Tactical German victory
119-619: The Lake Naroch offensive in 1916 was an unsuccessful Russian offensive on the Eastern Front in World War I . It was launched at the request of Marshal Joseph Joffre and intended to relieve the German pressure on French forces. Due to lack of reconnaissance, Russian artillery support failed to overcome and neutralise the well-fortified German defenses and artillery positions, leading to costly and unproductive direct attacks, hindered by
238-453: A beach. According to U.S. Army analyst Edward C. O'Dowd, the technical definition of a human wave attack tactic is a frontal assault by densely concentrated infantry formations against an enemy line, without any attempts to shield or to mask the attacker's movement. The goal of a human wave attack is to maneuver as many people as possible into close range, hoping that the shock from a large mass of attackers engaged in melee combat would force
357-749: A decline in discipline among the troops. After the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II , the Russian Provisional Government chose to continue the war to fulfill its obligations to the Entente. In July 1917 Russia's last offensive of the war ended in failure, and in September Germany captured Riga , bringing the German Army closer to the Russian capital. This was followed by a military coup attempt that weakened
476-477: A general advance and a corresponding strategic retreat by the Russian Army. The cause of the reverses suffered by the Russian Army, despite a significant numerical superiority over the German enemy, was not so many errors in the tactical sphere, as the deficiency in technical equipment, particularly in artillery and ammunition as well as the corruption and incompetence of the Russian officers. Only by 1916 did
595-481: A general superiority in forces, almost every Central Powers's operation in 1915 was "unexpected" for the command from the front to the regimental level. Passion for undercover intelligence in the highest Russian headquarters did not justify itself, and tactical intelligence was still based on barely reliable testimony of prisoners, in the absence of which the command up to the army, inclusive, was simply "blind". The separation of artillery from infantry with subordination to
714-515: A heavy weapons team), would form their squads in ranks in a staggered arrowhead formation, which would be employed to attack "one point" from "two sides." Although abandoned by the PVA by 1953, outside observers such as Allen S. Whiting expected China to use the tactic if necessary. The Chinese army re-adopted this tactic during the Vietnam War and Sino-Vietnamese War due to the stagnation of
833-608: A million men, the Romanian Army suffered from poor training and a lack of appropriate equipment. The initial success of the Romanian Army in Austria-Hungarian territory was quickly undermined by the Central Powers. German and Austro-Hungarian troops advanced from the north, while Bulgarian-Turkish-German forces marched into Romania from the south. Although thought to be a tactical blunder by contemporaries,
952-425: A narrow front against the weakest point in enemy defenses. The PVA assault team would crawl undetected within grenade range, then launch surprise attacks against the defenders in order to breach the defenses by relying on maximum shock and confusion. If the initial shock failed to breach the defenses, additional fireteams would press on behind them and attack the same point until a breach was created. Once penetration
1071-486: A partial mobilization of the Russian Army in the military districts that bordered Austria. The following day he was convinced by his advisors to order a full mobilization to follow the military's existing mobilization schedule. Nicholas hoped Germany would see this as a regional conflict between Russia and Austria, but because their war plans depended on taking advantage of Russia's slower mobilization speed, and due to
1190-456: A question of time. But should Germany succeed I hesitate to think what the effect will be on the fortunes of the campaign. … and yet no one seems to have thought it his particular duty to prepare a plan... Up until 1916, the Romanians followed the tides of war with interest, while attempting to situate themselves in the most advantageous position. French and Russian diplomats had begun courting
1309-715: A rapid victory. The invasion of East Prussia was completely defeated while the advance into Austria-Hungary stalled in the Carpathians , and following successful offensives by the Central Powers in 1915 its gains were reversed. Germany and Austria-Hungary defeated Russian forces in Galicia and Poland , causing Russia to abandon the Polish salient , parts of Belarus and the Baltic region , and Galicia . However,
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#17327733750531428-671: A series of Russian offensives which would force the Germans to deploy additional forces to counter them. The first such operation was the Lake Naroch Offensive in March–April 1916, the Germans repulsed the attacks, but the offensive achieved its main goal - the Germans stopped the attack on Verdun, giving the French a break. The Italian operations during 1916 had one extraordinary result: Austrian divisions were pulled away from
1547-605: A standard tactic for the Imperial Japanese Army. These tactics became mostly known to Western audiences during the Pacific War , where Japanese forces used this approach against Allied forces. However, Allied forces drastically outnumbered the Japanese, and they were equipped with a very high number of automatic weapons. They also consisted of well-trained forces who would quickly adapt to Japanese charges. If
1666-577: A steady advance. The Russian Eighth Army overwhelmed the Austrian Fourth and pushed on to Lutsk, advancing 40 miles (64 km) beyond the starting position. Over a million Austrians were lost, with over 500,000 men killed or taken prisoner by mid-June. Although the Brusilov offensive was initially successful, it slowed down considerably. An inadequate number of troops and poorly maintained supply lines hindered Brusilov's ability to follow up on
1785-560: A wide front, and to position their trenches a mere 75 yards (69 m) away from Austrian trenches. Brusilov's plan worked impeccably. The Russians outnumbered the Austrians 200,000 to 150,000, and held a considerable advantage in guns, with 904 large guns to 600. Most importantly innovative new tactics similar to those independently invented by Erwin Rommel were used to perform quick and effective close-range surprise attacks that allowed
1904-402: Is an extremely dangerous and costly tactic in the face of devastating firepower. Thus, for a human wave attack to succeed on the modern battlefield, it is imperative for the attackers to charge into the enemy line in the shortest time and in the greatest numbers possible, so that a sufficient mass can be preserved when the attackers reach melee range. However, this solution usually means that
2023-428: Is an offensive infantry tactic in which an attacker conducts an unprotected frontal assault with densely concentrated infantry formations against the enemy line, intended to overrun and overwhelm the defenders by engaging in melee combat . The name refers to the concept of a coordinated mass of soldiers falling upon an enemy force and sweeping them away with sheer weight and momentum, like an ocean wave breaking on
2142-1029: The American Civil War and World War I , the Boxers during the Boxer Rebellion , the Spanish Republican Army during the Spanish Civil War , the Red Army , Imperial Japanese Army and the National Revolutionary Army during the World War II , The People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War and the People's Liberation Army during the Vietnam War and Sino-Vietnamese War ,
2261-643: The Battle of Stallupönen , which was the opening battle of the Eastern Front, quickly turned to a disastrous defeat following the Battle of Tannenberg in August 1914; even though the Russians were successfully defending at Gumbinnen a while before Tannenberg. After the Russian disaster, German troops under the command of Hindenburg inflicted another crushing defeat on the numerically superior Russian army in
2380-762: The Bolsheviks signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Central Powers in March 1918 after Operation Faustschlag , taking Russia out of the war; leading to a Central Powers victory. However, the Western Entente soon defeated the Central Powers, with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk being annulled by the Armistice of 11 November 1918 . Romania and the Central Powers signed a separate peace treaty on 7 May 1918, but it
2499-702: The First Battle of the Masurian Lakes . A second Russian incursion into Galicia was more successful, with the Russians controlling almost all of that region by the end of 1914, routing four Austrian armies in the process. Under the command of Nikolai Ivanov , Nikolai Ruzsky and Aleksei Brusilov , the Russians won the Battle of Galicia in September and began the Siege of Przemyśl , the next fortress on
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#17327733750532618-527: The Korean War , the term "human wave attack" was used to describe the Chinese short attack , a combination of infiltration and shock tactics employed by the People's Volunteer Army (PVA). According to some accounts, Marshal Peng Dehuai —the overall commander of the PVA forces in Korea—is said to have invented this tactic. A typical Chinese short attack was carried out at night by numerous fireteams on
2737-824: The Lincoln Battalion , it was not uncommon for Republican commanders to order units onto attacks that were warned by field officers to be ill-advised or suicidal. There were elements of human waves being utilized in the Russian Civil War recounted by American soldiers in Russia supporting the White Army . In the Winter War of 1939–1940 the Soviet Red Army used human wave charges repeatedly against fortified Finnish positions, allowing
2856-1073: The Storm-Z and Storm-V units. It was also claimed that the Russian infantry sent in "human wave" attacks are poorly trained and equipped, with minimal or no mechanized or air support . Rear Admiral John Kirby , spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council , claimed that Russia threw "masses of poorly trained soldiers right into the battlefield without proper equipment, and apparently without proper training and preparation." Russian troops have claimed that they were threatened with being shot by barrier troops if they retreated from attacks. The term ″meat grinder″ has been used to describe these tactics used by Russia in attempts to wear down Ukrainian forces and expose their positions to Russian artillery. According to NATO and Western military officials, around 1,200 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded in Ukraine every day on average in May and June 2024, mainly due to
2975-503: The offensive , came close to Krakow and occupied Chernivtsi, but a counterattack by the Central Powers saved the situation. The year ended with a bloody battle on the rivers Bzura, Ravka, Nida and Pilica, where the Central Powers planned to take Warsaw, but could not and were forced to withdraw from the battle. In 1915 the Chief of German Great General Staff , General of Infantry Erich von Falkenhayn decided to make its main effort on
3094-598: The "spark" that ignited the First World War is attributed to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip, which took place on 28 June 1914. Approximately a month later, on 28 July 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. This act led to a series of events that would quickly expand into the First World War; thus, the Habsburg government in Vienna initiated the pivotal decision that would begin
3213-631: The Alliance troops at Langfang armed with rifles and machine guns in human wave attacks and the Boxers also blocked the retreat of the expedition via train by destroying the Tianjin-Langfang railway. The Boxers and Dong Fuxiang 's army worked together in the joint ambush with the Boxers relentlessly assaulting the Allies head on with human wave attacks displaying "no fear of death" and engaging
3332-579: The Allied forces could establish a defensive perimeter, their superior firepower would often result in crippling Japanese casualties and a failure of the attack. The Japanese battle-cry "Banzai" led to this form of charge being called the " Banzai charge " by the Allied forces. In addition to its strategic use by Japanese military forces, the frequency of its use has been explained, in part, as Japanese troops adhering to their traditional Bushido honor code that viewed surrender as shameful or unacceptable, whereas
3451-476: The Allies in melee combat and putting the Allied troops under severe mental stress by mimicking vigorous gunfire with firecrackers. The Allies however suffered most of their losses at the hands of General Dong's troops, who used their expertise and persistence to engage in "bold and persistent" assaults on the Alliance forces, as remembered by the German Captain Usedom: the right wing of the Germans
3570-547: The Austro-Hungarian offensive power against Serbia. Conversely, the Imperial German Navy believed it could be victorious over Britain with Russian neutrality, something which Moltke knew would not be possible. Austria-Hungary's participation in the outbreak of World War I has been neglected by historians, as emphasis has traditionally been placed on Germany's role as the prime instigator. However,
3689-551: The Balkans inflamed Slavic nationalism and angered Serbia. Bosnia-Herzegovina became a "rallying cry" for South Slavs, with hostilities between Austria-Hungary and Serbia steadily increasing. The situation was ripe for conflict, and when the Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip assassinated Austrian imperial heir, Franz Ferdinand, these longstanding hostilities culminated into an all-out war. The Allied Powers wholeheartedly supported
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3808-463: The Chinese army, short attacks were often repeated indefinitely until either the defenses were penetrated or the attacker's ammunition supply were exhausted, regardless of the chances of success or the human cost. This persistent attack pattern left a strong impression on UN forces that fought in Korea, giving birth to the description of "human wave." U.S. Army historian Roy Edgar Appleman observed that
3927-726: The Chinese military modernization programs during the Cultural Revolution . Their use in the Vietnam War and Sino-Vietnamese War is a rare example of an army with superior firepower, in this case the PLA, throwing away its advantage. During the Iran–Iraq War , some of the attacks conducted by Iranian forces in large operations, were considered to be human wave attacks. In the Eritrean–Ethiopian War of 1998-2000 ,
4046-519: The East. A series of failures in 1915 gave the Russians time to reconfigure industry for wartime, and they did it successfully, Russian industry began to overtake Austrian in terms of growth rates and eventually increased the productivity of ammunition several times. Here is what information was announced at the Duma meeting: The production of rifles doubled, the production of machine guns increased 6 times,
4165-575: The Eastern Front, and accordingly transferred considerable forces there. The year began with a successful German offensive in the area of the Masurian lakes . At the same time, a large battle for the city of Przasnysz took place on the Polish front. The city changed hands several times but eventually remained in Russian hands. As a result of the battle, the Germans lost from 38,000 to 60,000 soldiers and Russian losses amounted to about 40,000 men. In March,
4284-553: The Empire, while three million lived outside it. With the growing emergence of nationalism in the twentieth century, unity of all South Slavs looked promising. This tension is exemplified by Conrad von Hötzendorf 's letter to Franz Ferdinand: The unification of the South Slav race is one of the powerful national movements which can neither be ignored nor kept down. The question can only be, whether unification will take place within
4403-552: The Finns. Richard Overy in his book, The Oxford History of World War II , talks about the eventual technological advancement of Soviet spearhead forces, becoming as effective as German forces, however he still acknowledges that elements of "unthinkable self-sacrifice, 'human wave' tactics, and draconian punishment" existed. The Imperial Japanese Army was known for its use of human wave attacks. There were even specialized units who were trained in this type of assault. The charge
4522-586: The German General Staff, led by Alfred von Schlieffen from 1891 to 1906, developed a plan that called for German armies to pass through Belgium and then turn south to quickly capture Paris, while a smaller German force would pin down the French defenders along the Franco-German border. With France being defeated before Russia could fully mobilize, Germany could then turn its focus on Russia, which Schlieffen believed would not be taken out of
4641-693: The German positions was brought to a halt because, as General Evert noted in his order issued on 30 March, it had not led to "decisive results" and "the onset of warm weather and abundant rains" had turned much of the area into swamps. • Lloyd, Nick (2024). The Eastern Front. A History of the Great War, 1914-1918 . New York: Norton, 2024. ISBN 978-1-324-09271-1 54°51′13″N 26°46′34″E / 54.8535°N 26.7761°E / 54.8535; 26.7761 Eastern Front (World War I) October 1917 October 1917 The Eastern Front or Eastern Theater of World War I
4760-416: The Germans could no longer use the lack of artillery supplies from the Russians and the first setbacks began, the breakthrough to Minsk and the offensive on Dvinsk completely failed with heavy losses for the Germans, the offensive in central Belarus also turned out to be unsuccessful, the Russians began to behave more actively on the southern front, where Austria-Hungary suffered a heavy defeat near Lutsk,
4879-540: The Germans only huge losses, and the strengthening of the Russians in the region. Germans' initial plans to destroy the Russians in Poland ended in desperate attempts to prevent their invasion of Silesia At the same time, Austria-Hungary was trying to regain the territories lost in the summer, they attacked the Russians on the San River , and after a long period of fighting they were forced to retreat. The Russians went on
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4998-440: The Germans tried to take Poland again, the third Battle of Warsaw began, and like the previous two, ended with the defeat of Germany. In May 1915, to eliminate the Russian threat the Central Powers began the successful Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive in Galicia. After the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes , the German and Austro-Hungarian troops on the Eastern Front functioned under a unified command. The offensive soon turned into
5117-500: The Iranian Basij during the Iran–Iraq War , and the Russian Ground Forces during the Russian invasion of Ukraine . Human wave attacks were used during the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901) in China . Boxer rebels performed human wave attacks against Eight-Nation Alliance forces during the Seymour Expedition and the Battle of Langfang where the Eight Nation Alliance was forced to retreat. On June 11 and June 14 1900, Boxers armed only with bladed melee weapons directly charged
5236-407: The Polish central authority within the Empire, responsible for the formation of the Polish Legions , an auxiliary military formation within the Austro-Hungarian army. At the end of 1914, the main focus of the fighting shifted to central part of Russian Poland , west of the river Vistula . The October Battle of the Vistula River , Augustow operation , and the November Battle of Łódź they brought
5355-495: The Provisional Government. The Bolsheviks overthrew the Russian Republic in the October Revolution of November [ O.S. October] 1917. Despite the political instability, the majority of the Russian Army was still intact and stayed at the front line until early 1918, though the Bolsheviks began taking steps to dissolve it in December 1917 while maintaining some forces against the Central Powers as their negotiations were ongoing. The new Soviet government established by
5474-541: The Romanians early on, but persuasion tactics gradually intensified. For King Ferdinand to commit his force of half a million men, he expected the Allies to offer a substantial incentive. Playing on Romanian anti-Hungarian sentiment the Allies promised the Austria-Hungarian territory of Ardeal (Transylvania) to Romania. Transylvanian demographics strongly favoured the Romanians. Romania succumbed to Allied enticement on 18 August 1916. Nine days later, on 27 August, Romanian troops marched into Transylvania. Romania's entry into
5593-406: The Romanians opted to mount operations in both directions. By the middle of November the German force passed through the Carpathians, suffering significant casualties due to determined Romanian resistance. By 5 December, Bulgarian troops had crossed the Danube and were approaching the capital, Bucharest . At the same time as the Austro-Hungarian troops moved east, and as the Bulgarians marched north,
5712-425: The Russian assault continued with the I, XXVII and I Siberian Corps, and were able to capture the German front line. On 22 March the Russians were able to add somewhat to their modest gains. On 24 March, the Russian V Corps and III Siberian Corps attacked on the southern sector, but with little gain. On 26 March, further attack by the Russian northern sector were also ineffective. On 29 March, Alexeyev ordered an end to
5831-409: The Russian assault. The whole operation turned out to be an utter failure, as it abated the Russians' morale without providing any help to the French, and has become a shining example of the use of a widely known World War I method of war, the human wave attack . Huge masses of men were continuously sent into the battle over and over again in the same place of the enemy front. Eventually, the attack on
5950-410: The Russian military uses human wave attacks to overcome Ukrainian defenses. During the battles of Bakhmut , Vuhledar , and Avdiivka , it was claimed that Russian Army regulars were sent into the battles using human wave tactics to capture the towns. Wagner Group paramilitary units also used "human wave attacks" using convicts recruited from prisons to fight in Ukraine, including those in
6069-400: The Russian southern front. This allowed the Russian forces to organize a counter-offensive. The Brusilov offensive was a large tactical assault carried out by Russian forces against Austro-Hungarian forces in Galicia. General Aleksei Brusilov believed victory against the Central Powers was possible if close attention was paid to preparation. Brusilov suggested that the Russians should attack on
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#17327733750536188-417: The Russians to attack in an attempt to distract the Turks, and Yudenich agreed. The resulting offensive began on 10 January 1916. This offensive was unanticipated by the Turks, as it was in the middle of winter. The Turkish situation was exacerbated by the absences of Third Army's commander Kamil Pasha and Chief of Staff Major Guse. Coupled with an imbalance of forces – the Russians had 325,000 troops while
6307-490: The Slavs' nationalistic fight. George Macaulay Trevelyan , a British historian, saw Serbia's war against Austria-Hungary as a "war of liberation" that would "free South Slavs from tyranny." In his own words: "If ever there was a battle for freedom, there is such a battle now going on in Southeastern Europe against Austrian and Magyar. If this war ends in the overthrow of the Magyar tyranny, an immense step forward will have been taken toward racial liberty and European peace." In
6426-424: The Somme , while the Brusilov offensive continued in the East. It is certain that so relatively small a state as Rumania had never before been given a role so important, and, indeed, so decisive for the history of the world at so favorable a moment. Never before had two Great Powers like Germany and Austria found themselves so much at the mercy of the military resources of a country which had scarcely one twentieth of
6545-411: The Turks had sent in two army divisions by sea to the Dobruja from the east. Eventually, the Romanian forces were pushed back behind the Siret in northern Moldavia . They received help from the Allies, notably from France which sent a military mission of more than a thousand officers, health and support staff. Human wave attack A human wave attack , also known as a human sea attack ,
6664-399: The Turks only 78,000 – the situation appeared grim for the Central Powers. After three months of fighting, the Russians captured the city of Trabzon on 18 April 1916. Allied operations in 1916 were dictated by an urgent need to force Germany to transfer forces from its Western to Eastern fronts, to relieve the pressure on the French at the Battle of Verdun . This was to be accomplished by
6783-459: The War Ministry. The Minister of War was responsible for organizing the production of weapons and ammunition, the implementation of the replenishment of troop personnel, military transportation outside the provinces declared a theater of military operations. The military districts in the theater of operations were subordinate to the commanders-in-chief of the armies of the fronts, but not to the Headquarters. Military production also lagged behind: until
6902-411: The attackers must sacrifice concealment and cover for numbers and speed. Because of this trade-off, human wave attacks can be used by an attacker which lacks tactical training or one which lacks firepower and the ability to manoeuvre, but which can motivate and control its personnel. Human wave attacks have been used by several armed forces around the world, including European and American armies during
7021-449: The attacks, one description of the aftermath was that "a thick, unbroken mass of corpses covered the cold earth like a coverlet." Human wave attacks have also been deployed by the Republicans in Spain during the Spanish Civil War most notably their defense of Casa de Campo during the Siege of Madrid , particularly the counterattack by the Durruti Column led by Buenaventura Durruti . Also, as recounted by various former members of
7140-402: The beginning of the war, there was more light artillery than France, and no less than Germany. The first events were the capture of Kalish and Chenhostov by the Germans without fighting, and the first real clash was clashes at Wierzbołów . The first full-scale operation was invasion of East Prussia on 17 August 1914 and the Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia . The Russian offensive in
7259-403: The borders of the Central Powers, removing the threat of Russian invasion of Germany, although there was still slight Russian penetration into Austria-Hungary. At the end of 1915 the German-Austrian advance was stopped on the line Riga – Jakobstadt – Dünaburg – Baranovichi – Pinsk – Dubno – Tarnopol . The general outline of this front line did not change until the Russian collapse in 1917. During
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#17327733750537378-488: The boundaries of the Monarchy – that is at the expense of Serbia's independence – or under Serbia's leadership at the expense of the Monarchy. The cost to the Monarchy would be the loss of its South Slav provinces and thus of almost its entire coastline. The loss of territory and prestige would relegate the Monarchy to the status of a small power. The annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1908 by Austrian foreign minister Baron von Aehrenthal in an effort to assert domination over
7497-415: The bravery of a human wave charge, even if suicidal, was an honorable choice. These banzai charges by Japanese soldiers against Allied troops equipped with machine guns, light mortars, semi-automatic rifles and sub-machine guns were often ineffective in altering the outcome of a battle, but American troops later reported severe psychological pressure from defending against these out-gunned human waves. During
7616-460: The buildup of Russian war industries increase the production of war material and improve the supply situation. By mid-1915, the Russians had been expelled from Russian Poland , The whole campaign cost the Russians about 400,000 men, however, the Germans and Austrians suffered setbacks, their attempt to break through to Lublin was repulsed with losses of 37,500 people, the Russians lost 9,524 people, and hence pushed hundreds of kilometers away from
7735-400: The campaign of 1915, the Russian Empire lost the entire line of western fortresses, and more than 4,000 guns. The causes of heavy defeats and losses of personnel, weapons, and as a result - vast territories (the entire Kingdom of Poland, part of the Baltic states, Grodno , partly Volhynia and Podolia provinces - up to 300,000 square kilometers) were to a large extent systemic shortcomings in
7854-422: The campaigns of 1914–1915 also failed to achieve Germany's objective of taking Russia out of the war, and by 1916 Germany prioritized its resources for winning in the West. Russia went on the offensive to take pressure off of France at Verdun : Russia's attack near Lake Naroch in early 1916 was quickly defeated by Germany, but in the summer of 1916 the Brusilov offensive became the largest Entente victory in
7973-407: The conflict. The causes of the Great War have generally been defined in diplomatic terms, but certain deep-seated issues in Austria-Hungary undoubtedly contributed to the beginnings of the First World War. The Austro-Hungarian situation in the Balkans pre-1914 is a primary factor in its involvement in the war. The movement towards South Slav unity was a major problem for the Habsburg Empire, which
8092-432: The construction of fortifications in the rear of the troops. Most often, such work was hastily carried out by militia squads and the mobilized local population, sometimes including women, and then brought to the necessary defensive state by the combat units retreating on them, already exhausted by battles and night marches. Russian strategic expanses allowed the army to take a break from failures and start active resistance,
8211-422: The difficulty of tactical responsibility, to slaughter often without purpose. We sent them, being ourselves far away, not seeing either our own or the enemy, and therefore not conforming to reality. Instead of punishment, we reward such leaders, because as far as the leaders were far away, the same, but still more, the higher leaders kept even more distant. People ceased to be people, but turned into pawns. We went to
8330-406: The end of autumn, the active army suffered from a shortage of rifles and ammunition, the consumption of which turned out to be incommensurable with the volume of production. Contemporaries also noted the isolation of the Russian commanding staff from the soldiers, the lack of practical warfare skills among the top-level commanders. "We did have courage to send people to mass slaughter, hiding behind
8449-405: The enemy machine gunners to mow them down, a tactic described as "incomprehensible fatalism" by the Finnish commander Mannerheim . This led to massive losses on the Soviet side and contributed to why the clearly weaker Finnish forces (both in manpower and armament) were able to temporarily resist the Soviet attacks on the Karelian Isthmus. Soviet attacks in other sectors were successfully halted by
8568-412: The enemy to disintegrate or fall back. The human wave attack's reliance on melee combat usually makes the organization and the training of the attacking force irrelevant, but it requires either great physical courage , coercion , or morale for the attackers to advance into enemy fire. However, when matched against modern weaponry such as automatic firearms, artillery and aircraft, a human wave attack
8687-501: The fight in a state of some kind of oblivion and stunnedness", wrote the representative of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Infantry General Fyodor Palitzin , in his diary. Failures in the Russian system of command and control of troops and the organization of hostilities occurred at other levels. Thus, serious shortcomings in reconnaissance led to the absence of any analysis of the enemy's plans and actions. With
8806-550: The first time in decades that Russian war planning was primarily offensive. Prior to the outbreak of war, German strategy was based on the Schlieffen Plan . With the Franco-Russian Agreement in place from the early 1890s, Germany knew that war with either of these combatants would result in war with the other, which meant that there would be a two-front war in both the west and the east. Therefore,
8925-476: The hope of obtaining munitions from Britain and France. The Lake Naroch offensive was launched at the request of France, in the hope that the Germans would transfer more units to the East after their attack on Verdun . Joseph Joffre had made the request directly to Mikhail Alexeyev . According to Prit Buttar , "Alexeyev now convened a meeting on 24 February that included all three front commanders, where it
9044-708: The immediate years preceding the First World War , the Kingdom of Romania was involved in the Second Balkan War on the side of Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and the Ottoman Empire against Bulgaria. The Treaty of Bucharest , signed on 10 August 1913, ended the Balkan conflict and added 6,960 square kilometers to Romania's territory. Although militarized, Romania decided upon a policy of neutrality at
9163-510: The initial victories in June. The Brusilov offensive is considered to be the greatest Russian victory of the First World War. Although it cost the Russians half a million casualties during the first two months alone, the offensive successfully diverted substantial forces of the Central Powers from the Western front, and persuaded Romania to join the war, diverting even more Central Powers forces to
9282-411: The inspectors of the corps and ammunition supply units (park brigades and divisions) created difficulties in the operational replenishment of ammunition and shells in the combat units. At the same time, huge stockpiles of ammunition were created in the fortresses, which were then delivered to the enemy during the retreat or destroyed due to the impossibility of evacuation. Special units were not created for
9401-576: The management of the armed forces and the defense industry. The multi-stage placement of military orders, their slow passage in the depths of the War Ministry, the disunity of the front and rear played a negative role. Thus, until the autumn of 1915, the Russian Supreme Commander-in-Chief only coordinated the actions of the commanders-in-chief of the armies of the fronts, distributed reinforcements, requesting them from
9520-780: The massive Allied armada that landed in Galipoli . Meanwhile, Russia was preoccupied with other armies on the Eastern Front. However, the appointment of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich as Viceroy and Commander in the Caucasus in September 1915 revived the situation of the Russo-Turkish front. When the Allies withdrew from Gallipoli in December, the Caucasus Army's Chief of Staff General Nikolai Yudenich believed Turkish forces would take action against his army. This concern
9639-496: The media's stereotype of Chinese assault troops deployed in vast "human seas", a joke circulated among the US servicemen was "How many hordes are there in a Chinese platoon ?" In Chinese sources, this tactic is referred to as "three-three fireteams," after the composition of the attack: three men would form one fireteam, and three fireteams would form one squad. A Chinese platoon, consisting of 33 to 50 soldiers (depending on if they had
9758-653: The military reforms in the 1860s following the Crimean War and was also influenced by the limited capability of Russia's railway network to facilitate the quick mobilization of troops, though that was gradually improving. Russian strategy remained this way until developments that took place starting in 1911. That was the year that the French Army chief of staff visited Russia and asked the Russian high command to plan for an immediate offensive if war with Germany broke out to help prevent them from capturing Paris. This
9877-472: The more adept Erich Ludendorff , was given effective control of the army and ordered to advance on Romania. On 3 September, the first troops of the Central Powers marched into Romanian territory. Simultaneously, the Bulgarian Air Force commenced an incessant bombing of Bucharest . In an attempt to relieve some pressure, French and British forces launched a new offensive known as the Battle of
9996-439: The most notable among them being Quartermaster-General Yuri Danilov 's argument for going on the offensive against both Germany and Austria-Hungary. In early 1912, the Russian high command decided on a variant of the plan known as Schedule 19A, in which two Russian armies would invade East Prussia while four armies would invade Galicia . This did not give Russia the decisive advantage in either location, but it tried to balance
10115-433: The need for Russia to support France by attacking Germany while also acknowledging that the main interest of Russian foreign policy was in the Balkans . The plan also meant that Russia would begin its offensive before its army was fully mobilized, but it was believed that this was a necessary risk, because there would be a limited amount of time to attack Germany in support of France. The adoption of Schedule 19A in 1912 marked
10234-412: The northern and southern sectors. However, the bombardment proved ineffective. Russian assault columns found the German defenses mostly intact, and suffered terrible flanking fire. The Russian Second Army suffered 15,000 casualties in that first day, with no gain. On the 19th, the Russian bombardment continued, but the Russian assault again faltered, resulting in an additional 5600 casualties. On 21 March,
10353-406: The population of the two great states. Judging by the military situation, it was to be expected that Rumania had only to advance where she wished to decide the world war in favor of those Powers which had been hurling themselves at us in vain for years. Thus everything seemed to depend on whether Rumania was ready to make any sort of use of her momentary advantage. The entrance of Romania into the war
10472-477: The position of both countries, they felt pressure to go to war immediately. Austria-Hungary began full mobilization on 31 July, and Germany declared war on Russia on 1 August 1914. Russia's plan at the outbreak of war was known as Schedule 19. Approved by Emperor Nicholas II in July 1910 and amended over the next two years, the plan concentrated Russia's armies on its western border with Germany and Austria-Hungary and
10591-408: The production of light guns increased 9 times, the production of artillery shells increased 40 times, the production of heavy artillery increased 4 times, and finally, the production of aircraft increased 4 times. It is no exaggeration to say that Roumania may be the turning-point of the campaign. If the Germans fail there it will be the greatest disaster inflicted upon them. Afterwards it will only be
10710-558: The road towards Kraków . This early Russian success in 1914 on the Austro-Russian border was a reason for concern to the Central Powers and caused considerable German forces to be transferred to the East to take pressure off the Austrians, leading to the creation of the new German Ninth Army . The Austro-Hungarian government accepted the Polish proposal of establishing the Supreme National Committee as
10829-487: The situation was saved by German reserves. The Russians also began to go on the offensive to ease the pressure on Serbia, although unsuccessfully, but there was a turning point in the war in favor of Russia, failing to finish the campaign in 1915, the Germans were deprived of the opportunity to win the war. After the Battle of Sarikamish , the Russo-Turkish front quickly turned in favor of Russian forces. The Turks were concerned with reorganizing their army and also fighting
10948-552: The south was the Twelfth Army , commanded by Max von Fabeck . Ragoza organized his army into three groups, with the northern group led by Mikhail Pleshkov , consisted of the I and XXVI Corps, with the I Siberian Corps. The central group, led by Leonid Sirelius, consisted of the XXXIV and IV Siberian Corps. The southern group, led by Pyotr Baluyev . On the morning of 18 March, the Russian heavy artillery bombardment commenced in
11067-578: The start of the First World War, mainly due to having territorial interests in both Austria-Hungary ( Transylvania and Bukovina ) and in Russia ( Bessarabia ). Strong cultural influences also affected Romanian leanings, however. King Carol I , as a Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen , favoured his Germanic roots, while the Romanian people, influenced by their Orthodox church and Latin-based language, were inclined to join France. Perhaps King Carol's attempts at joining
11186-508: The term "human wave" was later used by journalists and military officials to convey the image that the American soldiers were assaulted by overwhelming numbers of Chinese on a broad front. S.L.A. Marshall also commented that the word "mass" was indiscriminately used by the media to describe Chinese infantry tactics, and it is rare for the Chinese to actually use densely concentrated infantry formations to absorb enemy firepower. In response to
11305-488: The visit of the Tsar to Constanța on 14 June 1914, signaled in a new era of positive relations between the two countries. Nevertheless, King Ferdinand I of Romania maintained a policy of neutrality, intending to gain the most for Romania by negotiating between competing powers. The result of the negotiations with the Entente was the Treaty of Bucharest (1916) , which stipulated the conditions under which Romania agreed to join
11424-637: The war as quickly because of its much larger territory. The Schlieffen Plan was actually a change from his predecessor in the 1880s, Helmuth von Moltke the Elder , who believed that Germany should first be on the defensive in the west and should coordinate with Austria to defeat Russia. Schlieffen's successor at the General Staff, Helmuth von Moltke the Younger , maintained the basic plan that Schlieffen put forward in 1905 of quickly knocking out France in
11543-494: The war on the side of the Central powers would have been fruitful had he not died in 1914, but Romanian disenchantment with Austria-Hungary had already influenced public and political opinion. French endorsement of Romanian action against Bulgaria, and support of the terms of the Treaty of Bucharest was particularly effective at inclining Romania towards the Entente. Furthermore, Russian courting of Romanian sympathies, exemplified by
11662-491: The war on the side of the Entente, particularly territorial promises in Austria-Hungary : Transylvania, Crișana and Maramureș , the whole Banat and most of Bukovina. According to historian John Keegan, these enticements offered by the Allies were never concrete, for in secret, Russia and France agreed not to honor any conventions when the end of the war came. In the years prior to 1914, Austro-Russian co-operation
11781-552: The war provoked major strategic changes for the Germans. In September 1916, German troops were mobilized to the Eastern Front. Additionally, the German Chief of the General Staff, General Erich Von Falkenhayn was forced to resign from office though his successor appointed him to command the combined Central Powers forces against Romania, along with General August von Mackensen . Kaiser Wilhelm II immediately replaced Falkenhayn with Paul von Hindenburg . Von Hindenburg's deputy,
11900-579: The war. Russia inflicted over one million casualties on Austria-Hungary and forced Germany to redeploy divisions from the Western Front, at the cost of its own heavy losses. In August 1916 Romania entered the war but was quickly overrun by Germany, though Russia helped prevent a total Romanian collapse. The events of the February Revolution in March [ O.S. February] 1917, caused by food shortages in Russian cities, began
12019-471: The weather. On 30 March General Evert ordered a halt to the offensive. Under the terms of the Chantilly Agreement of December 1915 Russia, France , Great Britain and Italy were committed to simultaneous attacks against the Central Powers in the summer of 1916. Russia felt the need to lend troops to fight in France and Salonika (against her own wishes), and to attack on the Eastern Front , in
12138-482: The west before turning to focus on Russia, thereby avoiding a two-front war. This strategy was fully adopted by the German government in 1913. But the plan did not take into account that the growing military capabilities of Russia in the years since the Russo-Japanese War meant that the Russian mobilization would proceed faster than Schlieffen had originally thought. Another problem with the German strategy
12257-519: The widespread use of trenches has resulted in comparisons of the conflict to the trench warfare of World War I . According to some reports, trench warfare led to the loss of "thousands of young lives in human-wave assaults on Eritrea's positions". During the Russian invasion of Ukraine starting in 2022, the Ukrainian military, Western media and prominent Russian milbloggers have reported that
12376-662: Was a theater of operations that encompassed at its greatest extent the entire frontier between Russia and Romania on one side and Austria-Hungary , Bulgaria , the Ottoman Empire , and Germany on the other. It ranged from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south, involved most of Eastern Europe , and stretched deep into Central Europe . The term contrasts with the Western Front , which
12495-455: Was achieved, the bulk of the Chinese forces would move into the enemy rear and attack from behind. During the attacks, the Chinese assault teams would disperse while masking themselves using the terrain, and this made it difficult for UN defenders to target numerous Chinese troops. Attacks by the successive Chinese fireteams were also carefully timed to minimize casualties. Due to primitive communication systems and tight political controls within
12614-415: Was almost at the point of collapse under the attack until they were rescued from Langfang by French and British troops; the Allies then retreated from Langfang in trains full of bullet holes. During the Siege of Port Arthur (1904-1905), human wave attacks were conducted on Russian artillery and machine guns by the Japanese which ended up becoming suicidal. Since the Japanese suffered massive casualties in
12733-570: Was also in accordance with Russia's 1892 promise to attack Germany if France was invaded in order to open a second front. In 1912 the Russian chief of staff, Yakov Zhilinsky , told the French that Russia would go on the offensive against Germany fifteen days after the start of its mobilization. By this point, the improvements in Russia's infrastructure made this a lot more feasible, and there was also domestic pressure for Russia to not abandon its borderlands to foreign occupation. In 1911 new proposals for modifying Schedule 19 were made by army officers, with
12852-505: Was being fought in Belgium and France . Unlike the static warfare on the Western Front, the fighting on the geographically larger Eastern Front was more dynamic , often involving the flanking and encirclement of entire formations, and resulted in over 100,000 square miles of territory becoming occupied by a foreign power. At the start of the war Russia launched offensives against both Germany and Austria-Hungary that were meant to achieve
12971-471: Was both crucial for European peace and difficult to maintain. Old suspicions exacerbated by the Bosnian crisis stood in the way of agreement between the two empires, as did ethnic sensitivities. The Russian military was the largest in the world consisting of 1,400,000 men. They could also mobilize up to 5 million men, but only had 4.6 million rifles to give them. Russian troops were satisfactorily supplied at
13090-505: Was canceled by Romania on 10 November 1918. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand eventually led to Austria-Hungary 's ultimatum to Serbia on 23 July 1914 with German backing, and after the Serbian response to it was rejected, Austria-Hungary declared war against Serbia on 28 July. Russia had made a decision to support Serbia and defend its interests in the Balkans before that, and on 29 July Russian emperor Nicholas II ordered
13209-672: Was composed of the Twelfth Army , commanded by Vladimir Gorbatovsky , and the Fifth Army , commanded by Vasily Gurko . The force devoted to the battle in the Russian West Front was composed of the First Army , commanded by Alexander Litvinov , and the Second Army, commanded by Vladimir Vasilyevich Smirnov . However, before the battle commenced, Smirnov was replaced by Alexander Ragoza . The Russian Second Army
13328-513: Was decided that, given the losses suffered by Ivanov's troops in January, any new attack would have to be made by one or both of the other fronts. After some discussion, the point chosen was the junction between the two fronts." The Northern Front , commanded by Alexei Kuropatkin , and West Front , commanded by Alexei Evert , had 266,000 and 643,000 infantry respectively, while the opposing Germans amounted to 495,000. The Russian Northern Front
13447-475: Was disconcerting for von Hindenburg. On 15 September, Paul von Hindenburg issued the following order, stating that: "The main task of the Armies is now to hold fast all positions on the Western, Eastern, Italian and Macedonian Fronts, and to employ all other available forces against Rumania." Fortunately for the Central Powers, the quantity and quality of the Romanian Army was overestimated. Although numbering half
13566-581: Was facing increasing nationalist pressure from its multinational populace. As Europe's third largest state, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy was hardly homogeneous; comprising over fifty million people and eleven nationalities, the Empire was a conglomeration of a number of diverse cultures, languages, and peoples. Specifically, the South Slavic people of Austria-Hungary desired to amalgamate with Serbia in an effort to officially solidify their shared cultural heritage. Over seven million South Slavs lived inside
13685-526: Was initially defensive. The original Schedule 19 would have had the Russian Army mobilize its troops to locations that were a significant distance away from its western border and leave the entire Polish salient to be defended by local fortresses and the Warsaw garrison. Under this version Russia would not have taken any offensive action and would have waited to react to movements by Germany and Austria-Hungary. The defensive nature of Russian planning went back to
13804-871: Was legitimate: Bulgaria's entry into the war as Germany's ally in October caused serious alarm, as a land route from Germany to Turkey was now open and would allow for an unrestricted flow of German weapons to the Turks. A "window of opportunity" appeared that would allow the Russians to destroy the Turkish Third Army, as the British required assistance in Mesopotamia (now modern day Iraq). Britain's efforts to besiege Baghdad had been halted at Ctesiphon, and they were forced to retreat. This led to an increasing number of attacks by Turkish forces. The British requested
13923-543: Was made up of 16 infantry and 4 cavalry divisions, 253 battalions, 133 squadrons and had 887 artillery pieces, whereas the German forces numbered 9 infantry and 3 cavalry divisions, 89 battalions, 72 squadrons and 720 guns of various calibres. On either side of Lake Naroch was the German Tenth Army , commanded by Hermann von Eichhorn . To the north was the Eighth Army , commanded by Otto von Below , and to
14042-574: Was the deliberate choice to not coordinate it with their allies in Austria-Hungary. Moltke the Younger wanted Austria to assist Germany by going on the offensive against Russia in the early stages of the war, and never told his Austrian counterpart, Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf , that Germany was not going have its own offensive in the east. Conrad, for his part, was also misleading the Germans by allowing them to think Austria would prioritize an attack against Russia, when he actually planned to focus
14161-566: Was used successfully in the Russo-Japanese War and the Second Sino-Japanese War , where the highly disciplined Japanese soldiers were fighting against enemies with comparatively lower discipline and without many automatic weapons such as machine guns, oftentimes outnumbering them as well. In such instances, a determined charge could break into the enemy lines and win the day. The effectiveness of such strategies in China made them
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