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The Brusilov Offensive

Will's Cigarettes card of General Aleksei Brusilov (Brusiloff).
Reverse:
No. 41 of the series Allied Army Leaders, a series of 50 from Will's Cigarettes
Passed for publication by the Press Bureau, 28.12.16.
General Brusiloff.
Gen. Alexey Alexeyevitch Brusiloff, the brilliant Russian leader in Galicia, is about 64 years of age, and first saw active service in the Russo-Turkish war of 1877. Before the present war he was widely known as a daring cavalry officer of exceptional ability. In 1915 he led the Russian dash over the Carpathians, and in 1916 commanded the four Armies of the Russian left-wing which broke through the Austrian front and reconquered Galicia, inflicting very great losses on the Austro-Germans.
W.D. & H.O. Wills
Bristol & London
Issued by the Imperial Tobacco Co. (of Great Britain & Ireland) Ltd.

Will's Cigarettes card of General Aleksei Brusilov (Brusiloff).

Image text

Will's Cigarettes

General Brusiloff



Reverse:

No. 41 of the series Allied Army Leaders, a series of 50 from Will's Cigarettes

Passed for publication by the Press Bureau, 28.12.16.

General Brusiloff.

Gen. Alexey Alexeyevitch Brusiloff, the brilliant Russian leader in Galicia, is about 64 years of age, and first saw active service in the Russo-Turkish war of 1877. Before the present war he was widely known as a daring cavalry officer of exceptional ability. In 1915 he led the Russian dash over the Carpathians, and in 1916 commanded the four Armies of the Russian left-wing which broke through the Austrian front and reconquered Galicia, inflicting very great losses on the Austro-Germans.

W.D. & H.O. Wills

Bristol & London

Issued by the Imperial Tobacco Co. (of Great Britain & Ireland) Ltd.

Other views: Larger, Back

Russia planned a July offensive as part of the coordinated offensives agreed by the Allied military commanders at the end of 1915. The plans were disrupted by offensives taken to relieve pressure on the French in the siege of Verdun. When the Italians requested action against Austria-Hungary, which was advancing into Trentino in the Asiago Offensive, only General Alexsei Brusilov commanding the five armies of the Southwest Army Group responded.

On June 4, 1916, Brusilov's armies attacked on a front nearly 20 miles wide — a width calculated to minimize the effects of enfilading fire. By the end of the first day, the Russians had created a gap five miles deep by 20 miles wide. In three days, they took 200,000 prisoners.

The Austro-Hungarian defenders were staggered by the assault. They were driven from the Bukovina, north of Romania, and, as in 1915, driven back in Galicia against the Carpathian Mountains.

Once again, the Austrians turned to Germany for assistance, with commander Conrad von Hötzendorf rushing to Berlin. A German General took command of the army in Galicia.

On June 16, a counter-attack stabilized the front, but did not stop the Russian advance. Germany withdrew forces from Verdun to support the Austro-Hungarian left wing, and finally stopped Brusilov.

The Russian commanders of the North and West Army Groups did little to support Brusilov, and he had no reserves to continue his advance.

The Austro-Hungarian Army was devastated by the Russia who took as many as 380,000 prisoners of war. The Austro-Hungarians lost as many 750,000 troops including large numbers of deserters. The Russians suffered an estimated 1,000,000 casualties, many of them in trying to resume the advance after it had been stopped.

1916-06-04

1916-09-20

Some books about The Brusilov Offensive (37)

Title Author
Collected Diplomatic Documents Relating to the Outbreak of the European War
1917: Russia's Year of Revolution Roy Bainton
St. Petersburg Andrey Biely
Was Revolution Inevitable? Turning Points of the Russian Revolution Tony Brenton
The White Guard Mikhail Bulgakov
White Guard Mikhail Bulgakov
Suicide of the Empires Alan Clark
Nurse at the Russian Front, a Diary 1914-18 Florence Farmborough
Revolutionary Russia 1891-1991: a History Orlando Figes
The Russian Revolution (Second Edition) Sheila Fitzpatrick
The Spectre of Alexander Wolf Gaito Gazdanov
July, 1914; the Outbreak of the First World War; Selected Documents Imanuel Geiss (Editor)
The Marne, 1914: The Opening of World War I and the Battle That Changed the World Holger H. Herwig
The Lions of July; Prelude to War, 1914 William Jannen Jr.
Carpathian Disaster: Death of an Army Geoffrey Jukes
August 1914 - Opening Moves John Keegan
Russia Leaves the War George F. Kennan
Russia and History's Turning Point Alexander Kerensky
Men of Gallipoli: The Dardanelles and Gallipoli Experience August 1914 to January 1916 Peter Liddle
First Day on the Somme Martin Middlebrook
October: The Story of the Russian Revolution China Miéville
Sikorsky S-16 Vadim Mikheyev
The Russian Revolution Alan Moorehead
Armoured onslaught: 8th August 1918 Douglas Orgill
An Ambassador's Memoirs Vol. I Maurice Paléologue
An Ambassador's Memoirs Vol. II Maurice Paléologue
An Ambassador's Memoirs Vol. III Maurice Paléologue
Three 'Whys' of the Russian Revolution Richard Pipes
White Nights and Other Russian Impressions Arthur Ruhl
The Birth of Russian Democracy A. J. Sack
Lenin and the Russian Revolution Antonella Salomoni
The Stray Dog Cabaret Paul Schmidt
August 1914 Alexander Solzhenitzyn
The Eastern Front, 1914-1917 Norman Stone
The Guns of August Barbara Tuchman
The Campaign of the Marne Sewell Tyng
Memories of the Russian Court Anna Viroubova