End of the Battle of Kraśnik

On 25 August 1914 the Battle of Kraśnik, the first major battle between the armies of Austria-Hungary and Russia, came to an end. The Austro-Hungarian First Army of General Viktor Dankl entered Kraśnik, and the Russian Fourth Army of General Anton Saltza began to retreat northwards, towards Lublin.

Three days of fighting

The battle began on 23 August, when two armies marching towards each other collided on the wooded, ravine-cut hills south of Kraśnik (see Start of the Battle of Kraśnik). The Austro-Hungarians had numerical superiority and pushed the Russians back from the outset, especially on their left wing, along the Vistula. On 24 August they took Urzędów, and the fighting spread along the whole front.

On 25 August Dankl’s troops reached Kraśnik. A Russian counter-attack on the Janów Lubelski – Frampol line was repulsed. Threatened with envelopment, the Russian Fourth Army withdrew towards Lublin. According to historians’ estimates, the Russians lost about 25,000 men in the battle, including about 6,000 prisoners, and the Austro-Hungarians about 15,000.

Consequences of the victory

After the defeat in Serbia, Kraśnik was the Austro-Hungarian army’s first victory of the war. Dankl became a hero, and news of the success was received in Vienna with relief. On the Russian side General Saltza lost his command, and his place was taken by General Aleksei Evert.

The victory also secured the left flank of the neighbouring Austro-Hungarian Fourth Army, which on 26 August began the Battle of Komarów. The successes in the north proved short-lived, however. In eastern Galicia the Russians were routing the weaker Austro-Hungarian armies, and at the beginning of September they took Lviv.