Brusilov Offensive/Transcript

Excerpt
'In 1916 the Eastern Front is locked in a stalemate. After several failed and expensive campaigns, the Russians were unwilling to attack, while the Austro-Hungarians were content to hold the line. Germany battled the Allies in France and Belgium, but the Allies needed to attack the Central Powers on both fronts. So the under-resourced Russian Army was pressed to find new methods to break down the superior Hapsburg forces that had long resisted them.'

Introduction
Narrator/Announcer: 1916. The Eastern Front is locked in a stalemate. After several failed and expensive campaigns, the Russians were unwilling to attack, while the Austro-Hungarians were content to hold the line. Germany battled the Allies in France and Belgium, but the Allies needed to attack the Central Powers on both fronts. So the under-resourced Russian Army was pressed to find new methods to break down the superior Hapsburg forces that had long resisted them.

Introduction
Russian Soldier 1: (in Russian) We are digging our trenches far out into no-man's land, some just 70 meters from their defenses. General Brusilov has told us that surprise is more deadly than the gun.

Russian Soldier 2: (in Russian) The captain selected a platoon of our strongest, bravest soldiers. Our small unit is to storm three of their trenches even before the artillery has ceased.

Russian Soldier 3: (in Russian) Russia, our great nation that could feed the world. We are short of food. And not only food; clothes, petrol, and boots. How can we fight without boots?

Briefing
GALICIA 1916

Russian Officer: Soldiers! Orders from General Brusilov. Four objectives. First, the Galicia Fields must be taken. Following that success, we will drive towards the windmills and secure the Verehia Crossing. From here, we'll move across No Man's Land and meet their trenches head-on. Finally, we must capture Melnik Farm. It is time to make this valley Russian land once again. Be bold, and victory will be ours!

First Battalion Lost

 * One of the following quotes is played at random.

Russian Officer: We lost the attack brothers and sisters. The heart of our great country is beating in sympathy. So take up your arms once more and fight! This time to victory!

Russian Officer: Our attack failed soldiers. But the Russian spirit is never defeated. We do not lack confidence. We do not lack the will. So fight again. To victory!

Russian Officer: Yes, they won this fight. But you cannot be victorious by standing in defense. It takes blood to claim victory, so this is what we shall give them!

Second Battalion Lost
Russian Officer: Again we lose. We still live. The dream of victory is not over. We have one last chance to see these Hapsburg dogs to their graves. Stand up, soldiers! Stand up and fight again!

Third Battalion Lost (Defeat)
Russian Officer: You fought like lions but have lost this battle. Your passion for our motherland will never stop. And you will fight again. Only the dead have seen the end of this war.

Victory
Russian Officer: We are victorious! Your loyalty soldiers, your spirit of self-sacrifice and your courage are an example to all Allied forces. The Hapsburg monster is in retreat!

Introduction
Austro-Hungarian Soldier 1: (in German) Soon they will come; first the crude bombardment, then the mass of infantry. But our bunkers will protect us. We have three lines of defense, each three miles apart.

Austro-Hungarian Soldier 2: (in German) Religious souls visualize hell as a blazing inferno with burning embers and intense heat. The soldiers fighting in the snow on the Eastern Front know otherwise.

Austro-Hungarian Soldier 3: (in German) A Russian aeroplane appeared on the horizon again. We immediately opened fire but it disappeared, having seen enough. And like before, our position was shelled very soon after.

Briefing
GALICIA 1916

Austro-Hungarian Officer: Soldiers! The Russians are finally upon us, so prepare yourselves. We must defend Galicia Fields. If we fail, do not despair. We will move to our second line of defense at the Verehia Crossing. Should we lose this position, we must retreat to this area of No Man's Land. If the enemy proves too strong, we shall fall back and defend Melnik Farm. For the love of our great empire, show strength and courage. We shall not fail.

First Battalion Defeated

 * One of the following quotes is played at random.

Austro-Hungarian Officer: These lands remain ours, brothers. This Russian attack was no match for the great Hapsburg army. Our brotherhood is legendary. Let them come again!

Austro-Hungarian Officer: Our defense is held, the Russian advance has been stopped. Be proud of this glorious achievement men! Hope that they come again, for they are no match for us.

Second Battalion Defeated

 * One of the following quotes is played at random.

Austro-Hungarian Officer: We have won this fight, shown our superiority, our brotherhood. When their final attack comes, soldiers, honor your dead brothers with the greatest victory our army has ever known!

Austro-Hungarian Officer: We are victors here. As in Tannenberg, the Russians have been proven weak and inferior. They will come once more. When they do, they will be defeated.

Third Battalion Defeated (Victory)
Austro-Hungarian Officer: A Hapsburg victory! These invaders must now realize that our troops are invincible, our empire will not fall. We will grow, and we will prosper.

Defeat
Austro-Hungarian Officer: This territory is lost. We must fall back and prepare to fight again at Kolomea. While there is a man left standing, the Sun will not set on the Hapsburg empire.

Intermission
Narrator/Announcer: With precise artillery attacks and methodical use of shock troops, the Brusilov Offensive managed to breach many sections of the Eastern Front. To avoid a total collapse of its armies and so the empire, it was vital for the Austro-Hungarians to hold up the Russian advance until German troops arrive from the west. Kolomea was to be where one of these decisive battles would take place.

Introduction
Russian Soldier 1: (in Russian) Yes, everyone sympathizes with this terrible war, the living and the dead. But we cannot let sentiment cloud our thoughts. We are going hunting for Hapsburgs.

Russian Soldier 2: (in Russian) Despite our fires, frost bits at our skin and our hair stands on end. I long to feel my blood flowing once again, shoving my bayonet into an Austrian belly.

Russian Soldier 3: (in Russian) Whatever we achieve now, the Tsar is finished. We fight for Brusilov, Russia's great hero, and our brothers and sisters back home.

Briefing
BRUSILOV KEEP 1916

Russian Officer: Comrades! The Hapsburg forces are taking up positions in Kolomea. To capture it, we must first secure the Eastern Line here. Then we move on to take the heavily defended Samara River. Once these areas are open to us, we must move through the town and attack the Chekhova Church. Our last assault will be to drive the enemy from the Kolomea Supply Line. Victory here will surely be the end of their entire army. Let us not fail. For the Tsar!

First Battalion Lost

 * One of the following quotes is played at random.

Russian Officer: Though our attack failed you fought valiantly, and so you will again! Remember those lost at Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes. Fight for their souls!

Russian Officer: We have lost, brothers and sisters. We must answer with our steel, and our cunning. Do not let the Hapsburgs have another victory. For the empire!

Second Battalion Lost
Russian Officer: Another battle lost. But the great Russian bear is but wounded. While there is air in your lungs you can still roar! This is our final attack. We'll fight to the last soldier! We do not surrender!

Third Battalion Lost (Defeat)
Russian Officer: We have failed! The enemy was too strong for us. Be gracious in defeat brothers and sisters. Thank the dead for their sacrifice.

Victory
Russian Officer: A glorious victory that shows the true strength of mother Russia! But we will not stop here! We will march across the Carpathians and bring a final end to the Hapsburg empire itself!

Introduction
Austro-Hungarian Soldier 1: (in German) We wait in silence. For if we were to speak the truth would be told. That if we were to lose here, it would be the end of our army and perhaps the Empire itself.

Austro-Hungarian Soldier 2: (in German) We marched for twelve miles. All the while we thought of fighting the Russians again. It seemed like torture. General Hotzendorf cannot expect us to go on.

Austro-Hungarian Soldier 3: (in German) As time goes on the strange quietude of the town grows more ghastly. The men stare ahead, waiting for battle. Where are the Russians?

Briefing
BRUSILOV KEEP 1916

Austro-Hungarian Officer: These are grave times. We must hold our positions no matter the cost. Our intelligence suggested that the Russians will first attack the Eastern Line, here. If they are successful, we must fall back to defend the Samara River. Our next defensive position will be in the heart of the town, at the ruins of Chekhova Church. If, god forbid, these defenses should fall, our last stand will be at the Kolomea Supply Line. Do not let them pass. The future of our army, indeed, our entire empire, depends upon it.

First Battalion Defeated

 * One of the following quotes is played at random.

Austro-Hungarian Officer: This is our victory. They came in numbers and they died in mounts. And so they will again. Form positions, get ready!

Austro-Hungarian Officer: Yes, we have found victory here. Do not rest, let every man remember that he is fighting here to decide the fate of our empire, to the last!

Second Battalion Defeated

 * One of the following quotes is played at random.

Austro-Hungarian Officer: Another victory soldiers! Kolomea remains ours. But dark clouds gather again. The final attack is coming. We'll show these Russian dogs that we Hapsburgs can never be beaten.

Austro-Hungarian Officer: Kolomea remains ours! By order of the emperor and supreme commander Archduke Friedrich, I address to you my felicitations and congratulations on your exemplary conduct. Now, prepare to defend once more!

Third Battalion Defeated (Victory)
Austro-Hungarian Officer: We have won. You soldiers have fought off the Russian invaders. The German armies will soon join us to push them back through the mud. The emperor salutes you!

Defeat
Austro-Hungarian Officer: Soldiers, we have lost this battle, and I think, this war. We are on the verge a military and national catastrophe. May the emperor save us.

Russian Empire Victory
Narrator/Announcer: The 1916 Brusilov Offensive proved to be the worst crisis of World War I for Austria-Hungary, and the Triple Entente's greatest victory. But it came at a tremendous loss of life for both sides. And without the promised support of Russia's other armies, much of the territory gained by Brusilov was lost to the Germans arriving from the west. It is a sad irony that in the end, it was a political collapse in Russia, not a military defeat, that would decide the outcome of this region's war.

Austro-Hungarian Victory
Narrator/Announcer: By the beginning of 1916, it was becoming increasingly clear that Russia could no longer sustain the losses from several failed operations, while maintaining loyalty to the autocratic and ever more dysfunctional monarchy of Tsar Nicholas II. If the Austro-Hungarians had managed to halt the first Brusilov advance, inflicting further wounds on Russia, it is likely that anger amongst the people at home would have ignited the revolution immediately, leading to the Bolsheviks pulling Russia out of the war before the winter set in, a huge blow to the Allied alliance.