The Story of the Great War, Volume 3: History of the European War from Official Sources
History
The Story of the Great War, Volume 3: History of the European War from Official Sources
World War, 1914-1918
The correspondent of the London "Times" reports that on August 4,
1915, there was probably not over one Russian corps on the west side
of the Vistula. "Half of that crossed south of Warsaw before 6 p. m.,"
he writes, "and probably the last division left about midnight, and at
3 a. m. on August 5 the bridges were blown up. The Germans arrived at
6 a. m." The formal entry of the Polish capital was made by Prince
Leopold of Bavaria as Commander in Chief of the army which took the
city.
[Illustration: The central figure is Prince Leopold of Bavaria, who
led the victorious Teutons into Warsaw, August 6, 1915. The Prince
with his staff are posed before Warsaw's magnificent cathedral.]
The formal announcement issued by the German Great Headquarters on the
5th of August read: "The army of Prince Leopold of Bavaria pierced and
took yesterday and last night the outer and inner lines of forts of
Warsaw in which Russian rear guards still offered stubborn resistance.
The city was occupied to-day by our troops."
[Illustration: Advance and Capture of Warsaw.]
In the capture of Warsaw seven huge armies had been employed. The
German northern army, operating against the double-track line which
runs from Warsaw to Petrograd, 1,000 miles in the northeast, via
Bielostok and Grodno; the army operating in the Suwalki district,
threatening the same line farther west; the army aimed at the Narew
based on Mearva; the army directly aimed at Warsaw, north of the
Vistula; the (Ninth) army directly aimed at Warsaw, south of the
Vistula; ten or twelve Austrian army corps attempting to reach the
single-and double-track railway from Ivangorod to Brest-Litovsk and
Moscow, and the line from Warsaw to Kiev via Lublin and Cholm, which
is for the most part a single track, and, finally, the army of Von
Linsingen, operating on the Lipa east of Lemberg.
The campaign for Warsaw had been fought along a front of 1,000 miles,
extending from the Baltic to the frontier of Rumania. An estimate
which lays claim to being based upon authoritative figures placed the
number of men engaged in almost daily conflict on this long line at
between 6,000,000 and 7,000,000. The attacks upon the sides of the
lines on which the defense of Warsaw depended had been the most
furious in the course of the war on the eastern front. The losses on
both sides undoubtedly were enormous, though they can be ascertained
only with difficulty, if at all.
The following summary of captures was issued by the German Great
Headquarters on August 1, 1915: "Captured in July between the Baltic
and the Pilica, 95,023 Russians; 41 guns, including two heavy ones; 4
mine throwers; 230 machine guns. Taken in July in the southeastern
theatre of war (apparently between Pilica and the Rumanian frontier):
323 officers; 75,719 men; 10 guns; 126 machine guns."
PART VIII--THE BALKANS
CHAPTER LXI
DIPLOMACY IN THE BALKANS
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account