Battle of Cer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article does not cite any references or sources. (March 2008)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.
The neutrality of this article is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the talk page.(March 2008)
Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.
Battle of Cer
Part of the Serbian Campaign of the Balkans Theatre (World War I)
Date August 16 to August 19, 1914
Location Near Cer
Result Serbian Victory
Belligerents
Flag of Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary Flag of Serbia Serbia
Commanders
Oskar Potiorek
Liborius Ritter von Frank		 Stepa Stepanović
Pavle Jurišić Šturm
Strength
200,000 180,000
Casualties and losses
18,500 killed or wounded
4,500 captured		 4,785 killed or missing
11,215 wounded

The Battle of Cer also known as Battle of Jadar (main operations were held near the estuary of the Jadar river). 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 and faith in the competence of the Serbian Army was vastly improved. 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). Serbian troops were under the command of General Stepa Stepanović.

Contents

[edit] Battle summary

First Attack on Serbia, August 1914
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. Serbian Staff 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.

Serbian Second Army was, due to its position in the center of the northwestern cordon formation, was the strongest of the three armies, not in term of numbers (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 in terms of quality of its divisions. It consisted only of the divisions of the first call (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 organisational structure was applied by Field Marshal Putnik not just to have a strong center, but also, because of 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. Thus, when all doubts about the direction of the Austro-Hungarian invasion were cleared, 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 (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 won the victory, pushed the Austro-Hungarian Army back across the Drina, and completely thwarted their war plan.

[edit] Outcome

Around 18,500 Austro-Hungarian officers and soldiers were killed or wounded and around 4,500 were captured. The Serbian Army lost around 16,000 and 250 officers. As a result of the battle Austria-Hungary withdrew from Sandzak, delaying their offensive into Serbia. Austria-Hungary continued offensives into Serbia for the rest of the autumn of 1914 without much success. Cer also gave the Entente their first victory of the war against the Central Powers.

[edit] Discussion

Another thing of great importance during Cer battle was Putnik's unwillingness to conduct aggressive offensive maneuvers (this was also the case in the First Balkan War) due to his fear of unnecessary risk which could lead to higher casualties in already undermanned Serbian army. An evident example was his overruling of General Stepanović's proposal on the eve of the third day of the battle. Stepanović sensed that Austro-Hungarian forces on Cer an Everk were beginning to crumble, so he suggested a bold maneuver in which his Kombinovana and Moravska divisions would conduct a forced frontal pursuit of opposing troops on Cer and Everk ridges, whilst the Cavalry and Timočka (this division was hardly used during the entire course of the battle, to significant dissadvantage regarding the outcome) divisions would conduct a parallel pursuit on the northern slope of Cer towards Lešnica, with orders to attack both the enemy's flanks and to reach the pontoon bridges on Drina river and therefore cut the Fifth Army's main line of retreat. If this maneuver had been conducted, the possibility for a more catastrophic defeat of the for Austro-Hungarian arms was significant. Yet, Putnik ordered Stepa to pursuit enemy force frontally and not to conduct any sort of flanking attack, which would, in itself, cause far larger casualties upon the retreating enemy. The Third Army's loss of contact with the enemy on the third day of the battle also helped the Austro-Hungarian Fifth Army to withdraw in a more orderly fashion. Considering this, it is probable that the invading force could have suffered a far costlier defeat had Putnik allowed more independence to his field commanders instead of his attempt to micromanage operations. A reason for this may lie in his early command experiences in the wars with Turkey and Bulgaria, where some exceedingly ambitious plans led to disasters in field.

[edit] Legacy

Historical artifacts can be found in a museum located in the town of Šabac.

[edit] References