2536 x 3890 px | 21,5 x 32,9 cm | 8,5 x 13 inches | 300dpi
Date de la prise de vue:
2011
Informations supplémentaires:
Grand Duke Nikolay Nikolayevich Romanov of Russia (November 6, 1856 – January 5, 1929) was a Russian general in World War I. A grandson of Nicholas I of Russia, he was commander in chief of the Russian armies on the main front in the first year of the war, and was later a successful commander in the Caucasus. The Grand Duke had no part in the planning and preparations for World War I, that being the responsibility of General Vladimir Sukhomlinov and the general staff. On the eve of the outbreak of World War I, his first cousin once removed, the Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, yielded to the entreaties of his ministers and appointed Grand Duke Nicholas to the supreme command. He was 57 years old and had never commanded armies in the field before. He was given responsibility for the largest army ever put into the field in all prior history. Grand Duke Nicholas was responsible for all Russian forces fighting against Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey. Initially, the Russian high command was not up to the challenge of the Great War. Different armies failed to coordinate their actions which resulted in the disaster of Tannenberg. The subsequent Battle of the Vistula River and Battle of Łódź were more successful for Russian army. The Grand Duke's role was limited to picking and choosing from the various plans offered by the many Russian Army Generals. No coherent plan for victory emerged from the Grand Duke or his staff, though on a personal level he was well liked by both officers and the troops. Nicholas seems to have been more a bureaucrat than a military leader, lacking the broad strategic sense and the ruthless drive to command all the Russian armies. His headquarters had a curiously calm atmosphere, despite the many defeats and the millions of casualties. It must be admitted that the Russian army did not perform any better with his cousin, the Tsar, in charge of the war.
