Battle of Cer

Relations between Austria-Hungary and Serbia deteriorated in the aftermath of the May Overthrow in 1903. Almost immediately, the new Karađorđević government aligned itself with the Russian Empire and oriented its foreign policy away from its long time patron, the Habsburgs, and Austria-Hungary. In 1906, Austria-Hungary closed its border to Serbian agricultural exports in an episode known as the Pig War.[8] In 1908, Austria-Hungary formally annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina—a territory with a large Serb population that it had been granted by the Congress of Berlin in 1878.[9] The annexation prompted the Serbian public to call for war with Austria-Hungary. With no promise of Russian support in the event of war, the Serbian government decided against pursuing the matter militarily.[10] Count Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf boasted that it would take Austro-Hungary only three months to defeat Serbia should war erupt between the two nations.[11]

The Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia was commanded by General Oskar Potiorek, the Austro-Hungarian Governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

With Bosnia-Herzegovina firmly in Austro-Hungarian hands, Serbia and several other Balkan states turned to forcing the Ottoman Empire from southeastern Europe. The ensuing Balkan Wars, which lasted from 1912 until 1913, saw Serbia take possession of Kosovo and Macedonia.[10] On 28 June 1914, Bosnian Serb student Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo. The assassination precipitated the July Crisis, which led Austria-Hungary to issue an ultimatum to Serbia on 23 July on suspicion that the assassination had been planned in Belgrade.[12] The Austro-Hungarian government made the ultimatum intentionally unacceptable to Serbia, and it was indeed rejected.[13] The Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia on 28 July and that same day the Serbs destroyed all bridges on the Sava and Danube rivers in order to prevent the Austro-Hungarians from using them during any future invasion.[11] Belgrade was shelled the following day, marking the beginning of the First World War.[14]

Fighting in Eastern Europe began with the first Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia in early August 1914.[15] The number of Austro-Hungarian troops was far smaller than the 308,000-strong force intended when war was declared. This was because a large portion of the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army had moved to the Russian Front, reducing the number of troops involved in the initial stages of the invasion to approximately 200,000. Forty percent of this force was composed of South Slavs living within Austro-Hungarian borders.[16] On the other hand, the Serbs could muster some 450,000 men to oppose the Austro-Hungarians upon full mobilization. The main elements to face the Austro-Hungarians were the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and Užice Armies, with a combined strength of approximately 180,000 men.[17] The Balkan Wars had only just concluded and Serbia was still recovering. Over 36,000 Serbian soldiers had been killed and 55,000 seriously wounded. Few recruits had been gained from the newly acquired territories, and the Serbian army had been stretched by the need to garrison them against Albanian insurgents and the threat of Bulgarian attack. To compound matters, the Serbian army was dangerously short of artillery, and had only just begun to replenish its ammunition stocks. Its supply problems also extended to more basic items. Many Serbian recruits reported for duty barefoot,[18] and many units lacked any uniform other than a standard issue greatcoat and a traditional Serbian cap known as a šajkača. Rifles were also in critically short supply. It was estimated that full mobilization would see some 50,000 Serbian soldiers with no equipment at all.[17] The Austro-Hungarians, on the other hand, possessed an abundance of modern rifles and had twice as many machine guns and field guns as the Serbs. They also had better stocks of munitions, as well as much better transport and industrial infrastructure behind them.[18] The Serbs had a slight advantage over the Austro-Hungarians: many of their soldiers were experienced veterans of the Balkan Wars and better trained than their Austro-Hungarian counterparts.[19] Serb soldiers were also highly motivated, which compensated in part for their lack of weaponry.[20]

Austro-Hungarian forces assigned to the invasion were placed under the command of General Oskar Potiorek, who had been responsible for the security detail of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo.[21] Prior to the battle, Potiorek had predicted an easy victory over the Serbians, calling them "pig farmers."[22] The Serbian army was commanded by Crown Prince Alexander, with the Chief of the General Staff, Field Marshal Radomir Putnik, who had commanded Serb forces in the Balkan Wars, as his deputy and de facto military leader.[23] Generals Petar Bojović, Stepa Stepanović and Pavle Jurišić Šturm commanded the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Serbian Armies, respectively.[24]

Both sides suffered heavy casualties in the battles.[31] Estimates of the number of Austro-Hungarian casualties vary. Jordan states that the Austro-Hungarians suffered a total of 37,000 casualties in the battle, of whom 7,000 were fatalities.[5] Misha Glenny states that almost 30,000 Austro-Hungarian soldiers were wounded and 6,000–10,000 were killed.[31] Horne writes that the Austro-Hungarians had 8,000 soldiers killed and 30,000 wounded in the battle, compounded by the loss of 46 guns, 30 machine guns and 140 ammunition wagons.[30] Historian David Stevenson states that 4,500 Austro-Hungarian soldiers were taken prisoner.[16]

Estimates of the number of Serbian casualties also vary. Horne[30] and Jordan[5] both agree that approximately 3,000 Serbian soldiers were killed and 15,000 were wounded in the battle. Glenny counters that 3,000–5,000 Serb soldiers were killed in the battle.[31] Nevertheless, the number of fatalities suffered by both sides heralded the massive cost in human lives of the First World War. French journalist Henry Barby reported:

The area between Cer and the river Jadar where this tremendous battle took place was nothing but mass graves and putrefying flesh ... From the shadow of the woods emerged a stench so foul that it rendered the approach to the summit of Cer impossible. The number of corpses there was so enormous that the Second Army was constrained to abandon their burial due to a lack of time.[32]

Atrocities were committed by both the Austro-Hungarians and Serbs, although, according to author Lawrence Sondhaus, the majority were committed by the Austro-Hungarians.[33] The Austro-Hungarians charged Serb civilians with mutilating Austro-Hungarian soldiers,[34] while undisciplined Austro-Hungarian troops[7] summarily executed hundreds of Serb men and raped and murdered numerous women and children during the battle,[31] which Sondhaus ascribes to their hatred towards Serbs for starting the war.[35] Many of those murdered by the Austro-Hungarians were the victims of fellow South Slavs (Croats and Bosnian Muslims) serving in the Austro-Hungarian army.[31] Serbian commanders noted that the Austro-Hungarians had committed numerous reprisal killings over the course of the battle.[36] General Pavle Jurišić Šturm recounted:

The Austrian army has committed frightful atrocities in our territories. A group of nineteen (men, women and children) has been found by the Krivajica tavern. They had been roped together and then horribly massacred. Such a group of fifteen people was found in Zavlaka. Small groups of slaughtered and disfigured people, mostly women and children, are to be found throughout the villages. One woman had belts of skin cut off and another had had her breasts cut off ... Another group of twelve women and children has been found who had been tied together and massacred. Peasants say such sights are to be seen everywhere.[37]

The Memorial Ossuary during the 100th anniversary of the battle

Although they succeeded in repelling the Austro-Hungarian attack, the Serbs used up much of their ammunition during the battle, needing 6.5 million cartridges and 35,000 shells to prevail.[16] The commander of the Serbian 2nd Army, General Stepa Stepanović, was promoted to the rank of field marshal (Serbian: војвода, vojvoda) for his successful command.[38] In contrast, Austro-Hungarian commander Oskar Potiorek was humiliated in defeat and determined to launch a second invasion of Serbia. In September, he was given permission to launch such an invasion provided that he "not risk anything that might lead to a further fiasco."[39] Defeat at Cer Mountain also affected the morale of the Austro-Hungarian troops.[2] The first aerial dogfight of the war occurred during the battle, when Serbian aviator Miodrag Tomić encountered an Austro-Hungarian plane while performing a reconnaissance mission over enemy positions. The Austro-Hungarian pilot fired at Tomić with his revolver. Tomić managed to escape, and, within several weeks, all Serbian and Austro-Hungarian planes were fitted with machine-guns.[31][40]

The battle was the first Allied victory over the Central Powers in the First World War.[4][31][41] Serbia's triumph on the battlefield drew worldwide attention to the country and won the Serbs sympathy from both neutral and Allied countries.[41] A number of foreigners flocked to Serbia in late 1914, offering financial, political, humanitarian and military aid. Articles in defence of Serbia became more frequent in the British press. Certain cultural circles in Italy advocated entering the war on the Allied side, citing Serbian and Montenegrin battlefield successes.[42]

The Serbian patriotic song March on the Drina was written by Serbian composer Stanislav Binički shortly after the battle to commemorate the victory. Binički dedicated the march to his favourite commander in the army, Colonel Milivoje Stojanović, who was killed during the fighting.[43] A Yugoslav war film also titled March on the Drina was released in 1964 and is loosely based on the battle.[44]