Battle of Brassó (1916)

The Battle of Brassó was the last major military engagement during the Battle of Transylvania. It took place between 7 and 9 October 1916, between Central Powers forces (Germany and Austria-Hungary) on one side and Romanian forces on the other side. As Brassó was the second largest city in Transylvania and the largest Transylvanian settlement taken by the Romanians during their August-September offensive in the region, the retreating Romanian forces decided to make a stand there. However, when its defense proved untenable, the Romanian 2nd Army withdrew from the city, leaving behind only 1,175 prisoners. As the Romanians failed to defend Brassó, so did the Central Powers fail to cut off their escape route, enabling the Romanians to regroup and — under better leadership — thwart the German and Austro-Hungarian attempts to break through the mountains in the region throughout the following month.