Russian World War l HERO
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 w...