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A Russian Maxim machine gun squad on the front in a 1917 photograph. In the middle of the line one soldier wears a French Adrian helmet.
Imperial Russian field artillery in combat training in the snow at Camp B.K.
Russia's 1917 Offensive — the Kerensky Offensive — a pencil sketch of a Russian soldier fleeing his trench as Central Power bayonets rise over it. The failed offensive was Russia's last of the war. By Ger. F. Kollar, addressed to Frau Hermine Kollar of Vienna.
Soldiers of the Great War Known Unto God, Cabaret Rouge Cemetery, Souchez, France. © 2013 by John M. Shea
Photograph of four First World War Italian soldiers. The one on the far right wears a monocle.
"On the morning of June 18, an air of tense excitement reigned all along the front. It was the kind of atmosphere you find in Russian villages just before the midnight service at Easter. We climbed up to an observation point at the top of a chain of hills running the length of our forward positions. There was a constant rumble of heavy artillery, and the shells whining overhead made a plaintive sound.From the Seventh Army's observation point, the battlefield lay before us like a huge, deserted chessboard. The shelling continued. We all kept looking at our watches. The strain was unbearable.Suddenly there was a deathly hush: It was zero hour. For a second we were gripped by a terrible fear that the soldiers might refuse to fight. Then we saw the first lines of infantry, with their rifles at the ready, charging toward the front lines of German trenches." ((1), more)
"A strong, acrid tang was in the air; the Sisters on duty came to fetch their gas-masks. The soldiers had told them there had been more than one scare. The wounded were still being brought in in batches of a dozen or so at a time. Many very heavily wounded came about midday. We have heard that Alexander Alexandrovich has been killed, and Mischa and Mak, two of our transport-van officers, badly wounded. We postponed dinner until after 4 p.m., in order to finish the bandaging. Afterwards Mamasha and I walked a little way up the hill. All the western world was in tumult. Red, grey and yellow rockets glowed for a few seconds and then died away. The cracking and rapping of rifle-fire was still audible, with the crash and bang of shells. Volley after volley resounded through the hills. The most dreaded sound of all was the hollow thud of a heavy shell tearing into the earth. A shrill whistling above our heads — and a couple of shrapnel exploded between our camp and the road. We thought it wiser to return to shelter. The wounded continued to come . . ." ((2), more)
"During the first two day of this offensive we were extremely successful. We took several thousand prisoners and captured scores of field guns. On the third day our advance came to a halt. The report submitted by General Erdeli, commander of the Eleventh Army, gave a good idea of what had happened: '. . . despite our gains on June 18 and 19, which ought to have raised the spirits of the men and encouraged them to press on, no such spirit was noticeable in the majority of regiment, while in some there was a predominant feeling that they had done their stint and there was no point in going on with the advance.'" ((3), more)
"I am writing you this private letter with the greatest possible regret. I must inform you that it is my intention to refuse to perform any further military duties. I am doing this as a protest against the policy of the Government in prolonging the War by failing to state their conditions of peace.I have written a statement of my reasons, of which I enclose a copy. This statement is being circulated. I would have spared you this unpleasantness had it been possible.My only desire is to make things as easy as possible for you in dealing with my case. I will come to Litherland immediately I hear from you if that is your wish.I am fully aware of what I am letting myself in for." ((4), more)
". . . the regime did not crush all disobedience. Violent misbehavior by troops going to and from the front became so widespread in summer 1917 — firing on carabinieri in the railway stations, shooting out of the windows, hurling stones and bottles — that the men's rifles had to be taken away for the duration of the journeys. And this was at the apex of Cadorna's terror." ((5), more)
(1) Russian Minister of War Alexander Kerensky's description of the moments before and beginning of Russia's last offensive of World War I, the Kerensky Offensive, launched on July 1, 1917 (June 18, Old Style). The Russian Revolution of March had removed the Tsar and seized power for a provisional government and soviets, councils of workers, soldiers, cities, and towns. Whether soldiers would obey orders to attack was a real question. The comparison to Easter, the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, is curious, but Kerensky hoped for a resurrection of a new, revolutionary Russian army to carry on the war.
Russia and History's Turning Point by Alexander Kerensky, page 285, copyright © 1965 by Alexander Kerensky, publisher: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, publication date: 1965
(2) Excerpt from the entry for Monday, July 2, 1917 (June 19 Old Style) from the diary of Florence Farmborough, an English nurse serving with the Russian Red Cross and writing of the second day of the Kerensky Offensive, Russia's last offensive of World War I. Alexander Kerensky was Minister of War of the Russian Provisional Government formed after the February (March, New Style) Revolution. Farmborough and her unit were with the Russian 7th Army in Galicia, Austria-Hungary. The nurses were called Sestritsa, Sister. Mamasha, Mother, led Farmborough's Red Cross unit; Alexander Alexandrovich was one of its Transport Heads.
Nurse at the Russian Front, a Diary 1914-18 by Florence Farmborough, page 276, copyright © 1974 by Florence Farmborough, publisher: Constable and Company Limited, publication date: 1974
(3) Russian Minister of War Alexander Kerensky's summary of the first three days of Russia's last offensive of World War I launched on July 1, 1917 (June 18, Old Style). The Russian Revolution of March had removed the Tsar and seized power for a provisional government and soviets, councils of workers, soldiers, cities, and towns. France and Britain implored the Russians to launch an offensive, and the United States conditioned financing on Russia actively pursuing the war. Many agreed with Kerensky that success would boost morale despite ample evidence large parts of the military and civilian population were sick of the war.
(4) Letter dated July 4, 1917 from Siegfried Sassoon to the Commanding Officer of the Third Royal Welch Fusiliers. Sassoon was a British poet, author, Second Lieutenant in the Royal Welch Fusiliers, and recipient of the Military Cross for gallantry in action. Sassoon had been wounded, shot through the shoulder by a sniper, in an April 16 attack on the village of Fontaine-lès-Croisilles in the Battle of Arras, and was on convalescent leave in England in June. By June 15 Sassoon had concluded that the war begun 'as a war of defence and liberation, [had] become a war of aggression and conquest.'
Siegfried Sassoon Diaries 1915-1918 by Siegfried Sassoon, page 177, copyright © George Sassoon, 1983; Introduction and Notes Rupert Hart-Davis, 1983, publisher: Faber and Faber, publication date: 1983
(5) Mutinous behavior and incidents were not confined to the French and post-revolutionary Russian armies in the spring and summer of 1917, but affected the Italian army as well. The proportions of disciplined and executed soldiers was much higher in the Italian than the British and French armies, and summary execution after random selection of representatives of a rebellious unit was more common. Nor could Italian soldiers appeal to civilian authorities. It is hard not to conclude that Italian commander in chief Luigi Cadorna was both brutal and incompetent, as were many of his generals.
The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front, 1915-1919 by Mark Thompson, page 275, copyright © 2008 Mark Thompson, publisher: Basic Books, publication date: 2009
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