Battle of Galicia
| Battle of Galicia | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theEastern FrontduringWorld War I | |||||||||
 Eastern Front, September 1914. | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Russian Empire |
 Austria-Hungary | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Nikolai IvanovA. Y. von SaltzaAleksei EvertPavel PlehveNikolai RuzskyAleksei Brusilov |
Archduke FriedrichConrad von HötzendorfV. D. von KrasnikMoritz von AuffenbergRudolf von BrudermannE. von Böhm-ErmolliH. K. von KövessházaHeinrich von Kummer | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
|
1st Army3rd Army4th ArmyArmy group KövessArmy group Kummer | |||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
|
Initial:337,000 men[6] Overall:1,200,000 |
Initial:495,000 men[6] Overall:950,000 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
200,000–300,000:
|
324,000–420,000:
| ||||||||
TheBattle of Galicia,also known as theGreat Battle of Galicia,was a major battle betweenRussiaandAustria-Hungaryduring the early stages ofWorld War Iin 1914. In the course of the battle, the Austro-Hungarian armies were severely defeated and forced out ofGalicia,while the Russians captured Lemberg (nowLviv) and, for approximately nine months,ruled Eastern Galiciauntil their defeat atGorlice and Tarnów.
Background[edit]
When war came the Chief of theAustro-Hungarian General StaffFranz Conrad von Hötzendorfplanned to launch an offensive intoRussian Polandwith 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.[7]
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 theGerman 8th armywould 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 AugustGrand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich,a second cousin ofEmperorNicholas IIwho 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 forNikolai Ivanov,the Russian commander of the Southwest Front, to counter an anticipated Austro-Hungarian offensive thrusting eastward fromLemberg.The 3rd and 8th Armies would mount an offensive into easternGalicia.The Russians could bring 260 trains a day to their front, compared to the Austro-Hungarian's 152.
Battles[edit]
The Russian operation had just begun; the 11th Austrian Corps was stationed on the Zbruch River and one Austrian cavalry division, supported by infantry and artillery, decided to cover the Russians by breaking through the town where there was the 2nd consolidated Cossack division and several companies with machine guns. The Russians perfectly lined up the infantry positions, placing them in a thick chain before the main attack, while machine guns were placed on high ground so that the position of the Austro-Hungarian cavalry was completely shot through. The Austrians, believing that numerical superiority guaranteed victory, rushed into battle without reconnaissance, machine-gun and artillery fire mowed down many Austrians, and the matter ended with the Cossacks hitting the right flank where they chopped down the enemy's cavalry. The battle ended in a rout that convinced the Russian units that they were superior to the enemy in everything.[8]
The Austro-Hungarian 1st Army underViktor Danklmoved in the north towardsLublin.Dankl struck and drove back Baron Zaltsa'sRussian Fourth Armyin what would be known as theBattle of Kraśnik.Dankl's army was able to capture 6,000 prisoners.
To the right of Dankl the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army, aiming atCholm,drove back theRussian Fifth ArmyunderPavel Plehvein theBattle of Komarów,capturing 20,000 prisoners and inflicting heavy casualties. However, a planned Austrian enveloping movement around the Russian army failed.
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 theRussian Third ArmyunderNikolai Ruzskyand theRussian Eighth ArmyunderAleksei 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 theBattle of Gnila Lipa.
The Russian army under the command of Brusilov was engaged in a defensive operation on the left flank of the Russians. The battle took place with the double superiority of the Austrians in manpower and artillery, and ended with a complete victory of the Russians and the latter's transition to a counteroffensive. As Brusilov notes in his memoirs, "our losses were great, but much less than the huge losses of the Austrians".[9][10]
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 theBattle of Rava Ruska.The Austrian Second Army was quickly recalled fromSerbia,but it was too late and the entire Austrian front collapsed in Galicia, and the Russians took control of Lemberg.
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[4][11]
Results[edit]
Holger Herwig estimates Austro-Hungarian losses of 100,000 dead, 220,000 wounded and 100,000 captured.[12]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.[13]Other authors estimate 400,000 Austro-Hungarian losses,[14][15][16][17]or "one-third of the Austro-Hungarian Army's combat effectives",[17]and 250,000 for the Russians.[14][15]
The Russians had pushed the front 100 miles (160 kilometers) into theCarpathian Mountains,completely surrounded the Austrian fortress of Przemyśl and started aSiege of Przemyślwhich lasted for over a hundred days. The battle severely damaged the Austro-Hungarian Army, killed a large portion of its trained officers, and crippled Austria-Hungary. Though the Russians had been utterly crushed at theBattle of Tannenberg,their victory at Lemberg prevented that defeat from fully taking its toll on Russian public opinion.
Order of battle[edit]
Russian forces[edit]
Russian South-Western front. Commander-in-chief –Nikolai Ivanov,Chief of Staff –Mikhail Alekseyev
- 4th ArmyCommander –Anton von Saltza(replaced byAleksei Evertafter the battle of Krasnik).
- Grenadiers Corps
- XIV. Corps
- XVI. Corps
- 5th Army,Commander –Pavel Plehve
- V. Corps
- XVII. Corps
- XIX. Corps
- XXV. Corps
- 3rd Army,Commander –Nikolai Ruzsky– Staff officers:Vladimir Dragomirov,Nikolay Dukhonin,Mikhail Bonch-Bruyevich
- IX. Corps
- X. Corps
- XI. Corps
- XXI. Corps
- 8th Army,Commander –Aleksei Brusilov– Staff officersAnton Denikin(Quartermaster)
- VII. Corps
- VIII. Corps
- XII. Corps
- XXIV. Corps
Austro-Hungarian forces[edit]
- Army group Kummer -Heinrich von Kummer
- 7. Cavalry Division
- Landsturm forces
- 1st Army.Commander –Viktor Dankl von Krasnik
- I. Corps (Cracow) – 5 and 46 Infantry Divisions
- V. Corps Pressburg (Bratislava) – 14., 33. and 37 Infantry Divisions
- X. Corps (Przemysl) – 2., 24. and 45. Infantry Divisions
- 12. Infantry Division
- 3. Cavalry Division
- 9. Cavalry Division
- 4th Army. Commander –Moritz von Auffenberg
- II. Corps (Wien) – 4., 13. and 25. Infantry Divisions
- VI. Corps (Kaschau) – 15., 27. and 39. Infantry Divisions
- IX. Corps (Leitmeritz) – 10. and 26. Infantry Divisions
- XVII. Corps (formed on outbreak of war) – 19. Infantry Division
- 6. Cavalry Division
- 10. Cavalry Division
- 3rd Army. Commander –Rudolf Brudermann
- XI. Corps (Lemberg) – 30. Infantry Division
- XIV. Corps (Innsbruck) – 3., 8. and 44. Infantry Division
- 23. Infantry Division
- 41. Infantry Division
- 2. Cavalry Division
- 4. Cavalry Division
- Army groupKövess(later part of the 2nd Army))
- III. Corps (Graz) – 6., 28. and 22. Infantry Divisions
- XII. Corps (Hermannstadt) – 16., 35. and 38. Infantry Divisions
- 11. Infantry Division
- 43. Infantry Division
- 20. Infantry Division
- 1. Cavalry Division
- 5. Cavalry Division
- 8. Cavalry Division
References[edit]
- ^Oleynikov 2016,p. 248.
- ^Auffenberg-Komarow M. von. Aus Österreich-Ungarns Teilnahme am Weltkriege. - Berlin und Wien, 1920. S. 284.
- ^Rady 2023,p. 420-421.
- ^abOleynikov 2016.
- ^Царствование Императора Николая 2/ Сергей Ольденбург.-М.:Центрполиграф, 2022.-654 с. ISBN 978-5-227-09905-1
- ^abOleynikov 2016,p. 44.
- ^Strachan, Hew (2001).The first World War. Volume I: to war.Oxford. pp. 281–357.ISBN0-19-820877-4.
- ^Брусилов 2023,p. 88-89.
- ^Брусилов 2023,p. 111.
- ^Oleynikov 2016,p. 54.
- ^Царствование Императора Николая 2/ Сергей Ольденбург.-М.:Центрполиграф, 2022.-654 с. ISBN 978-5-227-09905-1
- ^Herwig 2014,p. 95.
- ^Buttar 2014,p. 278.
- ^abDavid R. Stone.Military History of Russia: From Ivan the Terrible to the War in Chechnya. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006. P. 162
- ^abTony Jaques. Dictionary of Battles and Sieges. Greenwood Publishing Group. 2007. P. 380
- ^John Ashley Soames Grenville. A History of the World from the 20th to the 21st Century. Psychology Press, 2005. P. 89
- ^abJohn Richard Schindler. A hopeless struggle: the Austro-Hungarian army and total war, 1914-1918. McMaster University, 1995. P. 91
Bibliography[edit]
- Брусилов, Алексей (2023).Мои воспоминания. Из царской армии в Красную.Moscow: Москва.ISBN978-5-04-176827-0.
- Buttar, P. (2014).Collision of Empires: The War on the Eastern Front in 1914.Osprey Publishing.ISBN978-1472813183.
- Rady, Martyn (2023).Габсбурги власть над миром[The Habsburgs: To Rule the World'] (in Russian). Перевод с Английского–М., Альпина-Нон-Фикшн.ISBN978-5-00139-266-8.
- Herwig, H. (2014).The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914-1918(2nd ed.). London: Bloomsbury Academic.ISBN978-1-4725-1250-5.
- Oleynikov, Аlexei(2016).Россия-щит Антанты[Russia-shield of the Entente] (in Russian). Foreword by Nikolai Starikov. St. Petersburg: Piter.ISBN978-5-496-01795-4.
- Schindler, John R. (2015).Fall of the Double Eagle: the Battle for Galicia and the demise of Austria-Hungary.Herndon, Virginia:Potomac Books.ISBN978-1-61234-765-3.
- Stone, David (2015).The Russian Army in the Great War: The Eastern Front, 1914-1917.Lawrence:University Press of Kansas.ISBN9780700620951.
- Tuchman, Barbara,The Guns of August(1962)
- Tucker, Spencer,The Great War: 1914–18(1998)
- Nikolai Golovin.Great battle for GaliciaArchived3 March 2016 at theWayback Machine
49°51′00″N24°01′00″E/ 49.8500°N 24.0167°E
- Battle of Galicia
- Battles of the Eastern Front (World War I)
- 1914 in Austria-Hungary
- Russian Empire in World War I
- Poland in World War I
- Battles of World War I involving Austria-Hungary
- Battles of World War I involving Russia
- Conflicts in 1914
- Military history of Lviv
- 1914 in Poland
- 1914 in the Russian Empire
- 1915 in Ukraine
- August 1914 events
- September 1914 events
- Ukraine in World War I