Deleted member 1487
Ukraine
The situation on the Southwestern front had collapsed. Though Brusilov's front remained in the field, the increasing desertion rate was badly sapping his field strength and reducing his supplies. Furthermore, the advance of the Romanians had unhinged the entire front, causing the Russians to pull back quickly to avoid entrapment. This had several effects, namely, that morale, already low given the massive casualties and lack of success in the 1916 offensives, plummeted, causing even larger numbers of men to leave and just go home or surrender, thinking the Austrians would give them a meal. this hope would prove forlorn. Also, the rapid collapse of the Russian front and the entry of the Romanians boosted Austrian and German moral in the wake of the horrors of the 1916 campaign season. The Germans were the worst affected, as the battles at Verdun and on the Somme continued. Troops were being transferred west to meet manpower demands after September, as the Russians were no longer viewed as a major threat.
Also, though the Germans did not advance on their front with the Russians, they did contribute cavalry divisions to the Austrian advance. The rising morale was further bolstered, as the retreating Russians were not conducting massive sabotage or "scorched earth" tactics in their pull back. The men seemed more eager to leave than destroy parts of their country. This meant that large amounts of grains fell into the Central Powers' hands, further raising morale as men were able to eat to their hearts' content. There was significant trouble shipping the massive amounts of food west, given the poor rail system, the damage to the rail net in the recent battles, and the lack of sufficient rolling stock. The home front would only receive a trickle of the food coming in, but luckily this meant the Ukrainian peasants that did the hard work of producing it were not terribly deprived over the coming winter.
The final line of advance before settling down for winter quarters ran from Korosten-Zhytomyr-Vinnytsya in the north along the Austrian front to Uman-Pervomays'k-Mykolayiv on the southern Romanian front. This left large tracts of land in Central Powers' hands and this gave them an opportunity to set up a separatist regime, which would hopefully net them more men for the coming season among the Ukrainian patriots that wished for an independent country. They would not be disappointed in turnout, but the disturbing tendency for these men to set their own way and strive for independence from the Austrians was not boding well for continued control over the conquered area. The Romanians were not eager to join in on these activities, and kept the Ukrainians in line.
Despite the demands of certain members of Ober Ost (Ludendorff) Falkenhayn did not want to control the Ukraine and was simply willing to set up a friendly government and pull out, taking the front out of the fighting, enabling men to be transferred elsewhere. This opinion seemed to fit the majority of the German army and government well, as the pressure in the West and to the north of the Russian front was reaching a tipping point for the Germans. Luckily, the Russian Southwestern Front was unwilling or unable to fight back much during 1916, or, as it would later turn out, even be able to launch an offensive ever again. The Russian government was trying to put the army back together for 1917, still willing to fight in the war. The population, increasingly hungry as control over the Ukraine, even in parts nominally still in the Empire's borders, slipped, was far less enthusiastic. Poland had been declared a kingdom by the Germans and Austrians in November with an unnamed member of the Habsburg family as the monarch. Having set an example for others, nationalism was rising everywhere in the empire and various groups were preparing to set up new countries from the disintegrating corpse of the Russian empire. Though most would not be successful or even viable until much later, the process had begun.
The situation on the Southwestern front had collapsed. Though Brusilov's front remained in the field, the increasing desertion rate was badly sapping his field strength and reducing his supplies. Furthermore, the advance of the Romanians had unhinged the entire front, causing the Russians to pull back quickly to avoid entrapment. This had several effects, namely, that morale, already low given the massive casualties and lack of success in the 1916 offensives, plummeted, causing even larger numbers of men to leave and just go home or surrender, thinking the Austrians would give them a meal. this hope would prove forlorn. Also, the rapid collapse of the Russian front and the entry of the Romanians boosted Austrian and German moral in the wake of the horrors of the 1916 campaign season. The Germans were the worst affected, as the battles at Verdun and on the Somme continued. Troops were being transferred west to meet manpower demands after September, as the Russians were no longer viewed as a major threat.
Also, though the Germans did not advance on their front with the Russians, they did contribute cavalry divisions to the Austrian advance. The rising morale was further bolstered, as the retreating Russians were not conducting massive sabotage or "scorched earth" tactics in their pull back. The men seemed more eager to leave than destroy parts of their country. This meant that large amounts of grains fell into the Central Powers' hands, further raising morale as men were able to eat to their hearts' content. There was significant trouble shipping the massive amounts of food west, given the poor rail system, the damage to the rail net in the recent battles, and the lack of sufficient rolling stock. The home front would only receive a trickle of the food coming in, but luckily this meant the Ukrainian peasants that did the hard work of producing it were not terribly deprived over the coming winter.
The final line of advance before settling down for winter quarters ran from Korosten-Zhytomyr-Vinnytsya in the north along the Austrian front to Uman-Pervomays'k-Mykolayiv on the southern Romanian front. This left large tracts of land in Central Powers' hands and this gave them an opportunity to set up a separatist regime, which would hopefully net them more men for the coming season among the Ukrainian patriots that wished for an independent country. They would not be disappointed in turnout, but the disturbing tendency for these men to set their own way and strive for independence from the Austrians was not boding well for continued control over the conquered area. The Romanians were not eager to join in on these activities, and kept the Ukrainians in line.
Despite the demands of certain members of Ober Ost (Ludendorff) Falkenhayn did not want to control the Ukraine and was simply willing to set up a friendly government and pull out, taking the front out of the fighting, enabling men to be transferred elsewhere. This opinion seemed to fit the majority of the German army and government well, as the pressure in the West and to the north of the Russian front was reaching a tipping point for the Germans. Luckily, the Russian Southwestern Front was unwilling or unable to fight back much during 1916, or, as it would later turn out, even be able to launch an offensive ever again. The Russian government was trying to put the army back together for 1917, still willing to fight in the war. The population, increasingly hungry as control over the Ukraine, even in parts nominally still in the Empire's borders, slipped, was far less enthusiastic. Poland had been declared a kingdom by the Germans and Austrians in November with an unnamed member of the Habsburg family as the monarch. Having set an example for others, nationalism was rising everywhere in the empire and various groups were preparing to set up new countries from the disintegrating corpse of the Russian empire. Though most would not be successful or even viable until much later, the process had begun.