Bombardment of Belgrade (1914)

Bombardment of Belgrade (1914)
Part of the Serbian campaign (1914) of World War I

Shelling of Belgrade in the night of 28 and 29 July 1914 (German illustration, 1914)
Date28–29 July 1914
Location
Belgrade, Kingdom of Serbia
Result
Minor damage and light casualties
Belligerents
 Austria-Hungary  Serbia
Commanders and leaders
Emil Baumgartner
Friedrich Grund		 Vojislav Tankosić
Units involved
Austro-Hungarian Army
  • 14th Infantry Brigade
Austro-Hungarian Navy

Danube Flotilla

Serbian Army
  • 18th Infantry Company
Other units
  • Chetnik formations
  • Serbian border guards
[1]

The Bombardment of Belgrade was an attack carried out by Austria-Hungary on the Serbian capital during the night of 28–29 July 1914. It is considered the first military action of World War I.

The bombardment started hours after the Austro-Hungarian declaration of war on Serbia.[2] Three warships of the Austrian Danube Flotilla opened fire on the Serbian capital, followed in the early morning by Habsburg artillery from the town of Semlin (Zemun) across the Sava. The sporadic shelling caused widespread damage and marked the opening of the first Serbian campaign. Upon hearing the news, Tsar Nicholas II's government ordered general mobilisation of the Imperial Russian Army. The bombardment was followed, on 12 August, by the Habsburg Balkanstreitkräfte invasion of Serbia.

  1. ^ Lyon, J. (2015). Serbia and the Balkan Front, 1914: The Outbreak of the Great War. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-4725-8003-0.
  2. ^ "The Unknown Daring Midnight Raid That Started World War One". 28 July 2016. Retrieved 11 Jan 2022.