World War I Eastern front | The 20th century | World history | Khan Academy
World War I Eastern front | The 20th century | World history | Khan Academy
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Content
0.58 -> In early August 1914, we
know that Germany declares
4.8 -> war on Russia, just as
Russia's mobilizing troops
8.15 -> to get into a war with the
Austro-Hungarian Empire.
11.754 -> Because the Austro-Hungarians
have declared war on Serbia.
14.17 -> And the Russians
apparently, or ostensibly,
16.34 -> or used protection of
Serbia as a pretext
20.26 -> for getting into war
with the Austrians.
22.57 -> The Germans have an
alliance with the Austrians.
24.57 -> So they feel the need
to fight the Russians.
26.962 -> And then, because the
Russians have an alliance
28.92 -> with the French, to
fight the French as well.
31.73 -> The first actual combat
on the Eastern Front
34.82 -> actually happens with
Russia on the offensive.
37.58 -> And you actually have
two Russian armies.
39.57 -> The Russian First Army and
the Russian Second Army
42.88 -> attacking the Germans up
here in Eastern Prussia.
46.28 -> And they were going against one
German army, the German Eighth
50.22 -> Army.
50.94 -> And in theory, it
should have been
52.42 -> a route of the
German Eighth Army.
53.95 -> They had them outnumbered.
55.033 -> You had two Russian
armies coming
56.96 -> from different directions.
58.38 -> But because of really
bad coordination and, one
60.54 -> could even argue, bad leadership
and other tactical problems,
64.26 -> it was actually a
route the other way.
66.44 -> So the war, World War
I, on the Eastern Front,
68.99 -> starts very badly
for the Russians.
71.48 -> You actually have a
huge route of them
73.424 -> at the Battle of Tannenberg.
77.51 -> And Tannenberg's interesting
because it actually
79.51 -> did not even happen
in Tannenberg.
81.06 -> Tannenberg is right around here.
82.94 -> It wasn't far from the
point of the battle.
85.21 -> But there was other cities
that would have been more,
87.57 -> the battle could
have been named for.
89.6 -> But since the Germans
won the battle,
91.2 -> they named it
Tannenberg because there
93.12 -> was an ancient battle in
medieval times in the 1400s
96.64 -> where the Slavic,
some Slavic peoples
99.14 -> were able to route
German Teutonic knights.
101.46 -> We're talking about medieval
battles with knights.
103.76 -> And in order to redeem that,
they labeled this other war
107.92 -> where it was Germans
against Slavic people.
111.12 -> They said, oh, this is our
second battle for Tannenberg.
113.9 -> So it helped bring out
more German patriotism.
118.12 -> But this was a major, major,
major route for the Russians.
121.7 -> The Second Army, in particular,
got completely decimated.
125.32 -> The Second Army, the
Russian Second Army
127.56 -> went into the battle-- I've
seen estimates of 150,000
131.27 -> to 180,000 troops.
133.72 -> Roughly half were killed.
137.82 -> And only about 10,000 escaped
the Battle of Tannenberg.
141.97 -> And it was such a humiliating
defeat for the Russian Second
145.8 -> Army.
146.3 -> But that the general of the
Russian Second Army, General
150.96 -> Samsonov-- and I'm
sure once again,
153.42 -> I'm mispronouncing everything--
General Samsonov actually
156.41 -> shot himself.
157.206 -> He committed suicide.
158.08 -> He was so humiliated and so
embarrassed by that defeat.
161.95 -> So the war did not begin
well for the Russians.
165.66 -> But by the end of
1914, they were
168.24 -> able to get back into gear.
172.11 -> And they stayed
on the offensive.
173.97 -> And they did have
some victories up here
176.31 -> in Galicia which,
at the time, was
178.02 -> part of northeastern Hungary.
180.1 -> And so they were
actually able to capture
182.16 -> a good bit of territory
right over here.
185.61 -> Now, as we enter into
1915, and we've already
187.88 -> covered this on the videos
on the Western Front.
190.49 -> We know that the Western Front
was entering into a stalemate.
193.85 -> The Schlieffen Plan did not
happen as quickly as possible.
197.05 -> But the defenders
had a huge advantage.
199.23 -> So that gave the
Germans an opportunity
201.14 -> to bring some troops back
to the Eastern Front,
204.8 -> to bring troops back
to the Eastern Front.
207.5 -> They also got better
at coordinating
209.32 -> with the Austro-Hungarians.
211.04 -> And so you have 1915, you
have the Central Powers
213.644 -> go back on the offensive.
223.49 -> And they're essentially
able to drive
225.75 -> the Russians out
of Russian Poland
232.75 -> roughly to this border that
I have drawn right over here,
236.09 -> roughly to this border, give
or take, right over here.
240.02 -> When we talk about Russian
Poland, the modern state
242.61 -> of Poland, I'm making
this video now in 2013.
245.39 -> The modern state of
Poland was essentially
247.14 -> split between what
you see on this map
249.35 -> between the Russian Empire
and the German Empire.
251.97 -> The modern state of Poland
is roughly this region right
258.019 -> over here.
258.57 -> And so you see, it's
almost completely
260.153 -> split, almost like a yin and
yang symbol between these two
265.58 -> empires.
266.56 -> But by, but through
1915, the Russians
269.75 -> were pushed out of Russian
Poland roughly to this border.
273.75 -> And essentially, to a large
degree, it was because Russia,
277.18 -> even though they had this
huge army, this huge manpower,
280.85 -> they had bad
communication lines.
282.784 -> And actually had bad
technical supplies.
284.45 -> Russian industry
wasn't able to keep up
286.99 -> with the demand of
the war and wasn't
288.98 -> able to supply the munitions
in proper quantities
292.13 -> and the arms in proper
quantities to their troops.
295.08 -> As you enter into 1916,
the Russians, once again,
297.951 -> were able to get
their footing back.
299.45 -> As you can see, it's starting
to become a little bit of a back
301.24 -> and forth.
301.79 -> So Russian industry,
I guess you could say,
308.77 -> picks back up in 1916.
311.83 -> And it essentially puts the
Russians more on the offensive.
314.56 -> They were driven out
of Russian Poland.
316.63 -> But now by 1916, they're able
to keep the Central Powers
319.09 -> a little bit more
on the defensive.
320.79 -> But the boundaries
of the front roughly
323.51 -> stay in line with this
line right over here.
329.27 -> And by the end of
1916, you actually
331.02 -> have the Romanians joining on
the side of the Triple Entente,
334.01 -> on the sides of the
Russians, in order
335.9 -> to fight the Central
Powers as well.
342 -> Now, this might look
like it's starting
343.75 -> to look better for the Russians.
345.16 -> The Russians, their industry
is finally picking up.
347.63 -> They're starting to put the
Central Powers a little bit
350.34 -> more on the defensive.
351.667 -> But the entire time
that we're talking
353.25 -> about this battle, the economic
situation in the Russian Empire
357.56 -> is deteriorating dramatically.
359.9 -> By the time you get into
1917, the Russian economy
367.97 -> is really falling apart.
370.47 -> You have food shortages.
372.07 -> You have riots.
373.52 -> Food shortages.
374.79 -> You have riots.
376.77 -> And in February of 1917, you
have the February Revolution.
380.56 -> You essentially, the overthrow
of the Romanov Dynasty.
385.4 -> It's been in power
for 300 years.
387.34 -> But you have Tsar Nicholas II.
389.34 -> So this is in February.
391.07 -> And then in early March,
you have Tsar Nicholas II
399.42 -> abdicates the throne.
401.23 -> And this is the
gentleman right here.
402.97 -> And we'll do more
detailed videos
404.7 -> about the entire
Russian Revolution
406.36 -> and what happens to his
family and all of the rest.
409.42 -> And you have an interim
government that takes place.
412.272 -> And this is actually
a little, this
413.73 -> is an interesting
fact of history.
416.24 -> This interim government all of
a sudden becomes a democracy.
419.16 -> This is February 1917.
420.84 -> Remember, the United
States has not
422.57 -> entered the war at this point.
424.14 -> But you might also remember
that in April, the United States
426.97 -> uses the idea of fighting
on the side of democracy
429.79 -> as a justification
for entering the war.
432.08 -> Which is very nice,
because by April,
434.14 -> all of the major powers
on the side of the,
436.2 -> I guess you would say,
the Triple Entente,
437.95 -> they were all democracies.
439.26 -> You're talking about, now,
the interim government
441.59 -> for the Russians.
442.37 -> You have the French.
443.44 -> And you have the British Empire.
446.5 -> Obviously, it's a democracy
only for those who are voting.
449.42 -> And actually the United
States was the first country
454.04 -> to recognize the
interim government
456.44 -> after the overthrow
of Tsar Nicholas II.
461.54 -> But we're not just
done with 1917.
464.03 -> 1917 is one of those huge years
in the history of the world
467.21 -> and especially in the
history of Russia.
469.79 -> The situation continues
to deteriorate.
472.93 -> And it starts to deteriorate,
as well, for the army.
475.96 -> The morale and the
troops breakdown.
478.47 -> You start having, the Bolsheviks
start to create unrest.
483.93 -> By the end of 1917, now we're
talking about September 1917.
488.5 -> So that's maybe
right around here.
490.33 -> You have the Central Powers.
492.44 -> Germany's able to capture
Riga, which is a major city
497.33 -> right over here on the Baltic.
500.22 -> Which brings the Central
Powers very, very
505.42 -> close to the Russian capital.
507.62 -> It contributes to the ongoing
unrest that's going on.
511.67 -> And so in November 7,
you have coup d'etat
518.159 -> of that ostensibly democratic
interim government,
521.64 -> provisional government.
522.799 -> And you have the
communists take power.
524.48 -> You have the
Bolsheviks take power
526.42 -> under the leadership of
Vladimir Lenin right over here.
529.88 -> So November 7, 1917, very
famous date in history.
534.02 -> You have the Bolsheviks.
535.07 -> So this is Lenin leading
the Bolsheviks into power.
538.702 -> Now, they were in no
interest to continue
540.41 -> fighting this
battle with Germany.
542.08 -> They had their own civil
war to worry about.
544.39 -> They were trying to
consolidate power in Russia.
547.7 -> So in December, they
essentially get into,
550.26 -> start to negotiate an armistice
with the Central Powers.
553.74 -> And they did not have a lot of
leverage in this negotiation
557.186 -> because they
weren't, they really
558.56 -> did not want to be in this war.
561.08 -> And so by March
of 1918, you have
566.4 -> the treaty-- this between
Russia and the Central Powers--
569.36 -> the Treaty of Brest--
and I'm sure I'm
572.05 -> mispronouncing
everything-- Brest-Litovsk.
577.68 -> The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk,
in which the Russians,
581.214 -> because they were so
desperate, the Bolsheviks
583.13 -> were so desperate
in order to get,
584.77 -> to focus on the
internal civil war that
587.26 -> had emerged in Russia, in
order to consolidate power,
589.87 -> they gave over a huge
amount of territory
592.68 -> to the Central Powers.
593.91 -> And essentially a large
part of European Russia
598.31 -> that is not predominantly--
of Russian ethnicity
604.95 -> went over to the Central Powers.
607.07 -> Now this treaty is important
because it essentially
610.34 -> was the end of World
War I for the Russians.
612.63 -> It essentially was the
end of the Eastern Front.
615.55 -> And it allowed the
Germans to then refocus
618.25 -> on the Western Front, which
allowed the Germans to start
620.76 -> bringing troops back over
to the Western Front.
623.77 -> And they were actually able to
do quite an aggressive Spring
626.58 -> Offensive on the Western Front.
629.18 -> And if it wasn't for
the US at the time,
631.406 -> now being able to reinforce
the Western Front-- remember,
633.78 -> they declared war in
mid-1917-- it's not clear
637.75 -> that the German offensive
might not have been successful
641.08 -> in the spring of 1918.
643.42 -> So the importance
of Brest-Litovsk
645.29 -> is it was the end of
the Eastern Front.
648.48 -> It allowed the Germans to do an
offensive on the Western Front.
652.18 -> And it was a very
strong offensive.
654.75 -> But with the help
of the Americans,
656.81 -> it was not a successful one.
658.87 -> But the actual territorial
gains for the Central Power
661.5 -> of Brest-Litovsk-- I'm sure
I'm mispronouncing it--
665.03 -> were not that significant.
666.63 -> Because in November
1918-- and here
669.6 -> I'm probably falling off
my timeline a little bit.
671.99 -> But right over here
in November 1918,
674.57 -> this is maybe 19-- this
is 1919 right over here.
679.72 -> You have the Central
Powers essentially saying,
683.02 -> oh my God, we're not going
to be able to win this war.
686.07 -> And you have the,
essentially, what
688.22 -> was for a long time
known as Armistice Day.
690.23 -> The 11th the day
of the 11th month--
692.1 -> or the 11th hour
of the 11th month--
694.39 -> or the 11th hour of the
11th day of the 11th month,
696.77 -> you have an armistice.
697.95 -> And you have the end of World
War I with the Allies winning.
701.21 -> And so the Allies
got to say what
702.83 -> happened to this
territory right over here.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATuMxyoVh_8