ROMANIA’S NEUTRALITY IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR AS SEEN BY THE SERBIAN PRESS (1914-1915)
Mircea MĂRAN*
Abstract. In difficult moments of struggle for survival, when the First World War was in full swing, and Austro Hungarian troops at the country’s borders, Serbia hoped that Romanian would engage in the war, given that these two countries had common interests in the great empire from their vicinity. The paper tracks and presents the attitude of the Serbian press towards Romania’s position in the early years of the Great War, at a time when it had not yet made a final decision of military involvement in the World War. The Belgrade Daily Politika , the most prestigious publication in the country, followed with keen interest the events in Romania, showing the political events in the neighboring country almost in every number and often naively announcing Romania’s future entry into the war against Austria Hungary. Depending on the situation at the given moment, comments that were usually favorable towards Romania sometimes also received a dose of skepticism regarding Romania’s exit from its neutrality and entrance into the war on the side of the Enten te. When Germany launched its offensive on Serbia, the newspaper ceased to publish, as a consequence of the evacuation of Belgrade and the withdrawal of the Serbs from the capital.
Keywords: Serbia, Politika , Triple Entente, Romania’s Neutrality, war