1. Battle of Galicia (August-September 1914)
Public Domain
The Battle of Galicia was decisive in the confrontation between Russia and Austria-Hungary in the initial phase of WWI. About 2 million soldiers and 3,500 artillery pieces on both sides fought it out along a 400km-long front.
The battle consisted of a series of separate engagements in which the Russians managed not only to halt the enemy advance, but to launch a major counteroffensive, resulting in the seizure of almost all of the historical region of Galicia and part of Austrian Poland. Having lost around 350,000 soldiers killed or captured — one third of its forces on the Eastern Front, Austria-Hungary suffered a blow that effectively incapacitated it until the end of the war. In virtually all subsequent major military operations against Russia, Vienna would have to rely on Berlin for assistance.
