German and Austro-Hungarian forces under the command of generals von Hindenburg and Archduke Friedrich besieged Warsaw, and took it during the Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive. Austrians von Hötzendorf, Friedrich, and Pflanzer-Baltin form the bottom of the ring; the others are German. The flag and shield of Germany are on the bottom left; those of Austria and Hungary the bottom right.
Der Ring um Warschau, The Ring Encircling Warsaw.Bottom right: 5258; illegible logo bottom leftReverse: registration lines only.
"Thursday, May 20, 1915The Russian General Staff estimate that the Austro-German forces employed against Russia amount to not less than 55 corps and 20 cavalry divisions. Of these 55 corps three have just arrived from France."
Entry for Thursday, May 20, 1915, from the memoirs of Maurice Paléologue, French Ambassador in Russia. Begun on May 2, the German-Austro-Hungarian Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive continued to expand and push back the Russians. The Austro-Hungarian Army, which had squandered hundreds of thousands of men in the initial battles of 1914, and in fighting in the Carpathians in the early months of 1915, required German support to have any chance against Russia. To expand on his success on the Eastern Front, German Commander-in-Chief Falkenhayn drew down his forces on the Western Front.
An Ambassador's Memoirs Vol. I by Maurice Paléologue, page 340, publisher: George H. Doran Company, publication date: 1925
1915-05-20, 1915, May,
