Battle of Mărăşeşti

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Battle of Mărăşeşti

Date	August 6 to September 8, 1917
Location	Vrancea, Eastern Romania
Result	Romanian victory

Combatants

Romania
Russian Empire

German Empire
Austria-Hungary

Commanders

Alexandru Averescu
Eremia Grigorescu

Field Marshall Mackensen

Strength

Unknown

Casualties

27,000

47,000

The Battle of Mărăşeşti, Vrancea County, eastern Romania (August 6 to September 8, 1917) was a battle fought during World War I between Germany and Romania.

1 Premise
2 German counter-attack
3 Aftermath
4 References

[edit] Premise

The Romanians participated in a joint Russian-Romanian offensive on July 22 against the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army in the Mărăşti area and on the lower part of the Siret river (the Battle of Mărăşti). After some initial success (a 30 km-wide and 20 km-deep salient in the front of the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army), the attack had to be stopped due to the successful Central Powers counter-offensive in Galicia (see the Kerensky Offensive).

[edit] German counter-attack

Field Marshall Mackensen launched a counter-attack on August 6. Mackensen, displaying his usual skill, forced the Russians to retreat. It must be admitted that the Russian army was nearly useless by this point in the war. For the next month, the Germans, together with some Austrian units, fought a see-saw battle with the Romanian army. The fighting lasted until September 8, when both sides ran out of fresh units. The German attempt to crush the last Romanian army had failed, but the Romanians had not expanded their territory either. (Cyril Falls, The Great War, p. 285).

Romania lost over 27,000 men, including 610 officers, while Germany lost over 47,000. The Romanian heroine, Ecaterina Teodoroiu was killed at the end of this battle, on September 6, by machine-gun fire.

[edit] Aftermath

This was the last major battle on the Romanian front. In May 1918, after the German advance in Ukraine and Russia signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Romania, surrounded by the Central Powers forces, had no other choice but to sue for peace (see Treaty of Bucharest, 1918).