World War I Eastern front발음듣기
World War I Eastern front
In early August 1914, we know that Germany declares war on Russia just as Russia is mobilizing troops to get into a war with the Austro-Hungarian Empire.발음듣기
Because the Austro-Hungarians have declared war on Serbia, and the Russians use protection of Serbia as a pretext for getting into a war with the Austrians.발음듣기
The Germans have an alliance with the Austrians, so they feel the need to fight the Russians; and because the Russians have an alliance with the French, to fight the French as well.발음듣기
The first combat on the Eastern Front actually happens with Russia fighting on the offensive.발음듣기
There a 2 Russian armies: the Russian 1st Army and the Russian 2nd Army attacking the Germans in Eastern Prussia.발음듣기
They were up against one German army: the German 8th Army and in theory, it should have been a rout of the German 8th Army.발음듣기
They had them outnumbered, you had 2 Russian armies coming from different directions, but because of really bad coordination, one could even argue: bad leadership, and other tactical problems, it was actually a rout the other way.발음듣기
Tannenberg is around here; it wasn't far from the battle but there were other cities the battle could have been named for.발음듣기
But since the Germans won the battle, they named it Tannenberg because there was an ancient battle in mediaeval times, in the 1400's, where the Slavic and Sub-Slavic peoples were able to rout German Teutonic knights.발음듣기
In order to redeem that, they labeled this other war of Germans against Slavic people as the second Battle for Tannenberg.발음듣기
The Russian 2nd Army went in to the battle with an estimated 150,000 to 180,000 troops. Roughly half were killed.발음듣기
It was such a humiliating defeat for the Russian 2nd army that its general, general Samsonow, shot himself.발음듣기
But by the end of 1914, they were able to get back into gear and they stayed on the offensive and did have some victories up here in Galicia which at the time was part of north-eastern Hungary.발음듣기
Now as we enter into 1915 and we already covered this in the videos on the Western Front - We know the Western Front was entering into a stalemate, the Schlieffen plan did not happen as quickly as possible - but the defenders had a huge advantage.발음듣기
And they are able to drive the Russians out of Russian Poland, roughly to this border that I have drawn over here.발음듣기
We talk about Russian Poland. The modern state of Poland, I am making this video in 2013 - Poland was split between as you see in this map between the Russian Empire and the German Empire.발음듣기
To a large degree, this was because Russia, even though they had a huge army, they had bad communication lines and bad technical supplies.발음듣기
Russian industry was unable to keep up with the demands of the war and was not able to supply munitions and arms in proper quantities to their troops.발음듣기
They were driven out of Russian Poland but now by 1916 they are able to keep the Central Powers a bit more on the defensive.발음듣기
And by the end of 1916, the Romanians join in on the side of the Triple Entente on the side of the Russians, in order to fight the Central Powers.발음듣기
The Russian industry is finally picking up, they are starting to put the Central Powers more on the defensive, but the entire time we are talking about this battle the economic situation in the Russian Empire is deteriorating dramatically.발음듣기
There are food shortages, riots, and in February of 1917, you have the February Revolution, the overthrow of the Romanov dynasty.발음듣기
It has been in power for 300 years, but in February and early March Czar Nicholas II abdicates the throne. This is him over here.발음듣기
We will do more detailed videos on the entire Russian Revolution and what happens to his family and all the rest. An interim government takes place.발음듣기
This is an interesting fact of history: this interim government all of a sudden becomes a democracy.발음듣기
It is February 1917 and remember the United States have not entered the war at this point And you may also remember that in April, the United States use the idea of fighting on the side of Democracy as a justification for entering the war.발음듣기
Which is very nice, because by April all of the major powers on the side of the Triple Entente were all democracies: the interim government of the Russians, the French, and the British Empire which obviously is a democracy only for those who can vote.발음듣기
And the United States were the first country to recognize the Interim Government after the overthrow of Czar Nicholas II.발음듣기
The morale of the troops breaks down, the Bolsheviks start to create unrest, by September 1917.발음듣기
Germany is able to capture Riga, which is a major city over here on the Baltic, which brings the Central Powers very close to the Russian capital.발음듣기
And in November, on the 7th, you have a coup d'?tat of that ostensibly democratic interim - or provisional - government and the Communists - the Bolsheviks take power. under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin over here.발음듣기
So November 7, 1917, a very famous date in history - you have Lenin leading the Bolsheviks into power.발음듣기
So in December, they start to negotiate an armistice with the Central Powers and they do not have a lot of leverage in this negotiation because they really did not want to be in this war.발음듣기
And so by March of 1918 you have the treaty between Russia and the Central Powers, the treaty of Brest-Litowsk.발음듣기
The Russians, the Bolsheviks, were so desparate to focus on the internal civil war that had emerged in Russia, that in order to consolidate power they gave over a huge amount of territory to the Central Powers.발음듣기
A large part of Europe that is not predominantly of Russian ethnicity went over to the Central Powers.발음듣기
This treaty is important, because it is essentially the end of World War I for the Russians.발음듣기
It allowed the Germans to start bringing troops back over to the Western Front and they are able to do quite an aggressive spring offensive on the Western Front.발음듣기
And if it was not for the US now being able to reinforce the Western Front, remember they declared war in mid 1917 - the German offensive might have been successful in the spring of 1918.발음듣기
So the importance of Brest-Litowsk is that it was the end of the Eastern Front, it allowed the Germans to do an offensive on the Western Front and it was a very strong offensive but with the help of the Americans it was not a successful one.발음듣기
But the territorial gain for the Central Powers because of Brest-Litowsk, were not that significant.발음듣기
Because in November 1918, you have the Central Powers saying 'we are not able to win this war' and you have what for a long time was known as Armistice day: on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month you have an armistice and the end of World War 1.발음듣기
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