3rd Army (Austria-Hungary)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The 3rd Army () was a
field army A field army (also known as numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps. It may be subordinate to an army group. Air army, Air armies are the equivalent formations in air forces, and ...
-level command within the
ground forces An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by p ...
of
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. It was primarily active on the Eastern Front against the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
and in
the Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
against
Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
and
Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...
. Later on, the 3rd Army took part in some
fighting Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is resorted to either as a method of ...
on the Italian Front before returning to the eastern theater by 1917 to repulse the Kerensky Offensive. Its remaining units were merged with the 7th Army in January 1918.


History


1914

The 3rd Army was formed in August 1914 as part of
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
's mobilization following its declaration of war on
Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
and
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
, carrying out the prewar plans for the formation of six
field armies A field army (also known as numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps. It may be subordinate to an army group. Air armies are the equivalent formations in air forces, and fleets ...
. Just as all Austro-Hungarian field armies, it consisted of a headquarters and several corps, along with some unattached units.John Dixon-Nuttal
THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN ARMY 1914-18. Chapter 4: The Army in the Field
/ref> The 3rd Army initially consisted of the XI and XIV Corps, based in
Lemberg Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...
(modern day Lviv,
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
), and
Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...
, respectively. In addition there were several divisions that were attached directly to army headquarters. It was placed under the overall command of ''
General der Kavallerie General of the Cavalry () was a General officer rank in the cavalry in various states of which the modern states of German and Austria are successors or in other armies which used the German model. Artillery officers of equivalent rank were called ...
'' Rudolf Ritter von Brudermann. Early on in the war the formation took part in the
Battle of Galicia The Battle of Galicia, also known as the Great 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 def ...
in the northeastern part of the Dual Monarchy, where it was part of the Austro-Hungarian force advancing from Lemberg towards the Russian Southwestern Front's positions.John Dixon-Nuttal
THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN ARMY 1914-18. Chapter 6 App. B: Armeen
/ref> On 25 August 1914, they received word of advancing Russian forces near Zlota Lipa river and 3rd Army was ordered to engage them. The clash began on August 26, with what the Austrians believed were small Russian units, but turned out to be eight corps. It was not long before they were forced to retreat, reaching Lemberg on August 27. Although 3rd Army had the time to form a defensive line near the Gnila Lipa river, the advancing Russians outnumbered Bruderman's army three to one and drove them back on August 30, before seizing Lemberg itself in early September. Thus the Austro-Hungarian line had to retreat back to the Carpathians, losing the country's territory east of the mountain range to the Russians. In September 1914, in the aftermath of the defense of Galicia, Bruderman had been replaced as the army commander by
Svetozar Boroević von Bojna Svetozar (Cyrillic script: Светозар) is a Slavic origin given name and may refer to: * Svetozar Boroević (1856–1920), Austro-Hungarian Field Marshal * Svetozar Čiplić (born 1965), Serbian politician * Svetozar Đanić (1917–1941), S ...
. Under his command the 3rd Army spent the remaining winter months of that year defending important mountain passes throughout the Carpathians.Svetozar Boroević von Bojna
. ''Austro-hungarian-army.co.uk.'' Retrieved 29 August 2017.


1915

The 3rd Army, with support of the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
South Army, spearheaded the
offensive Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...
against Russian positions in the
Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...
in January 1915 in an attempt to reverse the losses during last year's Galicia debacle. By then it had been built up to include fifteen infantry and four and a half cavalry divisions for the assault, which began on January 23 with the goal of securing the rail and communications hubs of
Medzilaborce Medzilaborce (, ''Midzhilabirtsyi''; , ''Mizhlabirtsi''; ) is a List of towns in Slovakia, town in northeastern Slovakia close to the border with Poland, located near the towns of Sanok and Bukowsko (in southeastern Małopolska). Its population is ...
,
Sambir Sambir (, ; ; ) is a city in Sambir Raion, Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the Capital city, administrative center of Sambir Raion (Raion, district) and is located close to the border with Poland. Sambir hosts the administration of Sambir urba ...
, and
Sanok Sanok (in full the Royal Free City of Sanok — , , ''Sanok'', , ''Sianok'' or ''Sianik'', , , ''Sūnik'' or ''Sonik'') is a town in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship of southeastern Poland with 38,397 inhabitants, as of June 2016. Located on the San ...
. Despite some early successes against numerically inferior enemy units which allowed them to advance about 38 kilometers, the Habsburg troops suffered from a lack of reinforcements and logistical problems. The mountain winter weather also turned for the worse as the overstretched 3rd Army had to defend its line from Russian counteroffensives, as it occupied a large gap between two important passes on January 26. By early February, the Austro-Hungarian offensive had stalled without reaching the besieged
Przemyśl Przemyśl () is a city in southeastern Poland with 56,466 inhabitants, as of December 2023. Data for territorial unit 1862000. In 1999, it became part of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Subcarpathian Voivodeship. It was previously the capital of Prz ...
fortress, and the Russians remained in control of the strategically important passes while 3rd Army divisions had been reduced to the size of brigades and lower. Thus it ended up losing its numerical advantage. By mid-February the Russian army had regained the initiative while the Austro-Hungarian troop strength had been badly depleted. The remaining men of 3rd Army were subjected to below freezing temperatures and other environmental dangers, lack of supplies, and no possibility of relief. By late February, it lost around 88,000 men—about 75% of its initial strength—and had to finally be reinforced by the newly-formed 2nd Army. After the fighting in the Carpathians, the 3rd Army was assigned to take part in the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive in southern
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
and Galicia. It was entrusted with seizing Przemyśl fortress as in the failed offensive earlier in 1915. The 3rd and 4th armies ended up retaking the Carpathian passes and took the fortifications outside of Przemyśl in the early days of June, with the fortress itself finally being retaken on 3 June 1915. The 3rd Army was briefly disbanded as its component units were broken up to reinforce other formations. Afterwards, from June until September, the formation was temporarily deactivated. The 3rd Army was reactivated in early October 1915 for the second invasion of
Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
, as part of Army Group Mackensen, this time under the command of
Hermann Kövess von Kövessháza Hermann Albin Josef Freiherr Kövess von Kövessháza (; 30 March 1854 – 22 September 1924) was the final, and completely ceremonial, Commander-in-Chief of the Austro-Hungarian Army. He served as a generally competent and unremarkable commander ...
. This army group crossed the
Sava The Sava, is a river in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reac ...
Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
line into Serbia on October 5. The Habsburg troops, along with the Bulgarian forces of the
1st Army First Army may refer to: China * New 1st Army, Republic of China * First Field Army, a Chinese Communist Party unit in the Chinese Civil War * 1st Group Army, People's Republic of China Germany * 1st Army (German Empire), a World War I field Army ...
, were tasked with driving the main Serbian force into the awaiting German 11th Army. However, Field Marshal
Radomir Putnik Radomir Putnik (; ; 24 January 1847 – 17 May 1917) was a Serbian military leader and the first Field marshal (Serbia and Yugoslavia), Field Marshal of Serbia. Serving as Chief of the General Staff (Serbia), Chief of the General Staff, he play ...
met the attacking forces while executing a series of retreats that kept most of his strength intact.
August von Mackensen Anton Ludwig Friedrich August Mackensen (ennobled as von Mackensen in 1899; 6 December 1849 – 8 November 1945), was a German field marshal. He commanded Army Group Mackensen during World War I (1914–1918) and became one of the German Empire ...
's 11th Army entered
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
on October 9, while Kövess's 3rd Army pursued the retreating Serbs. The campaign resulted in about 18,000 Habsburg casualties. The Serbs entered
Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...
in an attempt to reach Allied ships on the coast, and Austro-Hungarian supreme commander
Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf Franz Xaver Josef Conrad von Hötzendorf (after 1919 Franz Conrad; 11 November 1852 – 25 August 1925), sometimes anglicised as Hoetzendorf, was an Austrian general who played a central role in World War I. He served as '' K.u.k. Feldmarschal ...
gave the 3rd Army orders to not stop and to invade the small country as well. Their forces occupied
Cetinje Cetinje ( cnr-Cyrl, Цетиње, ) is a List of cities and towns in Montenegro, town in Montenegro. It is the former royal capital ( cnr-Latn-Cyrl, prijestonica, приjестоница, separator=" / ") of Montenegro and is the location of sev ...
, the capital, on 13 January 1916.


1916–18

In mid-1916, the 3rd Army was redeployed to the Italian Front, where it was part of Army Group Archduke Eugen (commanded by
Archduke Eugen of Austria Archduke Eugen Ferdinand Pius Bernhard Felix Maria of Austria-Teschen (21 May 1863 – 30 December 1954) was an Archduke of Austria-Hungary, Austria and a Prince of Kingdom of Hungary, Hungary and Kingdom of Bohemia, Bohemia. He was the last Gra ...
), once again led by von Kövess. In the spring of that year, Hötzendorf decided to attempt an offensive in a part of the front away from the Isonzo river area where the main fighting had been occurring. It saw action against the Italians in the
Battle of Asiago The Südtirol Offensive, also known as the Battle of Asiago or Battle of the Plateaux (in Italian: Battaglia degli Altipiani), wrongly nicknamed ''Strafexpedition'' "Punitive expedition" (this name has no reference in official Austrian document ...
alongside the 11th Army, which began on 15 May 1916. The assault was initially very successful, pushing 8 kilometers on a front 70 kilometers in length, and then another 10 kilometers before reaching
Asiago Asiago (; Venetian language, Venetian: ''Axiago'', Cimbrian: ''Slege'', German language, German: ''Schlägen'' ) is a minor township (population roughly 6,500) with the title of ciin the surrounding plateau region (the ''Altopiano di Asiago'' o ...
. However, the Brusilov Offensive in the east forced the Habsburg army command to withdraw some units there, and thus Archduke Eugen's force retreated just 5 kilometers ahead of where they had begun. In total the 3rd and 11th armies had taken some 150,000 casualties. During the Kerensky Offensive of 1917, the 3rd Army fought under ''
Generaloberst A ("colonel general") was the second-highest general officer rank in the German '' Reichswehr'' and ''Wehrmacht'', the Austro-Hungarian Common Army, the East German National People's Army and in their respective police services. The rank w ...
''
Karl Tersztyánszky von Nádas Karl Tersztyánszky von Nádas, officially Károly Tersztyánszky, also alternatively written Tersztyánszky de Nádas (28 October 1854 – 7 March 1921) was an Austro-Hungarian general who served in World War I. Biography Tersztyánszky was born ...
against the 8th Army of General
Lavr Kornilov Lavr Georgiyevich Kornilov (, ; – 13 April 1918) was a Russian military intelligence officer, explorer, and general in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I. He served as Supreme Commander of the Russian Army and as the military leade ...
. Clashing with the 8th Army at
Stanislau Ivano-Frankivsk (, ), formerly Stanyslaviv, Stanislav and Stanisławów, is a city in western Ukraine. It serves as the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast as well as Ivano-Frankivsk Raion within the oblast. Ivano-Frankivsk also host ...
(modern day Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine), the 3rd Army drove back Kornilov's forces. Herwig (2009), p. 325. The formation's remaining units were merged with the 7th Army in January 1918.


Order of battle in August 1914

Upon mobilization at the outbreak of war the 3rd Army consisted of the following units.


Order of battle in 1914–15

The following units were assigned to 3rd Army during the time of the Carpathian and Gorlice-Tarnów operations. *Assigned in August 1914: **II Corps (until May 1915) **IX Corps (until January 1915) *Assigned in November and December 1914: **Corps "Szurmay" (until February 1915) **XVIII Corps (until February 1915) *Assigned in January 1915: **V Corps (until February 1915) **VII Corps (until May 1915) **X Corps (until June 1915) **XIX Corps (until February 1915) *Assigned in February 1915: **XVII Corps (until June 1915)


Order of battle after Gorlice–Tarnów

The following units were assigned to 3rd Army in the period between mid-1915 and the end of the war in 1918. *Assigned in October 1915: **VIII Corps (until March 1916) **XII Corps (until June 1916) **XIX Corps (until September 1918) *Assigned in May 1916: **I Corps (until July 1916) **XVII Corps (until August 1918) *Assigned in June and July 1916: **III Corps (until July 1916) **5th Infantry Division (until September 1916) **Corps "Hadfy" (until June 1917) **VIII Corps (until January 1917) *Assigned in October 1916: **XIII Corps (until January 1918) *Assigned in March and April 1917: **5th Infantry Division (until December 1918) **XXVI Corps (until September 1917)


Commanders

The following served as the commander of the 3rd Army during its existence.3. armáda [1914-1915]
. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
3. armáda [1915-1918]
. Retrieved 29 August 2017.


Chiefs of staff

The following served as the chief of staff of the 3rd Army.


Sources


Notes


Books

* * * {{Austro-Hungarian forces during World War I Field armies of Austria-Hungary 1914 establishments in Austria-Hungary 1918 establishments in Austria-Hungary Military units and formations established in 1914 Military units and formations disestablished in 1918