Battle of Limanowa

Battle of Limanowa
Part of the Eastern Front during World War I
Date1–13 December 1914
LocationGalicia Carpathian Mountains
Result Stalling of the Russian offensive
Belligerents
 Russian Empire  Austria-Hungary
 German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Russian Empire Nikolay Iudovich Ivanov
Russian Empire Radko Dimitriev
Russian Empire Aleksei Brusilov		 Austria-Hungary Conrad von Hötzendorf
Austria-Hungary Joseph of Austria
Austria-Hungary Josef Roth
Units involved
Russian Empire III Army Austria-Hungary IV Army
Strength
125,000 troops 90,000 troops
Casualties and losses
30,000 dead wounded or captured 12,000 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

Russian forces

Russian Southwestern Front, Commander-in-chief – Nikolai Ivanov

Austro-Hungarian Forces

Commander-in-chief – Conrad von Hötzendorf

Results

The Russians were pushed away from the positions, which had threatened Krakow. The Austrian-Hungary forces claimed the battle as a victory.[1]

References

  1. ↑ Buttar, Prit (2014). Collision of Empires: the War on the Eastern Front in 1914. Osprey. pp. 403–404. ISBN 9781782006480.

Further reading

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