The Brusilov Offensive (1916)).mp4

The Brusilov Offensive. June 4th through September 20th, 1916. The First World War. In 1916, the Russians would launch a summer offensive to support the British and French efforts on the Western Front. The slaughter at Verdun forced the French for immediate assistance, but the initial Russian efforts had failed to divert German troops away to the Eastern Front. General Alexei Brusilov made a radical new plan that would prevent the element of surprise being lost. The armies under his command would attack along 480 kilometers or 300 miles of front from the Pripyat marshes to the Romanian border, so that the Austro-Hungarian and German defenders could not concentrate their defense and counter a breakthrough. The artillery bombardment would be brief and accurate instead of lengthy and prolonged, so that the enemy would not have time to bring up reserves and evacuate their trenches. All of Brusilov's ideas were not listened to at first, however severe defeats by Austro-Hungary led the Italians to request a new diversionary offensive. Brusilov's widely dispersed attack strategy was authorized and began on June 4th. The Austro-Hungarian armies were thinly spread over the front and were caught off guard from the attack. Many sectors had defensive trenches, some up to five lines dug in with plenty of supplies, making the Austro-Hungarian army confident in their defense. The Russian artillery bombardment as predicted caught the Austro-Hungarians by surprise and the Russian forces closely advancing behind captured many surrendering or retreating enemy troops who were well dug in. The offensive would also see the innovation of Russian shock troops attacking weak points in the Austrian lines, a tactic later used by Germany on the western front. South of the Pripyat marshes, the Russian 8th army took the town of Lutsk within a few days from the Austro-Hungarian 4th army. Even though Austro-Hungarian troops led by Archduke Joseph Ferdinand outnumbered the Russians, here the Russians had an advantage in their successful barrage and took thousands of prisoners a day. By June 15th, the situation was dire for Austro-Hungary which was in full retreat. The Austrian commander Konrad von Hotzendorf requested help from German commander Erich von Falkenhayn who then released four German divisions from Verdun. Konrad also withdrew Austro-Hungarian guns and divisions from the Trentino region to support the situation. The offensive ended in autumn as Russian resources ran out but proved to be a high point for the Russian effort in World War I, gaining territory from the central powers and forcing Germany to abandon plans for its own offensive. The end of the costly offensive left an estimated 500,000 to a million Russian dead, wounded or captured. Meanwhile, the Brusilov offensive was the worst crisis for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Many Slav units deserted from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Russians captured many Austrian guns and prisoners. It left an estimated 1 to 1.5 million Austro-Hungarians dead, wounded or captured and 350,000 German casualties. Subscribe for more history and don't forget to click the bell button to get a notification of when there is a new episode. Get your copy of Simple History World War I, available on Amazon now. Thank you for all your support on the Simple History YouTube channel. If you enjoy the channel, please consider supporting us at Patreon.