Battle of the Gnila Lipa

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Battle of the Gnila Lipa
Map of the battle
Map of the battle
date August 29. bis 30th August 1914
place Galicia
output Austria-Hungary defeat
Parties to the conflict

Austria-HungaryAustria-Hungary (trade flag) Austria-Hungary

Russian Empire 1914Russian Empire Russia

Commander

Conrad von Hötzendorf
Rudolf von Brudermann
Hermann von Kövess

Nikolai Ivanov
Nikolai Russki
Alexei Brusilov

Troop strength
115 battalions
376 guns 		292 battalions of
750 guns
Skirmishes during the
Battle of Galicia, 1914

The Battle of the Gnila Lipa took place from August 29-30, 1914 as part of the Battle of Galicia at the beginning of the First World War between Russian and Austro-Hungarian troops. This battle is mostly associated with the Battle of Lviv . While the Austro-Hungarian 1st and 4th Armies defeated the Russian troops in the battles of Kraśnik and Komarów , which they wrongly believed to be far superior in this area, the Russians assembled their strongest forces against the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army . This battle, which was fought on a 40-kilometer front at different locations , was summarized as the Battle of the Gnila Lipa , named after a tributary of the Dniester .

As a result of the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army ( Rudolf von Brudermann ) against two Russian armies on the Southwest Front (General of the Artillery Nikolai Ivanov ) on the Gnila Lipa, the capital of Galicia , Lemberg , was evacuated on September 2nd .

Preliminary fighting in the Zloczow area

Rudolf von Brudermann, Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial and Royal 3rd Army

As of August 20, Russian cavalry had crossed the eastern border of Galicia at Zalosce. Already on August 21, during reconnaissance battles in the Zborów area between the Austrian 4th Cavalry Division (Major General Zaremba ) and the Russian 9th and 10th Cavalry Division, the battle of Jaroslawice had taken place, which announced the arrival of Russian infantry. The Russian 3rd Army threatened the area on both sides of the Brody and the Russian 8th Army had crossed the border river Sbrutsch and occupied Tarnopol and Buschatsch .

On August 25, the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army (General Brudermann) prepared to attack west of the Dunajow - Krasne line to the east in order to prevent the Russian 3rd Army from advancing further. The III. and XII. Corps (together eight infantry and three cavalry divisions) should try to stop the enemy at the Zlota Lipa , a tributary of the Dniester . On August 26, the Austrians met in the Battle of Zloczow the vanguards of the Russian XI., IX. and Xth Army Corps. The VII Army Corps of the Russian 8th Army also advanced further to the north-west. While the XI. Corps (General Kolossváry ) still remained in the Lemberg area, the Styrian III. Corps (General Colerus von Geldern ) with the 6th, 22nd and 28th divisions in the Zloczow area to the east. The Austro-Hungarian 6th Division under FML Yellow von Siegesstern tried in vain to advance from the heights near Gologory to the village of Zalesie (Zalissya). The kuk XII. Corps under General von Kövess saw themselves threatened from three sides by a strong superior force in the Pomorzany area . The Austrians had to go back to the Gnila Lipa by August 27th before the superior strength of the Russian 3rd Army. In the area to the west of Tarnopol, the support units of the right wing of the Kövess army group were severely beaten by the Russian 8th Army near Brzezany and could only with difficulty evade General Brusilov's encirclement .

Battle of the Gnila Lipa on August 29th and 30th

Hermann Kövess from Kövesshaza
Battle of the Gnila Lipa, 1914

On August 27, the Austrian Chief of Staff Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf gave the order to build the new front on the Gnila Lipa , another tributary of the Dniester. The slow movement of the Russian troops gave the Austrians time to position their troops. General Russki underestimated his own success, he stopped his units for two days because of the poor road conditions and regrouped his units instead of pursuing and completely smashing the right wing of the Austro-Hungarian front.

Conrad was determined to win back the initiative and attacked again on August 29th and 30th - with catastrophic consequences, because the now fully assembled forces of the Russian 3rd and 8th Armies had grown to 292 battalions with 1,304 guns.

The opposing armies met again on August 29, the 115 Austrian battalions with 376 guns were again far inferior. On the northern wing, the Russian XI. Army Corps (General of the Sakharov Cavalry ) at Gliniany opposite the kuk III. Corps advanced westward towards Lemberg. Colerus Infantry General had to withdraw the left wing of the 28th Division on Kurowice. To the north the area up to the bow was practically defenseless. This is where the Russian XXI. Army Corps (General of the Shkinsky Infantry ) advance unhindered to Lemberg. The Austro-Hungarian 6th Division to the south was thrown back at Lahotow over the Gnila Lipa. The kuk 22nd Rifle Division saw itself from the Russian IX. Army Corps (General of Cherbachev Infantry ) violently attacked near Przemyslany and had to be reinforced with the 108th Landsturm Brigade.

The kuk XII, which stops in the center. Corps (Kövess) could not withstand the attack of the X. (General of the Sievers Cavalry ) and VII. Army Corps (General of the Infantry Eck ) of the Russian 8th Army between Meryszczow and Podkamien. On the south wing, the front on the Gnila Lipa could be held between Rohatyn and Babuchow through the intervention of the 2nd Army with the Austro-Hungarian VII Corps (initially only 34th Division under FML Krautwald ) . Even further south, the Russian XXIV Army Corps (General of the Churikov Cavalry ) contented itself with observing the Austrian Dniester bridgeheads at Halicz and Nizniow. After the front of the kuk 35th Division (XII. Corps) collapsed near Merysczow, the entire front on the Gnila Lipa was shaken. General von Kövess tried in vain to set up a line to catch the units flowing back on the Swirz section; Brusilov's army had won the battle. Apart from the numerous dead and wounded, 20,000 Austro-Hungarian soldiers were taken prisoner by Russia.

consequences

After the fleeing withdrawal of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army from the Gnila Lipa, the Russian 3rd Army with over 100,000 men (XXI, XI., IX. And X. Corps) from the Zloczow area via Gliniany to the west was on August 30th Galician capital breached. The battle changed the war situation permanently in favor of the Russians, Lemberg was lost on September 2nd. Another heavy defeat in the Battle of Rawa Ruska forced the Austrians, who suffered enormous losses, to retreat to the San Line.

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