8th Army (Russian Empire)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

8th Army

Russian coa 1825.png

Coat of arms of the Imperial Russian Army
active 1914 to 1918
Country Russian Empire 1721Russian Empire Russian Empire
Armed forces Russian Empire 1721Russian Empire Imperial Russian Army
Type army
Butcher First World War
Battle of Lviv
Battle in the Carpathian Mountains
Brusilov offensive
Kerensky offensive

The 8th Army of the Russian Army was used during the First World War. The army was formed from late July 1914 after Russia entered World War I and disbanded in 1918.

history

1914

During the break-in in Eastern Galicia , the commander of the Russian Southwest Front , General of the Artillery Ivanov , concentrated two armies ( 3rd and 8th Armies ) to attack Lemberg . The battle in Galicia subsequently developed . The 8th Army under General of the Cavalry Alexei Brusilov marched north of the Dniester with 10 divisions after crossing the border river Zbrucz , on the south bank four cavalry divisions broke into the Bukovina .

  • VII Army Corps (Gen. Inf. Eck ) - 13th and 34th Divisions
  • XII. Army Corps (Gen. of Inf. Lesch ) - 12th and 19th divisions
  • VIII Army Corps (Gen. Inf. Radko Dimitriew , later General Vladimir Mikhailovich Dragomirov ) - 14th and 15th divisions
  • XXIV Army Corps (Gen. der Kav. Zurikow ) - 48th and 49th Divisions
  • 11th and 12th Cavalry Divisions
  • Cossack Cavalry Corps under General Pavlov - 1st and 2nd Kuban Cavalry Division, 2nd Don Cossack Division

The Strypa was crossed, Tarnopol and Buczacz were quickly occupied by the 8th Army at the beginning of the war. The numerically outnumbered Austro-Hungarian army group of the General of the Infantry Kövess tried in vain to withstand the Russians on the Zlota Lipa . The kuk XII. Corps had to retreat behind the Gnila Lipa on August 29 on the Podkamien - Rohatyn line. Brusilov lost two days of marching in the pursuit because of the bad roads and the arrival of the kuk VII Corps from the Serbian battle area prevented the complete Austrian collapse. In Bukovina the Russian XXIV Army Corps, which was protecting the Dniester, contented itself with observing the Austrian bridgeheads at Halicz and Nizinow. During the battle of the Wereszyca (September 8-10 ) the area of ​​command of the 8th Army was extended north to Grodek and the counterattacks of the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army were repulsed . The Northern Group under General Lesch (Russian X. and XII. Corps) operating together with the Russian 3rd Army threw the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army between Janow and Grodek back to the Werescyca behind. After the Battle of the San in mid-October 1914, Brusilov forced the enemy to retreat to the Carpathian ridge. The independent army group Selivanov graced the enclosed fortress Przemyśl in the hinterland . In the Neu-Sandez area there was roughly the interface between the 8th Army and the 3rd Army to the north. After the tactical defeat of the 3rd Army in the Battle of Limanowa-Lapanow , the 8th Army started relieving attacks on December 20 and stabilized the front. For this purpose, XXIV Corps was withdrawn from the Dniester front and pulled over to the right wing to reinforce the VIII. On the left wing, the Laurentiew reserve group took over the security against the Austro-Hungarian Army Group Planter-Baltin . The 8th Army then faced months of winter battles in the Carpathian Mountains in continuous attack and defensive battles against the troops of the Austro-Hungarian Carpathian Front.

1915

From January 23, 1915 the Austrians attacked in the direction of Sanok - Lisko and Chryow to relieve Przemsyl . On January 26th, however, the Russian 8th Army began its counterattack on both sides of the Dukla Pass . At the end of January, the Carpathian front in the Stryj area was considerably reinforced by the arrival of the German southern army . General Brusilov, for his part, had orders to break through the Carpathian Mountains to northern Hungary. To prevent this, the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army opposite him under General Boroevic was reinforced by the Austro- Hungarian 2nd Army , which had moved over from Poland . From February 26, 1915 General Ivanov had the left wing of the Russian 8th Army by the XXII. Reinforce corps. At the end of February, General Selivanov formed a new army group in the Przemyśl area, which stopped the attacks of the opposing attack group Tersztyánszky on the line Wetlina to Konieczna.

As a result of the breakthrough battle of Gorlice-Tarnow at the beginning of May 1915, the 8th Army to the south had to give up all positions on the Duklapass and quickly retreat. After the Great Retreat across the Bug in August 1915, the 8th Army established itself on the Styr Line in Volhynia . After the loss of Lutsk , a strong counterattack from the Olyka area on September 3rd stopped the Austrians pushing in. In the campaign to Rovno , the 8th Army led six corps groups with 8th infantry and 4 cavalry divisions:

  • Velyassev Cavalry Corps (11th and 16th Cavalry Divisions )
  • XII. Army Corps (12th and 19th Divisions)
  • XXXIX. Army Corps (102nd and 105th Reserve Divisions)
  • XVII. Army Corps (3rd and 35th Divisions)
  • VIII Army Corps (14th and 15th Divisions)
  • Cavalry Corps Rerberg (7th Cavalry Division, 2nd and 3rd Don Cossack Brigade)

Between Rawalowka and Dubno , where the south following the 11th Army joined, the front strengthened again for trench warfare .

1916

On June 4, 1916, the 8th Army, now on the northern section of the Russian Southwest Front, attacked with five corps (XXXXVI., XXX., XXXX., VIII. And XXXII.) Between the Styr bridgehead from Czartorysk to Sapanow in the direction of Kovel and Lutsk on. On the first day of the Brusilov offensive, General Kaledin deployed around 100 battalions with 320 guns between Dubiszcze and Koryto. The Russian XXXIX. Corps was able to break through the front of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army at Olyka by June 5 and push the enemy back from the Putilowka to the Styr . On the northern section near Rawalowka and on the Styr bridgehead near Kolki , the Austro-Hungarian corps units Hauer and Fath were able to attack the Russian 4th Cavalry Corps under General Gyllenschmidt and the XXXXVI. Corps withstand for the time being. As the Russian XXXX. Corps finally succeeded in recapturing the city of Lutsk (Łuck in Polish) on the Styr, which had been lost the previous year, on June 7th, the breakthrough was completely achieved. Between June 10th and 12th the remaining units of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army struggled to maintain the Styrlinie, the breakthrough section had spread to 85 kilometers wide and 48 kilometers deep. The stabilized front now ran from Tarnawka, along the Plaszewka and the Styr, northwards to the Lipa, on via Gorochow and Swiniuchy to the Stochod near Linjewka, from there on to Sokul, along the Styr to Kolki.

1917

After the Kerensky offensive began , on July 6, 1917, the focus was shifted from the 11th to the 8th Army now south of the Dniester . The southern wing of Kornilov remained defensive in front of the Forest Carpathians , while the northern wing between Jampol on the Dniester and Nadwórna the attack with the XII. and XVI. Army corps from the Stanislau area to the west. 8 infantry divisions and 4 cavalry divisions attacked the front of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army, which defended the attack field with six divisions. After a strong artillery strike, Kornilov's troops broke through the front of the Austro-Hungarian 15th Division northwest of Stanislau. On July 7, the Russians had crossed the Lomnica valley on their way to Kalusz . On July 8th, the dominant height of Jutrena Gora (Höge 354) fell into Russian hands. Until July 11th, the Russian XII. Army Corps extend the penetration in the direction of Kalusz to a depth of 18 kilometers. The losses of the 8th Army rose rapidly, disintegration phenomena prevented further attacks. Kerensky replaced General Gutor as Commander in Chief of the Southwest Front, now Lavr Kornilov got his position, the 8th Army was transferred to General Cheremisov .

Commanders

literature

  • Austria-Hungary's Last War 1914-1918 Volume I. The war year 1914 , Verlag der Militärwissenschaftlichen Mitteilungen, Vienna 1930
  • Anton Wagner: The First World War , troop service paperback, Verlag Carl Ueberreuter, Vienna 1981