Brusilov Offensive

Major offensive of the Russian Empire shakes the Central Powers.

Russian Empire was seen as mostly defeated by the Central Powers in 1915, and pretty much a laughinstock for their commanders. This was certainly right in 1915, but not quite as much in 1916... as some actually competent officers were promoted, the army was reformed (with help of offier-advisors from France) and logistics were improved at least a bit.   An offensive made by forces under general Alexei Brusilov was a total surprise. It wasn't an easy thing, but tsar managed to keep Stavka together (despite the army structures slowly dissolving) tight enough to part force and part persuade neighbouring generals about following the offensive plan, despite extremely defensive outlook.   Because of that, the offensive was a success. Austro-Hungarian and German forces suffered major defeats and were forced to retreat. Lviv was taken, albeit briefly. While the offensive itself was a success - to the point of Russian forces actually taking out more enemies that it lost - it also helped bring down the tsar, as the amount of casualties was simply too big for such a small gains. It could work in the West, but not in Russia that was devoured internally by revolutionary thoughts.   It, however, brought a halt to Central Powers offensives in the east, at least for now. They direly required some time to reorganize their forces.