The
Battle of Cer also known as
Battle of Jadar (main operations were held near the river basin of the
Jadar river in
Serbia) was one of the first battles of
World War I, it also marked the
first Allied victory in the war. The battle was fought between the
Austro-Hungarian Army and
Serbian forces. Results improved Serbian standing in the
Alliance.
Austro-Hungarian troops fought under the command of General
Oskar Potiorek and
Liborius Ritter von Frank. Von Frank was in direct command of Austro-Hungarian forces at Cer (5th Army). Most of the Serbian troops were under the command of General
Stepa Stepanović.
Contents
[
hide]
[edit] Battle summary
First Attack on Serbia, August 1914
[edit] Austrian push
In the opening stages of the First World War, the Austro-Hungarian Army Group Balkans, under the command of General Oskar Potiorek, pushed into northwestern Serbia across
Sava and
Drina rivers.
Šabac fell. Following the expansion of bridgeheads, most elements of 2nd and 5th army successfully crossed into Serbia by
12 August. Potiorek's own 6th army was still concentrating further south and was in no position to begin large operation at this time, so the brunt of the fighting in following days was on the 5th Army. According to Potjorek's plan, it was to attack in the general direction of Valjevo immediately after the crossing and take the city in five days.
[edit] Serbian response
Reports of the Austrian incursion reached the Serbian staff during the day. It was clear that a major operation had begun, but Field Marshal Putnik still had not completely abandoned his view that main Austrian thrust will come from the north, concentrated on the
Morava river valley. It took some time until his assistants, general Mišić, and head of Operations, colonel Živko Pavlović convinced him to take decisive action.
Along with the direct military pressure of Austria-Hungary, Serbia was pressed to take an offensive stance by its Allies, at the time waging difficult battles in northwestern Europe. The Serbian Staff had replied that its units are already on the offensive against the Austrian bridgeheads. The Serbian Second Army, under the command of General Stepanović advanced towards
Cer, the Šumadija Division towards Šabac and the Cavalry Division towards
Mačva. On the left flank, the Third Army, under the command of General
Pavle Jurišić Šturm, entered the battle. Then the 3rd launched a massive offensive push through the Austrian lines crushing the bulk of them
The Serbian Second Army was, due to its position in the center of the northwestern cordon formation, the strongest of the three armies, not in term of numbers (the largest was the First Army, which was assigned to protect the entrance to the Morava river valley. This being the best possible approach to
Serbia due to the lack of natural defenses, unlike the mountainous northeast and northwest) but of the quality of its divisions. It consisted only of the divisions of the first call up (prvi poziv), of soldiers in their 20's and with best training and matériel available. These were the Šumadijska, Moravska, Dunavska (which, being responsible for defence of Belgrade, had additional regiments attached) and Kombinovana (combined) divisions. This organizational structure was chosen by
Field Marshal Putnik not just to have a strong center, but also, due to their central position, the Second Army's divisions could at any time be attached to either First or Third army if the strategic development dictated such an action. Hence, when there was no longer any doubt about the direction of the Austro-Hungarian invasion, the Serbian cordon conducted a regrouping (movement of app. 90 degrees counterclockwise) of all of its armies and Second Army faced von Franck's Fifth Army (the only Austro-Hungarian field army which had crossed into Serbia in full strength) at Cer and Jadar valley.
[edit] Battle
During August 1914 a battle was waged in the area of
Mt. Cer, in which around 200,000 Austro-Hungarians fought against 180,000 Serbs. The main battle at Cer lasted from
August 16 to
August 19. The Serbian Army was victorious, pushed the Austro-Hungarian Army back across the Drina, and completely thwarted their war plan.
Battle of Cer
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by clandestino
