. The Battle on the Drina, Invasion of Srem, and Mackov Kamen 8. Defeat and Hemorrhage 9.The Battle on the Kolubara 10. One Man’s Triumph, Another Man’s Victory 11. The Aftermath Bibliography Index
