First Serbian Volunteer Division



The First Serbian Volunteer Division (also known as the First Serbian Division and Serbian First Division) was a military force created in 1916 by political figure Nikola Pašić and his associates in the city of Odessa. It was primarily made up of various Serb peoples, a great many of them former prisoners of war. It holds a particularly significant place in World War I history due both to its intermingling of different ethnicities, including Bosnians, Czechs, and Slovaks, as well as its role in opposing the Central Powers after the then regular Serbian army had suffered an immense setback.

As part of the legacy of the division, the residents of southeastern Romania established a white pyramid memorial known as the "Monument to the Heroes of the First Serbian Volunteer Division" (Serbian Cyrillic: "Споменик јунацима Прве српске добровољачке дивизије"), which is located as a part of a cemetery complex in Medgidia. In a 2013 ceremony, local Mayor Marijan Jordák stated, "We can never forget their achievement... so it shall remain until the end of time."

Activities and history
Distinct from the then regular Serbian army, the political background around the Volunteer Division's creation and its involvement in actual combat serves as a microcosm of the tense ethnic-related frictions taking place during the World War I era. Fighting on behalf of the Russian government's cause of pan-Slavic unity, the organization started out approximately 18,000 strong. Tsar Nicholas II, while eager to use the Serbian diaspora for his own purposes, felt initial reluctance to set up the Volunteer Division given that recruiting prisoners of war to possibly fight against their former country is a war crime under the Hague Conventions. Nonetheless, the military force ended up being thrown into combat against Bulgarian soldiers without much delay, suffering immense casualties.

In terms of specific military background, Serbian officials such as the aforementioned Prime Minister Nikola Pašić had been forced to flee their home territories after facing a crushing defeat at the hands of Austrian, Bulgarian, and German forces moving through Central Europe. While facing multiple challenges in order to retaliate, their then regular army back on its heels, said officials saw themselves as part of a grander cause of promoting political power and moral prestige for the then Kingdom of Serbia. Interestingly, the Volunteer Division featured a significant number of Czech and Slovak peoples, some even serving as officers, due largely to those fighters not having distinct military units of their own. The Volunteer Division's multi-ethnic nature was also demonstrated in how nearly 5,000 Bosnians resided within its ranks.

The majority of Czech and Slovak soliders, however, ended up going over to the group developing in Russia known as the Czechoslovak Legion. Still, the "Second Serbian Volunteer Division" came into being just about a year after its predecessor, officially bearing the title of the "Serb, Croat, and Slovene Division". It suffered problems with morale and formal resignations as well as outright desertions, limiting its effectiveness as a military force. Large swaths of non-Serbs left to serve in explicitly Russian units.

Legacy
While definitely playing a role in crucial fighting on the Eastern Front, the exploits of both Serbian divisions became magnified for propaganda purposes by nationalists. In retrospect, tensions both on and off the battlefield that existed not just in terms of ethnic heritage but also related to economic class and political ideology, even while fighters faced a common enemy in the Central Powers, foreshadowed conflicts in the future nation of Yugoslavia.

Monument
A white pyramid memorial known as the "Monument to the Heroes of the First Serbian Volunteer Division" (Serbian Cyrillic: "Споменик јунацима Прве српске добровољачке дивизије") is located as a part of a cemetery complex in Medgidia, a city in southeastern Romania. The monument was dedicated in 1926. The area itself houses the remains of thousands who died in defense of the Romanian neighborhoods. In a 2013 ceremony, local Mayor Marijan Jordák remarked, "We can never forget their achievement... so it shall remain until the end of time."