Добруджанский треугольник осенью 1916 г.: столкновение славян в борьбе за Румынию

Dobrudja Triangle in the Fall of 1916: Clash of the Slavs in the Struggle for Romania

Romania’s entry into First World War in August 1916 was belated and optional, as the turning point in the war was clearly marked in favor of the Entente. Not wanting to be left without trophies on the results of the great European conflict, which grew into a world, the Romanian government waited for the most favorable moment. Nevertheless, the Romanian calculations were not justified: the Romanian army was defeated, the capital was lost, most of the country s territory was occupied by the enemy. An important episode in the struggle for Romania was the participation in the battles of the Romanian ally on the Eastern front ― the Russian Empire. At the first stage of this struggle in September ― October 1916, Russian troops fought in the area of Dobrudja ― the coastal flank of the General defense. In the battle for Dobrudja for the first time in the war, the Russians and Serbs fought against fellow Slavs ― Bulgarian troops. Mistakes of military command of various levels led to the defeat of the allies in the Entente and the transition of Dobrudja under the control of the Germans and Bulgarians. The study of military operations of the 1916 campaign in Romania allows us to study the process of direct interaction between Russia and one of the allies on the battlefield. The first two years of the war on the Eastern front, the Russian army alone held back half of the forces of the enemy coalition, while on the Western (French) front, other allies ― primarily France and great Britain-fought together with the other half. Fighting in Dobrudja was the first such test. The study of the problem shows that the Russian command did not immediately manage to establish a mechanism of military cooperation, which eventually led to the defeat of poorly prepared for the war Romania. Despite all attempts of the Russian 47th army corps to stop the advance of the enemy, they did not succeed. In turn, the Russian political leadership allowed the army associated with Russia’s long-term friendship of Slavic Bulgaria also took part in combat actions against Russian troops in Romania.