GENERAL STRATEGY OF THE CAMPAIGN

The Austrian army faced the Russians on August 11, 1914, with a well-organized strategical plan. Austria, realizing the importance of unity, cohesion, and harmony in her own forces, proposed at the outset of the war to dissipate the strength of her enemy, Russia, by causing an uprising in Poland. The vanguard of Austria's advance along the Vistula consisted of the Galician army corps, made up of Polish soldiers. Along the border, arms and ammunition had been collected for the anticipated insurrection. A proclamation was sent by the Polish associations of Galicia and Posen to their "brethren of Russian Poland." In this, the Poles of Russia were urged to prepare for a rising, but not to attempt it until the Austrian vanguard had arrived and won a first battle. Then arms would be provided for them.

Russian strategy checkmated this plan. The czar issued a proclamation promising home rule to Poland as soon as Germany and Austria had been repulsed. With this home rule he also offered self-government and freedom of law and religion, and the reconstitution of the old Polish territory by means of the annexation of Posen and Galicia. This move divided the Polish leaders and stifled the incipient revolution.

The spy system won and lost the first strategical battles before a shot was fired. There is no doubt that the Austrians before the war knew almost as much about Russia's preparations as did the Russians themselves. The Austrian system of espionage was elaborate and accurate, and the Austrians profited by that of Germany also. Nevertheless, Russia surprised her foes and allies alike by the rapidity with which she got her troops into action on the offensive once war was on.

The Russian army was handicapped by lack of railroad facilities, but she made the most of them. Her total mileage was about 25,000, her system being inferior to that of Germany or Austria. Germany's was by far the best of the three. Many of the Russian roads had but one line of track, their construction was inferior, stations were farther apart, and the speed of trains was comparatively slow. They could not carry as much traffic as those of either of her two adversaries. The gauge of the Russian roads was 5 feet, so that the rolling stock could not be used on German and Austrian roads, which had a uniform gauge of 4 feet 8-½ inches. The management of Russian railroads was too complicated for army purposes. But Sukhomlinoff simplified it and instituted schools in which army officers were instructed in putting soldiers on cars rapidly and routing trains to the best possible advantage. This and other activities of Sukhomlinoff, along the line of reform and improvement, were in no small measure responsible for the rapidity with which Galicia was invaded.

Austria's military problem was a difficult one from the start. Her ally, Germany, could not extend much military assistance until a decisive blow had been struck in the western theatre of war, but Austria, having a million men in readiness and being strong in artillery, was expected to assume the offensive from the start and attack the imperfectly mobilized Russian forces in western Poland. An immediate offensive was required, because she must hold Galicia at all cost.

There were three places where Russia might cross the frontier of Galicia—west of the point where the waters of the San empty into the Vistula, between the Upper Bug and the San, or along the line of the River Sereth on the east. There was great danger in a combined movement by Russia against the first and third sections of the frontier which would cut off and surround the forces of Austria which were based on Przemysl and Lemberg. In order to avoid this peril, apparently the safest as well as boldest plan was to proceed northward against the fortresses of Warsaw. Such an advance would in all probability prevent the armies of Russia from crossing the Vistula and postpone any attack against the Sereth from the east.

Austria was staking the success of such tactics on the incompleteness of mobilization by the Russians, and therein she proved to be in error. Indeed, the quickness of Russia's military movements amazed the entire world, with the exception of her Generalissimo, Grand Duke Nicholas, and his aides and advisors.

At the outbreak of the Great War, Nicholas was in command of the St. Petersburg military district. Under him was a Corps of Guards, and the First and Eighteenth Army Corps from 120,000 to 150,000 men. He was a soldier of the first rank and an able strategist. He had familiarized himself with the armies of other European nations. He long had planned for the emergency that now confronted him.

In the rapid movement of the Russian forces, he was aided chiefly by General Vladimir Sukhomlinoff. The latter saw that one of the chief defects in the Russian army, as disclosed by the Japanese War, was the slowness of her railroad operations, and some time before war was declared he had set himself to improving conditions. He established a school of railroading for officers where the rapid loading of troops on cars and the general speeding up of transportation were studied scientifically. The good results of such work were apparent at the very outset of hostilities.

As we have seen, France was saved in the first campaign in the west by the sturdy resistance of little Belgium to the advance of the Germans through her territory, so Russia now helped to save France a second time by the rapidity of her campaign. While German troops still were investing Liege in Belgium, the Russian troops were registering their first triumph at Eydtkuhnen, and upon the very day that Ghent fell into the hands of the Germans, Russia began her strong offensive in East Prussia. By such means were a large part of the German forces, intent on taking Paris, diverted from attack on the western war arena to protect the eastern frontier from Russian menace. The relief which Russia thus gave her Allies was invaluable. The battle of Mons was over in Belgium and the retreat to the Marne in France had begun, and the Germans were almost in sight of the French capital, when, save for Russia's timely blow on the Polish frontier, the Germans, many war critics believe, would have reached Paris.

When the Germans in the west were striving toward Calais on the English Channel as their goal, it was the Russian offensive in Galicia that forced Germany to transfer more army corps to the eastern front in order to stop the tide that threatened to overflow Austria. Thus the French and British were able to stop the advance that threatened to engulf them on the western front and given time to organize themselves for a strenuous contest.

The strategic problem which confronted Russia was much more complicated than that which had to be solved either by Germany or Austria. It was quite evident to her General Staff that at least during the first few months of hostilities Germany would devote her whole time and attention to attack in the western arena, the French being at the time her most dangerous enemy. Except for a small part of the Austrian forces left to oppose the Serbians and Montenegrins, the whole army of Austria was depended upon to oppose the Russian advance.

The important strategic condition that confronted Russia was this: Her most dangerous enemy was Germany, but in order to attack Germany it was necessary that Austria's army should first be destroyed.

The eastern theatre of the war has been described in a preceding chapter and it will be recalled that for about two hundred miles from east to west Russian Poland is inclosed on the north by East Prussia and on the south by Austria. Moreover, the Sudetic Mountains on the Austrian frontier and the huge forests of Poland protect the position of German Silesia southeast of Breslau. Passing through it are the chief lines of railway connecting eastern and western Europe, including the routes between Poland, Galicia, Moravia, and Bohemia. At varying distances from her Russian frontier Austria has a line of mountains of great defensive strength. This is the Carpathian, which, extending inside the Austrian-Russian border line, is joined by the Transylvanian Alps and continues to form the south frontier of Austria.

It would not be possible for the Russian invaders to menace Austria seriously until these mountains had been crossed. Russia, however, was menaced by the configuration of the German-Austrian frontier, with Poland open to invasion from three sides. Also, Austria and Germany had many strongly intrenched positions at strategical points covering all the chief lines of approach on their frontiers where the latter faced Russian territory. Besides being defended by artificial works, the frontier had natural defenses, such as lakes, swamps, and forests. All along the Russian-Austrian frontier, in fact, there exist such natural defenses against invasion. On the southern boundary of Poland the Russian army was held off by great bogs which cover from east to west a distance of about 250 miles. The only crossing was a single line of railroad, the one extending from Kiev to Brest-Litovsk. From a military viewpoint, these marshes divided the line in two parts, imperiling the situation of any fighting in front of them in case of defeat. They would offer no kind of sustenance to troops driven within them.

Russia was not prepared to put into the field an army large enough to hold the entire line from the Baltic to the Rumanian frontier, approximately 1,000 miles, and there was no time, if part of the German forces were to be diverted from the western front, to raise such forces and equip them.

At the beginning of hostilities on August 11, 1914, the chief offensive against Russia was intrusted to the First Austrian Army under General Dankl. This was composed of about seven army corps, having various additional units, or amounting in all to about 350,000 men. This army had its base on Przemysl and Jaroslav, and the work which had been assigned to it was to advance upward between the Vistula on the left side and the Bug on the right, on to Lublin and Kholm. There it was to sever and hold the Warsaw-Kiev railroad so the line would be exposed in the direction of Brest-Litovsk and the chief communications in the rear of Warsaw. The First Austrian Army, while it advanced to this position, would have as protection from attack on its right and rear from the east and south the Second Army under General von Auffenberg. This army, advancing northeast from Lemberg, would control eastern Galicia from the Bug to the Sereth and the Dniester.

The numerical strength of Von Auffenberg's army at the start probably was about 300,000, and consisted of five army corps with five divisions of cavalry. This, however, was only its initial strength. As hostilities developed Von Auffenberg added to his strength until he is reported to have had no less than six corps and additional cavalry. At first this increase came from the Third or Reserve Army, over which Archduke Joseph Ferdinand had command. While General Dankl was advancing toward Lublin on August 28, 1914, being protected on his right flank by Von Auffenberg, the army of the Archduke appears to have been pushed out in a similar manner on the left.[Back to Contents]