Letalce so izdale »bele roke in laške lire«: protiletalska obramba v Mariboru v času prve svetovne vojne

Abstract

FLIERS WERE GIVEN AWAY BY »WHITE HANDS AND ITALIAN LIRE«: ANTI‐AIRCRAFT DEFENCE IN MARIBOR DURING WORLD WAR I

The author of the following contribution focuses on the development of anti-aircraft defence in Austro-Hungary. The development of aerial combat also called for efficient defence, initially organised at the front and later also in the rear. Anti-aircraft defence included anti-aircraft artillery, a system of observation posts, and the related communication of threats as well as instructions for alerting, camouflaging and civilian activities in the rear in case of aerial attack. During World War I Maribor was among the more important military cities in the rear. Therefore it was a priority for the military authorities to establish an operational anti-aircraft defence in the city. The following contribution reveals the unknown history of the city of Maribor and its immediate and more distant surroundings, relevant for the anti-aircraft defence of the Monarchy at the Soča part of the South-western Front. The most interesting event related to the defence of Maribor is surely the Italian Caproni aircraft, which distressed the local population in October 1917. Just like the Monarchy itself, the anti-aircraft defence fell apart in October 1918.