Miroslav Krleza, generally considered the greatest Croatian writer of the twentieth century, was born in Zagreb on 7 July 1893. After completing high school, he was sent to Hungary, first to the officers' school in Pecs and then to the military academy in Budapest. At that time many Croatian intellectuals hoped that Serbia's role in the struggle for national liberation and unification would be similar to the central part of the Piedmont in the unification of Italy. Although an Austro-Hungarian officer, Krleza, who espoused this ideal, crossed the border and volunteered to serve in the Serbian war against the Turks (1913). Serbian authorities became suspicious of Krleza, however, and expelled him. He was subsequently arrested by the Austrians, deprived of his rank, and, after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia in July 1914, was sent to the front as a private.

During World War I, in Galicia and on other Austrian fronts, Krleza...