The EASTERN FRONT
The Eastern Front in World War 1 was way different from the Western Front. It involved armies of Austria-Hungry, Ottoman Empire, Germany, Russia, and other countries in the Balkan area. It was a massive war of great gains and loss. It gave the grave site front of over 20 million soldiers in the war. It also resulted in the downfall of the 4 major empires and created new boarders that not only created majors problematic region to ethnic and religious groups but would also result in major future conflicts and ethnic cleanings.
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By 1914 the Russian army drove deep into German territory. After Germany realized it had to fight 2 fronts, they sent massive numbers of troops and for the first time the two armies met at the battle of Tannenberg . In a week the German army inflicted total dominance and annihilated the 1st Russian army along with it's general killed in action. This marked the last time Russia would launch an offense and proved how weak it was and lowered moral in the army. Over 150,000 soldiers became prisoners.
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In 1915 the Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia and fought against the Russian empire mostly in the north middle east and the Caucasus mountains.
The war front was less prioritized by Russia since the war with Germany was being lost. The Ottoman Empires weren't used to the Russian winter and had heavy causalities. Also the Ottomans didn't prioritized due to the British invasion and uprising in Mesopotamian. Russia gained Armenia but quickly lost it to the Ottomans due to the withdraw of troops in the region. |
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In the end of 1915 after capturing Armenia; Turkish officials learnt how Armenians citizens praised Russian soldiers for liberating them. After many decades of trying to find an excuse the ottoman empire then implied the ethnic cleansing of Armenians and other ethnic and religious minorities especially Christians. At first 400 Armenian intellectuals were rounded up, soon after until 1919 over 3.5-5 million Armenians, Christians, and Greeks were rounded up. Males were taken to death camps for forced labor. Children, the sick, elder, women, and infants were forced on death marches to the Syrian desert to be left to die or executed by either hanging, crucifixion, stoned, burnt to death, and firing troops. 60% of the pre war population was killed.
The genocide is closely compared to the holocaust in WW2. |
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By 1917 after many suffering over 15 million deaths and the death of Rasputin caused the Royal family to decline and caused the Russian Empire to go into despair and mutiny.
A man named Lenin brought the red revolution which caused the downfall of the Romanov empire and the start of the Russian civil war. The royal family was executed in 1918 and The new formed U.S.S.R signed a peace treaty of brest litovsk which gave the central powers all the Russian land to the black sea. |
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By 1918, Even though the central powers had massive lands gained from Russia. The western allies were pushing from Middle east, Balkans , and the western front. And the central powers army was exhausted. All signed an armistice and unconditional signed the Treaty of the Versailles giving all the fault to Germany. The Ottoman Empire finally collapse after 700 years into different regions that still has disputes between Muslims. The Austrian empire cease to exist and created many new nations proposed by Woodrow Wilson but in the Balkans created an unstable multi-cultural region that would lead to cleanings. U.S.S.R gained it's lost land. Germany lost it's empire and given heavy repercussions. And finally Poland appeared again.
Th eastern front was extremely bloody and destroyed 4 empires from existence. And paved the way for WW2. |