WWI starts with strong Serbian resistance; Austria-Hungary started the First World War by attacking Serbia July 29th 1918 (the Declaration of War had been sent by telegram the day before). Austro-Hungarian troops bombarded and took the Serbian capital Belgrade during the two first weeks of the war. Then they were pushed back by Serbian forces with the loss of over 100 000 men.

Retreat through Serbia; Huge casualties as well as diseases weakened the Serbian resistance. In the later half of 1915 she was forced to retreat towards the south after German troops had intervened and Bulgaria had entered the war (September 1915 – after the Bulgarian King had noticed Russian losses in Gorlice - the German-Austro-Hungarian campaign in the Carpathian Mountains and Entente losses at Gallipoli (Turkey) he joined the Germany, the Dual Monarchy and Turkey in WWI). The combined German-Bulgarian-Austro-Hungarian Army managed to push the small Serbian Army south. Eventually they reached Albania and Montenegro where French ships carried the few remains of the army and Serbian civilians to Greek islands (especially Corfu). The Serbian troops would then be transported to Salonika in Northern Greece. Here some French and British troops had landed in an attempt to divert the attack on Serbia. Unfortunately for the Entente, the pro-German King Constantine I (he had been educated at Heidelberg University in Germany, trained in the Prussian army, and he was married to Kaiser Wilhelm II's sister, Princess Sophie of Prussia) dismissed the pro-Entente Greek government of Eleftherios Venizelos, before the allied expeditionary force had even arrived.

Salonika and Greece 1915-1918; Due to the views of the Greek King Constantine I the Entente troops in Salonika were stuck for the moment. It became a joke in 1915 that Salonika was the largest German prisoner of war camp. The Commander of the Entente forces, the French General Sarrail broke this situation. He forced the Greek Army to demobilize and then move their troops to the south of the country. The front then stabilized roughly around the Greek border. In 1917 General Sarrail threatened King Constantine I with large Entente reinforcements which would be used against the Greek if they did not join the war on the Entente side. This made the King abdicate. His second son Alexander replaced him (the first son was not accepted by General Sarrail since he had also received his education and military training in Germany).

Breaking the stalemate in Greece 1918; Only at the very end of the war were the Entente powers able to make a breakthrough, which was after most of the German and Austro-Hungarian troops had been removed, leaving the Front held by the Bulgarians alone. The Bulgarians suffered their only defeat in the war in the battle of Dobro Pole (present day Macedonia – at this time part of Bulgaria) but days after this they decisively defeated the English and the Greeks in the battle of Doiran, which saved the country from enemy occupation. The defeat in Dobro Pole and threats of Entente reinforcements led to Bulgaria’s signing an armistice on September 29, 1918. Bulgaria was now out of WWI!

Offensive through Serbia; The French General Franchet d'Esperey led a combined French, Serbian, Greek and British army out of Greece. After the battles against the Bulgarian Army he attacked north and defeated the German and Austrian forces that tried to halt his offensive. By October 1918 his army had recaptured all of Serbia and was preparing to invade Hungary proper. The offensive halted only because the Hungarian leadership offered to surrender in November 1918.

During the stalemate at 1915 when the war casualties were mounting on the Western Front the British ministers began to look for a way to gain a breakthrough in the war. The Commander Lord Kitchener and the head of the navy Winston Churchill suggested an attack on the DARDANELLES. Turkey was considered to be Germanys most vulnerable ally. The idea was to let the British warships sweep through the Dardanelles, attack CONSTANTINOPLE and drive Turkey out of the war. This would give several results;

Lord Kitchener said that this was the plan that would win the war! In March 1915 the warships began their assault. They bombarded the strong forts that lined the straits. As the British and French ships entered the straits - three battle cruisers were sunk. The Allied commanders now decided that this naval attack would not succeed. They decided to launch a land invasion to capture the peninsula. Once the Turks were driven off GALLIPOLI the naval operation could restart.

At April 25th British, French and ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand) troops attacked HELLES beach. A new German commander Otto Liman von Sanders had doubled the defensive forces, and dug them into strong positions on the hills overlooking the beaches. It was clear from the first day that the objective of clearing the Turks off the peninsula could not be achieved, but first in December - eight months after the landing, the decision was taken to pull out. The campaign was a failure and Churchill was humiliated!