Battle of Kraśnik
Use of Austrian dragoons
| date | August 23, 1914 to August 25, 1914 |
|---|---|
| place | Kraśnik , Congress Poland , Russian Empire |
| output | Austrian victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
|
1st Army : 144 infantry battalions 71 squadrons 354 guns |
4th Army : 124 infantry battalions 103 squadrons 450 guns |
| losses | |
|
15,000 dead, wounded, captured and missing |
20,000 dead, wounded, prisoners and missing (6000 prisoners of war) |
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Battle of Galicia, 1914
Kraśnik - Komarów - Złoczów - Gnila Lipa - Lviv - Grodek - Rawa Ruska
The Battle of Kraśnik was the first major battle between Austria-Hungary and the Russian Empire on the Eastern Front . It was the first victory of Austria-Hungary in the First World War . It began on August 23, 1914 in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria and the adjacent areas of the Russian Empire and ended two days later. The Austro-Hungarian 1st Army under Commander-in-Chief Viktor Dankl was able to inflict a defeat on the Russian 4th Army . As a result, General of the Cavalry Dankl was celebrated as a national hero for a short time. Most of the subsequent clashes in Galicia ended with Russian victories.
Starting position
In mid-August 1914, the theater of war in northern and eastern Galicia was marked by reconnaissance and border battles by advanced cavalry units between troops from Austria-Hungary and the Russian Empire. The opponents mobilized their armies at maximum speed and moved them to the borders to protect them or to advance into enemy territory.
The commander of the Russian Southwest Front, General Nikolai Iudowitsch Ivanov , ordered his 4th and 5th Armies to proceed through Lublin and Cholm against the northern border of Galicia. By August 23, troops from the Russian Northwest Front had advanced around 75 kilometers into German territory at the northern theater of war in East Prussia . By August 20, Austria-Hungary had only gained minimal territorial gains by occupying the town of Miéchow in the northern apron of Krakow without a fight .
According to plans by the Austro-Hungarian Chief of Staff Franz Graf Conrad von Hötzendorf , the 1st Army had to seek contact with the enemy in the direction of Lublin, to push the enemy to Brest-Litovsk and at the same time to straighten the unfavorable lead of Congress Poland with a German operation in the direction of Siedlce . The Austro-Hungarian 1st Army, concentrated on the San Line, advanced on August 20 across the northern border of Galicia. During the Austrian offensive, the left wing was covered by the east bank of the Vistula , where on the western bank near Sandomir the kuk army group of General of the Cavalry Heinrich Kummer von Falkenfeld had to support. On the eastern flank, Dankl's advance was accompanied by the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army .
The battle
Before the battle began, the Austro-Hungarian troops had advantages over the Russian units. These were the numerical superiority as well as a better strategic starting position. The Austro-Hungarian 1st Army consisted of 10.5 infantry divisions and 2 cavalry divisions , whereas the Russian 4th Army only had 6.5 infantry divisions on the first and second day of the battle, but it was reinforced by 3.5 cavalry divisions. On the instructions of the Chief of Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Army , the offensive operation intensified the rapid movement of the Kummer group from the western bank of the Vistula, which the Chief of Staff of the Russian Southwest Front, Mikhail Alexejew , had not expected.
On August 22nd, General Dankl ordered his army's offensive to the north, aiming to break through towards Lublin. General Alexejew ordered his 5th Army (General Pawel Adamowitsch Plehwe ), which was still further back, to move forward too late in order to catch up with 4th Army and protect its left flank. Although this order would have given the Russian 4th Army a stronger starting position, it could no longer prevent the subsequent tactical defeat.
On August 23, the 3rd Cavalry Division ( FML Adolf Ritter von Brudermann ) deployed on the left flank of the 1st Army of the Imperial and Royal I. Corps under Cavalry General Karl Graf von Kirchbach met with the 5th and 46th Divisions east of Annapol on the enemy. In the center of the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army, the V Corps ( Feldzeugmeister Paul Puhallo von Brlog ) advanced north with the 14th and 33rd Divisions via Janow on both sides of the Bystrzista. The Russian 14th Army Corps (General Woyshin-Murdas) and the 16th Army Corps (General Geisman) were pushed back in a frontal attack. On the right wing of Dankl, the X. Corps ( General of the Infantry Hugo Meixner von Zweienstamm ) advanced on August 22nd with the 2nd, 24th and 45th Divisions without a fight over the Tanew north to Bjelgoraj and on August 23rd they joined the fight the Russian Grenadier Corps (General Josif Iwanowitsch Mrozowski) the line Polichna - Turobin to Wieprz. On August 24, the Austro-Hungarian 5th and 46th Divisions penetrated Kraśnik , and the 12th Division (FML Paul Kestranek) now took over cover to the west towards the Vistula. On August 24th and 25th, 1st Army successfully continued the attack and advanced its left wing to encircle it. Baron Saltza therefore pulled his defeated right wing back behind the Chlodelbach in good time.
The battle was untypical for both trench warfare , which would dominate the western front , and warfare on the eastern front , as the contingents involved were usually much larger. Positions were never built for long stops as neither army had time to dig in. Instead, the battle was more agile and involved large cavalry battles, as both sides together could field 5.5 cavalry divisions.
consequences
Due to the Austro-Hungarian success, the Russian invasion of northern Galicia was averted for the time being, the defeated Commander-in-Chief Baron Saltza was replaced by General Ewert during the battle . The Battle of Kraśnik sparked a series of other clashes along the great Galician front, all connected with the Battle of Lviv . On August 27, the battle flared up again, the kuk I. and V. Corps suffered heavy losses. By August 30th, Dankl could be reinforced by the Silesian Landwehr Corps under Woyrsch, which crossed the Vistula near Jozefow. Today's military literature unites all confrontations under the name Battle of Galicia . The short-term Russian retreat towards Lublin was carried out together with the Russian 5th Army, which was also thrown back a little later near Komarów . On September 5th General Ewert began strong counterattacks from the southern apron of Lublin, which forced Dankl on September 7th to order the withdrawal order. As a result of a series of further defeats by the other Austro-Hungarian forces, Lemberg was lost on September 11th, and the front of the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army had to be pulled back behind the San .
Dankl's admiration as a national hero only lasted for a short time: his 1st Army was defeated in the Battle of Ivangorod in October 1914 and had to retreat behind the Nida and Pilica on the northern apron of Krakow until the end of November, suffering severe losses . In 1917, Dankl , who was appointed Colonel General , received the Commander's Cross of the Military Maria Theresa Order and at the same time was promoted to baron . In 1918 Freiherr von Dankl was given the title of Count and the name of Kraśnik as an honor.
On a more individual level, the battle was also an important moment in the career of Major General Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim at the time , who led the Uhlan Life Guard Brigade, which was assigned to the Russian 4th Army. Mannerheim received the Order of St. George for his leadership in the battle and took part in many other fights in the course of the Battle of Galicia.
literature
- Austrian Federal Ministry of the Army from the war archive: Austria-Hungary's last war 1914–1918. First volume , Verlag der Militärwissenschaftliche Mitteilungen, Vienna 1930, pp. 178–185
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Austrian Federal Ministry for the Army from the War Archives. Austria-Hungary's last war 1914–1918. First volume : p. 184.
- ^ N. Golovin: The Great Battle of Galicia (1914): A Study in Strategy. S. 25-47 .