The Military History of World War I, Volume 6: Campaigns in Southern Europe

by Trevor N. Dupuy, Molly R. Mayo

After Sarajevo in June 1914, the powder keg that was Southern Europe exploded with all the force inherent in the historic rivalries that had been seething there for years. Assured of German support, Austria-Hungary, determined to crush Serbia, declared war at the end of July. The gallant Serbs, however, accomplished the remarkable feat of expelling the invading Austrians.

The rest of Southern Europe was also ripe for war. In 1915, Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, while Italy took the side of the Allies. The Italians engaged the Austrians in many bloody battles -- notably those of the Isonzo. Reinforced by German and Austrian troops, the Bulgarian army finally defeated Serbia.

The conflagratiion continued to spread in Southern Europe. In 1916, Rumania entered the war on the side of the Allies. But the Romanians were quickly demolished by the Germans who entered Bucharest at the end of that yeaar. Greece too, joined the Allies in 1916 and Allied Forces were landed in Greece -- only to suffer stalemate and disease on the Salonika front. Allied victory in Southern Europe came in 1918, but only after one of the greatest defeats in military history -- the rout of the Italian armies at Caporetto in 1917.

100 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Trevor Dupuy attended West Point, graduating in the class of 1938. During World War II he commanded a U.S. Army artillery battalion, a Chinese artillery group, and an artillery detachment from the British 36th Infantry Division. He was always proud of the fact that he had more combat time in Burma than any other American, and received decorations for service or valour from the U.S., British, and Chinese governments. After the war Dupuy served in the United States Department of Defense Operations Division[1] from 1945 to 1947, and as military assistant to the Under Secretary of the Army from 1947 to 1948. He was a member of the original Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) staff in Paris under Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and Matthew Ridgway from 1950 to 1952.

It is as a military historian and a theorist that Trevor Dupuy would make a lasting mark on the world. He is perhaps best known for his massive book The Encyclopedia Of Military History (co-written, like many of his books, with his father R. Ernest Dupuy). Starting from the beginning of history and going up the present day the book tries to cover all the major (and minor) military conflicts in world history. Usually each entry (arranged chronologically and by region) gives little more than the names of the commanders and (often) very rough estimates for the size of the forces involved in the campaigns. Dupuy was not afraid of expressing an opinion and he classified some of his subjects as Great Captains (such as Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Julius Caesar, Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, Frederick II of Prussia and Napoleon). Like most Western reference works it spends far more time dealing with wars in Europe and the United States than the rest of the world, but it does at least try to cover the entire world. The Encyclopedia Of Military History has been revised (and updated) several times, most recently in 1993. It can be found in the reference section of most American libraries.