The Siege of Przemysl 1914–1915
The Siege of Przemysl´ 1914–1915 by Dr. Jerzy W. Kupiec-Weglinski the outbreak of World War I, Przemyśl was a small garri- son town of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the territory At of Polish Galicia between two provincial capitals, Krakow (Cracow) in the west and Lwow (Lemberg) in the east.1 Just forty miles from the frontier with Imperial Russia, Przemyśl was pro- tected by a ring of fortifications thirty-six miles in circumference, similar to the French Maginot Line. After Austria declared war on Russia on August 6, 1914, the Third Russian Army of Radko- Dimitriev advanced on Przemyśl, and by September 18 the for- tress was completely besieged. Luckily, the blockade was quickly relieved, lasting only thirty-three days. However, the Russians soon returned, and the second siege commenced on November 10. One hundred and thirty-three days later on March 22, 1915, after disease and starvation had taken their toll, Commander General Hermann von Kusmanek, nine generals, ninety-three staff officers, 2,500 officers, and 117,900 men all surrendered to the Russians. In all, some 12,000 defenders and 100,000 Russians perished in Przemyśl, which makes it one of the largest and bloodiest sieges in the world’s military history. The provisional air mail effort set up in the besieged Przemyśl by the Austrian Army represents an important chapter in the his- tory of aerophilately. The desperate necessity of the Przemyśl de- fendants to communicate with the outside world, especially with loved ones, was the primary reason for establishing such a service. This venture, unlike many others that followed, was never phila- telically motivated.
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