 The Battle of Kolubara ( Serbian : <unk> <unk> , <unk> bitka ) ( German : Schlacht an der Kolubara ) was fought between Austria @-@ Hungary and Serbia in November and December 1914 , during the Serbian Campaign of World War I. It commenced on 16 November , when the Austro @-@ Hungarians under command of Oskar Potiorek reached the Kolubara River during their third invasion of Serbia that year , having captured the strategic town of Valjevo and forced the Serbian Army to undertake a series of retreats . The Serbs withdrew from their capital , Belgrade , on 29 and 30 November , and it quickly fell into the hands of the Austro @-@ Hungarians . On 2 December , the Serbian Army launched a surprise counterattack all along the front . Valjevo and Užice were retaken by the Serbs on 8 December and the Austro @-@ Hungarians retreated to Belgrade , which 5th Army commander <unk> Ritter von Frank deemed to be untenable . The Austro @-@ Hungarians abandoned the city between 14 and 15 December and retreated back into Austria @-@ Hungary , allowing the Serbs to retake their capital the following day . 
