Battle of the Drina

The Battle of the Drina (Serbian: Bitka na Drini, Битка на Дрини) was fought between Serbian and Austro-Hungarian armies in September 1914, near Loznica, Serbia, during the First Serbian campaign of World War I.

For other uses, see Battle of Drina (medieval).
Battle of the Drina
Part of the Serbian Campaign of the Balkans Theatre (World War I)

Serbian infantry heading for battle
Date7–24 September 1914
Location
Drina River
44°19′46.56″N 19°17′33.07″E
Result

Inconclusive

  • Austro-Hungarian invasion stopped
  • Serbs suspend offensive into Syrmia
Belligerents
 Austria-Hungary
Commanders and leaders
  • Oskar Potiorek
  • Liborius Ritter von Frank
  • Stepa Stepanović
  • Pavle Jurišić Šturm
Strength
  • Second Army
  • Third Army
Casualties and losses
40,000 30,000
Location within Serbia

After a first failed invasion of Serbia where he lost 40,000 men, Oskar Potiorek, the Austro-Hungarian commander of the Balkanstreitkräfte, launched a new offensive across the River 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 Austrian Syrmia and regroup their forces to face the threat. Meanwhile, in the far west, a smaller force of Serbian and Montenegrin troops moved into Bosnia, taking Višegrad. In the South, the Austrians took Shabatz (Šabac). On 17 September, a counterattack pushed the Austrians back to the Drina, where both sides settled into trench warfare.

The Battle of the Drina is considered one of the bloodiest on the war's Balkan Front.

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