Russia
Tsar Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov
Although hampered by the October revolution and the rise of the Bolsheviks the Russian Empire faced down the German war machine until the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918. Up to this point, the Russians fought a losing war on the Eastern Front mainly due to their lack of equipment and lacklustre leadership.
At the beginning of the war, Tsar Nicholas II put himself as the head of the army leading to many tactical mishaps due to his inexperience with warfare and disregard towards his officers’ advice. This combined with the fact that there was often one gun between two soldiers it led to a complete failure to push against the Germans on the north of the Eastern Front.
Much had to be made back by the soldiers on the ground. To counteract their disadvantages soldiers took matters into their own hands, committing feats unlike ever seen before. Of these feats, one of the most peculiar and interesting has to be the case of the Russian soldiers defending the Osowiec Fortress and the subsequent “Attack of the Dead Men”
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