Osprey Essential Histories 13 : The First World War (1) : The Eastern Front 1914-1918

In 1914 a series of complicated and tragic events saw Russia and Germany embark on a war that was to engulf the whole of Europe and be labelled by history as the First World War. A tangle of international treaties that bound the major powers meant that, once started, widespread conflict was inevitable and on the largest and most costly scale yet seen by a modern Europe. German plans to defeat France while Russia mobilised were dashed when Russia, despite inadequate resources, unexpectedly attacked barely two weeks into the war. A crushing defeat at Tannenberg saw Allied confidence in Russia shattered. Further Russian failures followed in 1915, and culminated in the 1916 disastrous attempt to coordinate an offensive with France. Russia fared better against Austro-Hungary, where General Brusilov's secondary offensive proved brilliantly successful, if ultimately damaging on a wider scale, as Rumania was tempted into entering the fray. A German-led invasion in 1916 occupied Rumania resulting in huge losses on both sides and forcing Russia to stretch itself all the way to the coast. Brusilov was forced onto the defensive. Russian military and civilian moral plummeted further during the 1916-17 winter, and uprisings in Petrograd forced Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate. After an attempted summer offensive collapsed almost immediately, the Russian army began to disintegrate. Lenin's Bolshevik's seized control of the crumbling Russian state on 7 November 1917 and four months later signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, thus ending Russia's disastrous involvement in WWI with humiliating losses of territory. In a compelling and concise narrative, Geoffrey Jukes guides us through this pivotal chapter of the Great War with clear explanations of military and political events, and vital insights into the experiences of those involved in combat, whether as soldiers or civilians. Text by Geoffrey Jukes.

Contents

• Introduction
• Chronology
• Warring Sides : Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary
• The Fighting : From War to Revolution
• Portrait of a Soldier : A Trooper, an Ensign and a Sergeant
• The World around War : The Last Days of Tsarist Russia
• Portrait of a Civilian : 'Living on Cereals and Porridge'
• How the War Ended : The Bolsheviks seize Power
• Conclusion and Consequences : The Emergence of a Superpower