At the beginning of war in summer 1914, Krasnik was put in command of the Austro-Hungarian First Army. That August the First Army, along with the Fourth Army, would compose the northwestern flank of Austro-Hungarian Chief of Staff, Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf’s, push towards Russian forces in Russian Poland and the Galicia region. On August 22, after crossing the San River, Krasnik's army would engage the Russian Fourth Army at the Austro-Hungarian town of Kraśnik. The ensuing battle of Kraśnik ended three days later with Dankl victorious and the Russian Fourth Army retreating back towards the city of Lublin in Russian territory. Krasnik pursued his opponents after the battle but was ultimately forced to withdraw after a series of defeats further southeast along the Austro-Hungarian lines in the largescale battle of Galicia. For his victory at Kraśnik, the first for Austria-Hungary in the war, Krasnik would later be decorated with the Commander's Cross of the Military Maria Theresa Order on August 17, 1917 (see below). Krasnik experienced a good deal of fame and popularity after the battle, becoming something of a national hero until his once rising star would be tarnished by setbacks later on in the war.