Written in Blood: The Battles for Fortress Przemyśl in WWI (Twentieth-Century Battles)

Bloodier than Verdun the battles for Fortress Przemyśl were pivotal to victory on the Eastern Front during the early years of World War I. Control of the fortress changed hands three times during the fall of 1914. In 1915 the Austro-Hungarian armies launched three major offensives to penetrate the Russian encirclement and relieve the 120000 trapped in the besieged fortress. Drawing on myriad sources historian Graydon A. Tunstall tells of the impossible conditions facing the garrison: starvation horse-meat diets deplorable medical care prostitution alcoholism dismal morale and a failed breakout attempt. By the time the fortress finally fell to the Russians on March 22 1915 the Hapsburg Army had sustained 800000 casualties; the Russians over a million. The fortress however had served its purpose. Tunstall argues that the besieged garrison kept the Russian army from advancing farther and obliterating the already weakening Austro-Hungarian forces at the outset of the War to End All Wars.