The Battle of the Southern Carpathians was a major operation during the Romanian Campaign of World War I. The brainchild of German General Erich von Falkenhayn, the operation consisted in an attempt by the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary) to assault all of the passes in the Southern Carpathians at the same time, and exploit a success wherever it might have come. However, this did not happen, as Romanian defenses could not be defeated in any of the five areas that Falkenhayn's spread-out army tried to force.