The Year 1916
In Berlin, the German Chancellor received a letter from Hindenburg expressing his concern over the growing severity of the food problem on the home front.
On 20 November, on the Romanian Front, the Romanian 1st Army faced troops of the German 9th Army under General Krafft von Delmensingen, composed of the German 10th Mountain Brigade, 216th German Division, an Austrian Alpine Corps, and the 2nd Austro-Hungarian Mountain Brigade, over 120,000 well armed troops.
In the Carpathians, the Romanian 2nd Army with about 75,000 troops held a front along the frontier from Argesh to the source of the Putna River. They are opposed by the army of General Morgen, with almost 100,000 troops.
The Romanian North Army with three divisions, 50,000 men, held positions from the upper Putna River to north of the Trotush Pass, facing 80,000 Austro-Hungarian troops.
At Stavka, the Tsar's physician, Doctor Sirotinin, informed the Tsar that General Alekseev must go to the Crimea for six to eight weeks. Alekseev recommended General Gurko as his temporary replacement. Minister of Foreign Affairs Shturmer left Petrograd for Stavka at Mogilev for a meeting with the Tsar.
At Stavka, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich visited the Tsar and attempted to make him aware of the situation. The Tsar did not share his wife's hatred of the Grand Duke and spoke quite cordially with him, even though he did not follow his advice.
On 20/21 November, in the Black Sea, Russian destroyers bombarded installations at Constanza harbor causing little damage.
On 21 November, on the Romanian Front, Kühne's German forces occupied Crainova, the capital of Wallachia.
Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Josef died at the age of 86. He is succeeded by 29 year old Archduke Charles I (Karl I), who appointed himself as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and moved GHQ from Teschen to Baden, near Vienna.
In France, arrival of fifty eight Russian pilots (officers and non-commissioned officers) for training at French schools. Some served with French Escadrilles at the front to gain combat experience. Most of them returned to Russia in mid-March 1917.
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