On the occasion of the 110th anniversary of the rescue of the Serbian army by the Italian Royal Navy, the Embassy and the Italian Cultural Institute in Belgrade, in collaboration with the Serbian Military Museum, have organized the historical-photographic exhibition “Across the Sea, Salvation (1915-1916): a testimony to Italian-Serbian friendship,” hosted at the Museum of Yugoslavia in Belgrade. The exhibition, inaugurated by the Italian and Serbian Ministers of Defense, Guido Crosetto and Bratislav Gašić, commemorates one of the most dramatic episodes in the history of Belgrade during World War I. In the late autumn of 1915, Serbia was overwhelmed by a joint offensive by Bulgaria, Austria-Hungary, and Germany. The Serbian army and tens of thousands of civilians were forced into a dramatic retreat through the snow-covered mountains of Albania, facing extreme cold, hunger, and disease. This tragic march claimed tens of thousands of victims.
When the survivors reached the Adriatic coast, it was the intervention of the Italian Royal Navy that made an extraordinary rescue operation possible. Between December 1915 and February 1916, Italian naval units evacuated some 260,000 soldiers and civilians, 10,000 horses and large quantities of material, transferring them to various Mediterranean ports. Thanks to this operation, the Adriatic was transformed from a theater of war into a veritable lifeline, contributing decisively to the survival of the Serbian army and institutions (including King Peter himself). The exhibition, with captions in Serbian, Italian, and English, is open to the public at the Museum of Yugoslavia in Belgrade until March 10, 2026.
“Through period photographs, documents, and historical materials, some of which have never been seen before, the exhibition traces the extraordinary humanitarian and logistical operation to rescue the Serbian army by the Italian Royal Navy during World War I,” said Italian Ambassador to Serbia Luca Gori. “We are particularly pleased to contribute to raising awareness among the Serbian public of a historical event that is unfortunately little known, but which constitutes an indelible manifestation of solidarity between Italy and Serbia and reaffirms the lasting value of the friendship between our two countries.”
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