Łupków Pass or Lupkov Pass ( pl, Przełęcz Łupkowska, sk, Lupkovský priesmyk) is a significant mountain pass in the Carpathian Mountains on the border between

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

, and close to the western border of

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. Its highest point rises 640 m above sea level. It is located just south of the village Łupków in Poland and east of Medzilaborce in Slovakia. Underneath the pass runs a railway tunnel 642 m long, straddling the border between Poland and Slovakia. The Łupków Pass separates the

Low Beskids The Low Beskids ( sk, Nízke Beskydy) or Central Beskids ( pl, Beskidy Środkowe; cs, Centrální Beskydy; uk, Центральні Бескиди) are a mountain range in southeastern Poland and northeastern Slovakia. They constitute a middle ...

from the

Bieszczady Mountains Bieszczady Mountains ( pl, Bieszczady; sk, Beščady; uk, Бещади; hu, Besszádok) is a mountain range that runs from the extreme south-east of Poland and north-east of Slovakia through to western Ukraine. It forms the western part of th ...

. The tunnel and the associated railway line were finished in 1874, to link Galicia with the rest of the Austro-Hungarian Empire across the Carpathian mountains. Given that it was such a vital communications link, the pass had considerable strategic importance. Łupków Pass was one of the strategically important Carpathian passes bitterly contested in battles on the Eastern Front of World War I during the winter of 1914/1915. An attempt to stand on the line of the

Wisłok Wisłok is a river in south-eastern Poland, a tributary of the San River, with a length of 220 kilometres and a basin area of 3,538 km2 (all in Poland). The root of the name ''Vis-lok'' is Indo-European or pre-Indo-European. The first meta ...

river and the Łupków Pass failed before renewed Austro-German attacks on 8 May 1915."''The Pursuit and Battles at Sanok and Rzeszów (6 May).''—After his severe defeat,

Radko Dimitriev Radko Dimitriev ( bg, Радко Димитриев) (24 September 1859 in Gradets – 18 October 1918 near Pyatigorsk) was a Bulgarian general, Head of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Army from 1 January 1904 to 28 March 1907, as well ...

's plan was to hold the Łupków Pass with his left wing, and, supported upon this, to bring the pursuit to a stand on the line

Nowotaniec Nowotaniec (german: Lobetanz, 1409; yi, ד בנוביטַניץ' Novitanitz; uk, Новотанець, ''Novotanets’'') is a village in south-eastern Poland, inhabited by about 430 (2002), in the Pogórze Bukowskie (Bukowsko Upland) mountai ...

– Besko-right bank of the Wisłok, where there were positions favoured by the lay of the ground, and then, between the

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

and the Wisłok, on the line Wielopole-

Rzeszów Rzeszów ( , ; la, Resovia; yi, ריישא ''Raisha'')) is the largest city in southeastern Poland. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River in the heartland of the Sandomierz Basin. Rzeszów has been the capital of the Subcarpathian ...

–

Mielec Mielec ( yi, מעליץ-Melitz) is the largest city and seat of Mielec County. Mielec is located in south-eastern Poland (Lesser Poland), in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (Województwo Podkarpackie). The population of Mielec in December 2021 wa ...

. Here he proposed to reconstitute his units, which had fallen into great disorder, and to strengthen them by bringing up reserves. Troops were sent to him from other fronts, and by the 8th he could again dispose of 18 inf. divs., 5 cav. divs. and 5 Reichswehr bdes. The orders were that the offensive was to be continued with all possible vigour. Mackensen's army was to push forward over the stretch of the Wisłok between Besko and Frysztak on Mrzygłód and

Tyczyn Tyczyn is a town in southern Poland with a population of 3,353 inhabitants (02.06.2009). It is located in the Rzeszów County of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship. History Bartold Tyczner, a merchant from Moravia, founded Tyczyn in 1368 during ...

, and the Archduke Joseph Ferdinand on Rzeszów, while Boroevic was to roll up Brussilov's VIII. Russian Army in the direction of

Sanok Sanok (in full the Royal Free City of Sanok — pl, Królewskie Wolne Miasto Sanok, rue, Санок, ''Sanok'', ua, Cянік, ''Sianik'', la, Sanocum, yi, סאניק, ''Sonik'') is a town in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship of south-eastern ...

. Bohm's II. Austrian Army was to join up corps by corps from the left wing in proportion to the progress of the attack." The railway tunnel was demolished and rebuilt multiple times during both World Wars. It was rebuilt again in 1946 but saw little use afterwards. Only in 1999 was regular passenger rail service reestablished through the pass.

References

See also