915, fierce snowstorms and
bitter cold interfered with the activity of both Russians and Austrians.
There were few engagements. Toward the end of the month, concentration
of Austrian troops in Bukowina became stronger. On January 21, 1914, an
Austrian force, including an infantry division with artillery, attacked
the Russian front in the region of Kirlibaba, but was repulsed.

On the night of January 27, 1914, the Russians were driven back in the
Upper Ung Valley from their positions on both sides of Uzsok Pass. This
was one of the most important of the Carpathian passes, for the
possession of which many important engagements had been fought since
the beginning of the war. It was strongly intrenched and stubbornly
defended in several good positions, one behind the other. It fell into
the hands of the Austrians after three days of hard fighting. West of
the Uzsok Pass, Russian attacks were repulsed with heavy losses. Near
Vezeralles and Volovco battles ended with the Russians being driven from
the heights of the pass. The Austrians took 400 prisoners.

During the latter part of January, 1915, there were no developments of
importance in Galicia.

PART VII--RUSSO-GERMAN CAMPAIGN

CHAPTER LXXIII

FIRST CLASH ON PRUSSIAN FRONTIER

The first clash of arms between the Russian and German armies occurred
on August 6, 1914, near Soldau, East Prussia. In this chapter we will
follow the events which were taking place on this frontier,
simultaneously with the movements of the German invasions of Belgium and
France, the Austro-Serbian campaigns, the Russian invasion of Austria,
and the campaigns in the other parts of the world. The general causes
preceding the outbreak of the war have been fully narrated in Volume I,
while the theatre of the following campaign is clearly described in the
chapter on that subject. It is necessary at this time, however, to
review the fighting lines before we bring the mighty German army and the
Russian hosts into combat on their first battle ground.

We have seen that for many years previous to the outbreak of the great
European War all the countries involved had been forced by political,
economic, and social conditions to work, each country in its own way,
toward the same main object--military preparedness. Many factors, of
course, determined not only the means for achieving this result, but
also the degree to which it was finally accomplished. At this time we
are interested only