Original WWI Era Kingdom of Serbia Postcard & Photo Lot - 10 Total
In stock
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Original Items. One-of-a-Kind Lot. On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie were assassinated while visiting Sarajevo, the provincial capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina, formally annexed by Austria-Hungary. The perpetuator, Bosnian Serb student Gavrilo Princip, was a southern Slav nationalist, member of Young Bosnia, a secret society aiming to free Bosnia from Austrian rule and achieve the unification of the South Slavs. The group was helped by the Black Hand, a Serbian secret nationalist group.
The Austro-Hungarian government who saw Serbia's nationalist aspirations as a threat to its own multi-ethnic empire, used the assassination as the perfect pretext to take action against Serbia, ostensibly as a punitive measure but in reality with the aim of reestablishing its authority in the Balkans.
On 23 July 1914, Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia, presenting a list of stringent demands. On 25 July Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, the Chief of the General Staff, gave the mobilisation order for the Austro-Hungarian units required for Case B, the war plan formulated against Serbia and Montenegro. The Serbian response to the ultimatum, which came on 25 July, was conciliatory in some aspects but did not fully comply with all of Austria-Hungary's demands. Serbia accepted most of the conditions but expressed reservations about certain points that it believed impinged on its sovereignty and independence. Austria-Hungary rejected Serbia's response, considering it insufficient. As the diplomatic efforts faltered, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914, formally initiating the war with the bombardment of Belgrade. The Habsburg invasion plan had the objective of achieving a total defeat of Serbia. Russia, Serbia's ally, began mobilising its forces in response to Austria-Hungary's aggression, leading to Germany declaring war on Russia.
This is a great and scarce lot of ten Serbian postcards and photos of Serbian soldiers from World War I. Five have writing, and one is a CDV, all showing various Serbian soldiers with their bayonets. There is some outstanding research potential here.
Ready for further research and display.
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