Kerensky Offensive

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Kerensky Offensive

Operations on the Eastern Front in 1917

Date	July 1 to July 19, 1917
Location	Galicia, Central Europe
Result	Decisive German and Austro-Hungarian victory

Combatants

Russian Provisional Government

German Empire

Austria-Hungary

Commanders

Aleksei Brusilov

von Bothmer

Strength

XI, VII, VIII Armies

South Army (A.H.-Germany)
VII and III Army (Austria-Hungary)

Casualties

400,000

Eastern Front
Stalluponen – Gumbinnen – Tannenberg – 1st Lemberg – Krasnik – 1st Masurian Lakes – Przemyśl – Vistula River – Łódź – Bolimov – 2nd Masurian Lakes – Gorlice-Tarnów – Warsaw – Lake Naroch – Brusilov Offensive – Kerensky Offensive

The Kerensky Offensive (aka July Offensive or Galician Offensive) was the last Russian offensive in World War I. It took place in July 1917.

It was decided by Alexander Kerensky, Minister of War in the Russian provisional government, and led by General Brusilov. Such a decision was ill-timed, because, following the February Revolution, there were strong popular demands for peace, especially within the army, whose fighting capabilities were quickly deteriorating.

Discipline within the Russian Army had reached at a point of crisis since the Tsar's abdication. The Provisional Government's "Order Number 1" tremendously weakened the power of officers, giving an overriding mandate to "soldier committees". The abolition of the death penalty was another contributing factor, as was the high presence of revolutionary agitators at the front including Bolshevik agitators, who promoted a defeatist agenda (and whom Kerensky tolerated considerably more than conservative agitators). Riots and mutineering at the front became common, officers were often the victims of soldier harassment and even murder. Furthermore, the policy of the new government towards the war effort was one of fulfilling obligations towards Russia's allies, as opposed to fighting for the sake of total victory, thus giving soldiers a less credible motivation to fight.

However, Kerensky hoped that an important Russian victory would gain popular favour and restore the soldiers' morale, thus strengthening the weak provisional government and proving the effectiveness of "the most democratic army in the world", as he referred to it.

Starting on July 1, 1917 the Russian troops attacked the Austro-Germans in Galicia, pushing toward Lviv. The operations involved the Russian 11^th, 7^th and 8^th Armies and the Austro-German South Army (General von Bothmer) and the Austrian 7^th and 3^rd Armies.

After an initial success, the offensive was halted because the Russian soldiers soon mutinied and refused to fight. It collapsed altogether by July 16. On the 18^th the Austro-Germans counterattacked, meeting little resistance and advancing through Galicia and Ukraine until the Zbruch River. The Russian lines were broken on the 20^th, and by the 23^rd, the Russians had retreated about 240 kilometers (150 miles).

The Russian provisional government was greatly weakened by this military catastrophe, and the possibility of a Bolshevik coup d'état became increasingly real. Far from strengthening Russian army morale, this offensive proved that Russian army morale no longer existed. No Russian general could now count on the soldiers under his command actually doing what they were ordered to do.

One last fight took place between the Germans and the Russians in this war. On September 1, 1917 the Germans attacked and captured Riga. The Russian soldiers defending the town refused to fight and fled from the advancing German troops.