Pavle Jurišić Šturm KCMG ( sr-cyr, Павле Јуришић Штурм; 8 August 1848 – 13 January 1922), born Paulus Eugen Sturm, was a Serbian

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

of Sorbian origin, best known for commanding the Serbian 3rd Army in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Biography

Paulus Eugen Sturm was born on 22 August 1848. in Görlitz, Prussian Silesia, of ethnic Sorb origin. He moved with his brother to Serbia and joined the Serbian army. Šturm became one of the most important commanders in the Serbian army in World War I, especially during its first two years, the time when his 3rd army was main support either for the 2nd army during the battle of Cer (August 1914), or for the 1st army during the battle of Kolubara (November to December 1914). He and his brother Eugene (Evgenije) graduated from the royal Prussian military academy in Breslau (Wrocław), and participated in the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

of 1870–1871. They later resigned their commissions and moved to the

Principality of Serbia The Principality of Serbia () was an autonomous, later sovereign state in the Balkans that came into existence as a result of the Serbian Revolution, which lasted between 1804 and 1817. Its creation was negotiated first through an unwritten agre ...

, prior to the Serbian–Ottoman War (1876–78), in order to lecture at the Serbian Military Academy in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. With the outbreak of the war, the two brothers joined the Serbian Army as volunteers. Pavle also fought in the Serbo-Bulgarian War (1885) as commander of a regiment. He liked Serbia, and married a Serbian woman. In order to become naturalised, he changed his name into Pavle Jurišić-Šturm in 1876, ''Pavle'' being a

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...

of ''Paulus'', and Jurišić being derived from a modulated translation of the word "charge" (''sturm'' in German, ''juriš'' in Serbian). He kept his German last name as an alias ("Šturm"). In the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

(1912–13) he was the General of the Drina Division, which distinguished itself at the Battle of Kumanovo after which he was promoted to the rank of general. As commander of the Third Serbian Army, he participated in all major battles in the Serbian theater in World War I, from Cer and Kolubara, then retreated over frozen Albania, and the participation of the Serbian Army on the Salonika front. Here, his army fought in the Battle of Kajmakcalan, suffering many casualties. After this battle Sturm was replaced at the head of the Third Army by Miloš Vasić in October 1916. He was sent to Russia to assist the commander of the Serbian Volunteer Corps. In early 1917, he returned via Japan to Thessaloniki, where he was appointed Chancellor of the Order of the Crown, a job he held until the end of the war. After years of peace that followed, Šturm stayed in Serbia and remained in its army with the rank of

. He died in 1922 at his home in Belgrade. Šturm was decorated with Order of Order of the Karađorđe's Star, Order of the White Eagle and Allied decorations of the

Order of the Crown of Italy The Order of the Crown of Italy ( or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate Italian unification, the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for ...

, Order of St. George, BelgianOrder of the Crown, the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

and the Order of St. Michael and St. George. Possibly the most valuable was the Order of Paulovnia Flowers on the Great Cross, personally decorated by Japanese Emperor. He was also the bearer of the Order of Iron Cross, 2nd class, and the Austrian Order of Leopold. He was considered one of the greatest commanders of First World War and one of the best commanders in Serbian war history.

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;Books * ;News articles * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jurisic, Pavle Sturm 1848 births 1922 deaths People from Görlitz Military personnel from the Province of Silesia Sorbian people Serbian generals Serbian military personnel of World War I Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Foreign volunteers in Serbian armies Immigrants to the Principality of Serbia Royal Serbian Army soldiers German military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Italy)

Biography

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