Battle of the Vistula River

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict = Battle of the Vistula River
partof = the Eastern Front during World War I


caption = Eastern Front, September 1914.
date = 29 September – 31 October, 1914
place = Warsaw, present-day Poland
result = Russian victory
combatant1 = flag|Russian Empire
combatant2 = flag|German Empire
commander1 = Nikolai Ruzsky
commander2 = August von Mackensen
strength1 = Russian First Army
Russian Twelfth Army
strength2 = German Ninth Army
casualties1 = 15,000 killed, 50,000 wounded
casualties2 = 42,000

The Battle of the Vistula River, also known as the Battle of Warsaw, was a Russian victory against the German Empire on the Eastern Front during the First World War.

Battle

As the Austro-Hungarian Army was being driven from Galicia in the Battle of Galicia, Paul von Hindenburg, commanding the German forces on the Eastern Front, ordered an offensive against the Russian lines in the area of Warsaw. The battle opened on September 29 by the Ninth Army commanded by August von Mackensen. Mackensen reached the Vistula River by October 9 and was only 12 miles away from Warsaw. Here the German offensive began to falter. General Nikolai Ruzsky, commander of the Russian Northwest Front, brought up significant reinforcement against the Ninth Army. At this time Hindenburg learned of a planned Russian offensive into Silesia from a captured Russian soldier. However, Hindenburg continued to push the offensive against Warsaw. The Germans were unfamiliar with the land and unable to bring sufficient reinforcements to the Ninth Army, therefore allowing Ruzsky to concentrate his front against Mackensen. On October 17, Hindenburg ordered a retreat, and by the 31st the battle was over.

Results

On November 1, the Ninth Army was back where it had began, minus 42,000 soldiers. This was the first of a series of attempts by Hindenburg to capture Warsaw. Ten days later, Hindenburg made another attempt at Warsaw culminating in the Battle of Łódź. Superior numbers on the Eastern Front had given the Russian army the advantage in the fall of 1914.

References

* Tucker, Spencer "The Great War: 1914-18" (1998)