Veresmart Offensive
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Veresmart Offensive was a
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
military engagement between
Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
forces on one side and
Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...
forces (
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
and
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
) on the other side. It was part of the larger
Battle of Transylvania The Battle of Transylvania was the first major operation of Romania during World War I, beginning on 27 August 1916. It started as an attempt by the Romanian Army to seize Transylvania, and potentially knock Austria-Hungary out of the war. Althou ...
. Although the Romanians failed to reach their planned objective, the strategic situation of the Central Powers was significantly worsened by the Romanian attack. Nevertheless, the Romanian forces did not exploit their strategic success further.


Background

At the onset of the
Romanian Campaign The Kingdom of Romania was neutral for the first two years of World War I, entering on the side of the Allied powers from 27 August 1916 until Central Power occupation led to the Treaty of Bucharest in May 1918, before reentering the war on 10 ...
, starting on 27 August 1916 with the
Battle of Transylvania The Battle of Transylvania was the first major operation of Romania during World War I, beginning on 27 August 1916. It started as an attempt by the Romanian Army to seize Transylvania, and potentially knock Austria-Hungary out of the war. Althou ...
, the Romanian 1st Army, under the command of General
Ioan Culcer Ioan Culcer (29 July 1853 – September 1928) was a Wallachian-born Romanian military leader and politician. Culcer served as a lieutenant during the Romanian War of Independence (1877–1878) and as a general during the Second Balkan War and W ...
, consisted of six divisions, of which four comprised the I Corps, led by General Ioan Popovici. In the middle of September, General Culcer moved the I Corps headquarters to Nagytalmács (
Tălmaciu Tălmaciu (; ) is a town in Sibiu County, in central Romania, south of the county seat, Sibiu. It lies on the eastern end of the Mărginimea Sibiului area. Geography Tălmaciu is situated at the confluence of the Sadu and Cibin rivers, before ...
/Talmesch). General Popovici arrived in Nagytalmács along with his staff on 16 September. Popovici had two divisions under his command at Nagyszeben (
Sibiu Sibiu ( , , , Hungarian: ''Nagyszeben'', , Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'' or ''Hermestatt'') is a city in central Romania, situated in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles th ...
/Hermannstadt): the 13th and the 23rd. While concentrating their forces northwest of Nagyszeben in preparation for the impending battle for that city, the Germans kept the Romanians under artillery fire in order to keep them from sending out patrols that could have discovered the German build-up. Romanian frustration with having to endure this bombardment boiled over, and on 22 September General Popovici ordered his 13th Division to take the heights at Veresmart ( Roșia/Rothberg), east of Nagyszeben. Although this action was against Culcer's orders, it was still Culcer himself who decided to appoint Popovici as commander of the two Romanian divisions headquartered at Nagytalmács. The Romanians faced the cavalry formations of General Eberhard Graf von Schmettow. Von Schmettow's forces comprised the 1st Austro-Hungarian and 3rd German Cavalry Divisions. He was the commander of the 3rd Division, but both it and the 1st Austro-Hungarian were under his command.


Romanian attack

The Romanian 13th Division attacked at dawn on 22 September, in order to gain surprise and avoid an artillery battle, for which it had insufficient ammunition. However, without an artillery preparation, the Central Powers positions remained unscathed, and their machine-gunners cut down the Romanians. In some areas, the fighting was intense, often hand-to-hand. In most places, the Romanians gained little or no territory. Popovici's only real success was attained south of Hortobágyfalva ( Cornățel/Harbachdorf), where the Romanians faced the extremely thinly-held positions of the 7th Cavalry Brigade of the 1st Division. Encyclopædia britannica Company, Limited, 1922, ''The Encyclopædia Britannica: The New Volumes, Constituting, in Combination with the Twenty-nine Volumes of the Eleventh Edition, the Twelfth Edition of that Work, and Also Supplying a New, Distinctive, and Independent Library of Reference Dealing with Events and Developments of the Period 1910 to 1921 Inclusive. The First-third of the New Volumes, Volume 30'', p. 916


Aftermath

The expected continuation of the Romanian attack on 23 September did not take place. The Romanian attack had driven a wedge between von Schmettow's two cavalry divisions, which — if exploited — could expose the flank of the 9th Army and ruin the plans to take Nagyszeben. The Romanian pressure was driving apart the 1st Austro-Hungarian and 9th German Armies. General
Erich von Falkenhayn Erich Georg Sebastian Anton von Falkenhayn (11 September 1861 – 8 April 1922) was a German general and Ottoman Field Marshal who served as Prussian Minister of War and Chief of the German General Staff during the First World War. Falkenha ...
(9th Army) asked General Arthur Arz von Straussenburg (1st Army) to give him the arriving German 89th Division to fill the gap. Arz refused, stating that the 89th Division was his only reserve, and giving it away would fatally weaken his army. Arz's Chief of Staff, Colonel Josef Huber, doubted that the 1st Army could hold without the 89th Division. This admission unsettled von Falkenhayn, who contacted the German High Command and asked
Erich Ludendorff Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff (; 9 April 1865 – 20 December 1937) was a German general and politician. He achieved fame during World War I (1914–1918) for his central role in the German victories at Battle of Liège, Liège and Battle ...
for help. The latter sided with von Falkenhayn, giving him command of the division on 27 September. Falkenhayn also "grudgingly conceded" that Arz's 1st Army could withdraw its center if absolutely necessary, but not its right wing, which had to remain in contact with von Schmettow's cavalry in order to cover the rear of the 9th Army. Arz intended to use the German 89th Infantry Division to reinforce his center and left flank, hence why he was unwilling to comply. The '' OHLs support for Falkenhayn, however, left Arz with no choice but to comply. In terms of territory, the Romanian gains appear to have consisted mainly of the village of Oltszakadát ( Săcădate/Sekadaten). A pair of Austrian post-war military maps seem to attest this. The first map, showing the situation of the front lines in Transylvania up to 19 September, places the line of the Romanian front in the area just beyond Felek (
Avrig Avrig (; , Transylvanian Saxon: ''Freck/Fraek'', ) is a town in Sibiu County, Transylvania, central Romania. The first documents attesting its existence date to 1346. It officially became a town in 1989, as a result of the Romanian rural systema ...
/Freck). On the map, Felek is placed to the southwest of a northward-facing bend in the Olt (Alt) River. The Romanian front line extends just beyond Felek, to the southwestern end of this bend. The second map, depicting the 26-29 September
Battle of Nagyszeben The Battle of Nagyszeben was a World War I military engagement fought between the forces of the Central Powers (German Empire, Germany and Austria-Hungary) on one side and the forces of Kingdom of Romania, Romania on the other side. It was the de ...
, shows that the Romanian front on 26 September extended to the northeastern end of this bend, just beyond the village of Oltszakadát.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veresmart 1916 Battles of the Eastern Front (World War I) Battles of World War I involving Germany Battles of World War I involving Romania Battles of World War I involving Austria-Hungary Battles involving Hungary Transylvania in World War I Conflicts in 1916 1916 in Romania