Српска војска и руске трупе на Солунском фронту – историографија и стварност
Serbian Army and Russian Troops on Macedonian Front - Historiography and Reality

Author(s): Dalibor Denda
Subject(s): Military history, Pre-WW I & WW I (1900 -1919)
Published by: Institut za noviju istoriju Srbije
Keywords: Serbia; Army; Russian troops; Macedonian front; Historiography;
Summary/Abstract: The author presents several unknown articles from the military press of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia referring to the activities of Russian troops on the Macedonian front during the period 1916 – 1918. These works also testify about great interest of Yugoslav officers regarding the issue and gratefulness of the Serbian Army members to its Russian comrades who fought together with them on Macedonian front. The articles include some details which could be used as an addition to the existing monographs and dissertations in the Russian language regarding the issue. On the basis of unused records from the Serbian military archives, the author concludes that the idea of sending the Russian troops to the Macedonian front was born within Serbian Supreme Command as the part of a broader perspective of sending Russian troops to act on Western Front. Serbian argumentation also played crucial role in helping the French presume the Russians to make positive decision regarding the Thessalonica issue. Serbian records also show that the stay of Russian troops on Macedonian front was essential from Serbian perspective. That was the reason why Serbs tried to stop their return to Russia after the arrival of Serbian volunteer division from Russia to Macedonian front. However, the level of disorganization of Russian troops caused by the measures of Russian revolutionary government and the Brest-Litovsk peace treaty influenced the turnover of the position of the Serbian Supreme Command regarding the issue, although there was a great need among the Serbs for the combatants. Serbian Supreme Command decided not to allow the Russian Officers and Soldiers to join its units, because of fear of potentially bad influence on the moral and obedience of Serbian troops on Macedonian front. Serbian experience regarding the Russians gained from the direct contact and joint combat actions on Macedonian front shows that, although they shared the same civilization values, Serbian and Russian soldiers were very different regarding their military skills, obedience and view of life, mostly due to different experiences of social, institutional and political developments in both countries.

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