Female Ambassadors of the Serbian State in the Great War

Abstract

The paper analyzes the role and contribution of women in propaganda during the Great War. It explores their involvement in correspondence, lectures, and live speeches abroad, explaining how women, through propaganda activities, worked to depict the Serbian soldier, the horrors of war, and the devastated and occupied country. The initiatives presented contributed to the purchase of cars, uniforms, and linen for the soldiers, as well as the opening of canteens. In the early 20th century, when women journalists were a sporadic phenomenon, the ambassadors of the Hristić family wrote letters for respected foreign magazines (Times, Morning Post, Pall Mall Gazette, Evening News, the Westminster Gazette), thus paving the way for the female population in the field of journalism and spreading the word about the Serbian state. Thanks to the spokespersons of the Hristić, Lozanić, Pankhurst, Sands, Stevenson, Grujić Radović, Farnam families, Europe was aware of the situation in Serbia, life in exile, days marked by fear and unrest in the fight against the occupiers. It is necessary to study this topic more thoroughly to prevent the female ambassadors from being forgotten.