Just how esteemed Serbia was in the world a century ago, immediately after the end of the First World War, is evidenced by the fact that there is a mountain in Canada named after our renowned general, Vojvoda Radomir Putnik (1847-1917).
Mount Putnik is located in the Canadian province of Alberta, north of Three Isle Creek and west of the Kananaskis River.
Many years after Canadians decided to name a mountain nearly 3,000 meters high (2,940) after our general, in June 2012, the Ravna Gora Serbian Heritage Society of Calgary unveiled a plaque in memory of Radomir Putnik.
The plaque, located at the foot of the mountain, reads:
“Mount Putnik is named in perpetual remembrance of the men and women of the allied armed forces in Serbia and their leader Field Marshal Radomir Putnik. Serbia lost a quarter of its population, both army and civilian, during World War I (1914-1918). This sacrifice was part of the joint efforts of Canada and the Allies in Europe against three empires to protect the rights and freedoms of humankind”.
Vojvoda Putnik was not only esteemed by the Canadians but also by the Americans. See the text below…
Putnik’s origins trace back to Kosovo
Radomir Putnik was a Serbian military commander, Minister of War, Vojvoda (Field Marshal), and Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Army during the Balkan Wars (1912-1913) and World War I. As the chief strategist of the Serbian army, Putnik was also the main architect of the great Serbian victories in the battles of Kumanovo (1912) against the Ottomans, against the Bulgarians at Bregalnica (1913), and against the Austro-Hungarians at Cer and Kolubara (1914). The Putnik family acquired their surname when his ancestors, more precisely his great-grandfather Arsenije, arrived from Kosovo during the Great Serbian Migration (1690) to Bela Crkva. When his great-grandfather, who was about seven years old at the time, was asked his name, he replied that he was a traveler in an unknown direction.
After the liberation of Serbia in the 19th century, the family moved from Austria-Hungary to Serbia. His father Dimitrije was a teacher in Kragujevac. Radomir Putnik was born in Kragujevac on January 24, 1847.
The creator of the modern Serbian army
He was a soldier and military commander of the Serbian army for a full forty years. He obtained his military rank at the Artillery School in Belgrade. After many assignments and promotions in the service, in 1903 he was promoted to the rank of general and appointed Chief of the General Staff. In 1906, he was appointed Minister of War for the first time.
Radomir Putnik was the creator of the modern Serbian army. As part of the education and training of officers, he introduced various innovations, including the solving of tactical tasks. He modernized the Serbian army with new weapons, placed talented officers in key positions, and did not allow politics to interfere in military affairs.
Together with Živojin Mišić, he prepared all the war plans for the Balkan Wars and World War I. In the period from 1912 to 1916, he was the Chief of the Supreme Command. After the great victory over the Ottoman forces in the Battle of Kumanovo in October 1912, he became the first Serbian Vojvoda, which is the Serbian equivalent of the rank of Field Marshal.
Did not live to see the liberation
From Corfu in 1916, he was sent for treatment in Nice, where he was received with great respect by his French allies and given a villa as a deserving Allied commander. Vojvoda Putnik died a year after arriving in France and was buried there. His remains were transferred to the Novo Groblje in Belgrade, where a large monument was erected to him in 1926, thanks to donations from numerous admirers.
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Cold Winters in the Subarctic: Mount Putnik (Mount Putnik)
Mount Putnik is located in the subarctic climate zone with cold, snowy winters and mild summers. Temperatures can drop below -20 °C, and hikers are advised to climb it from June to September.
Article: Serbian Times / Wikipedia
Photo: Wikipedia
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