Battle of Galicia

Battle of Galicia
Part of the Eastern Front during World War I
Eastern Front, September 1914.
Date 23 August – 11 September 1914 Location Lemberg, Galicia (modern-day Lviv, Ukraine) Result Russian victory Full results 45%-50% of all Austrian manpower on the Eastern Front was destroyed, Russia had captured a large territory into the Kingdom of Hungary[1][2][3] Russia's victory forced Austria to withdraw troops from the Serbian front, which eventually helped the Serbs win the campaign[4] Creation General Government of Galicia and Bukovina Territorial changes Russian occupation of Eastern Galicia and Northern Bukovina
Belligerents
Russian Empire	Austro-Hungarian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Nikolai Ivanov A. Y. von Saltza Aleksei Evert Pavel Plehve Nikolai Ruzsky Aleksei Brusilov	Franz Joseph I Archduke Friedrich Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf Viktor Dankl von Krasnik Moritz von Auffenberg Rudolf von Brudermann E. von Böhm-Ermolli H. K. von Kövessháza Heinrich von Kummer [de]
Units involved
Southwestern Front 3rd Army 4th Army 5th Army 8th Army	1st Army 3rd Army 4th Army Army group Kövess Army group Kummer
Strength
1,000,000[5] to 1,200,000	950,000
Casualties and losses
200,000–300,000: 40,000 captured	324,000–420,000: 100,000 dead 220,000 wounded 100,000–130,000 captured

The Battle of Galicia, also known as the Great Battle of Galicia, was a major battle between Russia and Austria-Hungary during the early stages of World War I in 1914. In the course of the battle, the Austro-Hungarian armies were severely defeated and forced out of Galicia, while the Russians captured Lemberg (now Lviv) and, for approximately nine months, ruled Eastern Galicia until their defeat at Gorlice and Tarnów.

When war came the Chief of the Austro-Hungarian General Staff Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf planned to launch an offensive into Russian Poland with his northern armies (the 1st and 4th). The Russians would far outnumber the Central Powers in the east (especially the Austro-Hungarian armies, which were Russia's primary target), Conrad believed that their best option was an early advance into southern Poland where the Russians would be concentrating their newly mobilized units.^[6]

Conrad knew that his German allies were committed to an offensive in the West to defeat the French in the first ten weeks of the war. Only the German 8th army would be in the East, where they would stand on the defensive in East Prussia. However, their alliance with the French obliged the Russians to attack the Germans promptly, so substantial Russian forces would be sent to invade East Prussia. The 1st and 4th Austro-Hungarian Armies would advance into Poland without direct German support. By 23 August 1914 Conrad's 1st, 3rd, and 4th Armies were concentrated in Galicia along a front of 280 km (170 mi).

On 2 August Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich, a second cousin of Emperor Nicholas II who had made his career in the army, was made Commander-in-Chief. He had an excellent reputation for training troops, but had never commanded a field army and was staggered by his unexpected elevation. The Russian 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 8th Armies were assigned to Galicia. The Russian war plan called for Nikolai Ivanov, the Russian commander of the Southwest Front, to counter an anticipated Austro-Hungarian offensive thrusting eastward from Lemberg. The 3rd and 8th Armies would mount an offensive into eastern Galicia. The Russians could bring 260 trains a day to their front, compared to the Austro-Hungarian's 152.

The Russian operation had just begun; the 11th Austrian Corps was stationed on the Zbruch River and one Austrian cavalry division, supported by infantry and artillery, decided to cover the Russians by breaking through the town where there was the 2nd consolidated Cossack division and several companies with machine guns. The Russians perfectly lined up the infantry positions, placing them in a thick chain before the main attack, while machine guns were placed on high ground so that the position of the Austro-Hungarian cavalry was completely shot through. The Austrians, believing that numerical superiority guaranteed victory, rushed into battle without reconnaissance, machine-gun and artillery fire mowed down many Austrians, and the matter ended with the Cossacks hitting the right flank where they chopped down the enemy's cavalry. The battle ended in a rout that convinced the Russian units that they were superior to the enemy in everything.^[7]

The Austro-Hungarian 1st Army under Viktor Dankl moved in the north towards Lublin. Dankl struck and drove back Baron Zaltsa's Russian Fourth Army in what would be known as the Battle of Kraśnik. Dankl's army was able to capture 6,000 prisoners.

To the right of Dankl the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army, aiming at Cholm, drove back the Russian Fifth Army under Pavel Plehve in the Battle of Komarów, capturing 20,000 prisoners and inflicting heavy casualties. However, a planned Austrian enveloping movement around the Russian army failed.

A counter battle between Russian and Austrian troops, the fighting went on with varying success, but as a result, the Austrians were forced to retreat, which later became an important part for the victory on Gnyla Lypa^[8]

As the Russians were being driven back along the northern front, the Austrian 3rd Army and Army Group Kovess made a simultaneous advance against Ivanov's left wing. Along the southern front, Ivanov had the Russian Third Army under Nikolai Ruzsky and the Russian Eighth Army under Aleksei Brusilov. Brusilov and Ruzsky routed the Austro-Hungarians so thoroughly that even though poor roads necessitated that the Russians halt for two days, the Austrians could not regroup to halt the Russian drive. This attack became known as the Battle of Gnila Lipa.

The Russian army under the command of Brusilov was engaged in a defensive operation on the left flank of the Russians. The battle took place with the double superiority of the Austrians in manpower and artillery, and ended with a complete victory of the Russians and the latter's transition to a counteroffensive. As Brusilov notes in his memoirs, "our losses were great, but much less than the huge losses of the Austrians".^[9][10]

With the entire 3rd Army and Kovess Group in full retreat, Conrad pulled forces away from the northern front which he believed had been sufficiently defeated. In fact, the Russians north of Lemberg were still a potential threat. Ivanov ordered Plehve's Fifth Army to attack and drove the Austrians back as they began to shift forces to the south in an engagement known as the Battle of Rava Ruska. The Austrian Second Army was quickly recalled from Serbia, but it was too late and the entire Austrian front collapsed in Galicia, and the Russians took control of Lemberg.

In early November, the Russians set a goal to reach the approaches of the Carpathian mountains, for this the Częstochowa operation began. The Russian offensive began with the Battle of Bexida, the army of the General Borevich began to retreat hastily under the Russian onslaught. Later, the Russians captured Dukla and strategically important Lupovsky Pass^[4][11]

Holger Herwig estimates Austro-Hungarian losses of 100,000 dead, 220,000 wounded and 100,000 captured.^[12] According to Prit Buttar, the Austro-Hungarian army lost 324,000 men in Galicia, including 130,000 as prisoners, while the Russians lost 225,000 men, of which 40,000 were captured.^[13] Other authors estimate 400,000 Austro-Hungarian losses,^{[14][15][16][17]} or "one-third of the Austro-Hungarian Army's combat effectives",^[17] and 250,000 for the Russians.^[14][15]

The Russians had pushed the front 100 miles (160 kilometers) into the Carpathian Mountains, completely surrounded the Austrian fortress of Przemyśl and started a Siege of Przemyśl which lasted for over a hundred days. The battle severely damaged the Austro-Hungarian Army, killed a large portion of its trained officers, and crippled Austria-Hungary. Though the Russians had been utterly crushed at the Battle of Tannenberg, their victory at Lemberg prevented that defeat from fully taking its toll on Russian public opinion.

Russian South-Western front. Commander-in-chief – Nikolai Ivanov, Chief of Staff – Mikhail Alekseyev

• 4th Army Commander – Anton von Saltza (replaced by Aleksei Evert after the battle of Krasnik).
  • Grenadiers Corps
  • XIV. Corps
  • XVI. Corps
• 5th Army, Commander – Pavel Plehve
  • V. Corps
  • XVII. Corps
  • XIX. Corps
  • XXV. Corps
• 3rd Army, Commander – Nikolai Ruzsky – Staff officers: Vladimir Dragomirov, Nikolay Dukhonin, Mikhail Bonch-Bruyevich
  • IX. Corps
  • X. Corps
  • XI. Corps
  • XXI. Corps
• 8th Army, Commander – Aleksei Brusilov – Staff officers Anton Denikin (Quartermaster)
  • VII. Corps
  • VIII. Corps
  • XII. Corps
  • XXIV. Corps

• Army group Kummer - Heinrich von Kummer [de]
  • 7. Cavalry Division
  • Landsturm forces
• 1st Army. Commander – Viktor Dankl von Krasnik
  • I. Corps (Cracow) – 5 and 46 Infantry Divisions
  • V. Corps Pressburg (Bratislava) – 14., 33. and 37 Infantry Divisions
  • X. Corps (Przemysl) – 2., 24. and 45. Infantry Divisions
  • 12. Infantry Division
  • 3. Cavalry Division
  • 9. Cavalry Division
• 4th Army. Commander – Moritz von Auffenberg
  • II. Corps (Wien) – 4., 13. and 25. Infantry Divisions
  • VI. Corps (Kaschau) – 15., 27. and 39. Infantry Divisions
  • IX. Corps (Leitmeritz) – 10. and 26. Infantry Divisions
  • XVII. Corps (formed on outbreak of war) – 19. Infantry Division
  • 6. Cavalry Division
  • 10. Cavalry Division
• 3rd Army. Commander – Rudolf Brudermann
  • XI. Corps (Lemberg) – 30. Infantry Division
  • XIV. Corps (Innsbruck) – 3., 8. and 44. Infantry Division
  • 23. Infantry Division
  • 41. Infantry Division
  • 2. Cavalry Division
  • 4. Cavalry Division
• Army group Kövess (later part of the 2nd Army))
  • III. Corps (Graz) – 6., 28. and 22. Infantry Divisions
  • XII. Corps (Hermannstadt) – 16., 35. and 38. Infantry Divisions
  • 11. Infantry Division
  • 43. Infantry Division
  • 20. Infantry Division
  • 1. Cavalry Division
  • 5. Cavalry Division
  • 8. Cavalry Division

• Брусилов, Алексей (2023). Мои воспоминания. Из царской армии в Красную. Moscow: Москва. ISBN 978-5-04-176827-0.
• Borisyuk, Andrey (2024). Забытая война. Россия в 1914-1918 [The forgotten war. Russia in 1914-1918] (in Russian). Moscow: Вече. ISBN 978-5-4484-5078-5.
• Buttar, P. (2014). Collision of Empires: The War on the Eastern Front in 1914. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1472813183.
• Rady, Martyn (2023). The Habsburgs: To Rule the World'. Moscow: Альпина нон-Фикшн. ISBN 978-5-00139-266-8.
• Herwig, H. (2014). The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914-1918 (2nd ed.). London: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-4725-1250-5.
• Oleynikov, Аlexei (2016). Россия-щит Антанты [Russia-shield of the Entente] (in Russian). Foreword by Nikolai Starikov. St. Petersburg: Piter. ISBN 978-5-496-01795-4.
• Schindler, John R. (2015). Fall of the Double Eagle: the Battle for Galicia and the demise of Austria-Hungary. Herndon, Virginia: Potomac Books. ISBN 978-1-61234-765-3.
• Stone, David (2015). The Russian Army in the Great War: The Eastern Front, 1914-1917. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 9780700620951.
• Tuchman, Barbara, The Guns of August (1962)
• Tucker, Spencer, The Great War: 1914–18 (1998)
• Nikolai Golovin. Great battle for Galicia Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine

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