Battle of Lviv
Eastern Front autumn 1914
| date | August 26 to September 11, 1914 |
|---|---|
| place | Lviv , today Ukraine |
| output | Austria-Hungary defeat |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
Army Commander in Chief Archduke Friedrich of Austria , Chief of Staff Conrad von Hötzendorf , Army Group Leader Hermann von Kövess |
Southwest Front Commander Nikolai Ivanov |
| Troop strength | |
| Austro-Hungarian 2nd and 3rd Army with 150 battalions and 828 guns | 3rd and 8th Army with 292 battalions and 1,304 guns |
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Battle of Galicia, 1914
Kraśnik - Komarów - Złoczów - Gnila Lipa - Lviv - Grodek - Rawa Ruska
The Battle of Galicia was a decisive battle between the Russian Empire and Austria-Hungary during the early stages of the First World War in 1914 in which the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army of the Russian 3rd Army under General Nikolai Russky was beaten sensitive in several battles. The Battle of Lemberg, a phase of the battles in Galicia , marked several phases of operations in the eastern and later western aprons of the city, which all ended unhappily for the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army.
- The first phase of the battle from August 26th to 30th included the fighting at Zloczow - Przemyslany and on the Gnila Lipa ; their outcome forced the evacuation of Lemberg on September 2nd .
- In the second phase, from September 6th to 11th, Austro-Hungarian troops made an ultimately unsuccessful attempt at recapture. After the momentous defeat in the Battle of Rawa Ruska , the counterattack by the Austro-Hungarian 2nd and 3rd Armies on the Wereszyca (a northern tributary of the Dniester ) also became pointless; much of Galicia had to be evacuated.
Starting position
Lviv, a large garrison town (now in western Ukraine ) and the capital of Galicia, together with the fortress town of Przemyśl, formed the cornerstone of the Austro-Hungarian line of defense against a Russian attack. Both cities were in front of the Carpathian Mountains , which ran from northwest to southeast , and acted as natural border mountains which secured the Hungarian lowlands to the northeast. The chief of the Austro-Hungarian General Staff, Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, believed, after initial successes on the north wing, to be strong enough to be able to attack in the area east of Lemberg. In the eastern apron of the deployment area of the Imperial and Royal 3rd Army under General of the Cavalry Rudolf Ritter von Brudermann , several cavalry divisions swarmed from August 20 to reconnaissance of the enemy forces on the border line Kamionka - Zloczow - Tarnopol to Czortkow. The German airship SLII was available for reconnaissance trips.
While the Austrians, aware of the success of the attack in the Lublin area, were now advancing eastwards near Lemberg as well, General Nikolai Ivanov , the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Southwest Front, had his 3rd Army under Nikolai Russki and the 8th Army under Cavalry General Alexei Brusilov instructed to take offensive action against the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army (General Brudermann) and to conquer Lemberg. In the beginning, General Brudermann still had the Tyrolean kuk XIV. Corps (Innsbruck) including the famous Kaiserjäger and Kaiserschützen and the reliable III. Corps (Graz) with Styrians and Slovenes. But the majority of his troops were rather unreliable, including the XII. Corps (Hermannstadt) with Romanian units and the XI. Corps (Lemberg) with the least loyal Ukrainians. Because of the quick front stretch of the northwest standing kuk 1st and 4th Army to the north and the rapid emergence of the Russian main associations had General Brudermann., His most convincing Corps XIV to protect its northern flank of the 4th Army in the room Rawa Ruska post .
Battle of Zloczow August 26th
In this situation the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army (General Brudermann) alone with its 115 battalions and 376 guns faced almost 200 Russian battalions with 685 guns from the Russian 3rd Army (Russki). While the XI. Corps (General Desiderius Kolossváry de Kolosvár ) remained in the Lemberg area, the Styrian III. Corps (General of the Infantry Colerus von Geldern ) in the Zloczow area and the XII. Corps (General Hermann von Kövess ) on Pomorzany to the east. Both corps were thrown back on the Gnila Lipa by the superior strength of the Russian 3rd Army on August 27 and 28. 30 kilometers southwest of Tarnopol , which had been lost to the Russian 8th Army , the units supporting General Kövess's army group in the south were also badly beaten near Brzezany on the Zlota-Lipa and could only with difficulty evade being surrounded by Brusilov.
The Austro-Hungarian War Press Office announced on August 28: “The decisive giant battle in Galicia is underway. The general great Russian offensive has been directed since August 26th against northern and eastern Galicia in the area between Rawaruska , Zolkiew , Zloczow , Tarnopol and Stanislau, where it led to violent fighting everywhere, which on the 27th and 28th a closed battle front of 200 kilometers include. (...) With the extension of the battle front to 400 kilometers, the decision has to be made longer. " " Over a thousand Russians, including many officers, fell into our hands unharmed, and a number of flags, machine guns and artillery were captured. "
Battle of Gnila Lipa, August 29-30
Conrad did not want to give up his initiative under any circumstances and left the kuk III. Corps attacked again at Przemyślany on August 29th and 30th - with catastrophic consequences, because the now fully assembled forces of the Russian 3rd and 8th Armies had now grown to 292 battalions with 1,304 guns. The kuk XII. Corps (Kövess) could not withstand the Russian superiority between Meryszczow – Podkamien – Rohatyn on the south wing . 20,000 men were taken prisoner; there were also numerous dead and wounded. This battle, which was fought on a 40-kilometer front at different locations, was summarized as the Battle of the Gnila Lipa . General Russky underestimated his own success; because of the poor road conditions he had his units stopped for two days and regrouped his units instead of pursuing and completely crushing the right wing of the Austro-Hungarian front. After the complete defeat of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army on the Gnila Lipa, the Russian 3rd Army broke through on August 30 with over 100,000 men (XI., IX. And X. Corps) from the Zloczow area via Gliniawa to the west towards Lemberg .
Lviv loss
On September 2, the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army had to evacuate Lemberg and go back to a new line on the Wereszyca - Jaworow - Gródeker Teiche west of the lost city. General Brudermann was replaced on September 3rd by General Svetozar Boroević von Bojna , the previous commander of the kuk VI. Corps. The crumbling front of the Austro-Hungarian 4th and 3rd Armies now threatened from the north-west and south-east, a dangerous pincer operation. Conrad decided on September 1st, in view of his troops flowing back on Lemberg, to take the 3rd Army back into a reception position at the Wereszyca in order to gain the necessary time for regrouping and counter-offensive. He was wrongly assuming that after the tactical victory at Komarov on the northern front , the Russians were sufficiently weakened to be able to pull out the bulk of his 4th Army (General of the Auffenberg Infantry ) from the northern front at Tomaszow. With these regrouped forces he wanted to take the enemy advancing to the west of Lemberg again in the flank and win back the lost initiative.
Unsuccessful Austro-Hungarian counterattacks
Since urgent appeals to the German alliance partner for further reinforcements did not help, Conrad decided to attack his exhausted 3rd Army again from the Werescyca position. With his own reinforcements by Eduard von Böhm-Ermolli's 2nd Army, brought in from Serbia by rail, Conrad von Hötzendorf brought the defensive front east of Lemberg again to a strength of 150 battalions with 828 guns. The troops of the army group of General Hermann von Kövess which adjoined the south were subordinated to the 2nd Army, which took over the front between Lubien-Komarno-Rudki. Since the Russian 3rd Army did not push in, these new forces were brought in without great difficulty.
Fight at Hujcze and Magierow
On September 5, Conrad left the 4th Army regrouped behind the front (Gen. of the cavalry Moritz von Auffenberg ) with the XVII., VI. and IX. Corps between Rawa Ruska and the Moszczana against the Russian 3rd Army. At the Biala, the kuk XVII failed. Corps ( Karl Křitek ) and had to go back to the Hujcze and Uhnow line before the Russian 11th Corps (General Wladimir Sacharow ). The cut off Kaiserjäger Regiment 2 was smashed on September 6th and 7th. To the south, near Posadow, the 2nd Cavalry Division (FML Emil von Ziegler) maintained a loose connection with the 3rd Infantry Troop Division, which was positioned in isolation in the impassable area between Korczmin and the Solokija to the south. In the days that followed, division leader FML Roth was able to escape the encirclement of his division by the pursuing Russian 21st Corps with difficulty. The kuk VI installed in the center. Corps (General Arz von Straussenburg ) ran aground in front of Magierow. The kuk IX. Corps (General of the Infantry Lothar von Hortstein ) was stopped in its starting positions at Niemirow. While the Army Group of Joseph Ferdinand in the area north of Rawa Ruska was able to hold the front against the Russian 17th and 21st Army Corps to the northeast and east, the front of the southern sections of the 4th Army collapsed.
Battle of the Grodeker ponds
The kuk 3rd Army deployed in the Austro-Hungarian center (General of the Infantry Svetozar Boroević von Bojna ) tried with the XI., III. and XII. Corps to stop the Russian corps advancing south of Lemberg in the battle of Gródek by a desperate counterattack on the upper Wereszyca . The Russian 10th Corps fought successfully between Magierów and Wiszenka, the 12th Corps remained behind in the Janów area. The now northerly shifted Russian 8th Army (General Brussilow) stood with the 7th Corps between Zimnawóda-Basiówka, with the 8th Corps at Solonka-Zagórze and the XXIVth Corps advanced near Mikolajów. General of the infantry Colerus (kuk III. Corps) unsuccessfully set the 28th division to break through at and south of Mszana. The 6th Division attacked from the Wereszyca section on both sides of the Gródek - Przemyśl road . The Russian 10th and 12th Corps, led by General Lesch, threw the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army between Janow and Gródek back onto the Wereszyca behind. On September 7th, after bitter fighting, the Russians advancing westwards were able to capture the city of Gródek.
Battle of the Werescyca September 8-10
On September 8, the battle on the Werescyca was extended to an almost 100 km long battle front. The small town of Janow northwest of Lemberg now formed roughly the army border between the Austro-Hungarian 3rd and 4th Armies, as well as the dividing line between the Russian 3rd and 8th Army, which was charging westwards. The Russian 3rd Army started the decisive push from the east with four corps at the same time. The Werescyca position was to the south by two corps of the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army (General Böhm-Ermolli) with the XII. and VII. Corps were extended, they withstood the attacks of the Russian 8th Army between Gródek and Komarno until the general retreat. The in the Gródek area as part of the III. Army Corps (FML Colerus ) included the Carinthian Infantry Regiment No. 7 "Khevenhüller" (Colonel Koschatzky), the Styrian Infantry Regiment No. 27 "Belgians" (Colonel Karl Weber) and its sister regiment No. 47 (Colonel Richard Mayer), the took part in the battle on September 8th and 9th, but could not change the situation.
The counter-attacks of the Austro-Hungarian 2nd and 3rd Armies on the Werescyca, which had been carried out since September 8, collapsed completely by September 10, in a counter-attack instead Russian Cossack regiments overran the Austro-Hungarian positions and were already operating in the rear of the destroyed enemy formations.
Meanwhile, about 50 kilometers north of Lemberg, at Rawa Ruska there was a fight with superior Russian units, which thwarted any further attack. This also widened a gap in the front that had formed between the 1st and 4th Army, which Archduke Joseph Ferdinand's army group with the II and XIV Corps could no longer adequately secure. The entire Austrian front in Galicia was thereby dissolved. Despite the destruction of large parts of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd and 4th Armies on the Rawa and Wereszyca, the Russians were unable to pursue them quickly, due to their heavy losses as well as the extended supply lines and the lack of ammunition - there were still around 25 per gun Shot available.
Results and consequences
From September 11th the imperial retreat behind the San and Dunajec , which had become necessary, took place , in autumn even as far as Cracow and the Carpathians . The withdrawal turned into a disaster: Entire units gave themselves up, numerous Slav soldiers voluntarily defected to the Russians. In addition, there were high losses among the troop officers, who were easily distinguishable from the men by the Russians with their feather on their hats. The kuk XIV. Corps suffered a heavy blood toll, the losses of the Kaiserjäger , Kaiserschützen , mountain artillery were irreplaceable for the kuk armed forces. By September 11, 130,000 Austro-Hungarian soldiers had been captured by the Russians on the entire front or voluntarily defected to the victor, a further 190,000 men were killed or wounded, 450 artillery pieces and enormous amounts of material were lost. The Austro-Hungarian fortress Przemyśl was also enclosed by the Russian 3rd Army on September 16 and besieged for more than 100 days. The Austro-Hungarian army had thus lost almost half of its troops on the northeast front and completely lost the initiative to the Russians, who were now able to advance more than 150 km to the Carpathian Mountains .
See also
literature
- Jean-Pierre Cartier: The First World War. 1914–1918, chronological table, bibliography, person and subject index (“La première guerre mondiale”). Piper, Munich 1986, ISBN 3-492-02788-1 .
- John Keegan : The First World War. A European tragedy ("The First World War"). Rowohlt Taschenbuchverlag, Reinbek 2004, ISBN 3-499-61194-5 .
- Hermann Müller-Brandenburg: The Battle of Grodek-Lemberg (June 1915) . Verlag Stalling, Oldenburg 1918 (The great war in individual representations; 8).
- Janusz Piekałkiewicz : The First World War . Weltbild publishing house, Augsburg 2004, ISBN 3-8289-0560-9 .
- Barbara Tuchman : August 1914 ("The Guns of August"). Fischer Taschenbuchverlag, Frankfurt / M. 2001, ISBN 3-596-15395-6 .
- Spencer C. Tucker : The Great War. 1914-1918. UCL Press, London 1998, ISBN 1-85728-390-2 .
- Christian Zentner : The First World War. Dates, people, scenarios 1914–1918. Edition Francis, Poing 2004, ISBN 3-7723-8917-1 (3 CDs).
- Hermann Stegemann's History of World War I, volume I., Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Stuttgart 1917, pages 270–320.
- Austria-Hungary's Last War Volume I. The war year 1914, publisher: Edmund Glaise-Horstenau Verlag der Militärwissenschaftlichen Mitteilungen, Vienna 1930.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ cf. Table under Lemma Schütte-Lanz
- ↑ cit. according to www.stahlgewitter.com
- ^ Announcement of August 26, 1914, quoted in according to www.stahlgewitter.com
- ↑ http://digi.landesbibliothek.at