End of the first Russian invasion of Hungary
- Category:
- Military operations
- Front:
- Eastern Front
- Date:
- 8 October 1914
- Author:
- Natalia
- Tags:
- Russia, Austria-Hungary, Carpathians
A British chronology of the war gives under 8 October 1914 the end of the first Russian invasion of Hungary. Two weeks earlier Russian units had crossed the Carpathian passes and descended into the valleys on the Hungarian side of the mountains. At the beginning of October the defenders went over to the counter-attack, and after the recapture of Máramarossziget the Russians were falling back along the whole sector, towards the crest of the mountains and back into Galicia.
The western part of the threatened belt was recovered first. At the Uzsok Pass the Russians had advanced at the end of September down the Uzh valley as far as Fenyvesvölgy (today Stavne) before they were stopped. By 5 October, after heavy fighting, the pass was retaken by units of General Karl Tersztyánszky’s IV Corps, which then went on north towards Turka in Galicia. Further east, in Bereg County, the defenders of the Verecke and Beskid passes had withdrawn on 30 September to Szolyva. Reinforcements arrived there, march battalions and Honvéd batteries, and General Hofmann’s group was able to move forward. According to the 1922 Encyclopaedia Britannica, on 8 October his corps crossed the Beskid Pass back to the Galician side of the mountains and advanced on Stryi.
The fighting did not end there, however. In Máramaros General Attems’s troops pursued the Russians up the Tisza valley and in the following days were still fighting their rearguards around Kőrösmező (today Yasinia), below the Tatar Pass. Units of the Polish Legions also fought in this area; they followed the retreating Russians across the mountains and on 12 October took Rafajłowa on the Galician side. Skirmishes near the pass thus continued for a good part of October.
The expedition brought the Russians no lasting gains, but it shook Hungary. For several weeks thousands of people fled from the border counties, and cholera was spreading in the region. The impression that the enemy could cross the Carpathians and threaten the Hungarian Plain remained for a long time. The Russians returned to the passes as early as November, and the fighting in the Carpathians then went on all winter.
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Meanwhile
(04)Elsewhere in the same days.
- 8 October 1914 · Western FrontFoch takes command in FlandersAccording to the British chronicle, on 8 October 1914 Foch took command of the Allied forces in Flanders. In practice his role was above all to coordinate them.
- 7 October 1914 · Asia and the PacificJapanese occupy YapOn 7 October 1914 a Japanese squadron occupied the island of Yap in the Carolines, an important hub of German telegraph cables and radio links in the Pacific.
- 7 October 1914 · Western FrontBelgian government moves to OstendOn 7 October 1914 the Belgian government left Antwerp and moved to Ostend. The army was withdrawing across the Scheldt and residents fled the bombardment.
- 9 October 1914 · Western FrontGermans occupy MeninThe British chronology records the German capture of Menin on the Lys around 9 October 1914. Belgian sources date the town's occupation from 14 October.
Related events
(04)The same battle, people or subject.
- 7 October 1914 · Eastern FrontAustro-Hungarians retake MáramarosszigetOn 7 October 1914 Austro-Hungarian troops, supported by the Polish Legions, drove the Cossacks out of Máramarossziget, capital of Máramaros, taken days before.
- 3 October 1914 · Eastern FrontRussians take MáramarosszigetIn early October 1914 Russian cavalry that had crossed the Carpathian passes took Máramarossziget, capital of the Hungarian county of Máramaros.
- 24 September 1914 · Eastern FrontRussians enter HungaryOn 24 September 1914 Russian troops crossed the Carpathian passes and entered northern Hungary. At the beginning of October they were driven back.
- 15 November 1914 · Eastern FrontSecond Russian invasion of HungaryIn the second half of November 1914 the Russians again crossed the Carpathians into Hungary. They took Humenné late in the month, but were soon driven back.