Comments by "" (@VersusARCH) on "SMS Leitha/Lajta - Monitoring Your Behaviour" video.

  1. You got something wrong here. In 1876 there were no Ottomans in Belgrade (except the ambassadors of course) which was the capital of the Principality of Serbia which was TECHNICALLY still part of the Ottoman Empire but was for all practical intents and purposes independent of it, having its own ruler, army, currency, schools, parliament and even cannon factory but no Ottoman garrisons since 1862. Although in practice its foreign policy mostly followed "advice" either from Russia or Austria - depending which of powers' influence was dominant in Serbia at the time (with a bit of French and German influence here and there). In 1876. it was Russia. The only thing Serbia lacked for full independence was full international recognition (won on Berlin Congress in 1878) and Austria-Hungary was not hostile to Serbia at the time. In 1876. Serbia declared war on the Ottoman Empire wishing to liberate Serb-populated areas outside of the principality but still held by the Turks, and help Montenegro and rebels against the Ottoman rule in Bosnia both of which were already at war with the Ottomans. Austria-Hungary was neutral in that conflict and while not entirely friendly, nevertheless sold materiel to Serbia (like lead pipes which were smelted into cannonballs since apparently sale of ammunition was banned). I assume the monitor may have been deployed near Belgrade on something like a neutrality patrol and/or observation mission but it ceartainly didn't fight anyone around Belgrade at the time. Also Sava is not south but west of Belgrade. PS the hull of SMS Bodrog, the ship that fired first shots of WW1 (at Belgrade) is in Belgrade and its restoration is nearing completion.
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  2.  @Drachinifel  Yup, you can even see it on wiki page on SMS Leitha: : "Leitha was first saw action in 1878 in the occupation of Bosnia, when the Monarchy invaded Bosnia-Herzegovina, which had been under Turkish rule until that time. The ship actively participated in battles on the Savariver.[5]" I know Wiki ain't perfect but I'm from Belgrade and we do remember Leitha and other monitors shooting at us but it happened in WW1 only.
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