| Bombardment of Belgrade (1914) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theSerbian campaign (1914) ofWorld War I | |||||||
 Shelling of Belgrade in the night of 28 and 29 July 1914 (German illustration, 1914) | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Austria-Hungary |  Serbia | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Colonel Emil von Baumgartner Fregattenkapitän Friedrich Grund | MajorVojislav Tankosić | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Army: 14th Infantry Brigade Navy: Danube Flotilla 3 river monitors (SMS Bodrog,SMS Temes,SMS Szamos) Artillery atZemun andBežanija | Army: Elements of the 18th Infantry Regiment Other: Chetnik formations Serbian border guards (≈200 men) | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Several killed or drowned | One reported | ||||||
| Civilian casualties: Minimal; limited structural damage in Belgrade | |||||||
| [1] | |||||||
 | |||||||
TheBombardment of Belgrade was anAustro-Hungarian naval and artillery attack on theSerbian capital during the night of 28–29 July 1914, marking the opening engagement ofWorld War I. Carried out by theAustro-Hungarian Danube Flotilla and supporting artillery across theSava River, it was the first act of hostilities following thedeclaration of war on Serbia earlier that day.
Shortly after midnight, the river monitorSMS Bodrog fired on the city, joined bySMS Temes andSMS Szamos, in what is widely regarded as the first shot fired in the First World War. News of the bombardment promptedTsar Nicholas II to order the general mobilisation of theImperial Russian Army, accelerating the July Crisis into a continental conflict. Within two weeks, theBalkanstreitkräfte launched a full-scaleinvasion of Serbia, beginning the first land campaign of the war.
Following theAssassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28 June 1914, the Austrian government, alleging official Serbian involvement, issued anultimatum which expired on 25 July.[2] Serbia responded within the time limit, but Vienna rejected negotiation, declared the reply unsatisfactory, severed diplomatic relations, and ordered military mobilisation.[3]
Belgrade's position at the confluence of theDanube andSava rivers, directly opposite Austria-Hungary, made it highly vulnerable to bombardment. In mid-July, theAustro-Hungarian Danube Flotilla, based upstream at Semlin, received orders to prepare for combat operations in support of the army.[4] Additional monitors, gunboats, tugs, and patrol craft were deployed along the Danube to support troop crossings.[5]
On 25 July, a royal proclamation ordered mobilisation of the Serbian Army. The response was rapid and efficient, as Serbia had carried out similar call-ups in recent years. The government relocated toNiš and began evacuating Belgrade.[6] The Serbian Danube Division, responsible for defending Belgrade, had not yet deployed to the city's northern approaches; no heavy artillery or machine guns were available to counter a gunboat attack. The capital was defended only by gendarmes, aChetnik detachment underVojislav Tankosić, and a company from the 18th Infantry Regiment.[1]
On the afternoon of 28 July, Austria-Hungary's declaration of war was communicated to theHigh Command and a telegram sent to the Serbian government in Niš.[7] That evening, Colonel Emil von Baumgartner, commander of the 14th Infantry Brigade, convened a meeting where it was decided that three river monitors would depart shortly after midnight to secure the bridges over the Sava between Semlin and Belgrade.[7]
Shortly after midnight on 28–29 July 1914, three Austro-Hungarian tugs carrying infantry and escorted by a river monitor moved towardsDonji Grad, the lower fortress of Belgrade. Serbian irregulars opened fire, forcing the vessels to withdraw upriver towards the railway bridge.[8][1] Anticipating an attempted crossing, a detachment fromTankosić’s Chetnik unit blew up the bridge while the Austro-Hungarian monitors were still manoeuvring.[7]
A few minutes later, two monitors of theDanube Flotilla,SMS Bodrog andSMS Temes, opened fire with their 12-cm guns on Belgrade from positions near the confluence of theDanube andSava rivers. Contemporary sources record this as the first exchange of fire of theFirst World War.[1] Modern historians Alexandra Churchill and Nicolai Eberholst note thatBodrog was "credited with firing the first shot of the war, not against enemy troops but into a civilian city", and that the bombardment ceased soon after the monitors came under return fire.[9]
Lacking heavy artillery, the Serbian defenders could not seriously damage the armoured vessels, but exchanged rifle and machine-gun fire from theBelgrade Fortress andGreat War Island. The Austro-Hungarians responded with shrapnel and high-explosive shells directed at the fortress, the radio station inKalemegdan Park, and the neighbourhood ofTopčidersko Brdo.[7]
At dawn, Habsburg artillery batteries positioned inBežanija andZemun joined in, firingKrupp howitzers andŠkoda 305 mm Model 1911 mortars across the Sava.[10] Shells struck several civilian buildings, including a school, banks, and hotels. Although the attack caused relatively light damage and casualties, it continued intermittently over the next eight days, hitting churches, hospitals, and museums in violation of theHague Convention provisions protecting cultural and medical sites.[1]
Reported Serbian casualties included Dušan Đonović, a student and member ofJovan Babunski’s Chetnik detachment. On the Austro-Hungarian side, Karl Eberling, captain of the lead tug, and his helmsman Mikhail Gemsberger were killed when their vessel ran aground; several soldiers attempting to swim ashore drowned.[1]
On 29 July, theRussian government informed Berlin that it had mobilised fourmilitary districts; the following day, general mobilisation was ordered. On 31 July, a "state of imminent war" was declared in theGerman Empire, setting in motion the broader mobilisation and counter-mobilisation that led to continental war. Shelling of Serbian border towns and cities continued until mid-August. On 12 August, the Habsburg5th Army, supported by the2nd Army, crossed theDrina River fromBosnia, beginning thefirst Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia.[10]
