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Baranovichi offensive
Part of theEastern Front duringWorld War I
Date 3–25 July 1916 Location Baranovichi (ThenRussian Empire, present-dayBelarus) Result Central Powers victory
Belligerents
Germany Austria-Hungary	Russian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Prince Leopold of Bavaria Remus von Woyrsch	Alexei Evert Alexander Ragoza
Strength
9th Army	4th Army
Casualties and losses
13,000[1]–40,000[2]	80,000[3]–120,000[4]

TheBaranovichi offensive was a battle fought on theEastern Front duringWorld War I between an army ofRussia and the forces ofGermany andAustria-Hungary in July 1916.

Concurrent to an attack by Russian Southwestern Front, the Russian Western Front was to launch an offensive in the direction of Vilna. However, the plan of attack was changed - instead of an attack on Vilna, the offensive was to target the area ofBaranovichi. This change of direction came about due to orders from above, mediated in a vision toGrigory Rasputin, and accepted by the Tsar, as commander-in-chief. In early June 1916, the troops of the Southwestern Front began their offensive, achieving breakthroughs against the Austro-Hungarian army and advancing intoGalicia. However, General A. E. Evert, commander of the Russian Western Front, twice postponed planned offensive towards Baranovichi, first on 31 May, then on 4 June, and then attempted to cancel the operation altogether. By order of Russian GHQ, General Evert was obliged to "attack the enemy on the front - Nowogrodek - Baranovichi" on 3 June.

The Russian Fourth Army launched the first attack on 2 July with three army corps, but had stalled by the next day. The Russians revived the offensive on 4 July but again stalled after only two days of fighting. Under the cover of night on 8 July the Russians launched a third push but all Russian attacks were repulsed by the end of the following day. On 14 July the German Army counterattacked and took back all lost ground. A final Russian attempt was made from 25 to 29 July, but yet again failed.

Despite months of preparation and a sixfold advantage in manpower and artillery, the Russians failed to break through the fortified German positions, seizing only the first fortified line in some areas of the offensive which was then lost to German counterattacks.

• John Keegan:Der erste Weltkrieg. Eine europaische Tragodie. Rowohlt-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2001,ISBN 3-499-61194-5
• Norman Stone:The Eastern Front 1914–1917. Penguin Books Ltd., London 1998,ISBN 0-14-026725-5
• Christian Zentner:Der erste Weltkrieg. Daten, Fakten, Kommentare. Moewig, Rastatt 2000,ISBN 3-8118-1652-7

• Oleynikov, Alexey (2016).Россия-щит Антанты. С предисловием Николая Старикова. [Russia – the shield of the Entente] (in Russian). Foreword by Nikolai Starikov. St. Petersburg: Peter.ISBN 978-5-496-01795-4.

• Conflicts in 1916
• Battles of the Eastern Front (World War I)
• Battles of World War I involving Germany
• Battles of World War I involving Russia
• Military history of Belarus
• 1916 in the Russian Empire
• 1910s in Belarus
• Minsk Governorate
• July 1916 in Europe

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