Battle of Turtucaia - Background

Background

By August 1916 the Central Powers found themselves in an increasingly difficult military situation - in the West the German offensive at Verdun had turned into a costly battle of attrition, in the East the Brusilov Offensive was crippling the Austro-Hungarian Army, and in the South the Italian Army was increasing the pressure on the Austro-Hungarians, while General Sarrail's Allied expeditionary force in northern Greece seemed poised for a major offensive against the Bulgarian Army.

The Romanian government asserted that the moment was right for it to fulfill the country's national ambitions by aligning itself with the Entente, and declared war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire on 27 August 1916. Three Romanian armies invaded Transilvania through the Carpathians, pushing back the much smaller Austro-Hungarian First Army. In a short time the Romanians occupied Orsova, Petrosani, and Brașov, and reached Sibiu on their way to the river Mureş, the main objective of the offensive.

In response the German Empire declared war on Romania on 27 August, with Bulgaria following suit on 1 September. On the next day the Bulgarian Third Army initiated the Central Powers' first major offensive of the campaign by invading Southern Dobrudja.