Auckland Museum · Pou KanohiLetters from the front line
Cossacks on the charge, circa June 1916.Auckland Weekly News, AWMM: AWNS-19160622-35-2

War chronicle · June–September · Lviv, Kovel and Lutsk

Russia’s greatest victory

Russia wins against Austria-Hungary but Russian soldiers may have lost their fighting spirit.

Russia comes up with a bold plan to attack Germany’s weakest link on the Eastern Front – its Austro-Hungarian ally.

Thanks to the careful planning and new tactics of General Alexei Brusilov – Russia’s greatest World War I general – initially the Russians are hugely successful. The Austro-Hungarian lines are broken, and some 200,000 prisoners captured.

The Germans manage to halt the Russian advance in September, but lose 350,000 men. Russian losses also soar. This is the greatest Russian victory of the war, but it may have cost the Russian soldiers their resolve to stay in the fight.

Photos & objects

General Aleksei Brusilov, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, and his troops attending Mass in their camp, probably summer 1917.
General Aleksei Brusilov, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, and his troops attending Mass in their camp, probably summer 1917.© IWM (Q54746)