Austro-Hungarian second army
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The 2nd Army (german: k.u.k. 2. Armee), later designated East Army (german: Ost-Armee), was a field army-level command of Austro-Hungarian Army that was active during World War I. It was initially formed to take part in the Balkans Campaign before being transferred to the Eastern Front. In the final stages of the war, the army was evacuated from Ukraine before demobilizing in November 1918.


History

The 2nd Army was formed in August 1914 as part of Austria-Hungary's mobilization and the formation of Balkanstreitkräfte (Balkan Armed Forces) following its declaration of war on Serbia and Russia, carrying out the prewar plans for the formation of six
field armies A field army (or numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps and may be subordinate to an army group. Likewise, air armies are equivalent formation within some air forces, and withi ...
. Just as all Austro-Hungarian field armies, it consisted of a headquarters and several corps, along with some unattached units.John Dixon-Nuttal
THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN ARMY 1914-18. Chapter 4: The Army in the Field
/ref> It was initially composed of the XXI and III Corps, based in
Hermannstadt Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Cib ...
and
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, respectively, and was reinforced with the VII and IV Corps on 27 August and 2 September 1914. The 2nd Army was commanded by Eduard von Böhm-Ermolli. The 2nd Army was already partially committed to the
campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed * Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * B ...
against the
Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia ( sr-cyr, Краљевина Србија, Kraljevina Srbija) was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Princi ...
when it was ordered to
Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...
to fight against the Russian Empire. Since it was already engaged in combat, and due to transportation difficulties, only half of its strength could be switched to the new front. In Galicia, the 2nd Army replaced the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army as part of
Army Group Kövess An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
due to the heavy losses it sustained in battle. In October it was transferred to Russian Poland and took part in the operations there.John Dixon-Nuttal
THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN ARMY 1914-18. Chapter 6 App. B: Armeen
/ref> In February 1915, the 2nd Army was moved to the
Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...
after the 3rd Army had been badly mauled there earlier in January during its attempted
offensive Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...
against Russian positions. In preparation for its attack, it was reinforced by the VII Corps. The harsh climate and mountainous terrain of the Carpathians caused many logistical problems and caused the 2nd Army to suffer from a supply shortage. The spread of disease and the cold temperatures also took their toll on the
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troops. Due to a change in weather the offensive was delayed until late February. The 2nd Army launched its assault on the same positions that the 3rd Army attacked last month, along the strategic roads leading to
Przemyśl Przemyśl (; yi, פשעמישל, Pshemishl; uk, Перемишль, Peremyshl; german: Premissel) is a city in southeastern Poland with 58,721 inhabitants, as of December 2021. In 1999, it became part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it was pr ...
fortress, but on a narrower front. Its objective was to liberate the besieged garrison at Przemyśl, which had been stuck there since Russia
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Galicia in 1914. Although they received additional units the battle, the 2nd Army troops were unable to break through the Russian defenses and were pushed back by counterattacks. It sustained heavy losses in the process. The VII Corps under Archduke Joseph August dwindled to just 2,000 men. The Austro-Hungarians continued to fight throughout March, and chief of general staff
Franz Conrad von Hotzendorf Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see Fran ...
ordered the V Corps – the unit closest to Przemyśl – to liberate the fortress. Although the fortress garrison had surrendered after a failed break-out attempt on March 19, the 2nd Army was not informed, and so the offensive was attempted. The V Corps ended up being driven back with enormous losses. By the end of the campaign, the 2nd and 3rd Armies were nearly annihilated. During the Kerensky Offensive in 1917, the 2nd Army was driven back by the Russian 7th Army and later was defeated by the 11th Army at
Zolochiv Zolochiv, ( ua, Золочів) may refer to the following places in Ukraine: * Zolochiv, Lviv Oblast, city in Lviv Oblast * Zolochiv, Kharkiv Oblast, urban-type settlement in Ukraine {{set index, populated places in Ukraine ...
. Around that time, it was organized under Supreme Command "East", led by Prince Leopold of Bavaria. The 2nd Army occupied parts of Ukraine in the spring of 1918 and was headquartered in the port city of
Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...
. It was then reorganized as an occupation army, renamed the ''Ost-Armee'' (East Army). Field Marshal Böhm-Ermolli was replaced by
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Alfred Krauss Alfred Krauss (2 February 1908 – 11 June 1957) was a French gymnast. He competed in four events at the 1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ...
as the army's commander in May 1918. The units of the East Army were evacuated from Ukraine in the fall of 1918, though some units mutinied and imprisoned their commanders. The army was then dissolved in November.


Order of battle in 1914

The 2nd Army order of battle in mid-1914 was as follows.


Commanders

The 2nd Army only had two commanders during its existence, with one of them holding the post for most of the war.


Chiefs of staff

The 2nd Army had the following chiefs of staff.Východní armáda (1918)


References


Books

* {{Austro-Hungarian forces during World War I Field armies of Austria-Hungary 1914 establishments in Austria-Hungary Military units and formations established in 1914 Military units and formations disestablished in 1918