Learning From Napoleon – Russia, The Underestimated Enemy I THE GREAT WAR - Week 12

So far this war things had looked grim for the Russians. They had unwillingly entered

the war in the first place and the colossal defeats at the battles of Tannenberg and Masurian

lakes had convinced the German and Austro-Hungarian armies that Russia’s army was both backward

and incompetent, but beginning this week they would learn that Russia was no pushover at

all and had two enviable assets- men and space.

I’m Indy Neidell. Welcome to the Great War.

Last week we saw Antwerp fall to the Germans, and the Belgians and the British retreated

into Flanders to build their defenses and try to prevent the Germans from pushing to

the sea, while the French held the line further south. In the East, the Austrians were under

siege in their fortress at Przemysl awaiting relief, the Russians further north were marching

to positions to cross the Vistula and attack Germany, and the Germans were now only 20

km from Warsaw.

Here was the general German plan in the east- to strike, with Austrian help, at Warsaw and

Ivangorod and outflank the Russian army there while the Austrians were being relieved from

the siege further south.

The Russians, after weeks of disastrous marching through the mud, had finally reached their

crossing point, built a bridgehead, and began to cross. The Germans reached Warsaw on October

12th, but their attacks were thrown back and there would be no outflanking. See, the Germans

had seen the Russian march and its colossal mismanagement and believed that Russia was

weak around Warsaw, but what they didn’t realize was that the Russians armies were

arriving and entering the battle in sections, and more and more of them were coming. So

we see that before October 15th, the Germans had the upper hand, but after that, not so

much. Soon there was no prospect of German General von Hindenburg getting a decisive

victory in view of the seemingly endless Russian reinforcements, now coming from central Asia

and Siberia.

It’s important to realize that by this point there were actually four fronts in the east-

German-Russian in East Prussia, German-Austrian-Russian on the Vistula, Russia-Austrian on the San

River, and Russian-Austrian in the Carpathians, and the middle two of them were now a concerted

operation

So along the San River, the Austrians had finally managed to break out, relieved by

General Boroevic von Bonja on October 11th. This was timed to coincide with Hindenburg’s

German advances toward Warsaw further north.

Boroevic, eventually a Field Marshall, was a brilliant defensive strategist who later

showed what he could do on the Italian front, but for now he had to deal with his chief

of Staff Conrad von Hotzendorf. section deleted Conrad thought that the combined forces of

the Austrians from within Przemysl and Boroevic’s relief army could beat the Russians, so on

October 14th, he ordered his men to try and cross the San river and engage the enemy.

It was a catastrophe, his men were bombarded not only by the Russians but by their own

side because of miscommunications and there were no pontoons to make bridges, so they