Today is the Day of Serbian Unity, Freedom and the National Flag

As a form of special respect for the heroic ancestors who defeated the enemies in 1918 and fought for the glorious victory of the Serbs in the First World War, on September 11, 2020, the Government of Serbia made a decision to continue to mark the day of the breakthrough of the Salonica Front, September 15, as the Day of Serbian Unity, Freedom and the National Flag. The same decision was made by the Government of the Republic of Srpska.

The disintegration of the fronts of the Central Powers, which was caused by the Serbian breakthrough of the Salonica front, led to the end of the First World War, the most destructive that the world had seen until then, that is, the capitulation of Bulgaria and Turkey, then Austria-Hungary and Germany. The victory in the First World War, the breakthrough of the Salonica front, the end of the World War and the formation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, is one of the greatest successes in the entire history of the Serbs.

Having liberated the territory of the Kingdom of Serbia and Belgrade, the Serbian army immediately continued the liberation of their compatriots, the Serbs of the former Austria-Hungary, and then other South Slavic peoples, which achieved the previously officially proclaimed goal of liberation and unification, and the new joint state of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, i.e., since 1929, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, was formed. With superhuman efforts, the Serbs broke through the Salonica front by defeating the Bulgarian-German forces holding that part of the battle line. The breakthrough was preceded by massive artillery fire, which lasted continuously for nine hours.

Approximately 2,000 long-range guns were in action. The fire of tremendous destructive power lasted until the breakthrough began at 5:30 a.m. on September 15. At the same time, Serbian soldiers were gradually approaching enemy positions. It was an arduous climb to the peaks where the Bulgarians, Germans and Austro-Hungarians were fortified. Then came the onslaught, the breakthrough, with the fierce blows of the soldiers who had spent the previous hours clinging to the mountain slopes, while the artillery pounded the enemy over them, preparing the breakthrough.

Then, as the Serbian advance continued at great speed, to the astonishment not only of the enemy but also of the allies, the weakest link in the chain of the Central Powers fell apart. Finally, Bulgaria, with its entire army surrendering to the Serbs, capitulated on September 29. Austria-Hungary capitulated, after Turkey, on November 3.

The signing of the armistice with Germany on the Western Front on November 11 marked the end of the First World War. A valid illustration of the state of mind in those days is certainly the address of the German emperor Wilhelm II to the Bulgarian monarch Ferdinand, in which he stated that it was a shame that, as he put it, 60,000 Serbs decided the outcome of the war. Serbian, French, British and Italian troops, along with some Greeks, as well as Russians, were on the Salonica front until the last months of 1917, when they rebelled after the revolutionary events in Russia that year, so that formation was disbanded. The most numerous were the French, a significant part of the troops from the colonies. On the other hand, German, Bulgarian and Austro-Hungarian troops were stationed on the opposite side of the front, with the Bulgarians being the most numerous. The Salonica front was established after the failure of the Gallipoli operation. It was an attempt by the British to take possession of the peninsula that controlled the Dardanelles, which would open the way to Constantinople.

The Turks, however, with some help from the Germans, successfully repelled the invading British troops at Gallipoli. Here, too, most of the British contingent was made up of troops from the colonies, mainly from Australia and India. Then, with the landing of two French and one British divisions in Thessaloniki in October 1915, the formation of a new front in the hinterland of that city began.

The Serbs, who until then were recuperating in Corfu, from March to mid-May 1916, after the tragic retreat across the mountain passes from Kosovo and Metohija to the Adriatic, in the winter of 1915/1916, they were also transferred to the hinterland of Thessaloniki. As far as is known, there were 6,025 officers and 124,190 soldiers. The Salonica Front, with a total length of about 600 kilometers, also called Balkan, Macedonian or Southern, involved a stretch from the Adriatic-Ionian coast, slightly north of Valona, ​​to the east to Dedeağaç on the Aegean coast, today's Alexandroupolis.

The Serbs achieved their first serious victories on the Salonica front in September 1916 by occupying Kajmakčalan, which freed the first tiers of the enslaved homeland, and then by liberating Bitola in November 1916. One of the consequences of the Battle of Kajmakčalan was the disbandment of the Third Serbian Army on March 28, 1917 due to terrible losses. The rest of the personnel was then transferred to the First and Second Armies. In June 1918, Franche d'Epere, the commander-in-chief of the allied forces on the Salonica front, during a meeting with the regent Aleksandar Karadjordjević and the Serbian generals agreed on a major offensive that took place in mid-September 1918. The breakthrough was made in the Dobro polje - Veternik - Kozjak sector, where the Serbs were located, who were assigned the hardest hit during the breakthrough. The first and second Serbian armies, that is, six infantry and one cavalry division, were reinforced by two French infantry divisions.

The Commander of the First Serbian Army was General Petar Bojović, Duke Stepa Stepanovic headed the Second Serbian Army. The Commander of the Staff was Duke Živojin Mišić. At that time, there were up to 140,000 Serbs on the Salonica front, of which approximately 25,000 were volunteers, almost exclusively Serbs from Austria-Hungary, partly from captivity from Russia, and partly from the United States of America. In the final phase of the war, according to contemporary testimonies, volunteers were the most combative element of the Serbian army.

The breakthrough was achieved from September 15 to 17, 1918, on the front of two Bulgarian divisions. The original intention of the Allied command, the military objective, was the mastery of the Vardar valley. However, the fierce advance of the Serbs changed everything. Thus, instead of the original, limited objectives, a fierce penetration to the north followed. Since Belgrade was liberated on November 1, the further advance of the Serbian army followed, first of all with the aim of liberating Vojvodina, and then to the west, via Karavanki, Rijeka, Dalmatia, Prekmurje. General Petar Bojović was awarded the rank of duke for successfully leading the breakthrough and offensive.

The pinnacle of Serbian victories were the decisions of Serbs from previously unliberated regions to join Serbia. Vojvodina declared its accession to the Kingdom of Serbia on November 25, 1918, while Srem made the same decision at the Assembly in Ruma the day before. Montenegro announced its accession on November 26.

Regent Aleksandar Karadjordjević proclaimed the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on December 1, 1918, in the Krsmanović Palace on Terazije in Belgrade, which achieved the unification that generations had been striving for. This year, the Day of Serbian Unity, Freedom and the National Flag, i.e. the anniversary of the heroic breakthrough of the Salonica Front, will also be marked with a large military parade "Strength of Unity" on September 20 in Belgrade.