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Concept
Kerensky offensive
Summary
The Kerensky offensive (Наступление Керенского), also commonly known as the July offensive (Июльское наступление) or Galician Offensive, was the last Russian offensive in World War I. It took place in July 1917. It was decided by Alexander Kerensky, Minister of War in the Russian provisional government, and led by General Aleksei Brusilov. Such a decision was ill-timed, because, following the February Revolution, there were strong popular demands for peace, especially within the Russian Army, whose fighting capabilities were quickly deteriorating.
The Russian provisional government was greatly weakened by this military catastrophe, and the possibility of another revolution by the Bolsheviks became increasingly real. Far from strengthening Russian army morale, this offensive proved that Russian army morale no longer existed. No Russian general could now count on the soldiers under his command actually doing what they were ordered to do. This offensive also helped start the July Days. One last fight took place between the Germans and the Russians in this war. On 1 September 1917, the Germans attacked and captured Riga. The Russian soldiers defending the town refused to fight and fled from the advancing German troops.
Russian War Minister Alexander Kerensky, despite the events in February and March 1917, promised the Entente that Russia could still fulfill its promises for a summer offensive. Supreme commander Aleksei Brusilov planned the attacks, but, according to Prit Buttar, "Brusilov warned Kerensky that there was no enthusiasm amongst the troops in the front line for an attack." This prompted Kerensky to visit the front lines, "...exhorting the troops to fight heroically in defence of the revolution, which he told them was threatened by German militarism."
Discipline within the Russian Army had reached a point of crisis since the Tsar's abdication. The Petrograd Soviet Order No. 1 tremendously weakened the power of officers, giving an overriding mandate to "soldier committees".
Official source
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