Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 9,001
Last Desperate Effort ...
The tsarist empire, which is already cracking in every joint, absolutely wants to regain the military initiative on the front against Germany and Austria-Hungary. This coincides with the urgent requests of the Russian allies France and England, who would like to see the front in France relieved.
So the Russian High Command STAWKA decided to launch a major offensive!
General Aleksej Aleksejewitsch Brussilow ...
... Commander of the Southwest Front, however, is the only Russian commander able and willing to attack!
The other Russian commanders no longer consider their troops to be reliable and fear for their lives if they order their unwilling soldiers to launch an offensive.
It is no coincidence that Brusilov's troops are still the most reliable - they are geographically the furthest away from the revolutionary trouble spot Petrograd ...
Brusilov's four armies - the 8th, 11th, 7th and 9th - are set up on a nearly 500 km long line between the Pripyat swamp in the north and the Romanian border in the south...:
The opposing troops opposed to the Russians and numerically inferior are, from north to south: the Austrian 4th, 1st and 2nd Army, the Austro-Hungarian South Army and the Austrian 7th Army.
The offensive starts on June 4, 1916 after heavy artillery fire...
... and opened in two main sectors: opposite Luck on the right of Brusilov and in the valleys of the Dniester and the Prut on his left.
The Austrians did not count on the precision of these attacks and had to flee.
In the north, Luck can be captured after 4th Army withdraws on June 6th; Kovel, a communications base 50 km to the west, falls four days later.
In the south, the Austrian 7th Army had little to counter the Russian advance and had to leave Czernowitz in Bukovina to their opponents on June 17th.
In the front area between these two peaks of attack, the southern army and the Austrian 1st and 2nd armies are also withdrawing, although they have so far hardly been put under pressure.
The first advance was completed by the middle of the month, as Brusilov was struggling with serious transport and supply problems.
In addition, the promised support attack by General Aleksej Jermolajewitsch Evert ...
... towards the north.
The Germans, allied with Austria-Hungary, react quickly to the worsening situation. 15 German and eight Austrian divisions are withdrawn from other sectors to support the weakening defense on the Eastern Front.
The German troops start the counterattack in the north on June 16, but can only achieve small territorial gains in an eight-day battle.
The Russian armies are being strengthened, albeit at a slower pace, as the Russian railway system is less efficient.
On July 28, the Russians begin a new attack, but it soon comes to a standstill due to ammunition shortages...:
Brusilov's offensive reopened on August 7th ...
... and reached the foot of the Carpathian Mountains despite the arrival of more German troops in the south.
The whole of Bukovina can be occupied!
At this point in time, the Germans under Hindenburg's command, who now control the entire breadth of the front, succeeded in consolidating their position.
Brusilov, in the next picture on the telescopic sight, has to break off his attack again.
Russia's resources, both personnel and equipment, are now exhausted. The losses were high:
Each side has lost around a million soldiers...
... half of them taken prisoner of war by the enemy...:
The Brussilow Offensive was the last major operation on the Eastern Front - and arguably the most mature Russian operation of the entire war.
Brussilow's plan failed mainly because of the lack of urgently needed support from other commanders and the high command of the army.
The failed offensive is further weakening Russia and increasing internal tensions in the country.
The Germans successfully stopped the Russian "steamroll"; however, Austria's dependence on the German Reich has increased due to the heavy losses.
On closer inspection, Russia and Austria-Hungary are militarily at the end ...
Brussilow will continue his career after the revolution as a "military specialist" in Trotsky's Red Army, making it up to the General Inspector of the Cavalry (1922) and on March 15, 1924 a member of the Revolutionary Military Council ...
He will die in Moscow in 1926.
The tsarist empire, which is already cracking in every joint, absolutely wants to regain the military initiative on the front against Germany and Austria-Hungary. This coincides with the urgent requests of the Russian allies France and England, who would like to see the front in France relieved.
So the Russian High Command STAWKA decided to launch a major offensive!
General Aleksej Aleksejewitsch Brussilow ...
... Commander of the Southwest Front, however, is the only Russian commander able and willing to attack!
The other Russian commanders no longer consider their troops to be reliable and fear for their lives if they order their unwilling soldiers to launch an offensive.
It is no coincidence that Brusilov's troops are still the most reliable - they are geographically the furthest away from the revolutionary trouble spot Petrograd ...
Brusilov's four armies - the 8th, 11th, 7th and 9th - are set up on a nearly 500 km long line between the Pripyat swamp in the north and the Romanian border in the south...:
The opposing troops opposed to the Russians and numerically inferior are, from north to south: the Austrian 4th, 1st and 2nd Army, the Austro-Hungarian South Army and the Austrian 7th Army.
The offensive starts on June 4, 1916 after heavy artillery fire...
... and opened in two main sectors: opposite Luck on the right of Brusilov and in the valleys of the Dniester and the Prut on his left.
The Austrians did not count on the precision of these attacks and had to flee.
In the north, Luck can be captured after 4th Army withdraws on June 6th; Kovel, a communications base 50 km to the west, falls four days later.
In the south, the Austrian 7th Army had little to counter the Russian advance and had to leave Czernowitz in Bukovina to their opponents on June 17th.
In the front area between these two peaks of attack, the southern army and the Austrian 1st and 2nd armies are also withdrawing, although they have so far hardly been put under pressure.
The first advance was completed by the middle of the month, as Brusilov was struggling with serious transport and supply problems.
In addition, the promised support attack by General Aleksej Jermolajewitsch Evert ...
... towards the north.
The Germans, allied with Austria-Hungary, react quickly to the worsening situation. 15 German and eight Austrian divisions are withdrawn from other sectors to support the weakening defense on the Eastern Front.
The German troops start the counterattack in the north on June 16, but can only achieve small territorial gains in an eight-day battle.
The Russian armies are being strengthened, albeit at a slower pace, as the Russian railway system is less efficient.
On July 28, the Russians begin a new attack, but it soon comes to a standstill due to ammunition shortages...:
Brusilov's offensive reopened on August 7th ...
... and reached the foot of the Carpathian Mountains despite the arrival of more German troops in the south.
The whole of Bukovina can be occupied!
At this point in time, the Germans under Hindenburg's command, who now control the entire breadth of the front, succeeded in consolidating their position.
Brusilov, in the next picture on the telescopic sight, has to break off his attack again.
Russia's resources, both personnel and equipment, are now exhausted. The losses were high:
Each side has lost around a million soldiers...
... half of them taken prisoner of war by the enemy...:
The Brussilow Offensive was the last major operation on the Eastern Front - and arguably the most mature Russian operation of the entire war.
Brussilow's plan failed mainly because of the lack of urgently needed support from other commanders and the high command of the army.
The failed offensive is further weakening Russia and increasing internal tensions in the country.
The Germans successfully stopped the Russian "steamroll"; however, Austria's dependence on the German Reich has increased due to the heavy losses.
On closer inspection, Russia and Austria-Hungary are militarily at the end ...
Brussilow will continue his career after the revolution as a "military specialist" in Trotsky's Red Army, making it up to the General Inspector of the Cavalry (1922) and on March 15, 1924 a member of the Revolutionary Military Council ...
He will die in Moscow in 1926.
