THE EASTERN FRONT

THE GORLICE-TARNOW OFFENSIVE:  MAY – SEPTEMBER 1915   

THE GREAT RETREAT:  GALICIA AND THE POLISH SALIENT

INVASION OF LITHUANIA AND LATVIA

(FOR BATTLES IN THE BALTIC (WAR AT SEA) SEE BELOW)

Acknowledgements

Intro: from book cover, author Richard L. DiNardo The Great Retreat (Map): thegreatwarpodcast.podbean.com Recapture of Galicia: Wikimedia Commons by Austrian war artist Karl Friedrich Gsur Polish Salient: dcstamps.com Baltic States: new scientist.com  Nicholas: commons.wikimedia.org Gotland & Gulf of Riga: sciencedirect.com Mackensen: hippostcard.com Slava: warwater.blogspot.com

    As we have seen, during the last five months of 1914, the Eastern Front had seen three major combat zones. In East Prussia the Russians were soundly defeated at the Battles of Tannenburg and the Masurian Lakes, but, further south had repulsed a German attack on the Polish Salient and, in addition, seized Galicia from the Austro-Hungarians (struggling at this time in the war with Serbia). The disastrous loss of Galicia, the northern province of Austria-Hungary, seriously alarmed the Germans. They feared (and with good reason) that, given this gain, the Russians might well strike through the passes of the Carpathian Mountains, reach the Hungarian Plain, and knock the Habsburg Empire, their major ally, out of the war. And there was also the threat that, given the weakness of Austria-Hungary, the neutral states of Italy and Romania might well be tempted to join the Entente to benefit from their neighbour’s weakness. To counter this possibility, the Germans brought a large number of troops from the Western Front – sufficient to make up the Ninth Army! – and, with Austro-Hungarian military in joint command, planned the Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive. Germany needed to crush the Russians to prevent the collapse of Austria Hungary, and to release a sufficient number of its forces to ensure victory on the WesternxFront.

THExGREAT RETREAT: GALICIA

    The offensive, commanded by the experienced German General August von Mackensen, was launched east of Cracow, between the towns of Gorlice and Tarnow (see map). There was a good railway line to enable the fast movement of troops and ordnance, and the flanks were well protected by the River Vistula to the north and the Beskid Mountains to the south. The Central Powers had eighteen infantry divisions (over 200,000 men) and about 900 artillery pieces. The attack, launched over a thirty mile front, began on May 1st. A massive artillery bombardment of some 700,000 shells opened the way for an infantry assault. There was some initial resistance, but then the Russian troops were quickly overwhelmed and began a disorganised retreat. They had a sufficient number of troops, but many were lacking in experience; there was a shortage of artillery, ammunition and rifles; and their shallow trenches gave them insufficient cover. By the end of the first day the Central Powers had advanced some ten kilometres. By the end of eight days the Russian 3rd Army had been virtually destroyed, and a new defence line had to be formed along the River San. But this line was quickly crossed, despite the arrival of reserve forces. The fortress cities of Przemysl (long under seige) and Lemburg (the capital of Galicia) were then captured (see map), and on the 21st June the Russian military ordered a complete withdrawal from Galicia. In a matter of seven weeks the Central Powers had driven the Russians back more than 200 miles. It was a humiliatng defeat, due in large measure to poor leadership and a growing discontent within the lower ranks over the general conduct of the war. By the end of June about 100,000 Russian troops had been killed or wounded in action, and some 250,000 captured, along with a large amount of war material. The Central Powers had lost around 90,000, killed wounded or missing. Now back in their own territory, the Russians regrouped and stood firm behind more secure lines, but, further north, their comrades in arms were to play their part in the “Great Retreat”.

    The success of the Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive was of crucial importance to Austria-Hungary. As we shall see, on the 23rd May, just three weeks after the launch, Italy, having promised to support the Entente (and having previousy been a member of the Triple Alliance!), invaded Austro-Hungary along their 400 mile rugged border – thereby opening the Italian Front. Fortunately for the Austro-Hungarians, the swift victory over the Russians enabled the Austro-Hungarians to send a large number of hardened battle troops to this new theatre of war, and, as a result, the Italian advance was stopped in its tracks along the Isonzo River.

THE GREAT RETREAT: THE POLISHxSALIENT

    With Galicia firmly in their hands, at the end of June the German high command – anxious to take advantage of the remarkable success achieved throughout the entire Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive – moved their Twelfth Army from East Prussia and Pomerania in the north to spearhead an attack on the Polish Salient in the centre of the Eastern Front. It was a successful strategy. When it launched its attack on 13th July, the Russian army was again forced to beat a hasty and, in some cases, chaotic retreat, losing many men and a great deal of war material (equipment which could not be easily replaced). As in the south, the Russians were poorly led and, apart from a lack of field artillery, were short of small arms and ammunition. Understandably, this had a serious effect upon the morale of the troops in the thick of the fighting. OnxAugust 5th the Austro-Germans captured the city of Warsaw (ending a century of Russian control), and by the beginnng of September had taken the towns of Grodno, Bialystok, Brest-Litovsk and Ivangorod (see map). At this stage, the conquest of the Polish Salient was complete. By then the Russian high command had ordered a retreat from Poland, and the Germans were able to call a halt to reinforce the gains they had made. By the end of the year, the Russians had managed to make a stand along a line running through (north to south) Riga, Dvinsk, Pinsk, Dubno and Ternopil, (virtually their pre-war border), and that line was maintained until the Russian collapse in November 1917.

     Incidentally, during their retreat in the Polish Salient, the Russians ordered a complete civilian evacuation of Poland. This not only resulted in immense hardship for the common people, but as they left their homes and trudged eastward in their thousands, they clogged up the roads and severely hampered the movement of Russian troops in retreat.

THExINVASION OF LITHUANIA AND LATVIA

     The “Great Retreat” also brought gains for Germany in the Russian Baltic provinces of Lithuania and Latvia, far to the north. As early as May – despite the strong line of fortifications in place along the southern border – the Russians had been overrun and were falling back before the German 8th Army, destroying crops, railways and bridges as they went. The stronghold of Kaunas was taken on the 18th August, after a ten-day battle, and by the end of the year most of Lithuania – the “governates” of Suwalki, Kovno, Vilna and Courland – were in German hands, together with large areas of southern Latvia. It was not until mid-1916, that the Russians had firmly established their front line along the River Dvina (see map), and gained a firm hold over the vital port of Riga. Come victory, the Germans aimed to make these provinces into satellite states, strengthening thereby the German presence in the Baltic Sea, but at the end of the war they were forced to leave the area and, for a time at least, the three states gained their independence.

     Field Marshal August von Mackensen (1849-1945), one of the most highly decorated German commanders of all time, began his army career in 1869, just in time to take part in the Franco-Prussian War. At the opening of the First World War he was sent to East Prussia and achieved outstanding victories at both Tannenburg and the Masurian Lakes. Then, after masterminding the highly successful campaigns in Galicia and Russian Poland, he later, played a prominent part in the overrunning of Serbia towards the end of 1915, and the occupation of Romania in 1916/17. In the postwar years he remained a committed monarchist, and attended the Kaiser’s funeral in 1941. He was never a fully convinced Nazi. Indeed, both Hitler and his propaganda minister, Goebels, suspected him of disloyalty towards the Third Reich, but (probably because of his age and successful career) took no action. He died in November 1945 – ending a life that spanned from the Kingdom of Prussia to the Allied occupation of Germany after the Second World War – and was buried in Celle Cemetery.

     The victory in Galicia and the capture of the Polish Salient (Russian Poland) greatly reduced, if it did not remove, the threat of a Russian invasion of the Central Powers, but the fighting was not over. By the end of 1916 the Russians had managed to increase their production of war materials and their armies were still in place. However, the immediate threat had been removed, and the German plan to attack Russia in force had paid dividends. Austria-Hungary, having recovered Galicia, felt more secure on that crucial front, and the Germans had clearly put Russia on the defensive from the Carpathians to the Baltic. At the end of 1915 about three-quarters of German troops were on the Eastern Front. Now the balance could be changed in favour of the Western Front, where, given the required numbers, victory could be achieved.

    Meanwhile the Russians were left to lick their wounds. By the end of 1915 their new line had been quite firmly established and, as noted earlier, war material was slowly becoming more available, but the lack of success on the battlefield; the pitiful conditions endured by the lower ranks; and, perhaps above all, the poor leadership shown at the front, was giving rise not only to anti-war protests, but also a growing demand for political change. As we shall see, in September, in an attempt to assure the public that the country was now to be in safe hands, the Czar himself assumed command of the army. A man with little military experience, he replaced his ageing uncle, the Grand Duke Nicholas (illustrated), as the new commander. It was papering over the cracks, and the cracks were getting bigger amid a growing undercurrent of revolt against the political elite. In fact, the days of the Czar were numbered.

THE WAR AT SEA

THE BALTIC NAVAL BATTLES: JULY AND AUGUST 1915

    Thexinvasion of Lithuania and Latvia was accompanied by two naval battles in the Baltic Sea between the German High Seas Fleet and the Russian Baltic Fleet. The first, the Battle of Gotland (or the Battle of Aland Islands), was fought in early July. It proved to be a serious gun contest between German and Russian cruisers of various type and capability, a contest in which both sides were anxious to reduce the strength and activity of the other. When the combatants finally dispersed, the Russians could claim a narrow victory. Their cruisers, Bayan and Makarov, had certainly been hit, but two German boats had been severely damaged, the SMS Albatross and Roon, and, in addition, SMS Prinz Adalbert had been torpedoed by a British submarine, though it did manage to keep afloat.

    Thexsecond encounter, the Battle of the Gulf of Riga, was part of an overall strategy, produced by the German high command. It stretched over ten days in August, and the aim was to destroy Russia’s naval forces in the gulf (including the pre-dreadnought battleship Slava) and clear away minefields in the area so that troops could be landed at Pernau, at the head of the gulf. From there they could attack the port of Riga, about a hundred miles to the south. However, the German fleet – eight battleships and three battlecruisers – failed to destroy the Russian presence (a crucial requirement of the plan) and was forced to return to base. At one stage the Germans came close to landing troops in the Gulf of Riga, but with Russian warships close at hand and the possible danger from U-boats, the landing was abandoned. The port of Riga, in fact, remained in Russian hands until captured by the Germans in September 1917. In the encounter the Germans lost a number of mine sweeping torpedo boats and their battle cruiser SMS Moltke was badly damaged. The Russians lost a minelayer, and Slava, hit three times, was forced to withdraw from the battle.

     As we shall see, the next naval encounter, the famous Battle of Jutland, fought in May 1916, was to be a much greater affair. A contest between capital warships, it proved to be the only significant naval battle of the war, and one in which neither side was able to claim an outright victory. This was of particular disappointment to the British public, given the overwhelming strength of its Grand Fleet, but it did confirm that the U-boat, not the warship, was to be the means of blockading Britain and, hopefully, forcing its capitulation.

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