Austrians take Stanisławów

The British chronology of the war gives under 19 February 1915 the capture of Stanisławów by Austro-Hungarian troops. Most studies, and also the Ukrainian histories of the city, date the Austrians’ entry to 20 February. The Russian staff admitted the loss of Stanisławów in a communiqué of 22 February. The discrepancy is small: on 19 February the Russians, beaten near Nadwórna, were already retreating towards the city.

The advance from the Carpathians

Stanisławów had been in Russian hands since the beginning of September 1914. At the end of October Legionnaires and Austro-Hungarian troops approached it, but after the battle of Mołotków they had to withdraw into the mountains. The second attempt came in winter, during the offensive in the Carpathians. The eastern wing, the group of General Karl von Pflanzer-Baltin, achieved the most in it. In mid-February its units came down from the mountains into Pokuttya, on 16 February took Kolomea, and on 17 February recaptured Czernowitz.

The Russians tried to stop this advance by bringing up reinforcements from the direction of Stanisławów. For several days heavy fighting went on north of Nadwórna and north-west of Kolomea. According to the Austro-Hungarian communiqué of 20 February, the Russians failed to hold strong positions near Nadwórna and, avoiding a final assault, withdrew towards Stanisławów, pursued by cavalry. Polish Legionnaires of the group of Lieutenant Colonel Józef Haller, the later II Brigade of the Legions, also took part in the offensive against Stanisławów. According to the studies, the advance began in frosts of down to –28 °C.

Two weeks in Austrian hands

According to studies based on the Austrian official history, on the morning of 20 February the Austro-Hungarian 10th Cavalry Division entered Stanisławów, which the Russians had abandoned. That same afternoon the Russians counter-attacked, and only the arrival of an infantry brigade of the 36th Division made it possible to hold the city. Stanisławów, an important railway junction of eastern Galicia, became the northernmost gain of the winter offensive.

The success proved short-lived. The Russian command moved new forces to this sector, from which the 9th Army of General Platon Lechitsky was formed, and the 8th Army of General Aleksei Brusilov strengthened its left wing. At the end of February the Russians broke through the front north-west of Stanisławów. According to Ukrainian historians of the city, they returned to it on 4 March. The Austrians fell back to the south, and the front came to a standstill for many weeks between the Dniester and the Carpathians. The Austrians’ return to Stanisławów thus lasted barely two weeks.