Battle of the Złota Lipa begins

On 26 August 1914, east of Lviv, on the river Złota Lipa, a battle began between the Austro-Hungarian Third Army of General Rudolf von Brudermann and the Russian armies of Generals Nikolai Ruzsky and Aleksei Brusilov. It was part of the great Battle of Galicia. In English-language literature this fighting is often called the first Battle of Lemberg or the Battle of the Gniła Lipa.

A weak right wing

The chief of the Austro-Hungarian General Staff, Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, had sent his main forces north, deep into the Kingdom of Poland. There Dankl’s army had just won the Battle of Kraśnik, and Auffenberg’s army was beginning the Battle of Komarów. Eastern Galicia was only to be screened. It was defended by Brudermann’s Third Army and the army group of General Hermann Kövess. Some of the troops intended for the defence of this sector, especially the Second Army, were still travelling by rail from the Serbian border.

Conrad believed that only weak Russian forces were approaching from the east and ordered Brudermann to attack. In reality two strong Russian armies were marching on Lviv from Volhynia and Podolia: Ruzsky’s Third Army and Brusilov’s Eighth Army. The Russians had a clear numerical superiority and much more artillery.

26 August

On the morning of 26 August three Austro-Hungarian corps set off eastwards, towards the Złota Lipa. III Corps advanced on Złoczów, XII Corps further south, while XI Corps covered the northern flank. Instead of a weak screen they ran into the vanguards of two Russian armies. A bloody encounter battle developed near Złoczów and on the hills of Gołogóry. The Austro-Hungarians attacked in close order and without proper reconnaissance, suffering enormous losses. By evening III Corps was stuck on the line of the Złota Lipa, and some units, shaken by Russian artillery fire, were falling back in disorder towards Lviv.

On 27 August Brudermann renewed the attack, but again without success. During the night of 27–28 August his army began to withdraw westwards, to the line of the Gniła Lipa between Lviv and Przemyślany. There, on 29–30 August, the second stage of the battle was fought, ending in another Austrian defeat.

Poles on the battlefield

The fighting took place on lands that had belonged to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth before the partitions and in 1914 were part of the Austrian Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. Poles, Ukrainians and Jews lived here. Many Poles from Galicia served in the ranks of the Austro-Hungarian army, especially in the Lviv XI Corps. On the other side of the front fought Poles from the Kingdom of Poland conscripted into the Russian army. Civilians fled before the front or hid in villages swept by fighting, requisitions and fires.

The defeat on the Złota and Gniła Lipa opened the road to Lviv for the Russians. On 3 September they entered the Galician capital, beginning an occupation that was to last until June 1915.