Deleted member 1487
Serbian Front
When the Great War started in 1914 it was over a conflict between A-H and Serbia, which ironically was one of the quietest fronts of the year. Initially A-H mobilized troops to crush their southern enemy and started the violence by shelling Belgrade with their Danube river flotilla, but quickly found that Russia was the greater danger and thus focused their mobilization in Galicia.
That left Serbia unengaged by Austro-Hungarian forces of the Minimal Gruppe Balkan, which was simply tasked with defending the southern flank of the Empire against Serbian attacks. This was thought to be an easy task, as Serbia lacked modern logistics, artillery, or very many munitions, as they had just fought two wars immediately prior to the current conflict.
What Serbia did have was its large army of combat experienced veterans, who were naturally hardened by the harsh climate of their homeland and the tradition of blood feuds in the primeval forests and mountains of their birth.
They also had a very skilled general in the person of Vojvoda Putnik. Very experienced and with string of victories behind him, Putnik had the full confidence of his men and monarch. Not only that but Serbia had a serious numerical advantage over the Austro-Hungarian armies facing him, as he could mobilize 450,000 troops in three armies to the two armies of 7 divisions of MG-Balkan.
Austria though had one of its best and most experienced generals opposite Putnik, Archduke Eugen:
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archduke_Eugen_of_Austria)
Eugen had been retired, but with the death of Oskar Potiorek the Balkan army group had lost its commander. Conrad had not forgotten his mentor and idol, who, upon turning up for duty on the outbreak of war, was rewarded with command of the principle front in the war of vengeance against Franz Ferdinand's assassins. After Conrad consulted with Eugen upon his reactivation, a meeting which saved Conrad from making a serious mobilization mistake, as Eugen had counselled waiting until Russia had declared her intentions, Eugen departed for Sarajevo to begin organizing his defensive forces.
Eugen brought with him his very skilled chief of staff Alfred Krauss, who would be the architect of Eugen's successes in the coming months. Initially these two officers had an enormous task resting on their shoulders, as A-H security forces predicted a major uprising of pro-Serbian Slavs in Bosnia in support of an invasion should one materialize. This forced Eugen to tie down over 100,000 older reservists that could have been used at the front to supplement his weak defensive forces. In fact uprisings were counted on by the Serbian army, as they intended to invade Bosnia and use the local population to supplement their army and provide support to their advancing forces.
However both Eugen and Putnik were to be surprised by the total lack of response by the local Bosnians to the Serbian offensive. So worried by the potential of local Serbs to threaten the rear of the A-H army, A-H security forces cracked down heavily on anyone suspected of harboring Serbian sympathies, rounding up thousands of potential leaders for prison camps that Serbian soldiers would start to populate. Bosnians as a whole too were very upset by the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, so took it upon themselves to initiate violence against ethnic Serbs in Bosnia and Southern Hungary; A-H authorities did nothing to stop them, which only encouraged further violence that helped suppress any desire by local Orthodox Serbs to rise up and make themselves a target for angry bands of patriotic Muslim and Catholic Bosnians. The A-H was also very paranoid about '5th columnists' in their rear or Serbian Komitaji (guerillas) operating against their supply lines; this led to the very liberal rules about summarily shooting civilians in the army's rear zones 'without a sufficient reason for being there', which resulted in large numbers of civilians, both A-H and Serbian being executed on flimsy pretenses. All of this combined prevented any resistance to the A-H government being organized, which derailed the planned Serbian conquest of Bosnia.
Against this crackdown in Bosnia Serbia upon mobilization, confident that their compatriots in A-H would come to their aid, launched an invasion of Bosnia via the Drina, with the goal of 'liberating' Sarajevo. A-H forces, despite their small numbers, had far more firepower than the Serbian forces, modern logistics, comparatively unlimited munitions, and superb defensive terrain on their side. The Serbs lacked much in the way of artillery, machine guns, logistics (especially as they were operating out of the wilderness of West Serbia where there were no rail lines or roads), significant stocks of ammunition, or bridging material.
As can be expected, even the best soldiers cannot hope to win against an enemy with the advantages the A-H had, even if its commander were derelict in his duty; Eugen was certainly not derelict. Forbidding counter attacks and ordering troops to rely on their firepower to preserve their forces while take advantage of the material superiority, Eugen's forces decimated the Serbian offensive in August, which fell apart in the face of A-H mountain troops, machine guns, and artillery. Serbian forces couldn't even bring their artillery over the Drina, which, without radio communication to direct supporting fire, was unable to intervene. Falling back in disarray after two weeks of offensives, having expected the A-H would be too busy handling uprisings and guerilla attacks, the Serbian army lost some 20,000 of their best soldiers, irreplaceable veterans of the Balkan wars. The efforts had exhausted their offensive ability until they could reorganize for another attempt.
The Serbian leadership, realizing that they were unable to offensively achieve victory against A-H firepower, preferred to sit on the defensive, build up their forces, and wait for the Austrians to come to them while conducting raids with their more elite units to wear down the A-Hs.
However alliance politics intervened. Serbia was resupplied with artillery shells and some more guns via Salonika by French and Russia and was expected to aid the Entente cause by once again attacking. Having little hope for success the Serbian army attacked again in mid-October.
This time attacking north over the Sava river instead of the Drina into Bosnia, the Serbs used a smaller assault force with boats constructed from the ample lumber supply of Serbia supported by the small number of guns available. Still though the Serbian infantry met A-H forces, this time support by older reservists freed from occupation duty against a revolt that never came, entrenched in prepared positions. Their massed fire supported by more artillery than the attacks and machine guns proved too much for the assault forces, even as they established a bridgehead over the Sava. The bridgehead held out for more than a week before the operation was abandoned, as it cost 10,000 casualties to try and invade Hungary.
As before the Serbs had to admit defeat to their allies with the butcher's bill to prove their efforts.
Still, the Entente demanded action, especially as fighting on the Eastern Front grew very serious in November. Once again Serbian forces threw themselves against the Austrians on the Sava, once again falling in a hail of shells and bullets. This attempt cost another 12,000 veterans and finally exhausted offensive munition stocks. But this failed attempt finally allowed the Serbs to pause for the winter and assume a defensive posture. Skirmishing had never ceased, but major operations would have to wait until next year.
Even as combat quietly died away, another enemy snuck into Serbian camps: Typhus. It was unclear whether it originated in military camps or among war refugees huddled in improvised housing, but soon the epidemic spread to the army and civilian population, claiming tens of thousands of lives throughout the country. Survivors were badly weakened by their bought with the illness, which devastated the army and left it unable to do much more than sit and wait for the Austrians to come to them.
The A-Hs and Eugen exploited their victories on the Serbian front for propaganda purposes for domestic consumption, the enemy, and for neutrals potentially thinking about joining in. The defeats of Serbia helped to reinforce the impression that A-H had a serious general in Eugen and a solid army, especially on the defensive. The lopsided casualty statistics helped enhance his reputation, especially among the Italians and Bulgarians, both of whom were eyeing the war increasingly close. The Italians were eager to extend their Empire in the Balkans either at the expense of A-H as part of the Entente or as a neutral interested party watching A-H success, as they were treaty bound to compensate Italy for expansion in the region.
Bulgaria wanted slices of Serbia for her own kingdom, but after the beatings of the Balkan wars did not want to engage in more fighting unless success was assured and her other neighbors didn't jump in against her.
Only time would tell what would happen, but by the end of December 1914 the lines had not budged one bit, though the Serbs had littered A-H with their dead.
When the Great War started in 1914 it was over a conflict between A-H and Serbia, which ironically was one of the quietest fronts of the year. Initially A-H mobilized troops to crush their southern enemy and started the violence by shelling Belgrade with their Danube river flotilla, but quickly found that Russia was the greater danger and thus focused their mobilization in Galicia.
That left Serbia unengaged by Austro-Hungarian forces of the Minimal Gruppe Balkan, which was simply tasked with defending the southern flank of the Empire against Serbian attacks. This was thought to be an easy task, as Serbia lacked modern logistics, artillery, or very many munitions, as they had just fought two wars immediately prior to the current conflict.
What Serbia did have was its large army of combat experienced veterans, who were naturally hardened by the harsh climate of their homeland and the tradition of blood feuds in the primeval forests and mountains of their birth.
They also had a very skilled general in the person of Vojvoda Putnik. Very experienced and with string of victories behind him, Putnik had the full confidence of his men and monarch. Not only that but Serbia had a serious numerical advantage over the Austro-Hungarian armies facing him, as he could mobilize 450,000 troops in three armies to the two armies of 7 divisions of MG-Balkan.
Austria though had one of its best and most experienced generals opposite Putnik, Archduke Eugen:
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archduke_Eugen_of_Austria)
Eugen had been retired, but with the death of Oskar Potiorek the Balkan army group had lost its commander. Conrad had not forgotten his mentor and idol, who, upon turning up for duty on the outbreak of war, was rewarded with command of the principle front in the war of vengeance against Franz Ferdinand's assassins. After Conrad consulted with Eugen upon his reactivation, a meeting which saved Conrad from making a serious mobilization mistake, as Eugen had counselled waiting until Russia had declared her intentions, Eugen departed for Sarajevo to begin organizing his defensive forces.
Eugen brought with him his very skilled chief of staff Alfred Krauss, who would be the architect of Eugen's successes in the coming months. Initially these two officers had an enormous task resting on their shoulders, as A-H security forces predicted a major uprising of pro-Serbian Slavs in Bosnia in support of an invasion should one materialize. This forced Eugen to tie down over 100,000 older reservists that could have been used at the front to supplement his weak defensive forces. In fact uprisings were counted on by the Serbian army, as they intended to invade Bosnia and use the local population to supplement their army and provide support to their advancing forces.
However both Eugen and Putnik were to be surprised by the total lack of response by the local Bosnians to the Serbian offensive. So worried by the potential of local Serbs to threaten the rear of the A-H army, A-H security forces cracked down heavily on anyone suspected of harboring Serbian sympathies, rounding up thousands of potential leaders for prison camps that Serbian soldiers would start to populate. Bosnians as a whole too were very upset by the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, so took it upon themselves to initiate violence against ethnic Serbs in Bosnia and Southern Hungary; A-H authorities did nothing to stop them, which only encouraged further violence that helped suppress any desire by local Orthodox Serbs to rise up and make themselves a target for angry bands of patriotic Muslim and Catholic Bosnians. The A-H was also very paranoid about '5th columnists' in their rear or Serbian Komitaji (guerillas) operating against their supply lines; this led to the very liberal rules about summarily shooting civilians in the army's rear zones 'without a sufficient reason for being there', which resulted in large numbers of civilians, both A-H and Serbian being executed on flimsy pretenses. All of this combined prevented any resistance to the A-H government being organized, which derailed the planned Serbian conquest of Bosnia.
Against this crackdown in Bosnia Serbia upon mobilization, confident that their compatriots in A-H would come to their aid, launched an invasion of Bosnia via the Drina, with the goal of 'liberating' Sarajevo. A-H forces, despite their small numbers, had far more firepower than the Serbian forces, modern logistics, comparatively unlimited munitions, and superb defensive terrain on their side. The Serbs lacked much in the way of artillery, machine guns, logistics (especially as they were operating out of the wilderness of West Serbia where there were no rail lines or roads), significant stocks of ammunition, or bridging material.
As can be expected, even the best soldiers cannot hope to win against an enemy with the advantages the A-H had, even if its commander were derelict in his duty; Eugen was certainly not derelict. Forbidding counter attacks and ordering troops to rely on their firepower to preserve their forces while take advantage of the material superiority, Eugen's forces decimated the Serbian offensive in August, which fell apart in the face of A-H mountain troops, machine guns, and artillery. Serbian forces couldn't even bring their artillery over the Drina, which, without radio communication to direct supporting fire, was unable to intervene. Falling back in disarray after two weeks of offensives, having expected the A-H would be too busy handling uprisings and guerilla attacks, the Serbian army lost some 20,000 of their best soldiers, irreplaceable veterans of the Balkan wars. The efforts had exhausted their offensive ability until they could reorganize for another attempt.
The Serbian leadership, realizing that they were unable to offensively achieve victory against A-H firepower, preferred to sit on the defensive, build up their forces, and wait for the Austrians to come to them while conducting raids with their more elite units to wear down the A-Hs.
However alliance politics intervened. Serbia was resupplied with artillery shells and some more guns via Salonika by French and Russia and was expected to aid the Entente cause by once again attacking. Having little hope for success the Serbian army attacked again in mid-October.
This time attacking north over the Sava river instead of the Drina into Bosnia, the Serbs used a smaller assault force with boats constructed from the ample lumber supply of Serbia supported by the small number of guns available. Still though the Serbian infantry met A-H forces, this time support by older reservists freed from occupation duty against a revolt that never came, entrenched in prepared positions. Their massed fire supported by more artillery than the attacks and machine guns proved too much for the assault forces, even as they established a bridgehead over the Sava. The bridgehead held out for more than a week before the operation was abandoned, as it cost 10,000 casualties to try and invade Hungary.
As before the Serbs had to admit defeat to their allies with the butcher's bill to prove their efforts.
Still, the Entente demanded action, especially as fighting on the Eastern Front grew very serious in November. Once again Serbian forces threw themselves against the Austrians on the Sava, once again falling in a hail of shells and bullets. This attempt cost another 12,000 veterans and finally exhausted offensive munition stocks. But this failed attempt finally allowed the Serbs to pause for the winter and assume a defensive posture. Skirmishing had never ceased, but major operations would have to wait until next year.
Even as combat quietly died away, another enemy snuck into Serbian camps: Typhus. It was unclear whether it originated in military camps or among war refugees huddled in improvised housing, but soon the epidemic spread to the army and civilian population, claiming tens of thousands of lives throughout the country. Survivors were badly weakened by their bought with the illness, which devastated the army and left it unable to do much more than sit and wait for the Austrians to come to them.
The A-Hs and Eugen exploited their victories on the Serbian front for propaganda purposes for domestic consumption, the enemy, and for neutrals potentially thinking about joining in. The defeats of Serbia helped to reinforce the impression that A-H had a serious general in Eugen and a solid army, especially on the defensive. The lopsided casualty statistics helped enhance his reputation, especially among the Italians and Bulgarians, both of whom were eyeing the war increasingly close. The Italians were eager to extend their Empire in the Balkans either at the expense of A-H as part of the Entente or as a neutral interested party watching A-H success, as they were treaty bound to compensate Italy for expansion in the region.
Bulgaria wanted slices of Serbia for her own kingdom, but after the beatings of the Balkan wars did not want to engage in more fighting unless success was assured and her other neighbors didn't jump in against her.
Only time would tell what would happen, but by the end of December 1914 the lines had not budged one bit, though the Serbs had littered A-H with their dead.
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