Battle of Kolubara

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Kolubara


caption=Serbian soldiers are crossing Kolubara river during the battle
partof=Serbian Campaign (World War I)
date=November 16 to December 15, 1914
place=Around Kolubara,
Ljig river,
Mount Suvobor,
Mount Maljen
result=Decisive Serbian victory
combatant1=flag|Austria-Hungary
combatant2=flagicon|Serbia|1882 Serbia
commander1=Oskar Potiorek
commander2=Radomir Putnik
Živojin Mišić
strength1=280,000
strength2=250,000
casualties1=273,000
casualties2=132,000The Battle of Kolubara was a major battle in Balkans during World War I. It was fought between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. The Serbian army won the battle.

Austrian advance

After the Battle of Cer, the Serbian army retreated to the right bank of the Kolubara river. The Serbian Army had 250,000 poorly equipped soldierscite book
title=Srbi u Prvom svetkom ratu, 1914-1918
author=Nikola B Popović
language=Serbian
location=Beograd
publisher=DMP
year=1998
edition=1. izd
oclc=43261088 ] and the Austro-Hungarians had a well-equipped force of 280,000 men.Fact|date=July 2008 On 16 November 1914, the Austro-Hungarian Balkan Army group (5th and 6th Army), commanded by Field Marshal Oskar Potiorek, launched an attack across the river. Potiorek's goalFact|date=July 2008 was to gain control over the railroad that led from Obrenovac to Valjevo and to use it for supplying his troops instead of using muddy roads in Mačva. The 5th Army, which held the northern part of the front, captured the town of Lazarevac which was held by the Serbian 2nd Army. In the south, the 15th and 16th Corps of the 6th Army attacked the 1st Serbian Army, captured Mount Maljen on 24 November, and put the Serbian left wing in a difficult situation. On 25 November, the Austro-Hungarian 5th Army pushed back the 2nd and 3rd Army, crossed the Ljig river and flanked the 1st Army.

Because the Serbian First Army was in difficult situation, its general, Živojin Mišić, wanted to abandon his current positions and retreat to a new position in front of the town of Gornji Milanovac. His plan was to delay combat, rest his troops, and then launch a counteroffensive. Putnik did not approve of the plan. He warned Mišić that in that case other armies would also have to retreat, and Belgrade would have to be abandoned. Mišić told Putnik that the orders had already been given, and that he would not change them while he was in command.Fact|date=July 2008 In the end, Putnik accepted the plan.

When Belgrade was abandoned, Potiorek made a new plan. He wantedFact|date=July 2008 to amass the entire 5th Army in the Belgrade region to annihilate the 2nd army, which was on the right wing of the Serbian front. The 5th Army would then turn to the south, get behind the Serbs, and force them to capitulate. Potiorek underestimated the offensive capabilities of Mišić's 1st Army in the south. He thought that they were too tired and weakened to do more than hold while his forces were maneuvering.

The Austro-Hungarian soldiers were very tired even before this maneuver began. While they were marching, Serbian troops were resting in their new positions. On the 2 December, Mišić finished all preparations for an attack. Putnik ordered the attack of the entire Serbian army on 3 December. That was an ideal moment, because the largest Austro-Hungarian formation, the Combined Corps, was by then out of combat, marching north.

erbian counterattack

On the 3 December, the 1st Army launched an attack against the surprised 16th Corps. The attack was supported by the Užice army from the left wing. 16th Corps suffered heavy casualties and was pushed back. On the 4 December, 17th Corps tried to hold the advance of the 1st Army, but failed. Potiorek ordered an attack of the 5th Army so that he could complete his operation before the 6th army is defeated. However, the Combined Corps was still on its march.

On the 5 December, the 1st Serbian Army captured Mount Suvoborcoord|44|07|09|N|20|11|07|E|name=Suvobor, the main defensive position of the 6th Austrian Army. Meanwhile, the 3rd Serbian army had failed to push the 15th Corps off of Mount Rudnik, and Užice army suffered heavy casualties. However, these formations pressured the Austro-Hungarian forces and helped the 1st Serbian Army to achieve a breakthrough. In the evening, the Combined Corps arrived at its new position with very tired soldiers.

On 6 December, Potiorek ordered the retreat of the 6th Army on the left bank of the Kolubara. Combined Corps finally attacked the 2nd Army, but the attack was easily stopped. The Combined Corps on the 8 December launched a major attack, but the 2nd Serbian Army managed to hold its position. Other units of the 5th Army under General Ritter von Frank [http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/commands.htm] were more successful, but it was too late. The 1st Serbian Army had captured Valjevo and was pushing north. Vojvoda Putnik reinforced the 2nd Serbian Army with fresh troops and ordered an attack before the Austro-Hungarians could fortify their positions. On 12 December, Stepanović's 2nd Serbian Army attacked and defeated the 8th Corps. The 5th Army had to leave Belgrade and cross the Sava River on 15 December. The battle was over.

The Serbian Army captured 43,000 enemy soldiers, and the number of Austro-Hungarian casualties was even greater. Mišić was promoted to Vojvoda, while Potiorek was retired, replaced by Archduke Eugen of Austria who was placed both in command of the 5th army and as commander in chief of the Balkan army group from December 1914. [http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/fm.htm]

In 1914 the Austro-Hungarian Balkan Army Group lost around 227,000 men (out of a total of 450,000 engaged in the battles), while the Serbian army lost around 170,000 men (nearly its entire pre-war strength).

Results

Austria had taken massive losses and yet failed to conquer or defeat Serbia. Meanwhile it was under intense pressure from the powerful Russian army on its eastern frontier. Since Serbia did not really pose a threat to Austria, for the next 10 months the Austrians did nothing against Serbia and most of the forces in the area were transferred to the Italian front.

On the other hand, although victorious, Serbian losses were even larger as a percentage of their army strength. Coupled with a terrible typhus epidemic that raged through the countryside during the winter, Serbia was content to stay on the defensive in 1915 and hope for increased Allied support. Sadly for Serbia, this support was to come too little and too late.

References

Further reading

*cite web
author=Rickard, J.
date=2001-03-04
title=Battle of Kolubra, 3-9 December 1914
url=http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_kolubra.html
accessdate=2008-07-16
*cite book
title=The First World War
author=John Keegan
pages=512
publisher=Pimlico
year=1999
* [http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?query=Kolubara&srchst=p New York Times archives]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9E04E1D9133EE733A05755C0A9649D946596D6CF New York Times] 6 December 1914
* [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9D04EEDF1438E633A2575BC0A9649D946596D6CF&oref=slogin New York Times] 8 December 1914
*cite book
title=The Eastern Front 1914-1917
author=Norman Stone
url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=Fw7Owo0USCwC&pg=PA57&dq=Kolubra&sig=ACfU3U1xeC9bVWXWEzKPNnZG7WzHfxWESw
publisher=Penguin
year=1998
page=57
*cite book
title=Who's who in Military History: From 1453 to the Present Day
author=John Keegan, Andrew Wheatcroft
isbn=041512722X
publisher=Routledge
year=1996
pages=146
url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=Fw7Owo0USCwC&pg=PA57&dq=Kolubra&sig=ACfU3U1xeC9bVWXWEzKPNnZG7WzHfxWESw
*cite book
title=Fighting The Great War: A Global History
author=Michael S. Neiberg
pages=57-59
year=2005
publisher=Harvard University Press
isbn=0674016963
url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=rqdcsr8IyW8C&pg=PA59&dq=Kolubra&sig=ACfU3U29s5gG2MKReIDmCqzIUp0tH8JAlA