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Eastern Front
Galician and Polish Campaigns
Short Summary:
GALICIAN BATTLES
Battles of Krainik, Komarov, and Gnila Lipa; Aug. 23-Sept.
1, 1914
The Austrian and Russian offensives collided along the
Galician border. On the left the Austrian First and Fourth armies drove
back the Russian Fourth and Fifth armies in the battles of Krainik and
Komarov. On the right the Austrian Third Army advanced to the Gnila
Lipa where it was forced to retreat by the Russian Third and Eighth
armies.
Battle of Rawa Ruska, Sept. 5-11, 1914
The Austrians sent their Fourth and Second armies (the
latter rushed from the Serbian front) to assist their stricken Third
Army. In its movement the Fourth Army left a wide gap in the line in
the Komarov area through which the Russian Fifth Army poured. Threatened
with encirclement from the north, the Austrians withdrew to the line
of the Carpathian Mountains, leaving 100,000 men in the fortress of
Przemysl, all of whom were lost when the fortress subsequently surrendered
to the Russians.
GERMAN NINTH ARMY IN POLAND
(Sept. 28-Nov. 24, 1914) The Germans formed the Ninth
Army in southern Poland to bolster the Austrians after their defeats
in the Galician battles. The Russians, meanwhile, prepared to launch
a huge offensive into Germany. To forestall this offensive, the Ninth
Army attacked toward Warsaw, supported by the Austrian armies on the
right. The attack was turned back at the gates of Warsaw by superior
Russian forces, and the Germans and Austrians withdrew to their original
starting line. The Ninth Army then shifted rapidly to the Posen-Thorn
area, drove between the Russian First and Second armies, and almost
succeeded in enveloping the Second Army in the Battle of todf. These
operations of the Ninth Army definitely stopped the proposed Russian
invasion of Germany.
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While Zhilinsky's forces were being driven from East
Prussia, other Russian forces under Gen. Nicholas Ivanov fought the
Austrians under Field Marshal Count Franz Conrad von Hotzendorf in Galicia.
Conrad von Hotzendorf's indecision jeopardized the Austrian position
from the first days of the war. Initially, he committed three of his
six armies against Serbia. Subsequently he withdrew part of one army,
but it arrived too late to affect the outcome of the first Galician
battles.
To make matters worse, Conrad von Hotzendorf decided
that the Russians would probably concentrate their forces in the Lublin-Kholm
area, and he deployed two armies in that direction, retaining only one
for the defensive line southward from Lemberg. Ivanov also misjudged
his enemy. Anticipating the major Austrian attack from Lemberg, he directed
his own main attack in that area, while a weaker force moved down from
the north through Krainik, Zamoic, and Komarov. Reconnaissance on both
sides was poor. On August 23, the Russian Fourth and Austrian First
armies collided unexpectedly at Krainik. The Russians were forced back
by August 25, and Conrad von Hotzendorf, prematurely elated, ordered
his troops to attack at Zamoic and Komarov, drawing reinforcements from
the Lemberg front for the purpose. The Austrians scored limited gains
in the Battle of Komarov ( August 26-September 1), but they were wholly
unprepared for the major Russian thrust at Lemberg, which also was launched
on August 26. In the ensuing Battle of the Gnila Lipa (now Gnilaya Lipa),
the Austrians were routed, and Conrad von Hotzendorf, failing to see
that he might still save the situation by ordering an enveloping drive
on the Russian flank and possibly scoring a stunning victory against
Ivanov's main force, ordered instead a general retreat. By September
8, the Austrian First Army had fallen back to the south of Krainik,
while the Second, Third, and Fourth armies were endeavoring to consolidate
their hold on the Lemberg front. This development opened a huge gap
through which the Russian Fifth Army poured. Tired and disorganized
from days of entraining and detraining, the Austrians gave ground. This
engagement is known as the Battle of Rawa Ruska (now Rava-Russkaya).
The battlelines on September 26 show that the Austrians had withdrawn
100 miles; they had suffered 350,000 casualties.
Ivanov scored a decisive victory in Galicia. The way was now open for
the Russian forces to enter Silesia unless the Germans could stop them.
Following their defeat in the First Battle of the Marne, the Germans
could not afford to transfer troops from the western front, however,
and Hindenburg was compelled to rush troops from East Prussia to help
the Austrians. On September 28, a newly constituted German Ninth Army
detrained at Chenstokhov (now Czestochowa) for this purpose.
The imminent Russian threat to Krakow made immediate
action imperative. Hindenburg's goal was to seize crossings on the lower
Vistula preparatory to an advance on Warsaw. The Ninth Army reached
the river on October 9. Intercepted Russian radio messages gave Hindenburg
a clear picture of Ivanov's strategic plan to encircle the German left
flank, but the Germans continued on their course, and by mid-October
they were within 12 miles of Warsaw, the highwater mark of their offensive.
Then Russian pressure, combined with Austrian weakness on the southern
flank, forced them to withdraw, and by November 1 they had fallen back
to the starting line of September 28.
Meanwhile, the French again besought their Russian allies
to invade Silesia via Warsaw and Posen (now Poznan) in order to relieve
German pressure on the western front. Since Silesia's mineral resources
and industrial plant were vital to their war effort, the Germans could
be expected to withdraw troops from the west to combat an all-out Russian
offensive. The Russians acquiesced, but Hindenburg blocked their plan
for a drive straight through the Posen-Thorn (now Torun) area and was
able to move the Ninth Army into position in time to parry the expected
Russian blow with an offensive of his own. On November 11, the German
forces under Gen. (later Field Marshal) August von Mackensen's command
attacked north of Lodi, in four days they advanced 50 miles. Nevertheless,
the Russians started their Silesian offensive on November 14, not realizing
until November 16 that their Second Army was being encircled in the
Lodi area. They managed to extricate their troops from Hindenburg's
trap, but the cost was great; Lodi fell to the Germans, and the Russian
drive into Silesia had to be abandoned.
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