The Eastern Front in WWI
17.08.1914-03.03.1918
Ilkka Saarinen & Totti Lampisjärvi
Belligerents:
• The Russian Empire
(later the Russian
Republic, Russian SFSR)
and Romania (1916)
versus
• The German Empire,
Austria-Hungary, the
Ottoman Empire and
Bulgaria.
Introduction
• Eastern Front around
1600km long, stretching
from Saint Petersburg and
the Baltic in the North to
the Black Sea in the south.
• Different warfare
compared to the Western
Front.
• Opening battle the Battle
of Stallupönen.
• 1914-1918
Battles
There were numerous battles going on on the Eastern Front
from 1914-1916. These include:
• Battle of Stallupönen (first battle)
• Battle of Tannenberg (significant)
• Battle of Galicia
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•
Battle of Gumbinnen
First and Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes
Battle of Bolimov
Battle of Lake Naroch
Battle of Lutsk
VS.
Battle of Stallupönen (Present day Nesterov)
• This is a significant battle
because this was the first
military action that was seen on
the Eastern Front.
• The battle was between Paul
von Rennenkampf's men
(Russia - 200,000 troops) and
Hermann von Francais' men
(Germany - 40,000 troops).
• This battle ended in a minor
victory for Germany and did
not affect Russia as a strength
significantly (yet).
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The Battle of Tannenberg 1914
• 23-30.08.1914
• Complete defeat
and demoralization of the
Russians(~78,000 killed or
wounded, whereas only
5,000 Germans killed).
• Early phases 23-26.08.
• Main battle 26-30.08.
• Demoralised the Russian
armies completely.
• http://www.youtube.com/wa
tch?v=y7qbZaf_olY
The Battle of Galicia (1914)
• Russia invaded the AustroHungarian province of
Galicia.
• They won, and ruled
Galicia for almost a year.
• Contributed to the
decision made by the
Central Powers to
concentrate on the Eastern
Front starting in 1915.
1915: The Central Powers Attack
• The Central Powers launched
a major offensive in 1915
against the Russians.
• Russians retreated, more due
to lack of sufficient weapons
than lack of knowledge or
numbers.
• Russians pushed back
hundreds of kilometers from
Ger/Aus-Hun borders,
advance was stopped as the
threat from Russia was gone.
• Front stayed more or less the
same until 1917.
1916: Limited Russian Success
• The Russians, having received
more and newer weaponry,
attacked.
• Larger military
concentration/population than
Germany
• June 1916: General Brusilov
started an offensive that went 5070km into Austria-Hungary,
capturing hundreds of thousands
of prisoners, and weaponry.
• Ended in September due to
reinforcements coming in from the
west.
• Romanians successful at first, but
then overthrown by superior
weaponry and lack of support from
Russians.
The Eastern Front (Provisional Govt)
• Following the February
Revolution, the
government of Alexander
Kerensky needed a victory
to raise support for the
war.
• The Kerensky offensive in
July 1917.
• Early successes, complete
failure later due to lack of
discipline and morale.
• Complete halt by July 16th,
followed by retreat.
The Eastern Front (Communist)
• Despite wanting to end the
war, Lenin did not want to
accept the harsh German
peace terms.
• The Germans started
marching across Ukraine
more or less with impunity.
• Lenin was in essence forced
to agree to the Treaty of
Brest-Litovsk.
• The war on the Eastern
Front was over (3 March
1918 - signing of BrestLitovsk).
Main Sources
BBC - History: World War One
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/
First World War.com - The Eastern Front
http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/ef.htm
The War Times Journal - The Eastern Front 1914-1917
http://www.richthofen.com/ww1sum2/