Serbian government orders mobilisation

On 25 July 1914, the day the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum expired, the government of Serbia ordered the general mobilisation of the army. The decision was taken in the afternoon, a few hours before the reply to the note of 23 July was delivered. Prime Minister Nikola Pašić and his ministers had no illusions: even a conciliatory reply need not satisfy Vienna, and war could break out at any moment.

The mobilisation was the first decision of its kind in the whole July Crisis. The order was proclaimed in the name of the regent, Alexander Karađorđević, who exercised power on behalf of the ailing King Peter I, and the call-up of reservists began the next day. Only a year earlier Serbia had ended two Balkan Wars, so its army was experienced, but exhausted and inadequately armed. Belgrade, lying right on the border rivers, the Sava and the Danube, was considered too exposed, and so it was decided to move the government, parliament and administration to Niš.

That same day, shortly before 6 p.m., Pašić personally handed Serbia’s reply to the minister of Austria-Hungary, Baron Wladimir Giesl. Belgrade accepted most of the demands, some with reservations, but rejected the participation of Austro-Hungarian officials in the investigation on Serbian territory. Giesl, who had been instructed in advance that only unconditional acceptance would do, broke off diplomatic relations and left Belgrade by train that same evening.

The Serbian mobilisation also quickly affected the fate of the chief of staff, Vojvoda Radomir Putnik. He had been taking a cure in Austria and was detained in Budapest on his way home. The Austro-Hungarian authorities eventually released him and allowed him to return to his country, where he soon took charge of Serbia’s defence.

On the evening of 25 July Emperor Franz Joseph signed the order for a partial mobilisation of the Austro-Hungarian forces directed against Serbia. Both sides were now openly preparing for war. From that moment the crisis was no longer played out only in diplomats’ offices, but also at railway stations and in barracks.