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mLine 103:
Line 103: − − ===War in the East=== − ''' Brusilov Offensive ''' − − The Brusilov Offensive began on 4 June 1916 in spectacular fashion, demolishing the Austrian Fourth and Seventh Armies. The Austrians lost a staggering 1.5 million men (including 400,000 taken prisoner) and ceded some 25,000 square kilometres of ground.<ref>http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/brusilov.htm</ref> − − With the launch of the Brusilov Offensive any hopes the Austrians harboured of bringing about victory in the east were extinguished. Austrian attacks in Italy ceased; and Romania finally entered the war with the Allies. − − ==== Russia Revolutions ==== − [[File:American troops in Siberia.PNG|right|350px|thumb|American troops pull platforms bearing coffins draped with U.S. flags in the Russian Far East in April 1920.<ref>https://www.rbth.com/history/330529-17-photos-revealing-all-1920</ref>]] − In 1917 Russia suffered two successive internal Revolutions which would later caused it to withdraw from the side of the Allies and leave the war altogether. The [[February Revolution]] overthrew the centuries-old monarchy of the Tsar; the [[October Revolution]] installed the [[communist]] [[Bolshevik Party]] under [[V.I. Lenin]]. The lack of success against the German and Austrian Empires, and the hyperinflation caused by unsustainable military spending by the Russian government led to much internal discontent and economic chaos. − − Losses and hardship of the war had weakened Russian [[Czar Nicholas II]]. He abdicated the throne in March 1917 in favor of a provisional government headed by [[Alexander Kerensky]]. Hopes for a democratic revolution still existed at this time. But in October 1917, [[Vladimir Ilyich Lenin]], and the [[Communist Party]], which was never strong enough to challenge the Czar, overthrew the fledgling provisional government. The Communists later executed every member of the Czar's family including the children. − − Lenin became the founder of the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] state. He was both a writer and a revolutionary, a rare combination. He was the brother of the "bomb thrower" [[Alexander Ulyanov]] who was hanged for his involvement in terrorist activity and an assassination attempt on Czar Alexander III in 1887. An atheist, he became a [[Marxism|Marxist]] in 1889. He obtained a law degree shortly afterwards, and by 1895 was a subversive who was arrested and sent to the Tsarist gulag along the Lena River in frigid [[Siberia]] where he adopted the name Lenin after the place of his internment. Once he served his time he left for [[Zurich]], where he developed his ideas further and became a leader of the [[Bolsheviks]]. He was returned to Russia by the Germans in the wake of chaos during the [[Kerensky]] regime with the hope to led the Bolsheviks to power and negotiate a peace settlement with the Germans. After the [[Treaty of Versailles]] failed to recognize the settlement between Germany and the Soviet Union in the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]], he then ruled the Soviet Union and imposed a system of [[Marxism-Leninism]] (communism) that remained in force there until [[Stalin]]'s rise to power.
→War in the East
The Army was expanded by a factor of 100 to 4 million soldiers (all men), and a major expeditionary force was sent to Europe called the [[American Expeditionary Forces]], under command of General [[John J. Pershing]]. Officially the U.S. did not join the Allies and there was no treaty or formal agreement with Britain or France, so Pershing was practically independent. He was also largely independent of Washington, and allowed to make his own strategic and command decisions.
The Army was expanded by a factor of 100 to 4 million soldiers (all men), and a major expeditionary force was sent to Europe called the [[American Expeditionary Forces]], under command of General [[John J. Pershing]]. Officially the U.S. did not join the Allies and there was no treaty or formal agreement with Britain or France, so Pershing was practically independent. He was also largely independent of Washington, and allowed to make his own strategic and command decisions.
=== The Western Front ===
=== The Western Front ===