Serbian government moves from Belgrade to Niš

On 25 July 1914, the day the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum expired, Regent Alexander Karađorđević decided to move the most important institutions of the Kingdom of Serbia from Belgrade to Niš. The government, the Skupština (the parliament), the state administration and the diplomatic corps were to go to the city in the south of the country. The evacuation began that same day.

The reason was obvious. Belgrade lay right on the border with Austria-Hungary, at the confluence of the Sava and the Danube, opposite Austro-Hungarian Zemun. In the event of war the capital would be within range of enemy artillery and river monitors. Niš was much farther from the border and also lay on the main railway line running to the south of the country, which made communications and supply easier.

The decision was taken at the same time as the announcement of general mobilisation and showed how Belgrade assessed the situation. Although the government of Nikola Pašić was preparing a highly conciliatory reply to the ultimatum, it expected that Vienna would reject it anyway. These fears were soon confirmed: on 28 July Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and on the night of 28–29 July Belgrade came under fire.

Niš served as Serbia’s wartime capital until the autumn of 1915. The Skupština sat there, the ministries worked there and foreign diplomats resided there. It was also in Niš that on 7 December 1914 the declaration was proclaimed in which the Serbian government set out its war aims, including the union of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The city lost this role only in the face of the offensive of the Central Powers and Bulgaria, when the authorities had to evacuate further, and at the beginning of November 1915 Bulgarian troops entered Niš.