The Pre-war Origins of Russia’s Defeats in 1914 and 1915

Abstract

This article re-examines the thesis proposed by Norman Stone in his book The Eastern Front regarding the pre-war origins of Russia’s defeats in 1914 and 1915. The article concludes that, contrary to Stone’s thesis, the pre-war split between Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich and General V.A. Sukhomlinov had little impact on Russian military operations in the First World War. The Russian army was not as rigidly divided into factions as Stone suggests, nor were the factions divided on class grounds. The grand duke and his associates were not determined supporters of the fortresses in Poland, and the decision to defend Poland in summer 1915 was not related to pre-war debates about the fortresses.