What was life in the Balkan Front during ww1 like?

Submitted by BattleofPlatea t3_yyhb7x in history

There are so many texts on life in the western front's trenches, but what was life like for soldiers in trenches in the Salonika Front? Surely different climate, weather, different events would create a different type of experience for the soldiers.

I've tried looking for information online, but I've only been able to find texts on the western front or the balkan theatre overall, rather than any personal stories or information concerning how trenches looked like and how battles played out. I've found out that there was a lack of food and many soldiers mutinied but nothing much other than that.

So how different, or similar were trenches in the Balkans compared to the Western Front?

35

Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

DirectCaterpillar916 t1_iwuycww wrote

My grandfather fought in the Balkans as a Sargeant with the South Wales Borderers. He was gassed and taken prisoner in 1917 and sent to a POW camp in Bulgaria. He said they were very badly treated and he suffered from ill health for the rest of his life. So... Not a lot of laughs, really.

18

Slow-Season-310 t1_iwy9gx7 wrote

I guess the only laughter they get is when they know the war is over and they won't have to suffer any longer.

1

DirectCaterpillar916 t1_ix41cwv wrote

I’ll add that in November 1918, the guards opened the gates and said “war over, go home”. He and his mates walked from Bulgaria to France where they met up with a British unit and were transported home. He was a quiet, gentle man and I was very fond of him. He died in 1966 from cancer, aged 70.

7

Think_History_5682 t1_iwvu2g4 wrote

It was more mobile than the western front a lot of taking and retaking of territory

4

BattleofPlatea OP t1_iwvuf9f wrote

There was also a bit of trench warfare in the end.

But that's an interesting thing about ww1. I've never understood how it would work in a mobile way. I can't seem to picture troops not charging out of trenches and I don't know why.

2

torustorus t1_iwvvvwh wrote

Ok so I have to tell you the Balkan front when it gets to Salonika, was very static. Alled forces had problems with malaria if I recall correctly.

Some of the other responses here have confused Balkan front for Eastern Front where the warfare was somewhat more dynamic due to the size of the front and some geologic restrictions that prevented trench fortresses like were found on the western front.

6

Al-Pharazon t1_iwwm5hg wrote

And before reaching Salonika it also was very static. The Austrians where not exactly successful in pushing through the mountains in Serbia and Montenegro, so for a long time the front moved very little.

Then Serbia did collapse and then came Salonika, which was the very definition of drôle de guerre

2

torustorus t1_iwxgaf2 wrote

At least earlier on there was the see saw of Austrian invasion, fumbling, and retreat. Battle of Cer and all that.

1

ExxKonvict t1_iwxmfb3 wrote

Should watch the Serbian movie King Petar or something. It’s Serbian point of view of WW1 against the Austrian-Hungarian Empire (which consisted of other Balkans such as Croats, Slovenes, and Bosnians).

4

Southern2002 t1_iwvt5z8 wrote

There was extremely cold mountain warfare in the carpathians for example. Some of the things you see in the alps apply, though the Russia had more supply problems. Miserable, frigid warfare.

2

Froakiebloke t1_ixcy21t wrote

I don’t know it well but the Salonica campaign was regarded by some contemporaries as one of the worst fronts a British soldier could get sent to, generally because of outbreaks of malaria. I can’t really answer any of your specific questions but certainly don’t be under the impression that things were much better there than in other theatres.

My only source on this campaign right now is Patricia Cara’s ‘A Lab of One’s Own’, about British female scientists and suffragettes in the war. There’s not much in there about it, but it does pop up since a number of women were sent to establish hospitals in Serbia and then later in the Salonica front

2

Pakislayer71 t1_iwwowl4 wrote

I imagine very difficult. Lol.

Since the Balkans were part of the ottoman empire, which was losing its hegemony, it lost not just the morale but other forms of support. At least that's what I perceive.

1

John___Farson t1_ix60bmb wrote

The initial 1914 Austro-Hungarian disastrous offensive into Serbia is exciting to read about.

I'm struggling to think of a more extreme case of one belligerent beginning an offensive with such a sense of overwhelming sense of superiority and confidence, before going on to suffer such a lopsided disastrous campaign.

1