Eastern Front (World War I)

The Eastern Front or Eastern Theater, of <a href="/facts/World_War_I/vITTUanQ">World War I</a>,  was a <a href="/facts/Theater_(warfare)/kkupDxQM">theater of operations</a> that encompassed at its greatest extent the entire frontier between <a href="/facts/Russian_Empire/hg1g5SpV">Russia</a> and <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Romania/CwhVjbwD">Romania</a> on one side and <a href="/facts/Austria-Hungary/9WPUPj0W">Austria-Hungary</a>, <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Bulgaria/8p074GL0">Bulgaria</a>, the <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Empire/6QvfTRsg">Ottoman Empire</a>, and <a href="/facts/German_Empire/lwQutJyN">Germany</a> on the other. It ranged from the <a href="/facts/Baltic_Sea/jbQJGLQX">Baltic Sea</a> in the north to the <a href="/facts/Black_Sea/M0rLKvge">Black Sea</a> in the south, involved most of <a href="/facts/Eastern_Europe/f5CDGzNA">Eastern Europe</a>, and stretched deep into <a href="/facts/Central_Europe/VdxzSbJz">Central Europe</a>. The term contrasts with the <a href="/facts/Western_Front_(World_War_I)/RrhMPVQP">Western Front</a>, which was being fought in <a href="/facts/Belgium/YKuMXP5j">Belgium</a> and <a href="/facts/French_Third_Republic/I2nlEmcn">France</a>. Unlike the static warfare on the Western Front, the fighting on the geographically larger Eastern Front was <a href="/facts/Maneuver_warfare/JAgeqnGn">more dynamic</a>, often involving the flanking and encirclement of entire formations, and resulted in over 100,000 square miles of territory becoming occupied by a foreign power.
At the start of the war Russia launched offensives against both Germany and Austria-Hungary that were meant to achieve a rapid victory. The <a href="/facts/Russian_invasion_of_East_Prussia_(1914)/658CbCVP">invasion of East Prussia</a> was completely defeated while the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Galicia/Y2vUopd3">advance</a> into Austria-Hungary <a href="/facts/Carpathian_Campaign/Q83ycz7L">stalled in the Carpathians</a>, and following successful offensives by the <a href="/facts/Central_Powers/LokC2msm">Central Powers</a> in 1915 its gains were reversed. Germany and Austria-Hungary defeated Russian forces <a href="/facts/Gorlice-Tarn%25C3%25B3w_offensive/mbh1DyUp">in Galicia</a> <a href="/facts/Vistula%25E2%2580%2593Bug_offensive/4IoUPyVa">and Poland</a>, causing Russia to <a href="/facts/Great_Retreat_(Russia)/WadkXlRY">abandon</a> the <a href="/facts/Congress_Poland/sxYtmc67">Polish salient</a>, parts of <a href="/facts/Belarus/vweHwgob">Belarus</a> and the <a href="/facts/Baltic_region/vmCF5rrq">Baltic region</a>, and <a href="/facts/Galicia_(Eastern_Europe)/w86clwoq">Galicia</a>. However, the campaigns of 1914–15 also failed to achieve Germany's objective of taking Russia out of the war, and by 1916 Germany prioritized its resources for winning in the West.
Russia went on the offensive to take pressure off of France at the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Verdun/MFWmu6fK">Battle of Verdun</a>: its <a href="/facts/Lake_Naroch_offensive/jSY94CWl">attack near Lake Naroch</a> in early 1916 was quickly defeated by Germany, but the <a href="/facts/Brusilov_offensive/LoT0s6A2">Brusilov offensive</a> that summer became the largest <a href="/facts/Allies_of_World_War_I/HBo9sw1M">Entente</a> victory in the war. Russia inflicted over one million casualties on Austria-Hungary and forced Germany to redeploy divisions from the Western Front, at the cost of its own heavy losses. In August 1916 <a href="/facts/Romania_during_World_War_I/zcEpvzGM">Romania entered the war</a> but was <a href="/facts/The_Romanian_Debacle/bWgaEh6q">quickly overrun</a> by Germany, though Russia <a href="/facts/Romanian_Front_(Russian_Empire)/LFM7IEe5">helped prevent</a> a total Romanian collapse. The events of the <a href="/facts/February_Revolution/erTxrbYX">February Revolution</a> in March [<a href="/facts/Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates/kb3020Wy">O.S.</a> February] 1917, caused by food shortages in Russian cities, began a decline in discipline among the troops.
After the abdication of Emperor <a href="/facts/Nicholas_II_of_Russia/l4PRkopq">Nicholas II</a>, the <a href="/facts/Russian_Provisional_Government/TbI9uI5T">Russian Provisional Government</a> chose to continue the war to fulfill its obligations to the Entente. In July 1917 Russia's <a href="/facts/Kerensky_offensive/01gpIFUB">last offensive of the war</a> ended in failure, and in September Germany <a href="/facts/Riga_offensive_(1917)/L4QyoPro">captured Riga</a>, bringing the <a href="/facts/Imperial_German_Army/23PWtXgP">German Army</a> closer to the Russian capital. This was followed by a <a href="/facts/Kornilov_affair/mzzXFkX6">military coup attempt</a> that weakened the Provisional Government. The <a href="/facts/Bolsheviks/UAHzalnN">Bolsheviks</a> overthrew the <a href="/facts/Russian_Republic/u3Nd32Ir">Russian Republic</a> in the <a href="/facts/October_Revolution/5q9GlMv9">October Revolution</a> of November [<a href="/facts/Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates/kb3020Wy">O.S.</a> October] 1917. Despite the political instability, the majority of the <a href="/facts/Russian_Army_(1917)/LHpuwTJe">Russian Army</a> was still intact and stayed at the front line until early 1918, though the Bolsheviks began taking steps to dissolve it in December 1917 while maintaining some forces against the Central Powers as their negotiations were ongoing.
The <a href="/facts/Russian_Soviet_Federative_Socialist_Republic/W9pC4bK6">new Soviet government</a> established by the <a href="/facts/Bolsheviks/UAHzalnN">Bolsheviks</a> signed the <a href="/facts/Treaty_of_Brest-Litovsk/M89HC5pP">Treaty of Brest-Litovsk</a> with the Central Powers in March 1918 after <a href="/facts/Operation_Faustschlag/kT1wIjgP">Operation Faustschlag</a>, taking Russia out of the war; leading to a Central Powers victory. However, the Western Entente soon defeated the Central Powers, with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk being annulled by the <a href="/facts/Armistice_of_11_November_1918/xDvqSpuq">Armistice of 11 November 1918</a>. Romania and the Central Powers signed a separate <a href="/facts/Treaty_of_Bucharest_(1918)/ufyn6aCF">peace treaty</a> on 7 May 1918, but it was canceled by Romania on 10 November 1918.

Eastern Front (World War I) open-in-new

Eastern Front (World War I)