100 years since Battle of Cer victory

100 years since Battle of Cer victory

The army of the Serbian Kingdom in August 1914, under the command of General Stepa Stepanović, defeated the far superior invading Austro-Hungarian forces, causing shock in Vienna and Berlin, and enthusiasm among its allies, as the outcome of the Battle of Cer represented the first major Allied victory of the First World War.

Serbian Patriarch Irinej led the religious part of the ceremonies in Tekeriš today. On Monday, he served a memorial service in Šabac for the victims the Austro-Hungarian soldiers killed in a local churchyard, after the battle.

RS President Milorad Dodik, envoys of the president Ivan Mrkić and Jasmina Mitrović-Marić, cabinet ministers, the deputy speaker of the National Assembly, the chief of staff of the Serbian Army, and the minister of defense all took part in the gathering, as will the great-granddaughter of Stepa Stepanović, and representatives of the diplomatic corps.

Over the weekend, more than 1,300 citizens, including children and the elderly, took part in the Cer March bwalking 38 kilometers from the town of Šabac to the Tekeriš memorial, thus honoring Serbia's fallen heroes of the battle fought and one 100 years ago.

The march formed a column more than a kilometer long and gathered people from parts of Serbia, as well as from the former Yugoslav republics, reported the RTS.

National Assembly Deputy Speaker Vladimir Marinković congratulated the citizens on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the battle, pointing out that our history and ancestors whose lives are part of the foundations of modern Serbia "must not be forgotten."