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The First World war was a conflict that lasted six years and involved many of the major world powers fought over four continents. This was the first war ever to be truly global in scale, thus its name as a "world war". This war involved the Entente of France, Italy, Russia, and later the United States, against the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottomon Empire. The only major world power that managed to stay apart form the war was Great Britian, as it kept a policy that supported none. The losses were massive, as the fighting often occured in disease-ridden trenches with tens of thousands of soldiers dying in a single charge. The war saw the proliferation of many new war weapons, including the first versions of the tank and the creation of poison gas. This was also the last major war where cavalry was used in great number, as they were replaced by the tank. The war ended in a victory for the Central Powers, and the Entenete were forced to give up many colonial possesions, including most of Indonesia and many Pacific Islands.
Causes
As with many wars the causes of the First World War are many and intertwined into a confusing mass. Here are the main causes of the First World War:
- With the creation of the German nation, it became obvious that they were the most powerful nation on continental Europe. This caused tensions to rise between nations, as the balance of power that had finally been established after the Napoleanic Wars was ruined.
- The French were desperate to regain their position as the most powerful nation in Europe, and were most angry about the Germans occuping Alsace-Lorrane, which both they and the Germans viewed as their own rightful territory. The region had a massive manufacturing base, making both countries very keen on keeping it.
- In the period before the First World War, many nations had decalred themselves independent from the Ottomon Empire, creating a power vaccum in the Balkan area. Both Russia and Austria-Hungary immediatly moved to secure alliances and gain dominance, escalating tensions between them. Austria-Hungary occupied Bosnia, angering the Russian Emprie and threatening their ally of Serbia. This became a trigger waiting to happen.
- With the assasination of Archduke Ferdinand, the hier to the Austria-Hungarian crown, the Empire responded by sending a list of demands to Serbia, who they accused of the assasination. The demands were meant to be completely unreasonable, and to give Austria-Hungary an excuse to declare war. When the Serbians refused two of the ten demands, it was certain that war would come
Declaration of War
On July 28, 1914, the Austria-Hungarian Empire decalred war on Serbia. The Russian, unwilling to see their ally in the Balkans be eliminated, declared war on the Austria-Hungarian Empire and began their mobilization a day later. Germany, honoring their alliance with Austria-Hungary, mobilized on July 30. This gave the French an oppertunity to declare war on Germany, hoping to gain back the region of Alsace-Lorrane. Italy, with alliances to both sides, decided for the moment to remain nuetral and wait for the right moment to decide. The United States continued their isolation without a thought, ruining the French hope that they would immediatly join the war.
Anglo-German Pact
In the days immediatly following the declkaration of war, the three countries of Germany, Britian, and Belgium entered a series of heated negotiations. If the Schefflen Plan was to be carried out, German forcces needed to pass through Begium and flank the French forces. However, Belgian nuetrality was reneforced by the British as set out in the Treaty of London. The Germans asked for permission to move troops through Belgium, but the scale at which they were going to be doing it worried Belgium and the British. As French forces attacked Alsace-Lorrane, the Germans desperatly offered both countires large sums of money and territory once the war was over. The British agreed, and the Anglo-German Pact was cemented. Only a few days behind schedule, German forces were allowed to move through Belgium to carry out their plan.
Synopsis
Main Article:
Opening Attacks
Invasion of Serbia
The first days of the war saw an immense Austira-Hungarian shelling of Belgrade, but not much in the days afterword. However, on the 12th of August, the Fifth and Sixth Austria-Hungarian armies advanced across the Serbian border, around 270,000 troops in all. However, even though the Austia-Hungarian forces were superior in number and in equiptment, they commited a grevious tactical error by attacking through the northern hills of Serbia, rather than the plains to the west. This prompted the Second Serbian Army to negage the Austria-Hungarians at the Battle of Cer, which lasted four days and ended in a Serbian victory forcing the Austria-Hungarians back. This defeat caused the Austria-Hungarian forces to spend the next few weeks regrouping, and they invaded again on September 7th, across the Drina River. Two bridgeheads were established, and both the Fifth and Sixth armies continued their advance against the Serbian forces. In an attempt to stop the advance before it was too late, the Serbians redirected their Frist Army to counterattack, which ended in a bloody stalemate. After a few more minor battles, the front settled down into a month and a half of trench warfare with no gains by either side.
Battle of the Frontiers
According to Plan XVII, French forces were to invade the region of Alsace-Lorrane to liberate it from Germany. In the origonal plan, the First and Second armies would attack Lorrane while the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Armies would attack towards Luxembourg, the Fifth Army had to be removed due to the BEF leaving France earlier that year. On August 7th, the French forces attacked Alsace, advancing towrads the town of Mulhouse. It was siezed the next day, but a German counter-attack forced the French to divert another four divisions to the attack. The main attack commenced a week later, as the First and Second Armies attacked the Lorrane area. They initialy gained ground, but the German defense under the command of Prince Ruppretch was much stronger than the French had anticipated, so the advance started to peter out. Against the Schefflien Plan, Ruppretch ordered his troops to counter-attack adn forced the French troops back to their starting lines by August 22nd. meanwhile the northern offensive into the Ardennes began to weaken as the Fifth Army recieved permission to leave the attack and reenforce the Belgian border when it became obvious that Belgium had let German troops pass through it. The main attack commenced on the 21st of August, but was repelled easily and resulted in heavy French losses. The Frecnh forces abandoned the idea of Plan XVII as it became obvious that the German forces moving through Belgium were massive.
The Great Retreat
On the 19th of August, the first elements of the German Third Army crossed into French territory after their passage through Belgium. Initially, resistance was minimal, as the main French forces were still attepmting to invade Lorrane. The French Fifth Army took a stand around 5 miles south of the city of Mezieres, occuping a long ridge that overlooked the city and the river that flowed through it. The German Third Army, along with elements of the Second, appeared in Mezieres on the 21st, and the battle commenced the following day. initially, the Fifth Army held their position, resultant from their height advantage, and the German forces retreated back towards the town late that day to regroup. However, Perone, commander of the III Corps, sought to push the Germans back even further, and due to muddled communications, believed he had Lanrezac's authority to advance. The attack on the German camp was easily repulsed, and left the western positions almost undefended, allowing the Third Army to sweep through the area. This jeoprodized the eastern defenses, and forced them to retreat, ending the Battle of Mezieres in a decisive German victory. The next week saw a grand French retreat, with only minor skirmishes along the way. The Germans continued to advance, and finally met resistance as they neared Paris. The German advance continued until the Battle of the Marne, where the French were finally able to get a victory.
Invasion of East Prussia
In East Prussia, only two German armies, the Eighth and the Ninth, defended, on the premise that the Russians would take a very long time to mobilize and that France would be crushed by the time Russia finally was ready for war. It ended up that the Russians were able to mobilize extremely quickly, and on August 7th, they invaded East Prussia with the First and Second armies. In the Battle of Gumbinnan, the German forces were soundly defeated, and it became obvious that the Germans had to do something fast. Hindenburg and Ludendorff were put in command of the East Prussian forces, and planned to counterattack immediatly. In a brilliant battle at the cty of Tanennburg, the German Eighth Army was able to surround and demolish the Russian Second Army, and then turn around and force the First Army out of Prussia. The Russian invasion had been a complete failure.
End of 1914
Battle of the Marne and French counteroffensive
As German forces advacnced towards Paris, they lost cohesion chasing the retreating German forces. A gap between the First and Second Armies soon appeared, and the French quickly came up with a plan to expliot it. The French Sixth Army was ordered to attack the flank of the German Fifth army on September 1st, and on the 2nd, the battle started. While experiencing advances initailly, they soon became pressed by the numerical superiority of the German forces. As the Sixth Army kept the gap open, the Fifth began to rush through it, hoping that the breach would hold long enough for them to attack the flanks of both the First and the Secnd Armies. The battered Sixth Army held, and the Germans were forced to retreat in what became known as the "Miracle of the Marne". The French then launched a massive counter-attack, which sucsesfully forced the German First and Second Armies to retreat further. however, the counteroffensive slowed down as the French overextended their supply lines, and the front began to stabilize just south of the Aisne River, where both sides began to build massive fortifications. The southern front remained relatively unchanged, as assualts by both sides failed to cause any breaches and gain ground. the massive trench systems charictaristic of the First World War began to be dug out, where they would fight for the next two years.
The First Year on the Western Front
Race to the Sea
As it became apparent that neither side was going to be able to advance in the heavily defended fronts, both sides turned to the north, where they both attempted to outflank each other. the Battle of Roye was the most significant battle in the Race to the Sea, occuring on September 12th. The French forces managed to catch the Sixth Corps of the First german Army on its flank, and immediatly the attack was launched. While initially succesful, the German forces managed to holdwhile reenforements arrived, forcing the French back and ending the hope of a breach. The Race to the Sea continued through the next months, as the battle lines slowly became more and more extended. The Front Lines generally followed the Somme River, all the way to the English Channel. For the remaining months, little was changed and few attacks were launched as either side waited for the other to move.
Serbian Campiagn
As the trench warfare continued, the Austro-Hungarian forces finally attack the battered Serbian forces. the Serbians offered heavy resistane, but were forced to retreat. the capital city of Belgrade was lost on December 2nd, and the entire Fifth Army moved into the city, hoping to catch the Serbian flank. However, this left the Sixth Army completely alone against the Serbian forces, and they quickly took advantage of it. Resupplied and refreshed Serbian troops counterattacked the Sixth Army, breaking it within a matter of days. The Fifth Army hurried to flank the remaining forces, but was forced to retreat. The invasion ended at the starting point, with absolutely no change in borders and over 400,000 causualties combined. The Serbian waited, for they knew that another Austro-Hungarian attack would occur soon.
Invasion of Russian Poland
As the Austrio-Hungarian forces were being pushed hard by the superior Russian forces in the Campaign in Galacia, it became decided that more German forces would be put on the Eastern Front, forming the German Ninth Army. The German subsequently began to push into Russian poland, distracting the Russians and succeding on taking off some pressure from the Austro-Hungarian forces. The new Ninth Army advanced with the First Austrio-Hungarian Army, coming within 12 miles of Warsaw. However, the four Russian Armies opposing them were able to decicivly defeat the Central Powers forces in The Battle of Vistula River. Some other minor battles ensued, with the Russian commonly emerging victorious, yet the Russians were not able to capitalize on thier victories and the front remained near Warsaw into the winter.
1915-The Year of Stalemates
Caucases Campaign
On January 12th, 1915, the Russian Empire decided that it was finally ready to engage the Ottomon Empire for the greatly contested Caucases area. On the same day, Russian forces moved into the Ottomon Empire, consisting of two wings, the I Corps, and on the left, the IV Corps. The defending army, the Ottomon Third Army, was told to counterattack immediatly, and on the 21st of January, the forces counterattacked, initially met with failure but within days started to push the Russians back. for the next two weeks, the forces remained in deadlock about 15 miles into Ottomon territory. Howeer, on Febuary 9th, the Battle of Sarakamish resulted in a massive defeat for Ottomon forces, as they were rounted and many were taken captive. During the next two months, both battered armies sat, with mild skirmishes breaking out every few days. The Russians attempted to ask France for naval support, but the French fleet was destroyed in the Battle of the Bosporus. Meanwhile, even more dire news came. The Ottomon First and Second Armies had finally been freed up to assist the shaterred Third. The Russians immediatly petitioned to have more units sent to assist the now severly outnumbered comrades, but the news came that the German forces were inflicting defeats upon the Russians, and so the forces had to be sent there. The Russian commander made the decision to retreat back into the Caucuses mountain range, recruiting around 25,000 Georgain rebels along the way to help fight. The Georgains for a long time had been oppresed by the Muslim Ottomon Empire, and were desperate to regain their freedom. This
The Ottoman invasion of the Caucasus in 1914
shabby force took up positions along the major vallys from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea. Main defenses were set up along the Kut River in the East. and the Rioni River in the West. For the next month, the Third Army waited for the First and Second to arrive, giving it time to completely resupply and refresh. On March 17th, the Ottomon forces began their advance, hoping to secure a region that they had lost to the Russians. On March 23rd, Lake Gokcha was siezed after minimal fighting, and by March 25th, the First Army had neared thier first objective, the city of Ozurgeti. A siege of the city began, as the defense force of 7,500 managed to fend off a force of 25,000 until April 21st, when they finally surrendered. At this time, the Ottomon second Army, in charge of the central front, launced a three-pronged attack on the Kut River fortifications, hoping that the overwhelming pressure would break the line. The first prong attacked near Khasuri, the second near Gori, and the third just west of Tilfis. Within a week, all three prongs were soundly defeated by the stout defenders, and the Second Army was sent reeling, ending its capacity to enact massive counterattacks. The First Army was likewise routed in their attack on the Rioni River on the Fifth of May. After these attakcs, the invasion slowed down, and for the period from June-December the only attacks were a Russian counterattack around Borjomi, resulting in mild success and a second offensive in the Kut region that ended in failure
Balkans
Serbian Front
In the beggining of 1915, the Germans convinced Austria-Hungary that the conquest of Serbia was paramount, as the Ottomons were being invaded by Russian forces. During the first 9 months of the year, the front remained stagnant, as Serbia desprately tried to rebuild its army to prepare for the invasion that it knew was coming. The focus in this period was on Bulgaria, as both sides tried to convince it to join their side. In September, however, the country decided to join the side of the Central Powers, having had two recent wars with Serbia. On October 7th, combined German and Austrio-Hungarian forces attacked northern Serbia, opening with a massive shelling. Merely a week later, Bulgarian forces attacked along the entire eastern side of Serbia, meeting with little resistance.In the Battle of Morova, the Second Serbian Army was demolished by the First Bulgarian, and from thewre, the situation became untendable. What followed was a massive retreat into Albania, which was vastonishingly successful despite the complete disorganization of the Serbian Army. The result was that the Serbians managed to save 155,000 troops, who were evacuated to various Greek islands.
Greek Diplomacy
The situation of Greece was very confused, as though they were nuetral, their king favored the Germans. despite the attempts by the Prime Minister to continue peace, the general sentiment leaned towards the Central Powers side. They allowed the French to evacuate the Serbians and let them settle in their country, but soon the French and the hgreeks began to oppose each other. The Greeks demanded that the French leave, while the French insisted that the Greeks demobilize. Through the next two months, the problem remained unsolved.
Gorlic-Tarnow offensive and the Russian Retreat
In Late 1914, the Russians had continued to press the Austro-Hungarian forces in Silesia, threatening both Central Powers. The next few months were peaceful, as a harsh winter prevented any operations. In April 1915, the Germans planned to launch an offensive in Galacia to force the Russians to withdraw. The newly formed
The Eastern Front in 1915
German 11th Army along with the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army were able to gain a desive victory agianst the Russian Third Army, crushing it completely, and forcing Russians out of Austria-Hungary, ending the threat. Then, the Central Powers attacked across the entire front, as 4 German armies along with 4 Austro-Hungarian armies pressed back the severly outmanned Russian forces. Brest-Litovsk was captured on the 25 of August, and Vilna was captured on the 19th of September.
The Italian Front
after years of pressing diplomacy by both sides, in May 1915, Italy decided to renounce its ties to Germany and Austria-Hungary, and declared war on the Central Powers.The Italian troops initially outnumbered the Austro-Hungarian 3 to 1, but were not well trained and lacked modern equiptment. They launched an offensive on two fronts, one north into the Austrian Alps, and another east to the Isonzo River. After initail gains, the first offensive halted as the Italians were not able to break the heav offensives on either front. During the rest of the year, five offensives were launched in the Isonzo region, dubbed the first five Battles of the Isonzo. Each offensive lasted a few weeks, and rresulted in massive causualties with each side. All five barely gained any ground, as thousands of soldiers were expended for nothing. During this period, another 12 divisions were sent by the Austro-Hungarians, rouhgly evening the forces that opposed each other.
Western Front
The Battle of Abbeyville
On Febuary 21st, 1915, the Germans launched the first offensvie of the year in the western front. the goal was to fight the French back across the Somme, eventually ending in a massive flanking manouver that would hopefully roll up the entire French line. The attack started with a 24 hour artillery barrage, which weakened the French but did not break them.The following day, German troops stromed across no-mans-land, but were met with machinegun fire from the resiliant French defenders and took heavy casualties. eventually, the Germans reached the French lines and what ensued was a bloodbath. Over the next week, both sides fought for control over the frontline trenches, but eventually the germans were forced to retreat. The battle ended with 25,000 casualties for the Germans and 17,000 for the French.
Verdun Offensive
On April 3rd, 1915, the French launched their first major offensive of the year in the Verdun area. Portions of the Second and Third French Armies opposed the Fifth German Army. Agian, the assualt began with a massive artillery bombardment, so the German troops knew what was coming. Soon after, French troops poured out of their trenches and assualted the first line of German ones. Over the next 6 days, the Germans were pushed back 5 miles by the resolute French forces. However, on April 14th, the offensive stopped because of German counterattacks. Over the next month, the line held but the French soon lost their numerical advantage as new forces appaered for the Germans. For the rest of the year, the French were slowly pushed back, fighting for every yard of ground, not letting the Germans escape without casualties. The offensive resulted in an average of 3 miles advanced at the cost of 100,000 French casualties and a similar number of German ones.
The Aisne Offensive
On June 2nd, with the failure of the Verdun offensive apparent, the French launched another attack in an area north of Siossons, catching a weaker spot in the German defenses. The assualt began with a shorter artillery barrage than normal, leaving the Germans only partially prepared, and allowing the French forces to make substantial gains in the first day. The good fortune continued over the next week as the reenforcements for the Germans misinterpreted their orders and appeared on a well-defended part of the front. However, as Siosons itself fell under seige starting June 25th, the French were unable to break the stoic German resistance, and the assualt suffered from its flank not being secure, forcing it to halt. The gains made in the northern sections were kept for the rest of the year, but the southern forces were pushed back almost to their start by German counterattacks.
First Battle of Reims
On September 16th, the Germans were prepared for another major offensive. This one was to be directed south of Reims, with the hope that a breakthrough could be achieved and the Germans could advance back to their pre-Battle of the Marne locations. The attack was conducted by a massive artillery barrage, followed by a charge of 150,000 German soldiers. The French lines were broken with heavy casualties, but the French were able to make an ordered retreat to the supply trenches, using them as a defense from which to launch a counterattack. On October 4th, the French attacked in all sectors of the Reims area, pushing the Germans back in the flanks but not able to break the defensein the center. The offensive and counteroffensive ended with a small portion of the front hanged by merely a few miles, at the cost of tens of thousands of casualties.
1916-The Year of Death
Ottomon Empire
In the beggining of 1916, the Russian naval forces were relieved to find out that Italian naval forccers would help take out the numerically strong yet technologically weak Ottomon Navy. On March 3rd, 1916, itialian forces desicivly defeated an Ottomon force of the coast of Malta. Following this up, on March 24th, a second battle ensued as the Ottomon Navy attempted to surround the Italian Navy while it was docked in Crete. The attempt proved unsuccsesful, resulting in a major strategic victory for the allies. In the Black Sea, the Russian Fleet was able to catch the Ottomon forces unawares of the coast of Varna, destroying them and leaving the Black Sea in russian hands. The final major naval battle, on April 8th, resulted in the compelte destruction of the Ottomon Navy, leaving the way open for the Allies.
The Trezibond landings
As the Russians recieved news that they were about to be broken in the Caucases, along with sending reenforcements, they planned a massive naval landing on a strip of the shore from the city of Ordu to the city of Rize. Merchant ships, designed to go close to land, were outfitted to hold as many troops as possible. This fleet was commandered and orginized in the Sea if Azov, and was launched across the Black Sea on June 3rd. Three days later, on June 6th, the fleet stopped about 15 miles from the coast and prepared to launch the troop carrying merchant vessels. Early in the morning of June 7th, forces began to land at three locations along the front. 10,000 soldiers were landed at Rize, 5,000 west of Trabzon, and another 3,000 near Ordu. The defenses were light, however the Russian had forgotten to take into account the steep cliffs in many of these areas, and therefore the troops spent the entire day scaling these cliffs and secured beachheads at most 1 mile deep. Over the next days, the forces advanced, and on June 16th, Trabzon was captured after the garrison surrendered. News came that the Ottomon First Army had been ordered to leave the Caucases Front and combat the threat to the west. The Russian forces deprately began to dig in, as their mere number of less than 19,000, with no heavy equiptment to speak of, was soon to be attacked by a full Army. The Russian commander, Captian Vladimir, desprately tried to convice his highers that they needed to retreat, or a bloodbath would ensue. No response was given, and as a loyal Russian officer, Vladimir ordered his men to hold fast. Beggining on June 28th, the Ottomons began repeated attacks on the Russian lines, but were unable to break through. Over the next month, the severly outnumbered Russians, without any real equipment and little supplies, held fast, inflicting decisive defeat after defeat on the Ottomon forces. Finally, on August 4th, they surrendered, but not before iinflicting 40,000 casualties on the ottomons while recieving 8,000 themselves. The Defense of Trabzon would go down in the record of history in the same way that the Charge of the Light Brigade or the Battle off the Alamo did, as miracles, showing immense bravery against all odds.
Caucases Campagn
In the first months of the Caucases campaign, severe weather prevented any major offensives by either side. However, on April 9th, the Ottomons resumed their attacks on the nearly broken Russians. The Russians were able to channel the attacks down major vallys, thereby eliminating the Ottomon advantage of numbers, but the Russians slowly became more and more weary and the line looked ready to break. On the 15th of August, the Third Ottomon Army achieved a major breakthrough and was able to capture the city of Kasakh, and put the Russian in an even more precarious position. The Russians were ordered to take back the city no matter the cost, as it exposed the flanks of all the Russian fighting forces and allowed an area from which to roll back the Russian line. On April 29th, meager Russian forces were able to take back the city after they managed to cut Ottomon supply lines and the urban fighting caused many Ottomon units to fire on each other. By May 12th, the line was back to where it was at the beggining of the year, Finally on May 18th, it was heard that more reenforcements would arrive shortly, and the Russian morale was boosted greatly by this, as they became ever more reolute to stay fast. On June 12th, the reenforcements came in the form of 100,000 troops which joined the
The Russian advance in the Caucasus
25,000 Russian troops and the 30,000 rebel supporters at the front. Then even better news came: the Russians had landed forces in Trezibond to take the heat off of the Caucases. On June 25th, the Ottomon First Army left for the Trezibond front, leaving only the weary Second to hold up the northern portion of the front. In mid July, the Russian forces started a counterattack across the entire front, quickly wining victories agaisnt the Ottomon forces. On August 3rd, the first major city recaptured by the Russians was Batumi, a major port coty. After that, the Ottomon forces were able to stall the Russian advance on the northern sector, however, the eastern sector advanced greatly. On October 9th, the Russian forces in the East were forced to halt, as while their flank was to independent Persia, the drastic shortening of the battle line allowed the Ottomons to regroup and put up a defense that lasted the rest of the year. For the remainder of the year, the line stayed in roughly the same place, as both sides were too exhausted to fight any major campaigns.
Eastern Front
Brusilov Offensive
After the typical harsh Russian winter, the Russian forces began to outnumber their Central Power foes, as mobilization began to near its peak. This caused the Russian commanders to start planning a massive counterattack to force the Central Powers back and give the Russian initiative. The plans culminated in the Brusilov Offensive, which involved a short artillery barrage over the entire 300 mile front, and then the use of small groups ofunits to target weak points in the lines. It was started in South-west Russia, in the region of Galacia. The attaacks began on June 4th, and quickly the Central Powers were being forced back, most notably the Austro-Hungarians. On June 8th, Lutsk was taken, and over 200,000 Russians were freed from being prisoners of war. More Germans were immediatly ordered to the front, and the Austrio-Hungarians were ordered to pull some troops from Italy to combat the Russians. On June 28th, the offensive swas resumed,but it was weak and gained ground very slowly. The Germans continued to move troops from the Western Fornt, abandoning their attack on Verdun, and were able to stop the Russian advance. The offensive ended on September 20th, and for the rest of the year, fighting was agsain minimal
Romanian Campaign
As the Russian looked near to defeating the Central Powers on the Easter Front, and the Second Battle of the Aisine ended in the destruction of the German offensive, preventing them from further attacks, Romania decided the enter the war on the Entente side, hoping to regain Transylvania from the Austrians. On August 27th, three Romanian Armies entered Austria-Hungary, defended by only one army, the First. The First Army was quickly pushed back into Hungary, and it looked like the Central Powers did not have enough forces to combat the invasion. On September 6th, the Bulgarian Third Army, along with ottomon and German elements, pressed from the south, diverting the Romanian Third Army from the attack on Transylvania. On Septemebr 15th, after the Central Powers attacks increased, the Romanian offensive was called off and the troops were instructed to defend the country against foriegn invasion. In the next month, ther Romanian forces were forced back time and time agin, and by October 25th, they were back to their starting points.On November 23rd, a suprise attack across the Danube forced the Romanians back to Bucharest, and annother offensive through the mountains forced the Romanians to retreat further. Bucharest was captured on December 6th, and by the end of the year, a large portion of Romania was occupied.
Italian Front
Asiago Offensive
As the first months of the year ended in yet more bloodshed in the Fifth Battle of the Isonzo, the Austro-Hungarians planned to counterattack the Italians in the Asiago region, which was in the North-East of Italy, not on the Isonzo front. The attack started with a barrage from 2,000 artillery peices on May 15th, and then a massive attack along 40 miles of the front followed. The Italians were broken within a few days, and were forced to retreat, threatening to flank the italian forces on the Isonzo front. However, on June 4th, the Russians began thier Brusilov offensive, frocing Austro-Hungarian units to abandon the offensive and join the Eastern Front, ending the advance on June 15th.
Isonzo Battles
Later in 1916, as the Italians were finally able to launch another offensive, another four battle of the Isonzo occured, the Sixth through the Tenth.The Sixth Isonzo was the first to actually see a significant Italian advance, as they explioted a weak spot in the Austro-Hungarian lines. The next three, however, managed only to further decrease the morale of both armies, and the attacks were ended by the end of 1916. Both sides desprately needed reenforcements, yet in 1917, with the fall of Russia, the Central Powers would recieve the needed reenfrocements.