Serbian campaign (1915): Difference between revisions

Serbian campaign (1915)
Part of the Serbian campaign of World War I
Map showing the timeline of the Campaign
Date 7 October 1915 – 24 November 1915 (1 month, 2 weeks and 3 days) Location Serbia, Montenegro, Albania Result Central Powers victory Serbian retreat through Albania Austro-Hungarian occupation Bulgarian occupation
Belligerents
Austria-Hungary  Bulgaria  Germany	Serbia  Montenegro
Commanders and leaders
August von Mackensen Max von Gallwitz H. K. von Kövessháza Kliment Boyadzhiev Ahmet Zogu[1] Hasan Prishtina[2]	Radomir Putnik Živojin Mišić Petar Bojović Stepa Stepanović Pavle Jurišić Šturm Janko Vukotić
Strength
300,000[3] 200,000[4] 100,000[4] 10,000[5]	~260,000[6] 48,300
Casualties and losses
18,000[7] 37,000[8] 12,000[8]	218,000 94,000 killed or wounded[6] 174,000 captured, of which 50,000 wounded[6] 23,000[a] 13,325 killed/missing[9] ~10,000 wounded[10]

The Serbian campaign of 1915 (German: Der serbische Feldzug 1915) refers to a military campaign carried out by the Central Powers, primarily Germany, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria, against the Kingdom of Serbia during World War I. The campaign took place from October to November 1915.

After Serbia successfully resisted Austria-Hungary's advances during the Serbian campaign of 1914, the Central Powers launched a joint offensive against Serbia with a combined force of over 600,000 soldiers. They enjoyed numerical and technological superiority over the Serbian army, which was heavily outnumbered and lacked adequate supplies and equipment.

The campaign began with a series of coordinated offensives aimed at breaking through Serbian defensive lines. The Serbian army, led by

By the end of the Serbian campaign of 1915, the Central Powers had effectively eliminated Serbia as a threat, secured their position in the region and opened up a land route to provide supplies to the embattled Ottoman Empire. Serbia was then divided between the Austro-Hungarian occupied zone and the Bulgarian occupied zone. The Serbian government, along with the remnants of its army, evacuated to the Greek island of Corfu, where they regrouped and later played a crucial role in the ultimate Allied victory in the war.

Background

Regarding the Kingdom of Serbia as a threat to their territorial integrity and the stability of their multi-ethnic empire, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Bosnian-Serb nationalist. This triggered a series of alliances and escalations among European powers, ultimately leading to the outbreak of World War I.^[11]

In August 1914, Austria-Hungary launched an invasion of Serbia. Against all odds, the Serbian army, led by General Radomir Putnik managed to repel multiple offensives from a much larger and better-equipped enemy. The Serbian campaign of 1914 ended with a strategic victory for Serbia. The Austro-Hungarians suffered heavy casualties and were unable to achieve their objectives but the victory also brought heavy losses to the Serbian army making further offensive operations impossible.^[12]

Prelude

In early 1915, following Ottoman defeats at the

Russia posed a significant threat as an adversary, and the entry of Italy into the war on the side of the Allies further complicated the challenges faced by the Austro-Hungarian forces. On 8 September 1915, Erich von Falkenhayn and Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf signed a military convention in Pless. The conference called for an immediate attack on Serbia.^[13]

Both the Allies and the Central Powers attempted to persuade Bulgaria to align with their respective sides. Bulgaria and Serbia had a history of conflict, having engaged in two wars in the previous three decades: the Serbo-Bulgarian War in 1885 and the Second Balkan War in 1913. By aligning with the Central Powers, Bulgaria was promised not only disputed lands from Serbia but also additional territories in Macedonia and Thrace; in addition Germany and Austria-Hungary, offered Bulgaria military and economic support. Following the Allied defeat in the Gallipoli campaign and the Russian setback at Gorlice, Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria signed a treaty with Germany and on 23 September 1915 started mobilisation for war.^[14]

Opposing forces

National schism

in Greek politics of the time that generated conflicting views about the war.

Against Serbia were marshalled the Bulgarian First Army commanded by Kliment Boyadzhiev, the German Eleventh Army led by Max von Gallwitz and the Austro-Hungarian Third Army commanded by Hermann Kövess von Kövessháza, all under the control of Field Marshal August von Mackensen. In addition, the Bulgarian Second Army commanded by (Georgi Todorov), which remained under the direct control of the Bulgarian high command, was deployed against Macedonia.

Course of the campaign

The Austro-Hungarians and Germans began their attack on 7 October with their troops crossing the Drina and Sava rivers, covered by heavy artillery fire. Once they crossed the Danube, the Germans and Austro-Hungarians moved on to Belgrade. Vicious street fighting ensued,^[16] finally crushing the Serbs' resistance in the city on 9 October.^[17]

Then, on 14 October, the Bulgarian army attacked from the north of Bulgaria towards

Battle of Kosovo

, the Serbs made a last and desperate attempt to join the two incomplete Allied divisions that advanced limitedly from the south but were unable to gather enough forces due to the pressure from the north and east. The Bulgarians under General Todorov forced them to halt and pull back.

The French and British divisions marched north from Thessaloniki in October 1915 under the command of French General Maurice Sarrail. The War Office in London was reluctant to advance too deep into Serbia, so the French divisions advanced up the Vardar alone. This advance gave some limited help to the retreating Serbian army, as the Bulgarians had to concentrate larger forces on their southern flank to deal with the threat, which led to the Battle of Krivolak (October–November 1915). By the end of November, General Sarrail had to retreat in the face of massive Bulgarian assaults on his positions. The British at the Battle of Kosturino were also forced to withdraw. By 12 December, all Allied forces were back in Greece.

Great Retreat

See also:

Great Retreat

The circumstances of the retreat were disastrous. All told, only some 155,000 Serbs, mainly soldiers, reached the coast of the Adriatic Sea and embarked on Allied transport ships that carried the army to various Greek islands (many to Corfu) before being sent to Salonika. The evacuation of the Serbian army from Albania was completed on 10 February 1916. The survivors were so weakened that thousands died from sheer exhaustion in the weeks after their rescue. Marshal Putnik had to be carried during the entire retreat, dying nearly fifteen months later in a hospital in France.

Aftermath

The Army of Serbia's ally Montenegro did not follow the Serbs into exile but retreated to defend their own country. The Austrian-Hungarians launched their

This was a nearly complete victory for the Central Powers, costing around 67,000 casualties compared to around 94,000 Serbs killed or wounded and 174,000 captured, of which 70,000 were wounded.[6] The railroad from Berlin to Istanbul was finally opened. The only flaw in the victory was that much of the Serbian army had successfully retreated, although it was left disorganized and required rebuilding.

Notes

Citations