The
Battle of Bolimov was an inconclusive battle of
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
fought on January 31, 1915 between
GermanyThe German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871 to 1918, when it became a German republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of Wilhelm II .The term Second Reich...
and
RussiaThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
and considered a preliminary to the
Second Battle of the Masurian LakesThe Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes, also known as the Winter Battle of the Masurian Lakes, was the northern part of the Central Powers' offensive on the Eastern Front in the winter of 1915...
.
The
German Ninth ArmyThe 9th Army was a World War II field army.The 9th Army was activated on May 15, 1940 with General Johannes Blaskowitz in command.-1940:The 9th Army first saw service along the Siegfried Line when it was involved in the invasion of France...
led by
August von MackensenAnton Ludwig August von Mackensen , born August Mackensen, was a German soldier and field marshal...
attacked the Russian Second Army, under General Smirnov, near the
PolishCongress Poland , officially and formally Kingdom of Poland and informally known as Russian Poland was a constitutional personal union of the Russian Empire created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, replaced by the Central Powers in 1915 with the Kingdom of Poland...
village of
BolimówBolimów is a village in Skierniewice County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland. It is the seat of the Gmina called Gmina Bolimów. It lies approximately north of Skierniewice and north-east of the regional capital Łódź. The village has a population of 930...
, lying on the railway line connecting Łódź and
WarsawWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River roughly from both the Baltic Sea coast and the Carpathian Mountains. Its population as of 2009 was estimated at 1,709,781, and the Warsaw metropolitan area at approximately 2,785,000...
.
The Battle of Bolimów was the first attempt by the Germans at a large-scale use of poison gas; the several thousand gas shells they fired proved unsuccessful when the
xylyl bromideXylyl bromide, T-stoff or methylbenzyl bromide, was used as a tear gas in World War I under the name Weisskreuz . It was a popular agent due to its easy manufacture...
—a type of tear gas—was blown back at their own lines.
The
Battle of Bolimov was an inconclusive battle of
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
fought on January 31, 1915 between
GermanyThe German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871 to 1918, when it became a German republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of Wilhelm II .The term Second Reich...
and
RussiaThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
and considered a preliminary to the
Second Battle of the Masurian LakesThe Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes, also known as the Winter Battle of the Masurian Lakes, was the northern part of the Central Powers' offensive on the Eastern Front in the winter of 1915...
.
Battle
The
German Ninth ArmyThe 9th Army was a World War II field army.The 9th Army was activated on May 15, 1940 with General Johannes Blaskowitz in command.-1940:The 9th Army first saw service along the Siegfried Line when it was involved in the invasion of France...
led by
August von MackensenAnton Ludwig August von Mackensen , born August Mackensen, was a German soldier and field marshal...
attacked the Russian Second Army, under General Smirnov, near the
PolishCongress Poland , officially and formally Kingdom of Poland and informally known as Russian Poland was a constitutional personal union of the Russian Empire created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, replaced by the Central Powers in 1915 with the Kingdom of Poland...
village of
BolimówBolimów is a village in Skierniewice County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland. It is the seat of the Gmina called Gmina Bolimów. It lies approximately north of Skierniewice and north-east of the regional capital Łódź. The village has a population of 930...
, lying on the railway line connecting Łódź and
WarsawWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River roughly from both the Baltic Sea coast and the Carpathian Mountains. Its population as of 2009 was estimated at 1,709,781, and the Warsaw metropolitan area at approximately 2,785,000...
.
The Battle of Bolimów was the first attempt by the Germans at a large-scale use of poison gas; the several thousand gas shells they fired proved unsuccessful when the
xylyl bromideXylyl bromide, T-stoff or methylbenzyl bromide, was used as a tear gas in World War I under the name Weisskreuz . It was a popular agent due to its easy manufacture...
—a type of tear gas—was blown back at their own lines. The gas caused few, if any, casualties, however, since the cold weather caused it to freeze, rendering it ineffective.
The failure of the xylyl bromide caused the German commanders to call off their attack. In response, the Russians sent 11 divisions, led by
Vasily GurkoVasily Iosiforich Gurko served for a brief period as Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Russian Army before being forced out of the country in exile following the October Revolution of 1917.-World War I:...
to launch a counterattack; German
artilleryArtillery is a military combat Arm that employs weapons capable of discharging large projectiles in combat. They are generally capable of adding considerable fire power to the military capability of an armed force...
repelled the Russian troops, who suffered 40,000 casualties.