Battle of Transylvania

Battle of Transylvania
Part of the Romanian campaign of World War I
Romanian troops crossing the mountains into Transylvania
Date 27 August – 16 October 1916 Location Transylvania, Austria-Hungary (today in Romania) Result Central Powers victory Romanian invasion repulsed Successful Romanian retreat (Central Powers failure to destroy any of the three Romanian armies) Erich von Falkenhayn replaced as Chief of Staff of the Imperial German Army German offensive at Verdun halted, as well as German offensives on other fronts 200,000 civilians internally displaced Central Powers invasion of Dobruja Assumption of supreme military command of the Central Powers by the German emperor
Belligerents
Kingdom of Romania	Austria-Hungary  German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Ioan Culcer Alexandru Averescu Grigore Crăiniceanu (replaced Averescu after Turtucaia) Constantin Prezan	Erich von Falkenhayn Arthur Arz von Straußenburg
Units involved
1st Army 2nd Army North Army	1st Army 9th Army
Strength
27 August: 369,000[1] 18 September: Less than the Central Powers[2]	27 August: 34,000[3] 18 September: >200,000[4]
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

The Battle of Transylvania was the first major operation of Romania during World War I, beginning on 27 August 1916. It started as an attempt by the Romanian Army to seize Transylvania, and potentially knock Austria-Hungary out of the war. Although initially successful, the offensive was brought to a halt after Bulgaria's attack on Dobruja. Coupled with a successful German and Austro-Hungarian counterattack which started in mid-September, the Romanian Army was eventually forced to retreat back to the Carpathians by mid-October. The Romanian armies however managed to escape the Central Powers' attempts to completely destroy them. The Battle of Transylvania also caused the replacement of the Chief of Staff of the German Army and the shifting of German attention to the region, causing German offensive operations at Verdun to cease.