World War I and Relief Work in Serbia: A Timeline

• 1912-1913  The Balkan Wars between the Ottoman Empire and Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, and Bulgaria.  The resulting peace treaties divided land in the Balkans but left key ethnic groups without a land.  A Second Balkan War was fought for one month in 1913 between Bulgaria and Serbia, Greece, and Montenegro.  As world War I broke out tensions over land rights in the Balkans remained high.
• June 28, 1914  The Assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Bosnia by Serbs sparked World War I.
• July 1914 Austria invaded northern Serbia
• November-December 1914 Typhus is first reported in Serbia.
• November 17, 1914 Lady Paget arrives in Skoplje, Serbia, and sets up the headquarters of the Serbian Relief Fund, at a hospital, later known as the Lady Paget Hospital.  She and her team of doctors and nurses begin caring for the sick.
• December 1914 Serbia takes nearly 20,000 Austrian prisoners.  The total number of Austrian Prisoners of War reached nearly 70,000, most of whom where send into southern Serbia, away from the immediate fighting.
• January 1915 Typhus takes hold in Serbia. Dr. Strong of the American Red Cross reported that people, “died like flies;”  up to half of the population in some areas fell ill and died.
• February 28, 1915 Lady Paget takes over the barracks of the Austrian Prisoners of War.  The Serbian Relief Fund cleans, fumigates, provides clean bedding for prisoners, and cares for the sick.  For this humanitarian effort, Lady Paget earns the loyalty of the Austrian prisoners.
• March 1915 The Rockefeller War Relief Commission released a report in which they reported the typhus epidemic “dire.”  They team up with the American Red Cross to fund teams of doctors, nurses, and workers to respond to the epidemic.
• July 1915  Stanley Hart Osborn and the American Red Cross Sanitation Commission arrive in Serbia.  Shortly after, they begin a crusade of fumigating, cleaning, and whitewashing public buildings.
• October 1, 1915 Hostilities escalate in Serbia, with no sign of assistance from the Allies against the encroaching Austrians, and the possibility of a Bulgarian invasion, Lady Paget and her staff make the unanimous decision to remain in Skoplje, seek tolerance from the invading forces, and continue with their medical mission.
• October 6, 1915 Bulgaria invades Serbia from the east.  Serbian forces begin the Great Retreat.
• October 15, 1915 Stanley Osborn arrives in Skoplje, Serbia.
• October 20, 1915 Serbian forces begin retreating from Skoplje, as the Bulgarian army advances on the city.
• October 22, 1915 Bulgarian forces take Skoplje.
• December 5, 1915  The German army arrives in Skoplje.
• December 18, 1915 Stanley Osborn and the other Americans leave Skoplje, with the assistance of Austrian forces, begin the journey back to the United States.
• February 17, 1916 Lady Paget and the British Serbian Relief Fund leave Skoplje with the assistance of the Austrian forces.
• April 4, 1917 The United States Senate voted to declare war on Germany.