The Karpaty operation , also called the lower battle in the Karpaty, is a major battle on the eastern front of the First World War .
| Carpathian operation | |||
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| Main conflict: World War I | |||
 The Carpathian Operation of the Southwestern Front in February 1915. | |||
| date | January 7 - April 20, 1915 | ||
| A place | Carpathians | ||
| Total | Tactical victory of Russia | ||
| Opponents | |||
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| Commanders | |||
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| Forces of the parties | |||
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| Losses | |||
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Content
Plans of the parties
From the end of December 1914 , the High Command of the South-Western Front began preparations for a breakthrough operation through the Carpathians to invade Hungary . The main task at the same time was assigned to the 8th Army of Brusilov , whose 4 corps, concentrating on the section from Dukel Pass to , were to attack Gumennoe in the Hungarian Plain . The Austro-Hungarian command was also preparing for an offensive, trying to unblock the Russian-besieged fortress of Przemysl .
On 7 (20) January 1915 , Commander-in-Chief of the South-Western Front N.I. Ivanov gave the order to attack. Almost simultaneously, 9 ( 22 ) - 11 ( 24 ) January 1915, the Austro-German troops launched an offensive in the Carpathians , causing two strikes: one from Uzhgorod on Sambir , the other from Munkat on Stryi .
Progress of operation
The offensive of the 8th Army of Brusilov, which began simultaneously, led to a series of heavy oncoming battles on mountain passes in the winter cold. The fighting in this area was called the "rubber war." Those who oppressed each other during the battles had to either go deep into the Carpathians, then retreat. The fights in the snow-covered mountains were distinguished by great tenacity. Only in the first days of February the right wing of the 8th Army captured the area of the Carpathians on the line Konecna - Svidnik - Mezolaborch - Baligrod; southeast of the Russian, who had against him 13-15 Austro-German divisions, had to keep defensively.
On February 13 (26), Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich, gave the order to send the 22nd Army Corps to the South-Western Front as reinforcements. At the end of February, several corps were deployed to the extreme left flank of the Southwestern Front, consisting of 8.5 infantry and 5 cavalry divisions. The purpose of this army was to repel the Austrian attack on the Dniester.
The seventh Austrian army , commanded by General Pflanzer-Baltin, succeeded for a time to capture Chernivtsi and almost the entire Austro-Hungarian Bukovina .
The entire March was spent in continuous battles on the left flank of the Russian 3rd Army and on the whole front of the 8th Army. Here, in the shortest direction from Hungary to Przemysl, with the aim of his release, the Austro-Germans insistently advanced, waist-deep in the snow and bearing daily heavy losses.
During the beginning of the spring thaw, the entire South-Western Front launched a general offensive, the Russian troops, suffering heavy losses, advanced 20-25 km and captured some of the Carpathian passes.
March 9 (22) after the 6-month blockade, the Austrian fortress of Przemysl surrendered. The liberated 11th Army strengthened the Russian troops in the Carpathians. The German command also sent reinforcements to the Carpathians (one corps in the area of Mezo-Laborcha).
At the end of March 1915, Russian troops again went on the offensive, but the attempt to force the Carpathians failed. On April 2 (15), the front commander-in-chief, General of Artillery, Ivanov, stopped this failed attack.
Results of the operation
There is no exact data on the losses of the Russian troops in the Carpathian battle, but they were considerable - the total damage exceeded 200 thousand fighters. All in all, including the battle for Przemysl, the Russian troops lost about 1 million people in this direction, Austrians and Germans - 800 thousand people. Losses were also replenished due to a large number of frostbitten and sick soldiers.
The battle in the Carpathians brought huge losses for both sides, but did not give any strategic results to either of them. However, the Russian troops in the Carpathians were able to reliably cover the siege of Przemysl .
See also
- Capture of the Poppy Mountain
- Battle of Kozevo
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 "K-22" - Line cruiser / [under total. ed. N.V. Ogarkova ]. - Moscow : Military Publishing House of the USSR Defense Ministry , 1979. - P. 96. - ( Soviet Military Encyclopedia : [in 8 tons.]; 1976-1980, vol. 4).
Literature
- Carpathian operation 1915 // "K-22" - Linear cruiser / [under total. ed. N.V. Ogarkova ]. - Moscow : Military Publishing House of the USSR Defense Ministry , 1979. - ( Soviet Military Encyclopedia : [in 8 tons.]; 1976-1980, Vol. 4).
- Kashirin V. B. The capture of Mount Makovka: the unknown victory of the Russian troops in the spring of 1915 . - 1st. - Moscow: Regnum, 2010. - 388 p. - (SELECTA. XIV). - ISBN 987-5-91887-010-5. Archived November 8, 2011. Archived copy of November 8, 2011 on Wayback Machine
- Bonch-Bruevich M. The loss of Galicia by us in 1915. Part I. Through the Carpathians to Hungary in the winter of 1915. M. 1921
Links
- Stepan Semenovich Kondrushkin . “ Following the war. February and March 1915. Galicia "
- Carpathian Winter at istoriya-kg.ru