Brusilov breakthrough in 1916. The most important thing to know

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

In the history of the First World War, two strategic operations were named not by the place of their conduct, but by the names of the commanders. The first of them - "Brusilovsky breakthrough", and the second, organized in April-May 1917 by the Anglo-French command, "Nivelle's meat grinder". In the east - "breakthrough", in the west - "meat grinder".

Already by these epithets it is clear which of the allies in the Entente fought with great skill and more saved the soldiers' lives

Alexei Alekseevich Brusilov remained the hero of one, but a grandiose battle, during which the methods of troop action were worked out, which are relevant up to our time.

A representative of an old noble family was born in Tiflis, where his father, Lieutenant General Alexei Nikolaevich Brusilov, headed the military-judicial bodies of the Caucasian corps.

The boy was six years old when first his father died, and then his mother, nee Maria-Louise Nestomskaya (Polish by birth). Three orphaned brothers were brought up by their uncles and aunt - the spouses of Gagemeister, and then were assigned to military schools. Alexei and his next oldest brother, Boris, entered the privileged Corps of Pages. The youngest of the brothers, Lev, went along the sea line and rose to the rank of vice admiral. But even more than Lev Alekseevich, his son and nephew of the commander, Georgy, is known, who died during an expedition to the North Pole and became one of the prototypes of the polar explorer Tatarinov from the famous novel by Kaverin "Two Captains".

Manege career

Brusilov's service began at the age of 19 in the dragoon regiment, where he soon took the post of regimental adjutant, that is, the person who determined the daily life of the unit headquarters.

In 1877, a war broke out with Turkey, and for his participation in the capture of the fortresses of Ardahan and Kars, he received three orders from among those that usually go to staff officers.

But his brother Boris in 1881-1882 participated in Skobelev's expedition against the Tekins and was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th degree, prestigious among the army. However, then Boris retired, settling in the family estate of Glebovo-Brusilovo. Alexei continued his service and, having completed "excellent" courses for squadron and centenary commanders, received a referral to the Officer Cavalry School.

As a teacher, he taught representatives of aristocratic families, but at the same time he made useful contacts among them. Most importantly, Brusilov won the favor of the commander of the capital's military district, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich Jr. It turns out that Brusilov had modest experience in commanding combat units, did not study at the Nikolaev military academy and did not take part in the Russo-Japanese war, but rose to the highest levels of the military hierarchy.

His career looked so unusual that some historians associated it with the Masons, who allegedly promoted Brusilov "upward" so that at the right time he would help them to overthrow the tsar-father. Although everything was explained much more simply: this career was made in riding arenas, on parade grounds and in salons. And the Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich was worth a dozen other patrons, especially since with the outbreak of the First World War it was he who was appointed the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

Brusilov immediately found himself at the head of the 8th Army, which was crushing the Austrians in Galicia.

At the end of August 1914, when the situation was hanging by a thread, he gave his subordinate General Kaledin the famous order: “12th Cavalry Division - die. Die not immediately, but until the evening. The division survived.

Then there were successful battles on the San River and near the city of Stryi, where Brusilov's units captured about 15 thousand prisoners. When in May-June 1915 the Austro-Germans broke through the Russian front at Gorlitsa, Aleksey Alekseevich again rose to the occasion, successfully leading his army out of the trap, and in September he launched a counterblow, capturing Lutsk and Czartorysk.

Nikolai Nikolaevich by that time was removed from office, but Brusilov's reputation was so high that Nikolai II appointed him commander of the Southwestern Front.

Victory score

On April 14, 1916, a meeting was held in Mogilev to discuss plans for the summer campaign.

Based on the demands of the allies, who wanted the Germans to weaken the onslaught on Verdun, the tsar decided to deliver the main blow with the forces of the Western (General Evert) and Northern (General Kuropatkin) fronts.

Fighting against Austria-Hungary, the Southwestern Front should have inflicted an auxiliary blow with the sole purpose of preventing the Austrians from helping the Germans.

Both Evert and Kuropatkin did not believe in the success of the business, but Brusilov expressed his readiness to advance ahead of schedule, without requiring reinforcements. Meanwhile, the enemy defense was so strong that, ignoring considerations of secrecy, an exhibition was even organized in Vienna, which showed models and photographs of Austrian fortifications. It must be understood that Russian agents also visited it, because, together with the data from the air reconnaissance, Brusilov had enough information.

In fact, he managed to create a new breakthrough methodology. He decided to advance not in one place, but in 13 sections of the 450-kilometer front, in another 20 sections he should have limited himself to a demonstration.

We prepared carefully. The photographs taken by the pilots were enlarged, and each officer received a detailed map of his area. Observers spotted enemy firing points, plotted landmarks, after which accurate zeroing was carried out. Instead of firing at areas, targets were pre-determined for each battery.

The attack technique was being worked out. In each company, assault groups were created from the most skillful soldiers. It was supposed to move in "waves of chains". Each regiment formed four lines with a distance of 150-200 steps between them. The first and second waves, armed with grenades, smoke bombs and wire-cutting scissors, had to, without stopping, roll over the first trench and gain a foothold in the second, and then proceed to clean up the enemy who remained in the rear. Simultaneously, the third and fourth lines with fresh forces attacked the third line of enemy trenches.

Brusilov did not neglect what is now called information war. The personnel were informed of the facts of torture of prisoners of war by the enemy, atrocities in the occupied territory, as well as episodes such as the case when the Germans captured a group of Russian soldiers who visited them during the lull to "take Christ" on the occasion of Easter.

A weapon showered with diamonds

The offensive began on June 4, 1916, on the birthday of the commander of the 4th Austrian army, Archduke Joseph Ferdinand. On the main direction near Lutsk, only Russian cannons operated that day: the artillery preparation lasted 29 hours here. To the south, the artillery preparation took only six hours, but the 11th Army was able to occupy three trench lines and a number of important heights. Further south, at the location of the 7th Army, the matter was also limited to artillery barrage. And, finally, on the extreme southern flank - in the 9th Army - everything was played out like clockwork. The artillery preparation took 8 hours, ending with a gas attack, then two shock corps broke through the first line of the enemy defense.

The next morning began with an attack on the main sector of the 8th Army. On June 7, Denikin's Iron Division, which was moving in the vanguard, captured Lutsk, which had been surrendered to the enemy six months earlier. After this success, the Russian newspapers wrote about the offensive as about the Lutsk breakthrough, but the people called him Brusilovsky. If Evert and Kuropatkin failed their offensives, Alexei Alekseevich achieved complete success. However, instead of the order of St. George, 2nd or even 1st degree, he was awarded the less prestigious St. George's weapon, albeit with diamonds.

Meanwhile, the Austrians rolled back their offensive against Italy, and the Germans began to transfer troops from France. Even the Turks sent a division to help the allies, which, however, somehow imperceptibly disappeared into the whirlwind of battles. By the end of August, the offensive, which had become the swan song of the imperial army, gradually died out.

According to official figures, the losses of the Russians amounted to 477,967 people; of them 62,155 killed and died from wounds, missing (mostly captured) - 38,902. The total losses of the enemy amounted to 1, 4-1, 6 million soldiers and officers. The share of Germans is about 20%. As for the armed forces of Austria-Hungary, by and large they never recovered from this blow.

In January 1917, Aleksey Alekseevich was asked when the war would be won, and he replied: "The war has already been won in essence."

With his lips …

Under the red banner

Brusilov considered his convictions "purely Russian, Orthodox", but at the same time he moved in the circles of liberals and was fond of far from Orthodox things like occultism.

He was not an ardent monarchist either, which was confirmed by the events of February 1917, when Brusilov, together with other commanders of armies and fronts, spoke in favor of the abdication of Nicholas II.

After seeing which genie was released from the bottle, he honestly tried to save what was possible by accepting the position of Supreme Commander and trying to infuse morale into the decaying units. His most famous initiative was the creation of the so-called volunteers. shock battalions, which, "deployed in the most important combat sectors, by their own impulse could carry the wavering along with them." But the army was not carried away by such examples.

An excellent tactician and strategist was helpless where an iron hand, demagoguery and the skills of a political intrigue were required. After the failure of the June offensive, he was replaced by Lavr Kornilov and left for Moscow, where he received the only wound in his life. In October, during street fighting between the Red Guards and the cadets, he was wounded in the thigh by a shell fragment in his own house. It took a long time to receive treatment, but there was a reason not to interfere in the civil strife that was tearing the country apart, although Brusilov's sympathies were on the side of the whites: his brother Boris died in 1918 in the KGB dungeons.

But in 1920, when the war with Poland broke out, the general's mood changed. In general, the struggle with a long-standing historical enemy set in a conciliatory mood many former officers who dreamed of restoring the empire, even if in a Bolshevik package.

Alexei Alekseevich signed an appeal to white officers, which contained a call for an end to the Civil War and a promise of amnesty. Nearby were the signatures of Lenin, Trotsky, Kamenev and Kalinin. The appearance of the Brusilov surname in such a company really made a strong impression, and many officers believed in the appeal.

Assessing the effect produced, the Bolsheviks decided to tie the popular military leader to themselves even more tightly, appointing him to honorary, but insignificant posts.

Brusilov held posts, but felt that he was only being used, and in 1924 he retired. He was given a salary as an expert of the Revolutionary Military Council, published a memoir about the First World War and even provided treatment in Karlovy Vary.

While in Czechoslovakia, he dictated to his wife Nadezhda Vladimirovna Brusilova-Zhelikhovskaya (1864-1938) the second volume of his memoirs, expressing everything he thought about the Bolsheviks, but ordered the memoirs to be made public only after his death. Returning to his homeland, Aleksey Alekseevich died and was buried in the Novodevichy Convent with all military honors.

Marshal maker

In 1902-1904, when Brusilov headed the Officer Cavalry School, among his subordinates was the cavalry guard Baron Mannerheim. The future Marshal of Finland recalled about his boss: “He was an attentive, strict, demanding leader of his subordinates and gave very good knowledge. His military games and exercises on the ground were exemplary and extremely interesting in their design and execution."

In 1907, the future Soviet Marshal Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny was sent to the Officer Cavalry School as the best rider of the 2nd Don Cossack Regiment. He graduated from the courses with honors, and after the Civil War he worked with Brusilov as an assistant to the commander-in-chief of the Red Army for cavalry.

Brusilov played a decisive role in the fate of another red cavalryman - Grigory Ivanovich Kotovsky. In 1916, as the leader of a bandit gang, he was sentenced to death, but Alexei Alekseevich insisted on saving his life.