Battle of Łódź (1914)
The Battle of Łódź (Russian: Лодзинская операция), (German: Schlacht bei Litzmannstadt) took place from 11 November to 6 December 1914, near the city of Łódź in Poland. Battles were fought between German units of the Eighth army, Ninth Army, Austrian First Army, and the Russian First, Second, and Fifth Armies, in harsh winter conditions. The Germans redeployed their Ninth Army around Thorn, so as to threaten the Russian northern flank, following German reversals after the Battle of the Vistula River. The German objective was to prevent an invasion of Germany, by encircling and destroying the Russians, as a result, Germans themselves were surrounded and actually lost 2 corps, although the invasion of Germany was prevented[14] Battle had a strong impact on both the Western and Eastern fronts.[15] It ended with the victory of the Russian troops, although the planned invasion of Germany was canceled
For the WWII battle, see Battle of Łódź (1939).Background[edit]
Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolayevich favored Nikolai Ruzsky's plan to invade Silesia on 14 November, with the Russian Second, Fifth, and Fourth Armies. The Russian Tenth and First Armies maintained pressure on East Prussia, while the Eighth Army pressed against the Carpathian passes, the Eleventh besieged Przemyśl, and the Third army advanced on Kraków. Hindenburg and Ludendorff had moved the German Ninth Army to the Thorn area, in an attempt to defend Silesia. The Ninth Army consisted of the XI, XVII, and XX Corps, plus the 3rd Guards Infantry Division, and the I Reserve and XXV Reserve Corps from the Eighth Army. Four divisions of the Austro-Hungarian Second Army took over the German Ninth Army's former positions, the remainder of Second Army troops then came under the command of the Austro-Hungarian Third army. The Germans had placed 15 infantry divisions, and 5 cavalry divisions, under Mackensen's Ninth Army in its drive on Łódź. However, the German advance faced 24 Russian infantry divisions and 8 cavalry divisions. The Scheidemann's Russian Second army was deployed around Łódź, with his IV, I and XXIII Corps on the Warta, and his II Corps at Łęczyca. Rennenkampf's Russian First Army was deployed further east, along the Vistula.[14]
On 1 November, Paul von Hindenburg was appointed commander of the two German armies on the Eastern Front. His Eighth Army was defending East Prussia. Knowing Silesia would be invaded on 14 November, Hindenburg and Ludendorff decided not to meet the attack head-on, but to seize the initiative by shifting their Ninth Army north by railway to the border south of the German fortress at Thorn, where they were reinforced with two corps transferred from Eighth Army. The enlarged Ninth Army would then attack the Russian right flank,[16] cutting Łódź off from Warsaw, and eliminating any troops thus encircled. In ten days Ninth Army was moved north by running 80 trains every day.[17]
Aftermath[edit]
Mackensen, Scheffer and Litzmann were awarded the Pour le Mérite, while Litzmann earned the nickname 'the Lion of Brzeziny'. According to Buttar, "The encirclement of XXV Reserve Corps was broken for several reasons: lack of coordination by First, Second, and Fifth Armies; the extraordinary muddle of command in the Lowicz detachment; and Ruzsky's oscillation between his deep-rooted caution and his almost impulsive issuing of orders for all-out attacks." For the Russian Army, Łódź became the furthest point of advance towards Germany's heartland. Ruzsky retreated to a defensive line along the Bzura and Rawka rivers.[14]: 386–394
The Russians were able to avoid a full cauldron in a semi-circle and repel all attacks of their enemy, thereby avoiding a new Tannenberg. This meant that the Germans' encirclement plans were thwarted and the battle ended in a tactical victory for the Russians.[24][3][25] The Germans themselves, e.g., Max Hoffmann and Ludendorff, admitted that the battle was not successful for them in terms of achieving operational and tactical objectives.[25][26]
Hindenburg summed it up: "In its rapid changes from attack to defense, enveloping to being enveloped, breaking through to being broken through, this struggle reveals a most confusing picture on both sides. A picture which in its mounting ferocity exceeded all the battles that had previously been fought on the Eastern front!"[27] The Polish winter bought a lull to the major fighting. A Russian invasion of Silesia must wait for spring. By this time, the Russians feared the German army, which seemed to appear from nowhere and to win a strategic victory[25][3] despite substantial odds against them, while the Germans regarded the Russian army with "increasing disdain."[28] Hindenburg and Ludendorff were convinced that if sufficient troops were transferred from the Western Front, they could force the Russians out of the war.[29]
Thus, the battle turned out to be a kind of "Tannenberg on the contrary". If the East Prussian operation is a vivid example of a brilliant tactical victory and a strategic unsuccess for the Germans (as they moved from the west the needed troops in the form of 2 corps and 1 cavalry division that could be useful at the First Battle of the Marne[c]), then the opposite is true with the Łódź operation.[25] Technically, Łódź was a victory for Russia, but the Germans achieved their aim, and after the Russian withdrawal, Russia never came so close to German soil.[3]
Central Powers Forces[edit]
[North to South]