Serbia campaign 1914

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Kingdom of Serbia before the start of the war

The 1914 campaign in Serbia , which began immediately after the outbreak of World War I , comprised three unsuccessful offensives by the Austro-Hungarian army between August and December 1914 against the Kingdom of Serbia . All attacks by the Austro-Hungarian Balkan forces failed because of bad planning and the bitter Serbian resistance. At the beginning of December 1914, Belgrade was captured for a short time , but a surprising Serbian counter-offensive forced the Austrians to withdraw, which was costly. In the first year of the war, the Austro-Hungarian Army suffered heavy defeats and high personnel losses not only in Serbia, but also on the Eastern Front in Galicia.

prehistory

After the assassination attempt in Sarajevo (June 28, 1914), the “Peace Party” lost one of its most important advocates with the death of Franz Ferdinand . The chief of the general staff Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf demanded military action against Serbia as early as 1907. On July 7th, the Austro- Hungarian Foreign Minister Leopold Graf Berchtold instructed the Austro-Hungarian envoy in Belgrade, General Giesl von Gieslingen : “How always the Serbs react - you have to break off relations and leave; there must be war ”. The German Empire was as closest ally in the relationships of the July crisis closely involved, it supported Austria-Hungary and urged them the proposed ultimatum to make unacceptable. The ultimatum was handed over on July 23 at 6 p.m. by the ambassador Giesl in Belgrade. It was deliberately written in such a way that a sovereign state could not accept it. Serbia replied within the given deadline, but did not accept it unconditionally. Finally, on July 28, 1914 , Austria-Hungary declared war on the Serbs with blank German powers . The First World War was triggered by the alliance obligations of the great powers of the time . With the general mobilization of the Russian Empire , from a purely military point of view, the Balkans immediately sank into a secondary theater of war .

On the Serbian side, the Balkan Wars had just ended before the outbreak of the World War and the kingdom had not yet recovered. Over 36,000 soldiers were killed and 55,000 wounded. The Serbian army had just started replenishing its ammunition stocks. Nevertheless, the supply problems at the beginning of the new war were not sufficiently resolved. Many units still lacked uniform uniforms, and rifles were in short supply. After the mobilization, it was found that around 50,000 soldiers had to go into battle without complete equipment. At first they performed important services for the regular units as irregulars in specially set up county battalions .

Preparations and planning

Feldzeugmeister Oskar Potiorek

On July 30th, Feldzeugmeister Potiorek ordered the concentration of the Austro-Hungarian 6th Army in the area east of Sarajevo . After the mobilization was completed, this army was to take the offensive to Užice . At the beginning of August Potiorek still did not know whether he could count on the 2nd Army in the Banat when he was planning , or whether it would be thrown to the Eastern Front immediately. In this case he would have over five corps for his attack, otherwise only over the XV., XVI. and XIII. Corps and would have been forced from the outset to purely defensive on the Danube and Drina. On August 5th, the Kingdom of Montenegro also declared war on the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, which forced Potiorek to withdraw several mountain brigades to the south for security.

After the declaration of war on Russia on August 6th, Archduke Friedrich was appointed commander in chief of the armed forces, FZM Potiorek became the commander of the entire Balkan armed forces . The chief of the general staff, Conrad von Hötzendorf , insisted on the immediate transport of the 2nd Army of General von Böhm-Ermolli to Galicia in accordance with the guidelines of the deployment . FZM Potiorek was able to achieve with the emperor that at least the Tersztyanszky group with 6½ infantry and 1 cavalry division and 3 brigades had to participate longer in the further attacks against the Serbs between the Danube and the Lower Sava. Through his adjutant Lieutenant Colonel Richard Körner , he had his plans communicated to Army High Command 2 and 5. The 5th Army marched south of the Save and west of the Drina , the IV Corps of the 2nd Army north of the Save.

Potiorek believed that an invasion from Bosnia would also cause internal turmoil in Serbia. The 5th Army had to attack the lower Drina , while two corps of the 2nd Army were to attack between Sabac and Belgrade. The Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army was supposed to secure itself in the north in front of Belgrade and to participate with its right wing (IV. Corps) by attacking over the Save on Sabac. The VII Corps had to remain defensive between Pancsova and Báziás and to force the Danube at Orsova with a weak group . Potiorek himself initially led the 6th Army defensively in the upper Drina. Both the 6th and 5th Army had to operate in these operations on difficult, boggy but mostly mountainous terrain and could therefore only count on the support of light artillery. Conrad approved Potiorek's plans on August 10, and he also gave AOK 2 instructions that the capture of Šabac and Mitrovica on the southern bank of the Sava was desired. A tactical success would be of enormous importance for Bulgaria and Romania, which are still reluctant to enter the war .

At the beginning of the conflict, the western border of Serbia was only defended by weak forces, mainly by the strong divisional army group Užice and some reserve units. In addition, there was the Montenegrin army with around 40,000 men in the south. When the Serbian leadership realized that the Austro-Hungarian attack was also to be expected from the west via the Drina, they gave the order to the Serbian 2nd Army (Stepanović) on August 9 to move to the Macva .

Units of War August 1914

Austro-Hungarian Balkan Forces

Liborius Ritter von Frank

Balkan Forces Commander in Chief : Feldzeugmeister Oskar Potiorek , Chief of Staff : GM Eduard Böltz

Strength: 319 ½ battalions (16 divisions ), 60 squadrons , 142 batteries (744 guns ), 486 machine guns .

After the departure of AOK 2: 239 ½ battalions, 37 squadrons (about 260,000 men), 101 batteries (516 guns), 342 machine guns

Rayon Banat ( AOK 2 ) Cavalry General Eduard von Böhm-Ermolli Chief of Staff, Major General Artur von Mecenseffy

89 battalions, 16 squadrons and 50 batteries (288 guns)

IV Corps: Gen. the Kav. Karl Tersztyánszky of Nádas

VII Corps: Gen. the Inf. Otto Meixner von Zweienstamm

IX. Corps: Gen. the Inf. Lothar von Hortstein

  • 29. ITD: FML Alfred Zedtwitz
  • 23. HID: FML Heinrich Daempf
  • 10th Cavalry Division FML Viktor Mayr
  • Combined Brigade: Major General Alfred Krauss

5th Army Gen. the Inf. Liborius Ritter von Frank Chief of the General Staff: GM Maximilian Csicserics von Bacsány

59 battalions, 11 squadrons and 37 batteries (212 guns)

VIII Corps: Gen. the Kav. Arthur Freiherr Giesl von Gieslingen

XIII. Corps: Gen. the Inf. Adolf von Rhemen zu Barensfeld

Army troops:

  • 13th Marching Brigade: GM Adalbert Letovsky
  • 11th Mountain Brigade: GM Marcel Lavrowski
  • 104th Landsturm Brigade: GM Theodor Bekić
Austro-Hungarian Infantry 1914
Serbian Army 1914

6th Army Feldzeugmeister Oskar Potiorek, Chief of Staff, Major General Eduard Böltz

72 battalions, 5 squadrons and 37 batteries (162 guns)

XV. Corps General of the Infantry Michael von Appel

  • 48th ITD: FML Johann Eisler von Eisenhort with 10th Mountain Brigade (Colonel Heinrich von Droffa) and 12 Mountain Brigade (Major General Franz Kalser von Maasfeld )
  • 1st ITD: FML Stephan Bogat von Kostanjevac with the 7th (Major General Otto Seric) and 9th Mountain Brigade (Colonel Joseph Hrozny)

XVI. Corps Feldzeugmeister Wenzel Wurm

  • 18. ITD: FML Ignaz Trollmann
  • 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th Mountain Brigade
  • 1st Mountain Brigade: GM Guido Novak from Arienti
  • 2nd Mountain Brig .: GM Theodor Gabriel
  • 13th Mountain Brigade: Colonel Anton Bechtold

Herzegovina and Cattaro group

  • 40th HID: FML Joseph Braun (79th and 80th Honved Brigade)
  • 3rd Mountain Brigade GM. Heinrich Pongrácz
  • 47. HID: GM Friedrich Novak

Serbian Armed Forces

Petar Bojović (AOK 1)
Stepa Stepanović (AOK 2)
Pavle Jurišić Šturm (AOK 3)

Serbia had eleven strong, well-equipped infantry divisions with about 264,000 men (202 ½ battalions and 48 squadrons), 5,500 horsemen and 542 artillery pieces. In the second line, five Landsturm divisions with a total of 100-150,000 men were ready for action. When it became clear to the Serbian Army Command that the previous actions of the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army on the Save were only intended to diversify, on August 9th they gave the Serbian 2nd Army the order to move to the Drina-Save triangle.

Commander in Chief: Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia Chief of the General Staff: Vojvode Radomir Putnik

1st Army under General Petar Bojović (General Mišić from November), Chief of Staff: Colonel Božidar Terzić with 4 infantry and 1 cavalry divisions

  • Division-Morava II - Colonel Ljubomir Milić
  • Division Timok I - General Vladimir Kondić, later Colonel Vojislav Zivanović
  • Division Timok II - General Vukoman Aračić
  • Royal Serbian Cavalry Division - Colonel Branko Jovanović
  • Division-Danube II - General Miloš Vasić

Artillery commander: Colonel Miroslav Milosavljevic, then Božidar Srećković

2nd Army under General Stepa Stepanović (Chief of Staff: Colonel Vojislav Živanović) with 4 ½ infantry divisions

  • Division-Morava I - Colonel Ilija Gojković
  • Division Danube I - Colonel Milivoje Anđelković
  • Combined Division - General Mihajlo Rašić
  • Division-Šumadija I - Stepan Hadzic, from September 1914 Colonel Božidar Terzić

Artillery Commander: Colonel Vojislav Milojević

3rd Army under General Pavle Jurišić Šturm (Chief of Staff: Colonel Dušan Pešić) with 2 ½ infantry divisions

  • Obrenovac Detachment - Colonel Nikola Stevanović
  • Division-Drina I - General Krista Smiljanić
  • Division-Drina II - General Leonid Solarevic
  • Ljubovija Detachment - Colonel Djordje Djordjević

Artillery Commander: Colonel Miloš Mihailović

Army group Uzice under General Miloš Božanović , from October 20 Aračić

  • Division-Šumadija II - General Dragutin Milutinović
  • Užice Brigade - Colonel Ivan Pavlović
  • Lim Detachment - Colonel Jevrema Mihajlović
  • Mokragora Detachment

Belgrade Defense Group under General Michailo Zifković

  • Land storm brigade: Colonel Milisav Lešjanina
  • Land storm brigade: Colonel Dusan Tufegdžića

Montenegrin Army under General Bozidar Janković , Chief of Staff: Colonel Petar Pesić 70 battalions (4 divisions with 11 brigades), together around 40,000 men

  • Sanjak Detachment (General Gojnić)
  • Herzegovina Detachment (General Martinović)
  • Lovćen Detachment (Prince Peter of Montenegro)
  • Ipek Detachment (General Nešović)

First invasion August 1914

Potiorek ordered the 5th Army, which was crossing the Drina River, to attack with its right wing corps (XIII) on both sides of the Loznica-Zavlaka River in the direction of Valjevo . The VIII Corps was to cross the Drina in the north with the 9th ITD east of Bijeljina. The right wing of the 2nd Army took part by attacking the Sava on Sabac . The IX. “Prague Corps” operated with the 29th ITD and 21st Rifle Division from the north and west against Mitrovica and Šabac. On August 12, the Landsturm Brigade under Major General Letovsky attacked Šabac. Major General von Dáni’s brigade crossed the Sava at Klenak and captured Šabac with heavy artillery support. The kuk XIII. Corps (General von Rhemen) had with the 36th Division (FML Czibulka) to get their hands on the heights east of Loznica after the Drina crossing and to force the entrance into the Jadar valley. The 42nd Honved Division (Sarkotic) on the south wing of the 5th Army in front of Zvornik had to support the advance towards Krupanj . The 13th Mountain Brigade and the 11th Brigade were unable to cross the river immediately due to flooding.

The Serbian Chief of Staff Putnik asked the 3rd Army to hold firm in the upper Mačva , while the 2nd and 1st Armies, which were deploying behind on the right wing, should immediately move westward. The southern army group Užice was ordered to attack Višegrad in order to force the breakthrough on Sarajevo .

On August 13, the Austro-Hungarian 6th Army, concentrated in the area east of Sarajevo, began the expected attack across the Drina between Foča and Visegrad in the southern theater of war . The difficult terrain on the Upper Drina and unexpected Serbian resistance ruined the Austrian plans from the very beginning.

On the night of the 15th Putnik, realizing the Austrian intentions, ordered a new formation of his armies. The 1st Army should form the left wing, the 3rd the center and the 2nd Army should hold their position in the Drina-Save triangle. The 3rd Army had to hold onto the Austrians in the Jadar Valley, while the 2nd Army was to attack the left flank of Frank's Army with two divisions. In the middle of the march, the kuk IX. Corps for the Russian theater of war transported away. The 6th Army should have the 40th Honved Division in the Sarajevo area and the 5th Army half the 7th Division in the Banat . The Austro-Hungarian VII Corps (17th and 34th Divisions) under Infantry General Meixner von Zweienstamm was already being transported to the Dniester front.

Battle of Jadar

The first decisive battle took place from August 16-19 between the 5th Army, which had advanced about 35 km southwest of Šabac and into the Jadar Valley, and the Serbian 2nd Army and the right wing of the Serbian 3rd Army. The Cer Mountains separated the Mačva in the north and the Jadar in the south and were built into the Serbian positioning system. The Serbian 2nd Army had distributed its troops on Cer-Planina, while Frank's troops strove to storm these heights. Until August 16, the 42nd Honved Division fought its way to Krupanj with great losses. A night clash between the Serbian Combined Division and the 21st Landwehr Division initiated the Battle of Cer . At around 11 p.m., units of the Serbian Combined Divisions were attacked on the slopes of Mount Cer. On the morning of August 16, the Serbs had attacked at Divača and pushed the Austrians back from their positions at Borino Selo. In the early morning hours of August 18, another attack by the Morava I Division followed from the Tekeris area, which threw the Austro-Hungarian 9th Division back. The kuk IV Corps, meanwhile, repulsed the attack of the Serbian division Šumadija I near Dobrič. On the Jadar section the Serbs took Rašulijača at noon, the Combined Division took advantage of the success and broke into the Austrian positions via Lješnica. The offensive of the Serbian 2nd Army against Iverak was continued, the Serbian Combined Division continued the attack at Rašulijača and reached Kosanin. From August 17, the Serbs tried to recapture Šabac, the Division-Šumadija I tried in vain to push in the bridgehead there. The combined division attacked the villages of Trojan and Parlog through Kosanin. In the meantime the Morava Division I attacked near Iverak and took the village of Velika Glava. In the late afternoon the ridge of the Rajin Grob was recaptured.

On August 18, the Tersztyanszky Corps crossed the Sava near Šabac and on August 19 tried to relieve the pressure on the northern flank of the Serbian 2nd Army. On August 19, the 5th Army in the Jadar valley was completely defeated; it had lost the entire train and around 40,000 men on the Jadar (8,000 dead, 4,000 prisoners and 30,000 wounded). On August 21st and 22nd, further clashes followed in front of Šabac, Serbian armed forces were already fighting in the western area of ​​this city. Potiorek's troops had to retreat behind the Drina between Zvornik and Visegrad until August 23, and Šabac had to be surrendered to the Serbian 1st Army on August 24.

From Goražde and Foča, the mountain brigades of the XVI. Corps to the Lim by August 22nd, the mountain brigade of Major General von Andrian reached Nova Varoš via Plevlje . During this phase of the attack, the Austrians had committed atrocities against Serbian institutions and civilians. Looting and burning of villages were ordered when the leadership withdrew. The withdrawal of the IV Corps of the 2nd Army to the Russian front could not take place as planned, as large parts were needed to defend Syrmia. At the end of August the Austrians gave up all conquests in the Macva, with the exception of a bridgehead at Šabac, which passed into the command area of ​​the 5th Army after the withdrawal of the IV Corps.

Second invasion in September

General Alfred Krauss, initially commander of the 29th ITD, later leader of the Combined Corps in the Mačva

At the beginning of September the 5th Army was entrusted with the second main attack, the VIII. And XIII. Corps had to lead the new offensive across the Drina. The attack began on September 7th, in the area of ​​the 6th Army, mountain troops at the Drina knee of Javorak were to pass and take Rogatica . The XV. and XVI. Zvornik was to build a bridgehead on both sides of the Drina River and achieve the withdrawal of the Serbs to the Jagodnja Mountains.

On August 28, Putnik had regrouped the Serbian troops. The 3rd Army (Division Drina I and Morava II) took over the defense of the Drina section Zvornik-Ljesnica. The 2nd Army (Komb. Div., Timok I and II, Morava I) then had to march north to the mouth of the Sava. The 1st Army (Sumadija I, Danube I and II) held together with the cavalry division between Sabac - south of Belgrade to Pozarevac . General Bozanovic pushed the Lim Detachement (18 battalions) of his Army Group Usize on both sides of the Lim. The second Sumadija division was to take the heights north and south-east of Visegrad.

On the night of September 5th to 6th Putnik ordered parts of the 1st Army to cross the Sava near Semlin . On September 6th, the Serbian division Timok I under General Kondić crossed the Sava between Mitrovica and Jarak and tried to bring the war to imperial territory. The 29th Division, under FML Alfred Krauss, which was securing there, and the 57th Brigade of Major General Schön split up the Serbian division in a two-day battle near Sasinci and drove them back across the river. 62 officers and 4880 Serbs were taken prisoner. Instrumental in were William Cavallar of grave jump and Josef Lutschounig of Felsenhof .

Battle of the Drina September 7th to October 4th

The Austrian offensive began on September 7th, the Battle of the Drina led to the establishment of safe bridgeheads over the Drina in the area of ​​the 6th Army. In the 5th Army, the 36th Infantry Troop Division under FML Czibulka near Klenje failed to cross the Drina , while to the north of it the 9th Infantry Troop Division under Major General Daniel managed to cross the lower Drina. The Austro-Hungarian VIII Corps built a bridgehead at Parasnica at the confluence of the Sava and Drina rivers, but, being pinned down by the Serbian resistance, was unable to advance. The XV broke through the middle Drina. and XIII. Corps the Serbian front between Zvornik and Ljubovija and pushed back the Serbian 3rd Army under General Jurišić-Šturm. On September 8th, the mountain brigades of the kuk XVI began. Corps of the FZM Wurm on both sides of the Drinjaca mouth crossing the river. The target of the 1st Infantry Troop Division (FML Bogat) was Krupanj , the strategic goal of the 6th Army was to encircle the opposing Serbian 3rd Army from the south and to roll up the entire opposing front in the Macva . The Serbian army leader General Jurišić ordered the withdrawal of his troops to the Jagodnja Mountains and from there was able to contain the further expansion of the Drina bridgehead by the 6th Army. Faced with the new situation, Putnik ordered the withdrawal of the 1st Army from Syrmia and the transfer of several divisions in forced marches to the endangered southern flank. Regrouped towards Valjevo, this army tried the kuk XIII. Corps on the lower Jadar. On September 16, the intervention of the Serbian 1st Army stopped the Austrians near Loznica, the 2nd Army had also counterattacked on the Sava-Drina section.

On September 17th , a Serb counterattack against the 6th Army began near Mount Mačkov, but it failed until September 22nd after several days of fighting over the Jagodnja. Meanwhile, broke from the Sandzak , the Serbian army group Uzice 23 to 28 September at the territory of the Romanija an order directly on Planina in the back of the 6th Army Sarajevo to break through. The Sumadja II division advanced from the Rogatica area to Mrkalje, the Montenegrin Drina Brigade advanced from the Goražde area to Kalinovik. The Srebrenica detachment was thrown back by Major General Andrian's 8th Mountain Brigade at Osmače, while Lieutenant Colonel Chwostek's brigade held out at Vlasenica. The Serbian invasion of southeastern Bosnia could be stopped.

Kuk war organization in October 1914

5th Army : GdI Liborius Ritter von Frank (127.5 battalions, 20 squadrons)

Adolf von Rhemen zu Barensfeld
Wenzel Freiherr von Wurm

Combined Corps, FML Alfred Krauss

VIII Corps, FML Viktor von Scheuchenstuel

  • 9. ITD: Major General Franz Daniel
  • 21st Landsturm Division FML Artur Przyborski
  • Syrmia group: FML Adalbert von Tamasy
  • Banat group: FML Hess

6th Army FZM Oskar Potiorek (160 battalions, 12.5 squadrons)

XIII. Corps, General of the Infantry Adolf von Rhemen zu Barensfeld

XV. Corps, General d. Inf. Michael von Appel

  • 40th ITD: Major General Tabajdi
  • 48th ITD: FML Johann Eisler Ritter v. Eisenhort
  • 1. ITD: FML Stefan Bogat from Kostanjević
  • 7th Mountain Brigade GM Otto Sertić

XVI. Corps, FZM Wenzel von Wurm

  • Combined Division: Major General Heinrich Goiginger with 1st, 2nd, 6th and 14th Mountain Brigade,
  • 109th Landsturm Brigade GM Johann Czeisberger

50th ITD: FML Franz Kalser (3rd, 15th and 16th Mountain Brigade)

  • Drina protection Lukas Snjarić (Hausser group and 17th Mountain Brigade)
  • 18th ITD: FML Ignaz Trollmann (5th, 8th and 13th Mountain Brigade)
  • 4th Mountain Brigade GM Theodor Konopicky

Battle of the Romanja planina October 1914

kuk military map, space between the Drina and the Romanja planina

For a new counter-offensive, Potiorek reinforced the XV that remained on the defensive. Corps again with the 7th and 9th Mountain Brigade (1st Division) and let the XVI. Attack corps. A newly formed combined division (1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th and 14th Mountain Brigade) under Major General Heinrich Goiginger had to hold the Drina bridgehead at Zvornik. To the south of it, the 18th Division (Trollmann) with the 5th, 8th, 13th, 17th and 18th Mountain Brigade had to push back the Serbian division Sumadja II from October 18th. From the west, the 50th Division (FML Kalser ) with the 3rd and 15th Mountain Brigade advanced from the Foča area against the Montenegrin Plevlje Division (13,700 men) on the Romanja planina.

Between October 11th and 17th, floods and downpours forced the Austro-Hungarian 5th Army to take a break from operations. In a telegram to Putnik on October 27th, General Stepanović had announced that the Serbian 2nd Army could no longer withstand the Austro-Hungarian armed forces for much longer. On October 20, the 5th Mountain Brigade (Colonel Nöhring) was engaged in a violent battle with the Serbian Lim Detachment. The 3rd Mountain Brigade (GM Pongracz ) pushed the Montenegrins back over the plateau from the west. On October 21, the second Sumadija division was pushed back to the Kitak-Babljak-Vratar contour line. The Serbian Army Command, dissatisfied with General Miloš Božanović, the commander of the Uszice Army Group, replaced him with General Vukoman Aračić.

The VIII and Combined Corps were meanwhile on the northern section southwest of Šabac and at the foot of Cer planina against the Serbian 1st Army in the Macva . On October 31, the 5th Army was able to reach the Glogovac-Bogatic line and the area northwest of Šabac with almost no fighting. The VIII Corps reached the Šabac-Ljesnica railway line by November 1st. The Combined Corps launched the attack on Stitar with the 14th Brigade and the 104th and 107th Landsturm Brigade. The 57th Brigade of the 29th ITD under Major General Schön occupied Šabac, which had been evacuated by the Serbs, while the 58th Brigade under Major General Poleschensky advanced on Misar. The 21st Rifle Division took Dobrić on November 4th, the 9th ITD crossed the Lipolist-Ribari line. The XIII. Corps threw the Serbian Combined Division back across the Stria, the 36th ITD occupied Loznica by encircling it from the south, and the 42nd HID advanced south of it further east towards Jarebice. In order to strengthen General Stepanović, the Serbian 2nd Army was reinforced with the Danube II Division and the north wing of the 3rd Army, the 2nd Timok Division, was transferred to it.

Third invasion - Serbian retreat

In Potiorek's headquarters in Berlin a false report was made that the Russians were planning to send a strong corps up the Danube via Orsova to reinforce the Serbs. Potiorek was forced to resume the attack against northern and western Serbia immediately. The 5th Army was to act in the north with the Combined Corps Krauss , which had invaded the Macva since October 31 and, taken by Šabac on November 1, together with the 8th Corps against the flank of the Serbs. While the southern wing, the XIII. Corps in close cooperation with the XV. Corps should lead the breakthrough on Valjevo.

Austrian offensive on Valjevo

Serbian troops retreating

The now reunited brigades of the XVI. Korps assigned Potiorek the subsequent outflanking of the Kolubara position taken by the Serbs from the south. The XV. Corps (FML Appel) all three divisions (1st, 40th and 48th) on both sides of Zvornik against the eastern Jagodnja elevations. The south seized XVI. Corps (FZM Wurm) was withdrawn from the Upper Drina to Srebrenica and shifted its attacking troops to Ljubovija on November 5 to try the Drina crossing there.

On November 6, the general attack was initiated with strong artillery fire and the Serbian border was crossed on a broad front. The Division Morava II of the Serbian 1st Army had to give up Krupanj to the Austro-Hungarian combined Goiginger division. Serbian Chief of Staff Putnik stressed that it would be of vital importance for Serbia to hold the Kolubara section as well as the surrounding cities. The Prime Minister of Serbia Nikola Pašić called for further consistent resistance and threatened to resign if peace talks were to begin. General Putnik expected that the enemy’s supply lines would quickly be overwhelmed and pleaded for further resistance. Despite being outnumbered, the Serbian army offered bitter resistance, but was eventually forced to withdraw.

On November 10, Putnik ordered a general withdrawal from Jadar and withdrew the Serbian 2nd Army on the northern section to the second line. The reserves that had become free were sent to the 1st and 3rd Armies, which had to stop the main thrust of the Austro-Hungarian 6th Army north and west of Valjevo. On the southern section, the Užice Army Group had to hold the Drin section on both sides of Rogatica and then go back to the Kremna saddle. On November 11th, the Serbian Army Command withdrew to Kragujevac . The Austro-Hungarian 5th Army forced its advance into the Mačva in the hope of cutting off the railway line between Obrenovac- Valjevo. Rain during the day and blowing snow at night made the streets impassable, the artillery and the supply train sank in the morass. General Putnik realized that his armed forces would have to be reorganized if effective resistance was to be maintained.

On the northern section of the Combined Corps (General Krauss) the kuk 104th Landsturm Brigade had occupied Obrenovac, the 29th Division fought for the crossing over the Tamnava between Piroman and Lisopolje. On November 14th, despite the adverse conditions, the kuk XIII. and XV. Corps the road between Kamenica and Šabac. The Serbian 1st Army withdrew the Morava II division on both sides of the Obnica valley, the Danube I and II divisions on the northern slopes of the Povljen and Bukovska planina. The morale of the Serbs sank, especially the lack of weather clothing and ammunition demoralized the army. The Serbian army had given up most of its equipment in order to hasten the retreat. The mountain brigades of the XVI. Corps struggled so hard in the mud that it had to pass calmly on the Medvednik and the Debelo brdo. On November 15, the kuk XV moved north of it. Corps with the 48th Division in Valjevo, followed by the 1st and 40th Divisions.

Putnik had already withdrawn the Serbian army to the Kolubara for reorganization. The Serbian army had lost 8,000 prisoners, 42 artillery pieces and 31st machine guns in the last nine days of fighting. At that time, the Serbian high command was already considering a withdrawal to the south of the country or a ceasefire, a debate that Putnik prevented. Prime Minister Pašić appealed for help from the Triple Entente . France agreed to deliver ammunition and accessories, while Russia and the United Kingdom only consoled them with "extreme understanding". When the troops of the Austro-Hungarian 5th and 6th Armies reached the Kolubara, the Serbs had already escaped being cut off, but 8,000 prisoners, 42 guns and 31 machine guns remained in the hands of the enemy.

Decision at the Kolubara

Serbian Defense Line

The 5th Army reached the Kolubara between Obrenovac and Lazarevac on November 16 on a broad front and launched an attack on the Serbian defensive positions the following day. The Krauss Corps sent the 29th Division to attack at Konatice, but could not even push the Serbs out of the swampy lowland west of the Lukavica. The 7th Division, which had got its hands on the Kolubara Bridge at Skobalj, advanced its advance guard on the Lukavica on November 17th. The VII Corps, set south of it, did not fully catch up with the Kolubara until that day and was only preparing to break through to Lazarevac. The XIII. Corps had crossed the river with the 36th Division at Slovac and the 42nd Division at Divci and had pushed into the retreating train of the Serbian 3rd Army, which was returning to the Ljig section. At Mionica there were almost hopeless movements with Serbian trains around the crossing of the Ribnica. On November 18, the VIII. Corps with the 21st Rifle Division succeeded in crossing the river and conquering Lazarevac, the 9th Division to the south got stuck on the Serbian resistance in front of Lajkovac. The main goal of the Scheuchenstuel Corps was to break through the defense of the Serbian 2nd Army around Lazarevac, the Serbian 3rd Army was to be thrown back towards Arandjelovac . The 36th Division came into action at Milovac with the Serbian advance guard. The Danube Division II was thrown back at Bacinovac. The Serbian 1st Army tried to gain access to Green. To prevent Milanovac.

On November 19, the war bridge of the 7th Division at Skobalaj was inundated by floods, and the detachment of Major General Letovsky was able to hold onto the corner of the mouth of the Turija. The 21st Rifle Division (Major General Daniel) did not get on near Lazarevac without artillery. In contrast, the batteries of the 9th and 36th Divisions at Zupanjac were able to break the Serbian defense at Vrače Brdo. The supplies for the XV. and XVI. Corps got stuck between Loznica and Zavlaka, and the second route followed the Sabac road via Preadi to Valjevo, but because of the bad weather conditions there was no improvement.

On November 20, there was no combat activity in the Krauss group sector. The XIII. Corps wanted the arrival of the on Green. Toplica previous XV. Wait for the corps. The XV. Corps renewed its attack against the 1st Army on November 21, the Danube II Division, reinforced by the Rogatica Detachment, was thrown back in the direction of the Maljen Mountains. The Serbs only withdrew from this mountain after three days of heavy fighting. On November 22nd, Prince Schwarzenberg's brigade was brought up to the Combined Corps as a reserve via the Save near Skela.

Meanwhile, from the Visegrad area , the Snjarić group with the 17th Mountain Brigade was supposed to advance to Uzice and join forces with the 4th Mountain Brigade. The Austro-Hungarian troops made further land gains on November 25th, they pushed the Serbs out of Čovka. On November 27th, the VIII. And XIII. Corps the line Vis-Glavica-Volujak. The troops of the XV. Corps in the Maljen Mountains, they operated against Čačak and Gornji Milanovac. The 4th Mountain Brigade under FML Konopicky stood before Užice. The terrain became more and more difficult for the Austro-Hungarian troops, the tired soldiers were exhausted. The Austro-Hungarian 57th Division advanced from the Drina over the Rogatica to the Lim River, at Čačak the Snajaric group was supposed to encircle the Serbian units. On November 30th, the Serb 3rd Army (Jurišić) withdrew to Arandjelovac .

Serbian position in front of Belgrade

General Putnik ordered the 2nd Army to retreat to Kragujevac . Belgrade was evacuated on November 29th and 30th. On December 2, 1914, the sixty-sixth anniversary of the throne of Franz Joseph , Potiorek telegraphed the emperor to the capture of the city and fortress of Belgrade. The Austro-Hungarian High Command was now counting on a certain victory. However, the Austro-Hungarian troops were exhausted and the supply situation deteriorated noticeably, while the Serbs received the French ammunition supplies needed for the counter-offensive just in time over the Kragujevac-Saloniki railway line.

Serbian counter-offensive in the Battle of Arandjelovac

Živojin Mišić

General Mišić, who had taken command of the 1st Army for the wounded Bojanovic since mid-November, concentrated the bulk of the Serbian troops neglecting the northern front and began a counter-offensive against the Austro-Hungarian 6th Army on December 3rd, which continued until Lasted December 9th. Even the old Serbian King Peter I insisted on accompanying his troops to the front. The Serbian offensive hit the exhausted Austro-Hungarian troops completely by surprise, on December 3rd a military parade was held in Belgrade.

The main thrust of the Serbian 1st and 3rd Armies came from the vicinity of the Rudnik Mountains and from the Arandjelovac area in the direction of the Kolubara. The divisions Sumadija I and Timok I advanced against Lazarevac in order to throw the enemy back over the Kolubara. The divisions Morava I, Drina I and the combined division descended from the western slopes of the Rudnik Mountains and attacked the Golubac Heights in order to advance the road from Grn through the Stavica valley. Milanovac to reach Moravci. The Timok II and Morava II divisions broke from Green. Milanovac advanced against Brezna and Banjani and pushed the Austrians back over the Suvobor ridge. The Uzice army group was deployed between Čačak and Požega, advanced northwards south of the Maljen Mountains and pushed the Austrian advance troops out of the Morava valley.

The Austro-Hungarian 6th Army was attacked simultaneously from the east and south and had to fight its way back to Valjevo on the left wing over the Kolubara and the Ljig, in the center and on the right wing over the peaks of the Prostruga, the Gojnagora and the Maljen Mountains. On either side of the Arangjelovac - Lazarevac road, two Serbian divisions attacked the front of the XIII. Corps, from Rudnik another division pushed against the kuk XV. Corps and one and a half divisions from Čačak against the 18th division. The incurred XIII. Corps was able to defend itself against all attacks longer. As a result of the collapse of the XVI. Corps, the XV. Corps to withdraw from Golubac to Moravci to Ljig by the evening of December 5th.

On December 6th, the Austro-Hungarian troops were thrown back behind the Kolubara, and the 18th division, threatened by being cut off, withdrew in difficult mountain marches over Kosjeriči to Valjevo. The 4th Mountain Brigade under Major General Konopicky went back west to Rogatica. The Combined Corps of General Krauss meanwhile worked its way up to 6 December against the heights north of Vlašca and Kosmaj in the north.

The Serbian army had completely broken through the opposing front in its center and on the right flank. The kuk XV. Corps took up a defensive position on the 7th at the Kolubara, and further south at Slovac up to the Lig. General von Appel held out the whole day, using the last of his reserves, and did not change banks until after dark. On the afternoon of December 8th, the Serbs invaded Valjevo again. The XIII. Corps had to give up Lazarevac and withdrew across the river. By December 8th, the 18th division (Trollmann) had also returned to the southwestern apron of Valjevo. The Bulgarian ambassador in Niš was informed by the Serbian government that in the last four days the Serbian troops had captured an Austro-Hungarian general, 49 officers and more than 20,000 soldiers, as well as 40 cannons and huge amounts of war material .

On December 8th, in the section of the Krauss group, the 7th Division stormed Mount Kosmaj to relieve the pressure; the attack against the heights at Vlaška, however, did not get through. On December 11th, the Serbian Corps Group Zifkowic pushed the rearguard of the 5th Army back into Belgrade. The Drina I division reached Konatice in battle with the 29th Rifle Division. The refluxing Austro-Hungarian troops withdrew at Šabac over the war bridge to the northern bank of the Sava. On December 12, the 21st Rifle Division fought rearguard battles with the pursuing division Sumadija I. The Drina II division pursued Borok, the Serbian Combined Division took Konatice through a flank maneuver. This exposed the northern flank of the Imperial and Royal 9th ​​Division and forced them to retreat to Progon. A counterattack by the XIII. Corps with the 42nd Honved Division (FML Salis-Seewis ) in the direction of the 36th Division near Marica closed an open gap to the Combined Corps. The Serbian divisions Morava I and Timok I advanced north in the space between Gradac and the heights east of the Lipa. The beleaguered 21st Rifle Division was relieved during their retreat by a counter-attack by the 71st Brigade (7th Division). The XIII. Corps tried again to offer resistance on the Ostruznica-Srecica line. The Timok I division overran the Avalahöhe and forced the 29th division to retreat to the Ekmekluk.

On December 13th, Potiorek was informed by General Frank that it would be impossible to hold Belgrade. On December 14th, the withdrawal order for the VIII. Corps was given through the city to the north. The attack by the pursuing Serbian Combined Division pushed the 42nd Honved Division down from the Bassovo brdo ridge. The Drina II division pursued the 36th division through the Topciderska valley . The attack by Division Sumadija I against the south wing of the Belgrade Front and against the heights of Kumodraz collapsed in the crossfire of the Austro-Hungarian troops. The troops under General Michailo Zifkovic storm the Ekmekluk and Erino brdo. On December 16, Belgrade fell into the hands of the Serbs again, and Macva was completely liberated from Austrian troops.

Balance sheet and consequences

After the severe defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Balkan forces, Potiorek was relieved of his command on December 27th, and General Frank also had to relinquish high command of the 5th Army. Army High Command 6 was disbanded at all and only reorganized in northern Italy at the end of 1917. Tersztyánszky became the new commandant on the Serbian front, Archduke Eugen took over command of the Southwest Front, and General Stephan Sarkotić became the new military governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina . The Austrian army was severely weakened by the five months of fighting, and the additional outbreak of a typhus epidemic cost further victims. The commander of the XV. Corps, General of the Infantry, Michael Appel and several thousand civilians fell victim to the epidemic.

During the entire campaign, Austria-Hungary had suffered 226,600 casualties from a total of 462,000 soldiers deployed: including 28,000 dead, 122,100 wounded and sick, plus 76,500 prisoners. 200 officers were captured, more than 130 cannons, 70 machine guns and a large amount of war material were lost.

The Serbs also suffered heavy losses: 2,110 officers and 131,000 soldiers, including 22,000 dead, 91,000 wounded and over 19,000 prisoners. The Western press was appalled by the extent of the atrocities committed by the Austro-Hungarian troops against the Serbian civilian population. William Shepard, from the United Press, confirms as an eyewitness that at least 18 small towns had to be abandoned because the war events had almost depopulated the entire northwest of Serbia.

Despite the victories, the Serbian army was exhausted and the heavy losses of the 1914 campaign explained the rapid collapse in the following year. The entire southern front between the two opponents froze into position warfare until the end of September 1915 , and the Central Powers' Serbian campaign was then successfully concluded in 1915/16.

literature

  • Rudolf Jerabek: Potiorek - General in the shadow of Sarajewo , Verlag Styria, Graz 1991.
  • Hermann Stegemann: History of the World War. Volume I. Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Stuttgart 1917.
  • Austria-Hungary's last war . Volume I. The war year 1914. Editor: Edmund Glaise-Horstenau Verlag der Militärwissenschaftlichen Mitteilungen, Vienna 1930.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Austria-Hungary's Last War, Volume I, Vienna 1930, p. 65.
  2. ↑ Austria-Hungary's Last War, Volume I, Vienna 1930, pp. 120–145.
  3. ↑ Austria-Hungary's Last War, Volume I, Vienna 1930, pp. 603–640.
  4. ↑ Austria-Hungary's Last War, Volume I, p. 659.
  5. ↑ Austria-Hungary's Last War, Volume I, Vienna 1930, pp. 640–654.
  6. ↑ Austria-Hungary's Last War, Volume I, p. 679.
  7. ^ Rudolf Jerabek: Potiorek, Styria, Graz 1991, p. 169.
  8. ↑ Austria-Hungary's Last War Volume I, p. 681 f.
  9. ↑ Austria-Hungary's Last War, Volume I, Vienna 1930, pp. 679–712.
  10. ↑ Austria-Hungary's Last War, Volume I, Vienna 1930, pp. 713–758.
  11. ^ Anton Wagner: The First World War, Vienna 1981, p. 79.