Battle of Kolubara

The Battle of Kolubara or the Battle of Suvobor was the most significant one between the Serbian and Austro-Hungarian armies of the WWI. The front where in November and December 1914 the fighting was going on was 200 km long – from Belgrade to Guča. The Serbian army was on a brink of a total chaos when general Živojin Mišić took over the command over the First Army, turning over the circumstances. The battle ended with a successful Serbian counteroffensive against the much greater and better equipped Austrian army, at a moment in history when the whole world was expecting the news of the Serbian Kingdom capitulation. The battle took a huge toll from both sides. More than 150,000 of Serbian soldiers were put out of the ranks. For the Central Powers, the defeat in the Battle of Kolubara meant they had to stay and fight on at the Balkan front and continuation of fights at three fronts. While general Mišić was promoted into a field marshal, general Potiorek was removed from command of the Austrian forces on the Balkans to be replaced with field marshal August von Mackensen.

ART

In his novel Time of Death (Vreme Smrti), Dobrica Ćosić, one of the greatest 20th century Serbian writers, following the experiences of the members of a family, describes the fateful events at the beginning of the WWI and the Battle of Kolubara.

HISTORY

Nemačke novine su posle Kolubarske bitke pisale: Srbija je još jednom vaskrsla iz groba Kosova polja i iz Kolubarskog vrela crpiće tokom čitavog jednog veka gordu hrabrost za najveće bitke.

OUTSTANDING FIGURES

General Živojin Mišić. Slikarka Nadežda Petrović je učestvovala u bici kao bolničarka. Umrla je od tifusa u valjevskoj bolnici.