WW1: The Balkan Front (Serbian Front)

[AK-Lover]

A little about this less discussed area of WW1:

The Serbian Campaign was fought from August 1914, when Austria-Hungary invaded Serbia at the outset of First World War, until the end of the war in 1918. The front ranged from the Danube to southern Macedonia and back north again, involving forces from almost all combatants of the war.

The Serbian Army was decimated towards the end of the war, falling from about 420,000[1] at its peak to about 100,000 at the moment of liberation. The Kingdom of Serbia had lost 1.3 million inhabitants[verification needed] during the war[2] (both army and civilian losses), which represented 33% of its overall population and 60% [3] of its male population - a demographic disaster that is still obvious today. (In official : Serbia lost 370,000 soldiers, or 26 percent, of all mobilised people (for ex. France 16.8; Germany 15.4; Russia 11.5; Italy 10.3 per cent).

[AK-Lover]

Setting the Stage
World War I was, in at least one sense, started when a group of young men (calling themselves Young Bosnia), most likely backed by a secret Serbian society (the Black Hand) assassinated the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Austria-Hungary, furious about the murder and many previous Serbian attempts to destabilize their Slavic territories, issued a set of demands, the July Ultimatum. Serbia accepted all but one of them, but mobilized its army on July 25, 1914. The Austrians rejected the Serbian response and mobilized their southern army for a war against Serbia.

For complex reasons, the dispute between Austria-Hungary and Serbia escalated into a war which involved Russia, Germany, France, and United Kingdom. Within a week, Austria-Hungary had to face a war with Russia, which had the largest army in the world at the time. The result was that Serbia became just another front to the massive fight that started to unfold along Austria-Hungary's border with Russia. Serbia had an experienced army, having fought two wars in the last two years, but it was also exhausted and poorly equipped and the Austrians thought that they would fall in less that a month. Serbia's strategy was to hold on as long as they could and hope the Russians could defeat the main Austro-Hungarian Army. Serbia constantly had to worry about its hostile neighbor to the east, Bulgaria, with which it had fought several wars, most recently in the 1913.

The Serbian army at the start of the war was some 180,000 strong, commanded by Marshal (Vojvoda) Radomir Putnik. However he was in poor health in a hospital in Austria. The Austrian government arrested him at the hospital but then inexplicably put him on a train back to Serbia just before the war began (C. Falls p. 38). Putnik brilliantly handled the Serbian Army, even though he almost never left his special hospital room in Serbia.

[AK-Lover]

The war against Serbia started on August 12, when Austro-Hungarian armies crossed the border, the Drina River (see map).
First Attack on Serbia, August 1914
Fighting on Ada Ciganlija


While the entire Austro-Hungarian Army was very large, due to the Russian declaration of war, the Austro-Hungarians could only attack with two small armies (the Fifth and the Sixth) over the Bosnian border. They had around 280,000 men, and were much better equipped than the Serbians. Overall, Austrian command was in the hands of the ineffective General Potiorek.

However, Austria-Hungary Empire had the third largest population in Europe in 1914, almost twelve times the population of the Kingdom of Serbia. And the Russian Empire not only bordered Austro-Hungary, but also the German Empire and the Ottoman Empire, both of which also boasted large populations; Germany's being the second largest in Europe behind Russia.

Main article: Battle of Cer

The Serbian Army threw back repeated attempts to cross the Drina and Sava rivers (this action is called the Battle of Cer or the Battle of Jadar). After very hard fighting, the Austro-Hungarian Army halted their attempts. In early September, the Serbs launched a small offensive into southern Bosnia, hoping to incite a revolt among their fellow Slavs. However, the offensive had no effect and was driven out within a few weeks.
Later Operations in Serbia, 1914

September 7 brought a renewed attack across the rivers by the Austrian army. Marshal Putnik ordered a retreat into the surrounding hills as the Serbian army was running very low on artillery shells, food and clothing (which had to be supplied by the Allies, and they were short themselves).

The Austro-Hungarian Army, having pushed up to the new Serbian positions, launched another massive attack on November 5. The Serbians withdrew under pressure and finally evacuated their capital city of Belgrade, which had become essentially indefensible, on November 30. The Austro-Hungarian Army entered the city on December 2.

First Attack on Serbia
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Serbia-WW1-1.jpg

Fighting on Ada Ciganlija
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/20/Vojska_Ada_Ciganlija.jpg

[AK-Lover]

The Battle of Cer was one of the first battles of the World War I. The battle is also known as Battle of Jadar, because the main operations were held near the estuary of the river Jadar. The battle was fought between the Austro-Hungarian Army and Serbian forces; it marked the first Allied victory in the war. The battle improved Allied-Serbian relations because western faith in the competence of the Serbian Army was much improved. Austro-Hungarian troops fought under the command of General Oskar Potiorek and Serbian troops under the command of General Stepa Stepanović.

When the First World War started the Austro-Hungarian Army under the command of General Oskar Potiorek pushed into Serbia across the Sava and the Drina. Šabac fell. The Serbian Second Army under the command of General Stepa 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. The Austro-Hungarian Army walked right into the area where Serbia's artillery trained many of their gunners and thus Serbs could use their artillery with great accuracy and effectiveness, while in the same time Austro-Hungarian Army had no bearing or coordiantes for the general area where the battle was fought, thus they couldn't bring to bear their advantage in artillery pieces.It is also important to note that Serbian Second Army was, due to its position in the middle of the norhwestern cordon formation, 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 defences, unlike the mountanous northeast and northwest approaches) but in terms of quality of its divisions. It consisted only of the divisions of the first call, thus of soldiers in their 20's and with best training and matériel. These were Šumadijska, Moravska, Dunavska (which, being responsible for direct 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, 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 Austro-Hungarian invasion were cleared (Putnik strongly held to his belief that the northwestern advance was a demonstrative attack conducted in order to move Serbian forces out of the positions on Danube river, guarding the entrance to Morava valley, even though reports from the Drina and Sava fronts were indicating the area where major battle was about to take place), 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 Army which had crossed into Serbia in full strength) at Cer and Jadar valley. 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 Fifth Army's main line of retreat. If this maneuver was conducted, possibillity of a catastrophe 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 retreating enemy. Third Army's loss of contact with enemy on the third day of the battle also helped Austro-Hungarian Fifth Army to withdraw in a more orderly fashion. Considering this information, it is obvious that the invading force could have suffered a far costlier defeat and shows Putnik as a superb organiser (his mobilisation plans for both Balkans wars and World War I were excellent, considering the low quality of roads in Serbia and lack of a significant railroad network), yet overcautious in the conduct of battles.

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 19. The Serbian Army won the victory, pushed the Austro-Hungarian Army back across the Drina, and completely thwarted their war plan.

Around 25,000 Austro-Hungarian officers and soldiers were killed and 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.

[Labud]

About Cer battle, the key moment was night battle at Tekerish (Текериш), where Serbian Combined division had crushed Austro-hungarian 21. division on 15/16 august 1914.

Now some pics:
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/8919/mobilizacija1914yf3.jpg
Mobilization of Serbian troops

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/156/putnikdt4.jpg
Marshal Radomir Putnik, Chief of Serbian High Command

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/819/stepaht4.jpg
Marshal Stepa Stepanovic, commander of Serbian II Army

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/5012/baterijaugalopusw4.jpg
Artillery of Moravian I call division is changing its position on Iverak mountain, during the Cer battle

[AN_TPS_63A]

Days of great courage and sacrifice.

[fourenziks]

God bless them all!!!

[ag05]

What was the primary service rifle of the Serbian Army during WWI? I could really tell from the pics?

[Kitsune]

God bless them all!!!
I agree. Especially the Austrians. p-)

[AN_TPS_63A]

What was the primary service rifle of the Serbian Army during WWI? I could really tell from the pics?


I think the Mauser rifle was always primary weapon, and when the backbone of the Serbian army was crushed by the combined Austro-Hungarian, German and Bulgarian attack in the 1916 , remnants were lately rearmed in the Greece by the Allies with the French hardware.

[Labud]

What was the primary service rifle of the Serbian Army during WWI? I could really tell from the pics?

In 1914, there was several models of rifles: Serbian rifle 7mm "Mauser" system; Old upgraded rifle "Mauser-Koka" system (for part of II call troops), Turkish "Mauser" rifle captured in the First balkan war, Russian rifle 7,62mm, "Manlicher" rifle, and for III cal troops and last defense "Berdanka" rifle with black powder.

After reorganization on Corfu, and sending to Macedonian front, whole Serbian Army got French rifles and uniforms.

[ag05]

Wow. bit of a mixed bag there. Ammo resupply must've been hell. Was there commonality within particular units, or was it a case of having several models of rifle within a unit?

[Labud]

^There was the commonality within particular units. The better unit, the better rifle.

[fourenziks]

It's so funny how the Bulgarians always waited to see which way the wind was blowing, before choosing sides....


...and always got their asses kicked in the end...

rofl rofl rofl

[AN_TPS_63A]

It's so funny how the Bulgarians always waited to see which way the wind was blowing, before choosing sides....


...and always got their asses kicked in the end...

rofl rofl rofl

This is a common thing among small nations in the times of crisises..they simply doesn't have ressources and manpower to hold together with a losing side.
Can you compare how many states wanted to join US during attack on the IRAQ, and situation now when the US are losing the war?

[AN_TPS_63A]

On the other hand, smaller countries, without or with very small
military industry, weren't faced with such problem. And one country in
early 1920s was simply forced to re-arm its infantry with new standard
rifle.

That country was Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later known as
Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

One part of that country, Serbia, had long tradition of supplying their
infantry with best possible rifles available, including setting up their
own rifle factory in Kragujevac (bombed by NATO last year). One member
of Serb military, General Kosta 'Koka' Milanovic (1847-1905) took great
effort to design such rifle, by making his modifications to latest
Mauser models. The result was single-shot Mauser-Koka Model 1880 rifle,
produced in Germany and used with great success against rebel militias
in 1883 Timok Rebellion. Nineteen years later, Serbs created their own
version of Mauser M. 1898, this time using 7mm caliber.

This 7mm Mauser M. 1899 rifle was standard rifle of Serb army in Balkan
Wars and first years of WWI. However, when Serbian army got exiled to
Northern Greece in 1916, the infantry had to be rearmed with much
inferior French 8mm 1886 rifle (with three rounds instead of five). This
event was quite traumatic for many battle-hardened Serb veterans, who
saw little comfort in French Chauchat light machineguns being given in
the same package.

However, in early 1920s things got even more complicated when Serbia and
its military got fusioned into Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
New military had yet another standard rifle - old Austro-Hungarian 6,5
mm Mannlicher M. 1893 model.

So, new country had to choose between three different solutions for its
new standard rifle. Yugoslav military rejected Mannlicher and Lebel and
opted for Mauser instead, but this time with 7,92 mm ammunition. This
copy of Mauser 98 was called Mauser M. 1924 and was produced in Belgium,
and later in Kragujevac.

POD: Unlike incompetent and corrupt bureacrats of OTL Yugoslavia, the
person in charge of military logistics in early 1920 Kingdom of Serbs,
Croats and Slovenes is an actual veteran of Thessaloniki Front, who is
convinced that the new military must have the best rifle in the world.
Somehow, he sees that the best rifle in the world should be self-loading
and that old 7mm ammunition for Serbian Mauser could be better suited
for such purpose. The result is Koka M. 1923 7mm self-loading rifle,
with ten round clip (named in honour of "Koka").

By 1939, this rifle is produced in sufficient numbers (few hundred
thousands) to make "Koka" more or less standard rifle in Royal Yugoslav
Army. In terms of WW2, the impact would be, at least, initially
neglible - best rifle in the world wouldn't save Yugoslavia from being
stomped over by Blitzkrieg in 1941 (although Italians could get some
nasty surprise if they try something solo, like against Greece in 1940).

"Koka" would, however, prove itself once the war turns into guerilla
war. Tito's Partisans equipped with "Kokas" would be much superior to
Germans equipped with bolt action Mausers or Italians equipped with bolt
action Mannlicher-Carcanos. Of course, some of their enemies (Ustashas,
Chetniks) would also get their hands on "Kokas", which would make WW2 in
former Yugoslavia more interesting and dynamic than in OTL.