Battle of Limanowa

Battle of Limanowa
Part of the Eastern Front during World War I
Winter battle in the Carpathians
Date 1–13 December 1914 Location Galicia Carpathian Mountains Result Austro-Hungarian-German victory
Belligerents
Austria-Hungary  Germany	Russia
Commanders and leaders
Conrad von Hötzendorf Archduke Joseph Ferdinand Svetozar Boroevic	Nikolai Ivanov Radko Dimitriev Aleksei Brusilov
Units involved
III Army IV Army	III Army VIII Army
Strength
90,000	125,000
Casualties and losses
12,000 dead, wounded or captured	30,000 dead, wounded or captured

The Battle of Limanowa took place from 1 December to 13 December 1914, between the Austro-Hungarian Army and the Russian Army near the town of Limanowa (40 kilometres (25 mi) south-east of Kraków).

The Austro-Hungarian high command had assumed that the German success would weaken Russian forces in the north and that the Galician front would remain quiet. Both these assumptions were incorrect.

Though the Habsburg 2nd army offensive opened on 16 November and met early success, the Russians proved stronger than expected and their 4th Army yielded little ground. Meanwhile, further south the Russian 2nd Army advanced across the San river and moved into the Tarnów area by 20 November. Further north, the Habsburg 4th Army, supported by the 47th German Reserve Division, moved onto the offensive in the last days of November.

In fierce battles around the towns of Łapanów and Limanowa, the Russian 3rd Army was beaten and forced to retreat east, ending its opportunity to reach Kraków. To avoid being surrounded, the Russian 8th Army also had to retreat, stopping its advance toward the Hungarian plains.

Order of battle

Results

The Russian threat to Krakow was eliminated and the Russians were pushed back across the Carpathians. The Austrian-Hungary forces claimed the battle as a victory.^[1]

Sources

• Buttar, P. (2014). Collision of Empires: The War on the Eastern Front in 1914. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1472813183.

References

Further reading

• Keegan, John. Der Erste Weltkrieg - Eine europäische Tragödie. – Rowohlt Taschenbuchverlag, Hamburg 2001. – ISBN 3-499-61194-5. (In German)
• Rauchensteiner, Manfried. Der Tod des Doppeladlers: Österreich-Ungarn und der Erste Weltkrieg. – Graz, Wien, Köln: Styria, 1993. – ISBN 3-222-12116-8. (In German)
• Roth von Limanowa, Josef. Die Schlacht von Limanowa-Lapanów, Dezember 1914. Innsbruck: Druck und Verlag der Kinderfreund-Anstalt, 1928. OCLC 36543649 (In German)
• Stone, Norman. The Eastern Front 1914-1917. – Hodder and Stoughton, London 1985. – ISBN 0-340-36035-6.
• Zenter, Christian. Der Erste Weltkrieg. – Mowegi-Verlag, Rastatt 2000. – ISBN 3-8118-1652-7. (In German)