My grandfather fought in the Balkans as a Sargeant with the South Wales Borderers. He was gassed and taken prisoner in 1917 and sent to a POW camp in Bulgaria. He said they were very badly treated and he suffered from ill health for the rest of his life. So... Not a lot of laughs, really.

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There was extremely cold mountain warfare in the carpathians for example. Some of the things you see in the alps apply, though the Russia had more supply problems. Miserable, frigid warfare.

It was more mobile than the western front a lot of taking and retaking of territory

There was also a bit of trench warfare in the end.

But that's an interesting thing about ww1. I've never understood how it would work in a mobile way. I can't seem to picture troops not charging out of trenches and I don't know why.

Ok so I have to tell you the Balkan front when it gets to Salonika, was very static. Alled forces had problems with malaria if I recall correctly.

Some of the other responses here have confused Balkan front for Eastern Front where the warfare was somewhat more dynamic due to the size of the front and some geologic restrictions that prevented trench fortresses like were found on the western front.

And before reaching Salonika it also was very static. The Austrians where not exactly successful in pushing through the mountains in Serbia and Montenegro, so for a long time the front moved very little.

Then Serbia did collapse and then came Salonika, which was the very definition of drôle de guerre

I imagine very difficult. Lol.

Since the Balkans were part of the ottoman empire, which was losing its hegemony, it lost not just the morale but other forms of support. At least that's what I perceive.

At least earlier on there was the see saw of Austrian invasion, fumbling, and retreat. Battle of Cer and all that.

Should watch the Serbian movie King Petar or something. It’s Serbian point of view of WW1 against the Austrian-Hungarian Empire (which consisted of other Balkans such as Croats, Slovenes, and Bosnians).

I guess the only laughter they get is when they know the war is over and they won't have to suffer any longer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4neKuY0i9rI

"Capitain Conan" is a french movie in WW1 in the Balkans, from a famous 1920s french book writen by a former soldier that fought on the "orient front".

Actually, they kept suffering.

I'll give it a watch thank you

I’ll add that in November 1918, the guards opened the gates and said “war over, go home”. He and his mates walked from Bulgaria to France where they met up with a British unit and were transported home. He was a quiet, gentle man and I was very fond of him. He died in 1966 from cancer, aged 70.

The initial 1914 Austro-Hungarian disastrous offensive into Serbia is exciting to read about.

I'm struggling to think of a more extreme case of one belligerent beginning an offensive with such a sense of overwhelming sense of superiority and confidence, before going on to suffer such a lopsided disastrous campaign.

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I don’t know it well but the Salonica campaign was regarded by some contemporaries as one of the worst fronts a British soldier could get sent to, generally because of outbreaks of malaria. I can’t really answer any of your specific questions but certainly don’t be under the impression that things were much better there than in other theatres.

My only source on this campaign right now is Patricia Cara’s ‘A Lab of One’s Own’, about British female scientists and suffragettes in the war. There’s not much in there about it, but it does pop up since a number of women were sent to establish hospitals in Serbia and then later in the Salonica front