Russian winter

flaja

Banned
We always hear about what the Russian winter did to Napoleon and then the Germans in WWII. But was the Russian winter ever a factor during World War I?
 
Largely no for two reasons. 1st, most of WWI fighting occured in the Western regions of Russia and, due to Gulf Stream's influence, they enjoy much more moderate weather. 2nd, unlike Napoleon and Hitler, WWI Germans not only had railway-based supply system (eliminating need to forage) but also knew how to use it and prepared for winter in advance. Generally winter was a slow time during WWI, although Russians and Austrians managed to organize several impressive winter battles in Carpathians.
 

flaja

Banned
Largely no for two reasons. 1st, most of WWI fighting occured in the Western regions of Russia and, due to Gulf Stream's influence, they enjoy much more moderate weather. 2nd, unlike Napoleon and Hitler, WWI Germans not only had railway-based supply system (eliminating need to forage) but also knew how to use it and prepared for winter in advance. Generally winter was a slow time during WWI, although Russians and Austrians managed to organize several impressive winter battles in Carpathians.

I am assuming that Germany invaded Russia during World War I and I’ve heard that that standard Russian railroads were a different gauge that what Western Europe used; Western Europe’s locomotives and rolling stock wouldn’t work on Russia’s rail lines. So did the Germans not invade far into Russia in WWI, or did they build rail lines as the went along?
 
They didn't get far into Russia, so it was not much of a factor, also most of the advances into Russia during World War 1 were because of the treaty of Brevst-Litvosk.
 
They didn't get far into Russia, so it was not much of a factor, also most of the advances into Russia during World War 1 were because of the treaty of Brevst-Litvosk.

Actually, most people are surprised to hear that in WW1, Germany advanced into Russia almost as far as they did twenty years later in WW2.
 

flaja

Banned
They didn't get far into Russia, so it was not much of a factor, also most of the advances into Russia during World War 1 were because of the treaty of Brevst-Litvosk.

When we say the Germans invaded Russia during WWI, are we really talking about Poland? How much further east was the Russian border when the Germans invaded in 1941 than it had been in 1914?
 
That's 1918.
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Map is weird in it's scale and naming (Rumania, Livonia, where the Hell did they get those names?), but it gives you good idea. Russian Empire largely fought WWI on territories West of USSR border. Germans gained Ukraine, Belarus and Baltics (isn't it ironic that West is currently trying to integrate the very same territories in it's military alliance, and is it really wonder that Russians are not feeling great about it) when Russian army ceased to exist as coherent fighting force after Revolution.
 
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