Russian World War l HERO
106 years ago today, one year after he oversaw the planning and execution of one of the most successful (initially, at least) Russian offensives of World War I as commander of the South-Western Front, General Aleksei Brusilov was named supreme commander of the Russian Army.
The newly appointed War Minister Aleksandr Kerensky believed the best way to raise the morale of the Russian Army was to launch an offensive, and the Allied powers which Russia’s Provisional Government was dependent on were demanding just that.
The plan sought to repeat Brusilov's success with a broad general offensive by the South-Western Front, which despite having suffered grievous losses during the latter half of 1916 was still considered possess the least “corrupted” and “defeatist” soldiers.
Unlike the previous year, the "Kerensky Offensive" launched on 1 July 1917 would fall apart within days and ultimately accelerated the disintegration of the old Russian Army as it was forced to yield most of what little Austro-Hungarian territory it still held.
Brusilov would be relieved following the offensive's failure and replaced with General Lavr Kornilov, whose failed September 1917 coup attempt effectively undermined what little authority the Provisional Government had left. Brusilov was one of the few senior tsarist generals to eventually join the Red Army.
Although he was no more of a Bolshevik sympathizer than those generals who joined the Whites, he concluded that the Soviet government enjoyed the most popular support and, especially following the Polish advance into Ukraine in May 1920, called on all former officers to rally behind the new government as a matter of patriotism. Brusilov served as Inspector of Cavalry in the Red Army until retiring in 1924.
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