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The battles of Verdun, the Somme, and the Brusilov Offensive. Epic, tragic military errors, horrors of trenches, battles that killed hundreds of thousands and changed the course of history.
Today we are going to look at the Eastern front of the war where the Russians orchestrated an offensive against German positions.
The 1916 Battle of the Somme caused a total of 1 million casualties on all sides. the total is over a million casualties. The Allies had gained very little ground. At the end of the battle, they had gained only 7 miles and were still about 3 miles short of their goal from the first day of the war. The Somme, along with Verdun and the Brusilov Offensive, were among the bloodiest in world history up to that point. According to John Keegan, the Battle of the Somme was the greatest British tragedy of the twentieth century: “The Somme marked the end of an age of vital optimism in British life that has never been recovered.” For many, the battle exemplified the ‘futile’ slaughter and military incompetence of the First World War. Yet a more professional and effective army emerged from the battle. And the tactics developed there, including the use of tanks and creeping barrages, laid some of the foundations of the Allies’ successes in 1918. The Somme also succeeded in relieving the pressure on the French at Verdun. Abandoning them would have greatly tested the unity of the Entente. One German officer described the Battle of the Somme as ‘the muddy grave of the German Field Army’. That army never fully recovered from the loss of so many experienced junior and non-commissioned officers.
The 1916 Battle of the Somme caused a total of 1 million casualties on all sides. the total is over a million casualties. The Allies had gained very little ground. At the end of the battle, they had gained only 7 miles and were still about 3 miles short of their goal from the first day of the war. The Somme, along with Verdun and the Brusilov Offensive, were among the bloodiest in world history up to that point. According to John Keegan, the Battle of the Somme was the greatest British tragedy of the twentieth century: “The Somme marked the end of an age of vital optimism in British life that has never been recovered.” For many, the battle exemplified the ‘futile’ slaughter and military incompetence of the First World War. Yet a more professional and effective army emerged from the battle. And the tactics developed there, including the use of tanks and creeping barrages, laid some of the foundations of the Allies’ successes in 1918. The Somme also succeeded in relieving the pressure on the French at Verdun. Abandoning them would have greatly tested the unity of the Entente. One German officer described the Battle of the Somme as ‘the muddy grave of the German Field Army’. That army never fully recovered from the loss of so many experienced junior and non-commissioned officers.
Russia had lost a great deal of territory to Germany and Austria in 1915, and they wanted to gain it back. Russian General Alexei Brusilov put together a plan in April 1916 to launch a major offensive against Austria. It ended up being Russia's greatest feat of arms during World War I, and among the most deadly military offensives in world history. Brusilov hoped to take pressure off France and Britain and hopefully knock Austria out of the war. The plan was to attack along a broad front, preventing the Austrians from using reserves and minimizing the distance between Russian and Austrian lines. The result of the Brusilov Offensive was a terrible Russian blow against Austria-Hungary, which took 1,000,000 casualties. Russia could not hold onto its land gains, but it demonstrated its military capability on the eve of the Bolshevik Revolution.
[Warning] This episode contains explicit language and explicit themes. Listener discretion is advised. Wow! Episode 40. And with that comes a new destination in learning. Danny explores a facet he normally never does when he engages in reviewing a book on the 1916 Eastern Front offensive pushed forth by Russian General, Brusilov. Arguably, Danny argues the book does nothing wrong but he still drills the author and subject matter hard because of critical missteps in presentation and pacing issues. Full of information; full of critique. This is a great installment for the Centennial series! Tune in every Tuesday for a new episode of The Broken Shelf. ~Follow all the Legionaries on Twitter~ Danny: twitter.com/legionsarchive The Tsar: twitter.com/TsarAlexander6 Allen: twitter.com/blkydpease Spangar: twitter.com/LSFspangar ~Credits~ Original Sound Cloud image provided by Amazon.com at www.amazon.com/dp/B00332EUCG/ref…oding=UTF8&btkr=1 Original cover art owned by Timothy C. Dowling, Indiana University Press, and Amazon Digital Services. The Broken Shelf icon created and published by "The Broken Shelf" and Danny Archive. Podcast Opening recorded by Delayne Archive and edited by Danny Archive. Accompanying Opening music: Title - "Dreams Electric" Artist - Geographer Provided free from YouTube Audio Library Interlude Song - "Devastation and Revenge" Artist - Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Accreditation: Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Outro Song - "Sovereign Quarter" Artist - Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Accreditation: Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ ~Also check out 'The Great War' YouTube Channel for some extras~ Offensive - www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZTCwyiqgc0 Brusilov - www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvB5TBnTfJw Podcast edited by Danny Archive using Audacity. Download Audacity here: https://www.audacityteam.org/ This podcast is fair use under U.S. copyright law because it is (1) transformative in nature, the audio is a journalistic commentary on popular media (2) uses no more of the original work than necessary for the podcast's purpose, the claimed duration is an edited clip for rhetoric, and (3) does not compete with the original work and could have no negative affect on its market. DISCLAIMER: We do not own any of the materials (music/artworks). All rights belong to the original artists. If you are the content owner and want to remove it, please contact us at legionssoulfood@gmail.com. Thank you! ~Do Us A Favor~ If you downloaded the podcast via anything else other than Sound Cloud, maybe check out our Sound Cloud, give us a follow, and listen to a few more of our other tracks. Sound Cloud was there from the beginning for us and no matter what the others provide it was and is our host. Thanks! Sound Cloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-377177156
In October 2016, the World War One Historical Association hosted a World War I Centennial Symposium at the MacArthur Memorial. Dr. Graydon Tunstall, a senior lecturer in history at the University of South Florida, presented on the topic: "Eastern Front 1916: Russian Victory to Revolution." Dr. Tunstall explores the major Russian offensive at Lake Naroch, the Romanian campaign, as well as the Brusilov Offensive. Through military failure and victory, Dr. Tunstall sets the stage for the Russian Revolution. To learn more about the World War One Historical Association, visit https://ww1ha.org/.
In October 2016, the World War One Historical Association hosted a World War I Centennial Symposium at the MacArthur Memorial. Carl Bobrow, a member of the collections department at the National Air and Space Museum, presented on the topic: “Russian Air Assets in the Brusilov Offensive 1916.” Mr. Bobrow is an expert on the advent and development of Russian aviation and his lecture examined the extent to which the largely forgotten Russian air assets in the Brusilov Offensive were vital to its success. To learn more about the World War One Historical Association, visit https://ww1ha.org/.
All three armies take a breather in the East, as all prepare for what is to come. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
All three armies take a breather in the East, as all prepare for what is to come. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In the East, the great battle of 1916 is about to begin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In the East, the great battle of 1916 is about to begin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In the East, the great battle of 1916 is about to begin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This episode represents our third to last episode on the events of the battle of Verdun. In the months of June and July the Germans would launch another set of attacks, this time aiming for Fort Souville. This goal could have represented the final goal of the campaign, but we will never know. The effort of these attacks, coupled with the Brusilov Offensive in June and the British attack on the Somme in July, meant that this would also be the end of the German attacks at Verdun. Finally, we will discuss a bit about a change in the German high command where Falkenhayn is forced to resign in favor of Hindenburg and Ludendorff. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Readers wanting to learn more about the Great War on the Eastern Front can do no better than David R. Stone‘s new work, The Russian Army in the Great War: The Eastern Front, 1914-1917 (University Press of Kansas, 2015). The last work to treat this comprehensively was Norman Stone’s (no relation), The Eastern Front, 1914-1917, published in 1975. While literature in English has been sparse, the Russian-language literature on the Eastern Front has grown tremendously in recent decades, and so an update was desperately needed. David Stone does more than updated the earlier Stone’s work, though. He deftly shifts our perspective not only on the Eastern Front but on the war as a whole by emphasizing commonalities (among empires, operations, home fronts) while appropriately highlighting the many unique challenges faced by the tsarist state. We learn not only about the iconic clashes in East Prussia or the Brusilov Offensive, but see the critical importance of campaigns in Poland, the Caucasus, and Romania to the Russian defeat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Readers wanting to learn more about the Great War on the Eastern Front can do no better than David R. Stone‘s new work, The Russian Army in the Great War: The Eastern Front, 1914-1917 (University Press of Kansas, 2015). The last work to treat this comprehensively was Norman Stone’s (no relation), The Eastern Front, 1914-1917, published in 1975. While literature in English has been sparse, the Russian-language literature on the Eastern Front has grown tremendously in recent decades, and so an update was desperately needed. David Stone does more than updated the earlier Stone’s work, though. He deftly shifts our perspective not only on the Eastern Front but on the war as a whole by emphasizing commonalities (among empires, operations, home fronts) while appropriately highlighting the many unique challenges faced by the tsarist state. We learn not only about the iconic clashes in East Prussia or the Brusilov Offensive, but see the critical importance of campaigns in Poland, the Caucasus, and Romania to the Russian defeat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Readers wanting to learn more about the Great War on the Eastern Front can do no better than David R. Stone‘s new work, The Russian Army in the Great War: The Eastern Front, 1914-1917 (University Press of Kansas, 2015). The last work to treat this comprehensively was Norman Stone's (no relation), The Eastern Front, 1914-1917, published in 1975. While literature in English has been sparse, the Russian-language literature on the Eastern Front has grown tremendously in recent decades, and so an update was desperately needed. David Stone does more than updated the earlier Stone's work, though. He deftly shifts our perspective not only on the Eastern Front but on the war as a whole by emphasizing commonalities (among empires, operations, home fronts) while appropriately highlighting the many unique challenges faced by the tsarist state. We learn not only about the iconic clashes in East Prussia or the Brusilov Offensive, but see the critical importance of campaigns in Poland, the Caucasus, and Romania to the Russian defeat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Readers wanting to learn more about the Great War on the Eastern Front can do no better than David R. Stone‘s new work, The Russian Army in the Great War: The Eastern Front, 1914-1917 (University Press of Kansas, 2015). The last work to treat this comprehensively was Norman Stone’s (no relation), The Eastern Front, 1914-1917, published in 1975. While literature in English has been sparse, the Russian-language literature on the Eastern Front has grown tremendously in recent decades, and so an update was desperately needed. David Stone does more than updated the earlier Stone’s work, though. He deftly shifts our perspective not only on the Eastern Front but on the war as a whole by emphasizing commonalities (among empires, operations, home fronts) while appropriately highlighting the many unique challenges faced by the tsarist state. We learn not only about the iconic clashes in East Prussia or the Brusilov Offensive, but see the critical importance of campaigns in Poland, the Caucasus, and Romania to the Russian defeat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices