Baranovichi offensive

Last updated
Baranovichi offensive
Part of the Eastern Front during World War I
Karte Branowitschi 1916.jpg
Date3–25 July 1916
Location
Baranovichi (Then Russian Empire, present-day Belarus)
Result Central Powers victory
Belligerents
Flag of the German Empire.svg  Germany
Flag of Austria-Hungary (1867-1918).svg  Austria-Hungary
Flag of Russian Empire (1914-1917).svg Russian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Flag of the German Empire.svg Prince Leopold of Bavaria
Flag of the German Empire.svg Remus von Woyrsch
Flag of Russian Empire (1914-1917).svg Alexei Evert
Flag of Russian Empire (1914-1917).svg Alexander Ragoza
Strength
Flag of the German Empire.svg 9th Army Flag of Russian Empire (1914-1917).svg 4th Army
Casualties and losses
13,000 [1] – 40,000 killed, wounded and captured [2] 80,000 [3]
General Adams, Commander of a German division at the battle of Baranowitschi - Labusy in March 1917 General Adams, Commander of a victorious division at the battle of Baranowitschi - Labusy. March 1917 - NARA - 17390550 (cropped).jpg
General Adams, Commander of a German division at the battle of Baranowitschi - Labusy in March 1917

The Baranovichi offensive was a battle fought on the Eastern Front during World War I between an army of Russia and the forces of Germany and Austria-Hungary in July 1916.

Contents

Background

Concurrent to an attack by Russian Southwestern Front, the Russian Western Front was to launch an offensive in the direction of Vilna. However, the plan of attack was changed - instead of an attack on Vilna, the offensive was to target the area of Baranovichi. This change of direction came about due to orders from above, mediated in a vision to Grigory Rasputin, and accepted by the Tsar, as commander-in-chief. In early June 1916, the troops of the Southwestern Front began their offensive, achieving breakthroughs against the Austro-Hungarian army and advancing into Galicia. However, General A. E. Evert, commander of the Russian Western Front, twice postponed planned offensive towards Baranovichi, first on May 31, then on June 4, and then attempted to cancel the operation altogether. By order of Russian GHQ, General Evert was obliged to " attack the enemy on the front - Nowogrodek - Baranovichi" on June 3.

Battle

The Russian Fourth Army launched the first attack on July 2 with three army corps, but had stalled by the next day. The Russians revived the offensive on July 4 but again stalled after only two days of fighting. Under the cover of night on July 8, the Russians launched a third push but all Russian attacks were repulsed by the end of the following day. On July 14, the German Army counterattacked and took back all lost ground. A final Russian attempt was made from July 25 to July 29, but yet again failed.

Results

Despite months of preparation and a sixfold advantage in manpower and artillery, the Russians failed to break through the fortified German positions, seizing only the first fortified line in some areas of the offensive which was then lost to German counterattacks.

Literature

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Stallupönen</span> 1914 battle on the Eastern Front of World War I

The Battle of Stallupönen, fought between Russian and German armies on August 17, 1914, was the opening battle of World War I on the Eastern Front. The Germans under the command of Hermann von François conducted a successful counterattack against four Russian infantry divisions from different infantry corps, which heavily outnumbered them but were separated from each other, creating a gap between the 27th Infantry Division and the 40th Infantry Division, and had little coordination with each other. The Germans retreated to Gumbinnen provoking Battle of Gumbinnen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brusilov offensive</span> 1916 Russian offensive during World War I

The Brusilov offensive, also known as the "June advance", of June to September 1916 was the Russian Empire's greatest feat of arms during World War I, and among the most lethal offensives in world history. The historian Graydon Tunstall called the Brusilov offensive the worst crisis of World War I for Austria-Hungary and the Triple Entente's greatest victory, but it came at a tremendous loss of life. It was arguably the most successful offensive in the entirety of the First World War. The victory contributed to a moral upsurge among the Russian troops, in 1917, Nicholas II planned a general general offensive along the entire front in order to end the Central Powers. After the victory, the Petrograd conference was held at which the post-war structure of the world was discussed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Łódź (1914)</span> A battle during the First World War

The Battle of Łódź took place from 11 November to 6 December 1914, near the city of Łódź in Poland. Battles were fought between German units of the Eighth army, Ninth Army, Austrian First Army, and the Russian First, Second, and Fifth Armies, in harsh winter conditions. The Germans redeployed their Ninth Army around Thorn, so as to threaten the Russian northern flank, following German reversals after the Battle of the Vistula River. The German objective was to prevent an invasion of Germany, by encircling and destroying the Russians, as a result, Germans themselves were surrounded and actually lost 2 corps, although the invasion of Germany was prevented Battle had a strong impact on both the Western and Eastern fronts. It ended with the victory of the Russian troops, although the planned invasion of Germany was canceled

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Galicia</span> Battle in World War Is Eastern Front

The Battle of Galicia was a major battle between Russia and Austria-Hungary during the early stages of World War I in 1914. In the course of the battle, the Austro-Hungarian armies were severely defeated and forced out of Galicia, while the Russians captured Lemberg and, for approximately nine months, ruled Eastern Galicia until their defeat at Gorlice and Tarnów.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Naroch offensive</span> Battle during the First World War

The Lake Naroch offensive in 1916 was an unsuccessful Russian offensive on the Eastern Front in World War I. It was launched at the request of Marshal Joseph Joffre and intended to relieve the German pressure on French forces. Due to lack of reconnaissance, Russian artillery support failed to overcome and neutralise the well-fortified German defenses and artillery positions, leading to costly and unproductive direct attacks, hindered by the weather. On 30 March General Evert ordered a halt to the offensive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aleksei Evert</span> Russian general (1857–1918 or 1926)

Aleksei Ermolaevich Evert was an Imperial Russian general of Orthodox German descent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Limanowa</span> 1914 battle of World War I

The Battle of Limanowa-Łapanów took place from 1 December to 13 December 1914, between the Austro-Hungarian Army and the Russian Army near the town of Limanowa.

Vladimir Ilyich Boyarsky was a Soviet Red Army officer who became a collaborator with Nazi Germany during World War II, serving in Andrey Vlasov's Russian Liberation Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Retreat (Russia)</span> 1915 strategic withdrawal by Russian forces on the Eastern Front of World War I

The Great Retreat was a strategic withdrawal and evacuation on the Eastern Front of World War I in 1915. The Imperial Russian Army gave up the salient in Galicia and the Polish Congress Kingdom. The Russian Empire's critically under-equipped military suffered great losses in the Central Powers' July–September summer offensive operations, which led to the Stavka ordering a withdrawal to shorten the front lines and avoid the potential encirclement of large Russian forces in the salient. While the withdrawal itself was relatively well-conducted, it was a severe blow to Russian morale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">10th Army (Russian Empire)</span> Military unit

The 10th Army was a field army of the Imperial Russian Army during the First World War.

Vladimir Vasilyevich Smirnov was an Imperial Russian Army general of the infantry who was a division, corps and field army commander. He fought in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877–1878 and in World War I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vistula–Bug offensive</span> 1915 German offensive on the Eastern Front of World War I

The Vistula–Bug offensive from July 13 to August 28, 1915, was a major Central Powers offensive with the decisive role of the German Imperial Army during World War I on the Eastern Front to defeat the forces of the Russian army in South Poland and Galicia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Dniestr and Zolota Lypa</span> 1915 Austria-Hungary offensive on the Eastern Front of World War I

The Battle of Dniestr and Zolota Lypa was an inconclusive battle between the armies of Austria-Hungary and the Russian Empire during the summer offensive of the Central Powers in 1915.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riga–Schaulen offensive</span> 1915 German offensive on the Eastern Front of World War I

The Riga–Schaulen offensive was a major Imperial German Army's offensive, launched by the Army of the Niemen of Paul von Hindenburg's group of armies to divert Russian forces from the direction of the main German blow of the summer offensive on Narew. However, it gradually changed into an offensive of two German armies to capture the Kovno fortress and reach the Western Dvina. In the course of a successful offensive, the German army defeated the superior forces of the Russian army and reached the approaches to the important city of Riga.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Łomża</span> A battle in 1915 during the First World War on the Eastern front

The Battle of Łomża was a series of large-scale battles between the Imperial German and Imperial Russian armies in the spring of 1915 on the territory of modern Poland. The Russians were able to repulse the Second German offensive on Przasnysz, but the Imperial German army also repulsed several major offensives of the Russian army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Battle of the Vistula River</span>

The 9th German Army acted versus the Russian armies west of the Vistula River. After the completion of the fighting at Humin and Wola Szydłowska, there was some calm in this sector, especially before the Russian 2nd Army. But, having received the task of pinning down the Russian troops here, the commander of the German 9th Army, General of the Cavalry August von Mackensen, decided by going on the offensive not only to help the Austro-Hungarian troops in the Carpathians, but, if successful, push back Russian 5th Army to Warsaw.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Riga offensive</span> 1915 German offensive on the Eastern Front of World War I

First Riga offensive was a military operation of the German Imperial Army with to divert Russian forces from the direction of the main blow of the German summer offensive on Narew River. The Germans broke through the heavily fortified defenses of the Russian army and defeated the vastly superior enemy forces. However, no decisive success was achieved, and at the beginning of August the Russians launched a counteroffensive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vilno-Dvinsk offensive</span> 1915 strategic Russian withdrawal on the Eastern Front of World War I

The Vilno-Dvinsk offensive took place in the autumn of 1915 between the cities of Vilno and Dvinsk. It was strategic withdrawal by Russian forces on the Eastern Front of World War I, after a successful summer German offensive. The German armies were under the command of Supreme Commander of All German Forces in the East, Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg. Although weakened by the transfer of 12 divisions to France and the Balkans, as part of taking a defense, Hindenburg had his forces conduct several secondary offensive operations. However, the numerical superiority of the Russians did not allow Hindenburg to achieve a lasting success. Further actions for the Germans were extremely unsuccessful, here they suffered heavy losses and did not achieve their goal - to take Dvinsk

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Brusilov offensive</span> Component of World War 1

The Second Brusilov offensive took place in July–August 1916 on the Eastern Front during the First World War. As a result of the First Brusilov offensive in May–June 1916, the Imperial Russian army defeated the Austro-Hungarian troops and captured a large number of prisoners. But Imperial German army came to the aid of its ally. In July 1916, all Austro-Hungarian troops were subordinated to Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff and Hindenburg became commander-in-chief of the entire Eastern Front. The weakest sections of the Austro-Hungarian front were reinforced by German divisions, and most importantly, in the direction of the impending main attack of the Russian Southwestern Front, the defense was mainly occupied by German troops. The offensive in July–August, despite the use of enormous forces and resources by Brusilov, ended in failure. Three Russian armies attacked German positions east of Kovel, but to no avail. The colossal, unprecedented casualties for the Russian Imperial Army are indicated by the numbers of wounded on the Southwestern Front in July–August 1916 - the maximum numbers for the entire war on Eastern Front, exceeding the Russian casualties during the Great Retreat of 1915 under the attacks of the German Imperial Army:
July - 197,069 WIA
August - 172,377 WIA.

References

  1. Залесский К. А. , 2003. — p. 699.
  2. Oleynikov 2016, p. 258.
  3. Залесский К. А. Кто был кто в Первой мировой войне. — М:Астрель. АСТ, 2003. — p. 699.

Sources