Battle of Rawa

Battle of Rawa
Part of the Eastern Front during World War I
Eastern Front, September 1914.
Date September 3–11, 1914 Location Near Rava-Ruska, Austrian Poland (present-day Ukraine) Result Russian victory
Belligerents
Russian Empire	Austria-Hungary
Commanders and leaders
Pavel Plehve Nikolai Ruzsky	Rudolf von Brudermann Moritz von Auffenberg
Units involved
Third Army Fifth Army	Third Army Fourth Army
Casualties and losses
60,000 casualties	350,000[1]

Battle of Rawa (also written as -Rava, -Rawa-Ruska, -Rava-Ruska, or -Rava-Russka) was an early stage World War I battle between Austria-Hungary and Russia, from 3-11 September, 1914. The Russian armies had defeated their opponents and pushed them back to the Carpathian Mountains. The battle was part of the series of engagements known as Battle of Galicia.

Background

According to Prit Buttar, "Conrad issued further orders to prepare for what he hoped would be a decisive blow by Auffenberg's Fourth Army. Leaving only four infantry divisions and two cavalry divisions facing north, under the collective command of Archduke Joseph Ferdinand, Auffenberg was to turn and march southeast. Meanwhile, Ivanov finally prevailed upon Ruzsky to turn northwest, so that he could march to the aid of Plehve's army. Unwittingly, the Russians and Austro-Hungarians thus created the circumstances that would lead to a head-on collision between Auffenberg's Fourth Army and Ruzsky's Third Army." Auffenberg's IX, VI, and XVII Corps were located between Niemirów and Rawa Ruska. The Russian Third Army consisted of the IX, X, XI, and XXI Corps. On 6 September, the Austro-Hungarian XVII and VI Corps met the Russian IX and X Corps respectively, while the Russian XXI Corps extended beyond the left flank of the Austro-Hungarians. At the same time, Plehve's Fifth Army advanced to the south. Joseph Ferdinand now faced the Russian XXI Corps to the east, the Russian Fifth Army to the north, while the Austro-Hungarian First Army retreated towards the south. Protecting the Austro-Hungarian Fourth army's rear, Joseph Ferdinand located his men north of Rawa Ruska.^[2]

Battle

On 8 September, fighting continued along Auffenberg's front, as the Austro-Hungarian Fourth Army was in danger of being surrounded. Outnumbered two to one, the Austro-Hungarians continued to resist Russian advances, especially along Auffenberg's exposed northern flank. Joseph Ferdinand had only one division to block Plehve's Russian V and XVII Corps, advancing from Komarów. On 9 September, Auffenberg started his retreat westwards towards the River San.^[2]

Aftermath

The Austro-Hungarian armies did not stop at the River San, instead retreating to the Dunajec and Biala Rivers, abandoning the Przemyśl Fortress to a Russian siege. On 29 September, Auffenberg received a letter from Archduke Frederick stating, "...I call upon you to give to your Fatherland the greatest sacrifice that a soldier can be asked to make, that is, to report sick and to resign the command of the Fourth Army."^{[2]: 274–275}

Rosa Zenoch

Rosa Zenoch, sometimes spelled Zennoch or Hennoch,^[3] was an Austro-Hungarian girl, also known as "heroic girl of Rawaruska" ("das Heldenmächen von Rawaruska"), who is known for being injusted in the Battle of Rawa. According to contemporary accounts saying that Zenoch was 12 years old she can be deduced to have been born around 1902. She was said to be daughter of a farmer in the village Byala in Rawa Ruska. Apparently her real name however was Rebekka Henoch.^[4] She had at least three siblings ,one of them a brother who was enlisted in the army and stationed^[5] at Przemyśl Fortress

During the battle, Zenoch voluntarily brought water to wounded soldiers on the battlefield.^[6] After being injured, she was brought to Vienna accompanied by her mother , where her left leg had to be amputated. According to the historical narrative, Emperor Franz Joseph as well as other members of the Habsburg family visited her in the hospital and the emperor promised to pay for her prosthesic foot and gifted her a golden chain.^[4][7] Her mother was also gifted 1000 krona.^[4]

In historic photographs, she can be seen bearing the Decoration for Services to the Red Cross. It is unknown what happened to her after World War 1.^[8][9][10]

References

1. Мировая война в цифрах. — М.: Военгиз
2. Buttar, Prit (2016). Collision of Empires, The War on the Eastern Front in 1914. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. pp. 260–271. ISBN 9781472813183.
3. Healy, Maureen (2004-05-27). Vienna and the Fall of the Habsburg Empire: Total War and Everyday Life in World War I. Cambridge University Press. pp. 229–231. ISBN 978-0-521-83124-6.
4. Das Jüdische Echo: Mitteilungen der Zionistischen Vereine Bayerns (in German). Der Verein. 1914.
5. "ANNO, Neues Wiener Tagblatt (Tages-Ausgabe), 1915-03-07, Seite 13". anno.onb.ac.at. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
6. "Rosa Zenoch - Digital Collections - National Library of Medicine". collections.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
7. Healy, Maureen (2004-05-27). Vienna and the Fall of the Habsburg Empire: Total War and Everyday Life in World War I. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-83124-6.
8. "Dem Heldenmädchen Rosa Zenoch.Dem Heldenmädchen Rosa Zenoch". www.digital.wienbibliothek.at (in German). 1914. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
9. Tamerl, Gerlinde (2018-02-26). "Die Nächstenliebe ist stärker als der Krieg". Tiroler Tageszeitung Online (in German). Retrieved 2024-02-19.
10. Zuerich, ETH-Bibliothek. "Aus einer Ansprache bei der Trauung eines gehörlosen Ehepaares/ Kriegsbilder aus alter und neuer Zeit". E-Periodica (in German). Retrieved 2024-02-19.

Additional reading

• Nicholas Golovin. "The Great Battle of Galicia, 1914: a Study in Strategy". Slavonic Review, vol. 5, 1926–27. (online: The Great Battle of Galicia - A study in strategy )
• Map of the Battle of Rawa
• Rickard, J. (23 February 2001), Battle of Rava Ruska, 3-11 September 1914