Great battles of the First World War: Brusilovsky breakthrough

The battles of the First World War were rarely offensive. The war was sluggish, positional, but it was extremely bloody. The exception was, perhaps, only in 1916, when the Russian command organized a large-scale offensive operation on the South-Western Front. This event is well known in military history as a Brusilov breakthrough.

General Brusilov, in whose honor this military operation was named, used an unusual and absolutely new tactic of breakthrough at the time. Its essence consisted in loosening the enemy's defense thanks to a powerful blow in the main direction and simultaneous auxiliary attacks in other directions. Thus, reserves and forces were dispersed, and the enemy could not repulse the main blow, losing their positions.

In fact, the Brusilov breakthrough marked a new stage in the history of military art.

The Supreme Headquarters in 1916 decided, based on the general picture of military operations, to take the main offensive role to the Western Front, with the support of the North. And the South-Western Front, which was headed by General Brusilov, was only to defend and distract the enemy's forces. However, Brusilov personally insisted on conducting a full-scale offensive operation of Russian troops from the south-west.

Preparation for the offensive was conducted Brusilov very carefully and in an environment of complete secrecy. The Austro-Hungarian command in general knew about the plans of the Entente, but was in complete confidence that after the failed operations of 1915 the Russian troops would not dare to again conduct offensive actions.

Meanwhile, the Russian armies pulled together to breakthrough places, the soldiers learned to overcome obstacles, artillery - to break defenses and barriers. For several months the troops on the South-Western Front were skilfully grouped together imperceptibly for the enemy.

The morning came on June 4, 1916, tragic for the Austro-Hungarian troops. They were awaited by a blinding death: the salvoes of thousands of guns turned the fortified fortified positions into dust and ashes. The attack of Russian troops was successful at all points of the breakthrough.

Russian artillery and infantry operated surprisingly well. Reliably covered by the fire of their artillery, the infantrymen began to attack. They walked in waves, three or four chains in each, at a distance of 170-200 steps from each other. The attack was "rolling".

The most successful army was General Kaledin's army on the right flank, in the Lutsk direction. The city of Lutsk was taken just a few days after the offensive began, and the enemy was pushed back 60 kilometers into the Stokhod River.

On the left flank, the army of General Lechitsky was able to advance 120 kilometers, crossed the Prut and captured Chernivtsi on June 18.

Less successful was the army of General Sakharov, faced with the strong resistance of the Austro-Hungarians.

Brusilovsky breakthrough meant a real catastrophe for the troops of the Triple Alliance.

To consolidate success, it was decided to shift the main blow from the Western Front to the South-West. The rate waited for a while, expecting that the commander of the Western Group of Forces, General Evert, would still pass into an active attack. However, he did not dare, and in the second half of June, reserve troops began to act at Brusilov's disposal. Under the pressure of the High Command, Evert went on an unsuccessful offensive in the direction of Baranovichi.

Germany, Austria and Italy began hastily pulling their troops to the Southwestern Front in order to protect the strategically important Kovel. Brusilov launched a new offensive against Brody and Kovel, but the enemy was able to stabilize the situation on the fronts with fierce resistance. At the end of June, the hostilities again came to a standstill.

In many ways, due to the indecisiveness and inactivity of the Stavka, the Brusilov breakthrough did not receive proper development and success. Nevertheless, this event played an important role in the course of the 1916 campaign.

The losses of Austro-Hungarian troops amounted to about one and a half million people against 500 thousand from the Russians. 450,000 Austrian soldiers and almost 10,000 officers were taken prisoner.

The battles of World War I rarely brought such luck to the Entente troops: the entire Bukovina and part of Galicia were conquered. Germany was forced to transfer 16 divisions from the Western Front, and Austria generally curtailed its offensive in the direction of Italy in order to transfer seven divisions to Galicia. Turkey also introduced its two divisions there.

Brusilovsky breakthrough also led to the fact that Romania in August 1916 decided to take the side of the Entente.

Thus, in spite of its general incompleteness, this brilliant military operation was rightfully included in a hundred of the greatest battles in the history of mankind.