page_title: Second Battle of the Jiu Valley
section_title: Aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: Second Battle of the Jiu Valley / Aftermath
caption_attribution_description: Română: Prizonieri români în drum spre Petroşani (România) - noiembrie 1916 English: Romanian prisoners of war marching towards Petroșani, November 1916.
context_page_description: The Second Battle of the Jiu Valley was a military engagement between German and Romanian forces during the Romanian Campaign of World War I. It lasted between 7 and 17 November 1916 and resulted in a German victory.
context_section_description: The Germans seized Târgu Jiu on 15 November. All of the Jiu Valley was in German possession by 17 November. Craiova, the largest city in Oltenia, was taken on 21 November, and the Olt River itself was crossed on 23 November. It is worth noting that,  on 13 November, the Germans were 6 miles from Târgu Jiu. It took them two days to cover this distance, and seize the town itself on the 15th. The Germans advanced slowly, so as to avoid a flanking blow similar to the one that had ruined their October offensive. The town was taken by General Eberhard Graf von Schmettow's cavalry.   
  The reason Falkenhayn chose the Jiu Valley for a breakthrough was rather logistical than strategical. The consequences of the German breakthrough in that region during mid-November, serious as they were for the Romanians, proved less disastrous than those which would have followed upon an early breakthrough at the Törcsvár/Bran and Predeal passes. In order for Falkenhyan to win a complete victory at the earliest possible moment, it was necessary to force the passes in the center of the Carpathian arc. Namely, the passes between Bran and Buzău. If that had been achieved and the railway between Buzău and Ploiești seized, Romania would have been split in two, with Wallachia separated from Moldavia. The Romanian 1st Army and much of the 2nd Army would have been cut off. Thus, while the Romanian line ultimately caved in at the Jiu Valley, the Romanians ultimately averted the worst possible results.
  Târgu Jiu - capital of Gorj County - became the fourth county capital on native Romanian soil to be taken by the Central Powers, after the loss of Bazargic, Silistra and Constanța in Dobruja. Within a fortnight after taking Târgu Jiu on 15 November, the Germans captured most of the Romanian county capitals west of Bucharest, including Craiova on 21 November (capital of Dolj County), Caracal on 23 November (capital of Romanați County), Râmnicu Vâlcea on 25 November (capital of Vâlcea County), Slatina on 27 November (capital of Olt County) and finally - on 29 November - Câmpulung and Pitești (capitals of Muscel and Argeș counties, respectively).
caption: Romanian prisoners of war marching towards Petrozsény (November 1916)
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