Russia has the largest military power at the outbreak of the Great War, with over 5.9 million military personnel. However, the poor infrastructure and lack of effective planning led the strongest military to negotiate. From the beginning, the poor roads and lack of railway infrastructure made the deployment difficult. Russian military commander, Yuri Danilov, decided to invade Germany and Austria-Hungary. During the war, Russian mainly focused on the eastern front. However, the battles of Tannenberg at the Woods were early defeats for the Russian army. The Brusilov Offensive, also known as the “June Advance,” completely changed the game for Russia. Historian Graydon Tunstall called the Brusilov Offensive the worst crisis of World War I for Austria-Hungary and the Triple Entente’s greatest victory. Still, it came at a tremendous loss of life. The Kerensky Offensive proved to be the final nail in the coffin. This military catastrophe greatly weakened the Russian Military and provisional government. The revolution brought Lenin and Bolsheviks into power and ended Russia’s participation in the Great War by negotiating with Germany on December 16, 1917. Over 15 million Russian soldiers served in the Great War; out of them, 1.7 million died in the war and over 4 million wounded. These stunning colorized photographs show Russian soldiers, commanders, and other fighters of World War One.
in WWI