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|place=Cer Mountain and surrounding towns and villages in the northwestern portion of the Kingdom of Serbia |result=Decisive Serbian victory |combatant1= |combatant2= |commander1=Oskar Potiorek |commander2= |units1= |units2= |strength1=~200,000 soldiers |strength2=~180,000 soldiers |casualties1= |casualties2= }} The Battle of Cer was fought between Austria-Hungary and Serbia in August 1914 during the early stages of the Serbian Campaign of the First World War. It took place around Cer Mountain and several surrounding villages, as well as the town of Šabac. The battle, part of the first Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia, began on the night of 15 August when elements of the Serbian 1st Combined Division encountered Austro-Hungarian outposts that had been established on the slopes of Cer Mountain earlier in the invasion. The clashes that followed escalated into a battle for control over several towns and villages near the mountain, especially Šabac. On 19 August, the morale of the Austro-Hungarians collapsed and thousands of soldiers retreated back into Austria-Hungary, many of them drowning in the Drina River as they fled in panic. On 24 August the Serbs re-entered Šabac, marking the end of the battle. Serbian casualties after nearly ten days of fighting were 3,000–5,000 killed and 15,000 wounded. Those of the Austro-Hungarians were significantly higher, with 6,000–10,000 soldiers killed, 30,000 wounded and 4,500 taken as prisoners of war. The Serb victory over the Austro-Hungarians marked the first Allied victory over the Central Powers in the First World War, and the first aerial dogfight of the war took place during the battle. ==Background== Relations between Austria-Hungary and Serbia deteriorated in the aftermath of the May Overthrow in 1903. Almost immediately, the new Karađorđević government aligned itself with the Russian Empire and oriented its foreign policy away from its long time patron, the Habsburgs, and Austria-Hungary. In 1906, Austria-Hungary closed its border to Serbian agricultural exports in an episode known as the Pig War. In 1908, Austria-Hungary formally annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina—a territory with a large Serb population that it had been granted by the Congress of Berlin in 1878. The annexation prompted the Serbian public to call for war with Austria-Hungary. With no promise of Russian support in the event of war, the Serbian government decided against pursuing the matter militarily. Count Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf boasted that it would take Austro-Hungary only three months to defeat Serbia should war erupt between the two nations. With Bosnia-Herzegovina firmly in Austro-Hungarian hands, Serbia and several other Balkan states turned to forcing the Ottoman Empire from southeastern Europe. The ensuing Balkan Wars, which lasted from 1912 until 1913, saw Serbia take possession of Kosovo and Macedonia. On 28 June 1914, Bosnian Serb student Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo. The assassination precipitated the July Crisis, which led Austria-Hungary to issue an ultimatum to Serbia on 23 July on suspicion that the assassination had been planned in Belgrade. The Austro-Hungarian government made the ultimatum intentionally unacceptable to Serbia, and it was indeed rejected. The Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia on 28 July and that same day the Serbs destroyed all bridges on the Sava and Danube rivers in order to prevent the Austro-Hungarians from using them during any future invasion. Belgrade was shelled the following day, marking the beginning of the First World War. Fighting in Eastern Europe began with the first Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia in early August 1914. The number of Austro-Hungarian troops assigned to such an invasion was far smaller than the 308,000-strong force intended when war was declared. This was because a large portion of the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army had moved to the Russian Front, reducing the number of troops involved in the initial stages of the invasion to approximately 200,000. Forty percent of this force was composed of South Slavs living within Austro-Hungarian borders. On the other hand, the Serbs could muster some 450,000 men to oppose the Austro-Hungarians upon full mobilization. The main elements to face the Austro-Hungarians were the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and Užice Armies, with a combined strength of approximately 180,000 men. The Balkan Wars had only just concluded and Serbia was still recovering. Over 36,000 Serbian soldiers had been killed and 55,000 seriously wounded. Few recruits had been gained from the newly acquired territories, and the Serbian army had been stretched by the need to garrison them against Albanian insurgents and the threat of Bulgarian attack. To compound matters, the Serbian army was dangerously short of artillery, and had only just begun to replenish its ammunition stocks. Its supply problems also extended to more basic items. Many Serbian recruits reported for duty barefoot, and many units lacked any uniform other than a standard issue greatcoat and a traditional Serbian cap known as a ''šajkača''. Rifles were also in critically short supply. It was estimated that full mobilization would see some 50,000 Serbian soldiers with no equipment at all. The Austro-Hungarians, on the other hand, possessed an abundance of modern rifles and had twice as many machine guns and field guns as the Serbs. They also had better stocks of munitions, as well as much better transport and industrial infrastructure behind them. The Serbs had a slight advantage over the Austro-Hungarians: many of their soldiers were experienced veterans of the Balkan Wars and better trained than their Austro-Hungarian counterparts. Serb soldiers were also highly motivated, which compensated in part for their lack of weaponry. Austro-Hungarian forces assigned to the invasion were placed under the command of General Oskar Potiorek, who had been responsible for the security detail of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. Prior to the battle, Potiorek had predicted an easy victory over the Serbians, calling them "pig farmers." The Serbian army was commanded by Crown Prince Alexander, with the Chief of the General Staff, Field Marshal Radomir Putnik, who had commanded Serb forces in the Balkan Wars, as his deputy and ''de facto'' military leader. Generals Petar Bojović, Stepa Stepanović and Pavle Jurišić Šturm commanded the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Serbian Armies, respectively. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Cer」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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