| Battle of the Drina | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theSerbian campaign of theBalkans theatre ofWorld War I | |||||||
 Serbian infantry heading to the front | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Austria-Hungary | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Oskar Potiorek Liborius Ritter von Frank | Stepa Stepanović Pavle Jurišić Šturm | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| 5th Army 6th Army | 2nd Army 3rd Army | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Total: 40,000[3] | Total: 30,000[3] | ||||||
  Location within Serbia | |||||||
The Battle of the Drina (Serbian:Bitka na Drini,Битка на Дрини) was fought betweenSerbian andAustro-Hungarian armies in September 1914, nearLoznica,Serbia, during theFirst Serbian campaign ofWorld War I.[3]
After a first failed invasion of Serbia where he lost 40,000 men,Oskar Potiorek, the Austro-Hungarian commander of theBalkanstreitkräfte, launched a new offensive across theRiver Drina at the western Serbian border; after successfully crossing the river the night of 7—8 September the Austro-Hungarian forces were stopped facing strong Serbian defensive positions. In the meantime, the Serbian army was forced to end their offensive into AustrianSyrmia and regroup their forces to face the threat. Meanwhile, in the far west, a smaller force of Serbian and Montenegrin troops moved intoBosnia, takingVišegrad. In the South, the Austrians tookShabatz (Šabac). On 17 September, a counterattack pushed the Austrians back to the Drina, where both sides settled into trench warfare.[4]
The Battle of the Drina is considered one of the bloodiest on the war's Balkan Front.
After being defeated in theBattle of Cer in August 1914, the Austro-Hungarian army withdrew across the Drina River intoBosnia andSyrmia. Under pressure from theAllies, Serbia launched theSrem Offensive, crossing theSava River into the Austro-Hungarian region ofSyrmia, capturingZemun and advancing up to 20 miles into enemy territory.[1] During a diversionary crossing, the Timok First Division of the Serbian Second Army suffered significant losses when a bridge collapsed, causing confusion and panic. The division incurred approximately 6,000 casualties while inflicting only 2,000 on the enemy.
With most of his forces concentrated in Bosnia, GeneralOskar Potiorek concluded that the most effective way to halt the Serbian offensive was to initiate a second invasion of Serbia, thereby compelling the Serbs to redeploy their troops to defend their territory.[citation needed]
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On 7 September, Austro-Hungarian forces launched a renewed offensive from the west, crossing theDrina River with both theFifth Army operating in theMačva region and theSixth Army positioned further south. The initial advance by the Fifth Army was repelled by theSerbian Second Army, resulting in 4,000 Austro-Hungarian casualties and forcing a withdrawal back into Bosnia.[1] In contrast, the stronger Sixth Army succeeded in surprising theSerbian Third Army and gained a foothold on Serbian territory. Reinforcements from the Serbian Second Army were dispatched to support the defence, but the Austro-Hungarian Fifth Army managed to establish a bridgehead during a renewed assault.
Field MarshalRadomir Putnik withdrew theFirst Army fromSyrmia, conducting a forced march south to reinforce Serbian positions. The counteroffensive targeted the Sixth Army and initially made progress, but culminated in a prolonged and bloody four-day engagement at Mačkov Kamen, a peak of theJagodnja mountain. The fighting consisted of repeated frontal assaults and counterattacks, resulting in severe casualties on both sides. Two Serbian divisions suffered losses estimated at 11,000 men, while Austro-Hungarian losses were likely of a similar scale. On 25 September, the Austro-Hungarian Sixth Army withdrew to avoid being outflanked.[1]
Following the withdrawal, Putnik ordered Serbian forces to occupy defensive positions in the surrounding hills. The front subsequently stabilised, and a period of trench warfare lasting over a month ensued. This stalemate was particularly unfavourable for the Serbian army, which was poorly equipped for prolonged static combat. Its heavy artillery was largely obsolete, ammunition stocks were low, and shell production was limited to a single factory outputting roughly 100 rounds per day. In addition, Serbian infantry were issued traditionalopanaks, which provided inadequate protection compared to the Austro-Hungarian army's leather boots. Although Serbia received material support from the Allies, supply was inconsistent and insufficient. Consequently, Serbian artillery fire declined, while Austro-Hungarian firepower increased. Some Serbian divisions experienced daily casualties of up to 100 men from all causes.
During the early phase of trench warfare, the Serbian Užice Army, comprising one reinforced division, and theMontenegrin Sanjak Army, roughly equivalent to a division, launched a joint offensive into Bosnia. On 14 September, they captured the town ofVišegrad.[4] Aside from this action, both sides conducted limited local operations, none of which achieved meaningful success.
Although the Serbs repelled the second Austro-Hungarian invasion, the Austro-Hungarian forces retained a foothold in Serbian territory, from which they would launch a third offensive.[1]
Military historian Mark Clodfelter reports 40,000 casualties for the attacking Austro-Hungarian army and 30,000 for the defending Serbian army.[3] Two Austrian corps sustained almost 30,000 casualties, and one Serbian division suffered 6,000.[5]
