War in the Balkans: Historical Backgroud Top: Exhausted Austrians resting during the invasion; they were generally not as physically fit as their opponents Middle: Yet another unpleasant surprise for the Austrians: Serb heavy artillery Bottom: Serbs on the march: these tough peasant soldiers proved more than a match for the better equipped Austrians. As most know the First World War started after the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo by ethnic Bosnia Serb nationalist Gavrillo Princep. The strong Serb ethnic population had long held that Bosnia should be a part of the Kingdom of Serbia - a view not shared by the more numerous Muslim and Croat Bosnians. As we saw in Dean Bedlington’s previous article on the Balkans, there was a long and complex history of rivalry and conflict of an ethnic, religious and political nature. In the shifting quagmire of Balkan politics, belligerent (from an Austrian perspective) and victorious Serbia posed a considerable threat to the fragile Balkan status quo and in particular to the western frontier of the vast Austro-Hungarian Empire. Seeing the results of two previous Balkan wars since the turn of the century, they had prepared a large and well-equipped ‘Army of the Balkans’ for offensive operations against Serbia in the event of war. The Austrian Kaiserliche und Königliche (Imperial & Royal) High Command optimistically estimated it would take the Austrian army about 10 days to overrun Serbia. As the war broke out across Europe, attention focussed on the main areas of operation in Belgium and northern France in western Europe, East Prussia and Galacia (the latter now in present day Poland) in the east. The rapidly developing and inevitable conflict between Austria and Serbia in the Balkans was largely ignored. THE FORCES INVOLVED On paper, given the relative size of Serbia and the Austrian Empire in population, resources and army strengths, it would at first appeared to be very much a of contest between a David and a Goliath. In fact the reality of the situation in the Balkans was quite different and least initially the two opposing sides were fairly evenly matched in terms of military strength. The Austrian’s ‘Balkan Army’ consisted of the 2 , 5 and 6 Armies totalling well over 300,000 men and approximately 1000 guns. Events in eastern Europe and the Russian offensive in Galacia in particular resulted in the Austrians having to switch nearly 100,000 of their best troops, mainly from the 2 Army, to Galacia in the opening week of the war. As a result, for the invasion of Serbia the Austrians had available about 250,000 men and 700 guns. Facing them were the Serb 1 , 2 , 3 and ‘Užice’ Armies totalling about 180,000 first-line troops supported by about 400 guns. Full mobilisation would eventually expand this number to some 450,000 men, reinforced by another 40-45,000 tough but ill-equipped riflemen from the mountain kingdom of Montenegro, the Serb’s traditional (and in this case only) Balkan ally. Although an impressive number of men (especially considering Serbia’s total population of about 3 million), they suffered quite badly from equipment and uniform shortages - some 50,000 actually had no rifles! Although most of their artillery was of a small calibre, after the second Balkan War the Serbs purchased some heavy long-range guns from the French. At this time these weapons were state-of-the-art technology that easily matched the Austrian’s famous Skoda manufactured heavy guns, more importantly, Austrian military intelligence had no idea the Serbs possessed such hitting power - it proved to be a very unpleasant surprise to them right from the start of their offensive. Austrian military intelligence on the Serb’s fighting abilities and capability of fielding such a large army themselves proved to be woefully inadequate. The Balkan Army was commanded by General Oskar Potiorek (who’d actually been the governor of Bosnia when Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated) and it was his over-confident prediction that the Austrians would overrun Serbia in about 10 days. The Oberkommando in Vienna and in particular the Austrian Chief of Staff, General Conrad von Hötzendorff were not so sure and warned Potiorek not to get himself into trouble - no doubt Hötzendorff was heeding the German’s advice about the coming Russian offensive in Galacia. For quite understandable personal reasons Potiorek had the full support of the Emperor to teach the Serbs a lesson and avenge the Archduke’s death. In this sense Potiorek went over the heads of his own commanders when he fully committed the Austrian Balkan Army to a massive offensive. The Austrians had some crack mountain troops in the 5 Army but most of the good quality troops who had been with the 2 Army on the other side of the Danube had been transferred to Galacia at the outbreak of war. The vast majority of Austrian troops were conscripts, albeit reasonably well trained and disciplined. This was to prove a considerable disadvantage to the Austrian’s fighting capabilities as although disciplined they were no match physically against their fit and battle-hardened Serb opponents. The Serbs also fully mobilised their army and concentrated their forces far more rapidly than the Austrians thought possible. The Serb army accomplished this in the remarkably short time of 11 days from the outbreak of war. The 2nd was the first Austrian army to begin offensive operations that didn’t start until nearly two weeks after war was declared. Although outnumbered, the Serbs had a tremendous advantage in morale and experience. A high percentage of the Serbs were battle-hardened after two victorious wars against the Bulgarians an d numerous conflicts with the Turks, they also had great faith in their leaders and revered their commander Vojvode (Field Marshal) Radomir Putnik who had a proven record as a strategist par excellance. In addition to this they were also highly motivated, fighting in defence of their homeland against yet another invading army - just the latest in a bloody history riddled with wars fought against foreign invaders. THE INVASION BEGINS Serbia shared two river frontiers with the Austrian Empire. The western side formed by the Drina River and the eastern side along the Danube and the Sava. The Serb capital Belgrade was vulnerably located within artillery range from Austrian territory on the northern side of the Danube. The northern frontier was more suited to military operations being rich undulating farmland, densely cultivated with fruit trees and maize fields. The only disadvantage to troop movement was that the ground was boggy in places and the roads turned into muddy quagmires in the wet. Autumn rains were to play a significant factor in slowing down troop movements on both sides. Along the western border the Drina was swift and difficult to cross with mountainous territory either side. Large-scale troop movements were confined to the only two major roads in the region running up the Jadar and Lešnica river valleys. First blood in the campaign went to the Serbs who subjected the Austrians staging areas to accurate and heavy bombardment with their long-range heavy artillery. This artillery fire, which caught the Austrians totally by surprise, completely disrupted Austrian troop concentrations close to their jump-off points and forced them to reorganise the initial attacks for which the Serbs were now of course ready and waiting. With a large ethnic population in the neighbouring Austrian province of Bosnia, the Serbs had a constant and accurate flow of information on Austrian troop movements and preparations. At Sabac, after heavy shelling at 0315 hours on the 12 August, the 44th Infantry Regiment crossed the Sava river and took the town. At noon the Serbs counter-attacked with two battalions of the 6th Regiment and two cavalry squadrons. They failed to dislodge the Austrians from the town but temporarily at least stemmed their advance. The Austrian Fifth Army, after systematic artillery preparation launched its offensive across the lower Drina River. Ferocious Serb defence saw that out of the two attacking Corps (VIII & XIII) only the Hungarian 42nd Division managed to take and hold their objective on the other side of the Drina. The Serbs, although outnumbered, used their veterans to good affect and were reinforced by Comitadji or militia units who conducted hit & run attacks on the Austrians. The Austrian attack bogged down on the first day and the Serb command used the time to move the Serbian First & Second Armies to the northwest front to stop the advance of the Austrian 5 Army. The Austrian’s 2nd and 6th Armies did not advance at all, but demonstrated on the other side of the river frontiers with the intent of drawing and pinning the Serbs. They were not fooled. In fact the Austrian commander rightly feared that an advance by the Serb Uzice Army toward Sarajevo would incite an insurrection amongst the Bosnian Serbs, as a result the entire 6th Army was pinned down in a defensive position opposite to prevent this occurring. On the 13th the Austrians virtually lost another day to muddled command. The 2nd Army holding Sabac and Mitrovica instead of advancing, waited until the 5th Army had taken up its positions. On the 14th it was the Serbs who went on the attack with a reinforced division assaulting the Sabac salient (without success) all day. The Austrian 5th Army started to make some headway with ferocious fighting and heavy losses on both sides. To the south the VIII Corps (25,000 men, 96 guns) drove back the Lesnica detachment (1,500 men, 500 Comitadji and 2 guns), also taking the Vojvode Putnik, Serbian CinC strategically important Cer ridge although the thick mud in the valley prevented them bringing the guns up with their advance. Caught between the Austrian 5th and 2nd Armies, the Serb 3rd Army was now under considerable pressure and heavily outnumbered. Putnik evaluated the Serb position on the 15th August thus: ‘The Austro-Hungarian main attacking force is the Fifth Army on a front along the lower Drina; the direction of its principal attack is the line Lesnica-Valjevo. Elements of their Second Army at Sabac are simultaneously attacking from the south as an auxiliary force. The main force of the Second Army is still concentrating on demonstrative actions on the rest of the front. According to information received from Serbian Military Intelligence, the Second Army is soon to be sent to the Russian Front. Potiorek’s Sixth Army is on the defensive.’ The Serb commander decided that the time had come to wrest the initiative from the Austrians. To do so he had to prevent the Second and Fifth armies from linking up while at the same time attack the vulnerable Fifth Army. BATTLE OF THE CER The attack was to go along the Cer ridge to the south of Lesnica where the Austrians were advancing. The Serb 3rd Army was given the task of holding the Austrian advance up the Jadar Valley while two Serb divisions would attack the Austrian flank in coordination with the 1st Sumadja Division still holding on south of Sabac. The Cavalry Division was to secure the Second Army’s flank on the northern side between the Sava and Drina rivers while the 1st Combined Division was to advance along the Cer ridge and up the Lesnica valley into the Fifth Army’s left flank. This attack was to be reinforced by the 1st Morava Division up the Sabac road via Iverak Mountain and thence attacking the Austrians in the Jadar valley. With both sides advancing in mountainous terrain, the scene was set for the first major encounter of the war in the Balkans theatre in what became known as the Battle of the Cer. By the 15th August the Austrian Fifth Army had settled into positions on the Cer ridge with the Serbian 2nd Army approached from the opposite side and neither side aware of the other’s exact position. Having only encountered battalion sized formations so far in their advance, the Austrians were completely unprepared for the Serb’s divisional-sized attack that pushed in their outposts and threatened to overrun their main position in the early hours of the 16th August. Likewise the Serbs thought they were encountering only isolated advance units and did not expect to come up against the main Austrian force so far up the ridge. The Austrian advance had by this time gathered some momentum - the 42nd Honved (Hungarian) Division had even reached Krupanj, nearly 20 kilometers southeast of Lesnica. With the Austrian IX Corps of the 2nd Army pushing from the north across the Sava, the Serb Third Army was now in real danger of becoming encircled. THE TIDE IS TURNED Furthest of the Austrian units on the ridge of the Cer was the 21st Division. First contact with advancing Serb units was 2300 hours - by midnight a full-scale battle had erupted. The battle surged back and forth with heavy losses on both sides. The Serbs used innovative tactics that foreshadowed that of the German Stösstruppen on the Western Front in 1918. Serb Bonbashee were small grenade armed platoon sections that literally bombed the Austrians out of their positions. The effect it had on the Austrians was devastating; soldiers that had fought tenaciously for hours repelling wave after wave of attacking Serbs were completely demoralizedbythistactic andfledinpanic. On the 16th the Serb cavalry succeeded in driving the Austrians off the northern slopes of the Cer thus preventing them linking up with the 2nd Army at Sabac. By the 17th the Serbs themselves were assaulting Sabac and the Honved 42nd Mountain Division was driven back from Valjevo, the furthest extent of the Austrian advance and some 40 kms south of Sabac. On the 18th the Austrian 5th Army launched a series of heavy attacks all along the lineinorderto linkupwiththeir forcesontheCer whoatthattime were under intense pressure from the Serb 2nd Army which was attacking themonthreesides. The Serbs not only kept the two armies apart (Austrian 2nd & 5th Armies) but threw back the Austrian offensive with heavy losses. By the 19th of August the battle of the Cer turned in decisive favour of the Serbs who pursued the retreating Austrians back over the Drina River. On the 20-21st of August the entire Austrian 5th Army had been driven back into Bosnia. Fighting continued at the Sabac salient for several more days, the Austrians eventually relinquishing control on the 24th of August. Austrian losses in this series of battles that collectively became known as the Battle of the Cer were about 7,000 dead, 30,000 wounded and over 4,000 captured. A huge amount of material was also taken by the Serbs: some 46 guns, 30 machine guns, 140 ammunition wagons plus a mass of rifles, stores and transport including several field hospitals and an engineer’s train. Serb losses in the hard fought clashes were about 3,000 dead and 15,000 wounded but they can rightly claim to have won the first Allied victory against the Central Powers in the First World War. War for Serbia The war for the Serbs was one of the most bitter in their long history of conflict. The Austrians launched a second then third invasion of Serbia but by the end of November more than 200,000 out of their force of about 300,000 were killed, wounded or missing and General Potiorek was relieved of command due to “ill-health”. After these amazing victories the tide turned decisively against the Serbs by the end of 1915. They were overwhelmed in the north and the west by Austrians reinforced by a German army and also by Bulgaria who had joined the Central Powers. Assailed on all sides the Serbs, led by their frail and elderly King Peter, retreated to the Adriatic coast from Ipek, near Kosovo Polje (the scene of a catastrophic defeat at the hands of the Turks in the 14th century that the Serbs considered to be the birthplace of their nation) through present day Kosovo and across the Albanian mountains. Almost the entire Serbian ‘nation’ was on the move, as many as 2 million people. As well as the remaining Serb army of less than 250,000 men were some 20,000 or more Austrian prisoners of war who also had to be fed. Sickness, disease and starvation took its toll in the trackless mountains and they died by the hundreds and thousands. Adding to their misery they were harassed every step of the way by vengeful Albanian tribesmen. The official Serb military losses in this epic retreat are put at 120,000 or half their remaining army. Civilian losses are not known but were even more catastrophic, it is thought that as many as half a million may have perished. The British navy evacuated the army to Corfu where it was re-equipped by the French; within six months 100,000 Serbs joined the Allied army in Salonkia. In WWI military losses alone were at least 300,000 - given that the population of Serbia in 1914 was about 3 million, this would mean that the Serbs suffered the highest proportion of losses of any of the combatant nations in the First World War. MAP: THE FIRST AUSTRIAN INVASION OF SERBIA: AUGUST, 1914 Back to Table of Contents -- Kriegspieler #9 To Kriegspieler List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by Kriegspieler Publications. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com