Łódź 1914: Russia's Farthest Advance Toward Germany's Heartland

Before the Fighting
Russian Soldiers in Łódź

After absorbing the disaster at Tannenberg, further clashes in East Prussia and Galicia gave the Russian high command some renewed hope. They decided next to continue their  counterattacks by driving to the west with their Second, Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth Armies, and take Germany's mineral-rich and industrial region of Silesia.

Theater of Operations
"Varsovie"=Warsaw, Insert Shows Near Envelopment

As they had since the beginning of the war, the Germans learned of Russian plans from radio transmissions. To counter the Russian offensive, German Generals Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff planned an attack on the northern end of the Russian line, where the Russian First and Second Armies met. From 4 November  through the 10th, the German Ninth Army moved by rail from its position south of the city of Łódź in Polish Russia, facing four Russian armies, to the west and north, into Germany. After redeployment, the army was positioned along the Russian border northwest of Łódź and faced the First Russian Army. Austro-Hungarian forces moved into the positions formerly held by the Germans.

German Officers Examine Russian Dead

On 11 November, the German Ninth Army under August von Mackensen attacked preemptively to spoil the attack, take Łódź, and use it as a springboard to capture Warsaw farther east.  Over the course of five days, they pushed the dispersed Russian First Army back 50 miles while taking 12,000 prisoners, drove between it and the Russian Second Army, and turned the right flank of the Second Army, pressing it back on three sides against the city of Łódź.

Some of the Russian Prisoners

The Russians—not appreciating the situation—had begun their advance on Silesia on 14 November , but by the 16th, the Russian general staff, realizing the dangerous position of the First and Second Armies, halted the offensive and moved the Fifth Army north to assist the Second Army. As Mackensen began his encirclement of the Russian Second Army, the Fifth—commanded by General Pavel Plehave, one of Russia's most skilled commanders—arrived on 19 November, in time to bolster the defense and disappoint Mackensen. From the north, additional units of the Russian First Army moved south and in turn threatened most of a German corps with encirclement on the 23rd. Only the tactical skill of the trapped German commanders, especially General Karl von Litzmann of the 3rd Guards Division, saved the situation the next day, taking 16,000 more prisoners in their breakout.

6 December 1914: German Forces Enter Łódź

Mackensen remained determined to take Łódź and received reinforcements from Hindenburg.  A week of costly attacks by the Germans convinced Russia's supreme commander Grand Duke Nicholas the the city could not be held. On 6 December, the Russians evacuated Łódź, and much of western Poland. They abandoned their plans for an invasion of Silesia and would never threaten Germany's heartland during the war. German forces on the other hand would occupy Łódź for the duration.

Casualties

In the battle, the Germans took 136,000 prisoners. Russia's killed and wounded totaled 90,000. The Germans—35,000 men.

Sources: University of Łódź Study; Vital Guide: The Battles of World War I