Germany Ascendant: The Eastern Front 1915A detailed and absorbing narrative of the campaigns fought on the 'forgotten' Eastern Front of the Great War, vividly illustrating that these campaigns were no less costly, tragic and important than the catastrophes of the Somme, Verdun and Passchendaele. The massive offensives on the Eastern Front during 1915 are too often overshadowed by the events in Western Europe, but the scale and ferocity of the clashes between Imperial Germany, Habsburg Austria-Hungary and Tsarist Russia were greater than anything seen on the Western Front and ultimately as important to the final outcome of the war. With the Russians hamstrung by weak supply lines and the Austro-Hungarian leadership committed to a strategy of offensive drives despite diminishing manpower and adverse terrain, the fighting in early 1915 was a costly and futile exercise. By the summer, the Central Powers, increasingly dominated by Germany, had begun to gain the advantage, but even the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive of 1915 – which ultimately resulted in the retreat of Russian forces from Poland – failed to bring the conflict to a conclusion. Now with the work of internationally renowned Eastern Front expert Prit Buttar, this fascinating story is finally being told. From the bitter fighting in the Carpathian Mountains, to the sweeping advances through Serbia and the almost medieval battle for the fortress of Przemysl, this is a staggeringly ambitious history of some of the most important moments of the First World War. |
Contents
| 11 | |
| 16 | |
The Combatants | 27 |
The First Carpathian Campaign | 57 |
Winter in Masuria | 78 |
Springtime Slaughter and Disappointment | 118 |
Mackensens Breakthrough | 157 |
The Exploitation | 201 |
Decisions and Departures | 265 |
The Great Retreat | 293 |
Volhynia The End of the Leash | 329 |
The Fall of Serbia | 361 |
The Burden of War | 389 |
Notes | 407 |
Bibliography | 427 |
| 433 | |
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Common terms and phrases
advance ammunition Army’s artillery assault attempt Augustowo Austria-Hungary Austro Austro-Hungarian Empire Austro-Hungarian forces battalions battle Brauner Brusilov Bulgarian campaign captured Carpathians casualties Caucasian Corps cavalry Central Powers chief of staff commander Conrad continued Danilov Despite Dimitriev East Prussia Eastern Front Eighth Army Eleventh Army enemy Falkenhayn fighting fire formations fortress François front line further Galicia garrison German forces Gorlice Grand Duke Nikolai guns heavy Hindenburg Hungarian ibid III Corps Ivanov Joseph Ferdinand k.u.k. Army Kovno Lemberg Linsingen Litzmann losses Ludendorff Lutsk Mackensen military northern flank numbers Ober Ost offensive officers operations Pflanzer-Baltin Poland Przemyśl Radko Dimitriev Radymno railway regiments reinforcements Reserve Infantry Division retreat Russian Army Russian defences Russian forces Russian positions Second Army sector Serbia Serbs Sievers South Army Southwest Front Stavka Sukhomlinov Tenth Army terrain Third Army VI Corps victory Vienna Vistula Whilst withdrawal X Corps XVII Corps