Serbian invasion of Banat (1950)

A soldier of the Imperial Serbian army attempting to communicate with his fellow soldiers sometime around August of 1950.

### Location

Banat region, Serbian Empire + Legionary Romania

### Result

Serbian victory, Romanian Banat annexed by Serbia.

The Serbian invasion of Banat, (Serbian: *Српска инвазија на Банат,* Romanian: *Războiul Banatului* lit. "Banat war") was a short lived armed conflict instigated by the Serbian Empire in August of 1950. The conflict lasted for only 8 days and ended with the annexation of Romanian Banat by the Serbian Empire.

## Background

On the 23rd of January, 1950, the Serbian empire was proclaimed by the new emperor, Franjo I. The empire was approached by the 4th Reich and eventually emperor Franjo and Führer Adolf Hitler of the 4th Reich managed to secure a non-aggression pact towards each other on the 5th of March, which also made sure Germany wouldn't interfere in Balkan affairs in the next 5 years as long as Serbia didn't attack Germany or Italy in the next 10 years and if it kept it's air force and navy in a limited level.

The empire began to expand into it's neighboring territories, while also de-militarizing the border between Serbia and Germany, to make sure the Germans would know that the Serbian empire wasn't going anywhere near them. Albania was annexed on the 19th of April, 1950 and Franjo set his eyes on Banat, as it has a somewhat prominent oil supply, which would be helpful for larger scale military operations in the future with military vehicles and tanks.

Franjo gave the order of mobilization to interior minister Dobroslav I and minister of war Petar I, who started mobilizing the army at the border of Romania. The Romanian police at the border feared an invasion and sent a message to the military on the 1st of August, 1950, making sure reinforcements would arrive.

## Commanders and leaders

The Serbian army was aided by the following commanders:

* Emperor Franjo I
* General Dobroslav I
* General Petar I
* Major general Jakob Brko
* Colonel Vratimir Nikolić

On the contrary, the Romanian side was aided by the following commanders:

* Conducător Ion Antonescu
* General Petre Dumitrescu
* Lieutenant general Ferdinand Boerescu
* Brigadier general Constantine Craioveanu
* Colonel Gheorghe Hatmanu

## The conflict

In the early morning hours of the 4th of August, Serbian soldiers crossed the border into Romania, with a few skirmishes with the border guard taking place at first. By around 8:30 AM, the city of Jimbolia was surrounded by two Serbian battalions, which started moving in. The city was being defended by a police battalion, the 4th border guard company and a platoon of soldiers, who hastily tried to stop the Serbian advance.

### Battle of Jimbolia

The battle of Jimbolia lasted around 16 hours, with the Serbian army initially struggling to make any decisive blows to the defenders due to their lack of communication with the mainland. The two battalions moved closer and closer towards the city until the two units linked up on the northern outskirts. Eventually, a third infantry battalion managed to breach the city from the south and the three units moved in to capture the city, which had been captured by around midnight of the 5th of August.

### Sânnicolau Mare offensive

As the battle of Jimbolia raged on in the south, the 2nd motorized brigade along with the 7th and 11th infantry battalions were making their way through northern Banat to the city of Sânnicolau Mare. Capturing this city would allow the Serbian army to occupy the railroads, allowing for more effective way of transportation through enemy territory. The 2nd motorized brigade under major general Jakob Brko, decided to go for an extremely aggressive strategy, rushing towards the enemy with the help of the 7th infantry battalion attempting to distract the enemy by attacking the flanks.

After the city had been captured, the motorized brigade set up their headquarters in the city's council building, before moving on to consolidate more territory. At 7:46 PM, a message was sent from Jakob Brko to general Dobroslav I saying "objective clear, station secured" which made way for the next stage of the invasion.

### First Lipova offensive

At 10 AM, on the 5th of August, the Imperial Serbian army began the 2nd stage of the invasion after general Dobroslav I's force was unleashed in the north to move towards the city of Lipova, a key city in the Romanian Banat region. Dobroslav was given the command of the 3rd Imperial infantry corps, which consisted of 46 000 men. Dobroslav's force started moving towards the city of Lipova rapidly, engaging the Romanian army in the battles of Periam, Variaş and Mailat, which were all won by Dobroslav's forces.

His army did meet a setback after the Romanian army won two defensive victories at the villages of Mănăştur and Vinga, but Dobroslav cleverly split up his force and instead rushed past the two villages instead of fighting the fortified Romanians, while keeping the 2nd infantry division at his flanks to make sure the Romanian army did not move from their positions. Dobroslav won another offensive battle at Şagu and eventually Jakob Brko's force would meet up with Dobroslav's, leading to an even more effective push to Lipova.

Their forces met the 7th infantry brigade led by brigadier general Constantine Craioveanu at 7 AM on the 6th of August, in the village of Maşloc. Craioveanu defended the city fiercely, attempting to stop the Serbian advance. The defense managed to slow down the Serbs, but after it looked like the Imperial army would break through, Craioveanu sent orders to colonel Gheorghe Hatmanu to rally the forces still staying in Mănăştur and Vinga to attack the 2nd infantry division.

Hatmanu started an offensive battle at 3 PM against the 2nd infantry division in the small village of Sânpetru Mic. The battle was a tie but it effectively ended the offensive, as Dobroslav was forced to send Jakob Brko's motorized brigade to help fend off Hatmanu's force. Dobroslav's forces retreated to a position 900 meters away from Maşloc and dug in for now.

### Jimbolia relief effort

On the 7th of August, two Romanian brigades made their way to the Imperial army defending the occupied Jimbolia. The Serbs were outnumbered and were forced to retreat further and further until they decided to dig in at the outskirts to attempt to hold out until a larger force came to help. Franjo sent general Petar I's 2nd Imperial infantry corps to the front and started pushing back the Romanian army. The Romanian army grouped in Cărpiniş and after another tied battle, the line remained stagnant there, with both Petar I and general Petre Dumitrescu being too cautious to make a move.

### Second battle of Sânpetru Mic

Franjo, getting frustrated with the stagnant front, sent the quick and nimble 10th infantry brigade under colonel Vratimir Nikolić to defeat Hatmanu's force at Sânpetru Mic. Hatmanu's force was caught by surprise after the infantry brigade attacked the western and southern flanks of the village. The Romanian army fought hard to keep control over the village but eventually, under the fear of being encircled, Hatmanu decided to order a retreat from their positions.

### Second Lipova offensive

Upon hearing the news, Dobroslav quickly recalled Jakob Brko and his force to the city of Maşloc. Dobroslav started a fierce attack on the Romanian positions and after a 6 hour battle, Craioveanu was forced to retreat to the city of Lipova itself. The Imperial Serbian army crossed through numerous villages, although they had all been evacuated and there was no resistance met until the battle of Neudorf.

Neudorf was a key village to capture, as it lies only 5,2 kilometers from the city of Lipova. The battle was fierce, but the Serbs, with a massive numerical advantage, managed to beat the Romanian force once again. Franjo, delighted by the news, visited the front to speak with Dobroslav. The two concluded that "Lipova must fall." In the early morning hours of the 9th of August, the Imperial Serbian army began to attack the outskirts of Lipova.

Surprised, brigadier general Craioveanu decided to simply leave the city after only two hours of fighting. Craioveanu's force moved to the larger city of Arad, where lieutenant general Ferdinand Boerescu's force was also residing. However, an attack on the city wouldn't come, as it was not part of their objective. Instead, two divisions remained in Lipova and it's surrounding villages to hold the line in case the force in Arad would advance upon the Serbs, as Dobroslav would move part of his force to assist Petar I in the invasion of southern Banat.

### Southern Banat offensive and ceasefire

The offensive in the southern region of Banat started at around 4 PM on the 10th of August, as Dobroslav's force started making an effort to surround Dumitrescu's with the help of Petar. Dumitrescu's force held their ground, but Petar I then ordered an offensive to take place, with the Imperial Serbian army managing to push back Dumitrescu to the important city of Timișoara, the historical capital of the Banat region. Dobroslav and Petar linked their forces and eventually went for a pincer like movement to encircle Timișoara.

Dobroslav's force moved from the north as Petar's force moved from the south and by the 11th of August, the pincer had been completed and the city was encircled at 11 PM. The Imperial Serbian army surrounding Timișoara numbered 110 000 men, while Dumitrescu had a force of just 50 000 in the city. At 9 AM, on the 12th of August, Ion Antonescu, seeing that the encircling of Timișoara could mean the total wipeout of a fifth of the army, decided to call for a ceasefire, which took effect at 1:20 PM on the same day.

## Casualties

### Serbian side

* 124 soldiers killed
* 650+ soldiers wounded
* 87 soldiers MIA
* one tank destroyed

### Romanian side

* 286 soldiers killed
* 1 000+ soldiers wounded
* 1 624 soldiers captured
* 202 soldiers MIA

## Aftermath

After the ceasefire went into action, Serbia annexed three quarters of the historical Romanian Banat region and incorporated it into the province of Banat. The invasion would eventually make room for the Romanian revolution, in which emperor Franjo I was killed while inspecting soldiers. Eventually, the Romanian Banat region was incorporated into the "proper Serbia" province, but eventually it was returned to Romania in 1992, after over 40 years inside of the proper Serbia province.