Christmas in the Field, Pirot — An Affair of Outposts by Frederic Villiers, which appeared in the London The Graphic, 2 January 1886: No. 840, Vol. XLII, p. 509. 17.4 cm high by 22.3 cm wide — 6 ⅝ inches high by 8 ⅞ inches wide. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Historical Note
The Graphic followed the events of the brief but punishing war between Serbia and Bulgaria in some detail, giving portraits of those conducting it, and covering events as they unfolded. Their illustrations came from the war artist and correspondent Frederic Villiers (1851-1922), a talented and intrepid young man at that time, who stopped to sketch dramatic on-the-spot scenes of the conflict at great risk to himself. During the previous Turk-Serbian war of 1876, for instance, quite apart from the usual dangers and privations off the battleground, he had learned that the Governor of Alexinatz in southern Serbia (near Nisch, the place which he would later depict in the subsequent war there (see the illustration below), was threatening to hang him on sight for showing the British audience how badly war prisoners had been treated (see Villiers 49). This time around too he courted disapproval by revealing the true misery of war.
A source that was close in time to the events of the later conflict gives a concise introduction to it:
In the summer of 1885 an event occurred which created a serious crisis in the Balkans. The Congress of Berlin had created two Bulgarian States — one separate State under the suzerainty of the Sultan, and the other, Eastern Roumelia, as an autonomous Turkish province. It was certain from the beginning that this state of things could not continue, and that the Bulgarians would seize the first opportunity to unite the two countries. This revolution was made in 1885, and the union of Bulgaria and Roumelia proclaimed. While European diplomacy conducted pourparlers, and deliberated means and measures for solving this question, King Milan declared himself against the change. He was convinced that this Bulgarian addition was dangerous for Servian interests, principally because, owing to the occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Servia was shut off from that direction, and could only look towards the south, where she met Bulgaria and Bulgarian interests. Besides this, many Servians had taken refuge in Bulgaria after the insurrection of Zayetchar, and King Milan, who had broken with the Radicals, and was maintaining a Government without a majority amongst the population, feared that these emigres might undertake some action against him in Servia, where there already existed many hostile elements. Confidence in his power, due to the suppression of the insurrection, and in himself, encouraged by Austrian and German diplomacy, and the hope of being able to defeat the Radical party by success in foreign policy — all these led King Milan to pose as the defender of the Berlin Treaty, and to oppose the union of Roumelia and Bulgaria. King Milan declared war against Bulgaria in November, 1885. The opening days of the war were favourable to Servia, and the Servian forces arrived near to Sofia. But when the Roumelian army arrived to aid the Bulgarian forces — which had not been reckoned upon by the Servian General Staff — the Servian army was forced to abandon Slivnitza, and, retreating, lost Pirot. By the loss of Pirot the war was decided favourably to the Bulgarians, although the Servian forces still surrounded the Bulgarian fortress of Widdin. An armistice was concluded through the intervention of Austria-Hungary, and soon after the Peace of Bucarest was signed, which made no territorial changes. Servia lost much prestige by this failure, and Bulgaria obtained Eastern Roumelia. [Stead 358-59].
Above: From sketches by Mr. F. Villiers, our Special Artist with the Servians, Christmas in Camp at Nisch — "Roast Pork" The War between Servia and Bulgaria (cover for 2 January 1886; lower register).
An account in the Graphic explains that this illustration "represents a party of Servian soldiers in safety and comparative comfort banquetting on the Servian favourite dinner of roast sucking pig," and quotes Villiers himself on what he has chosen to depict here: "'Next to America,' writes Mr. Villiers, ‘Servia is the largest pork-raising country in the world. A Servian camp very seldom runs short of meat, as there is sure to be a stray porker strolling around. My sketch shows how the animal was prepared for consumption by the men of the second class in camp at Nisch, who, by the bye, are first-rate fellows at an appetite.'" In the same account, Villiers explains the relation of the two scenes to each other: "Throughout the duration of the truce an occasional splutter of musketry would be heard, a sign that the fore-posts were keeping themselves warm. Now and then some poor fellow would soil the purity of the snow with his life’s blood."
These events seem to have had the desired effect, and captured the public imagination at home. They provided the background to George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man, first produced in 1894, in which the heroine's illusions about war and the military are completely skewered.
Links to Related Material
- The passage in the Graphic explaining the illustrations
- The Little Bulgar Boy. A Woeful Ballad of the Balkans (Punch cartoon of October 1885, by Linley Sambourne)
- Some examples of military artists and scenes in Victorian painting
Scanned images and caption material by Philip V. Allingham, with historical note added by JB. [You may use the image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Christmas in Camp at Nisch — "Roast Pork" The War between Servia and Bulgaria. The Graphic, Vol. 42, No. 840 (2 January 1886): 672.
Christmas in the Field, Pirot — An Affair of Outposts. The Graphic, Vol. 42, No. 840 (2 January 1886): 672.
Stead, Alfred. Servia by the Servians. London: Heinemann, 1909. Internet Archive, from a copy in Robarts Library, University of Toronto. Web. 24 March 2025.
Villiers, Frederic. Villiers: His Five Decades of Adventure. New York: Harper, 1920. Internet Archive, from a copy in the University of California Libraries. Web. 24 March 2025.
Created 24 March 2025