ФЕНОМЕН САМОСАКАЋЕЊА У РЕДОВИМА СРПСКЕ ВОЈСКЕ ТОКОМ РАТА 1876. ГОДИНЕ
THE PHENOMENON OF SELF-MUTILATION IN THE SERBIAN ARMY DURING THE WAR OF 1876

Summary/Abstract: The Serbian-Turkish War of 1876 was the first completely unsuccessful military campaign in which the Principality of Serbia was to be involved. Unprepared diplomatically, militarily and financially, Serbia was defeated by a superior opponent in just three months. This ill-advised adventure put at stake not only the political future of the country and its international reputation, but also the property and lives of hundreds of thousands of its citizens. It is even more illuminating, in referring to the consequences of the war itself, to observe the ways in which the regime managed to absolve itself of the blame for the defeat. The question remains, to what extent was the political elite in Belgrade aware of its own responsibility for Serbia’s hasty entry into the war. It is certain, however, that the regime could not have even begun to imagine how far-reaching the international consequences of the war of 1876 would prove to be. At the internal level, that war exposed all the impotence of the ruling regime to manage the crisis it had caused itself, and heralded new political upheavals, caused by the general dissatisfaction with the results of the war policy of the Liberals in Serbia.

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