Battle of Komarow (1914)

Battle of Komarow
Part of the Eastern Front during World War I
Date 26 August to 2 September 1914 Location Komarow and Zamość, Russian Poland Result Austro-Hungarian victory
Belligerents
Austria-Hungary	Russian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Moritz von Auffenberg Franz Graf Conrad von Hötzendorf	Pavel Plehve
Units involved
IV. Army	V. Army
Strength
200,000 men	200,000 men
Casualties and losses
Unknown	20,000 POW 150 guns

The Battle of Komarow (known in Russia as the Battle of Tomaszów) was a battle on the Eastern Front during World War I. It would prove a victory for the Austro-Hungarian forces, but one they would not be able to reproduce in the coming months of the war.

The prewar planning for a joint Austro-German war with Russia entailed an immediate offensive. Helmuth von Moltke and Franz Graf Conrad von Hötzendorf had planned on striking into the bulge presented by the incorporation of Poland into the Russian lines by von Hötzendorf's forces advancing into Southern Poland while two German armies advanced on Warsaw from Silesia in the direction of Warsaw. However, in Moltke's reworking of the Schlieffen Plan he poached the two armies designated for this attack in an effort to strengthen his defences in Alsace-Lorraine. In a huge gamble, Moltke pleaded with Hötzendorf to carry out the planned offensive despite the lack of German help. The numbers were not in Conrad's favor, but he had little choice, if he did not act the Russians would likely move into Silesia and the War would be lost. The Austro-Hungarian First Army under Viktor Dankl had started off the operation well with the Battle of Kraśnik and the momentum passed to the IV Army on his right.

The Austro-Hungarian IV army was one of the formations designated for Conrad's offensive. It was commanded by Moritz von Auffenberg. Despite his short wartime career he would later be considered a very skilled tactician. He was 62 years old at the time of the battle and would at first gain praise for his actions only to become a scapegoat for the Battle of Rawa Russka. His superior, the afore mentioned von Hötzendorf, was a skilled general who would serve in high positions throughout the war. Despite brilliant strategic plans, often adopted by the Germans for joint operations, his lack of tactical adaptation, particularly in 1914, would decimate the ranks of the Empire's most dependable soldiers and officers early in the war. He was stubborn and the resulting casualties in Galicia in 1914 and 1915 would label him a typical Great War butcher general, putting him with the likes of Sir Douglas Haig and Field Marshal Luigi Cadorna in the bowels of history.

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