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German and Austro-Hungarian forces under the command of generals von Hindenburg and Archduke Friedrich besieged Warsaw. Circular portraits of Austrian generals von Hötzendorf, Friedrich, and Pflanzer-Baltin form the bottom of the ring; German generals von Scholtz, von Woyrsch, von Mackensen, von Hindenburg, Ludendorff, von Gallwitz, and von Below complete it. In the center of the ring is Warsaw and the Vistula River. The flag and shield of Germany are to the bottom left; those of Austria and Hungary to the bottom right. Green oak leaves complete the picture. Text, the generals' names, and, in a scroll at the top: Der Ring um Warschau, The Ring Encircling Warsaw. Bottom right: 5258; illegible logo bottom left Reverse: registration lines only.

German and Austro-Hungarian forces under the command of generals von Hindenburg and Archduke Friedrich besieged Warsaw, and took it during the Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive. Austrians von Hötzendorf, Friedrich, and Pflanzer-Baltin form the bottom of the ring; the others are German. The flag and shield of Germany are on the bottom left; those of Austria and Hungary the bottom right.

Image text

Der Ring um Warschau, The Ring Encircling Warsaw.

Bottom right: 5258; illegible logo bottom left



Reverse: registration lines only.

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Sunday, May 2, 1915

"On the 2nd of May [1915] at 6 a.m. an overwhelming artillery fire, including field guns and running up to the heaviest calibers, was begun on the [Russian] front many miles in extent selected for the effort to break through. This was maintained unbroken for four hours.

At 10 o'clock in the morning these hundreds of fire-spouting tubes suddenly ceased and the same moment the swarming lines and attacking columns of the assailants threw themselves upon the hostile positions. The enemy had been so shaken by the heavy artillery fire that his resistance at many points was very slight. . . .

On the evening of the 2nd of May, when the warm Spring sun had begun to yield to the coolness of night the first main position in its whole depth and extent, a distance of some sixteen kilometers, had been broken through and a gain of ground of some four kilometers had been attained."

Quotation Context

Excerpts from a description of the first day of the Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive by the victorious German commander August von Mackensen leading the German-Austro-Hungarian forces. The attackers fired as many as 700,000 shells in the devastating opening bombardment. Suffering from a lack of munitions, the Russians could respond with little but the men themselves. Continuing through September 30, Mackensen's campaign would spread across the entire Eastern Front and drive Russian forces back as much as 300 miles.

Source

The Great Events of the Great War in Seven Volumes by Charles F. Horne, Vol. III, 1915, pp. 178, 179, copyright © 1920 by The National Alumnia, publisher: The National Alumni, publication date: 1920

Tags

1915-05-02, 1915, May, Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive, von Mackensen, Mackensen