Battle of Galicia

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Battle of Galicia (1914)
Part of: First World War
The Eastern Front until the end of September 1914
The Eastern Front until the end of September 1914
date August 23 to September 11, 1914
place Galicia
output Austria-Hungary defeat
Parties to the conflict

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

Russian Empire 1914Russian Empire Russia

Commander

Austria-HungaryAustria-Hungary (trade flag) Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf Viktor Dankl Rudolf von Brudermann Moritz von Auffenberg Eduard von Böhm-Ermolli Herrmann von Kövess
Austria-HungaryAustria-Hungary (trade flag)
Austria-HungaryAustria-Hungary (trade flag)
Austria-HungaryAustria-Hungary (trade flag)
Austria-HungaryAustria-Hungary (trade flag)
Austria-HungaryAustria-Hungary (trade flag)

Russian Empire 1914Russian Empire Nikolai Ivanov Anton von Saltza Alexei Ewert Pawel Plehwe Nikolai Russki Alexei Brussilow Platon Letschizki
Russian Empire 1914Russian Empire
Russian Empire 1914Russian Empire
Russian Empire 1914Russian Empire
Russian Empire 1914Russian Empire
Russian Empire 1914Russian Empire
Russian Empire 1914Russian Empire

Troop strength
1,000,000 men 1,200,000 men
losses

324,000 dead and wounded
130,000 prisoners

225,000 dead and wounded
40,000 prisoners

The so-called Battle of Galicia was a series of separately scheduled battles between the deploying troops of the Russian Empire and Austria-Hungary in the early stages of the First World War on the Eastern Front . The battles began on August 23, 1914 and, despite initial successes, ended with the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian troops , which had to withdraw from most of the crown land of Galicia . The Russian 3rd Army under General of Infantry Nikolai Russki managed to occupy northeastern Galicia including the capital Lemberg by September 2nd . The Russian 8th Army under General of the Cavalry Brusilov took the cities of Brody , Tarnopol and Buczacz north of the Dniester and occupied most of Bukovina .

prehistory

Even before the war there had been German-Austrian agreements that the allies could only anticipate a strategic Russian attack by swift counter-attacks. These were to be led in the north from East Prussia in the direction of Narew, in the south from Galicia in the direction of Russian Poland , thereby undermining the axis of the dreaded “Russian steamroller” before it could advance to Silesia and Hungary with its enormous numerical superiority . The Austro-Hungarian Chief of Staff Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf hoped that the German army would support him in the offensive in Galicia, but he was disappointed, only a German Landwehr corps under General Remus von Woyrsch could be sent as first aid to the Vistula in Kielce . The connection to Silesia was secured by Landwehr formations that formed the army group of General of the Infantry Heinrich Kummer von Falkenfeld on the western bank of the Vistula between Kielce and Sandomierz .

Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf
Artillery General Nikolai Ivanov

While the Germans were preparing to defend East Prussia , Conrad decided to have the multinational Austro-Hungarian army line up for its offensive in Galicia with 37 divisions on the 400-kilometer-wide front:

  • In the north, the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army under General Dankl was to attack between the San and Vistula and to the right of it the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army in the direction of Brest-Litovsk and thus cut off the strategic railway line from Kiev to Warsaw .
  • In Eastern Galicia, the Imperial and Royal 3rd Army under General of the Cavalry Rudolf Brudermann was to cover Brody in eastern Galicia, while the Kövess army group to the south was to cover the line from Lemberg , the capital of Galicia, down to the Dniester near Halicz and the area around Stanislau . The Bukovina secured weak Landwehr formations.

At the same time, the commander of the Russian Southwest Front Artillery General Nikolai Iudowitsch Ivanov concentrated two of his armies ( 3rd and 8th Armies ) in attacking Lviv . Ivanov led a total of 53 infantry and 18 cavalry divisions to conquer Galicia from the east,

Even if this double operation had to exceed his strength, General Ivanov was well informed about the operational and deployment plans of Austria-Hungary by the spy Colonel Redl , who had already been exposed before the war, and expected the main forces of the enemy near the city of Lemberg . The speed of the Russian deployment was completely misunderstood by the Austro-Hungarian leadership. The terrain conditions also favored the attackers. The mountain rivers from the Carpathian Mountains Wisłoka , San and Dniester ran across the front lines and did not hinder the enemy's forward movements.

Map of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria (1846–1918)

Butcher

Battle of Galicia 1914
Battle of Kraśnik August 23-25

As planned, Conrad von Hötzendorf sent the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army under General of the Cavalry Viktor Dankl with three corps to the offensive to Lublin on August 23 . Mostly Slovaks and Poles fought in the ranks of the previous kuk I., V. and X. Corps . Accompanied by an armored train , they secured the Dębica railway bridge , advanced on the San between Sandomier and Rudnik over the Russian border and about 30 kilometers northeast of the San met the vanguard of the Russian 4th Army under General Anton von Saltza .

The Austro-Hungarian war press headquarters reported: “The offensive of our troops is advancing unstoppably on both sides of the Vistula . To the west of the river, following the German allies, our forces crossed the Lysagora in small battles. Yesterday they reached the section of the Kamionka River between Kielce and Radom. East of the Vistula, our forces advancing victoriously threw back a strong group of two Russian corps at Krasnik on the way to Lublin on August 23rd ... Over a thousand Russians, including many officers, fell into our hands unharmed, and a number of flags and machine guns were also taken and guns captured. "

In the three-day battle of Kraśnik , the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army successfully pushed back the Russian Grenadier Corps as well as the 16th and 18th Corps in order to then continue the attack on Lublin. Dankl won a tactical victory at Krasnik and brought in 6,000 prisoners. The Russian 4th Army, which was based in Lublin, was quickly reinforced, and its commander-in-chief, Baron Saltza, was replaced on August 26 by General Alexei Yermolajewitsch Ewert .

Battle of Komarów August 26th to September 3rd

Subsequently, the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army under General of the Infantry Moritz von Auffenberg advanced towards Chełm . Between Zamosc and Komarów , General Auffenberg met the Russian 5th Army under the command of Pawel Plehwe . The kuk II. Corps (German-Austrians), the IX. Corps ( German Bohemia and German Moravians ) and the XVI. Corps ( Hungary ) hit the Russian 25th and 19th Corps head-on and pushed them back to the bow. Together with the right wing of the 1st Army - the X. Corps (Infantry General Hugo Meixner von Zweienstamm ), they briefly threatened the right flank of the Russian 5th Army near Krasnostaw. In the center, the kuk VI. Corps (Boroevic) at Tomaszow his attack was pinned down on August 27th by the Russian 19th Corps (General Gorbatowski). On the right wing of Auffenberg, the Austro-Hungarian XIV Corps (Archduke Joseph Ferdinand ) was already beginning to encompass the decisive factors via Telatyn. The attempt to encircle the Russian troops twice in the battle of Komarów had to be stopped immediately as a result of the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army (Brudermann) in the battle east of Lemberg . The Austro-Hungarian troops were able to bring in 20,000 prisoners and brought the Russian advance to a standstill for the time being. By September 5, the Russian northern front again became a growing threat, because Ivanov had brought in the 18th Corps of the 9th Army (General Platon Letschizki ) from the northern Vistula front in the Ivangorod area to seal off the Austro-Hungarian advance on Lublin.

Battle of the Gnila Lipa August 29-30

While the Austro-Hungarian troops achieved success in the north, a crisis broke out at the same time in the Imperial and Royal 3rd Army (General of the Cavalry Rudolf Brudermann). The 3rd Army was defeated on August 26th and 27th in the battle of Zloczow and Przemyslany and was thrown back by the Russian vanguard. The corps heading east again were severely defeated by the Russian 3rd Army under Nikolai Russki on August 28 and 29 in the fighting on the Gnila Lipa. The capital of Galicia, Lemberg , was directly threatened. On the southern wing of the Austrian front, the army group of General of the Infantry Kövess was also thrown from the Russian 8th Army under General of the Cavalry Alexei Brusilov, which advanced with strong forces on the northern bank of the Dniester . The kuk XII. Corps could not withstand the Russian superiority between Meryszczow - Podkamien - Rohatyn . Brusilov lost another two days because of the bad roads and the arrival of the kuk VII Corps from the Serbian combat area prevented the collapse here.

Battle of Rawa Ruska September 6-11

After the 3rd Army and the army group of General Kövess were in retreat, Conrad von Hötzendorf had to break off the 4th Army's offensive at Tomaszow and regrouped their left wing and center in a turning movement to the south. Only the Austro-Hungarian army group of Archduke Joseph Ferdinand with the II. And XIV. Corps in the area north of Rawa Ruska remained in their previous position as cover to the north. The south standing 3rd Army (General Svetozar Boroević von Bojna ) tried meanwhile with the kuk XI., III. and XII. Corps in a desperate counter-offensive on the Wereszyca (a northern tributary of the Dniester ) to recapture the lost Lemberg. While the Austrians still the VI., IX., And XVII. of the 4th Army to the south, the Russian 3rd Army (General Russki) broke through the front of the kuk XVII on September 8th. Corps (General Karl Křitek ) at Rawa-Ruska and almost completely isolated the northern army group of Archduke Joseph Ferdinand in the Battle of Rawa . The Austrian 2nd Army (General Eduard von Böhm-Ermolli ) , which had now arrived completely from Serbia, tried too late to restore the situation south of the Gródeker Teiche with the IV and VII Corps. Nothing could prevent the entire Austrian front in Galicia collapsing and the Russians launching the pursuit of the San.

consequences

When the Austrian troops withdrew almost in flight, many of their Slavic soldiers surrendered without a fight and even offered to fight for the Russians. A total of 130,000 prisoners were brought in by the Russians by September 11, the total Austrian casualties in the Battle of Galicia rose to 324,000 men. The Russians, for their part, suffered 225,000 casualties, plus 40,000 prisoners. They were able to advance the front around 160 km to the San , and the Austrian fortress Przemyśl was included for the first time on September 16 ( siege of Przemyśl ). The battle severely damaged the Austro-Hungarian army, destroyed a large part of the officer corps and took important areas from Austria. The Austro-Hungarian army on the Eastern Front could no longer recover from its defeat: it had lost a third of its officer corps and some of its best formations. Even if the Russians had been defeated by the Germans in the Battle of Tannenberg , their victory in the Battle of Galicia significantly diminished its effects. The victory was of great importance to Russian morality and public opinion, given the previous defeats in East Prussia . The conquest of Galicia was also celebrated as the completion of the gathering of the Russian soil . Also Chernivtsi and the oil fields in Drohobycz were lost, the Russians now dominated most of Galicia to the San and northern Bukovina to the Dniester. The lost territories were not recaptured by the Central Powers until after the winter battle in the Carpathian Mountains, almost nine months later in the summer of 1915.

Troops involved

Russian troops

Commander in Chief: General of the Artillery Nikolai Iudowitsch Ivanov , Chief of Staff: Mikhail Alexejew

4th Army

Commander: General of Inf. Anton Jegorowitsch von Saltza , from August 26th Alexei Ewert

5th Army

Commander: General of the Inf. Pawel Adamowitsch Plehwe

3rd Army

Commander: General of Inf. Nikolai Wladimirowitsch Russki , from September 16 Radko Dimitriev

8th Army

Commander: General of the Cavalry Alexei Alexejewitsch Brusilov

Austro-Hungarian troops

Army group grief
Commander: General of the cavalry Heinrich Kummer von Falkenfeld
1st Army
Commander: General of the Cavalry Viktor Dankl
4th Army
Commander: General of the Infantry Moritz von Auffenberg
  • II Corps (Vienna, Kdr.Gen: Blasius von Schemua ) - 4th, 13th and 25th Infantry Division
  • VI. Corps (Košice, Kdr.Gen: Svetozar Boroević von Bojna ) - 15th, 27th and 39th Infantry Divisions
  • IX. Corps (Leitmeritz, Kdr.Gen: Lothar von Hortstein ) - 10th and 26th Infantry Division
  • XVII. Corps (Kdr.Gen: Karl Graf Huyn , from 2nd Sept. FML Karl Kritek ) - 19th Infantry Division
  • 6th Cavalry Division (FML. Oskar Wittmann)
  • 10th Cavalry Division (FML. Viktor Mayr, later Gmj. Gustav Loserth)
3rd Army
Commander: General of the Cavalry Rudolf von Brudermann
  • XI. Corps (Lemberg, Kdr. Gen: Desiderius Kolossváry de Kolosvár ) - 23rd and 30th Infantry Divisions
  • XIV Corps (Innsbruck, Kdr.Gen: Archduke Joseph Ferdinand ) - 3rd, 8th and 44th Infantry Divisions
  • 41st Infantry Division (FML. Johann Nikic)
  • 2nd Cavalry Division (FML. Emil Ritter von Ziegler)
  • 4th Cavalry Division (GMj. Edmund Ritter von Zaremba)
  • 11th Honved Cavalry Division (GMj. Julius von Nagy)
Army group Kövess (later AOK 2)
Commander: General of the Infantry Hermann Kövess von Kövesshaza
  • III. Corps (Graz, Kdr.Gen: Emil Colerus von Geldern ) - 6th, 28th and 22nd Infantry Division
  • XII. Corps (Hermannstadt, Kdr.Gen: Hermann Kövess) - 16th, 35th and 38th Infantry Division
  • 43rd Infantry Division (FML. Albert Schmidt von Georgenegg )
  • 11th Infantry Division (FML. Alois Pokorny)
  • 20th Infantry Division (FML. Friedrich von Csanády)
  • 1st Cavalry Division (GMJ. Artur Peteani von Steinberg)
  • 5th Cavalry Division (FML. Ernst von Froreich)
  • 8th Cavalry Division (FML. Georg Edler von Lehmann )

literature

Web links

Commons : Battle of Galicia  - Collection of images, videos and audio files