ЖАНДАРМЕРИЈА КРАЉЕВИНЕ СРБИЈЕ У ПРВОМ СВЕТСКОМ РАТУ 1914‐1918
GENDARMERIE OF THE KINGDOM OF SERBIA IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR 1914‐ 1918

Summary/Abstract: The First World War, which, along with destruction and violence, brought overall legal and physical insecurity, set new challenges to the Serbian gendar‐merie. In addition to the general, peacetime, peace‐keeping tasks on the terri‐tory of the whole kingdom, and the constant struggle with kachaks , irregular military groups and outlaws of all sorts in an effort to secure central govern‐ment in the newly liberated regions, a large part of the gendarmerie had to be engaged in military commands and units in performing many war assig‐nments. Following the general course of the war, the gendarmerie honorably per‐formed its duties. In the autumn of 1914, at the time of the danger of a general military breakdown, the gendarmeries were massively sent to war units. The next year, during the time of war calm, they were mostly returned to their for‐mer duties. In October of 1915,during the defense of Belgrade, they fought he‐roically on the Danube quay. During deviations, to prevent looting and anarchy they remained in the villages, almost to the arrival of the enemy. During the withdrawal through Albania, they shared the fate of the enti‐re army with great troubles and losses, taking active part in the actions as a combat unit. After the reorganization of the army in Corfu, most of the gendar‐mes became part of the combat units. Some of them, usually those who were incapable of fighting or who were too old, continued to perform duties by car‐ ring out administration and police tasks at the command and the gendarmerie battalion. After the breakthrough of the Thessaloniki front they returned to their homeland and immediately, in a ruined and devastated country, conti‐nued to work to strengthen order, peace and security. Throughout the war, the gendarmerie, through its courageous battles and numerous victims, shared the fate of the army and the people, thereby confirming that they were essentially and not only formally part of the Serbian army, but its part that carried out specific, but no less important and dangero‐us tasks.

• Details
• Contents