From the very beginning the military was given a privileged position in the new state both in military and in political terms. However, the institution faced in the first place immense legitimacy problems. Paradoxically the military’s (Serbian) core consisted of the officer corps with a distinguished war record. Yet the predominantly Serb army and its transformation into a Yugoslav institution met significant obstructions both with Serbs and non-Serbs. Serbs were proud of their army which had completed the historical mission and expected it to guard these achievements in peacetime. The fragile Yugoslav construction had to be protected from both external and internal enemies. thirty-five The latter were not difficult to identify since from the very beginning Yugoslavia was faced with harsh opposition and even violent upheavals. thirty-six The Serbian army had acquired a rich experience in domestic intervention in the pre-war period, but now the situation seemed very simple since the ‘enemies’ could have been identified through national and alleged political criteria.
The main of the General Team, the fresh new well-known Vojvoda Misic actually examined the problem within the Croatia and you can gave a discouraging statement from inside the Belgrade. Inside the view the condition having Croats is actually hopeless and he suggested a simple solution – to depart Croats so you’re able to secede and also to draw the new ‘just’ borders between them claims together ethnic and ‘historical’ criteria. Naturally he had in your mind the project regarding an increased Serbia instead of High Yugoslavia and therefore might have been attending supply the Serbs military superiority. Though King Aleksandar refused this new proposal the newest behaviour of one’s armed forces regarding the ‘new territories’ attained they an adverse name. The new tortures and you will harsh reprisals of your own civilian populace worsened brand new entire opportunity of the the newest county-building and you will ruined this new organization validity of your ‘new’ military definitively:
First, the brand new officials out of Slovene, Croat and you may Montenegrin supply must sign up for entry for the military, even though it wasn’t needed in the Serb officials
This was a blatant misappropriation of authority, quite contrary to the realities that led to the unification, and endangered great discomfiture, especially since the army applied brutal, coercive, and, as one historian dubbed them, Milos-style punishments, frequently even without the formality of a military court-ous of these was the practice of meeting out corporal punishment by blows with clubs or truncheons. 37
One of the most critical problems of the new state was institution building. While the other political institutions had to be created from scratch, the military was only to be transferred from the Serbian state. The units of the former Austria-Hungarian army were disbanded. The non-Serbs saw the military as a continuation of the Serbian army with the command language, insignia and all other details directly transferred from the Serbian escort sites Pueblo CO Kingdom. The regime declared that it supported an open-door policy regarding the officers from the former Habsburg army. In reality, however, there were many problems to surmount, the question of loyalty having been in the background in the majority of cases. Furthermore, the position of the non-Serb officers was humiliating. They faced huge obstacles in terms of promotion, subordination, the question of rank etc. The figures show that they were also underrepresented, which does not necessarily imply that it was a result of a planned action. For instance, in 1938 only 10 per cent of the Yugoslav officers and only 31 per cent of 191 generals were Croats. 38
The latest Croat and you will Slovene officers felt advanced inside the instructional and you can professional conditions, if you find yourself ignorant Serbian officers got wonderful battle info
There was a massive pit involving the officials lifted inside more military social environment, with a different sort of armed forces ethos, ethnic source and you will, first and foremost, conflict experience. Brand new Serbian armed forces had gone because of a genuine Golgotha inside the war in which every 2nd male failed to endure. The initial posts inside army ladder got started occupied because of the battle heroes who have been to not give-up expensive gained ranking. Serbian officials seen new inclusion of your officers in the (former) challenger army either because an enthusiastic insult to their heroic resistance or as the an indication of kindness and forgiveness towards the enemy’s conflict sins. The fresh new peasant-for example troops and you will officials got an enthusiastic inferiority advanced regarding your ‘noble’ and really-knowledgeable Austria-Hungarian officers. Many have been badly damage, viewing its battle units’ flags are changed because of the Yugoslav about three-coloured flag. Petar Jovic, a beneficial fighter in the Salonica Front and you will president of one’s Connection of one’s 1912-1918 Volunteers said: