The WW1 Obliteration of an Entire Army

The night was silent and pitch-black, but Austro-Hungarian sentinels were still watchful. The Russians lay no more than 100 meters ahead, and their enemies knew they were up to something.

Skirmishes had been scarce, but there had been some unusual movement of hostile forces for the past few days. Although bored, the soldiers kept their machine guns and rifles aimed at the opposite trenches.

It was then that they heard the echoes of more than one hundred hostile artillery pieces and realized the inevitable was about to happen. Another attack.

But this one was unlike any other, giving way to one of the most lethal offensives in history, and the largest of World War 1, with numbers involved in the long behemoth of a battle rising to the millions…

- As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Docs sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect. I do my best to keep it as visually accurate as possible. All content on Dark Docs is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas. -

[geigertec]

My great grandfather fought the Austrian-Hungarian army in the Alps in WWI. Unfortunately he got shot and was medically evacuated from the front in 1917, so he couldn't fight to the end of the war. He survived and saw the downfall of the Central Powers in Europe as it happened.

He hated the monarchy and empire system in Europe which cost him his youth so he moved to the USA so he would never have to experience that again. Came over in 1920 in steerage class on an ocean liner. When WWII happened 20 years later his old town was completely destroyed.

When WWII was over alot of new suburbs were built for returning servicemen. My great grandfather managed to secure a plot of land in one of these developments and built a house.

When I was born in the early 1990's all my next door neighbors were old men, the ex-soldiers from WWII for which the neghborhood was built. They would tell me stories of fighting the Germans and Japanese in the 1940's. Many of their ancestors were also war veterans - mostly from WWI. When the war veterans all began passing away from old age I collected many of their war trophies from the estate sales their descendants would have. I purchased so many war souvaniers from the neghborhood garage sales. I got iron crosses, helmets, training rounds, boots, even a silver spoon once belonging to a Romanov prince.

I guess the moral of the story is the present is built on the shoulders of the past so we really should try to remember it.

[dennisyoung]

Thanks for speaking on the Brusilov offensive. I had read of it, but knew little beyond it happened in 1916 on the Eastern Front.

[daystatesniper]

The amounts of people lost is mind boggling, in todays terms it's like saying the population of Manchester advancing and towns like Doncaster losing their entire population, incredible

[brucegibbins]

There is something engaging in the urgency of the voice-over in this presentation. Very fitting.

[thomasgumersell]

This short video was very well done The casualities suffered by both sides was incredible. It truly speaks to the horror of modern warfare. Looking forward to your next video. 💪🏻🙏🏻✨

[richardshort]

*Fun facts:*
1. Aleksei Brusilov's father fought Napoleon over a century earlier. He was very young at the time and in middle age his much younger wife gave birth to Aleksei (1856).
2. As an aristocrat, Brusilov not only miraculously survived the Russian revolution but served in the Red Army until 1924, dying at the age of 72 in 1926.

*Not so fun fact:*
Aleksei Evert, the Russian general to the north of Brusilov, hesitated for several days advancing into the junction of the Austrian / Russian armies. The official reason was bad weather; however, he was dismissed from his position for not blocking the expected German relief. This failure allowed the Germans to reinforce the Austrians, which called a halt to the Brusilov Offensive when it was reasonably close to forcing Austria out of the war and achieving an Allied victory by mid 1917.

[ _Note:_ His Russian name is _Эверт, _ which is translated to _Evert_ in English and as either _Ewarts_ or _Ewerts_ in German. ]

[Qigate]

Thank you for detailing this important battle. I knew it broke the Austrians. Your explanation of the steps and intentions helped put this battle in perspective for me in regards to the Somme and Verdun battles. I very much enjoy this channel and your work.

[rufusmcgee]

Whenever I hear the numbers of casualties, I'm just blown away. Given the populations of those countries were fractions of what they are today, it's even more astonishing.

[willyreeves]

Verdun, the Brusilov offensive, and the Somme were the 3 largest battles fought up to that time and were for a time all going on at once. 1916 was a very bloody year.

[donprice]

It never fails to infuriate me how the generals were able to continuously feed more and more men into the cauldron, never stopping to say, "It's too much."

[fredmoss]

The numbers of soldiers killed on all sides is truly staggering!

[tng]

And one year later the Austro-Hungarian and German troops still managed to defeat Italy at the Battle of Caporetto and moved within striking distance of Venice.

[stevew]

Russian General Staff: Brusilov's offensive cost us 440, 000 dead, this is outrageous.
Stalin: Hold my vodka.

[liamfriel]

Amazing and very clear coverage of a chapter in the War that was quite unknown to me. Many thanks! 🤔

[randalldrew]

Sad to think that so many resources wasted and the vast amount of people who perished, all because of the royal families infighting.

[robertduggan]

Thank you. Informative on this arena of WW1 that is little mentioned 👏

[leslieackerman]

The most impressive aspect is the organization of the script, it’s clarity and excellent narration. The topic was novel.

[ecek]

As a continuation to this brilliant episode please make one about the 3 battles of Fortress Przemysl in then Galicia region - as far as I've been told by my ancestors it was an equally bloody massacre to Brusilov offensive. I'd really like to know more about it.

[christineshotton]

Sounds like a textbook Pyrrhic victory for Brusilov.

[RSpraitz]

Wow....I am 76 years old and remember my grandfather Emil who was a WW1 Austrian-Hungarians machine gunner telling me about this battle and being captured by the Russians. He ran out of ammo and sent his loader for more ammo. He never came back and Grandpa laid down in the trench and played dead as the "Ruskes" poured over his front-line trench. He said they "poked" everybody in the trench and when they came to him, he slowly raised his hands. Fortunately (for me and my family) they took him prisoner. He went to a camp with whatever he had on his back and survived for almost 3 years until his release. He walked with a cane for several years after he got home to his village and immigrated to northern Wisconsin and worked in the woods and railroad for 40 years before passing. He was one TOUGH guy who was my HERO growing up. I wish I had asked him more questions about the war. I only recall him saying, " We mowed them down like wheat." He always hated Russians.