Page - 127 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

The ‘Skirmish’ near Temes-Kubin 127 The ‘Skirmish’ near Temes-Kubin The manner in which Austria-Hungary declared war can certainly serve as an object lesson in unleashing a war. On the front of the file containing the declaration of war, namely the ‘Most humble presentation’ by Count Bertchtold to the Emperor, is the following text : ‘In consideration of the […] note of reply from the Serbian government, which is in its contents entirely worthless, but in its form accommodating, I do not regard it as impossible that the Triple Entente could make another attempt to achieve a peaceful settlement of the conflict, if a clear situation is not created by means of the declaration of war. According to a report of the 4th Corps Command, Serbian troops yesterday fired at our troops from Danube steamers near Temes-Kubin and there oc- curred following our return of fire a substantial skirmish. Hostilities have thus indeed been opened and it appears all the more imperative to allow the army in terms of inter- national law every freedom of action that they would have in a state of war … I allow myself to mention that his Imperial and Royal Highness, the Commander-in-Chief of the Balkan Armed Forces, Archduke Friedrich, as well as the Chief of the General Staff, have no objection to dispatching the declaration of war tomorrow morning.’277 The reference to the skirmish near Temes-Kubin was also incorporated into the text of the declaration of war and, with these passages added, the document was approved by Emperor Franz Joseph. But the report had been false. Near Temes-Kubin, today Kovin, a small town on the northern banks of the Danube opposite Smederevo, there had been no skirmish. Several nervous or undisciplined men had perhaps shot their rifles, but nothing more had happened. In the war diary and in the operational files of the Imperial and Royal 7th Infantry Division, the incident is described as follows : the 14th Infantry Brigade (Colonel Baumgartner) reports : ‘At Kevevára [Temes-Kubin / Kovin] Serbian steamers stopped by fire from their own ranks ; following investigation allowed to proceed. Our own steamers shot at from Semendria [Smederevo], though without damage.’278 That was all. The original report on this skirmish was apparently sent from the Com- mand of the 4th Corps (Budapest) to the Imperial and Royal General Staff in Vienna. This report, however, told an entirely different story : ‘Temes-Kubin : Serbian soldiers on a ship open fire on their own troops, major skirmish, unknown number of dead and injured.’279 The text of the report points to a telegram that must have arrived from Budapest. Even if exact losses were not cited, it was suggested that these had been not inconsiderable. The office of the Chief of the General Staff apparently then informed the Foreign Minister. Only after the report had been passed on to Berchtold did the General Staff attempt to confirm these events, initially in Budapest, then in Timișoara (Temesvár) with the Command of the 7th Corps, to which the 7th Infantry Divi- sion belonged.280 Timișoara knew nothing, however, of an engagement near Temes-