Christmas Battles

Overview

The Christmas Battles were offensive operations conducted by the Imperial Russian Army and Latvian Riflemen during World War I in the area of Jelgava, Latvia, by the Russian 12th Army of the Northern Front. The operation took place from 23 December until 29 December 1916 according to the Julian Calendar. The 12th Army was commanded by Gen. Radko Dimitriev; it was opposed by the German 8th Army.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Christmas Battles were offensive operations launched by the Imperial Russian Army and Latvian Riflemen in the Jelgava area of Latvia during late December 1916. Conducted by the Russian 12th Army of the Northern Front under General Radko Dimitriev against the German 8th Army under Friedrich von Scholtz, the operations resulted in severe asymmetric losses: Russian forces of approximately 189,000 suffered around 23,000 casualties against German losses of 3,500. The scale of Russian casualties relative to German losses underscored the broader attrition crisis facing the Imperial Russian military on the Northern Front in the final years of the war, a pattern that contributed to the eroding cohesion of Russian forces heading into 1917.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (3)