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Torrey_WWI on the Romanian Front 5/5/14 11:43 AM Page v © University Press of Kansas. All rights reserved. Reproduction and distribution prohibited without permission of the Press. Contents List of Illustrations vii Preface xi List of Abbreviations xv 1. The Road to War, 1914–1916 1 2. The Romanian Army and War Plan 14 3. On the Eve of War 30 4. The Invasion of Transylvania 45 5. The War Opens on the Dobrogean Front 61 6. The Flămânda Maneuver 75 7. The Austro-German Counteroffensive in Transylvania 91 8. Battles on the Frontiers 110 9. The Battle for Wallachia 134 10. Retreat to Moldavia 154 11. Reconstructing the Romanian Army: January–June 1917 170 12. The Russo-Romanian Offensive: Mărăşti, July 1917 189 13. The Austro-German Offensive: Mărăşeşti, August 1917 210 14. The Austro-German Offensive: Oituz, August 1917 237 15. Between War and Peace: September 1917–January 1918 257 Torrey_WWI on the Romanian Front 5/5/14 11:43 AM Page vi © University Press of Kansas. All rights reserved. Reproduction and distribution prohibited without permission of the Press. vi CONTENTS 16. Bessarabia and the Peace of Buftea: January–March 1918 271 17. Peace, Demobilization, Reentry: March–November 1918 293 Epilogue 314 In Conclusion 328 Notes 335 Selected List of Sources 395 Index 409 Torrey_WWI on the Romanian Front 5/5/14 11:43 AM Page vii © University Press of Kansas. All rights reserved. Reproduction and distribution prohibited without permission of the Press. Illustrations MAPS 1. Romania: Pre-1914 and Post-1918. 2 2. Romanian War Plan—Hypothesis Z. 22 3. Romanian Advance into Transylvania. 47 4. The War Opens in Dobrogea. 63 5. The Battle of Sibiu, 26–29 September. 92 6. Counteroffensive of the German 9th Army, 25 September– 9 October. 101 7. Russo-Romanian Retreat in Dobrogea. 111 8. Battles in the Carpathian Passes. 119 9. Romanian Retreat on the Olt and the Jiu. 123 10. The Battle of Bucharest. 139 11. The Battles of Râmnicu-Sărat, Focşani, and Vrancea, December 1916–1917. 160 12. Offensive Plans for 1917. 192 13. The Battle of Mărăşti, 24 July–1 August 1917. 201 14. The Battle of Mărăşeşti, 6 August–3 September 1917. 213 15. The Battle of Oituz, 8–21 August 1917. 239 16. Romanian Military Occupation of Bessarabia. 274 17. Demarcation Lines in Transylvania, 1918–1919. 321 vii Torrey_WWI on the Romanian Front 5/5/14 11:43 AM Page viii © University Press of Kansas. All rights reserved. Reproduction and distribution prohibited without permission of the Press. viii ILLUSTRATIONS PHOTOGRAPHS 1. King Ferdinand and Queen Marie. 5 2. Premier Ion I. C. Brătianu. 6 3. Romanian Generals. 27 4. German–Bulgarian higher command. 33 5. Field Marshal August von Mackensen, General Arthur Arz von Straussenburg, General Erich von Falkenhayn. 35 6. Romanian infantry crossing the Carpathians, 28 August 1916. 46 7. General Constantin Prezan, commander, North Army. 48 8. General Stefan Toshev, commander, Bulgarian 3rd Army. 62 9. General Andrei Zaionchkovskii. 65 10. General Alexandru Averescu. 76 11. Turkish infantry on the Romanian Front, 1916. 81 12. Pontoon bridge over the Danube, Flămânda Maneuver, 1 October 1916. 85 13. General Krafft von Delmensingen reports to Archduke Karl near Sibiu. 94 14. Alpine Corps monument. Olt Pass, “Das Alpenkorps 26–29 IX 1916.” 100 15. Romanians who died defending Braşov, 7–8 October 1916. 105 16. Returning Hungarian troops welcomed in Braşov, 8 October 1916. 106 17. General Falkenhayn at the front. 118 18. Romanian prisoners captured on the Olt. 127 19. General Ioan Dragalina, commander, 1st Army. 130 20. German prisoners captured on the Jiu. 132 21. Mackensen in Bucharest. 151 22. Destruction of Romanian oil district. 152 23. Romanians in full retreat toward Moldavia. 156 24. Behind the lines. 178 25. General Berthelot with some officers of the French military mission. 180 26. “Luncheon of the Franco-Romanian Farman 5 Aviation Group,” 1/14 June 1917. 186 27. General Dimitri Shcherbachev, commander, Romanian front. 191 28. Austro-Hungarian prisoners taken in Battle of Mărăşti. 206 Torrey_WWI on the Romanian Front 5/5/14 11:43 AM Page ix © University Press of Kansas. All rights reserved. Reproduction and distribution prohibited without permission of the Press. ILLUSTRATIONS ix 29. German command observation post, Battle of Mărăşeşti. 215 30. General Curt von Morgen, commander, I Res. Corps. 218 31. General Eremia Grigorescu, commander of the Romanian First Army, confers with General Berthelot. 222 32. Romanian prisoners carrying a wounded comrade. 229 33. Lieutenant Erwin Rommel in 1917. 242 34. Russian soldiers in Romania, 1917. 262 35. Armistice negotiators at Focşani, 9 December 1917. 265 36. Premier Alexandru Marghiloman with Sfatul Ţării at signing of the Act of Union of Bessarabia with Romania. 282 37. Premier Averescu arrives at Buftea to meet with Mackensen, 18 February 1918. 287 38. King Ferdinand and Queen Marie review troops as demobilization begins, March 1918. 295 39. Premier Alexandru Marghiloman, March–November 1918. 297 40. General Constantin Christescu, chief of the General Staff, March–November 1918. 306 41. Victory parade in Bucharest, 1 December 1918. 319 42. General Prezan with Command of Troops in Transylvania, 1919. 326 TABLES 1. Statistics from the I Army Corps (2nd ID, 4th ID, 11th ID) under reconstruction south of Iaşi, 1917 175 2. Romanian and Russian losses in the Battle of Mărăşeşti, 1917 235 Torrey_WWI on the Romanian Front 5/5/14 11:43 AM Page x © University Press of Kansas. All rights reserved. Reproduction and distribution prohibited without permission of the Press. Torrey_WWI on the Romanian Front 5/5/14 11:43 AM Page xi © University Press of Kansas. All rights reserved. Reproduction and distribution prohibited without permission of the Press. Preface As I have pointed out elsewhere, Romania’s participation in World War I had a far-reaching impact on all the belligerents. Both the Central Powers and the Allied Coalition diverted substantial military resources to the Ro- manian Front, to the detriment of operations elsewhere. Moreover, the promises of territorial acquisitions that the Entente Powers reluctantly gave to win their new ally tied their hands in negotiating a peace settlement later.1 The Romanians, for their part, suffered through a crushing defeat in 1916, a hard-won trial by fire on the battlefield in 1917, and the traumatic impact of the Russian Revolution, which forced them into a disastrous sep- arate peace with the Central Powers. The eventual victory of the Entente allowed them to achieve the war aims for which they fought. Romanian historians, naturally, have always given prominent attention to the events on the Romanian Front from 1916 to 1918, which were deci- sive for the creation of modern Romania. During the interwar period, his- torians of other nations also devoted substantial attention to the subject. Their accounts, like the Romanian ones, be they official histories or inde- pendent studies, reflected their particular national perspective in both em- phasis and documentation. After World War II, while Romanian historians continued to elaborate on their nation’s role in the Great War, other histo- rians gave it scant attention, neglecting 1917 altogether. This was partly the result of lack of interest, but it was also related to the difficulty in access- ing Romanian libraries and archives. As the latter situation began to ease slowly beginning in the 1960s, I was able, over the succeeding 30 years, to make a series of extended visits, not only to Romanian archival reposito- xi Torrey_WWI on the Romanian Front 5/5/14 11:43 AM Page xii © University Press of Kansas. All rights reserved. Reproduction and distribution prohibited without permission of the Press. xii PREFACE ries but also to those of its one-time allies and enemies. Using this docu- mentation, I have already written about a number of specific aspects of the theme of Romania and the belligerents during 1914–1918. In this book, I seek to present a balanced survey of military operations and closely related events on the Romanian Front during 1916–1918 that includes the per- spective of the Central Powers as well as that of Romania and its allies. The neglected 1917 campaign is given the attention it deserves. Although this study draws on some of my earlier writings, it is a new synthesis, covering new topics and incorporating additional archival sources and recent secondary literature. Thus it is not an exhaustive oper- ational history, but I believe it presents sufficient detail and maps to enable readers to understand strategic and tactical decisions and follow their con- sequences on the battlefield. It also seeks to portray a slice of the human side of the war by reference to published and unpublished personal docu- ments. Because most readers are unlikely to have a detailed knowledge of Romania in this era, I have included background information about the country and its leaders. It is my hope that they, and even some academics whose specialties lie elsewhere, will gain a more complete understanding of this often overlooked chapter in the history of the First World War, one whose influence continues today. I would like to call the reader’s attention to the following. First, for con- sistency, all dates are given according to the Gregorian calendar in use today, even though Romania and Russia utilized the Julian calendar at that time. Second, while the terms Entente and Allies are used interchangeably to designate Romania’s brothers-in-arms until 1917, the latter designation is used after Russia left the war. Finally, the spelling of place-names in the text, and in the maps where possible, follows the Romanian form with a few exceptions—for example, Bucharest, Wallachia, Moldavia, Transylva- nia, Danube, Carpathian, and Bessarabia, which are given in the accepted English version.