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German soldiers in Lodz
On November 11, 1914, the German and Russian armies confronted one another near ?ód?, a city in what is now south-central Poland. The battle was part of the German advance into Russian Poland, following the outbreak of World War I in August. While the battle lasted only three weeks, there were heavy losses, with close to 200,000 combined casualties, according to one estimate.
The Germany Ninth Army, under the command of General August von Mackensen, was dispatched against the Russians in order to relieve the Austro-Hungarian army, which had suffered defeats in the Eastern Front’s southern theater. Mackensen drove between the Russian First and Second Armies, shattering the First and very nearly cutting off and surrounding the Second, before being pushed back by a Russian counterattack.
The battle is thought of as a tactical victory for the Russians because Mackensen’s advance was stopped, but it was a strategic defeat. Russia never again threatened German territory, and the Austrian front was preserved. The Russian army evacuated ?ód? on December 6 along with great swathes of western Poland. The city then remained in German hands throughout the war.
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