{"id":165995,"date":"2025-02-20T17:11:50","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T15:11:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/?p=165995"},"modified":"2025-02-20T17:11:51","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T15:11:51","slug":"the-sad-boy-from-savamala-he-dreamed-of-glory-and-freedom-but-fell-as-the-first-serbian-victim-of-the-great-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/the-sad-boy-from-savamala-he-dreamed-of-glory-and-freedom-but-fell-as-the-first-serbian-victim-of-the-great-war\/","title":{"rendered":"THE SAD BOY FROM SAVAMALA: He dreamed of glory and freedom but fell as the first Serbian victim of the Great War!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Despite the widespread misconception that World War I began in Sarajevo, the first shots of the conflict were actually fired in Belgrade, on the night between July 28 and 29, 1914.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The initial enemy attack was met by units composed of gendarmes, customs officers, ordinary Belgraders, and even children. One of them was Du\u0161an I. \u0110onovi\u0107<\/strong>\u2014the first Serbian casualty of World War I.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On that same day, July 28, 1914<\/strong>, according to the new calendar, Austria-Hungary sent a telegram informing Serbia that they were now in a state of war. The attack on Belgrade immediately followed. Due to the sudden and brutal way in which war was declared, many at first did not believe that conflict was imminent. But the night between July 28 and 29 shattered all illusions\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, the Sava and Danube Rivers<\/strong> marked the state border, making Serbia\u2019s capital a frontline outpost. This is why the first shots of the Great War<\/strong> were fired precisely in Savamala<\/strong>, in what is today Bra\u0107e Krsmanovi\u0107 Street. The first blood of the greatest conflict Europe had seen up to that point was spilled on the streets of Belgrade.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A City Left to Defend Itself<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

It may seem unbelievable, but on that first day of the war, there was no defense plan!<\/strong> The army had largely retreated south, leaving Belgrade completely unprotected.<\/strong> Due to the city\u2019s precarious location, some even suggested surrendering it without a fight\u2014but the people of Belgrade would not allow it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the forces present in Belgrade that fateful night, a makeshift defense was assembled.<\/strong> The first to engage the enemy on the banks of the Sava were troops made up of gendarmes, customs officers, local citizens, and even children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of them was Du\u0161an I. \u0110onovi\u0107<\/strong>, a 16-year-old<\/strong> student in his second year at the Royal Academy of Commerce.<\/strong> Armed with a rifle, he joined the Chetniks of Vojvoda Jovan Babunski<\/strong>, and he would become the first Serbian victim of World War I.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Du\u0161an was killed in the gunfire that erupted after the defenders destroyed the old railway bridge over the Sava<\/strong>, which was the only connection between Belgrade and Zemun<\/strong> at the time. Not far from him, that same night, a Hungarian soldier named Istv\u00e1n Balogh<\/strong> was killed in a boat on the Sava while attempting a landing on Belgrade, making him the first casualty on the enemy side.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

FIND OUT MORE IN ENGLISH:<\/mark><\/h4>\n\n\n\n