The Kerensky Offensive
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In this week in military history, we explore the Kerensky Offensive by the Russian Army during World War I.
Alexander Kerensky, Minister of War and future Prime Minister for Russia’s provisional government after the Tsar was overthrown and before the Bolsheviks took over in October, 1917, planned the last offensive campaign for the Russian Army during World War I. Leaders in Russia’s provisional government hoped a big victory would reinforce their legitimacy, especially as the Petrograd Soviet, a popular assembly in Petrograd was growing in influence and was becoming a rival center of influence to the provisional government. This turned out to be a bad decision, both militarily and politically.
The Russians bombarded Austro-Hungarian targets on June 28th through June 30th, 1917. This bombardment was followed by the advance of the Eleventh, Eighth and Seventh Armies towards Lemberg, Ukraine. On July 3, 1917, many of the Russian units stopped their advance with their officers unable to enforce their authority and maintain discipline due to confusing orders from the Petrograd Soviet. Order No.1, issued in March, insisted that the military obey only orders from the Petrograd Soviet as opposed to the provisional government. The Austro-Hungarians benefited from this halt and were able to reinforce their lines. On July 19, the Austro-Hungarians counterattacked and forced the Russians to retreat with heavy casualties.
The retreat further demoralized the Russian military and weakened public support for the Russian provisional government in the general populace.
Join us next time for another segment of This Week in Military History with the Pritzker Military Museum & Library!