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Battle of Galicia

The Battle of Galicia, also known as the Battle of Lemberg, 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 and, for approximately nine months, ruled Eastern Galicia until their defeat at Gorlice and Tarnów.

For other battles fought for the city of Lemberg, see Battle of Lwów (disambiguation).

Background[edit]

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.

Order of battle[edit]

Russian forces[edit]

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

Buttar, P. (2014). Collision of Empires: The War on the Eastern Front in 1914. Osprey Publishing.  978-1472813183.

ISBN

Herwig, H. (2014). The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914-1918 (2nd ed.). London: Bloomsbury Academic.  978-1-4725-1250-5.

ISBN

Schindler, John R. (2015). Fall of the Double Eagle: the Battle for Galicia and the demise of Austria-Hungary. Herndon, Virginia: . ISBN 978-1-61234-765-3.

Potomac Books

Stone, David (2015). The Russian Army in the Great War: The Eastern Front, 1914-1917. Lawrence: . ISBN 9780700620951.

University Press of Kansas

The Guns of August (1962)

Tuchman, Barbara

Tucker, Spencer, The Great War: 1914–18 (1998)

. Great battle for Galicia Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine

Nikolai Golovin