The First World War, which began in 1914, engulfed the territory of almost all of Europe in a fire of battles and battles. More than thirty states with a population of more than a billion people participated in this war. The war became the most grandiose in terms of destruction and human casu alties in the entire previous history of mankind. Before the start of the war, Europe was divided into two opposing camps: the Entente represented by Russia, France, the British Empire and the smaller countries of Europe and the Triple Alliance represented by Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, which in 1915 sided with the Entente, and also smaller European countries. The material and technical superiority was on the side of the Entente countries, however, the German army was the best in terms of organization and weapons.
In such conditions, the war began. It was the first that can be called positional. Opponents, possessing powerful artillery, rapid-fire small arms and defense in depth, were in no hurry to go on the attack, which foreshadowed huge losses for the attacking side. Still fighting with the variablesuccess without a strategic advantage occurred in both major theaters of operations. The First World War, the Brusilov breakthrough in particular, played a significant role in the transition of the initiative to the Entente bloc. And for Russia, these events had rather unfavorable consequences. During the Brusilov breakthrough, all the reserves of the Russian Empire were mobilized. General Brusilov was appointed commander of the Southwestern Front and had at his disposal 534 thousand soldiers and officers, about 2 thousand guns. The Austro-German troops opposing him had 448 thousand soldiers and officers and about 1800 guns.
The main reason for the Brusilov breakthrough was the request of the Italian command to involve the Austrian and German units in order to avoid the complete defeat of the Italian army. The commanders of the Northern and Western Russian fronts, Generals Evert and Kuropatkin, refused to launch an offensive, considering it completely unsuccessful. Only General Brusilov saw the possibility of a positional strike. On May 15, 1916, the Italians suffered a severe defeat and were forced to request an accelerated offensive.
On June 4, the famous Brusilovsky breakthrough of 1916 begins, Russian artillery fired continuously at enemy positions for 45 hours in separate areas, it was then that the rule of artillery preparation before the offensive was laid down. After an artillery strike, infantry went into the gap, the Austrians and Germans did not have time to leave their shelters and in masseswere taken prisoner. As a result of the Brusilov breakthrough, Russian troops wedged into the enemy defenses for 200–400 km. The 4th Austrian and German 7th armies were completely destroyed. Austria-Hungary was on the verge of complete defeat. However, without waiting for the help of the Northern and Western Fronts, whose commanders missed the tactical moment of advantage, the offensive soon stopped. Nevertheless, the result of the Brusilov breakthrough was salvation from the defeat of Italy, the preservation of Verdun for the French and the consolidation of the British on the Somme.
