End of the second Russian invasion of Hungary
- Category:
- Military operations
- Front:
- Eastern Front
- Date:
- 12 December 1914
- Author:
- Łukasz Skowroń
- Tags:
- Russia, Austria-Hungary, Carpathians
A British chronology of the war gives under 12 December 1914 the end of the second Russian invasion of northern Hungary. Less than four weeks earlier Russian units had crossed the Carpathian passes again and descended into the valleys of what is now eastern Slovakia. According to Slovak historians, the last of them withdrew to the northern side of the mountains on 11 December. The next day the Hungarian units that had driven the Russians out of Hungary stood in Nowy Sącz, in the rear of the Russian armies fighting in Galicia.
Szurmay in the Laborec valley
The invasion was repelled above all thanks to General Sándor Szurmay, a former state secretary in the Hungarian Ministry of Defence. On 25 November, at Nagyberezna (today Velykyi Bereznyi in Ukraine), in the Uzh valley, he took command of a group formed from Honvéd units and reinforcements brought from the interior of Hungary. Hungarian sources link this appointment to pressure from the Prime Minister, István Tisza, who wanted the Russians out of the country at any cost. Szurmay had no front-line experience, and yet within a few days he achieved success. On 27 and 28 November his troops broke through to the Cirocha valley and threatened to encircle the Russians in the town of Humenné. Kornilov’s division had to leave the town and fall back towards the passes.
The pursuit continued over the following days. According to Hungarian authors, by 4 December the Russians on this sector had been pushed back behind the crest of the Carpathians, and the Uzsok Pass was again in Austro-Hungarian hands. In the Laborec valley and in Zemplén county the fighting ceased.
Retreat from Sáros
Further west, in Sáros county (Slovak: Šariš), the Russians held out longer. At the turn of November and December they took Zborov and Bardejov, and their units appeared around Svidník and Stropkov. The decision came only when, in the west, near Kraków, the Austrians went over to the counter-offensive. From 7–8 December the Austro-Hungarian Third Army of General Svetozar Boroević advanced northwards through the passes of the Low Beskids (PL), towards Gorlice, Dukla and Nowy Sącz. Szurmay’s group, moved to the left wing of this army, set off towards Bardejov. The Russians left the town without a fight around 9 December. Szurmay’s superiors in fact criticised him for losing two days on the march to Bardejov instead of striking straight at Nowy Sącz.
Szurmay pushed on northwards, and on 12 December his 38th Honvéd Division, advancing from Nawojowa, linked up in Nowy Sącz with the units fighting in the Battle of Limanowa. Threatened with being cut off, the Russian armies began to retreat behind the Dunajec, and the front moved far away from the Hungarian border.
The second expedition across the Carpathians lasted less than a month. Like the first, it brought the Russians no lasting gains, but it left behind devastated and burnt villages, and thousands of inhabitants of the northern counties once again had to flee from the war. The fighting for the Carpathian passes did not end in December, however. As early as February 1915 the Russians again took Medzilaborce and Bardejov.
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Meanwhile
(04)Elsewhere in the same days.
- 13 December 1914 · Middle EastSubmarine B11 sinks the battleship MesudiyeOn 13 December 1914 the British submarine B11 passed under the minefields deep into the Dardanelles and sank the Turkish battleship Mesudiye.
- 10 December 1914 · War at seaGoeben shells BatumOn 10 December 1914 the battlecruiser Goeben shelled the Russian port of Batum in the Caucasus. The bombardment lasted under ten minutes and did little damage.
- 10 December 1914 · Middle EastVon der Goltz leaves for TurkeyOn 10 December 1914 Field Marshal Colmar von der Goltz set out for Constantinople. He did not command the Ottoman army but became the Sultan's aide-de-camp.
- 14 December 1914 · Western FrontAttack at WytschaeteOn 14 December 1914 the Allies attacked in Flanders. Two Scottish battalions struck at Petit Bois and Maedelstede near Wytschaete, suffering heavy losses.
Related events
(04)The same battle, people or subject.
- 17 December 1914 · Eastern FrontEnd of the Battle of LimanowaThe British chronology ends the Battle of Limanowa on 17 December 1914. Fighting had stopped days earlier, but Vienna then announced a general Russian retreat.
- 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.
- 23 January 1915 · Eastern FrontCarpathian offensive beginsOn 23 January 1915 Austria-Hungary and the German South Army struck in the Carpathians to push the Russians back from the passes and relieve besieged Przemyśl.
- 8 May 1915 · Eastern FrontBattle of Sanok and Rzeszów beginsOn 8 May 1915 the Russians, driven from the Wisłoka, tried to halt the Central Powers' pursuit on the Wisłok. They were to die in their positions, not retreat.