@@t.n.h.ptheneohumanpatterna8334 Thats true, but to be fair, Russia already started to industrialize right before WW1. This was one reason the Germans wanted to go to war at that time. To do it before Russia fully industrializes and became to strong to defeat.
It always fascinated me that, for how static WW1 was in the western front for most of the conflict due to trench warfare, it was, on the other hand, quite mobile in the Eastern one.
2:17 "They were opposed by 730 Austro-Hungarian soldiers in Galicia" Ladies and Gentlemen, look no further than that as proof of Von Hotzendorf's logistical genius!
@@Hatypus That's not an accent. S and Ś are a completely different thing. You can even write this letter on the english keyboard (unless you are on PC). Though I am pretty sure the author of the comment wasn't aware of the difference
The heavy Russian casualties supports my great grandfather's decision to head for the first available boat to American as soon as the war was announced. And similar high casualties support my grandfather's desertion from the Austrian Hungarian Army at about the same time. Fortunately Italy was still neutral and ships were regularly leaving for America from Naples.
Russia dont like to talk about it because they lost and western historians are fixated on the western front the few times they delve into the first war, so it's very frustrating trying to find any decent books on the subject. Theres a large overview book on the subject by Nick Lloyd coming out in late March though. I have it on pre order so cant say if it's any good but it's a part of his trilogy, the first of which is brilliant and avoids the usual endless Somme and Passchendaele cliches. Prit Buttar also does great books on ww1 eastern front but they might be far too in depth if you are just starting to learn about it.
Western front: after 15 months of constant human wave atacks a smouldering remenant of a sawmill has been captured! (This is the most exciting thing that has happened for 2 years) Eastern front: half of the army has been lost as the enemy has conducted a counterofensive and encircled us and taken 2 medium sized countries worth of territory but we were able to counter encircle his counter ofensive. (This is only the 3rd most interesting development this month)
It is fascinating that ww1 was never explored in so many details like ww2 or even some smaller-scale wars. I know most people won't find that interesting but it would be great if you make another one on the western front.
Imo it’s due in part to the ability to better document ww2 due to increase in technology, and the fact that WW2 had a more clear “bad guy”. The reasons for WW2 are much easier for a more casual history fan to understand and there is a more clear good vs evil element
@@ihicccup9446 In American history classes you only really get taught about wars where we can be framed as the good guys, which is why we hardly learned about the Vietnam War despite the fact is was a major conflict that affected the culture of the nation
@@alexanderzagula1994that’s true, especially with Vietnam, but for ww2 I think it’s more down to it being the war against the Nazis. No matter what, that war will always be interesting to people. The rapid advancement of technology during that time period also helps it captivate people’s interest. World war 1 becomes a complicated slog in comparison. Even though that’s not really true, that’s the popular perception because it will likely always be viewed in comparison to its more famous sequel by the layman
There are some really excellent resources available for the study of WW1 though. For example, for the Austro-Hungarian side, "Österreich-Ungarns letzter Sieg" is the official history of it and freely accessible via the Vienna State Library online. Very easy to scan through, and absolutely tome of information. Contains also a lot of sketches and maps of divisions by date.
Same thing with me because now I’m not sure which front but it was either this one the eastern front, The Italian Front or the Balkan Front that my maternal great grandfather was serving on and I don’t know which front he was on as all I know is that he served in the austro Hungarian army and he served in it because he was from a nation that’s still around but is split up and that nation was Czechoslovakia and at that time the austro Hungarian empire ruled over Czechoslovakia.
It's amazing how little coverage the Eastern Front gets given how important it was in world history. I guess the USSR wasn't particularly interested in glorifying the Russian Empire's battles and the countries that fought on the west likely wanted to play up their own achievements which means not emphasizing the importance of the East. The English speaking internet is also dominated by countries that didn't fight on the Eastern Front so that may also have something to do with it.
Ouch, I believe Battle of Tannenberg was too simplified to satisfy me. I've been trying to learn as much as possible about this battle (since I was born in the city that was one of the first invaded by Samsonow's 2nd Army), and I think you've missed key elements of that battle. First of all, when Russians attacked from the south, general von Prittwitz decided to abandon East Prussia, and retreat onto the defensive line on the river Vistula. That's why Russians managed to break through so easily so deeply, almost reaching Allenstein from the south. Then von Prittwitz was replaced by famous duo of Hindenburg and Ludendorff, after lower general von Francois complained to von Moltke (chief of the entire German Army) about von Prittwitz plans to abandon whole region, giving up key positions almost for free. When Hindenburg and Ludendorff took power over 8th army, their approach changed massively. You were right, that it was mostly based on intercepted radio communication, but they wanted to defend East Prussia anyway. They managed to transport many troops (I think about 50K soldiers) from Konigsberg region, around Western part of East Prussia down to Iława-Działdowo (Deutsch Eylau - Soldau) region, and attack them from the West. Important battle of Uzdowo (Usdau) happend, led by german's general von Francois, which scared russian general Artamonow - who then completely abandoned his positions, leaving russian left flank completely undefenced - he jumped about 50 kilometers south, creating a huge gap for von Francois troops to encircle Russians from South. On the same time, german general Mackensen followed russian general Martos, who was retreating from Allenstein to cover russian right flank, because he thought he went too deep. That allowed Germans to encircle Russian 2nd Army from East. Two German Generals meet around Wielbark (Willenberg), completing encirclement. Martos was caught and defeated by Mackensen, becoming PoW himself. Legend says that Martos was held in a hotel in Nidzica (Neidenburg), in the same room he was staying just a few days later, when he took that Town with his army. Legend goes even further - he was treated well, because he prevented typical war chaos in the Town, stopped his soldiers from robbing citizens with harsh penalties - so he was held in good conditions. Okay, maybe I went with too much details, but I believe that changing leadership of 8th German Army was crucial. And on the other hand, another key element was missed. During the battle, Germans decided to send two corps present in France, to use them in East Prussia. Ludendorff after the battle said, that they got into East Prussia too late to be used in that battle, and those corps being not present in France meant Germans didn't have enough power to take over Paris - that Germans needed exactly those two corps to win battle of Marna.
These events were preceded by the Battle of Gumbien, which convinced the Germans to withdraw their troops beyond the Vistula, as planned according to the Schliefen plan. However, then, as you wrote, the Germans pulled troops from the right flank at the Battle of the Marne (6 army corps along with artillery and the VIII cavalry division) to defend the ancient Prussian capital. Also in this video it is shown that the Russians in East Prussia had 500k people, which is of course a very overestimate. The armies of Samsonvoa and Rennekampf did not advance fully mobilized and their number did not exceed 125 thousand. 5 divisions were surrounded.
@@ReichLife I wouldn't go this far, this is still a good video fulfilling it purpose. It might just be me going crazy about Battle of Tannenberg, and maybe an 1h video showing how every village was taken over would satisfy me 😅
@@fordernPL2 corps would not have changed the tied at the marne. Moltke died in 1916 so after the war everyone blamed him. The plan in 1996 called for 48.5 corp or 81 divisions, Germany could only deploy 37.5 corp in 1914 on the west and had already abandoned flanking west of Paris by the time the 2 corps were diverted
That, plus the german high command made huge mistakes during their advance on Paris, with infighting between several Generals and Moltke mostly powerless, sitting far away in Luxemburg. Moltke also distributed more men to the southern part of the western front, which weakened the right wing further.
Thank you for remembering this front. Between October 7th and 10th, there was a battle near my hometown of Grójec as part of the Warsaw-Ivangorod operation. There are several cemeteries around. Let’s remember this war so that it never happens again.
The Parallels are striking when comparing this video's intro about Russia's plans to invade Germany and take Berlin to win the war, to your Eastern Front videos in 1944-45 about the actual Soviet Advance into Germany and how similar it is to what you described here.
Note:In Vienna, the event "almost failed to make any impression whatsoever," according to historian Zbynęk Zeman. The crowds on June 28 and 29 continued to enjoy wine and music as if nothing had happened." Nevertheless, historian Christopher Clark has called the assassination of the heir apparent a "9/11 effect, a terrorist event charged with historic meaning, transforming the political chemistry in Vienna" due to its enormous impact.
There was no way the crowds in Vienna could have even known of the shooting on the 28th. It happened at lunch, there was time until the heir apparent would be announced dead in Sarajevo, then the first ones to be informed would be his family which would take some time, and then the information would be released on the newspapers earliest on the 29th in the morning papers. Of course, the crowds on the 28th of June would just enjoy their wine.
Both can be true at the same time. While normal people might not have cared that much, for the political elite it was a very different story because it was universally seen as not only an outrage but also a chance to finally show Serbia their place
Its often overlooked that the heir to Austro-Hungary, Franz-Ferdinand, was a proponent of peace and a diplomatic settlement with Serbia. His murder was not only a casus belli, but also removed the most likely check to war in 1914 and could have held his uncle, the 84 year-old Emperor Franz Joseph, back from attacking Russia’s ally Serbia.
Same during the russian revolution actually within petrograd. During both february and October revolutions public transport was still running, restaurants and shops open and supposedly prostitutes still walking around working the bridges over the Neva
Yes think if it was today, the majority of people would not give a shit at least until they are drafted. The main difference is people at least in the west are much less patriotic today but this happens when the standard of living decline for decades
You are seriously underrated. You should have millions of subscribers. Keep doing what you are doing man. Its incredible. You are one of the most detailed, ambitious and well researched youtube channels out there. Im a big fan of you.
@@Eastory ah I have no problem with ww1 I like it I thought you were going to upload the rest of the animated maps from the ww2 channel with the documentary bits cut out since you did the animation.
Man, I'm pretty excited to see more map content this year. Whether it is from this new series about WW1 battlefields or continuing with the Pacific and Mediterranean campaigns of WW2, it sure sounds like a lot quality content is coming down the pipeline very soon.
It very nearly almost was. If the Germans had been more successful in the west, the war would've been a loss for the Entente and a quick negotiate peace likely. If the Russians were more successful, Ottomans never intervene, Italians join sooner, war is totally unwinnable for the Central Powers and a quick negotiate peace likely. Both sides massively miscalculated and fumbled the bag, leading to the stalemate. Germans got crushed at Marne, Russians at Tannenburg. If only 1 of those two great victories did not occur, a peace in 1915 seems highly plausible.
Right up there with "A grateful Iraqi populace will facilitate a smooth exit for the US military" and "3 day special military operation in Ukraine". Politicians who start wars usually overestimate themselves.
1915 : The Russian great retreat, Masurian campaign 1916 : Brussilov offensive 1917 : Russian negotiation with the Central powers 1918 : first month of Russian civil war Ww1 on eastern front is very underrated, people say it's boring
It is crazy how much territory changes hands in only a few months of war, and this was before mechanized mobile warfare with trucks and tanks advancing at rapid paces.
Really great video and thank you for covering WW1 in more detail. Much love from Germany. I hope you can talk about the importance of Przemysl in the next video. The Austro-Hungarians lost hundreds of thousands of men in a vain attempt at relieving the garrison and completely broke their army on the Russian defenses in the Winter of 1914/15. From 1915 onwards the Austro-Hungarians would never again be able to really launch an offensive of their own. In these early battles for Przemysl the AH empire lost much of its (somewhat) decent officers and good soldiers. It's seldom talked about how these battles broke the army of one of the major powers of Europe. Anyway I also hope you can make videos about both the serbian and greek fronts of WW1 in the future. It's quite fascinating to see how Serbia held on as long as they did and the international army fighting in Greece (without Greeces' permission) is a really unique situation.
It did not brake them. AH got the greatest victory at gorlice tarnow in 1915 against Russia in the war. With the Brussilow Offensive 1917 Russia and AH were just bleeding each other dry, with Russia collapsing first.
@@Echoak95 The Gorlize Tarnow offensive was led by August von Mackensen, with a lot of German troops leading the way. After the winter of 1914/15 the AH army was almost always directed by German officers as most experienced Austro-Hungarian ones had died (and there weren't that many good onesto begin with). Also the Brusilov offensive happened in 1916 with Germany having to pull several divisions away from Verdun where they had just managed to break the French line but because they now had no reserves had to pull back. Russia collapsed because of political turmoil in the country and a lack of bread not because of the AH army.
@@wol06fi89 it was led by Mackensen but the planning was done by the Austrian field marshall Hötzendorf and most involved troops were austrian. No austrian troops were commanded by german officers in 1915, only after the death of the Emperor Franz Joseph at the end of 1916 Germany took the military High command, but the officers were still from the Austrian empire. Mackensen helped in Serbia and Italy with german divisions, but they were only up to 50k strong. I misrote 1916 for Brussilow, but the failure of a breakthrough still lead to the collapse of Russia, as most russian soldiers deserted or got captured after it, which lead to the turmoil.
@@wol06fi89 yeah everybody knows that russian participation in the war only distraction of german army on Western front. Russia collapsed because they were defeated multiple times on the battlefield having lost the best soldiers and lacking(because of defeats) courage, ammunition, experieneced military staff. We cannot forget that German army united eith Austro Hungarian reached as far as Rostov On Don and Tiflis(Tbilisi) and after have concluded humiliating for russia Brest Litovsk treaty
Woah ! I never thought I would be able to see such a detailed video on these wars. I am lucky that I found this channel. Thanks for explaining the war in detail...
What the Germans achieved in WW1 was incredible. Basically, the allies had the resources of the entire world against them. And it was a near run thing.
It's fascinating how the first few minutes of the video could be the same as talking about ww2 and the Soviet advance into Germany. I guess I goes to show that these plans have existed for a long time, and overall strategies aren't all that different, its just the implementation of those strategies that dictate the result.
@@candyneige6609 There was some trenches on the Eastern Front, however because the front was so big, trench warfare was not so big. It happened mainly on the western front. Please don't say something so ignorant.
@@biryanilover7147 It's the other way around. The Eastern Front was so big that trench warfare was omnipresent and the trenches themselves were both very big and very long. By contrast, the Western Front was pretty fast-paced, meaning that there was little to no trench warfare, and it was also where the Central Powers, specifically Germany, was most successful, as it managed to capture Paris and make France surrender in just under 6 weeks, thus creating Vichy France in the process, a puppet state of Germany led by Philippe Pétain who had infamously collaborated with the German occupiers, however, Charles de Gaulle refused to surrender, and so he and countless others went to the UK in exile and founded Free France with Charles de Gaulle as its leader, and with an ultimate goal of liberating France from the Vichy regime and the German occupiers, which it eventually did, when the Entente, more specifically Free France, the UK and the US, landed in Normandy, liberated Paris and destroyed Philippe Pétain's Vichy regime, and once all of France got liberated from Germany, the Entente had one final goal in mind, invade Germany, and invade Germany they did, this caused Germany to go in a panic, essentially forcing them to sign an armistice on November 11th 1918 to end the war and to prevent further damages on the German homeland.
I can't even imagine amount of research you had to do to make this properly. I'm subscribing your channel for years and i'm still amazed with details. Also, people tend to forget or simply not pay attention that it wasn't just some 3-nation front, as it would be during WW2, for most of the time there were occupied nations dragged by empires into fighting each other to save lifes of Germans/Austrians/Russians, sometimes even with people of same nationality pointing guns at their compatriots without even knowing that fact. That's the main reason i consider this war a bloody mess, not the amount of explosives used, or new god-forsaken weaponry, or a stalemate on the western front.
It's funny how the balance of power basically considers a ratio of 2 germans to 3 russians as favouring the germans. It shows how backwards russia was and how efficient the german army was.
It didn't help that the Russians were led by a weak Tsar who believed God would provide victory regardless of the weapons, logistics or strategy used. He was the supreme commander but he had neither the talent or charisma to lead an army into war. He led the Russian's to defeat against Japan which led to the 1905 Russian revolution then again against the central powers which led to the 1917 revolution.
@@davekeating5867 Nicholas II wasn't in command against Japan, and only took control in ww1 after late 1915. Sure, you can blame him for joining the war with a poor and underdeveloped country (even if it was defending an ally), but that's out of the point.
Taking into account that Germany was by far the most efficient and organized army on the planet, this is not proof that the Russians were backward, but actually far above the world average
@@WILLIAN_1424 The Tsar was the supreme political authority in all matters in Russia and was considered to be Gods emmisary on earth and closer to God than the pope. It doesn't matter to the Russians who his subordinates were ... the Tsar led the Russian army and all other aspects of Russian political life either in person or by proxy through his marshalls. The buck stopped with the Tsar.
I thought I knew enough about the opening encounters and battles in the east in 1914 but the elasticity of the front lines is way more complex than I ever imagined, only comprehensible due to these moving maps. So much easier to understand than the few static maps in the literature on this topic- which leaves so much out. You might have mentioned that one or was it one-half of an Austrian army was entrained to and then back again from the Belgrade offensive and actually played no material part in either!
WWI was before armored vehicles and aircraft could support infantry. Not to mention radios hadn't been properly established making communication with artillery difficult. This made infantry extremely deadly as little could be done to counter the accuracy and lethality of rifles. Which was why so little ground captured would cost the lives of hundreds of thousands.
What you missed in East Prussia: The main horse breeding region of whole germany was situated here - so the main logistic force was endangered by the russians. Also you should've mentioned that Germany pulled out some Corps from the Western Front to Allenstein - a very ironic happening because these troops opened the gap between the 1st and 2nd German Army and made it possible for the French to pierce in this gap and bring the Schlieffen Plan to a hold. Ironic to that? These Corps came too late for the battle at "Tannenberg" (Allenstein/Graudenz/Gumbinen).
Most shocking thing about WW1 is numbers, staggering numbers... Whole Napoleons Grande army could be lost in 1914 in 2-3 battles. And after all these losses armies continued to fight...
Since late I'm especially interested in the Battle of Galicia. It was absolutely chaotic and full of twists. Highly recommend the book "A Mad Catastrophe" by Geoffrey Wawro.
i am german but apparently my great great grandfather was with the 28th division on the russian side at premyzl and was captured in january of 1915 in the carpathians
Great video Eastory! This video is very interesting of in depth army movment and battles depecting them on a map, its always a great feeling to see them done in a very nicely with polishing! As always great video
Some of the biggest and most interesting battles happened on the eastern front in 1914. Some of the very last ‘Napoleonic’ style battles with line formations and mass cavalry charges.
This largely dispels the notion of the russian army as deeply incompetent bumbling mass. Yes the bad use of radio was a huge mistake, but overall the russians make sensible, logical, and well calculated moves and won many victories. The imperial russian army, for all its flaws, was quite effective and strong for its time. It, like the german army in the end, would succumb to lack of supplies and industrial output more than any military incompetence.
That’s very true. The Russians also did have some operational deficiencies, such as a more rigid chain of command which didn’t allow much initiative of platoon and company leaders, whereas the Germans emphasised individual initiative and rapid action, which was present at Tannenberg. But yeah I agree overall Russian doctrine and tactics were pretty good. Infrastructure let them down.
Seeing this after the WW2 Eastern Front videos really put those in perspective as to the sheer number of people involved in each operation. It really dwarfs any other modern conflict by a wide margin.
First of all, well done. Where can I access the map you used in the video? The map in question is very detailed and extensive, and I really need it for my lessons.
Сколько смотрел разные материалы о первой мировой и только сейчас впервые услышал, что Российская Империя, оказывается, хотела в начале войны на Берлин идти, да и судя по карте, это было не так
Хотела. Удар через Познань и Силезию. Была директива в. кн. Николая Николаевича. Варшавско-Ивангородская, Лодзинская и Краковская операции сорвали эти планы.
Amazing, inspired content as always. Have you ever given any thought to analyzing the Sicilian and/or Italian campaigns? Keep up the incredible work, bud.
Its fascinating how everything you described in your intro about Russia's plan to invade germnay and capture Berlin and all that.... ....Is exactly what the Soviets did in ww2 to defeat Germany there as well. The parallels to your Eastern Front in ww2 vidoes are striking. Seems like strategy remains the same, its just the execution of it that changes the result. Not to mention the Soviet Union in 1945 was an entirely different Beast compared to puny tsarist russia.
Good good. Hitler expected that Red Army would be the same or better say as bad as the Russian imperial army. In fact there was huge differences between them in numbers, equipment, performance, and determination.
It's insane how you can clearly see the difference between Germany and Russia’s railroad density
Slava Russia
Безумие?
Это плотность населения чувак
@@ChobeVelyashabait used to be believable
its impressive how russia was able to quickly indsutrialize in ww2
@@t.n.h.ptheneohumanpatterna8334 Thats true, but to be fair, Russia already started to industrialize right before WW1. This was one reason the Germans wanted to go to war at that time. To do it before Russia fully industrializes and became to strong to defeat.
It always fascinated me that, for how static WW1 was in the western front for most of the conflict due to trench warfare, it was, on the other hand, quite mobile in the Eastern one.
ну не прям, чтобы мобильной, если честно
Да и не сильно статичной она была на западном фронте
@@ЖелтыйКруг-ч9сspeak English
With a frontline sp big, you will be able to break through somewhere
@@TheDJGrandPa And Russia could also trade territory for time but if France ceded much ground to Germany it could mean losing Paris
2:17 "They were opposed by 730 Austro-Hungarian soldiers in Galicia"
Ladies and Gentlemen, look no further than that as proof of Von Hotzendorf's logistical genius!
Sounds like something oversimplified would say
Only being able to supply 730 soldiers sounds like him😅
This sounds like a situation švejk would be a part of
@@rozkaz661don't worry, Luigi Cadorna already offered his assistance in neutralising great threat, a plan which already resulted in 150k dead!
He only needed 730. Kaiser offered him 73,000. Based Chad Conrad said "No need, only need 730 to hold it."
Gotta give props to the Garrison in Przemysl, boys got encircled, relieved, and encircled again!
Back when Indy was at the World War One channel, he certainly got plenty of practice on how to pronounce Przemysl.
Przemyśl not Przemysl
It was more than 100k that got trapped and stuck for months. When they finally surrendered, they had eaten their horses and pets.
@@elomial724 Many keyboards don't have the accents.
@@Hatypus That's not an accent. S and Ś are a completely different thing. You can even write this letter on the english keyboard (unless you are on PC). Though I am pretty sure the author of the comment wasn't aware of the difference
I can't believe this was never made clear and interesting to us for the last 110 years, better late than never I guess.
The heavy Russian casualties supports my great grandfather's decision to head for the first available boat to American as soon as the war was announced. And similar high casualties support my grandfather's desertion from the Austrian Hungarian Army at about the same time. Fortunately Italy was still neutral and ships were regularly leaving for America from Naples.
Ikr???
Russia dont like to talk about it because they lost and western historians are fixated on the western front the few times they delve into the first war, so it's very frustrating trying to find any decent books on the subject. Theres a large overview book on the subject by Nick Lloyd coming out in late March though. I have it on pre order so cant say if it's any good but it's a part of his trilogy, the first of which is brilliant and avoids the usual endless Somme and Passchendaele cliches. Prit Buttar also does great books on ww1 eastern front but they might be far too in depth if you are just starting to learn about it.
😂😂@@WillN2Go1
110 years of Russian aggression, it just spectacularly backfired in WWI 😂
Western front: after 15 months of constant human wave atacks a smouldering remenant of a sawmill has been captured! (This is the most exciting thing that has happened for 2 years)
Eastern front: half of the army has been lost as the enemy has conducted a counterofensive and encircled us and taken 2 medium sized countries worth of territory but we were able to counter encircle his counter ofensive. (This is only the 3rd most interesting development this month)
Real
It is fascinating that ww1 was never explored in so many details like ww2 or even some smaller-scale wars. I know most people won't find that interesting but it would be great if you make another one on the western front.
Imo it’s due in part to the ability to better document ww2 due to increase in technology, and the fact that WW2 had a more clear “bad guy”. The reasons for WW2 are much easier for a more casual history fan to understand and there is a more clear good vs evil element
@@ihicccup9446 In American history classes you only really get taught about wars where we can be framed as the good guys, which is why we hardly learned about the Vietnam War despite the fact is was a major conflict that affected the culture of the nation
@@alexanderzagula1994that’s true, especially with Vietnam, but for ww2 I think it’s more down to it being the war against the Nazis. No matter what, that war will always be interesting to people. The rapid advancement of technology during that time period also helps it captivate people’s interest. World war 1 becomes a complicated slog in comparison. Even though that’s not really true, that’s the popular perception because it will likely always be viewed in comparison to its more famous sequel by the layman
@@alexanderzagula1994We did learn about Vietnam but not WW1, since the former affected American society much more
There are some really excellent resources available for the study of WW1 though. For example, for the Austro-Hungarian side, "Österreich-Ungarns letzter Sieg" is the official history of it and freely accessible via the Vienna State Library online. Very easy to scan through, and absolutely tome of information. Contains also a lot of sketches and maps of divisions by date.
It would be AWESOME if you made a series on WW1 like you did to WW2. Both east and western fronts
Eastern front is definitely gonna be more interesting that western front
@@ThePuma1707Both for World War I and for World War II.
I hope you could cover this up to Russian Civil War. Eastern front of WW1 rarely being talked about so I really curious about it.
Same thing with me because now I’m not sure which front but it was either this one the eastern front, The Italian Front or the Balkan Front that my maternal great grandfather was serving on and I don’t know which front he was on as all I know is that he served in the austro Hungarian army and he served in it because he was from a nation that’s still around but is split up and that nation was Czechoslovakia and at that time the austro Hungarian empire ruled over Czechoslovakia.
It's amazing how little coverage the Eastern Front gets given how important it was in world history. I guess the USSR wasn't particularly interested in glorifying the Russian Empire's battles and the countries that fought on the west likely wanted to play up their own achievements which means not emphasizing the importance of the East. The English speaking internet is also dominated by countries that didn't fight on the Eastern Front so that may also have something to do with it.
@@chasechristophermurraydola9314was he a Czech, a Slovak, a German, a Hungarian or a Rusyn?
@@shonewarrior2178 he was Czech/ Austrian.
Either way, the Eastern Front is where all the trench warfare that is often associated with World War I happened.
Ouch, I believe Battle of Tannenberg was too simplified to satisfy me. I've been trying to learn as much as possible about this battle (since I was born in the city that was one of the first invaded by Samsonow's 2nd Army), and I think you've missed key elements of that battle.
First of all, when Russians attacked from the south, general von Prittwitz decided to abandon East Prussia, and retreat onto the defensive line on the river Vistula. That's why Russians managed to break through so easily so deeply, almost reaching Allenstein from the south. Then von Prittwitz was replaced by famous duo of Hindenburg and Ludendorff, after lower general von Francois complained to von Moltke (chief of the entire German Army) about von Prittwitz plans to abandon whole region, giving up key positions almost for free.
When Hindenburg and Ludendorff took power over 8th army, their approach changed massively. You were right, that it was mostly based on intercepted radio communication, but they wanted to defend East Prussia anyway. They managed to transport many troops (I think about 50K soldiers) from Konigsberg region, around Western part of East Prussia down to Iława-Działdowo (Deutsch Eylau - Soldau) region, and attack them from the West. Important battle of Uzdowo (Usdau) happend, led by german's general von Francois, which scared russian general Artamonow - who then completely abandoned his positions, leaving russian left flank completely undefenced - he jumped about 50 kilometers south, creating a huge gap for von Francois troops to encircle Russians from South.
On the same time, german general Mackensen followed russian general Martos, who was retreating from Allenstein to cover russian right flank, because he thought he went too deep. That allowed Germans to encircle Russian 2nd Army from East. Two German Generals meet around Wielbark (Willenberg), completing encirclement.
Martos was caught and defeated by Mackensen, becoming PoW himself. Legend says that Martos was held in a hotel in Nidzica (Neidenburg), in the same room he was staying just a few days later, when he took that Town with his army. Legend goes even further - he was treated well, because he prevented typical war chaos in the Town, stopped his soldiers from robbing citizens with harsh penalties - so he was held in good conditions.
Okay, maybe I went with too much details, but I believe that changing leadership of 8th German Army was crucial.
And on the other hand, another key element was missed. During the battle, Germans decided to send two corps present in France, to use them in East Prussia. Ludendorff after the battle said, that they got into East Prussia too late to be used in that battle, and those corps being not present in France meant Germans didn't have enough power to take over Paris - that Germans needed exactly those two corps to win battle of Marna.
Nah, you didn't. From his historical works, this one was easily among his most poorly made.
These events were preceded by the Battle of Gumbien, which convinced the Germans to withdraw their troops beyond the Vistula, as planned according to the Schliefen plan. However, then, as you wrote, the Germans pulled troops from the right flank at the Battle of the Marne (6 army corps along with artillery and the VIII cavalry division) to defend the ancient Prussian capital.
Also in this video it is shown that the Russians in East Prussia had 500k people, which is of course a very overestimate. The armies of Samsonvoa and Rennekampf did not advance fully mobilized and their number did not exceed 125 thousand.
5 divisions were surrounded.
@@ReichLife I wouldn't go this far, this is still a good video fulfilling it purpose. It might just be me going crazy about Battle of Tannenberg, and maybe an 1h video showing how every village was taken over would satisfy me 😅
@@fordernPL2 corps would not have changed the tied at the marne. Moltke died in 1916 so after the war everyone blamed him.
The plan in 1996 called for 48.5 corp or 81 divisions, Germany could only deploy 37.5 corp in 1914 on the west and had already abandoned flanking west of Paris by the time the 2 corps were diverted
That, plus the german high command made huge mistakes during their advance on Paris, with infighting between several Generals and Moltke mostly powerless, sitting far away in Luxemburg. Moltke also distributed more men to the southern part of the western front, which weakened the right wing further.
Thank you for remembering this front. Between October 7th and 10th, there was a battle near my hometown of Grójec as part of the Warsaw-Ivangorod operation. There are several cemeteries around. Let’s remember this war so that it never happens again.
Wow, new Eastory video. MY DAY IS PERFECT
The wait was sure worth it! Thank you eastory for amazing videos.
The Parallels are striking when comparing this video's intro about Russia's plans to invade Germany and take Berlin to win the war, to your Eastern Front videos in 1944-45 about the actual Soviet Advance into Germany and how similar it is to what you described here.
Note:In Vienna, the event "almost failed to make any impression whatsoever," according to historian Zbynęk Zeman. The crowds on June 28 and 29 continued to enjoy wine and music as if nothing had happened."
Nevertheless, historian Christopher Clark has called the assassination of the heir apparent a "9/11 effect, a terrorist event charged with historic meaning, transforming the political chemistry in Vienna" due to its enormous impact.
There was no way the crowds in Vienna could have even known of the shooting on the 28th. It happened at lunch, there was time until the heir apparent would be announced dead in Sarajevo, then the first ones to be informed would be his family which would take some time, and then the information would be released on the newspapers earliest on the 29th in the morning papers. Of course, the crowds on the 28th of June would just enjoy their wine.
Both can be true at the same time. While normal people might not have cared that much, for the political elite it was a very different story because it was universally seen as not only an outrage but also a chance to finally show Serbia their place
Its often overlooked that the heir to Austro-Hungary, Franz-Ferdinand, was a proponent of peace and a diplomatic settlement with Serbia. His murder was not only a casus belli, but also removed the most likely check to war in 1914 and could have held his uncle, the 84 year-old Emperor Franz Joseph, back from attacking Russia’s ally Serbia.
Same during the russian revolution actually within petrograd. During both february and October revolutions public transport was still running, restaurants and shops open and supposedly prostitutes still walking around working the bridges over the Neva
Yes think if it was today, the majority of people would not give a shit at least until they are drafted. The main difference is people at least in the west are much less patriotic today but this happens when the standard of living decline for decades
You are seriously underrated. You should have millions of subscribers. Keep doing what you are doing man. Its incredible. You are one of the most detailed, ambitious and well researched youtube channels out there. Im a big fan of you.
I will, 1915 already looking good.
@@Eastory Im very excited for that video. I will be eagerly waiting for it :)
@@Eastory i love the content and the history pls keep up the good work. will you upload the rest of the ww2 animated maps when your finished with WW1.
@@smokeybear1597 I have already done most of ww2. Would topic would you like to be covered?
@@Eastory ah I have no problem with ww1 I like it I thought you were going to upload the rest of the animated maps from the ww2 channel with the documentary bits cut out since you did the animation.
Man, I'm pretty excited to see more map content this year. Whether it is from this new series about WW1 battlefields or continuing with the Pacific and Mediterranean campaigns of WW2, it sure sounds like a lot quality content is coming down the pipeline very soon.
I'm really glad you're covering this! Seeing a full history of the Eastern Front in WWI would be tremendous!
You said in the teaser post you were yet to figure out how to pronounce Przemyśl. As a Pole, I must say, you nailed it very well :)
Thanks! I guess, practicing helped
We need more of your videos dude. I love them! One series on the Vietnam war would be good too
"It'll be over by Christmas," they all said. That aged well.
They didn't lie, they just didn't say which Christmas!
🎄😂
@@freetolook3727fact checker: true
@@freetolook3727he’s not wrong
It very nearly almost was. If the Germans had been more successful in the west, the war would've been a loss for the Entente and a quick negotiate peace likely. If the Russians were more successful, Ottomans never intervene, Italians join sooner, war is totally unwinnable for the Central Powers and a quick negotiate peace likely.
Both sides massively miscalculated and fumbled the bag, leading to the stalemate. Germans got crushed at Marne, Russians at Tannenburg. If only 1 of those two great victories did not occur, a peace in 1915 seems highly plausible.
Right up there with "A grateful Iraqi populace will facilitate a smooth exit for the US military" and "3 day special military operation in Ukraine". Politicians who start wars usually overestimate themselves.
Finally! i was waiting for this! I just know judging by your estonia video and WW2 video that this video will be awesome!
1915 : The Russian great retreat, Masurian campaign
1916 : Brussilov offensive
1917 : Russian negotiation with the Central powers
1918 : first month of Russian civil war
Ww1 on eastern front is very underrated, people say it's boring
cause it was
1920 ruski dostają wpierdol od wojsk Polsko-Wielkopolskich
It is crazy how much territory changes hands in only a few months of war, and this was before mechanized mobile warfare with trucks and tanks advancing at rapid paces.
Really great video and thank you for covering WW1 in more detail. Much love from Germany. I hope you can talk about the importance of Przemysl in the next video. The Austro-Hungarians lost hundreds of thousands of men in a vain attempt at relieving the garrison and completely broke their army on the Russian defenses in the Winter of 1914/15. From 1915 onwards the Austro-Hungarians would never again be able to really launch an offensive of their own. In these early battles for Przemysl the AH empire lost much of its (somewhat) decent officers and good soldiers. It's seldom talked about how these battles broke the army of one of the major powers of Europe. Anyway I also hope you can make videos about both the serbian and greek fronts of WW1 in the future. It's quite fascinating to see how Serbia held on as long as they did and the international army fighting in Greece (without Greeces' permission) is a really unique situation.
But we cannot forget that russian advance has stopped and russian casualties were as high as austrians but easier to replace
It did not brake them. AH got the greatest victory at gorlice tarnow in 1915 against Russia in the war. With the Brussilow Offensive 1917 Russia and AH were just bleeding each other dry, with Russia collapsing first.
@@Echoak95 The Gorlize Tarnow offensive was led by August von Mackensen, with a lot of German troops leading the way. After the winter of 1914/15 the AH army was almost always directed by German officers as most experienced Austro-Hungarian ones had died (and there weren't that many good onesto begin with). Also the Brusilov offensive happened in 1916 with Germany having to pull several divisions away from Verdun where they had just managed to break the French line but because they now had no reserves had to pull back. Russia collapsed because of political turmoil in the country and a lack of bread not because of the AH army.
@@wol06fi89 it was led by Mackensen but the planning was done by the Austrian field marshall Hötzendorf and most involved troops were austrian. No austrian troops were commanded by german officers in 1915, only after the death of the Emperor Franz Joseph at the end of 1916 Germany took the military High command, but the officers were still from the Austrian empire. Mackensen helped in Serbia and Italy with german divisions, but they were only up to 50k strong. I misrote 1916 for Brussilow, but the failure of a breakthrough still lead to the collapse of Russia, as most russian soldiers deserted or got captured after it, which lead to the turmoil.
@@wol06fi89 yeah everybody knows that russian participation in the war only distraction of german army on Western front. Russia collapsed because they were defeated multiple times on the battlefield having lost the best soldiers and lacking(because of defeats) courage, ammunition, experieneced military staff. We cannot forget that German army united eith Austro Hungarian reached as far as Rostov On Don and Tiflis(Tbilisi) and after have concluded humiliating for russia Brest Litovsk treaty
Woah ! I never thought I would be able to see such a detailed video on these wars. I am lucky that I found this channel. Thanks for explaining the war in detail...
Hey eastory. Thanks for the video. You're one of my top 10 favorite creators, and ive watched THOUSANDS.
Sehr beeindruckendes Video. Habe den Kriegsverlauf an dieser Front im 1. Weltkrieg noch nie so dargestellt gesehen. Bin gespannt auf eine Fortsetzung.
Ça faisait longtemps !
Merci Eastory pour ces excellentes vidéos.
You’re videos are amazing! Much love.
The best WW2 channel gets a ww1 upload? Amazing. Thanks so much.
Thank you for this video, I always wanted to learn more about WW1 for so long
Always loving your videos bud!
you damn time traveler
New oversimplified, Bulgarian ball, AND Eastport video all in one week? Wake me up I’m in a dream🥹
Don't forget Montemayor uploaded too
What the Germans achieved in WW1 was incredible. Basically, the allies had the resources of the entire world against them. And it was a near run thing.
German efficiency
It's fascinating how the first few minutes of the video could be the same as talking about ww2 and the Soviet advance into Germany.
I guess I goes to show that these plans have existed for a long time, and overall strategies aren't all that different, its just the implementation of those strategies that dictate the result.
It's so much harder to find detailed info like this about WW1 compared to WW2, I'm really glad to see this from this channel.
It's in the Eastern Front that we get all the Trench Warfare that is often associated with World War I.
@@candyneige6609 There was some trenches on the Eastern Front, however because the front was so big, trench warfare was not so big. It happened mainly on the western front. Please don't say something so ignorant.
@@biryanilover7147 It's the other way around.
The Eastern Front was so big that trench warfare was omnipresent and the trenches themselves were both very big and very long.
By contrast, the Western Front was pretty fast-paced, meaning that there was little to no trench warfare, and it was also where the Central Powers, specifically Germany, was most successful, as it managed to capture Paris and make France surrender in just under 6 weeks, thus creating Vichy France in the process, a puppet state of Germany led by Philippe Pétain who had infamously collaborated with the German occupiers, however, Charles de Gaulle refused to surrender, and so he and countless others went to the UK in exile and founded Free France with Charles de Gaulle as its leader, and with an ultimate goal of liberating France from the Vichy regime and the German occupiers, which it eventually did, when the Entente, more specifically Free France, the UK and the US, landed in Normandy, liberated Paris and destroyed Philippe Pétain's Vichy regime, and once all of France got liberated from Germany, the Entente had one final goal in mind, invade Germany, and invade Germany they did, this caused Germany to go in a panic, essentially forcing them to sign an armistice on November 11th 1918 to end the war and to prevent further damages on the German homeland.
@@candyneige6609
You made an entire world salad, however none of your words are true. Stop spreading misinformation.
@@biryanilover7147 Sorry, but that's real history.
I can't even imagine amount of research you had to do to make this properly. I'm subscribing your channel for years and i'm still amazed with details. Also, people tend to forget or simply not pay attention that it wasn't just some 3-nation front, as it would be during WW2, for most of the time there were occupied nations dragged by empires into fighting each other to save lifes of Germans/Austrians/Russians, sometimes even with people of same nationality pointing guns at their compatriots without even knowing that fact. That's the main reason i consider this war a bloody mess, not the amount of explosives used, or new god-forsaken weaponry, or a stalemate on the western front.
It's funny how the balance of power basically considers a ratio of 2 germans to 3 russians as favouring the germans. It shows how backwards russia was and how efficient the german army was.
It didn't help that the Russians were led by a weak Tsar who believed God would provide victory regardless of the weapons, logistics or strategy used. He was the supreme commander but he had neither the talent or charisma to lead an army into war. He led the Russian's to defeat against Japan which led to the 1905 Russian revolution then again against the central powers which led to the 1917 revolution.
@@davekeating5867 Nicholas II wasn't in command against Japan, and only took control in ww1 after late 1915.
Sure, you can blame him for joining the war with a poor and underdeveloped country (even if it was defending an ally), but that's out of the point.
@@WILLIAN_1424serbia was technically not an ally of russia before ww1
Taking into account that Germany was by far the most efficient and organized army on the planet, this is not proof that the Russians were backward, but actually far above the world average
@@WILLIAN_1424 The Tsar was the supreme political authority in all matters in Russia and was considered to be Gods emmisary on earth and closer to God than the pope. It doesn't matter to the Russians who his subordinates were ... the Tsar led the Russian army and all other aspects of Russian political life either in person or by proxy through his marshalls. The buck stopped with the Tsar.
Always happy when Eastory uploads, most of my knowledge comes from this channel ❤
I thought I knew enough about the opening encounters and battles in the east in 1914 but the elasticity of the front lines is way more complex than I ever imagined, only comprehensible due to these moving maps. So much easier to understand than the few static maps in the literature on this topic- which leaves so much out. You might have mentioned that one or was it one-half of an Austrian army was entrained to and then back again from the Belgrade offensive and actually played no material part in either!
WWI was before armored vehicles and aircraft could support infantry. Not to mention radios hadn't been properly established making communication with artillery difficult. This made infantry extremely deadly as little could be done to counter the accuracy and lethality of rifles. Which was why so little ground captured would cost the lives of hundreds of thousands.
Had no idea there was this much of a back and forth in 1914
man, keep doing your videos, they are the best
What you missed in East Prussia: The main horse breeding region of whole germany was situated here - so the main logistic force was endangered by the russians. Also you should've mentioned that Germany pulled out some Corps from the Western Front to Allenstein - a very ironic happening because these troops opened the gap between the 1st and 2nd German Army and made it possible for the French to pierce in this gap and bring the Schlieffen Plan to a hold. Ironic to that? These Corps came too late for the battle at "Tannenberg" (Allenstein/Graudenz/Gumbinen).
Thank you for your original content Eastory: I always enjoy your videos.
Most shocking thing about WW1 is numbers, staggering numbers... Whole Napoleons Grande army could be lost in 1914 in 2-3 battles. And after all these losses armies continued to fight...
Massive job, can’t wait for the next part! Also hope to see campaign on Caucasus front covered
great video, I really appreciate that your map shows topography
Since late I'm especially interested in the Battle of Galicia. It was absolutely chaotic and full of twists. Highly recommend the book "A Mad Catastrophe" by Geoffrey Wawro.
This is a wonderful overview, far more informative than most material.
Fantastic! Have been looking for such a video for 10+ yrs. Many thanks!
My great-grandfather was an Armenian rebel during WW1. Hope you show that part of the Eastern Front too.
Love your videos. I always look forward to them.
Great video, I'm looking forward to the next part and 1915.
keep it up bro love the effort u put in every video
Great work, as always. Your content is so very much educational, as it is accessible and visually good looking at the same time. Love your work!
Very nicely done.
i am german but apparently my great great grandfather was with the 28th division on the russian side at premyzl and was captured in january of 1915 in the carpathians
Which one was dumber,Willy or Nicky?
Yooo u started making ww1 content now! Awesome, please make videos on the entire war like what u did for ww2
What’s sad is that polish people were forced into armies on both sides and had to kill each other
yeah killing each other for foreign ambitions sucks, the germans had the same experience during the napoleonic wars.
Great video Eastory!
This video is very interesting of in depth army movment and battles depecting them on a map, its always a great feeling to see them done in a very nicely with polishing!
As always great video
I knew virtually nothing about this area in 1914.
Fascinating.
Thank you for this.
☮
Thank you for subtitles ❤️
Some of the biggest and most interesting battles happened on the eastern front in 1914. Some of the very last ‘Napoleonic’ style battles with line formations and mass cavalry charges.
Oh I've been waiting for you long time❤❤❤
Excellent video ... thank you!
Always learn something, thank you!
So excited for the next videos about ww1.Great History Channel
Sounds like Russia was more competent on a strategic level than I was previously led to believe. It's just that their actual armies were outmatched.
They beat Austria in September outnumbered
Russia was defeated cause of weaker infrastructure( railways)
This largely dispels the notion of the russian army as deeply incompetent bumbling mass. Yes the bad use of radio was a huge mistake, but overall the russians make sensible, logical, and well calculated moves and won many victories. The imperial russian army, for all its flaws, was quite effective and strong for its time. It, like the german army in the end, would succumb to lack of supplies and industrial output more than any military incompetence.
That’s very true. The Russians also did have some operational deficiencies, such as a more rigid chain of command which didn’t allow much initiative of platoon and company leaders, whereas the Germans emphasised individual initiative and rapid action, which was present at Tannenberg. But yeah I agree overall Russian doctrine and tactics were pretty good. Infrastructure let them down.
Great content Eastory!
Your insight and style has motivated me to create content. One day hopefully I can get on your level!
Cheers!!
Seeing this after the WW2 Eastern Front videos really put those in perspective as to the sheer number of people involved in each operation. It really dwarfs any other modern conflict by a wide margin.
This was my favorite part in the guns of august along with the chapter on war plans.
Best history video i have ever seen i love the maps
Nice vid, looking forward to watching the rest.
Babe wake up, new Eastory series just dropped.
Finally. Your back
The eastern front of WW1 doesnt get nearly as much coverage as it should
Amazing work! Thank you!
The Eastern Front doesn't always get much in World War 1. Thank you for showing this to us.
Amazing job man! Cant wait for the next video!
Fascinating. Please do more 🙏
First of all, well done. Where can I access the map you used in the video? The map in question is very detailed and extensive, and I really need it for my lessons.
Where is the song Nerves by Mcleod??? That song alone made the success of the ww2 videos.
the eastern front of WW1 was just as bloody if not more than the western front, tho it is hardly remembered here on youtube
Babe wake up, new Eastory video series!
Finally... I now understand the Eastern Front in 1914. Thank you, Eastory!
Сколько смотрел разные материалы о первой мировой и только сейчас впервые услышал, что Российская Империя, оказывается, хотела в начале войны на Берлин идти, да и судя по карте, это было не так
Хотела. Удар через Познань и Силезию. Была директива в. кн. Николая Николаевича. Варшавско-Ивангородская, Лодзинская и Краковская операции сорвали эти планы.
They were successful against Austria-Hungary but failed against Germany, to change their war-plans.
More complicated. Both Germany and Russia have failed their plans in 1914 and 1915. But both sides of course were always denying that.
Amazing, inspired content as always. Have you ever given any thought to analyzing the Sicilian and/or Italian campaigns? Keep up the incredible work, bud.
Its fascinating how everything you described in your intro about Russia's plan to invade germnay and capture Berlin and all that....
....Is exactly what the Soviets did in ww2 to defeat Germany there as well. The parallels to your Eastern Front in ww2 vidoes are striking.
Seems like strategy remains the same, its just the execution of it that changes the result.
Not to mention the Soviet Union in 1945 was an entirely different Beast compared to puny tsarist russia.
This is amazing! You should do something similar with the Lithuanian war of Independence.😀
no thats unnecesary
It is amazing! Thank you for this video! We need more video's about east front of WW1 like this! Greetings from polish Galicia! (;
Good good. Hitler expected that Red Army would be the same or better say as bad as the Russian imperial army. In fact there was huge differences between them in numbers, equipment, performance, and determination.
Finally!! You can find so little about the eastern front in WW1 thank you for making this video
Looking forward to the next episode!
Great job. Hope you're doing well.
I am, views are good :)
There should be a strategy game about it.
Absolutely
Another great work of yours!
The god of mapmaking has returned and blessed us with ww1 content.