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When the First World War is discussed in public, the focus is usually on the material battles on the Western Front in France and Belgium. It is often forgotten that the battles on the Eastern Front were also marked by extreme brutality and that millions of soldiers lost their lives there too.
In Eastern Europe, the war was characterized by major movements of the front lines. Huge military engagements such as the Battle of Tannenberg (1914), the Battle of Gorlice-Tarnów (1915) and the Brussilov Offensive (1916) devastated entire regions and displaced millions of people.
The First World War in Eastern Europe ended with the collapse of the Russian army and the Peace of Brest-Litovsk, as well as the break-up of the multi-ethnic state of Austria-Hungary, which had based its position as a great power primarily on its conquests in Eastern Europe.
A direct consequence of the First World War on the Eastern Front was not only the Russian Revolution and the flare-up of communism in the territories of the Soviet Union, which was founded shortly afterwards. New democracies also developed in Eastern and Central Eastern Europe.
The political landscape of the region was completely reshaped, leading to a period of uncertainty and instability. This paved the way for later conflicts, including the Second World War.