Battle of Gnila Lipa

Battle of Gnila Lipa
Part of the Eastern Front during World War I
Date 29 - 30 August 1914 Location Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary Result Russian victory
Belligerents
Russian Empire	Austria-Hungary
Commanders and leaders
Nikolai Ivanov Nikolai Ruzsky Aleksei Brusilov	Rudolf von Brudermann Hermann von Kövess
Units involved
III. Army VIII. Army	III. Army Army Group Kövess
Strength
385,000 men +:[1] 336 infantry bataillons 164 cavalry squadrons 1.214 guns	322,000 men+:[1] 282 infantry bataillons 133 cavalry squadrons 718 guns
Casualties and losses
Unknown	20,000 70 guns

The Battle of Gnila Lipa took place 29–30 August 1914 when the Imperial Russian Army invaded Galicia and confronted the Austro-Hungarian Army. It was part of a larger series of battles known collectively as the Battle of Galicia. The battle ended in a defeat of the Austro-Hungarian troops.

Location

The battle is named after a river in Western Ukraine, a historical region of Galicia, that is a tributary of Dniester. It is called Hnyla Lypa (Polish: Gnila Lipa).

Overview

The Austro-Hungarian offensive in the North was successful with victories in the Battles of Kraśnik and Battle of Komarów mostly because the Russian Army had concentrated its forces more to the South before Lemberg, where they had expected the main assault.

When the Austro-Hungarian Third Army under Rudolf von Brudermann advanced on August 26 with 3 Army Corps (XII, III and XI), it met eight advancing Russian Army Corps of the Third and Eighth Armies. On the Zlota Lipa River, the Austrians were soundly defeated and by the end of the day in headlong retreat. Near Brzezany, Armygroup Kövess was also defeated and nearly escaped being surrounded by the Eight Army of Aleksei Brusilov.

Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf ordered to form a new line of defence on the Gnila Lipa River. The Russians needed 2 days to regroup their troops, and didn't pursue the Austrians. Conrad still thought he could maintain the initiative and ordered the 3rd Corps to attack near Peremyshliany. The consequences were disastrous. The Russians had 292 Battalions and 1,304 guns against the Austrians 115 Battalions and 376 guns. The Austrian line collapsed under the weight of the Russian counterattack, and Kövess also failed to withstand the Russian attack near Rohatyn. The Austrians fled west of Lemberg (Lvov), having suffered 20,000 casualties and lost 70 guns.^[2] The fortress of Lemberg fell on 3 September. The Austrian Second Army under Eduard Freiherr von Böhm-Ermolli, which was transferred form the Serbian Front, came too late for the battle, but the arrival of its VII Corps helped to prevent a total collapse.

Sources

• Buttar, P. (2014). Collision of Empires: The War on the Eastern Front in 1914. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1472813183. 
• J. Rickard: Battle of Gnila Lipa, 26-30 August 1914.

Notes