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Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive
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The Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive during World War I started as a minor German offensive to relieve Russian pressure on the Austro-Hungarians to their south on the Eastern Front, but resulted in the total collapse of the Russian lines and their retreat far into Russia. The continued series of actions lasted the majority of the campaigning season for 1915, starting in early May and only ending due to bad weather in October.
Background
In the early stages of the Eastern Front, the German Eighth Army had conducted a series of almost miraculous actions against the two Russian armies facing them.
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Encyclopedia
The Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive during World War I started as a minor German offensive to relieve Russian pressure on the Austro-Hungarians to their south on the Eastern Front, but resulted in the total collapse of the Russian lines and their retreat far into Russia. The continued series of actions lasted the majority of the campaigning season for 1915, starting in early May and only ending due to bad weather in October.
Background
In the early stages of the Eastern Front, the German Eighth Army had conducted a series of almost miraculous actions against the two Russian armies facing them. After surrounding and then destroying the Russian Second Army at the Battle of Tannenberg in late August, Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff wheeled their troops to face the 1st Army at the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes, almost destroying them before they reached the protection of their own fortresses as they retreated across the border. When the actions petered out in late September, the vast majority of two Russian armies had been destroyed, and all Russian forces had been ejected from German soil.
Things were not going so well to their south, however. Here the bulk of the Russian army faced an equally large group of Austro-Hungarian units, who started their own offensive in late August and initially pushed the Russians back well into what is now central Poland. However, a well executed Russian counterattack in late September pushed them back over their own borders in disarray, allowing the Russians to start the Siege of Przemysl. The Germans came to their aid by forming up the Ninth Army and attacking during the Battle of the Vistula River, and although it was initially successful, the attack eventually petered out and the Germans returned to their starting points.
The Russians followed up by redeploying their armies for a further offensive into Silesia, placing both Austria and Germany at risk. When they heard of this, the Ninth Army was redeployed to the north, allowing them to put serious pressure on the Russian right flank in what developed as the Battle of Lódz in early November. The Germans failed to encircle the Russian units, and the battle ended inconclusively with an orderly Russian withdrawal to the east near Warsaw. Weather prevented further actions over the next months.
Battle
German Chief of Staff, Erich von Falkenhayn, decided for a major offensive in the Gorlice-Tarnów area, south-east of Cracow, at the far southern end of the Eastern Front. In April 1915 the recently formed German XI Army (10 infantry divisions under General August von Mackensen) was transferred from the Western Front. Along with the Austrian IV Army (8 infantry and 1 cavalry divisions under Archduke Joseph Ferdinand), it had to cope with the Russian III Army (18½ infantry and 5½ cavalry divisions, under General D.R.Radko-Dmitriev), that held that sector.
General Mackensen had been given command of both German and Austro-Hungarian forces, and on May 1, after a heavy artillery bombardment, he launched an attack which caught the Russians by surprise. He concentrated 10 infantry and 1 cavalry division (126,000 men, 457 light, 159 heavy pieces of artillery and 96 mortars) on the 35 km of the breakthrough sector of the front line against 5 Russian divisions (60,000 men with 141 light and 4 heavy pieces of artillery). Russian defenses were shattered and their lines collapsed. The III Army left in enemy hands about 140,000 prisoners and almost ceased to exist as a fighting unit.
The Russians were forced to withdraw, the Central Powers recaptured most of Galicia, and the Russian threat to Austria-Hungary was averted. Particularly gratifying was the recapture of Przemysl on 3 June. The lines stabilized around 1 June, the penetration about 100 miles at its deepest, reducing the Polish Salient to perhaps a third of its pre-war size.
Outcome
Trying to save Russian forces from suffering heavy casualties and gain time needed for the massive buildup of war industries at home, Russian Stavka decided to gradually evacuate Galicia and Polish salient to straighten out the frontline and started strategic retreat which is known as a Great retreat of 1915.
See also
Further reading
- Foley, Robert. German Strategy and the Path to Verdun. Cambridge University Press 2004.
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