The Battle of Kraśnik begins
- Category:
- Military operations
- Front:
- Eastern Front
- Date:
- 23 August 1914
- Author:
- Natalia
- Battle:
- Battle of Kraśnik
On 23 August 1914, south of Kraśnik, in Congress Poland, the first great battle between the armies of Austria-Hungary and Russia began. The Battle of Kraśnik opened the series of clashes known as the Battle of Galicia.
Two armies meet
The Austro-Hungarian chief of staff, Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, decided to strike north from Galicia, between the Vistula and the Bug. On the left wing advanced the First Army under General Viktor Dankl. Marching south to meet it was the Russian Fourth Army under General Anton Salza. Neither side had properly reconnoitred the other’s position, and they met almost by chance.
The first Austro-Hungarian victory
The fighting lasted three days. The Austro-Hungarians, who had numerical superiority, pushed back the Russian right wing, and on 25 August forced the whole Russian army to retreat towards Lublin. It was the Austro-Hungarian army’s first victory of the war, especially valuable after the defeat in Serbia. Salza lost his command.
War on Polish soil
The Battle of Kraśnik is a reminder that the great battles of the Eastern Front were fought above all on Polish soil. Tens of thousands of Poles served in the armies of both partitioning powers, and they often found themselves facing one another. The war devastated Polish towns and villages, and the civilian population suffered from requisitions, evacuations and the passage of armies.
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Meanwhile
(04)Elsewhere in the same days.
- 23 August 1914 · Western FrontBattle of MonsOn 23 August 1914 the British Expeditionary Force fought its first battle at Mons. It inflicted heavy losses on the Germans but had to begin a retreat.
- 23 August 1914 · Asia and the PacificJapan declares war on GermanyOn 23 August 1914 Japan declared war on Germany. The war spread to the Far East and the Pacific, and Japan reached for Germany's possessions in Asia.
- 23 August 1914 · Western FrontZeppelin Z VIII shot down in the VosgesOn 23 August 1914 the German army airship Z VIII, hit by ground fire while flying over French troops, came down in a forest near Badonviller.
- 23 August 1914 · AfricaGeneral Dobell to command the Kamerun expeditionOn 23 August 1914 General Charles Dobell was appointed commander of the Allied land forces against German Kamerun.
Related events
(04)The same battle, people or subject.
- 25 August 1914 · Eastern FrontEnd of the Battle of KraśnikOn 25 August 1914 the Austro-Hungarian First Army took Kraśnik and the Russian Fourth Army fell back towards Lublin. It was Austria-Hungary's first victory.
- 26 August 1914 · Eastern FrontBattle of Komarów beginsOn 26 August 1914 Auffenberg's Austro-Hungarian 4th Army attacked Plehve's Russian 5th Army near Zamość. The Battle of Komarów had begun.
- 2 September 1914 · Eastern FrontBattle of Komarów endsOn 2 September 1914 Plehve's Russian Fifth Army slipped out of encirclement towards the Bug. The Battle of Komarów ended in an Austro-Hungarian victory.
- 7 September 1914 · Eastern FrontBattle of Tarnawka beginsOn 7 September 1914 the Battle of Tarnawka broke out south of Lublin. The reinforced Russians struck Dankl's Austro-Hungarian army and forced it to retreat.