Battle of Galicia

Coordinates: 49°51′00″N 24°01′00″E / 49.8500°N 24.0167°E / 49.8500; 24.0167
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other battles fought for the city of Lemberg, see Battle of Lwów (disambiguation).
Battle of Galicia
Part of the Eastern Front during World War I

Eastern Front, September 1914.
Date23 August – 11 September 1914
Location
Lemberg, Galicia, Austria-Hungary
Result Russian victory
Full results
Territorial
changes
Northern Bukovina
Belligerents
Russian Empire  Austria-Hungary
Commanders and leaders
Nikolai Ivanov
A. Y. von Saltza
Aleksei Evert
Pavel Plehve
Nikolai Ruzsky
Aleksei Brusilov
H. K. von Kövessháza
Austria-Hungary Heinrich von Kummer (General, 1874) [de
]
Units involved
Southwestern Front
4th Army
Austria-Hungary Army group Kövess
Austria-Hungary Army group Kummer
Strength
1,200,000 950,000
Casualties and losses

200,000–300,000:

  • 40,000 captured

324,000–420,000:

  • 100,000 dead
  • 220,000 wounded
  • 100,000–130,000 captured

The Battle of Galicia, also known as the Battle of Lemberg, was a major battle between

Gorlice and Tarnów
.

Background

When war came the Chief of the Austro-Hungarian General Staff Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf planned to launch an offensive into Russian Poland with his northern armies (the 1st and 4th). The Russians would far outnumber the Central Powers in the east (especially the Austro-Hungarian armies, which were Russia's primary target), Conrad believed that their best option was an early advance into southern Poland where the Russians would be concentrating their newly mobilized units.[6]

Conrad knew that his German allies were committed to an offensive in the West to defeat the French in the first ten weeks of the war. Only the German 8th army would be in the East, where they would stand on the defensive in East Prussia. However, their alliance with the French obliged the Russians to attack the Germans promptly, so substantial Russian forces would be sent to invade East Prussia. The 1st and 4th Austro-Hungarian Armies would advance into Poland without direct German support. By 23 August 1914 Conrad's 1st, 3rd, and 4th Armies were concentrated in Galicia along a front of 280 km (170 mi).

On 2 August

Emperor Nicholas II who had made his career in the army, was made Commander-in-Chief. He had an excellent reputation for training troops, but had never commanded a field army and was staggered by his unexpected elevation. The Russian 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 8th Armies were assigned to Galicia. The Russian war plan called for Nikolai Ivanov, the Russian commander of the Southwest Front, to counter an anticipated Austro-Hungarian offensive thrusting eastward from Lemberg. The 3rd and 8th Armies would mount an offensive into eastern Galicia
. The Russians could bring 260 trains a day to their front, compared to the Austro-Hungarian's 152.

Battles

Main article: Battle of Kraśnik

The Austro-Hungarian 1st Army under

Russian Fourth Army in what would be known as the Battle of Kraśnik
. Dankl's army was able to capture 6,000 prisoners.

Main article: Battle of Komarów (1914)

To the right of Dankl the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army, aiming at

Russian Fifth Army under Pavel Plehve in the Battle of Komarów
, capturing 20,000 prisoners and inflicting heavy casualties. However, a planned Austrian enveloping movement around the Russian army failed.

Main article: Battle of Gnila Lipa

As the Russians were being driven back along the northern front, the Austrian 3rd Army and Army Group Kovess made a simultaneous advance against Ivanov's left wing. Along the southern front, Ivanov had the Russian Third Army under Nikolai Ruzsky and the Russian Eighth Army under Aleksei Brusilov. Brusilov and Ruzsky routed the Austro-Hungarians so thoroughly that even though poor roads necessitated that the Russians halt for two days, the Austrians could not regroup to halt the Russian drive. This attack became known as the Battle of Gnila Lipa.

Main article: Battle of Rawa

With the entire 3rd Army and Kovess Group in full retreat, Conrad pulled forces away from the northern front which he believed had been sufficiently defeated. In fact, the Russians north of Lemberg were still a potential threat. Ivanov ordered Plehve's Fifth Army to attack and drove the Austrians back as they began to shift forces to the south in an engagement known as the Battle of Rava Ruska. The Austrian Second Army was quickly recalled from Serbia, but it was too late and the entire Austrian front collapsed in Galicia, and the Russians took control of Lemberg.

Main article: Częstochowa-Kraków offensive

In early November, the Russians set a goal to reach the approaches of the Carpathian mountains, for this the Częstochowa operation began. The Russian offensive began with the Battle of Bexida, the army of the General Borevich began to retreat hastily under the Russian onslaught. Later, the Russians captured Dukla and strategically important Lupovsky Pass[7] [8]

Results

Destruction of an Austro-Hungarian trench following Russian bombardment.

Holger Herwig estimates Austro-Hungarian losses of 100,000 dead, 220,000 wounded and 100,000 captured.[9] According to Prit Buttar, the Austro-Hungarian army lost 324,000 men in Galicia, including 130,000 as prisoners, while the Russians lost 225,000 men, of which 40,000 were captured.[10] Other authors estimate 400,000 Austro-Hungarian losses,[11][12][13][14] or "one-third of the Austro-Hungarian Army's combat effectives",[14] and 250,000 for the Russians.[11][12]

The Russians had pushed the front 100 miles (160 kilometers) into the

Battle of Tannenberg
, their victory at Lemberg prevented that defeat from fully taking its toll on Russian public opinion.

Order of battle

Russian forces

Russian South-Western front. Commander-in-chief – Nikolai Ivanov, Chief of Staff – Mikhail Alekseyev

Austro-Hungarian forces

References

  1. ^ Олейников А. Россия-щит Антанты. С предисловием Николая Старикова.-СПб.:Питер, 2016.-336 с.-( серия «Николай Стариков рекомендует прочитать») ISBN 978-5-496-01795-4
  2. ^ Auffenberg-Komarow M. von. Aus Österreich-Ungarns Teilnahme am Weltkriege. - Berlin und Wien, 1920. S. 284.
  3. ^ Габсбурги: Власть над миром / Мартин Рейди ; Пер. с англ. — М. : Альпина нон-фикшн, 2023. — 510 с. + 16 с. вкл. ISBN 978-5-00139-266-8
  4. ^ Олейников А. Россия-щит Антанты. С предисловием Николая Старикова.-СПб.:Питер, 2016.-336 с.-( серия «Николай Стариков рекомендует прочитать») ISBN 978-5-496-01795-4
  5. ^ Царствование Императора Николая 2/ Сергей Ольденбург.-М.:Центрполиграф, 2022.-654 с. ISBN 978-5-227-09905-1
  6. ISBN 0-19-820877-4
    .
  7. ^ Олейников А. Россия-щит Антанты. С предисловием Николая Старикова.-СПб.:Питер, 2016.-336 с.-( серия «Николай Стариков рекомендует прочитать») ISBN 978-5-496-01795-4
  8. ^ Царствование Императора Николая 2/ Сергей Ольденбург.-М.:Центрполиграф, 2022.-654 с. ISBN 978-5-227-09905-1
  9. ^ Herwig 2014, p. 95.
  10. ^ Buttar 2014, p. 278.
  11. ^ a b David R. Stone. Military History of Russia: From Ivan the Terrible to the War in Chechnya. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006. P. 162
  12. ^ a b Tony Jaques. Dictionary of Battles and Sieges. Greenwood Publishing Group. 2007. P. 380
  13. ^ John Ashley Soames Grenville. A History of the World from the 20th to the 21st Century. Psychology Press, 2005. P. 89
  14. ^ a b John Richard Schindler. A hopeless struggle: the Austro-Hungarian army and total war, 1914-1918. McMaster University, 1995. P. 91

Bibliography

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