Germany’s Western Front: 1915: Translations from the German Official History of the Great War

4. The General Situation of the Central Powers in May

4  The General Situation of the Central Powers in May General von falkenhayn may have been a westerner at heart, but he understood that the weight of operations had to be shifted to the East to support Germany ’s beleaguered ally as well as to influence the neutral powers’ decision making . On 2 May, Mackensen’s new Eleventh Army launched a large-scale attack into Galicia.1 On the first day of the offensive the Germans captured 17,000 Russian prisoners and eight guns, precipitating a full-scale Russian retreat to the San.2 A week later, Falkenhayn declared that the immediate threat to Germany’s ally had been parried.3 The General Staff Chief then called on Mackensen to continue the campaign with a drive first toward the Wislok and then on to Przemysl and the San. Falkenhayn’s aim was to retake the city and permanently forestall an Austro-Hungarian collapse by establishing a new defensive line along the river, which his allies could then hold as he turned his attention elsewhere.4 While the renewal of the Gorlice–Tarnow offensive on 19 May eventually brought great strategic successes, 1 DW VII: 378–86. 2 DW VII: 389–401; Foley, German Strategy and the Path to Verdun, 139. 3 Stone, The Eastern Front 1914–1917, 135–41; see also Oskar Tile von Kalm, Schlachten des Weltkrieges: In Einzeldarstellungen bearbeitet im Auftrages des Reichsarchiv Band 30: Gorlice (Berlin: Stalling, 1930). 4 DW VIII: 139–42. Przemysl was not retaken until 4 June. In the meantime, the arrival of Russian reinforcements in Galicia temporarily threatened the line on the San.5 In the Mediterranean, the Franco-British infantry landings on the Dardanelles on 25 April 1915 added to an overall gloomy picture, which grew darker still as Germany faced a new offensive in the West. With Serbia still undefeated and the Central Powers waging a war on four fronts, Italy prepared to finally enter the fray on the Entente’s side. The Intervention of Italy When Falkenhayn decided to launch a major relief attack in Galicia on 13 April 1915, he was clearly aware of the Dual Monarchy’s precarious situation, but he only temporarily considered forgoing his offensive plans in the West. The task of forcing the Russians to retreat from their front in western Galicia all the way to the Lupków Pass was assigned to Generaloberst Mackensen, who accomplished this when he reached the Wislok on 8 May. At that point, Falkenhayn faced the question of whether to be satisfied with the successes in the East or to resume his plans in Serbia and the West. As it happened, he agreed with Conrad’s proposal to exploit the victory in the Galician Theatre by pursuing the Russians to the River San:“The opportunity must be exploited to strike the enemy a decisive blow from which he would be unable to recover.” This decision resulted in the temporary abandonment of offensive plans in the West. It could therefore be expected that the enemy would take advantage of the weakened German Western Front by mounting major attacks, the outcome of which remained, at best, in doubt because of the enemy’s increasing numerical superiority. In the beginning of May 1915 only ninety-seven German infantry divisions were deployed in the Franco-Belgian Theatre. It was estimated that the enemy had 110 to 112 divisions,which were,on average,considerably stronger than the German divisions. Behind the Western Front the OHL had reserves of approximately seven and a half infantry divisions; it also had a number of heavy batteries that, in the event of an enemy attack, would be sufficient to increase the artillery of an army to almost double strength within a few days. In the Russian Theatre, 111 and a half German and Austro-Hungarian infantry divisions faced approximately 114 Russian divisions between the Baltic Sea and 134 part ii: spring and summer 5 Foley, 143. Bukovina.6 The Austro-Hungarian units deployed on the Serbian border amounted to 234,000 men; the Serbian Army was estimated at 210,000 men;7 against Italy, 112 battalions8 provided border protection. This level of encirclement taxed Austria -Hungary’s strength to the extreme. Between the middle of March and the middle of May, nine infantry divisions and two cavalry divisions were redeployed from the West to the Eastern Front. Falkenhayn wanted to withhold his decision about whether additional...