Collision of Empires: The War on the Eastern Front in 1914 (General Military) - Hardcover

Buttar, Prit

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1782006486 ISBN 13: 9781782006480

Publisher: Osprey Publishing, 2014

Synopsis

Imperial Germany, Hapsburg Austria-Hungary, and Tsarist Russia clashed on a scale greater than the Western Front campaign to the Marne and the Race to the Sea in 1914.

Drawing on first-hand accounts and detailed archival research, this is a dramatic retelling of the tumultuous events of the first year of World War I on the Eastern Front, with the battles of Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes in East Prussia, followed by the Russo-Austrian clashes in Galicia and the failed German advance towards Warsaw.

With the centenary of the start of World War I in 2014, Collision of Empires is a timely re-discovery of the bitter fighting on this forgotten front. The fighting that raged from East Prussia, through occupied Poland, to Galicia and the Carpathian Mountains was every bit as bloody as comparable battles in Flanders and France, but - with the exception of Tannenberg - remains relatively unknown. As was the case in the West, generals struggled to reconcile their pre-war views on the conduct of operations and how to execute their intricate strategic plans with the reality of war. Lessons were learned slowly while the core of trained personnel, particularly officers and NCOs, in the armies of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia suffered catastrophic losses throughout 1914. Inadequacies in supply and support arrangements, together with a failure to plan for a long war, left all three powers struggling to keep up with events. In addition, the Central Powers had to come to terms with the dreaded reality of a war on two fronts: a war that was initially seen by all three powers as a welcome opportunity to address both internal and external issues, would ultimately bring about the downfall of them all. Prit Buttar, author of Battleground Prussia, provides a magisterial account of the chaos and destruction that reigned when three powerful empires collided.

About this title

About the Author:

Prit Buttar studied medicine in Oxford and London before joining the British Army as a doctor. After leaving the army, he has worked as a GP (General Practitioner), first near Bristol and now in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. He is extensively involved in medical politics, both at the local and national level, and serves on the GP's Committee of the British Medical Association. He appears from time to time on local and national TV and radio, speaking on a variety of medical issues. He contributes regularly to the medical press. An expert on the Eastern Front during both world wars, he previously wrote the critically acclaimed Battleground Prussia: The Assault on Germany's Eastern Front 1944-45 (Osprey 2010). The author lives in Oxford, England.

Review:

“Insightful, drawn from numerous sources woven together into a narrative that is easy to follow even if one knows little about this theater of the war... The centennial of World War I is under way, and authors around the globe are writing many new books about the way. This book certainly ranks among the best of them.” --Military Heritage

"Painstaking research and firsthand accounts propel the author’s narrative of events that took place during the first year of the war a century ago. Buttar’s splendid hardcover book puts an exclamation point on the reality that their collision in combat resulted in the downfalls of all three empires." --Toy Soldier & Model Figure

"Based in archival research, this book will appeal to readers interested in World War I and especially the first months of battles on the Eastern Front." --Library Journal

"...a timely retelling of the early weeks of the war on the Eastern Front." --WWI Historical Association (www.ww1ha.org), October 6, 2014

About this edition

• Publisher: Osprey Publishing
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1782006486
• ISBN 13: 9781782006480
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 488