Kerensky Offensive

Desperately hoping to reunify the Russian Republic around the ongoing war against Central Powers, a great Russian offensive on the Eastern Front begins.

The early battles on the Eastern Front weren't successful for the Russian forces. The semi-permanent crisis led to the collapse of the authority of Tsar Nicholas, and the creation of Russian Republic. The Provisional Government wanted to honor the alliance with the Entente, regardless of growing internal dissent.   Desperately hoping for a significant success that could reignite support for the war, Kerensky ordered to expand an original plan of General Brusilov. The southern offensive was targeted at Lvov, hoping to weaken The Austro-Hungarian Empire, while the northern offensive was to retake Lithuania.   Russian soldiers lacked enthusiasm, but the decay was much stronger behind the frontline than among the soldiers - at least, for now. The offensive was enough of a surprise to actually achieve something, especially due to surprise. Lvov was recaptured (it was lost during the chaotic transition period around the tsar abdication), and in the north, Lithuania was actually retaken and new frontline was established on Niemen River.   It happened partially because of surprise. Central Powers didn't expect the Russian Republic to be capable of anything even remotely resembling an offensive maneouver and had their forces mostly redirected to another fronts - especially western one, where they were preparing for a general offensive at Paris. The sudden need to redirect forces east to stop the Russian offensive probably prolonged the war by at least a year.   When soldiers were succesfully send east, the offensive was stalled and Kierensky immediately called it off (despite calls to continue) out of fear for the growing casualties undermining his newfound influence.   The authority of Kerensky and the position of Provisional Government was improved massively. The offensive, however, increased polarization within the Russian Republic. While most moderate groups rallied around Provisional Government, all supporters of the end of the Russian participation in the Great War started gravitating towards the Bolsheviks, strengthening them.