Summary
Pero Blašković's book With Bosniaks in the World War, which on 503 pages describes the war journey of Blašković himself and his Bosnian-Herzegovinian infantry regiment no. 3.
True, their paths occasionally diverged, but this book is the greatest monument to the heroism and sacrifices of Bosniaks and the regiment in the First World War, but also of Bosniaks in all other units.
It is commendable that this reprint will make the book even more accessible, because it certainly deserves it with its interestingness and informativeness. At the same time, this is the only book in this series that was written after the war, with the use of war records, so the author could approach many things more rationally or with a significant dose of humor.
On this occasion, I will cite only one example from the beginning of December 1914, during the offensive of Austro-Hungarian forces in Russian Poland. Blašković says: "Since we were barely informed about the goals of our movement, we had no idea what we were doing and why we were doing it, but only because of the exhaustion and bloody losses we scolded our leadership at the top of our lungs and were very bitter. I only read in the post-war literature that our constant movements and attacks were genius, because with such active work we tied up large forces of the Russian army" (p. 150).
There are a handful of such examples in the book, and through them springs the unsurpassed spirit of Bosnia and Herzegovina, present and born in the people precisely from the hardships that people have endured over the centuries.
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