“In the autumn of 1914, just a month into the First World War, the Russian Army laid siege to the multi-ethnic fortress-city of Przemyśl, the Habsburg Empire’s main stronghold in the east. The Habsburg Field Army had been bloodied and routed in immense clashes on the borders, and Przemyśl, with its obsolete defences and garrison of 130,000 terrified middle-aged reservists, was in those critical weeks all that stood in the path of a Russian invasion of Central Europe.” Here’s some great videos on this (little known in the west) key fortress and the pair of sieges it underwent that singlehandedly probably prevented the complete destruction and collapse of Austro-Hungary within the first weeks (and later first few months) of World War I…
In the second video “Alexander Watson, author of The Fortress, [continues to] tell the story of World War I’s epic battle between Russia and Austria-Hungary for the eastern European fortress of Przemyśl“. including the ongoing and more brutal second part of the siege and “how this titanic struggle marked the dawn of total war in Europe and set the stage for the atrocities and brutal fighting on World War II’s Eastern Front“.
In the third video modern Polish expert on Przemyśl, Tomasz Idzikowski, guides ‘The Great War’ You Tube Channel film crew around the ruins of the fortress. With a particular focus on Forts I and XV. Tomasz has published numerous works (in Polish) on the forts and you can see a list of them here: Tomasz Idzikowski Open library Book Listing (you can locate some of these titles on AbeBooks, from European Book Dealers, but obviously need to be able to read Polish).
There is a nice 2018 related Polish News article in English here: Monumental rising: Przemyśl’s fortress and historic old town get upgraded to Monuments of History.
Books
Just as a final note here’s some related books – two are by Alexander Watson who provides the 2 seminars above – all are highly recommended which is why I have them (I am currently in the process of reading both the Alexander Watson books – but my bad habit of having 3-4 books or more in progress at any given time means I haven’t finished these at the time of this post so can’t add my comments to recommendations; needless to say all 3 of these titles have fairly high praise):
- Ring Of Steel: Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War I by Alexander Watson
- The Fortress: The Great Siege of Przemyśl by Alexander Watson
- Fall Of The Double Eagle: The Battle for Galicia and the Demise of Austria-Hungary by John R. Schindler
Wargaming Galicia in WW1
Check out photos and game information for one of my WW1 Eastern Front Wargames (Austro-Hungarians vs. Russians): Don’t Let Them Get The Commissariat’s Train!