On June 4, 1916, the operation of the Southwestern Front of the Russian army began, known as the Brusilov or Lutsk breakthrough.
Austro-Hungarian troops were thrown back 80-120 km westward, deep into enemy territory.
Helping allies
“In 1915, the Russian army suffered a series of serious defeats and left significant territories in the west.
However, by 1916, Russia managed, thanks to the development of industry, to overcome the previously arisen "shell hunger", and this strengthened the army, "Mikhail Myagkov, scientific director of the Russian Military Historical Society, said in an interview with RT.
As historians note, by 1916 both the Entente states (Russia, France, England and their allies) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary and others) were at an impasse.
Both sides mobilized colossal human and material resources, but none of the blocs was able to achieve decisive success.
According to the professor at Moscow State Pedagogical University Vasily Tsvetkov, the Russian command planned a synchronized offensive in various sectors of the eastern front by the summer of 1916.
“The Brusilov breakthrough was initially conceived not as a separate operation, but as part of a complex of hostilities.
The main blow was to be delivered by the forces of the Western Front, and the military operations of the South-Western Front, which later received the name of the Brusilov Breakthrough, were seen by the command as auxiliary.
The successful implementation of the general plan of the headquarters could lead to the defeat of the Germans and the end of the war, ”the expert emphasized.
The main attack was planned in the direction of Vilna (modern Vilnius).
The troops of the Western Front were to be assisted by the forces of the Northern.
And the Southwestern Front, due to the serious losses suffered by it in 1915, at first they wanted to entrust defensive battles, which were supposed to pin down the enemy, but the front commander, General Alexei Brusilov, convinced the headquarters to allow him offensive actions in the direction of Lutsk.
War Council in April 1916
© Wikimedia commons
The general offensive of the Russian troops was to begin on June 15, 1916.
However, the Allies in the Entente had problems in the west.
The Germans increased the pressure on the French sector of the front, and the Austro-Hungarian troops seriously pressed the Italians.
According to historians, Western countries began to ask the Russian high command to accelerate the launch of an offensive in the east in order to force the Central Powers to ease the onslaught.
At the end of May 1916, Nicholas II sent a telegram to the Italian king Victor Emmanuel III, in which he promised to launch an attack on the Austrians in the near future in order to "provide assistance to the brave Italian troops."
As Andrei Koshkin, a full member of the Russian Academy of Military Sciences, noted, the troops of the Southwestern Front were the first to be ready for the offensive, whose actions were most relevant in the context of helping the Italians, capable of putting pressure on the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The forces under the command of Alexei Brusilov numbered over 600 thousand people (about 573 thousand infantry and about 60 thousand cavalrymen), as well as almost 2 thousand guns, including 168 heavy ones.
In turn, they were opposed by the Austro-German group of more than 470 thousand people, which possessed about 1.9 thousand guns.
Alexey Brusilov
RIA News
“Taking into account the need for action in the offensive, the numerical advantage of the Russian troops was insufficient, especially in view of the fact that the troops of the Central Powers had time to equip powerful defensive structures on the eastern front.
Brusilov could only count on well-thought-out maneuvers and the resilience of his soldiers.
He decided to use an innovative tactic for such large forces - to break through the front in several places at once, depriving the enemy of the opportunity to concentrate his reserves in one place, ”said Koshkin.
Brusilov breakthrough
On the morning of June 4, 1916, the artillery of the Southwestern Front opened powerful fire on enemy positions.
According to historians, the shelling stopped for a while, then resumed again in order to disorient the enemy regarding the moment when the main attack of the infantry and cavalry began.
Russian infantrymen moved on the offensive even before the shelling was completed.
Under cover of gunfire, the infantry moved in waves, in lines every 150-200 steps.
The enemy could not contain the Russian infantry.
Four armies that were part of the Southwestern Front broke through the enemy defenses at once.
Soon Lutsk and Chernivtsi were liberated from the troops of the Central Powers.
“The Russian attack in the Stryi bend (a river in the Lvov region -
RT
), east of Lutsk, was a complete success.
The Austro-Hungarian troops broke through in several places, the German units that came to the rescue also found themselves in a difficult situation here.
It was one of the worst crises on the Eastern Front, ”wrote German General Erich Ludendorff.
However, the strategic plan of the Russian rate was not implemented as a whole.
The command of the Northern and Western Fronts at first delayed the start of the offensive, and then acted not too successfully.
“The attack on Baranovichi took place, but, as it was not difficult to foresee, the troops suffered huge losses in complete failure, and this ended the combat activities of the Western Front to assist my offensive,” Brusilov wrote later in his memoirs.
According to Andrei Koshkin, the troops of the Southwestern Front were able to advance 80-120 km deep into the front and dislodge the Austrians from a number of large cities.
However, the reserves were received late, and the Southwestern Front did not receive effective support from its neighbors, so the battles began to take on a positional character.
Combat actions of the Russian army in 1916
RIA News
“The Brusilov breakthrough made it possible to expel the enemy from significant territories in Volyn, Bukovina and Galicia, but in a few weeks of fighting, the troops were greatly exhausted.
A new offensive attempt, undertaken at the end of July, was no longer so successful and made it possible to advance only a few kilometers.
Losses at this stage increased and became unacceptable, ”the expert noted.
In the July battles, almost half of the guards regiments - the elite units of the Russian army - died.
In August 1916, the troops of the Southwestern Front went on the defensive, the offensive ended.
During the operation, the total losses of the Austro-Hungarian and German troops reached about 1.5 million people (including 420 thousand prisoners).
The losses of the Russian Southwestern Front were three times less, which, according to Andrei Koshkin, is an amazing result given the conduct of battles in the offensive against well-prepared enemy positions.
Combat actions of the Russian army in 1916
RIA News
“The Southwestern Front became the main one during the operation thanks to the determination of General Brusilov,” said Vasily Tsvetkov.
According to Mikhail Myagkov, with the Brusilov breakthrough, Russia actually saved Italy, pushed Romania to enter the war on the side of the Entente and helped the Anglo-French troops to hold their positions in Western Europe.
“After the failures of 1915, the Russian army has shown that it is combat-ready and can pose a serious threat to the enemy.
However, unfortunately, Russia did not succeed in turning the operational success into a strategic one, ”the expert emphasized.
Brusilov breakthrough
© Wikimedia commons
As Andrei Koshkin noted, the Brusilov breakthrough became one of the most important operations of the Russian army and the Entente as a whole, but only the Western allies took advantage of its fruits.
“Austria-Hungary was never able to recover from the losses incurred during the Brusilov breakthrough until the end, and this had a serious impact on the entire further course of hostilities.
But, as has often happened in our history, we nobly helped someone else, ”the expert explained.
Russia, according to Koshkin, gained experience during the Brusilov breakthrough, which the Red Army later used during the years of the Great Patriotic War.
“The Brusilov Breakthrough is one of the brightest victories of the Russian army during the First World War.
However, despite the fact that the population of the liberated territories sympathized with Russia, it was not possible to gain a foothold in these territories, as we know, - in February 1917, a revolution broke out that completely changed the course of history, "summed up Mikhail Myagkov.