RUSSIA PREPARES TO STRIKE AUSTRIA

By the third week of August, according to an announcement from Petrograd, Russian troops had checked an attempt by the Austrians to enter Poland from the Galician frontier and were preparing to invade Austria on a large scale.  At that time Russia was said to have 2,000, men under arms for the invasion of Germany and Austria, also 500,000 on the Roumanian and Turkish borders, and 3,000,000 men in reserve. (The latter were called out by imperial ukase before Czar Nicholas started for the front.) The Poles had been promised self-government and had been called on to support Russia.  The Jews throughout the Russian empire were also promised a greater measure of protection, freedom of action and civil rights.  These measures inaugurated an era of better feeling in Russia and Poland and were strongly approved by the allies of Russia.

Most of the Austrian reserves were mobilized by August 15 and Germany’s ally announced that she would soon have her total war strength of 2,000,000 men in the field.  Austria sent some troops to join the German forces in Belgium and an army of several hundred thousand men was gathered along the Austro-Russian frontier under command of the Archduke Frederick.  General Rennenkampf was in command of the Russian forces for the invasion of East Prussia, while General Russky led the Russian army operating against Galicia.

INVASION OF PRUSSIA

Within a week the Russian movement in eastern Germany assumed menacing proportions, the great army of invasion having moved rapidly, considering the natural obstacles.  More than 800,000 men were sent over the border into Prussia.  The Germans evacuated a number of towns, after setting them afire, and a considerable part of the Kaiser’s eastern field forces was bottled up in military centers.  Germany’s active field force was at this time inferior in numbers to the invading army.

By the capture of Insterberg the Russians paralyzed one of the main German strategic centers and gained control of an important railroad.  The German Twentieth Army Corps was reported to have been routed near Lyck.  At the start the Russian forces extended from Insterberg to Goldapp, a distance of about thirty-two miles.  Seventy-five miles further on was the first of the two strong German lines of fortifications.

Early victories were claimed by the Russians in their advance into Austria, which was made slowly.  Austria then turned to fight the Russian invasion.  It was forced to gather all its forces for this principal struggle and hence retired from offensive operations against the Servians.  Unless she could halt the Russians pouring in from the north, a success against Servia could do her no good.