Battle of Galicia The Battle of Galicia was a major battle between Russia and Austria - Hungary during the early stages of World War I in 1914 . In the course of the battle , the Austro - Hungarian armies were severely defeated and forced out of Galicia , while the Russians captured Lemberg and , for approximately nine months , ruled Eastern Galicia . Background . When war with Russia became apparent in the beginning of August , the Austro - Hungarian chief - of - staff Conrad von Hötzendorf decided to launch an offensive into Russian Poland with his northern armies ( the 1st and 4th ) . As the Russian army would soon be able to mobilize forces greatly superior in numbers to that of the Central Powers in the East ( especially the Austro - Hungarian armies , which were Russia ' s primary target ) , von Hötzendorf saw his only chance in an early victory . He also hoped that Germany would join his offensive into Poland , but that hope was frustrated by the fact that Germany only deployed few troops in East Prussia ordered entirely on the defence . Thus , the 1st and 4th Austro - Hungarian armies started their advance into Poland without definite German support . Initially they were opposed by the Russian 4th and 5th armies respectively . Meanwhile , Nikolai Ivanov , the Russian commander of the Southwest Front , was expecting an Austro - Hungarian offensive from Lemberg in eastern direction . This was to be met by a Russian offensive into eastern Galicia with the Russian 3rd and 8th armies . Battles . The Austro - Hungarian 1st Army under Viktor Dankl was moving in the north towards Lublin . Dankl struck and drove back Baron Salza ' s Russian Fourth Army in what would be known as the Battle of Kraśnik . Dankl ' s army was able to capture 6 , 000 prisoners . To the right of Dankl the Auffenberg ' s 4th Army , aiming at Cholm , drove back the Russian Fifth Army under Pavel Plehve in the Battle of Komarów , capturing 20 , 000 prisoners and inflicting heavy casualties . However , a planned Austrian enveloping movement around the Russian army failed . As the Russians were being driven back along the northern front the Austrian Army Group Kovess made a simultaneous advance against Ivanov ' s left wing . Along the southern front Ivanov had the Russian Third Army under Nikolai Ruzsky and the Russian Eighth Army under the capable Aleksei Brusilov . Brusilov and Ruszky routed the Austro - Hungarians so thoroughly that even though poor roads necessitated that the Russians halt for two days , the Austrians could not regroup to halt the Russian drive . This attack became known as the Battle of Gnila Lipa . With the entire Kovess Group in full retreat , Conrad pulled forces away from northern front which he believed had been sufficiently defeated . In fact the Russians north of Lemberg were still a potential threat . Ivanov ordered Plehve ' s Fifth Army to attack and drove the Austrians back as they began to shift forces to the south in an engagement known as the Battle of Rava Ruska . The Austrian Second Army was quickly recalled from Serbia but it was too late and the entire Austrian front collapsed in Galicia and the Russians took control of Lemberg . Results . As the Austrians retreated many Slavic soldiers in the Austro - Hungarian Army simply surrendered and some even offered to fight for the Russians . A total of some 130 , 000 prisoners were taken by the Russians by the time the battle subsided on September 11 , while they inflicted 324 , 000 casualties . The Russians suffered 225 , 000 casualties , including 40 , 000 captured . The Russians had pushed the front 100 miles into the Carpathian Mountains , completely surrounded the Austrian fortress of Przemyśl and started a Siege of Przemyśl which lasted for over a hundred days . The battle severely damaged the Austro - Hungarian Army , destroyed a large portion of its trained officers , and crippled Austria . Though the Russians had been utterly crushed at the Battle of Tannenberg , their victory at Lemberg prevented that defeat from fully taking its toll on Russian public opinion . Order of battle . Russian forces . Russian South - Western front . Commander - in - chief – Nikolai Ivanov , Chief of Staff – Mikhail Alekseyev