Battle of Kolun
Battle of Kolun | |||||||
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Part of the Romanian Campaign of World War I | |||||||
Kolun visible on the north-eastern part of this map | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Romania |
Germany Austria-Hungary | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Ioan Culcer Ioan Popovici |
Erich von Falkenhayn Eberhard Graf von Schmettow | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
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Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown |
The Battle of Kolun was a World War I military engagement fought between Romanian and Central Powers forces (Germany and Austria-Hungary). It was part of the wider Battle of Transylvania and resulted in a tactical victory for the Central Powers.
Background
On 27 August 1916, Romania joined
In mid-September, General Ioan Culcer - the commander of the Romanian 1st Army - moved the I Corps headquarters (General Ioan Popovici) to Nagytalmács (Tălmaciu/Talmesch), to direct the operations of the two divisions located there. Popovici and his staff arrived in Nagytalmács on 16 September. Popovici had two divisions, the 13th Division of General Ioan Oprescu being the one deployed to the east.[3]
On 19 September, General Erich von Falkenhayn assumed command of the German 9th Army. Among the units of this army was the Schmettow Cavalry Corps, comprising the 1st Austro-Hungarian and 3rd German Cavalry Division, both under
Battle
The left of the Central Powers forces - the German column which was to encircle the Romanians from the east - succeeded in forcing the crossing of the
Aftermath
Although von Falkenhayn's left succeeded in cutting any communication with the 2nd Army, it failed to execute a proper flanking movement.
References
- ^ The Times, 1917, The Times History and Encyclopaedia of the War, Volume 11, pp. 211-213
- ^ William Dunseath Eaton, Harry C. Read, Leonard Wood, C. Thomas Company, 1919, A Complete History of the World War: A Connected and Complete Narrative of the War on All Fronts, Covering All Events Between 1914 and 1924, Volume 1, p. 394
- ^ Michael B. Barrett, Indiana University Press, Oct 23, 2013, Prelude to Blitzkrieg: The 1916 Austro-German Campaign in Romania, pp. 103-104 and 106
- ^ Michael B. Barrett, Indiana University Press, Oct 23, 2013, Prelude to Blitzkrieg: The 1916 Austro-German Campaign in Romania, pp. 99-100 and 102-103
- ^ The Times, 1917, The Times History and Encyclopaedia of the War, Volume 11, p. 228
- ^ John Buchan, T. Nelson, 1922, A History of the Great War: From the battle of Verdun to the third battle of Ypres, p. 233
- ^ Edmund Glaise-Horstenau, Österreich-Ungarns letzter Krieg 1914 – 1918. Vol. 5: Das Kriegsjahr 1916 ; 2 ; Beil, Verl. der Militärwiss. Mitteilungen, Wien, 1932
- ^ John Buchan, T. Nelson, 1922, A History of the Great War: From the battle of Verdun to the third battle of Ypres, p. 233
- ^ Lieutenant-Colonel E. M. Benitez, Command and General Staff School, 1939, Quarterly Review of Military Literature, Volume 19, Issue 73, p. 9