Aleksei Alekseyevich Brusilov (, ; ; – 17 March 1926) was a Russian and later Soviet general most noted for the development of new offensive tactics used in the 1916 Brusilov offensive, which was his greatest achievement.
Born into an aristocratic military family, Brusilov trained as a cavalry officer, but by 1914 had realized that cavalry was obsolete in an offensive capacity against modern weapons of warfare such as mass adoption of rifled guns, machine guns, and artillery. He is considered a very outstanding general who won many battles against the Austro-Hungarian army. His offensive in 1916 was the final major success of the Tsarist army. In the government, this offensive meant the transfer of the strategic initiative to the Russians and the beginning of preparations for the general offensive of 1917, which, however, was disrupted by the revolution.Царствование Императора Николая 2/ Сергей Ольденбург.-М.:Центрполиграф, 2022.-654 с. ISBN 978-5-227-09905-1
Despite his noble status and prominent role in the Imperial Russian Army, he sided with the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War and aided in the early organization of the Red Army until retiring in 1924.
Brusilov is one of the prominent Russian commanders in history. Although not regarded as especially brilliant, he was pragmatic and open to change based on experience; his eponymous offensive succeeded in part from his willingness to properly train and prepare his troops, including in modern artillery and air reconnaissance.
Early life Brusilov was born in Tiflis (now Tbilisi, Georgia). His father Aleksi Nikolaevich Brusilov was Russian and his mother, Anna Luiza Niestojemska, was Polish. Three generations of Brusilovs had served as officers in the Imperial Russian Army, his grandfather fighting in the defense against Napoleon's invasion of 1812. His father rose to the rank of Lieutenant General before dying of tuberculosis in 1856. Brusilov's mother died shortly afterwards, and the young orphan was raised by relatives in Kutaisi.
He was educated at home until the age of 14. He joined the Imperial Corps of Pages in Saint Petersburg in 1867. At the end of his first year, a tutor remarked of Brusilov, "his nature is brisk and even playful, but he is good, straightforward and clean-living. Of high ability, but inclined to be lazy."
In 1872, on completion of the Corps' programme, he sought admission to the advanced class for top ranking students, but was unsuccessful, and instead was posted as an ensign (Praporshchik) to the 15th (Tver) Dragoon Regiment. Usually, graduates from the Corps of Pages sought admission to one of the Guards regiments, but the Tver Dragoons were at that time stationed near Kutaisi, so the posting suited Brusilov on the basis of being near his family and being less financially draining than service in the Guards.
Russo-Turkish War Brusilov joined the Tver Dragoons in August 1872 and was given command of a troop, but it was not long before his aptitude resulted in the appointment as regimental adjutant. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1874.
He served with distinction in the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–78, being mentioned in despatches on three occasions. His unit operated on the Southern Front in the Caucasus, and took part in the assault of the fortress of Ardagan (now Ardahan, Turkey), for which Brusilov was awarded the Order of Saint Stanislav, 3rd Class. Later in the war, he also received the Order of Saint Anne, 3rd Class, and was promoted to the rank of Stabskapitän. Towards the end of the war, he led successful attacks on Ottoman Army positions around Kars, and his membership of the Order of Saint Stanislav was elevated to 2nd Class.
The Cavalry Officer School In 1881, Brusilov became a student at the Cavalry Officer School in Saint Petersburg and two years later was appointed as a riding instructor there. He spent the next thirteen years in a succession of posts at the school – Adjutant, Senior Teacher of Riding and Breaking Horses, Section Commander, Troop Commander, Squadron Commander and Assistant Chief of the School. On promotion to Major General in 1900, Brusilov was added to the list of Household Troops (officers who might be retained on official business by the tsar). During this time, Brusilov married (1884), and the union produced a son in 1887.
In 1902, as a Lieutenant General, he took command of the school, and under his leadership, the "Horse Academy" became an acknowledged centre of excellence in preparing staff officers for the cavalry. Brusilov published papers on the use of cavalry and visited France, Austria-Hungary and Germany to study riding tuition and stud management.
Brusilov was appointed to command the 2nd Guards Cavalry Division in 1906, but this was not a happy posting for him. The 1905 Russian Revolution had left St Petersburg in turmoil, and after his wife's death, he sought a posting away from the Guards and the capital.
In 1908, he was appointed to command the 14th Army Corps in the Warsaw Military District, where his tenure was notable for the improvements in combat training he implemented. He also remarried at this time, to Nadejda ("Hope") Jelihovski. Promoted to General of Cavalry in 1912, he became Deputy Commander-in-Chief of forces in the Warsaw Military District. The failures of the Russo-Japanese War had led to allegations that generals from immigrant families, who made a significant fraction of the Russian Army's senior ranks, were less patriotic than those who traced their origins to within Russia's borders, and Brusilov would come into conflict with the Governor-General in Warsaw, Georgi Skalon, and other "Russian-German" generals in that District. Brusilov was soon seeking another post.
In 1913, Brusilov was posted to command the 12th Army Corps in the Kiev Military District, remarking on his departure, "I do not doubt, that my departure will produce a sensation in the troops of Warsaw region... Well! What's done is done, and I am glad, that I have escaped cesspool of Skalon's court atmosphere."
First World War
1914–1915
In July 1914, with the Russian army expanding during mobilisation, Brusilov was promoted to command the 8th Army, part of the Southwest Front operating in Galicia. The 8th Army crushed the Austro-Hungarian Third Army before it, and rapidly advanced nearly . Reverses elsewhere along the Front, including the great defeat at Tannenberg, forced the 8th Army to retreat in conformity with the general Russian withdrawal. For his victories, Brusilov was awarded the Order of Saint George 4th, and then 3rd Class. By a quirk of fate, several future White Army commanders held senior posts in 8th Army at this time—Brusilov's Quartermaster general was Anton Denikin, while Alexey Kaledin commanded the 12th Cavalry Division and Lavr Kornilov was in command of 48th Infantry Division. At the beginning of the siege of Przemysl, he left alone with a superior enemy on the left bank of the San River, repelled the offensive. The twice-strong enemy was killed by Brusilov's army, but the Austro-Hungarians managed to break the right sector of the front. Brusilov's skill helped him get out and he eliminated the breakthrough, blocked enemy troops in the forests, where they were thrown back, and the breakthrough was localized. His troops in such a situation withstood the fighting to the end and saved the Russian army from disaster.
After Brusilov's troops drove the Austrians back from the San River, securing Przemysl, he began to drive the enemy straight to the Carpathian valley, where he faced fierce resistance from an enemy stronger in numbers than he was. In November, his troops were poorly supplied with winter clothing, but continued to maintain the initiative. Brusilov asked several times to speed up the dispatch of things to him, but this was delayed because the government considered it necessary to supply the northwestern front faster. Brusilov then used his personal funds to buy things and shoes in order to help his troops. High Command also asked Brusilov to finish off the enemy as soon as possible in order to help the 3rd army take Krakow, however, due to the smaller number and fewer artillery, Brusilov rejected this adventure. To this was added the absence of a clear plan for the campaign after the Battle of Galicia and the siege of Przemysl. Tasks of the front changed based on the situation.In mid-November, taking well-fortified positions of the Germans and Austrians one after another with heavy fighting, Brusilov was still able to drive them to the southern Carpathians, finally consolidating his positions, while taking many prisoners and equipment. The most stubborn battles were fought near the town of Mezo-Labotsa, where the main burden fell on General Orlov.
However, the Germans did not stop, in the middle of 1915 they made a general attempt to break through Brusilov's front and liberate Przemysl, Brusilov knew about this and skillfully parried the attacks of the enemy three times superior, the Germans realized that this adventure would not be crowned with success, and abandoned attempts to liberate Przemysl. A few days later, the Russians finally took the fortress.
Great Retreat Once again, fortunes on other fronts would determine his actions, and the Central Powers breakthrough at Gorlice-Tarnów forced Brusilov to withdraw as part of the general retreat. By September, the 8th Army had withdrawn to the Tarnopol region. However, Brusilov's victories cast doubt on Austria-Hungary's ability to defend itself against Russian offensives and forced its senior military ally the German Empire to divert forces from the Western Front to assist it. On the Southern Bug, Brusilov stopped for about a month, preventing the central powers from advancing. This allowed the defeated 3rd Army to recover from the defeat and replenish its supply. After that, he continued his planned retreat without leaving any trophies to the enemy. Brusilov constantly organized successful local counterattacks against the enemies, slowing down the offensive. At the end of the great retreat, in order to raise the morale of the army, he attempted to defeat the 14th German division, which was crowned with success. He took part in the Lutsk operation.
In October 1915, Brusilov wanted to deport 20,000 German civilians from Volhynia. With Stavka Chief of Staff General Mikhail Alekseyev's permission, Brusilov carried out the operation.
Brusilov offensive
On 29 March 1916, Brusilov was given command of the Southwest Front and managed to secure a certain degree of freedom of action. Previous Russian offensives demonstrated a tendency to assault smaller and smaller sections of the front with increasing density of artillery and manpower to achieve a breakthrough. The narrow frontage of these attacks made counterattacks straightforward for German forces, and this approach met with repeated failure for the Russians.
Brusilov decided to distribute his attack over the entirety of Southwest Front. He hoped to disorganise the enemy over such a large area that some point would fatally give way. He decided not to waste resources by saturation bombardment of worthless areas, but to use interdiction fire against command posts, road networks, and other critically important targets to degrade German command and control over the whole front. The noted German artillery commander, Georg Bruchmüller, having served opposite Brusilov's Front at this time, would learn from and adapt these tactics when planning the preparatory bombardment for Operation Michael on the Western Front in 1918. Brusilov was not even concerned with securing a tremendous local advantage in manpower, permitting divisions under his command to be transferred to other Fronts (so long as they attacked in support of his offensive).