The Carpathian Front, sometimes referred to as the Carpathian Winter War, of 1915 was one of the largest military operations on the Eastern Front at 1915 in terms of scale, duration, the number of troops involved in it and the losses of the parties.
Having repulsed the counteroffensive of the Austro-Hungarian troops in late December 1914 - early January 1915, the Russian armies of the left flank of the Southwestern Front (8th and 11th) went on the offensive and again reached the Beskids, part of the passes of the main Carpathian ridge and captured almost throughout Bukovina. At the same time, the armies of the Northwestern Front, although they firmly occupied the positions to which they were withdrawn in early December (the lines of the Bzura, Pilica and Rawka rivers), they could not seize the initiative and go on the offensive against the German troops of the 9th Army.
The headquarters of the Supreme Commander Cavalry General Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich (Chief Infantry General N. Yanushkevich, Quartermaster General Infantry General Yuri Danilov) did not abandon the plan of a new invasion of Germany and the capture of East Prussia. But the commander-in-chief of the armies of the Southwestern Front, General of Artillery N. Ivanov and his chief of staff, General of Infantry Mikhail Alekseyev, proposed to shift the direction of the main attack to the Carpathians, overcome the mountain barrier and reach the Hungarian Plain, which would open the way to Budapest and Vienna, and consequently led to the withdrawal of Austria-Hungary from the war.
To discuss the campaign plan for 1915 at Headquarters on January 17, 1915 meeting was held. Yuri Danilov believed that the active army would be ready for a major offensive only by April 1915, since it was then that the training of the 1915 call-up and the replenishment of artillery shells were expected to be completed. However, he also counted on some strengthening of the troops by February, and the only place where one could count on a quick and stunning success for the enemy was East Prussia - when it was invaded from the south. This opinion was supported by the Commander-in-Chief of the armies of the North-Western Front, Infantry General Nikolai Ruzsky, who arrived at the meeting. It was approved by the Supreme Commander.[8]
However, M. Alekseyev, who was absent at the meeting, in his report on January 20, emphasized that the Austro-Hungarian troops should not be neglected, they are replenished much faster and receive help from Germany, so we should expect their new offensive from the Carpathians as early as mid-January. He proposed to strengthen the armies of the South-Western Front, but for now there is a concentration of troops for the main attack on Germany, to strike at Austria-Hungary in order to push its troops back from Przemysl, to take a more advantageous line outside the Carpathian Mountains, to bring the cavalry into operational space and create threat to Krakow from the southeast.[9]
In a directive dated January 20, 1915 the headquarters of the armies of the Southwestern Front clearly indicated the goal and means of further actions: “It is necessary to use [with] possible energy our means of the right bank of the Vistula, inflict at least a partial defeat on the Austrians, put [in] a threatened position Hungary, occupy a more advantageous position than now, position without stretching the common strategic front. For the offensive, it was planned to use reinforced troops of the 3rd, 8th and 11th armies.[10]
Thus, the offensive operation of the armies of the Southwestern Front received the task of reaching the Hungarian plain and moving to Budapest, with the fall of which the hope for the collapse of the alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary and the collapse of the Habsburg monarchy was associated. The actions of the troops were subordinated to the main goal - the greatest weakening of Germany by a blow to the weakest link, as the Russian Headquarters believed.
Battle
The Carpathian Front of World War I was a theater of conflict, part of the greater Eastern Front, centered on the Carpathian Mountains in which Austro-Hungary faced Russian forces.[11] More than half of the 1.1 million Austro-Hungarian troops deployed on the Carpathian Front in the first four months of 1915 were killed, injured, captured, or incapacitated by disease, however, casualties became so high that the Austro-Hungarian army eventually lost detailed track of losses.[12][13]
According to Prit Buttar, "The rugged peaks and passes of the Carpathians formed a natural barrier between Galicia, now in Russian hands, and the great plain of Hungary and the Danube valley. At the time, there were five main passes through the mountains, at Wyszkov, Verecke, Uzsok, Lupkov, and Dukla." At the beginning of 1915, the Austro-Hungarian forces along the Carpathians included (west to east) Archduke Joseph Ferdinand of Austria's Fourth Army, Svetozar Boroević's Third Army with the VII, X, and XVIII Corps, and Alexander von Linsingen's South Army. Russian forces consisted of Aleksei Brusilov's 8th Army, with the XXIV, XII, and VII Corps, reinforced by the XXII by the end of January. Austro-Hungary's Conrad planned a drive northwards from the Carpathians to commence on 22 January, while the Russian Army planned an attack southwards to commence on 25 January. By 26 January, Linsingen's South Army was able to take the Verecke Pass, and advance onto the Uzsok Pass, while the Austro-Hungarian Third Army, after some initial success, had been driven back to their starting line. On 5 February, the Russians captured the important rail link of Mezőlaborc, while Boroević's Third Army of 135,000 men, suffered almost 89,000 dead, wounded, sick, or captured. The Russian ranks suffered as much, as the first campaign in the Carpathians came to an end.[14]
Kusmanek, the Przemyśl commander, estimated he had enough supplies to last until March. This prompted Conrad to try and advance past the Russian lines along the Carpathians once again, ordering Eduard von Böhm-Ermolli's Second Army to reach Przemyśl by 12 March. Kolomea was captured by Pflanzer-Baltin on 16 February, and Stanislau on 20 February. However, the Russians transferred their Ninth Army to that sector, and by early March, Stavka placed increased emphasis on a southern campaign. An invasion of Hungary would be an attempt to knock the Austro-Hungarian Empire out of the war, and according to Buttar, "In addition to weakening Germany by eliminating its main ally, this would induce Romania and Italy to enter the war against the Central Powers." Heavy snow in mid-March, and Russian counterattacks meant little real change in battlefield positions, until 20 March when the Russian offensive commenced. On 22 March, Przemyśl surrendered. With Conrad's front line in danger of retreat, Georg von der Marwitz's Beskidenkorps counterattacked, forcing the Russians to be driven back and their Eighth and Ninth Armies put on the defensive.[14]:61,118,123,128–129,142,147–152
Casualties and losses
The total сasualties of Russian troops in the Carpathian operation of 1915 in killed, wounded, missing and sick are usually estimated at 1 million men, the Central Powers - at 800,000 men, including the sick. These estimates are incorrect, first of all, this concerns the сasualties of Russian troops, the size of which was taken from the statistical collection of 1925 by the authors of the Austrian official work on the history of the world war of 1914-1918 (total 1.2 million from the beginning of the war until May 1, 1915) and extrapolated to the armies of the Russian Southwestern Front.[15]
Austrian historians determined the irretrievable losses of the Habsburg Monarchy in the Carpathian battle at 358,000 men (dead and captured), sanitary (wounded and sick) - at 435,000 men. Then this number was detailed: for January-April 1915 - 66,500 dead, 240,550 missing and captured, 180,500 wounded and 306,100 sick. The source of the calculations was not specified.[16]
According to the authors of the Hungarian official work and German regimental histories, the сasualties of the Austro-Hungarian troops from the mouth of the Danube to Chernivtsi reached in January-April 1915 (excluding the Przemyśl garrison) 1,058 officers and 51,626 soldiers killed and died from wounds and diseases, 1,941 officers and 177,366 soldiers missing and captured, 3,039 officers and 143,884 soldiers wounded. Losses in the Przemyśl fortress were estimated at 120,000 men; in addition, it was proposed to add another 10% for "unaccounted for losses." It is unclear whether this number includes the losses of the German troops that were part of the Austro-Hungarian armies.[17]
Calculations based on archival documents preserved in the Military Archives of the State Archives of Austria and the Military Historical Archives of the Ministry of Defense of Hungary (nominal lists of losses, reports of the material situation, reports of losses, morning reports) for January 15 - May 1, 1915 give a different result: 760 officers and 36,341 soldiers were killed, 4,914 officers (including 9 generals) and 298,865 soldiers were missing or captured, 2,212 officers and 106,056 soldiers were wounded. Since the wounded from the Przemyśl garrison were not evacuated, they were captured and counted among the prisoners.[18]
According to updated data from regimental histories and nominal lists of losses of the German army (with additions up to December 6, 1916), assistance to the ally in the Carpathians cost 148 officers and 5,539 soldiers killed, 21 officers and 2,657 soldiers missing, 201 officers and 12,648 soldiers were wounded.[19]
The сasualties of the Russian side in the Carpathian battle have not yet been calculated or detailed. For calculations, both nominal lists of losses (which also have many gaps) and general "urgent reports" of divisions, corps and armies for each week, which began to be compiled regularly from the end of 1914, information from combat reports (relations) and military journals. Calculations of the сasualties of the Russian armies of the Southwestern Front (3rd, 4th, 9th and 11th) for January 14 - May 1, 1915 give the following result: 570 officers and 68,866 soldiers were killed, 354 officers and 134,122 soldiers were taken prisoner, 3,080 officers and 248,823 soldiers were wounded.[20]
During the fighting in the Carpathians from January to the end of April, the Russian armies of the Southwestern Front, according to the reports of the headquarters, taking into account the surrender of Przemyśl, captured 9 generals, 4,726 officers, 251,008 soldiers (of which 16 officers and 813 soldiers of the German army) , 600 in fortresses (mostly out of order) and 48 field guns, 363 machine guns, 2 mortars and 2 aircraft, many other military equipment and ammunition.[21]
The trophies of the Central Powers during the Carpathian operation were more modest: 308 officers and 105,383 soldiers of the Russian army were captured, 128 machine guns and 11 guns were captured. Taking into account the data on the captured, the number of dead, due to the missing, who were not among the prisoners, may increase in the ranks of the Russian army to 623 officers and 99,136 soldiers, in the ranks of the Austro-Hungarian army, up to 964-1,280 officers and 87,190 - 98,797 soldiers, in the German troops - up to 153 officers and 7,383 soldiers.[22]
War crimes
The fighting in the Carpathians became a tragedy for the local population as well. After the reconquest of Bukovina, the Austro-Hungarian military authorities established a strict martial law regime. The entire population was subject to re-registration, special military passes were introduced that restricted freedom of movement, and special food tariffs were introduced. Repressions began against those who collaborated with the Russians.[23]
The Russian side also carried out repressions against the local population, which, from January 1915, assumed a nationally directed and massive character. On 4 February 1915, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, General of the Cavalry, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich ordered "starting from Bukovina, the Jews should be evicted following the retreating enemy and hostages should be taken from among the most prosperous and occupying public or other positions of the Jews." The hostages were sent in custody to the Kyiv province. Fulfilling this instruction, the commander-in-chief of the armies of the South-Western Front, N. Ivanov, ordered the Jews to be evicted deep into Russia no closer than two hundred miles from the army headquarters.[24]
The inconsistency of such instructions caused a great deal of correspondence between the headquarters of the armies and the Southwestern Front. On March 5, confirmation came from the Chief of Staff of the Supreme Commander General of Infantry Nikolai Yanushkevich: “The Jewish population, without distinction of sex and age, in the combat area should be evicted towards the enemy. The areas occupied by the rear units of the army must be cleared of all suspicious and unreliable persons. Regardless of this, in the last places, hostages should be taken from among those who enjoy influence.[25]
However, the eviction "towards the enemy" was not feasible under the conditions of a positional war: the Jewish population from Galicia and Bukovina was evicted deep into Russia. On March 27, Yanushkevich telegraphed to the headquarters of the fronts: “Information is coming from the Minister of the Interior about the attempted eviction of the Jews from Galicia deep into Russia. This is unacceptable, we already have too many of them. It was ordered to drive them forward behind the Austrians, and in the areas in the rear of the troops, who had long been occupied, to select from the most wealthy and important among the population and influence of the hostages, who should be evicted to Russia in the area of settled settlement, but under guard, that is, in prisons, and property sequester them. Rumors reached the Supreme Commander that with the movement forward, the inhabitants of the Jews were not evicted. I ask you to strictly confirm this requirement, and to confiscate the property of those who showed hostility in the slightest degree or are suspected of espionage. For the eviction of the hostages, the Minister of Internal Affairs has planned the provinces of Poltava and Chernigov, that is, counties outside the theater of war. On April 7, the demand for the strict implementation of these repressive measures was confirmed by the chief supply officer of the armies of the Southwestern Front, Infantry General A. Mavrin. On April 21, 1915, the chief of staff of the 8th Army Corps, Major General Georgy Viranovsky, reported to the headquarters of the 8th Army on the execution of this order.[26]
Ethnic segregation began in the ranks of the Russian army. On February 12, 1915, the Chief of Staff of the Supreme Commander, Infantry General N. Yanushkevich, accused soldiers from the German colonists of "unreliability" and ordered them to be sent to the Caucasian front (with the exception of militias and non-combatants). The "defectors" were ordered to open fire: "in general, no cruelty will be excessive."
In the 11th Army blockading Przemyśl, the commander of the infantry general Andrey Selivanov ordered the transfer of 400 disarmed soldiers from the German colonists under escort from the Cossacks to the 58th and 81st infantry divisions to be involved in earthworks. At the first case of "dishonest service", it was ordered "to bring them to the strictest responsibility under the laws of war." These teams were placed under special supervision; On March 4, the Chief of Staff of the 11th Army, Major General V. von Weil, ordered the corps commanders to report weekly what work was entrusted to the German colonists, how they perform these works, how they relate to their position, whether they influence other soldiers.
Until the end of the siege of the fortress, there was not a single case of German colonists evading work or any "harmful influence" on other soldiers. Moreover, the heads of divisions, the commander of the siege artillery and the commander of the army telegraph company noted the excellent performance of service by soldiers of German nationality and in a number of cases returned their weapons to them.[27]
Outcome
Prit Buttar noted, "A glance at the maps of the campaign shows the futility of such operations for both sides. The bloodshed was enormous for the modest gains and losses, ranking the Carpathians fighting as amongst the most ineffective of the entire war."[14]:156
Related Research Articles
The Battle of Łódź took place from 11 November to 6 December 1914, near the city of Łódź in Poland. It was fought between the German Ninth Army and greatly outnumbered troops of 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, and thus considered a success, though narrowly avoiding disaster. The battle had a strong impact on both the western and Eastern fronts
The Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes or Winter Battle of the Masurian Lakes, known in Germany as the Winter Battle in Masuria and in Russia as the Battle of Augustowo, was the northern part of the Central Powers' offensive on the Eastern Front in the winter of 1915 during World War I. The offensive was intended to advance beyond the Vistula River and perhaps knock Russia out of the war. It was the last major battle fought on German soil during World War I.
The siege of Przemyśl was the longest siege in Europe during the First World War. The siege was a crushing defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Army by the Russian Army. Przemyśl was a fortress-town and stronghold on the River San in what is now southeastern Poland. The investment of Przemyśl began on 16 September 1914 and was briefly suspended on 11 October, due to an Austro-Hungarian offensive. The siege resumed again on 9 November and the Austro-Hungarian garrison surrendered on 22 March 1915, after holding out for a total of 133 days.
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.
The Battle of the Vistula River, also known as the Battle of Warsaw, was a Russian victory against the German Empire and Austria-Hungary on the Eastern Front during the First World War.
The First Battle of the Masurian Lakes was a German offensive in the Eastern Front 2–16 September 1914, during the Russian invasion of East Prussia. It took place only days after the Battle of Tannenberg where the German Eighth Army encircled and destroyed the Russian Second Army. Using the rapid movements aided by the East Prussian railway network, the Eighth Army reformed in front of the spread-out Russian First Army and pushed them back across their entire front, eventually ejecting it from Germany. Further progress was hampered by the arrival of the Russian Tenth Army on the Germans' right flank.
The Battle of Humin-Bolimów was an inconclusive battle of World War I fought on January 14, 1915 - February 28, 1915 between Imperial German Army and Russia and considered a preliminary to the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes.
The Gorlice–Tarnów offensive during World War I was initially conceived as a minor German offensive to relieve Russian pressure on the Austro-Hungarians to their south on the Eastern Front, but resulted in the Central Powers' chief offensive effort of 1915, causing 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.
The Battle of Limanowa-Łapanów took place from 1 December to 13 December 1914, between the Austro-Hungarian Army and the Russian Army near the town of Limanowa.
The Russian invasion of East Prussia occurred during World War I, lasting from August to September 1914. As well as being the natural course for the Russian Empire to take upon the declaration of war on the German Empire, it was also an attempt to focus the Imperial German Army on the Eastern Front, as opposed to the Western Front. Despite having an overwhelming superiority over the Germans in numbers, the invading Imperial Russian Army spread its forces thin and was defeated in the battles of Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes, resulting in a complete strategic collapse of the Russian invasion.
The Rovno offensive — the operation of the Austro-Hungarian Northern armies against the armies of the Russian Southwestern Front — the so-called "campaign on Rovno", or Lutsk-Rovno offensive operation. The purpose of the offensive was the liberation of Eastern Galicia, but by the end of the operation, a small part of Eastern Galicia was still held by the Russian Imperial Army.
The Great Retreat was a strategic withdrawal and evacuation on the Eastern Front of World War I in 1915. The Imperial Russian Army gave up the salient in Galicia and the Polish Congress Kingdom. The Russian Empire's critically under-equipped military suffered great losses in the Central Powers' July–September summer offensive operations, which led to the Stavka ordering a withdrawal to shorten the front lines and avoid the potential encirclement of large Russian forces in the salient. While the withdrawal itself was relatively well-conducted, it was a severe blow to Russian morale.
The siege of Novogeorgievsk was a battle of World War I fought after the Germans broke the Russian defenses at the Hindenburg's Bug-Narew Offensive. In terms of the ratio of casualties and trophies, the German victory at Novogeorgievsk surpassed the victory at Tannenberg in 1914. It is also one of the most brilliant victories in world military history in capturing a heavily fortified fortress defended by superior enemy forces. Numerous Russian sources call the fall of Novogeorgievsk the most shameful page in the history of the Russian Imperial army.
The Gorlice breakthrough occurred in the May 1–10, 1915 as part of the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive during World War I. The German 11th Army led by General August von Mackensen, with the support on the flanks by the 3rd and 4th Austro-Hungarian Armies, defeated the 3rd Russian Army. For the first time in the history of the First World War a heavily fortified and long-term defensive position was broken through during the Gorliсе offensive.
The Bug-Narew Offensive from July 13 to August 27, 1915 was a major German victory during World War I on the Eastern Front. The Imperial German Army broke through 4 heavily fortified positions, inflicted defeats on superior enemy forces and pushed the Russian Army 300 km to the east, capturing 215,000 prisoners. But the German army also suffered relatively heavy casualties, about 30,000 killed and missing.
The offensive of the Russian armies in October 1914 with the aim of capturing East Prussia after in Battle of Augustów (1914).
The Vistula–Bug offensive from July 13 to August 28, 1915, was a major Central Powers offensive with the decisive role of the German Imperial Army during World War I on the Eastern Front to defeat the forces of the Russian army in South Poland and Galicia.
The Battle of Dniestr and Zolota Lypa was an inconclusive battle between the armies of Austria-Hungary and the Russian Empire during the summer offensive of the Central Powers in 1915.
The Battle of Łomża was a series of large-scale battles between the Imperial German and Russian armies in the spring of 1915 on the territory of modern Poland. The Russians were able to repulse the Second German offensive on Przasnysz, but the Imperial German army also repulsed several major offensives of the Russian army.
The 9th German Army acted versus the Russian armies west of the Vistula River. After the completion of the fighting at Humin and Wola Szydłowska, there was some calm in this sector, especially before the Russian 2nd Army. But, having received the task of pinning down the Russian troops here, the commander of the German 9th Army, General of the Cavalry August von Mackensen, decided by going on the offensive not only to help the Austro-Hungarian troops in the Carpathians, but, if successful, push back Russian 5th Army to Warsaw.
References
↑ Олейников А. Россия-щит Антанты. С предисловием Николая Старикова.-СПб.:Питер, 2016.-336 с.-( серия «Николай Стариков рекомендует прочитать») ISBN 978-5-496-01795-4
↑ Царствование Императора Николая 2/ Сергей Ольденбург.-М.:Центрполиграф, 2022.-654 с. ISBN 978-5-227-09905-1
↑ А.Борисюк история России которую приказали забыть
↑ С.Г. Нелипович, Русский фронт Первой мировой войны. Потери сторон 1915, 2022, p. 184
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Russian Empire 
German Empire 
Austria-Hungary 
South Army 
