Description:

World War I 1914 - 1918 Archive of 8 fantastic World War I photos documenting the 1915 Eastern Front



Archive comprised of eight 10.5" x 6.625" black and white photo prints of the 1915 Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive on the Eastern Front during World War I. Photos document German and Austro-Hungarian forces in Galicia (borderlands between modern day Poland and Ukraine) between February and September 1915. Soldiers are documented fighting from shallow trenches, marching, assembling, burning villages, destroying bridges, and pulling howitzer mortars through muddy fields. Most prints bear official red stamps reading "Im k. u. k. Kriegsarchiv gesehen und freigegeben. Wein, am ... 1915" verso, some have pencil or typewritten inscriptions in German and English verso, and all photos are embossed "Kilophot Wien XIX 1915" in lower right corners. In very good to fine condition, with overall toning. Some photos with scattered foxing mostly found along margins. One photo with slightly abraded lower left corner, and one photo with minor in-painting.

These photos chronicle a pivotal early campaign in an incredibly brutal war, when the Central Powers repulsed Russian forces from modern day Poland. This German-led offensive was initially conceived as a minor one, meant to help their allies the Austro-Hungarians and harass the Russians. The campaign was so successful, however, that the Germans made it their major military offensive in 1915. By the fall of 1915, Russian supreme commander Grand Duke Nicholas Nicholaevitch was forced to withdraw his tattered forces east into Russia, a movement known as the Great Retreat. Russian forces were decimated, with between 200,000 - 500,000 casualties and more captured as prisoners of war, while the Central Powers lost about a third of this number during the onslaught. This disastrous Russian military failure prompted Tsar Nicholas II to personally take over command of Russian forces until their withdrawal in 1917.

Photo annotations indicate that the photos were taken in February, April, June, and September 1915 around the areas of Lublin, Wholynia, and the Karpathian forest. The photos provide a disturbing snapshot of military action in World War I, with its initiation of total warfare, and its reliance on trench warfare. One photo showing German infantry porting spiked helmets and marching into a pine forest visually captures the entire campaign.

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June 14, 2017 10:30 AM EDT
Wilton, CT, US

University Archives

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