International conference on WWI starts Friday in Belgrade

BELGRADE - A two-day international conference on World War I, organized by the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD) will start in Belgrade on Friday.

CIRSD president Vuk Jeremic told Tanjug that the participants will focus on the geopolitical situation in the world in 1914 and the events leading to the outbreak of the Great War.

The conference under the title "The European Tragedy of 1914 and the Multipolar World of 2014: Lessons Learned" marks the centenary of WWI, which started with the Austro-Hungary's attack on Serbia.

The excuse for declaring war to Serbia was found in the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo, by a Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip. Princip was a member of Young Bosnia, a group that strongly opposed the Austro-Hungarian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The conference will gather internationally renowned historians and experts who will try to shed more light on the events that led to the tragic international conflict with around 15 million casualties, said Jeremic.

He pointed to the importance of holding such an event in Serbia in a time that has seen attempts to revise the history of the Great War. "We should keep in mind that World War One has great significance for the history of this country and its people. That is, I would say, one of the brightest moments in our history,” said Jeremic.

He recalled that during WWI Serbia lost nearly a quarter of its population, fighting for the freedom of not only its own but of other nations as well.

On the second day of the conference, the participants will focus on current crisis spots in the world and try to draw parallels and learn lessons from the events...