Brusilov offensive

The Brusilov offensive (Russian: Брусиловский прорыв, romanized: Brusilovskiĭ proryv, lit. 'Brusilov's breakthrough') of June to September 1916 was the Russian Empire's greatest feat of arms during World War I and among the most lethal offensives in world history. The historian Graydon Tunstall called the Brusilov offensive the worst crisis of World War I for Austria-Hungary and the Triple Entente's greatest victory, but it came at a tremendous loss of life. The victory contributed to a morale upsurge among the Russian troops. The offensive's success led Russia's allies to reconsider their positions on postwar territorial concessions, including the status of Anatolia and the Bosphorus Strait. The offensive involved a major Russian attack against the armies of the Central Powers on the Eastern Front. Launched on 4 June 1916, it lasted until late September. It took place in eastern Galicia (present-day northwestern Ukraine), in the Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Chernivtsi and Volyn Oblasts. The Russian side captured cities such as Lutsk, Brody, Kolomyia, Chernivtsi and reached the Eastern Carpathian Foothills. The offensive is named after the commander in charge of the Southwestern Front of the Imperial Russian Army, General Aleksei Brusilov. The largest and most lethal offensive of the war, the Brusilov offensive, had far-reaching effects. It relieved German pressure on French forces at Verdun, and helped to relieve the Austro-Hungarian pressure on the Italians. It inflicted irreparable losses on the Austro-Hungarian Army and finally induced Romania to enter the war on the side of the Entente. The human and material losses on the Russian side also greatly contributed to the onset of the Russian Revolution the following year. It was the largest battle in World War I according to the total losses and forces of the parties.