26.10.2019.
“List of Military and Civilian Casualties of the Kingdom of Serbia in the First World War – Historical Materials from the Military Archives” presented at the Book Fair
At the stand of the Ministry of Defense and the Serbian Armed Forces, at the 64th International Book Fair in Belgrade today, a ceremonial promotion of the capital project “Popis vojnih i civilnih gubitaka Kraljevine Srbije u ljudstvu u Prvom svetskom ratu – arhivska građa vojnog arhiva” (“List of Military and Civilian Casualties of the Kingdom of Serbia in the First World War – Historical Materials of the Military Archives”) that was awarded a Special Recognition of the Belgrade Book Fair took place.
The Director of the Military Archives, Navy Captain Goran Petrović, spoke about the project, Darko Marinković spoke on behalf of the research team of archivists, and the reviewers with the project, Professor Aleksandar Životić, PhD and Colonel Miljan Milkić, PhD also addressed the audience.Speaking about the idea of creating this capital achievement, the Director of the Military Archives pointed out that the commemoration of the centenary of the end of World War I, which is deeply embedded in the Serbian national identity, and the Versailles Peace Conference that followed was an opportunity to, from a time distance which is necessary for historical science, observe the wartime and deepen the knowledge of the impact of war on all segments of the Serbian society.
- There is no better way to shed light on, explain and better introduce to new generations the history of a nation than to publish the results of research of the archival materials and to present and describe material historical sources. To this end, in 2013, drawing from the engagement with the Working Group for marking the centenary of the First World War in the Ministry of Defense and the Serbian Armed Forces, the Military Archives began research work on recording military casualties of the Kingdom of Serbia in the First World War, exploring the archival materials inherited by our significant institution – said Petrović, pointing out that the database of military and civilian casualties in the First World War and in the Balkan wars, which is summarized in 14 volumes, after the removal of duplicates, contains 281.711 names.
From the perspective of someone who has perhaps been closest to the process of establishing this base, archivist Darko Marinković has tried to introduce the audience with all the problems his team encountered while working.
- The process of working on the “List” can be divided into three parts – scanning the archives, storing digitized materials and finally registering names in the database. Difficulties arose from the outset since it was archival materials covering a whole century and was often in poor physical condition – explained Marinković, stating that the problem was often in the irregular archiving of casualties, as well as the physical storage of available data.As one of the reviewers on the project, Colonel Milkić said that as a member of the Institute for Strategic Research, he was present and monitored the various stages in which this work was created and indicated its importance.
- When talking about the list of military and civilian casualties, one should bear in mind the importance that such an endeavor has for historical science, that is, for the whole of society. Each of the names listed constitutes a piece in a mosaic that renders the military and social histories richer and explains the many gaps we have had in our science and society – concluded Colonel Milkić, while Professor Životic added that this work has broader cultural and civilizational significance, because for the first time, after more than 100 years since the end of World War I, we have a unified list of casualties from that war. Thus, he emphasized, it is finally possible to stop bidding and manipulating with the figures, since for each victim included in the “List” we have the exact facts at our disposal – first and last name, moment of death and some biographical information.
More about the activities at the stand of the Ministry of Defense and the Serbian Armed Forces, at this year’s Book Fair, can be found here.
