Battle of Cer and the Jadar begins
- Category:
- Military operations
- Front:
- Balkan Front
- Date:
- 17 August 1914
- Author:
- Łukasz Skowroń
- Battle:
- Battle of Cer
- Tags:
- Serbia, Austria-Hungary, Stepa Stepanović
Contemporary chronicles of the war record 17 August 1914 as the start of the battle on Cer mountain and on the river Jadar in western Serbia. The first clashes on the slopes of Cer broke out as early as the night of 15–16 August, and in the following days the fighting spread over the whole area, becoming one of the most important battles of the first weeks of the war.
Answer to the invasion
A few days earlier the troops of Austria-Hungary had crossed the Drina and the Sava, beginning the invasion of Serbia. The Serbian commander-in-chief, Vojvoda Radomir Putnik, recognised that the main thrust was coming from the west, through the Jadar valley. He sent there the Second Army of General Stepa Stepanović, which after a forced march reached the Cer mountain area.
Cer is a range of wooded hills overlooking the Jadar valley and the roads along which the Austro-Hungarian columns were advancing. Whoever controlled its ridges dominated the surrounding area. The Serbs attacked before the enemy had time to dig in there.
Fighting in the woods and on the hills
The clashes were violent and chaotic. Men fought at night, in the woods, on steep slopes, often with the bayonet. The Serbian soldiers, experienced from the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, knew the ground well and skilfully exploited the fact that the Austro-Hungarian columns were dispersed and did not support one another. After several days of fighting the scales began to tip in the Serbs’ favour.
Victory
On 19 August the morale of the Austro-Hungarian troops broke, and by 24 August they had withdrawn across the Drina and the Sava. Serbia won the first Allied victory of the First World War, and Stepanović received for it the highest rank of vojvoda.
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Meanwhile
(04)Elsewhere in the same days.
- 18 August 1914 · Western FrontBattle of the GeteOn 18 August 1914 the Belgian army faced the Germans on the Gete. Threatened with encirclement, King Albert I ordered a retreat to the fortress of Antwerp.
- 16 August 1914 · Western FrontLast forts of Liège fallOn 16 August 1914 the last forts of Liège, wrecked by heavy artillery, capitulated. The road into the heart of Belgium lay open to the Germans.
- 16 August 1914 · Western FrontBritish Expeditionary Force completes its landing in FranceOn 16 August 1914 the landing of the original British Expeditionary Force in France was completed. The crossing was made without loss.
- 18 August 1914 · Middle EastPersian foreign minister Vosugh od-Dowleh resignsChronicles of the time record that on 18 August 1914 Persia's foreign minister Vosugh od-Dowleh resigned. The country faced a choice of stance towards the war.
Related events
(04)The same battle, people or subject.
- 21 August 1914 · Balkan FrontEnd of the Battle of Cer. Austrians withdraw from SerbiaAt the end of August 1914 the beaten Austro-Hungarian armies withdrew from Serbia across the Drina and the Sava. The first invasion of Serbia had failed.
- 6 September 1914 · Balkan FrontSerbs cross the Sava and begin the operation in SyrmiaOn 6 September 1914 the Serbian army crossed the Sava into Austro-Hungarian Syrmia. At Mitrovica the Timok Division was routed.
- 8 September 1914 · Balkan FrontBattle of the Drina beginsOn 8 September 1914 Austro-Hungarian troops crossed the Drina. In the mountains of western Serbia a battle began that turned into trench warfare.
- 30 October 1914 · Balkan FrontSerbs withdraw from the DrinaOn the night of 30–31 October 1914 the Serbian Second Army left its trenches in Mačva on the lower Drina. A retreat began that took the Serbs to the Kolubara.