The Battle of Herkulesfürdő was a military engagement during the Romanian Campaign of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It was fought between Romanian forces on one side and

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

forces (

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) on the other side. It resulted in a Romanian victory.

Background

The

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...

declared war on Austria-Hungary on 27 August 1916. On the following day, the Battle of Orsova commenced, the Romanians managing to secure the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

port-town as well as the western bank of the Cserna (

Cerna Cerna may refer to: Populated places * Cerna, Croatia, Vukovar-Syrmia County, Croatia * Černá (Žďár nad Sázavou District), Czech Republic * Černá, Semily District, Czech Republic * Cerna, Tulcea, Romania * A village in Vaideeni Commune, V ...

) River and a few other settlements by 4 September. In this sector of the front, the 1st Division (General

Ion Dragalina Ioan Dragalina (16 December 1860 – 9 November 1916) was a Romanian general, who died during the World War I in the First Battle of the Jiu Valley. Dragalina was born in the city of Karansebesch (now Caransebeș, Romania), which at the time ...

) of the Romanian 1st Army (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 Worl ...

) fought against the 145th Brigade (Colonel Rudolf von Fiebich-Ripke) of the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army (General

Arthur Arz von Straußenburg Generaloberst Arthur Freiherr Arz von Straußenburg ( hu, Báró Artúr Arz de Straussenburg; 16 June 1857 – 1 July 1935) was an Austro-Hungarian colonel general and last Chief of the General Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Army. At the outbreak o ...

). On 5 September, the first German unit to arrive in nearby

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

– the 187th Regiment of the 187th Division – promptly rushed its III Battalion to Herkulesfürdő (

Băile Herculane Băile Herculane ( la, Aqua Herculis; german: Herkulesbad; hu, Herkulesfürdő; cz, Herkulovy Lázně, tr, Lazarethane) is a spa town in Romanian Banat, in Caraș-Severin County, situated in the valley of the Cerna River, between the Mehedinț ...

/Herkulesbad), one of the settlements taken by the Romanian forces on 1 September (another such settlement was Mehádia). The aim of the Central Powers was to secure the

Iron Gates The Iron Gates ( ro, Porțile de Fier; sr, / or / ; Hungarian: ''Vaskapu-szoros'') is a gorge on the river Danube. It forms part of the boundary between Serbia (to the south) and Romania (north). In the broad sense it encompasses a rou ...

Battle

The battle took place between 6 and 10 September. However, only on 6 September - the first day of the battle - did the Central Powers gain any ground. Their forces managed to secure Herkulesfürdő as well as Mehádia, but fell short of reaching Orsova. Orsova was the location of the Iron Gates, and securing the

was the objective of the Central Powers. As early as 8 September, two days before the end of the battle,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

admitted that the Romanians had taken Orsova, five days after the town was seized. Also on 8 September, the XXXIX Corps of German General Hermann von Staabs assumed responsibility for operations in southern Transylvania. The units placed under the command of von Staabs included the covering troops at Mehádia.

Aftermath

A mixed Austro-Hungarian and German force under the Hungarian Colonel Szívó had moved along the Cserna River in mid-November, during a general Central Powers offensive against Romania which started on 11 November, and captured parts of Orsova during fighting on 11–13 November.Austria. Bundesministerium für Landesverteidigung, Verlag der Militärwissenschaftlichen Mitteilungen, 1930, ''Öesterreich-Ungarns letzter Krieg, 1914-1918, Register-Band'', p. 91
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References

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