German postcard map of the Romanian theater of war, with map labels in Bulgarian added in red. From north to south the labels are Russia, the Austro-Hungarian regions of Galicia and Bukovina, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and, along the Black Sea, the Romania region of Dobruja. Romania's primary war aim was the annexation of the Austro-Hungarian region of Transylvania, with its large ethnic Romanian population.
Vogelschaukarte des rumänischen Kriegschauplatzes.German map labels:Vogelschaukarte des rumänischen Kriegschauplatzes.RuslandGalizienBukowinaUngarnRumaniaBulgariaDobrudschaBulgarian overprint in red:на румънския театър на войнатаБърд око на картата на румънския театър на войната.Лтичи погдедъъ Бърд око на картата на румънския войната театърРусияГалисияБуковинаУнгарияРумънияБългарияДобруджаA 498 E.P. & Co. A.-G. L.
"Early on 3 December [1916], the Orthodox Sunday, the mass of maneuver prepared to resume its offensive as Prezan had ordered. Officers visited their troops in the early dawn, encouraging them for the attack. They were all unaware that the Bavarian 11th ID, approaching from the north, was virtually upon them. The Romanian 2nd CD and 7th ID (in reserve), charged with covering the rear, remained inexplicably inactive. About midmorning, the 2nd/5th ID was suddenly attacked on three sides by the Bavarians, the Turks, Goltz's cavalry, and the regrouped 217th. The Romanians held their ground until about 1:00 P.M. Then they fell victim to the exhaustion and demoralization resulting from a week of constant marching and fighting that had reduced their ranks by almost half."
Four infantry divisions — two Bulgarian, one German, and one Turkish — and one cavalry division, nearly 100,000 men in total, crossed the Danube River from Bulgaria into Romania between November 22 and 26, 1916, putting them 130 kilometers southwest of the Romanian capital of Bucharest. Romanian General Constantin Prezan collected a 'mass of maneuver' to drive the invaders back into the Danube. One indication of the quality of his troops is 'the 2nd/5th ID', that is, an infantry division composed of the exhausted remnants of the 2nd and the 5th infantry divisions.
The Romanian Battlefront in World War I by Glenn E. Torrey, pp. 144–145, copyright © 2011 by the University Press of Kansas, publisher: University Press of Kansas, publication date: 2011
1916-12-03, 1916, December, Romania, Germania Vierbund
