The Archive of Serbia – the country’s national archive – has opened a new exhibition to mark the Centenary of the First World War.
The First World War in Archive of Serbia Documents opened in February 2014.
Amongst the 35 documents presented at the exhibition are the original Austro-Hungarian ultimatum submitted to Serbia after Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination, Serbia’s response, as well as the Austro-Hungarian declaration of war.
The Secretary of State for Culture, Dejan Ristic, opened the exhibition, saying that the documents on show “are witnesses to the terrible destruction, hatred, intolerance, misunderstanding and hostility between neighbouring peoples and states”.
Visitors at the opening of the exhibition had the opportunity to examine 35 original documents relating to the First World War
The Minister also stated that the documents “remind us that at one point the desire for dialogue and negotiations in Europe was beaten and that many nations opted for weapons instead”.
He continued that during this century, we have an “obligation to foster trust and understanding”.
The Director of the Archive of Serbia, Dr. Miroslav Perisic, who is responsible for the archive’s 500,000 documents, said that a series of exhibitions would follow this one to mark the Centenary of the First World War.
Dr. Miroslav Perisic
A major exhibition is set to be held on the 28th July 2014 – the Centenary of the outbreak of hostilities.
Dr. Perisic also gave details of plans to co-operate with foreign archives, including those of Austria, whose ambassador, Johannes Eigner, was at the opening of the exhibition.
The Austrian Ambassador to Serbia, Johannes Eigner (far right), attended the opening of the exhibition
Source: Archive of Serbia
Images courtesy of the Archive of Serbia
Posted by: Daniel Barry, Centenary News