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WarChron - General Alekseev's Report to the Tsar |
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The Year 1916
At Stavka, the Tsar wrote a letter to the Empress stating that since the opening of the Southwest Front offensive Russian losses had reached a staggering 285,000 men.
On 7 July, on the Southwest Front, von Linsingen's German Army Group withdrew behind the Stokhod River. The Russians reached Manevichi Station on the Kovel – Sarny railway in the Lutsk sector.
Duma President Rodzianko traveled to Stavka, where General Alekseev showed him a draft of his plan to establish military control in the rear to deal with all matters concerning internal government and military supplies, including the right to cancel orders of Ministers and the Special Council. The idea had originated with Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich. Rodzianko pointed out to General Alekseev that if the necessary powers were given to the Prime Minister the possibility of a dictatorship could be avoided. Rodzianko then met with the Tsar, urging him to grant a responsible Ministry with Admiral Grigorovich as Prime Minister, and also recommended changes of the Ministers of Ways-Communications and Commerce.
On 8 July, on the Southwest Front, the Russians advanced 40 km in four days on a 64 km front, threatening the flank of Bothmer's German Südarmee.
Stavka issued a decree to mobilize the people of Central Asia. On the 17th there was a peasant uprising at Khodzhent in the Uzbek region, which, by mid-August, reached the Kazakh steppes, and had developed into a full blown rebellion.
On 9 July, the newly formed Russian Guard Army was transported from the Dvina River front to the Molodechno region to take part in a projected Vilna offensive.
In Budapest, Hungarian nobleman and politician, Count Mihaly Karolyi, formed a new opposition party, the United Party of Independence. It was anti-German, advocating that there be peace without annexations, the need for land reforms and general suffrage. He called for the opening of negotiations with the Entente for a separate peace.
On 9-10 July, in the Black Sea, the Russian hospital ship Vperyod was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U.38 off the Lazistan coast.
On 10 July, at Stavka, Russian Chief of Staff General Alekseev handed the Tsar a report containing a thorough survey of the war situation. It covered the production of munitions and supplies for the army, pointed out disorganization and lack of coordination between various departments and its disastrous results. Alekseev suggested the creation of a minister of national defense, with wide powers, having the task of coordinating all work for the army.
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Russian Ministers left Petrograd for Stavka, being summoned by the Tsar to discuss General Alekseev's proposal and come to a final decision on the question of Polish autonomy.
On the Southwest Front, von Linsingen's Germans put up strong resistance on the west bank of the Stokhod River. The Russian 9th Army captured Delatyn, and made progress toward Stanislau.
On 11 July, on the Caucasian Front, the Russians began an offensive against the Turkish 2nd Army.
In Manchuria , the American Consul in Mukhden reported there were secret provisions in the Russo-Japanese convention, predicting strengthened Japanese influence in the Far East that would threaten U.S. interests.
On 12 July, on the Southwest Front, there was heavy fighting on the Stokhod River as the Russian offensive was halted by von Linsingen's Germans and the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army.
On the Caucasian Front, Yudenich's Russians advanced west of Erzerum, recapturing Mamakhatun.
At Stavka, Russian Ministers met with the Tsar. Sazonov received permission to draft an imperial proclamation on Poland, which he planned to do while on holiday in Finland.
On 13 July, on the Southwest Front, the Russians and Austro-Hungarians engaged in heavy fighting northwest of Buczacz in the Strypa River sector.
On 14 July, on the Southwest Front, the newly formed Guard Army (also known as Special Army), headed by the totally incompetent General V.M. Bezobrazov, arrived in the Kovel sector, and took up their positions between the Russian 3rd and 8th Armies.
On 15 July, on the Northern Front, the Russians made a slight advance west of Kemmern in the Riga sector.
On the Southwest Front, on the Upper Styr River, the Russians opened attacks on the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army south of Lutsk. Shcherbachev's Russian 7th Army, and Sakharov's Russian 11th Army, moved on Lemberg and the Dneister River, taking many prisoners. Lechitskiy's Russian 9th Army advanced in the south, recapturing Tlumacz and re-entering Stanislau.
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In the Black Sea, German Army airship SL.10 carried out a long range reconnaissance from its base at Jamboli, 89 km north of Adrianople in Turkey.
In the Caucasus, Yudenich's Russians occupied Baiburt, forcing the Turks back southwest of Mush.
In mid-July, Russian grain reserves were estimated at 402.2 million puds (pud = 16.38 kg). Petrograd required 4,000 railway cars of supplies each day. During the first half of 1916 deliveries fell to 2,300 cars a day. Speculation was running rampant, dealers were hoarding goods, and prices continued to rise.
On 16 July, on the Northern Front, the Russian 12th Army attacked the Riga bridgehead at Kekkau, west of the Dvina River. The German 8th Army was putting up stiff resistance.
In the Baltic Sea , Russian submarine Vepr (Viper) torpedoed and sank the German steamer Syria in the Gulf of Bothnia in Swedish waters, which caused diplomatic problems for the Russians with the Swedes. During this period, the Russian submarine Volk sank the steamer Dorita by gunfire.
On the Western Front, the Russian 3rd Army was moving west on Kovel, while the Guard Army was moving northwest toward the same objective. Further south, the Russian 8th Army, on the Guard Army's left, was moving west on Vladimir-Volinski.
On the Southwest Front, the weather finally cleared after two weeks of heavy rain. General Sakharov's Russian 11th Army drive captured Mikhailovka, near Gumbin, southwest of Lutsk.They then wheeled on Lemberg, driving Bothmer's German Südarmee back on the Lipa River.
The Commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Kontra-admiral A.A. Ebergard was replaced by Admiral A.V. Kolchak. A series of major changes soon took place within the Fleet General Staff and navy command.
On 17 July, in the Baltic Sea, Russian destroyers captured two German steamers off the Swedish coast.
On 18 July, in the Baltic Sea, four German floatplanes dropped thirteen bombs on the port at Revel. The Russian seaplane carrier Orlitsa beat off a concentrated German air attack while moored off the Moon Sund islands.
On the Southwest Front, Sakharov's Russians drove the Austro-Hungarians south of the Lipa River.
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© WARCHRON 2007
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