Little of the war material destroyed in the recent conflict with Bulgaria had been replaced and even when the Serbs took the field they had not sufficient ammunition, for much of their ammunition was French and, owing to conditions in France, the latter country could no longer supply Serbia with what she needed. Yet by the middle of August the armies of the Crown Prince in a five days' engagement, the Battle of Jadar, sent the Austrians across the river, and out of Serbia. In dead and wounded the invaders had lost about twice as many as the Serbs, as well as a large amount of ordnance and stores. They returned in September, but after inflicting much damage on the country were again defeated and again driven out of Serbia about the middle of December.
Serbia, invaded by an army three times as large as her own, fought valiantly and drove the Austrians outside her kingdom, not, however, until much damage had been done. Not only had she many wounded but the invader destroyed everything, even the property of non-combatants who had remained passive on their farms. So viciously had the Austrians treated the non-combatants that all who could fled the country toward Macedonia. Crops were seized; cattle were killed or taken away; farms and implements destroyed, and in fact the whole country was laid waste.
[Illustration: SERBIAN VILLAGERS ON THEIR WAY TO EXILE]
Perhaps in no better way can the barbarous methods of the Austrian invader be understood than from a quotation from an appeal made by the Serbian Archbishop.
"The barbarous methods of warfare of the German Allies, the object of which is to annihilate other nations and their culture, have inflicted on us, as well as on the Belgians, bloody and incurable wounds. Whole crowds of our best and noblest Serbs, who as non-combatants peacefully received the Austrian army, have been killed with a cruelty of which even savages would be ashamed. Men and women, old men and innocent children have been murdered by terrible tortures, by arms, and by fire. Many have been locked up in school buildings and other houses and burnt alive. All the churches to which the Austrians got access have been desecrated, robbed, and destroyed. The schools and the best houses have fared in the same way. Belgrade, the beautiful capital of Serbia, its churches, its educational and humanitarian institutions, have been destroyed. The university, the national library, the museum, and scientific collections, have been ruined. For those who have escaped, and for the orphans of the fallen, speedy help is most necessary."