"Symbol of Victory": the Presidential Library’s materials spotlight unknown facts about the Brusilov offensive

The Brusilov offensive, one of the largest offensive operations of the Russian army during the First World War, which has been a symbol of victory for more than a century, launched 105 years ago on June 4, 1916.

This offensive took place on the Southwestern Front, which was commanded by General Alexei Brusilov from March 1916. The general plan of operations of the Russian army was developed by the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief on the assumption that a decisive offensive could only be undertaken by the troops of the Northern and Western Fronts. The Southwestern Front was given only a defensive task. But Brusilov insisted that he would also go over to the attack.

Rejecting the offensive methods used at that time (on a narrow sector of the front while concentrating superior forces in the chosen direction), Brusilov put forward the idea of ​​breaking through fortified enemy positions thanks to the application of simultaneous strikes by all armies of the given front: forces available for this. Only a persistent attack with all forces, on the broadest possible front, is capable of really pinning down the enemy, preventing him from transferring his reserves..."

According to On this Day section on the Presidential Library’s portal, Brusilov's front involved four armies, including 40 infantry and 15 cavalry divisions, 1770 light and 168 heavy guns, 100 aircraft. Russian troops outnumbered the enemy in manpower and light artillery by 1.3 times; in heavy artillery they were 3.2 times inferior.

The offensive of the Russian troops began along the entire front at about 5 am on June 4 (May 22) after artillery preparation. Aviation bombed and fired machine-gun fire at enemy targets in the rear and on the battlefield. The Austrian front was broken through at the same time in four places. As a result, the Russian troops managed to advance 70–120 km inland along the entire front. Bukovina and South Galicia were cleared from the Austro-Hungarian troops. The enemy lost up to 1.5 million people killed, wounded and captured, while the Russian losses amounted to about 500 thousand people. The Brusilov offensive marked a turning point in the course of the war - the initiative on all fronts passed to the Entente powers.

However, the book My Memoirs (1929), which electronic copy is available on the Presidential Library's portal, Brusilov says that “this operation did not produce strategic results...The Western Front did not deliver the main blow and the Northern Front had its motto familiar to us from the Japanese war "patience, patience and patience". “I did my best”, - he continues. “If instead of me there was a military genius like Julius Caesar or Napoleon, then perhaps he would have been able to accomplish something grandiose, but I did not and could not have such claims”.

Yes, perhaps Brusilov is not such a famous commander as Suvorov or Kutuzov. However, according to the historian Sergei Bazanov in the documentary From cavalrymen to commanders-in-chief, which is available on the Presidential Library's portal, "by the name of the commander...any operation is rarely called". Alexei Alekseevich Brusilov was honored with this.

The son of Lieutenant General Alexei Brusilov, while studying at the Corps of Pages in St. Petersburg, was interested in the military sciences, to which, in his own words, he "had a great inclination". In 1872, Alexei was accepted as an ensign in the 15th Dragoon Tver Regiment. During his participation in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878, he was twice awarded for bravery. At the age of 30 he was enrolled in the Officers' Cavalry School in St. Petersburg and served there for over twenty years. Brusilov himself admitted: “All these cavalry interests did not completely absorb me. I read military magazines, many books by military specialists, Russian and foreign, and all my life I was preparing for military affairs..."

The transition to "real" military service took place only in 1906, when Brusilov was already 53 years old. Brusilov's real military career began. He consistently holds the posts of commanders of cavalry divisions, army corps, serves in the Warsaw and Kiev military districts, despite the fact that Brusilov did not graduate from the Academy of the General Staff, which was unusual for the leadership of the army. He met the beginning of the First World War with the rank of cavalry general.

During the February Revolution, the general supported the Provisional Government and even served as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief for some time. Leaving the army, he settled in Moscow. In August 1918, Brusilov was arrested by the Cheka, but released for lack of evidence in connection with the anti-Soviet movement. “Of all the former commanders-in-chief, I am the only one who survived on the territory of former Russia”, - he wrote to the book My Memoirs. - Remaining in Russia, despite the fact that I endured a lot of grief and hardships, I tried to impartially observe everything that happened, remaining, as before, non-partisan...Later I told everyone that I consider it the duty of every citizen not to abandon his people and live with them , whatever the cost...” In 1920, Brusilov began to serve in the Red Army: he took part in the work of the Military-Historical Commission, led the cavalry pre-conscription training. In 1924 he retired, in 1926 he died in Moscow.

...The tactics of the Brusilov offensive more than once helped in battles with the enemy. Thus, the Allied troops during the Second World War, during the famous Operation Overlord in Normandy in 1944, took advantage of his idea of ​​striking not one, but four points at once during the “breakthrough of the front”.

In the Soviet Union, books about Brusilov began to be published in large quantities from the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War. The collection of the Presidential Library contains the publication Brusilov Offensive by the historian Schneer Levin, signed for printing on July 29, 1941. The author notes that “this is not the first time that the Motherland has given a victorious rebuff to the predatory German invaders” and tells about the events of 1916.

The book Brusilov Offensive by Colonel Fyodor Kuznetsov, published in 1944, tells how the commander, contrary to the opinion of other military leaders, insisted that he was allowed to go into action at the front.

The biographical sketch Brusilov by Professor Vladimir Mavrodin in 1942 notes that "Brusilov was a consistent and ardent advocate of active hostilities". At the same time, Brusilov did not tolerate the commanders forgetting about the needs of a simple soldier, and severely punished if he noticed such a thing - for this he was often called the heir of Suvorov.

Learn more about the Brusilov offensive as well as other pages of the military history of the first quarter of the twentieth century is now possible thanks to the collection World War I (1914-1918) posted on the Presidential Library's portal.