On May 18th the German War Office announced their successes in the following terms:  “The army under General von Mackensen in the course of its pursuit of the Russians reached yesterday the neighborhood of Subiecko, on the lower Wisloka, and Kolbuezowa, northeast of Debica.  Under the pressure of this advance the Russians also retreated from their positions north of the Vistula.  In this section the troops under General von Woyrach, closely following the enemy, penetrated as far as the region northwest of Kielce.  In the Carpathians Austro-Hungarian and German troops under General von Linsingen conquered the hills east of the Upper Stryi, and took 8,660 men prisoners, as well as capturing six machine guns.  At the present moment, while the armies under General von Mackensen are approaching the Przemysl fortresses and the lower San, it is possible to form an approximate idea of the booty taken.  In the battles of Tarno and Gorlika, and in the battles during the pursuit of these armies, we have so far taken 103,500 Russian prisoners, 69 cannon, and 255 machine guns.  In these figures the booty taken by the Allied troops fighting in the Carpathians, and north of the Vistula, is not included.  This amounts to a further 40,000 prisoners.  Przemysl surrendered to the German’s on June 3, 1915, only ten weeks after the Russian capture of the fortress, which had caused such exultation.”

General von Mackensen continued toward Lemberg, the capital of Galicia.  On June 18th, when the victorious German armies were approaching the gates of Lemberg, the Russian losses were estimated at 400,000 dead and wounded, and 300,000 prisoners, besides 100,000 lost before Marshal von Hindenburg’s forces in Poland and Courland.  On June 23d Lemberg fell.  The weakness of Russia in this campaign arose from the exhaustion of her ammunition supplies, but great shipments of such supplies were being constantly forwarded from Vladivostock.

When the German army crossed the San, Wilhelm II, then German Emperor, was present.  It is interesting to look back on the scene.  Here is a paragraph from the account of the Wolff Telegraphic Bureau:  “The Emperor had hurried forward to his troops by automobile.  On the way he was greeted with loud hurrahs by the wounded, riding back in wagons.  On the heights of Jaroslav the Emperor met Prince Eitel Friedrich, and then, from several points of observation, for hours followed with keen attention the progress of the battle for the crossing.”

While the great offensive in Galicia was well under way, the Germans were pushing forward in East Prussia.  Finding little resistance they ultimately invaded Courland, captured Libau, and established themselves firmly in that province.  The sweep of the victorious German armies through Galicia was continued into Poland.  On July 19th William the War Lord bombastically telegraphed his sister, the Queen of Greece, to the effect that he had “paralyzed Russia for at least six months to come” and was on the eve of “delivering a coup on the western front that will make all Europe tremble.”