The same geography that discouraged a decisive fleet action made transport and evacuation especially important. The French Navy lifted roughly 200,000 Serbian troops from the Adriatic so that they could remain in the war. The figure is presented as an approximate recollection, but the strategic result is clear: an Allied army survived instead of being trapped and destroyed. Italian pressure on the Austro-Hungarian fleet helped shield the operation, showing how one coalition navy could create the conditions for another navy's logistical success. This is the strongest example in the stream of French sea power producing an effect ashore without winning a major naval battle.
Notable Point · 1:47:53-1:49:10
French sea lift preserved the Serbian Army
The evacuation of roughly 200,000 Serbian troops stands out as a strategically valuable French achievement in an otherwise constrained Adriatic campaign.