This is a Serbian Mauser M1908 carbine used by Serbia in WWI, captured by the Austrians, and thrown into a lake. Austria-Hungary and Serbia had poor relations before WWI - Serbia was seen as a hive of anarchists, and a rival over lands like Bosnia, which Austria annexed from the decaying Ottoman Empire. When Archduke Franz Ferdinand paraded through Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, knowingly insulting Serbians as it corresponded with the legendary loss to the Turks at Kosovo in 1389, the Serbian irredentist group "the Black Hand" assassinated him.
Serbia, aided by Montenegro, initially repulsed the Austrians. In 1915 Austria, Germany, and Bulgaria attacked at once. The Serbian army was eventually forced to retreat, surrender, or be destroyed, and with many civilians it evacuated during the winter to Corfu. The Montenegrins, despite having a very bellicose culture, were surrendered by their King Nikola during the battle of Mojkovac. This resulted in a national guilt, and left no army to oppose the Serbians late in WWI when they occupied Montenegro and thus "forced" Yugoslavia to exist.**
Ironically, this carbine was made under contract by OEWG Steyr in Austria. Austria blocked a Bannerman sample of American-capture Spanish Mausers destined for Serbia in 1903, but the subsequent contract for M1899/07 rifles and M1908 carbines still went to Steyr. After the so-called "Pig War," where Austria-Hungary banned the important Serbian export of pork, the next contract of rifles was awarded to Mauser Oberndorf in Germany instead of Steyr.*
This carbine was found by a relic hunter around 1975-1985 in a very cold, high elevation mountain lake, with other ordnance. The ordnance could have been dumped by the Austrians, or by the Serbians not wanting it to be captured. The carbine was well preserved, though with brittle metal and a heavily pitted barrel it is unsafe to fire. The wood feels unusually smooth, and the interior markings are still present. The bore is dirty with good rifling, and the action functions.
*. I source Serbian and Yugoslav Mauser Rifles by Branko Bogdanovic, North Cape Publications Inc., 2005.
**. I source Land Without Justice by Milovan Djilas, Harcourt Brace and Co. Inc., 1958.
Serbia, aided by Montenegro, initially repulsed the Austrians. In 1915 Austria, Germany, and Bulgaria attacked at once. The Serbian army was eventually forced to retreat, surrender, or be destroyed, and with many civilians it evacuated during the winter to Corfu. The Montenegrins, despite having a very bellicose culture, were surrendered by their King Nikola during the battle of Mojkovac. This resulted in a national guilt, and left no army to oppose the Serbians late in WWI when they occupied Montenegro and thus "forced" Yugoslavia to exist.**
Ironically, this carbine was made under contract by OEWG Steyr in Austria. Austria blocked a Bannerman sample of American-capture Spanish Mausers destined for Serbia in 1903, but the subsequent contract for M1899/07 rifles and M1908 carbines still went to Steyr. After the so-called "Pig War," where Austria-Hungary banned the important Serbian export of pork, the next contract of rifles was awarded to Mauser Oberndorf in Germany instead of Steyr.*
This carbine was found by a relic hunter around 1975-1985 in a very cold, high elevation mountain lake, with other ordnance. The ordnance could have been dumped by the Austrians, or by the Serbians not wanting it to be captured. The carbine was well preserved, though with brittle metal and a heavily pitted barrel it is unsafe to fire. The wood feels unusually smooth, and the interior markings are still present. The bore is dirty with good rifling, and the action functions.
*. I source Serbian and Yugoslav Mauser Rifles by Branko Bogdanovic, North Cape Publications Inc., 2005.
**. I source Land Without Justice by Milovan Djilas, Harcourt Brace and Co. Inc., 1958.