7th Army (Austria-Hungary)

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The Austro-Hungarian 7th Army was a large unit of the Austro-Hungarian Army during the First World War . Army High Command 7 emerged directly from the Planter-Baltin Army Group in early May 1915 and was deployed exclusively on the Eastern Front from its formation until its dissolution in April 1918 .

commitment

Karl von Pflanzer-Baltin Drawing by Oskar Brüch

1914

At the beginning of the war in August 1914, the Russian 8th Army advanced on a broad front across the border river Zbrucz to Galicia . In Halicz group of FML held Karg (38th Honved Division and the 102nd Brigade militia) an eastern Dniester -Brückenkopf. The Russian Cossack Corps Pavlov penetrated the Bukovina via the upper Prut . The provincial cities of Stryi and Stanislau were occupied by the Russian XXIV Corps in September. Kk Landwehr were able to hold the northeastern parts of Bukowina successfully for some time.

Army Group Planter-Baltin

It was not until September 26 that the army group of General of the Cavalry Karl von Pflanzer-Baltin established itself to protect the Dniester line , which was mostly formed from the Landsturm resident there.

  • 55th Division - FML Peter von Hofmann
  • 56th Division - FML Wilhelm von Attems-Petzenstein
  • 54th Division - FML Emil Schultheisz von Devecser
  • 52nd Division - FML Franz Schreitter von Schwarzenfeld
  • 2nd Polish Legion - FML Karl Durski von Trzasko (Lieutenant Colonel Józef Haller )

The group of Lieutenant Colonel Eduard Fischer operating on the Sereth Line comprised gendarmerie units as well as numerous volunteers from various ethnic groups. The main bases of this land storm group were in Gurahumora and Kimpolung . In mid-October 1914, the Polish brigade under Lieutenant Colonel Haller covered the entrance to the Pantyr Pass in the Rafailowa area from Russian forces at Nadworna in the area of ​​the FML Attem group (56th Honved Division). On October 22nd, the Durski group carried out a relieving push towards Dolina and Stryj. Fischer's troops were able to halt the Russian attacks for a short time. Only the reinforced Russian Dniester group under General Selivanov managed to occupy Chernivtsi on November 20, 1914 .

1915

In the spring of 1915, the Army Group Planter was reinforced by German troops . The Hofmann Corps (55th Division and 131st Brigade) protecting the Laborcza Valley was placed under the newly formed German Southern Army . On the other hand, the combined Marschall corps (Austro-Hungarian 30th Division, Austro-Hungarian 10th and German 5th Cavalry Division ) established itself in the Army Group .

As a result of the attacks by the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army in the Carpathian Battle, Planter also supported the offensive from February 1, 1915 by making tactical advances to the Dniester line. In February 1915 the Czibulka Corps was formed, it comprised the 36th Division (FML Schreitter) and the 15th Division (GM Benigni). Major General von Lilienhoff's group penetrated the lost Bukovina via Kirlibaba and Jakobeny. The 36th Division, which had arrived from Serbia, advanced over the Tartaren Pass to Delatyn - on February 17th, Chernivtsi was taken again. Czibulka's troops reached Ottynia on February 18 . By February 26, the left wing of the Russian 8th Army had to pass through the XXII. Corps are reinforced. The Russian 9th Army under General Letschizki (8½ infantry and 5 cavalry divisions) was transferred from Poland to the Dniester front to stop the advance of the Planter Army Group. In a short time this forced a positional war on the left wing of the Russian south-western front.

Establishment of the Army High Command 7

The threatened crown land of Bukovina

From May 1, 1915, the Army Group Planter launched attacks against Dolina with 20th battalions in order to distract the Russians from the prepared attack in Western Galicia. The III. "Grazer" Corps with the 22nd Rifle Division and the 28th Infantry Division thrown from the Carpathians to the Dniester at short notice. The Army Group Planter, fighting with varied skills on the Dniester, was renamed and upgraded to the Austro-Hungarian 7th Army on May 8, 1915. Colonel von Zeynek was appointed Chief of the General Staff .

On May 8, the kuk Kaiserschützen managed to take Zaleszczyki by surprise on the Dniester and take 3000 Russians prisoner. On May 9th, a strong counterattack by the Russian 9th Army with six army corps began, which ruined all of Planter's successes. By May 12, the 7th Army had to retreat to the Prut and Nadwórna, the retreat battles brought heavy losses, especially to the Styrian, Carinthian and Silesian troops.

After that, the breakthrough of the German 11th Army between Gorlice and Tarnow also had a favorable effect on the Austro-Hungarian 7th Army. The Russian 9th Army had to surrender several corps to the San Sector in support of the collapsing 3rd Army . After the Battle of the Dniester (July 13-19, 1915) the 7th Army was able to recapture Stanislau and Kolomea in close cooperation with the German southern army attacking from the left . On August 9, it was possible to strike an eastern bridgehead on the Dniester near Czernelica and to advance the front across the Strypa to the east by the end of August .

After another counter-offensive by the Russian 9th Army from the Czortkow area , the north wing of the 7th Army (XIII Corps and 30th Division), which was defeated in the Battle of Sereth between September 9 and 12, 1915, had to reach the Strypa via the Dzurym section retreat where you in the position of war passed.

In October 1915, the 7th Army was under 106.5 battalions, 13,680 horsemen and 375 artillery pieces, divided into five corps groups:

  • VI. Corps under Arz von Straussenburg (12th and 39th Divisions, 5th Cavalry Division)
  • XIII. Corps under Rhemen zu Barensfeld (36th and 15th Divisions)
  • Corps Johann von Henriquez (30th Division, 8th Cavalry Division)
  • Corps Benigni (5th and 6th Divisions, Bekesi Brigade, 3rd Cavalry Division)
  • 5th and 6th Cavalry Divisions
  • XI. Corps Korda (42nd Division, Polish 2nd Brigade, Brigade Papp)

1916

After the successes of the Russian Brusilov offensive in Volhynia , the attack of the Russian 7th Army under General Cherbachev followed from June 4, 1916 . The Russian II., XVI. and XXXIII. Corps threw back the north wing of the Austro-Hungarian 7th Army (VI Corps) in the battle of the Strypa . The Russian XVI. Corps attacked with the 41st Division over the Strypa on Buczacz , which had to be evacuated on June 10th by the kuk 36th Division. After the loss of Buczacz, the German southern army had to extend its front to the south and the kuk VI. Corps (Arz) support. On June 12, Bothmer's south wing on Koropiec and Nazniow had to be withdrawn. German reinforcements soon arrived here, who were able to temporarily restore the front in heavy fighting near Tlumatsch by the end of the month .

At the same time as the Russian 11th Army , the Russian 9th Army attacked the southern section of the Austro-Hungarian 7th Army on June 4th . The front of the Austro-Hungarian 15th Division under Major General Weiss-Tihany could not withstand the pressure of the Russian II Corps near Jaslovets. On June 7th, the Russian 43rd Division broke through south at Dulibty. On June 9th the front of the 15th Division (XIII. Corps) on the Dniester was torn open, the corps commander General von Rhemen was therefore replaced on July 6th by FML Csicserics . General Planter was already playing with the idea of ​​taking the 7th Army back on the Prut , an undertaking which would have forced the German southern army, which was still holding , to retreat after the simultaneous collapse of the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army on its northern flank. The Dniester line of the Hadfy and Benigni corps groups, which were at the center of the planter's army, was also taken over by the Russian XXXIII. and XXXXI. Corps overrun. After the front also had the kuk XI. Corps had collapsed in the Battle of Okna by June 9, the 7th Army's front was completely shaken. The withdrawal of the XI. Corps on the Sniatyn - Horodenka line degenerated into flight. The Austro-Hungarian 7th Army was almost completely dissolved, losing around 100,000 men during the 50-kilometer-deep penetration by the Russians. Chernivtsi was lost again on June 18. Horodenka fell to the Russian XXXIII. Corps, Kolomea was lost until June 29th. At the end of June the German 119th Division was unloaded at Stanislau and immediately began counter-attacks towards Obertyn, which had already been lost . In order to close the looming gap with the Southern Army, the German Kraewel Corps Group (105th and 119th Divisions) was introduced into the gap at the front by mid-July.

The Austro-Hungarian Army Command 3 under General Kövess took over command, the remnants of the 7th Army now only held the section south of the Prut in Bukovina. On August 9, the Russian XI. Corps of the Austro-Hungarian 59th Division dominated Pirs Dora. The Russian XII. Corps penetrated almost unhindered into the area east of Nadwórna , the kuk XIII. Corps had to go back between Mariampol and Dubienko. The 7th Army, again exposed on the flank, had to retreat to the Ottynia – Tysmjenica line and behind the Bistritza . In the following battles Stanislau was lost again on August 10th, and the new front was formed between Marjampol – Nadworna. In early September the Russian 9th Army began a new offensive in western Bukovina. General Letschizki was again on the edge of the Carpathian Mountains, but as in the war winter of 1914/15, these mountains were an insurmountable obstacle for the Russian troops. On September 8, 1916, General Planter-Baltin was replaced by Karl von Kirchbach as the new Commander-in-Chief of the 7th Army. On September 17th, the German Gerok Corps led a relieving counterattack on the Narajowka, which also stabilized the front of the 7th Army.

1917/18

Karl Kritek

During the Kerensky offensive in the summer of 1917, the 7th Army was subordinate to Colonel General Kövess in the Forest Carpathians and held the front line Pantyr Pass - Ludowagebirge - Kirlibaba to Vatra Dornei opposite the Russian 8th Army .

As a result of the Tarnopol offensive in eastern Galicia (July - August 1917), the Austro-Hungarian 3rd and 7th Armies were able to recapture almost all of Bukovina . By the end of July, the Litzmann group managed to recapture Stanislau and Nadworna, and on August 3, Czernowitz also fell back to the Central Powers . Before the front of the 7th Army, the newly introduced Russian 1st Army (XI., XXIII. And XVII. Army Corps) had to go back to the Radautz - Gurahumora line.

After the armistice with Russia (December 1917), the 7th Army remained in its positions until the peace agreement. In mid-March 1918 the 7th Army occupied the Sereth-Gurahumora-Suczawa triangle belonging to Bukovina and the neighboring 1st Army (IX and XXI Corps) occupied the border of Transylvania. On March 11, 1918, Army Group Kövess had to surrender the 39th, 40th and 51st Honved Divisions to inner Hungary because they were needed to harvest grain. On April 5, 1918, Army Group Kövess was disbanded, and Army Commands 1 and 7 were also disbanded ten days later. To secure the now peaceful area, Corps Command VIII. (Gen. Inf. Hadfy ) acted as the newly established General Command 1 in Kronstadt , and Corps Command XI. (FZM. Hugo von Habermann) as General Command 7 in Czernowitz .

Commander in chief

literature

  • Austrian Federal Ministry of the Army from the war archive. "Austria-Hungary's last war 1914-1918", seven volumes of text and supplements, Verlag der Militärwissenschaftlichen Mitteilungen, Vienna 1930
  • Anton Wagner: The First World War . Troop service series, Carl Ueberreuter Verlag, 1981

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Austria-Hungary's War, Volume III, Vienna 1932, p. 23.