Field Marshal Radomir Putnik, Chief of Staff of the Serbian Army, 1906-1917. Putnik's early career mirrored that of his counterparts in the Great Power armies, starting with service as an artillery officer, a nine year stint as an instructor in Serbia's military academy, followed by an appointment as Deputy Chief of the General Staff. His career radically diverged from the pattern when he was forced to retire under suspicion of sympathizing with the People's Radical Party. After the 1903 coup d'etat, Putnik would be rehabilitated, serving as Minister of War and Chief of the General Staff. In these positions, he radically reformed the Serbian Army and led it to spectacular victories in the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913.

The beginning of the Great War surprised him vacationing in a Hungarian spa, where he was arrested but later released by order of the Emperor-King, who must have bitterly regretted this later. Putnik led a brilliant defense of Serbia in the first and second Austro-Hungarian invasions, virtually annihilating the enemy army each time. The third invasion, combining German and Austro-Hungarian operations with a surprise attack by Bulgaria, forced the Serbians to retreat all the way to the Adratic coast, where they were evacuated by Allied ships. 68 years old and a lifelong chain-smoker, Putnik's health was finally ruined by severe exposure during the retreat. He was unceremoniously removed from his post as Chief of the General Staff in 1916. Serbia being under Austro-Hungarian occupation, he retired to Nice, where he died the next year in a villa procured for him by the French government.

Field Marshal Putnik formed and led a Serbian Army that enjoyed spectacular success in two Balkan wars and the opening year of the Great War. They were only defeated by overwhelming numbers and materiel, Bulgarian backstabbing and circumstances inherent to the Serbian position: old and worn-out equipment, a tiny army with no depth of reserves and no room to withdraw. In these circumstances and given the Serbian accomplishments I regard Field Marshal Putnik as the best of the early-war Generals, and one of the best of the whole war.