The Serbian Campaign of 1914 was a significant military operation during World War I. It marked the first major confrontation between the Central Powers, primarily Austro-Hungary, and the Allied Powers, led by the Kingdom of Serbia. The campaign started on 28 July 1914, when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and bombarded Belgrade. On 12 August, the Austro-Hungarian forces, led by General Oskar Potiorek, launched their first offensive into Serbia.

Oskar Potiorek was an officer of the Austro-Hungarian Army, who served as Governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1911 to 1914. He was a passenger in the car carrying Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Duchess Sophie of Hohenberg when they were assassinated in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. Potiorek had failed to inform the driver of a change of route which led the royal car to take a wrong turn, stalling after trying to turn around, and ending up in front of Gavrilo Princip. In World War I, Potiorek commanded the Austro-Hungarian forces in the failed Serbian Campaign of 1914. He was removed from command, retiring from the army shortly afterward.