_“The 1916 Brusilov offensive proved to be the _*_worst_*_ crisis of World War One for Austria Hungary, and the triple entente’s greatest victory. But it came at a tremendous loss of life on both sides, and without the promised support of Russia’s other armies, much of the territory gained by Brusilov was lost to the Germans arriving from the west. _*_It is a sad irony that in the end, it was a political collapse in Russia, not a military defeat, that would decide the outcome of this regions war.”_* -Battlefield 1 after winning the “Brusilov Offensive” operation as the Russians
"It is a sad irony that in the end, it was a political collapse in Russia, not a military defeat, that would decide the outcome of this regions war" So Battlefield 1 is spreading misinformation as usual. By 1917 the Russian army had effectively seized to exist as a functioning force and all but collapsed after the 1917 summer offensive. Calling the end of the war in the east a political collapse is effectively the stab-in-the-back myth from Germany all over again.
Avgusta meseca 1914-e samo što su Austrijanci prešli reku Drinu dobili ste po dupetu od hrabre Srpske vojske na planini Cer!!!! A dmah zatim i na Kolubari prve savezničke pobede u prvom svetskom ratu!!!!Ponosan sam na svoje pretke koji su SRCEM branili svoju OTADŽBINU!!! Germani nešto ste zaboravili na Balkanu!!!!
@@urlauburlaub2222 Do you even realize that the war did not end for the Russians with the collapse of the imperial government in 1917, or even the global peace treaties of 1918? The Russian civil war lasted from 1917 to 1923. Unfortunately, no lives were saved by the destruction of the state and anarchy that enveloped it.
One can't discuss the outcome of the Brusilov offensive without emphasizing that the southern half worked as planned, and the northern half was a total flop because Evert refused to cooperate, and when he did, he didn't use the modern tactics. It also bears mention that only the northern half would have faced the German forces.
Evert didn't need to defeat the Germans. Evert just needed to commit enough to the offensive to prevent the Germans from stabilizing the Austro-Hungarian part of the front. Brusilov had already broken the Austro-Hungarian part of the front and if the Germans didn't stabilize it, what was at that point a heavy defeat, could have turned into a disaster for the Central Powers.
@@guypierson5754 what makes you think all that was somehow related to nepotism? The economic, ideological and political foundation of the Russian Empire was rotten by that time, it has nothing to do with proposed incompetence, because all the participants weren't actually incompetent, they were just acting on their own reasons based on the exact situation they were set into.
You can see some of the DNA of the later Soviet Deep Battle doctrine in the tactics worked out by Brusilov. I wonder if Hutier's infiltration tactics were also influenced by this offensive
@@FM_1819 So willing that he wrote several pamphlets to other WW1 Russian generals arguing that they should side with the Bolsheviks as a "patriotic duty", going so far as to call Wrangel a "traitor" in some of them. After the war, he kept being a member of the Revolutionary Military Council until 1924 (when he retired due to old age), dying two years later.
Having had both grandfathers serving in this conflict, it is of immense interest to me that you continue. One of those grandfathers was a Volga-Deutsch.
He was born in Eckheim on the Volga. His family left in the middle of the night for the United States shortly before the Russo-Japanese War. (1902 or 1903) He went back to Europe in 1917 as a doughboy to fight the imperial German army. He was bilingual but looked down upon because they (other German Americans) considered Volgadeutsch mongrels.
The most Pyrrhic victory of WW1, the Brusilov offensive, is indeed. This offensive unintentionally inspired the German Military to adopt Assault Trooper tactics and develop weapons for the task.
It also diverted divisions of soldiers away from verdun for the German army if I’m not mistaken. They had to go back and support the Austrian army, and stopped any momentum they might of had on the western front
@@alexzero3736 We are referring to not one location with many battles but an offensive comprising multiple locations and many battles. You are, however, correct. The many battles at Verdun during WW1 were deadlier than the whole of the Brusilov offensive combined. However, the Brusilov offensive had a far more significant influence on the outcome of WW1. Despite being Imperial Muscovy’s most significant victory in WW1, it proved to be the slow terminal poisoning that defeated and killed Imperial Muscovy and the Eastern Entente in 1917. This offensive would prove catastrophic for the Western Entente as it inspired the creation of the elite Sturmtroppen and nearly broke the French Army’s Morale, thus nearly causing the Western Entente to be defeated in WW1. The Western Entente we're only saved and won the war because the Americans, with their massive industrial infrastructure, and gigantic manpower reserves, chose to physically participate at the last minute in a near literal deus ex machina whose sheer scale of the threat they posed, even while not being present in the trenches yet forced the Germans to rush efforts in the West instead of consolidating gains in territory and resources in the east from their ultimate victory on the eastern front.
@@alexzero3736 - High end casualty estimates for Verdun are around 700,000 for the 300 days that battle was fought. The Brusilov Offensive had closer to 2 million total casualties for all parties involved in terms of the high end estimate.
In Austria, there are monuments for the fallen soldiers even in the smallest village and sometimes it is also stated, which unit they served in and which day they died.
@@arostwocents да если запад не устроил бы эту войну то такого бы не было.А Украину ждёт проигрыш я в этом уверен.И памятники будут стоять на Украине не украинцам ,а русским.
@@nemanjajovanovic8295 почему ?Запад расширялся на восток спонсировал Украину для бомбежек Донбасса . Россия по твоему должна была смотреть как фашистский режим(я утрирую) захватив власть начал агрессивно уничтожать не согласных.Запад какого-то хрена подсосался.
The Eastern front of WW1 is almost like a game of stone-paper-scissors, where the Germans beat the Russians who beat the Austrians, with the not insignificant difference, that the Austrians absolutely does not beat the Germans.
The Russians did beat the Germans a number of times, just not as often. I've read that when fighting troops under Brusilov's command, German soldiers experienced their only drop of morale ever on the Eastern Front at the time due to being beaten so badly by them (which speaks to the mindboggling incompetence of everyone else in the Tsarist High Command).
I mean...Austria's ineptitude does drain Germany constantly in the war...you could argue Germant beats Russia, Russia beats Austria and Austria just annoys Germany
The historic photographs used in this episode are incredible. Did you, or someone you work with, have the original negatives and run them through modern processes? Great episode, thank you so much for the work you do. Keep it up!
It is often forgotten how afraid the German general staff was of Russia. They already pushed heavily for a war with Russia before the first World War. Their reason was that, if Russia continued its industrialisation and build up of the railway network, they would be unbeatable from the 1918-20s onwards. And if you think about it it makes sense. Endless manpower combined with unreachable industrial areas, limitless resources and the infrastructure to move everything where it is needed. How to beat that with 1910 tech and a country that already in peacetime depends heavily on imports.
And a country that had a goverment that was on the verge of a breaking point even at the beginning of WW1.Unlike Germany or the Western allies the Russian goverment wasn't exactly the most stable. And the drawn out war made it even worse. Heck Germany managed to beat back the first invasion of 1914 in one big battle at Tannenberg (and unfortunately for Germany they redeployed several divisions which wasn't even needed but cost them dearly in France)
Congratulations on a brilliant video. I have seen other videos about the Brusilov offensive, but none of them talked about the "how", the tactics and why it was so succesful initially. Thank you for putting this one together. I enjoy your content very much!
My grandfather was Hungarian and also fought in WW1 and was captured by the Russians. He was a POW but eventually released and walked back to his homeland! He became chummy with his captors. Had very little bad to say about Russians. Said the peasants fed him on his return journey. He and my grandmother paid it forward and fed many a jobless person who came to their door in the Depression of the Thirties in Canada!
@@timeanagy8495 Actually, it´s both, Timea, as you surely know for yourself. Komárno is a legitimate name of the slovakian based town on the river Danube. (Komárom is a legitimate name of a city, based across the river on the hungarian side.
Thanks a lot for covering this part of WWI while it is almost always overlooked by other historians. I wonder if there are any military academies in Russia named after Brusilov, because he deserves that at least. I haven't heard of one, which is shocking, because he was not a Tsarist general, rather a Russian one. He was given a state burial by soviet officials when he passed away. He served his country well and he himself is mostly overlooked too.
He served the country of Russia, not the Soviet Union, which was governed by a clique that absolutely hated the Orthodox Russians and slaughtered millions of them. Don't even let anyone convince you that Bolshevism is a movement of the masses. It's not, it was bought and paid for by the Western private central banker families, like Jacob Schiff, head of the Kuhn-Loeb Bank of New York, a branch of the Warburg's in Germany and another one. The Rothschilds actually bankrolled Kerensky, who was swept aside by the Bolsheviks.
@@behroozkhaleghirad Brusilov is certainly remembered in Russia and studied in schools, but only because of this episode of WW1. There are many "marshals of victory" in Russia, after whom academies, settlements, orders, etc. are named. For example, Suvorov, Nakhimov, Rumyantsev, Ushakov, Kutuzov, Yermolov, Paskevich, Budyonny, Zhukov, Rokossovsky and many others.
Brusilov's approach to having the Russian troops trained and prepared for the offensive honestly sounds quite similar in more than a few ways to the methods used by Julian Byng and Arthur Currie to ready the Canadians to attack Vimy Ridge in 1917. It just goes to show how the future of warfare was coming to be realized across all the theatres of Europe during this time.
It is actually not unlike methods Alexander Suvorov used to prepare for his offensives back in 18th century. The assault against the fortress of Izmail (Turkish) in 1790 being perhaps the most famous example. It is unique in the way that a very strong fortress, built by French engineers using the latest advancements in the art of fortification, was taken by a force that was outnumbered compared to the defenders.
Been planning to visit the key places in Serbia, Russia and ex-Austro Hungarian empire now Austria, Hungary and other countries from the day I read it at school. My History (Social Studies) teacher was a great man though a bit harsh at times but a great man who would try everything to reach the core of the topic (even some animated moves). What a fanatic Hun era that was !
What a great episode! You've share information about this offensive of which I had no knowledge. I knew the 'what' about the success achieved by this battle but not the why. Thank you for your edifying work. You are awesome.
The First World War will always be the most fascinating to me. I love that you are revisiting some of these stories. The scale of the battles and offensives still blows my mind. The number of casualties still shocking. Never forget 🫡
Yeah, one piece of footage with artillery in action definitely made me wonder whether it was just modern re-enactment. Only the sped up movement affirmed it was old footage, but it just looks so great.
Do you guys have any book recommendations on the Carpathian front in the winter of 1915? I've read Blood on the Snow, which while clearly well researched was horribly written and repetitive. I haven't been able to find much else. It's such a poorly covered part of the war despite the horrendous losses suffered by Austria-Hungary.
1:37 At this photograph you can spot that the Imperial Russian soldiers are actually using the German “Mauser Gewher 1898” Rifle, which is different from the Russian “Mosin-Nagant 1891” Rifle, this shows that most Russian troops couldn’t get a rifle till they got one from a fallen comrade or a captured weapon like that is shown here. Love this channel & I’m a history nerd lol
Great episode TGW. More like this - where you spend 20-30 minutes going back to some of the key, but lesser explored battles / campaigns of the Great War. Perhaps going over the early battles between Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire would be interesting, as there was considerable movement, if memory serves.
The Somme, Verdun, and The Brusilov Offensive all resulted in Germany, the supporting Ally of Austria Hungary but were forced to send some of their soldiers to help fight in Galicia , to construct one final defense in order to Turn the tides of the Great War. And that was the Hindenberg Line or Siegfriedstellung of 1916-17. (Hello there The Great War Channel, love the series on all the events of World War 1 and I'm truly inspired to research and study this time as a College Student.
I wouldn't say he wasn't a strategic general. He planned & prepared for a diversion. And he did so wonderfully. But when the time came to turn a diversion into an attack, his subordinates failed him.
@@alexzero3736 For them to be his colleagues they'd need to be of somewhat similar quality. Clearly there were none of these "colleagues" that could do anything more point in a direction. Therefore they are all of a lower standing and shall be addressed as such.
@@TheGreatWar My mom got it for me as a late birthday present. She was semi-annoyed with me when I said Przemyśl. “How are you supposed to pronounce that!?” “ ‘P-sheh-me-shil.’ Just barely make the ‘p’ sound.”
Really nice video and even better explanation of the war that happened on that front.. My Great Great Grandfather died there as an Austro Hungarian soldier since he never returned back to Croatia and there is not even a grave of him.
Kuropatkin was in fact a very talented person who had proven himself as a staff officer (1878), a participant in the conquests of Central Asia (1880), a military official constantly engaged in army reforms, and also a talented governor. The failure in the Russo-Japanese seemed to be his only major failure, which greatly spoiled all previous achievements.
Thank you. I thank you with the most beautiful words for your esteemed channel and the accurate, wonderful and useful information you provide. I hope you success . I have the utmost respect, appreciation and pride for your wonderful work
Haven’t watched this channel since WWI day by day anniversary series. This was a wonderful video, and I am hooked again. It got me interested in the Berlin documentary you mentioned. On the scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being a little blood and 10 being akin to carnage, how graphic is the footage used in it?
Welcome back! You have a lot to catch up to, including multiple videos diving into the Russian Civil War (nearly 7 hours of it), the Italo-Turkish War, the Russo-Japanese War and so much more pre and post-WW1 content. Additonally, Jesse and the TGW team have created a channel called Real Time History, which has created a Week-by-week coverage of the Franco-Prussian War and a 3 hour video on Napoleon's invasion of Russia.
The A-H Army and Empire no doubt took a heavy beating in the Brrusilov offensive, but it was the Russian Army and Empire that collapsed in 1917 and the A-H that had a major role in the greatest Central Power victory of the war, that of Caporetto in Italy. A-H stayed in the fight until October 1918, just a month less than Germany, but in reality Germany (and A-H) had lost the war when the spring offensive in France 1918 failed and US troops started to show up in great numbers.
Nah. The Spring offensive was the last ditch effort to make France surrender, war was lost long before it. If German army after obvious fail of Schlieffen plan switched focus to the Eastern front they could win...(Even if Russia not surrenders they could occupy Ukraine much earlier and use its to actually avoid hunger, and make sure that Romania joins CPs). Early Russian defeat would also make life easier for Ottomans
@@alexzero3736 Not really. I see the only win scenario for Germany by focusing on eastern front from the very beginning and crushing Russian army in 1914 together with Austria-Hungary. No invasion of Belgium and only defending in the West. Once Russia is out, negotiate peace with France.
ok now if we look another like 2 years later we see austria being reduced to the german speaking part and soviets reuniting like half the empire, so what gives?
AH required heavy military and economic support from Germany from mid-1915 onward. It was seen as the most vulnerable Central Power (close behind Turkey), so it drew attacks at the Isonzo, Salonika, and other actions that wouldn’t have happened unless the attackers thought AH could be knocked off. Germany saved their bacon each time. AH was thus a near-helpless dependent of its big brother.
Les plus grands mots de respect, de louange et d'appréciation que je vous dédie pour ce travail merveilleux et distingué Merci pour votre don et vos efforts Je vous souhaite un succès durable. Mon plus grand respect et ma gratitude
This is a clear and instructive video. And your narration puts life, and even excitement, into a battle that ended over a century ago. Excellent! After this video, I will begin at the first episode and watch in order, and truly understand the Great Way.
Aleksey Alekseyevich Brusilov (1887-1920) was an officer of the Life Guards of the Russian Imperial Army, then commander of the Red Army regiment. The son of General Brusilov.From the hereditary nobles of the St. Petersburg province, of the Orthodox faith. The only son of cavalry General Alexei Alekseevich Brusilov (1853-1926) by his first wife, Anna Nikolaevna Gagemeister (d. 1908). He graduated from the Page Corps, served in the Life Guards Cavalry Grenadier Regiment. In 1912-1914 he studied at the Cavalry Officer School. During the First World War, he commanded the infantry infantry squadron of the 2nd Guards Cavalry Division (02.05.1916-09.01.1917). From January 10, 1917, he commanded the 2nd squadron of the Life Guards of the Cavalry Grenadier Regiment. He was awarded many orders for military distinctions. The last rank in the "old" army is the staff captain of the Guard. On July 2, 1917, in the church of the village of Grebnevo, Bogorodsky district, Moscow province, he was married to Varvara Ivanovna Kotlyarevskaya, the daughter of a privy councilor. Since 1919 - in the Red Army, commander of a cavalry regiment. he was captured by the "Drozdovites" and was shot
I wish the eastern front was more covered. I remember in my high school book said that the eastern front wasn't as important nor as bloody and destructive. That's just insulting
Prof hoff's friend momma bear told a story in his stream about her grandpa having a heart attack at a football game and didn't want medical attention because he wanted to watch the game until it ended
I just wanted to say. I believe you guys give some of the most indepth commentary for this period. And I also enjoy it so much. I completely miss that thirty minutes has passed. Keep it up.
Just a random Question,if sb. captured more than one whole Trenchline in ww1,were the Trenches (which served as previous Frontline) abandoned,having the Artillery move closer to the "new" Frontline or were the previous ones still populated with Soldiers?
I stumbled on a kind of postscript to this battle. I've been researching weapons of the Red Army and found this piece after translating the Russian. It makes me wonder if any difference in outcome might have occurred if this weapon system had been developed 12 months earlier. "On March 8, 1916, a rifle grenade launcher constructed by Sgt. 37. Yekaterinburg Regiment M. G. Djakonov. On December 24, 1916, military tests were conducted with the units of the Southwestern Front. They were very successful because its commander - General Brusilov - immediately asked for the supply of 600,000 pieces of Djakonov's rifle grenades."
It seems like Brusilov came up with effective new tactics and battered the Austrians. But others in the Russian side did not properly follow up on it. A wasted opportunity. Brusilov ended up joining the Soviet Army later on after the Russian Revolution I believe?
Actually, General Alekseev (Russian overall commander) told Brusilov to delay the attack as Northern front is not ready to support it yet...But Brusilov believed that the moment was right to attack now...this misunderstanding and competition between commanders resulted in two very separated attack efforts. Brusilov offensive initially successful was repelled with German reinforcements, and Russian attack in the North came to late, as Germans already reorganized defensive lines. BTW Romanian joining the war proved to become burden for Russian army as Romania failed to defend itself.
Brusilov wanted to attack on schedule because of the dire need to help the Italians and French who were on the backfoot, not because of some competition between the commanders (if anything, Western and Northern Front command had near 0 intention of attacking at all). Also, German troops helped stiffen resistance and make the going and losses harder for the Southwestern Front but even they were pushed back during the middle half of the offensive (Stone’s Eastern Front has a particularly amusing role reversal example where GERMAN troops retreated in disarray from incoming Russians and it was the AUSTRIAN officers that had to keep them in line). Ultimately the strained logistics, lack of reinforcements, and unwillingness of some commanders to use Brusilov’s methods played a bigger role in halting the offensive, as shown in the vid.
@@901Sherman It is not a some army generals competence to answer for dire need of Italians and French!!! There are higher leaders diplomats and Tsar who handle foreign relations!!! Brusilov wanted just honor for himself (if succesiful). No wonder why he supported red bolsheviks later...
It’s hard to understand numbers like 32,000 or 56,000 worth of losses but each one of those men was a human being with loved ones and a life just the same as you and I. War is a terrible waste.
@@TheGreatWar no worries mate 👍 Can you do an episode about the battle of Itter castle? After Hitler's suicide in 1945, German and American troops fought together to defend French prisoners in the liberated Itter castle from SS attack
This is great. I love the use of actual pictures from the event. I also like that the music is quiet! The narrative and the narrator are both top notch.
I've often seen and read about the Brusilov offence, and it's often described as successful with this being credited to the innovative strategies used. But exactly what these tactics are never actually explained. So, it's incredibly refreshing to see these tactics actually explained. Thank you.
I'm unable to watch the whole thing right, but I'll know I'll be enjoying this tomorrow. I like these deepdives into the Great War, do you guys plan on doing an episode on Verdun or the Macedonian front?
we have many more battles on our list. Verdun would certainly be among them and other "forgotten" fronts too. Need to see what footage we have available though to illustrate these.
@@TheGreatWar How are you doing with the seven-day Czechoslovakia-Poland War? And you have enough resources and information to understand the whole complex political, historical, ethnic, Silesian issues and how this war manifested itself before the beginning of World War II, where the Poles themselves waited for a bite from Czech / Moravian Silesia, when counting on the fact that Czechoslovakia will he have to fight with Poland and probably even Hungary significantly affected the decision in 1938 and thus greatly affected the Second World War? The outbreak of low-intensity conflict in 1945 over what from Lašsko - Moravia / Sielsia wil be Czech or Polish and again in 1980-1 crisis. Today, largely forgotten conflicts, but still alive for many people.
Central Powers concentrating on the Eastern Front from 1915 onwards would have been a smart move. Falkenhayns focus on Verdun was disastrous in retrospect.
Evert should have been court martialled for his refusal to attack. Brusilov had given him a perfect opportunity to attack, and even if his attack stalled the focus on the north would have allowed brusilov to push even further.
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Unrelated to the topic of the video, but does anyone know what the music The Great War always uses as an intro at 0:32? I've looking for ages and found nothing. Would be disappointed if it's just a jingle custom made for the show ha ha
A thousand greetings, great respect and admiration for your esteemed and wonderful channel, which provided accurate and useful information. I wish you lasting success. A wonderful work and a great effort that deserves pride, appreciation and pride. My utmost respect and appreciation to you
‘So you’re telling me these tactics led to the front actually moving forwards for the first time in years? Yeah not convinced.’ - Brilliant Russian officer
The greatest words of respect, praise and appreciation I dedicate to you for this wonderful and distinguished work Thank you for your great giving and effort I wish you lasting success. My utmost respect and appreciation
People kept bashing Russia on its poor performance but they forgot how badly or mediocre everyone else performed. The much vaunted German army couldnt even take Paris with huge numerical superiority (initially). The Austrian hungary failed in Serbia and then against Russia in this offensive. While the British and French failed in Somme. The main culprit in this war was the static nature of trench warfare and the rapid industrialization that gave great defensive advantage (machine guns vs cavalry). Gave credit to the Russian empire for holding out as long as they could. If not, they would have collapsed earlier, allowing Germany to end the two front war earlier and transferred significant reserves from the east, way before American forces arrived. The Russia was a main contributor to Allied victory. In fact during great patriotic war, stalin even restored the tsarist system for promotion and stuff.
At 13:37, Hercule Poirot inspects the Austrian-Hungarian trenches. It would make sense that the trenches are created for comfort, not defensive success. On the whole, though, I really enjoy this channel because it goes into more detail of the 1st World War into detail over my own studies as a high school student. I still remember the Brusilov Offensive.
The Allies, the Russians, will make a huge offensive against the Austria-Hungary. This will be one of three largest battles and will culminate into huge losses for both sides. Both sides will learn how to defeat the enemy and be ready for the next attack. Godspeed to those who perished in the plains of the Eastern Front.
Outstanding work ! I'm no military buff so I greatly appreciated the simplicity and precision of the strategic/tactical aspects. I gasped several times at the number of AH POW taken and moaned when Evert sabotaged the strategic value of the whole operation. The description of the low Russian infantry tactics remind me of Trotsky autobiography, where he recounts how he was faced with the same problem and how he remedied it with new commandment, tactics, organisation, innovations. If we counted how many Russians have died since say the 19th century I'm pretty sure we would come up with an horrifying figure.
24:25 Stone's take is critical for the sake of being different, but not sound. Brusilov's job and means were never strategic, aside from diverting pressure from the French, which it did successfully. Destroying the combat capabilities of multiple AH armies was hardly a trivial tactical/operational outcome, even if it did not involve capturing major rail junctions as a rule. His supervisors' failures, esp. Evert's, as many have mentioned, but also in Stavka to prolong the offensive were in no way flaws of his operational plan.
Maybe I misunderstood, but why such an underestimation of victories over Germany's allies? It feels like these are "second-class" victories. If we recall the history before February 1917, that the Russian army was winning against Turkey and Austria-Hungary. The same British had defeats in Gallipoli, near Baghdad, near Gaza from the Turkish army and unsuccessful attempts to overthrow the Bulgarians near Thessaloniki. Of course, the defeat of the British can be justified by weak forces on these fronts. In this regard, it should be mentioned that at the conference in Chantilly in 1915, the French insisted on an offensive on the Somme. Russia and Britain wanted to throw the main forces in 1916 at the allies of Germany in order to knock them out of the war. If Brusilov and Yudenich had more troops in the Caucasus, and the British would have sent a significant part of the replenishment to Mesopotamia and Egypt instead of France, maybe in 1916 the war would have ended.
Cause Russia basically knocked itself out of the war with the brusilov offensive as well. the offensive was Russia's last bid to gain a huge victory in order to stay in the war. Russia's failure to exploit the victory, along with its huge casualties meant that most Russian soldiers could no longer see victory on the horizon. These Russian victories over german allies didn't mean much because Russia lost a lot more in the year prior. I still don't understand why the gorlice-Tarnow offensive in the year prior is talked about less than the Brusilov offensive. It was far more decisive and forced the russians into a horrible situation that it never recovered from. Russia's inability to defeat Germany in any battle meant that Russia could never have hoped to win the war. Even in the brusilov offensive, the Germans did not take all that much damage.
_”By the beginning of 1916, it was becoming increasingly clear that Russia could no longer sustain the losses from several failed operations while maintaining loyalty to the autocratic and ever more dysfunctional monarchy of Tsar Nicholas II. If the Austro-Hungarians had managed to halt the first Brusilov advance, inflicting further wounds on Russia, it is likely that anger amongst the people at home would have ignited the revolution immediately. Leading to the Bolsheviks pulling Russia out of the war before the winter set in, a huge blow to the allied alliance.”_ Battlefield 1, after winning the “Brusilov Offensive” operations as the Austro Hungarians.
Lenin and co. was in Berlin at that time, the revolution itself is a stratagem by Germans to kick Russia out of the war. a leverage to German situations of 1917. it was funded by Germans. and it is said that Lenin even meet Kaiser Wilhem II himself!
Before I saw the thumbnail, I had no idea that Brad Pitt was in the Austro-Hungarian army.
Brad Pitt is a time traveler.
I swear, that guy is in everything!😂
Same
12 monkeys already proved this
Looks wonderful for his advanced years, what?!😊👍
_“The 1916 Brusilov offensive proved to be the _*_worst_*_ crisis of World War One for Austria Hungary, and the triple entente’s greatest victory. But it came at a tremendous loss of life on both sides, and without the promised support of Russia’s other armies, much of the territory gained by Brusilov was lost to the Germans arriving from the west. _*_It is a sad irony that in the end, it was a political collapse in Russia, not a military defeat, that would decide the outcome of this regions war.”_*
-Battlefield 1 after winning the “Brusilov Offensive” operation as the Russians
"It is a sad irony that in the end, it was a political collapse in Russia, not a military defeat, that would decide the outcome of this regions war"
So Battlefield 1 is spreading misinformation as usual. By 1917 the Russian army had effectively seized to exist as a functioning force and all but collapsed after the 1917 summer offensive. Calling the end of the war in the east a political collapse is effectively the stab-in-the-back myth from Germany all over again.
Avgusta meseca 1914-e samo što su Austrijanci prešli reku Drinu dobili ste po dupetu od hrabre Srpske vojske na planini Cer!!!! A dmah zatim i na Kolubari prve savezničke pobede u prvom svetskom ratu!!!!Ponosan sam na svoje pretke koji su SRCEM branili svoju OTADŽBINU!!! Germani nešto ste zaboravili na Balkanu!!!!
Bf1 goated
Greatest game ever no doubt
@@urlauburlaub2222 Do you even realize that the war did not end for the Russians with the collapse of the imperial government in 1917, or even the global peace treaties of 1918? The Russian civil war lasted from 1917 to 1923. Unfortunately, no lives were saved by the destruction of the state and anarchy that enveloped it.
One can't discuss the outcome of the Brusilov offensive without emphasizing that the southern half worked as planned, and the northern half was a total flop because Evert refused to cooperate, and when he did, he didn't use the modern tactics. It also bears mention that only the northern half would have faced the German forces.
Evert didn't need to defeat the Germans. Evert just needed to commit enough to the offensive to prevent the Germans from stabilizing the Austro-Hungarian part of the front. Brusilov had already broken the Austro-Hungarian part of the front and if the Germans didn't stabilize it, what was at that point a heavy defeat, could have turned into a disaster for the Central Powers.
How different things could have been for Russia without extreme nepotism.
"Northern half" has nothing to do with Brusilov or his front
@@guypierson5754 what makes you think all that was somehow related to nepotism? The economic, ideological and political foundation of the Russian Empire was rotten by that time, it has nothing to do with proposed incompetence, because all the participants weren't actually incompetent, they were just acting on their own reasons based on the exact situation they were set into.
@@ФедяКрюков-в6ь nepotism isn't synonimous with incompetence.
You can see some of the DNA of the later Soviet Deep Battle doctrine in the tactics worked out by Brusilov. I wonder if Hutier's infiltration tactics were also influenced by this offensive
Well, Brusilov was employed (forced) by the red army to train it during the Civil War. So it makes sense.
Didn’t he willingly join them (Albeit, still having some hope that the Monarchy would return)?
@@901Sherman How willing can one be when there are Cheka political commisars assigned to you and your family?
Many of the Soviet Deep Battle proponents were field officers or NCOs in the Great War, some of them did serve under Brusilov.
@@FM_1819 So willing that he wrote several pamphlets to other WW1 Russian generals arguing that they should side with the Bolsheviks as a "patriotic duty", going so far as to call Wrangel a "traitor" in some of them. After the war, he kept being a member of the Revolutionary Military Council until 1924 (when he retired due to old age), dying two years later.
Having had both grandfathers serving in this conflict, it is of immense interest to me that you continue. One of those grandfathers was a Volga-Deutsch.
Aaah the volga germans. One of Russias favorite group to genocide after Ukranians
Your grandfather was Wolga-Deutsch ? What happened to him ? Was he fighting for the Germans ? Are u German ?
He was born in Eckheim on the Volga. His family left in the middle of the night for the United States shortly before the Russo-Japanese War. (1902 or 1903) He went back to Europe in 1917 as a doughboy to fight the imperial German army. He was bilingual but looked down upon because they (other German Americans) considered Volgadeutsch mongrels.
I am half Volgadeutsch from my mother’s side and half Hessian-Alsatian, from my father’s side. I am one mixed up hund.
@@105381000 I believe the term is HUN.
The most Pyrrhic victory of WW1, the Brusilov offensive, is indeed. This offensive unintentionally inspired the German Military to adopt Assault Trooper tactics and develop weapons for the task.
It also diverted divisions of soldiers away from verdun for the German army if I’m not mistaken. They had to go back and support the Austrian army, and stopped any momentum they might of had on the western front
Nope. Battle of Verdun was more deadly.
@@alexzero3736 We are referring to not one location with many battles but an offensive comprising multiple locations and many battles.
You are, however, correct. The many battles at Verdun during WW1 were deadlier than the whole of the Brusilov offensive combined.
However, the Brusilov offensive had a far more significant influence on the outcome of WW1. Despite being Imperial Muscovy’s most significant victory in WW1, it proved to be the slow terminal poisoning that defeated and killed Imperial Muscovy and the Eastern Entente in 1917.
This offensive would prove catastrophic for the Western Entente as it inspired the creation of the elite Sturmtroppen and nearly broke the French Army’s Morale, thus nearly causing the Western Entente to be defeated in WW1. The Western Entente we're only saved and won the war because the Americans, with their massive industrial infrastructure, and gigantic manpower reserves, chose to physically participate at the last minute in a near literal deus ex machina whose sheer scale of the threat they posed, even while not being present in the trenches yet forced the Germans to rush efforts in the West instead of consolidating gains in territory and resources in the east from their ultimate victory on the eastern front.
Was it tactically a Pyrrhic victory or just strategically a political disaster?
@@alexzero3736 - High end casualty estimates for Verdun are around 700,000 for the 300 days that battle was fought. The Brusilov Offensive had closer to 2 million total casualties for all parties involved in terms of the high end estimate.
In Austria, there are monuments for the fallen soldiers even in the smallest village and sometimes it is also stated, which unit they served in and which day they died.
So it will be in Ukraine at the end of the modern war 😢
@@arostwocents да если запад не устроил бы эту войну то такого бы не было.А Украину ждёт проигрыш я в этом уверен.И памятники будут стоять на Украине не украинцам ,а русским.
@@МатвейДвуреченский you are as delusional as putin is.
@@nemanjajovanovic8295 почему ?Запад расширялся на восток спонсировал Украину для бомбежек Донбасса . Россия по твоему должна была смотреть как фашистский режим(я утрирую) захватив власть начал агрессивно уничтожать не согласных.Запад какого-то хрена подсосался.
@@nemanjajovanovic8295 Тебе это по телевизору сказали?
The Eastern front of WW1 is almost like a game of stone-paper-scissors, where the Germans beat the Russians who beat the Austrians, with the not insignificant difference, that the Austrians absolutely does not beat the Germans.
The Russians did beat the Germans a number of times, just not as often. I've read that when fighting troops under Brusilov's command, German soldiers experienced their only drop of morale ever on the Eastern Front at the time due to being beaten so badly by them (which speaks to the mindboggling incompetence of everyone else in the Tsarist High Command).
I mean...Austria's ineptitude does drain Germany constantly in the war...you could argue Germant beats Russia, Russia beats Austria and Austria just annoys Germany
You forgot to mention and 'Austria beats Italy' (for the most part).
You have forgotten about the Austrians best general, Luigi Cardona.
@@Idcanymore510 Italy beats Italy (for the most part).
The historic photographs used in this episode are incredible. Did you, or someone you work with, have the original negatives and run them through modern processes? Great episode, thank you so much for the work you do. Keep it up!
I was thinking the same thing. The upscaling was really amazing looking.
AI upscaling maybe?
Looks like Brad Pitt
@@Goit_Goit Thanks, I was looking for at least one other person that thought the same thing...
@@Clint52279 me too!
It is often forgotten how afraid the German general staff was of Russia. They already pushed heavily for a war with Russia before the first World War.
Their reason was that, if Russia continued its industrialisation and build up of the railway network, they would be unbeatable from the 1918-20s onwards.
And if you think about it it makes sense.
Endless manpower combined with unreachable industrial areas, limitless resources and the infrastructure to move everything where it is needed.
How to beat that with 1910 tech and a country that already in peacetime depends heavily on imports.
did they really?;p it was quite the opposite.. Russia was afraid of beeing completely dominated economically by Germany
And a country that had a goverment that was on the verge of a breaking point even at the beginning of WW1.Unlike Germany or the Western allies the Russian goverment wasn't exactly the most stable. And the drawn out war made it even worse. Heck Germany managed to beat back the first invasion of 1914 in one big battle at Tannenberg (and unfortunately for Germany they redeployed several divisions which wasn't even needed but cost them dearly in France)
@@Badnercalabrese are you sure you Don't read a book about alternative version of history?😅
@@piotrkosakowski7071 Like they are now, huh?
@@Badnercalabrese I totally agree.
Once again thanks for your incredible documentaries.
During Brusilov offensive my grandpa was a medic in A-H army and he was hit by machine gun fire when attempting to tend wounded German soldier.
My great grandfather was Russian machine gunner the same time. And deserved Saint George medal for heroisms against Austrians
A whole half an hour documentary! Colour me excited.
Welcome to the channel
4 MG's per battalion in 1916? It's easy to forget that even if a technology exists it takes time and a lot of effort for it to become widely spread.
Congratulations on a brilliant video. I have seen other videos about the Brusilov offensive, but none of them talked about the "how", the tactics and why it was so succesful initially. Thank you for putting this one together. I enjoy your content very much!
brilliant video but full with false statements especially about the Romanian front. he needs more documentation
@@Genessyssfull of false statements? He mentioned Romania twice.
Awesome video as always! The writing, delivery, and production was top notch. Keep it up, guys!
My grandfather was a veteran of that war. He fougth as a troop of Austria-Hungarian army. May wars someday finish.
My grandfather was Hungarian and also fought in WW1 and was captured by the Russians. He was a POW but eventually released and walked back to his homeland! He became chummy with his captors. Had very little bad to say about Russians. Said the peasants fed him on his return journey. He and my grandmother paid it forward and fed many a jobless person who came to their door in the Depression of the Thirties in Canada!
@@oliveoil7642 greetings
My father was with the 19th Hungarian infantry regiment,4 years on the front,in Russia,Italy.
agree, Austro Hungary of our ancestors bad a culture of peace, Viribus Unitis
Wars will never end. That's a fever dream. We've been fighting throughout human history.
Absolutely loving the new in-depth review of the most important battles in WWI, thanks guys!!!
My family was deeply affected by this event, as citizens of Komarno. It reverberates through the generations, even to this day.
It's Komárom, not "Komarno".
@@timeanagy8495 Actually, it´s both, Timea, as you surely know for yourself. Komárno is a legitimate name of the slovakian based town on the river Danube. (Komárom is a legitimate name of a city, based across the river on the hungarian side.
@@milanzamboj3000 HAZUGSÁG.Az 1 világháborúban CSAK Komárom volt.Majd Trianon után.Akármennyire nem tetszik.
Great video. I find that too many people focus on the western front. It's nice to see that focus turned to the lesser talked of eastern front. 👍
Agreed. We don't get to hear much about the Eastern Front here in the UK but I find it more fascinating than what happened in France and Belgium.
Thanks a lot for covering this part of WWI while it is almost always overlooked by other historians. I wonder if there are any military academies in Russia named after Brusilov, because he deserves that at least. I haven't heard of one, which is shocking, because he was not a Tsarist general, rather a Russian one. He was given a state burial by soviet officials when he passed away. He served his country well and he himself is mostly overlooked too.
No, they preferred to name academies after civil war generals, like Frunze.
@@Waldemarvonanhalt yes,and some Imperial generals and mostly Soviet ones. But poor Brusilov is forgotten
He served the country of Russia, not the Soviet Union, which was governed by a clique that absolutely hated the Orthodox Russians and slaughtered millions of them.
Don't even let anyone convince you that Bolshevism is a movement of the masses. It's not, it was bought and paid for by the Western private central banker families, like Jacob Schiff, head of the Kuhn-Loeb Bank of New York, a branch of the Warburg's in Germany and another one. The Rothschilds actually bankrolled Kerensky, who was swept aside by the Bolsheviks.
there are some streets named after him.
@@behroozkhaleghirad Brusilov is certainly remembered in Russia and studied in schools, but only because of this episode of WW1. There are many "marshals of victory" in Russia, after whom academies, settlements, orders, etc. are named. For example, Suvorov, Nakhimov, Rumyantsev, Ushakov, Kutuzov, Yermolov, Paskevich, Budyonny, Zhukov, Rokossovsky and many others.
Brusilov's approach to having the Russian troops trained and prepared for the offensive honestly sounds quite similar in more than a few ways to the methods used by Julian Byng and Arthur Currie to ready the Canadians to attack Vimy Ridge in 1917. It just goes to show how the future of warfare was coming to be realized across all the theatres of Europe during this time.
It is actually not unlike methods Alexander Suvorov used to prepare for his offensives back in 18th century.
The assault against the fortress of Izmail (Turkish) in 1790 being perhaps the most famous example. It is unique in the way that a very strong fortress, built by French engineers using the latest advancements in the art of fortification, was taken by a force that was outnumbered compared to the defenders.
Been planning to visit the key places in Serbia, Russia and ex-Austro Hungarian empire now Austria, Hungary and other countries from the day I read it at school. My History (Social Studies) teacher was a great man though a bit harsh at times but a great man who would try everything to reach the core of the topic (even some animated moves). What a fanatic Hun era that was !
What a great episode! You've share information about this offensive of which I had no knowledge. I knew the 'what' about the success achieved by this battle but not the why. Thank you for your edifying work. You are awesome.
The First World War will always be the most fascinating to me. I love that you are revisiting some of these stories. The scale of the battles and offensives still blows my mind. The number of casualties still shocking. Never forget 🫡
can't believe it's been SIX YEARS since the original episodes on this offensive
A great summary of this legendary piece of history. Thanks!
I've been waiting years for a video more on Brusilov, so thank you for this!
The clarity of your original footage and photographs is fantastic 👍🏽
There's tons of ultra hd images and videos on the US National Archives and Library of Congress websites, it's pretty interesting to explore
Yeah, one piece of footage with artillery in action definitely made me wonder whether it was just modern re-enactment. Only the sped up movement affirmed it was old footage, but it just looks so great.
Do you guys have any book recommendations on the Carpathian front in the winter of 1915? I've read Blood on the Snow, which while clearly well researched was horribly written and repetitive. I haven't been able to find much else. It's such a poorly covered part of the war despite the horrendous losses suffered by Austria-Hungary.
Carpathian Disaster by Geoffrey Jukes.
I. F. Stone’s old book, “The Eastern Front, 1914-1917” covers that fighting well.
1:37 At this photograph you can spot that the Imperial Russian soldiers are actually using the German “Mauser Gewher 1898” Rifle, which is different from the Russian “Mosin-Nagant 1891” Rifle, this shows that most Russian troops couldn’t get a rifle till they got one from a fallen comrade or a captured weapon like that is shown here.
Love this channel & I’m a history nerd lol
Great episode TGW. More like this - where you spend 20-30 minutes going back to some of the key, but lesser explored battles / campaigns of the Great War. Perhaps going over the early battles between Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire would be interesting, as there was considerable movement, if memory serves.
Also on the siege of Tsingtao, which is often ignored.
I just now joined 'Nebula' so I can watch 16 Days in Berlin. You're doing a fantastic job.
The Somme, Verdun, and The Brusilov Offensive all resulted in Germany, the supporting Ally of Austria Hungary but were forced to send some of their soldiers to help fight in Galicia , to construct one final defense in order to Turn the tides of the Great War. And that was the Hindenberg Line or Siegfriedstellung of 1916-17.
(Hello there The Great War Channel, love the series on all the events of World War 1 and I'm truly inspired to research and study this time as a College Student.
All these WW1 photos and even film footage are excellent visual history. Thank you!
I wouldn't say he wasn't a strategic general.
He planned & prepared for a diversion. And he did so wonderfully. But when the time came to turn a diversion into an attack, his subordinates failed him.
Colleagues failed him, not subordinates.
@@alexzero3736 For them to be his colleagues they'd need to be of somewhat similar quality. Clearly there were none of these "colleagues" that could do anything more point in a direction. Therefore they are all of a lower standing and shall be addressed as such.
Please do a video about the Siege of Przemysl! I just finished reading The Fortress by Alexander Watson.
fantastic book, we interviewed him on our podcast a while ago
@@TheGreatWar My mom got it for me as a late birthday present. She was semi-annoyed with me when I said Przemyśl.
“How are you supposed to pronounce that!?”
“ ‘P-sheh-me-shil.’ Just barely make the ‘p’ sound.”
A much needed documentary on the Brusilov Offensive. Thanks for uploading.
Jesse! (Hope I spelled that right!) You are the flyest, most gangster and smooth history teacher in the game! Cold as ice my friend, keep it up!
Really nice video and even better explanation of the war that happened on that front..
My Great Great Grandfather died there as an Austro Hungarian soldier since he never returned back to Croatia and there is not even a grave of him.
Ah, General Kuropatkin: dilatory in Manchuria in '04-'05; dilatory in Russia in '16.
How did this guy STILL have a job after his utterly mediocre showing against Japan? What a washout! talk about failing upward...
@@Bufoferrata yeh that was a problem of both tzarist russia and Autro-wegry a lot of useless Aristocrats in power..
Kuropatkin was in fact a very talented person who had proven himself as a staff officer (1878), a participant in the conquests of Central Asia (1880), a military official constantly engaged in army reforms, and also a talented governor. The failure in the Russo-Japanese seemed to be his only major failure, which greatly spoiled all previous achievements.
Thank you. I thank you with the most beautiful words for your esteemed channel and the accurate, wonderful and useful information you provide. I hope you success . I have the utmost respect, appreciation and pride for your wonderful work
Haven’t watched this channel since WWI day by day anniversary series. This was a wonderful video, and I am hooked again. It got me interested in the Berlin documentary you mentioned. On the scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being a little blood and 10 being akin to carnage, how graphic is the footage used in it?
Welcome back! You have a lot to catch up to, including multiple videos diving into the Russian Civil War (nearly 7 hours of it), the Italo-Turkish War, the Russo-Japanese War and so much more pre and post-WW1 content.
Additonally, Jesse and the TGW team have created a channel called Real Time History, which has created a Week-by-week coverage of the Franco-Prussian War and a 3 hour video on Napoleon's invasion of Russia.
11
Marvellous slice of history presented with clarity by a highly competent narrator - thank you.
Amazing video, love your WW1 content
Glad to see you guys back in action..
Well that was a fantastic documentary.
thank you
@@TheGreatWar you're welcome.
"OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY, 5 STARS!"
The A-H Army and Empire no doubt took a heavy beating in the Brrusilov offensive, but it was the Russian Army and Empire that collapsed in 1917 and the A-H that had a major role in the greatest Central Power victory of the war, that of Caporetto in Italy. A-H stayed in the fight until October 1918, just a month less than Germany, but in reality Germany (and A-H) had lost the war when the spring offensive in France 1918 failed and US troops started to show up in great numbers.
Nah. The Spring offensive was the last ditch effort to make France surrender, war was lost long before it. If German army after obvious fail of Schlieffen plan switched focus to the Eastern front they could win...(Even if Russia not surrenders they could occupy Ukraine much earlier and use its to actually avoid hunger, and make sure that Romania joins CPs). Early Russian defeat would also make life easier for Ottomans
@@alexzero3736 Not really. I see the only win scenario for Germany by focusing on eastern front from the very beginning and crushing Russian army in 1914 together with Austria-Hungary. No invasion of Belgium and only defending in the West. Once Russia is out, negotiate peace with France.
ok now if we look another like 2 years later we see austria being reduced to the german speaking part and soviets reuniting like half the empire, so what gives?
And what leave one division in the West? The French would have been in Berlin by Oct 1914 after they overrun all of Germanys coal regions
AH required heavy military and economic support from Germany from mid-1915 onward. It was seen as the most vulnerable Central Power (close behind Turkey), so it drew attacks at the Isonzo, Salonika, and other actions that wouldn’t have happened unless the attackers thought AH could be knocked off. Germany saved their bacon each time. AH was thus a near-helpless dependent of its big brother.
Les plus grands mots de respect, de louange et d'appréciation que je vous dédie pour ce travail merveilleux et distingué
Merci pour votre don et vos efforts
Je vous souhaite un succès durable. Mon plus grand respect et ma gratitude
Yeah, histoire de clown.
Lis sur le grand conquérant Karim tamboura.
Fais très attention le clown.
Very balanced analysis; thought provoking
This is a clear and instructive video. And your narration puts life, and even excitement, into a battle that ended over a century ago. Excellent! After this video, I will begin at the first episode and watch in order, and truly understand the Great Way.
"This used to be a Russian war camp 10 days ago. Now it's a ghost town"
This makes me miss your week by week series all the more. Great work.
In another channel called Real Time History, they made a Week-by-week series on the Franco-Prussian War, you should look it up
Aleksey Alekseyevich Brusilov (1887-1920) was an officer of the Life Guards of the Russian Imperial Army, then commander of the Red Army regiment. The son of General Brusilov.From the hereditary nobles of the St. Petersburg province, of the Orthodox faith. The only son of cavalry General Alexei Alekseevich Brusilov (1853-1926) by his first wife, Anna Nikolaevna Gagemeister (d. 1908).
He graduated from the Page Corps, served in the Life Guards Cavalry Grenadier Regiment. In 1912-1914 he studied at the Cavalry Officer School. During the First World War, he commanded the infantry infantry squadron of the 2nd Guards Cavalry Division (02.05.1916-09.01.1917). From January 10, 1917, he commanded the 2nd squadron of the Life Guards of the Cavalry Grenadier Regiment. He was awarded many orders for military distinctions. The last rank in the "old" army is the staff captain of the Guard.
On July 2, 1917, in the church of the village of Grebnevo, Bogorodsky district, Moscow province, he was married to Varvara Ivanovna Kotlyarevskaya, the daughter of a privy councilor.
Since 1919 - in the Red Army, commander of a cavalry regiment. he was captured by the "Drozdovites" and was shot
He wasn't shot, he lived until 1926. His son, also Aleksei, was shot in 1919 by some claims.
Great production.
Thanks.
Lucky to be born much later.
I wish the eastern front was more covered. I remember in my high school book said that the eastern front wasn't as important nor as bloody and destructive. That's just insulting
The eastern front has always produced the bloodiest battles since the 7 Years War onwards.
Great music in this one.
Seriously, particularly the last 7 minutes.
Great video.
Thanks again.
20:26 Like how Uranus was meant to be a diversion for Mars, but since Mars failed, it was all about Uranus.
Its always all about Uranus
An excellent presentation. congrats
Watch 16 Days in Berlin and all our content ad-free on Nebula: nebula.tv/videos/16-days-in-berlin-01-prologue-the-beginning-of-the-end
Prof hoff's friend momma bear told a story in his stream about her grandpa having a heart attack at a football game and didn't want medical attention because he wanted to watch the game until it ended
Curiosity Stream is the new History Channel.
I just wanted to say. I believe you guys give some of the most indepth commentary for this period. And I also enjoy it so much. I completely miss that thirty minutes has passed. Keep it up.
Just a random Question,if sb. captured more than one whole Trenchline in ww1,were the Trenches (which served as previous Frontline) abandoned,having the Artillery move closer to the "new" Frontline or were the previous ones still populated with Soldiers?
Bolder pickelhauber-showers than The Great War crew are nowhere to be found! Great job on the Brusilov Offensive, gentlemen.
I stumbled on a kind of postscript to this battle. I've been researching weapons of the Red Army and found this piece after translating the Russian. It makes me wonder if any difference in outcome might have occurred if this weapon system had been developed 12 months earlier. "On March 8, 1916, a rifle grenade launcher constructed by Sgt. 37. Yekaterinburg Regiment M. G. Djakonov. On December 24, 1916, military tests were conducted with the units of the Southwestern Front. They were very successful because its commander - General Brusilov - immediately asked for the supply of 600,000 pieces of Djakonov's rifle grenades."
Great overview, I really enjoyed this
It seems like Brusilov came up with effective new tactics and battered the Austrians. But others in the Russian side did not properly follow up on it. A wasted opportunity.
Brusilov ended up joining the Soviet Army later on after the Russian Revolution I believe?
he did, yes
Interesting. You can kind of see the early stages of some of the Soviet tactics used later on.
Actually, General Alekseev (Russian overall commander) told Brusilov to delay the attack as Northern front is not ready to support it yet...But Brusilov believed that the moment was right to attack now...this misunderstanding and competition between commanders resulted in two very separated attack efforts. Brusilov offensive initially successful was repelled with German reinforcements, and Russian attack in the North came to late, as Germans already reorganized defensive lines.
BTW Romanian joining the war proved to become burden for Russian army as Romania failed to defend itself.
Brusilov wanted to attack on schedule because of the dire need to help the Italians and French who were on the backfoot, not because of some competition between the commanders (if anything, Western and Northern Front command had near 0 intention of attacking at all).
Also, German troops helped stiffen resistance and make the going and losses harder for the Southwestern Front but even they were pushed back during the middle half of the offensive (Stone’s Eastern Front has a particularly amusing role reversal example where GERMAN troops retreated in disarray from incoming Russians and it was the AUSTRIAN officers that had to keep them in line). Ultimately the strained logistics, lack of reinforcements, and unwillingness of some commanders to use Brusilov’s methods played a bigger role in halting the offensive, as shown in the vid.
@@901Sherman It is not a some army generals competence to answer for dire need of Italians and French!!! There are higher leaders diplomats and Tsar who handle foreign relations!!! Brusilov wanted just honor for himself (if succesiful). No wonder why he supported red bolsheviks later...
Awesome video guys, thanks a bunch.
It’s hard to understand numbers like 32,000 or 56,000 worth of losses but each one of those men was a human being with loved ones and a life just the same as you and I. War is a terrible waste.
Arent you being kept as a slave?
I love your channel keep up the great stuff!
Thanks so much!
@@TheGreatWar no worries mate 👍 Can you do an episode about the battle of Itter castle? After Hitler's suicide in 1945, German and American troops fought together to defend French prisoners in the liberated Itter castle from SS attack
This is great. I love the use of actual pictures from the event. I also like that the music is quiet! The narrative and the narrator are both top notch.
I've often seen and read about the Brusilov offence, and it's often described as successful with this being credited to the innovative strategies used. But exactly what these tactics are never actually explained.
So, it's incredibly refreshing to see these tactics actually explained. Thank you.
Kuripatkin still haven't learn from the Russo-Japanese war that being passive could be costly to both his reputation and his army.
Your maps and voice are pretty darn are beautiful.
I'm unable to watch the whole thing right, but I'll know I'll be enjoying this tomorrow.
I like these deepdives into the Great War, do you guys plan on doing an episode on Verdun or the Macedonian front?
we have many more battles on our list. Verdun would certainly be among them and other "forgotten" fronts too. Need to see what footage we have available though to illustrate these.
@@TheGreatWar awesome
@@TheGreatWar How are you doing with the seven-day Czechoslovakia-Poland War? And you have enough resources and information to understand the whole complex political, historical, ethnic, Silesian issues and how this war manifested itself before the beginning of World War II, where the Poles themselves waited for a bite from Czech / Moravian Silesia, when counting on the fact that Czechoslovakia will he have to fight with Poland and probably even Hungary significantly affected the decision in 1938 and thus greatly affected the Second World War? The outbreak of low-intensity conflict in 1945 over what from Lašsko - Moravia / Sielsia wil be Czech or Polish and again in 1980-1 crisis. Today, largely forgotten conflicts, but still alive for many people.
Amazing work and fascinating details!
But... How did *Brad Pitt* enlist in the Austro-Hungarian Army???
Central Powers concentrating on the Eastern Front from 1915 onwards would have been a smart move. Falkenhayns focus on Verdun was disastrous in retrospect.
Evert should have been court martialled for his refusal to attack. Brusilov had given him a perfect opportunity to attack, and even if his attack stalled the focus on the north would have allowed brusilov to push even further.
I thank you for your great effort in providing accurate, useful and wonderful information on your esteemed channel. A thousand greetings of respect, appreciation and pride. I wish you success and progress in your wonderful work. Much respect
Thank you,the Eastern Front in world war one rarely receives the attention given it's counterpart in the second world war.
Brilliant video and great analysis 👍
Unrelated to the topic of the video, but does anyone know what the music The Great War always uses as an intro at 0:32? I've looking for ages and found nothing. Would be disappointed if it's just a jingle custom made for the show ha ha
A thousand greetings, great respect and admiration for your esteemed and wonderful channel, which provided accurate and useful information. I wish you lasting success. A wonderful work and a great effort that deserves pride, appreciation and pride. My utmost respect and appreciation to you
“Not all officers agreed with these methods”
‘I just really like watching the peasants die’
‘So you’re telling me these tactics led to the front actually moving forwards for the first time in years? Yeah not convinced.’ - Brilliant Russian officer
Fun to play in Battlefield 1 - with the game giving some insight into the offensive - but definitely interesting to learn about it properly.
The greatest words of respect, praise and appreciation I dedicate to you for this wonderful and distinguished work
Thank you for your great giving and effort
I wish you lasting success. My utmost respect and appreciation
People kept bashing Russia on its poor performance but they forgot how badly or mediocre everyone else performed. The much vaunted German army couldnt even take Paris with huge numerical superiority (initially). The Austrian hungary failed in Serbia and then against Russia in this offensive. While the British and French failed in Somme. The main culprit in this war was the static nature of trench warfare and the rapid industrialization that gave great defensive advantage (machine guns vs cavalry). Gave credit to the Russian empire for holding out as long as they could. If not, they would have collapsed earlier, allowing Germany to end the two front war earlier and transferred significant reserves from the east, way before American forces arrived. The Russia was a main contributor to Allied victory.
In fact during great patriotic war, stalin even restored the tsarist system for promotion and stuff.
At 13:37, Hercule Poirot inspects the Austrian-Hungarian trenches. It would make sense that the trenches are created for comfort, not defensive success. On the whole, though, I really enjoy this channel because it goes into more detail of the 1st World War into detail over my own studies as a high school student. I still remember the Brusilov Offensive.
Ww1 best war stories and historic battles. The “first modern war”. As awful it was but it really fascinates me. Love it
The “First Modern War” is a title given to the Crimean War as it was the first war to be documented with picture.
photos are amazing. nice work
Bit of family lore, a relative from family's Polish side died in an avalanche while hiding horses in mountain caves from the Germans.
Thank you for this great documentary! :)
The Allies, the Russians, will make a huge offensive against the Austria-Hungary. This will be one of three largest battles and will culminate into huge losses for both sides. Both sides will learn how to defeat the enemy and be ready for the next attack. Godspeed to those who perished in the plains of the Eastern Front.
Outstanding work ! I'm no military buff so I greatly appreciated the simplicity and precision of the strategic/tactical aspects. I gasped several times at the number of AH POW taken and moaned when Evert sabotaged the strategic value of the whole operation.
The description of the low Russian infantry tactics remind me of Trotsky autobiography, where he recounts how he was faced with the same problem and how he remedied it with new commandment, tactics, organisation, innovations.
If we counted how many Russians have died since say the 19th century I'm pretty sure we would come up with an horrifying figure.
24:25 Stone's take is critical for the sake of being different, but not sound. Brusilov's job and means were never strategic, aside from diverting pressure from the French, which it did successfully. Destroying the combat capabilities of multiple AH armies was hardly a trivial tactical/operational outcome, even if it did not involve capturing major rail junctions as a rule. His supervisors' failures, esp. Evert's, as many have mentioned, but also in Stavka to prolong the offensive were in no way flaws of his operational plan.
Great episode. Very informative and quality commentary
It would be great for you guys to do a similar video on Gallipoli as some of the week by week episodes are age restricted
it's on our list, also want to cover the French participation there
@@TheGreatWar Great! That’s an often overlooked aspect of the campaign, especially in the UK and Australia/NZ.
Maybe I misunderstood, but why such an underestimation of victories over Germany's allies? It feels like these are "second-class" victories. If we recall the history before February 1917, that the Russian army was winning against Turkey and Austria-Hungary. The same British had defeats in Gallipoli, near Baghdad, near Gaza from the Turkish army and unsuccessful attempts to overthrow the Bulgarians near Thessaloniki. Of course, the defeat of the British can be justified by weak forces on these fronts. In this regard, it should be mentioned that at the conference in Chantilly in 1915, the French insisted on an offensive on the Somme. Russia and Britain wanted to throw the main forces in 1916 at the allies of Germany in order to knock them out of the war. If Brusilov and Yudenich had more troops in the Caucasus, and the British would have sent a significant part of the replenishment to Mesopotamia and Egypt instead of France, maybe in 1916 the war would have ended.
I agree on the Yudenich part! :)
The Russian army obliterated the entire pre war Austrian army... in two months, see Kotkin.
If ifs and buts were fruits and nuts - we‘d have christmas every day.
Cause Russia basically knocked itself out of the war with the brusilov offensive as well. the offensive was Russia's last bid to gain a huge victory in order to stay in the war. Russia's failure to exploit the victory, along with its huge casualties meant that most Russian soldiers could no longer see victory on the horizon. These Russian victories over german allies didn't mean much because Russia lost a lot more in the year prior. I still don't understand why the gorlice-Tarnow offensive in the year prior is talked about less than the Brusilov offensive. It was far more decisive and forced the russians into a horrible situation that it never recovered from. Russia's inability to defeat Germany in any battle meant that Russia could never have hoped to win the war. Even in the brusilov offensive, the Germans did not take all that much damage.
Wow. Brilliant storytelling.
_”By the beginning of 1916, it was becoming increasingly clear that Russia could no longer sustain the losses from several failed operations while maintaining loyalty to the autocratic and ever more dysfunctional monarchy of Tsar Nicholas II. If the Austro-Hungarians had managed to halt the first Brusilov advance, inflicting further wounds on Russia, it is likely that anger amongst the people at home would have ignited the revolution immediately. Leading to the Bolsheviks pulling Russia out of the war before the winter set in, a huge blow to the allied alliance.”_
Battlefield 1, after winning the “Brusilov Offensive” operations as the Austro Hungarians.
Lenin and co. was in Berlin at that time, the revolution itself is a stratagem by Germans to kick Russia out of the war. a leverage to German situations of 1917.
it was funded by Germans. and it is said that Lenin even meet Kaiser Wilhem II himself!
Splendid documentary! Great job!
I think schools generally should inform their students more about the first ww.
Can't agree more. 👍
But which bits of history would we need to remove from the syllabus?