Battle of Łódź (1914)

Battle of Łódź
	Part of the Eastern Front during World War I
	; German soldiers enter Łódź on 6 December 1914
Date	11 November – 6 December 1914; (3 weeks and 4 days)
Location	Łódź, Congress Poland, Russian Empire
Result	Russian victory Full results German plan of encirclement and destruction failed; Planned Russian invasion of Silesia failed;
Belligerents
German Empire; Austria-Hungary	Russian Empire Congress Poland;
Commanders and leaders
Paul von Hindenburg; Erich Ludendorff; August von Mackensen; Karl Litzmann; Alfred Bizen †; Winkler von Dankenschweil †; Otto von Henning †	Nikolai Ruzsky; Paul von Rennenkampf; Sergei Sheydeman; Paul von Plehwe; Samad bey Mehmandarov
Units involved
Ninth Army; Eighth Army; First Army	Northwestern Front First Army; Second Army; Fifth Army;
Strength
279,000–380,000 infantry and cavalry (entire group), 1,420–1,440 guns, 700 machine guns	367,000 combat troops ; 1,305–1,311 guns; 740 machine guns
Casualties and losses
Total: 160,000 including 36,000 KIA 23,000 POWs; 23 cannons	110,000 to 316,000 total casualties

The Battle of Łódź (German: Schlacht um Łódź) or Lodz operation (Russian: Лодзинская операция, romanized: Lodzinskaya operatsia), took place from 11 November to 6 December 1914, near the city of Łódź in Poland. Battles were fought between German units of the Eighth army, Ninth Army, Austrian First Army, and the Russian First, Second, and Fifth Armies, in harsh winter conditions. The Germans redeployed their Ninth Army around Thorn, so as to threaten the Russian northern flank, following German reversals after the Battle of the Vistula River. The German objective was to prevent an invasion of Germany, by encircling and destroying the Russians, as a result, Germans themselves were surrounded and actually lost 2 corps, although the invasion of Germany was prevented Battle had a strong impact on both the Western and Eastern fronts. It ended with the victory of the Russian troops, although the planned invasion of Germany was canceled.