Mihail Ceaur-Aslan was one of the generals of the Romanian Army in the

First World War 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 ...

. He served as commander of the 3rd Army between 14/27 August - 25 August / 7 September 1916, when his command was lifted due to the defective way in which he led military actions that resulted in the serious defeat at the

Battle of Turtucaia The Battle of Turtucaia ( ro, Bătălia de la Turtucaia; bg, Битка при Тутракан, ''Bitka pri Tutrakan''), also known as Tutrakan Epopee ( bg, Тутраканска епопея, ''Tutrakanska epopeya'') in Bulgaria, was the openi ...

.Constantin Kirițescu, ''Istoria războiului pentru întregirea României'', vol. 1, Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, București, 1989,

Early life and family

Mihail Aslan was born in

Onești Onești (; hu, Ónfalva) is a municipiu, city in Bacău County, Romania, with a population of 39,172 inhabitants. It is situated in the historical region of Western Moldavia, Moldavia. Administratively, the villages of Slobozia and Borzești ...

, in the family of the hetman Alecu Ceaur-Aslan, being the eleventh son of the twelve of the hetman and the sixth of his second marriage to Felicia Moser. He was married to Eliza Olănescu.

Military career

After graduating from the military school of officers with the rank of lieutenant, Mihail Aslan was assigned to the 2nd Hunters Battalion, a unit in which he participated in the military actions of the war of independence from 1877 to 1878. In 1880 he was moved to the 27th Dorobanti Bacau Regiment, and after advancing to the rank of captain, in 1882, he was moved to the School of Sons of Soldiers in Craiova. He also held various positions in Regiments 10 (1883-1885), 3 (1886-1889) and 26 Dorobanti (1890-1893). Between 1893 and 1896 he was commander of the 2nd Hunters Battalion, from where he was moved as director of studies and professor at the Military School of Infantry and Cavalry (1897-1901) He was commander of: 22nd Dâmbovița Regiment (1901-1903), 27th Bacău Regiment (1903-1907) and 15th Infantry Brigade (1907-1910). He later worked in the central administration of the Ministry of War as senior director of personnel (1910-1912), senior director of infantry (1912-1913) and technical inspector of the same weapon (1914). During the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 16 ( O.S.) / 29 (N.S.) June 1913. Serbian and Greek armies r ...

he commanded the 3rd Infantry Division, and in October 1913 he was appointed commander of the 3rd Army Corps. During the First World War he served as commander of the 3rd Army, and after his dismissal from command, he commanded, from January 1, 1917, with the 2nd Territorial Corps. On April 30, 1918, he resigned and was transferred to the reserves.Arhivele Militare Române, ''Fond 3042, Registru foi matricole ofițeri infanterie'', vol.l, f.71 apud. Ioan Gurgu, Sergiu Balanaovici, Vasilica Manea, ''O istorie a structurii de personal a Armatei Române, 1862-1947'', Editura Centrului Tehnico-Editorial al Armatei, București, 2006

Other works

*Regulation of Infantry Exercises, Bucharest, 1906 (translation, 1909) *Memorandum on the fall of the bridgehead Turtucaia, Iași (1918) *Turtucaia. Strategic study, Bucharest, 1921 Gheorghe I. Georgescu, ''Contribuțiuni la bibliografia războiului pentru întregirea neamului'', Tipografia „Cuvântul Românesc”, București, 1940

Awards

Order of the Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the defunct Order of Michael the Brave. It is awarded by the President of Romania. It has five r ...

(Knight in 1895 and Officer in 1907) * Order of the Crown *Cross of the Danube Crossing *Russian War Commemorative Medal of 1877-1878

Foreign Awards

Order of Franz Joseph The Imperial Austrian Order of Franz Joseph (german: Kaiserlich-Österreichischer Franz-Joseph-Orden) was founded by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria on 2 December 1849, on the first anniversary of his accession to the imperial throne. Classes ...

*: Order of the Sacred Treasure

Bibliography

*Falkenhayn, Erich von, The 9th Army Campaign against Romanians and Russians, Atelierele Grafice Socec & Co SA, Bucharest, 1937 *Kiritescu, Constantin, History of the war for the unification of Romania, Scientific and Encyclopedic Publishing House, Bucharest, 1989 *Ioanițiu Alexandru (Lt.-Colonel), The Romanian War: 1916–1918, vol 1, Genius Printing House, Bucharest, 1929 ***, Romania in the World War 1916–1919, Documents, Annexes, Volume 1, Official Gazette and State Printing, Bucharest, 1934 ***, The General Headquarters of the Romanian Army. Documents 1916 - 1920, Machiavelli Publishing House, Bucharest, 1996 ***, Military History of the Romanian People, vol. V, Military Publishing House, Bucharest, 1989 ***, Romania during the First World War, Military Publishing House, Bucharest, 1987 ***, Romania in the First World War, Military Publishing House, 1979

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aslan, Mihail 1853 births 1928 deaths People from Onești Romanian Land Forces generals Romanian Army World War I generals Knights of the Order of the Star of Romania Romanian military personnel of the Second Balkan War Romanian military personnel of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)