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The Battle of Lutsk (4-6 June 1916)

The Battle of Lutsk (4-6 June 1916). By Kim Masek. Who was involved?. 200,000 Austrian Hungarians led by the confident yet questionably competent archduke Josef Ferdinand 150,000 Russians led by the innovative, tactical and technologically forward Alexei Brusilov. Why did this battle occur?.

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The Battle of Lutsk (4-6 June 1916)

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  1. The Battle of Lutsk (4-6 June 1916) By Kim Masek

  2. Who was involved? • 200,000 Austrian Hungarians led by the confident yet questionably competent archduke Josef Ferdinand • 150,000 Russians led by the innovative, tactical and technologically forward Alexei Brusilov

  3. Why did this battle occur? • The Russians pleaded to divert attention from the battle of Verdun. • The Russians failed to divert attention at lake Narcocz where they were defeated by the Germans. • It was the first battle of the Brusilov offensive, which was a plan intended to create enough threat for the allies on the eastern front in order for them to unfocus on the western front. • As you will understand by the end of this presentation, the Ukrainian Lutsk was the perfect start for an offensive.

  4. The Russian Plan • Brusilov had to persuade the Tsar that an offensive strategy was better than Alexei Evert’s defensive proposal. • Even though he was given the soldiers he demanded, the strategy was still generally frowned upon by other generals. • Brusilov started the offensive by issuing heaving artillery at the Austrian Hungarian lines. • The commander Kaledin managed to break through the Austrian-Hungarian line so that the Russians could fire artillery at the fortressed Austrian Hungarians. • The Austrian Hungarians were left in panic and many tried to helplessly flee, but the nature of their fortress, they were barbed in, enabled the Russians to catch many prisoners.

  5. Why did the Austrians fail to defend themselves • The idea of a Russian offensive was usually dismissed in allied battle plans, as Russians were traditionally defensive. • Josef Ferdinand was too complacent, he underestimated the Russian army especially because his army overpowered the Russian one in numbers. • They were in a terrible position for defending themselves against artillery.

  6. The battle in numbers In the Brusilov offensive: 500 thousand Russians were killed or wounded 1.5 million Austrians were either killed, wounded or taken prisoner. In addition another 350 thousand German soldiers suffered the same fate. In the battle of Lutsk 30,000 Austrian prisoners were taken on its first day signifying its breakthrough.

  7. The impact of the battle • The battle created the breakthrough of the Russians through the Austrian-Hungarian front that was necessary for their overall offensive • The battle effectively halted Germany’s efforts at Verdun and turned them to the eastern front. • The battle almost eliminated Austria Hungary from the war. • It marked the considerable increase in the quality of Russian tactics. • It promoted the”human wave” tactic, such that was used in Hitler ”blitzkrieg”.

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