Timeline of 1916:

February 21, 1916: Verdun Campaign

• German attack on French city of Verdun
• Primarily fought using guns; also introduced gas and flamethrowers in hand-to-hand combat
• French victory, but at a high cost-->destroys their army
• First major setback for Germans
• Both sides lose approx 500,000 men

March 1916: Russian attack on Northern Front at Vilna

• Lose 100,000 men (even though they have better weapons and more men)
• Considered a loss for the Allies

June 1916: Brusilov's Offensive

• Russian attack on Galician front under Brusilov
• Huge strides--20 mile gap in Austrian armies, 500,000 Austrian prisoners
• Austrians had poor command, poor morale--contributed to their defeat
• Russians have huge courage...even though they lose close to 1 million men
• Russian never fully recovers
• Encourages Romania to join Allies

July--October 1916: Battle of the Somme

• British & French vs. Germany (on French territory)
• Poor leadership, major losses (Allies lose 600,000 men)
• Poor quality of weaponry
• Allies only gain 10 miles in 4 months

End of 1916: Russia ungovernable; Continued stalemate

• strikes
• evasion of military service
• Lots of discontent everywhere