Battle of Cer 1914
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 15 August 1914 – 24 August 1914 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1914 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | World War I era (1914–1918) | derived from year |
| Location | Serbia | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Serbian campaign | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Alexander I of Yugoslavia, Austria–Hungary, Kingdom of Serbia, Oskar Potiorek, Pavle Jurišić Šturm, Petar Bojović, Radomir Putnik, Stepa Stepanović | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 44.5544, 19.5281 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Cer was a military campaign fought between Austria-Hungary and Serbia in August 1914, starting three weeks into the Serbian Campaign of 1914, the initial military action of the First World War. It took place around Cer Mountain and several surrounding villages, as well as the town of Šabac.
The battle, part of the first Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia, began on the night of 15 August when elements of the Serbian 1st Combined Division encountered Austro-Hungarian outposts that had been established on the slopes of Cer Mountain earlier in the invasion. The clashes that followed escalated into a battle for control over several towns and villages near the mountain, especially Šabac. On 19 August, the morale of the Austro-Hungarians collapsed and thousands of soldiers retreated into Austria-Hungary with many of them drowning in the Drina River as they fled in panic. On 24 August the Serbs re-entered Šabac, marking the end of the battle.
Serbian casualties after nearly ten days of fighting were 3,000–5,000 killed and 15,000 wounded. Those of the Austro-Hungarians were significantly higher, with 6,000–10,000 soldiers killed, 30,000 wounded and 4,500 taken as prisoners of war.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Cer (revision 1372613848), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
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- Battle of Loznica 1810 · 24 km
- Siege of Šabac (1521) 1521 · 26 km
- Battle of Mišar 1806 · 27 km
- Battle of the Drina 1914 · 31 km
- Kravica attack (1993) 1993 · 46 km
Other battles of the Serbian campaign
All 3 battles of the Serbian campaign →
Browse more: battles in Serbia · Europe · World War I era battles