rieff administered a heavy defeat to him, and took
nearly thirty thousand prisoners and many guns. In this way he helped
prepare for new plans which Grand Duke Nicholas and his staff had
prepared for the Russian army in Galicia for the new year.

Cracow had successfully resisted assault, and seemed likely to hold out
against the best efforts of the Russians. The gateway to Silesia had
been closed. Hindenburg had achieved one of his chief objects in forcing
the central Russian forces back. He had paid a huge price in men in
order to establish a deadlock of warfare in trenches, about midway in
the big bend of the Vistula. Nevertheless, from the German viewpoint,
the result achieved was worth it.

If the battle for Silesia had been won in November, 1914, by General
Russky and General Ivanoff on the field in front of Cracow, Italy and
Rumania might have been brought into the fight by their continued
advancing movement. Austria and Hungary thus might have been attacked
and overcome by huge forces from three sides. If Austria-Hungary fell,
the overthrow of Germany might have been threatened. Hindenburg's
strategy had put this out of the range of possibility.

It was such developments as have been mentioned that caused the Russian
commander in chief to decide on Hungary as the next object of attack. He
planned to bring direct pressure upon Vienna and Budapest and so force
first the Hungarians and then the Austrians to ask for terms of peace.
If they did not, he counted on Italy and Rumania entering the war and
assuring victory for the Allies.

On Christmas Day, 1914, under such conditions, began the great battles
of the Carpathians, which continued for many months to be a crisis of
the war. The Russians were outnumbered, but their position was
favorable. On December 25 they advanced on the Dukla Pass. Meanwhile
fierce fighting continued at various points in Galicia. In the
neighborhood of Tuchow, south of Tarnow, the Russians, on observing the
advance of the Twenty-sixth Austrian Brigade, slipped past on parallel
roads and surprised the Austrian rear. The Russians opened fire with
machine guns and virtually annihilated the whole brigade. In two days'
fighting in southern Galicia, near the Carpathians, the Russians
captured more than 4,000 prisoners, including a major of the General
Staff and five other officers, besides three heavy guns and two machine
guns. In this region the Russians were moving small detachments through