Ternopil

[Guest]

Hi. I would appreciate some help in clarifying some matters and in pointing out resources for further research.

My grandmother grew up in a small village a few miles from Ternopil, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. She was nine when the war began. She told me that she remembered during this time

1) digging trenches for soldiers

2) groups of ragged soldiers marching through her village

3) almost being shot by a young, over-eager sentry

4) stumbling over a soldier corpse in the dark

5) landlords (most of the village had to work for the local landlord) changing 5 times. At the beginning, the landlords "ran for their lives" to be replaced by others immediately afterwards

As all I knew of WW1 was trench warfare, I thought that she was very confused regarding 5. Please keep in mind that I was eleven years old at the time and my knowledge was extremely limited. As I grew older and read of the quickly changing nature of the Eastern front and the Galicia, Brusilov, and other offensives, her story seemed to make more sense. 

I am wondering if any historians might know of specific offensives that would involve Ternopil and the seizing/retreat of this area. After a seizure, how would a government quickly reassert itself before being driven off? Once the original landlords were driven off, were estates given to war magnates as a reward (which might explain the continuing changing of landlords)?

Thanks.

[James A Pratt III]

The Austro-Hungarian official history "Austria-Hungary's last war 1914-1918" is online in both English and German it has a number of maps in German of the fighting you should be able to find out what was going on in this area.