During the First World War, most of the attention, at least in the West, was focused on the

Western Front. However, the Western Front was not the only front in the war. There were actually

multiple fronts, including the Middle East, Africa, the Balkans, and Italy. The largest of these

non-Western fronts was in the East, a front that extended from the Baltic to the Black Sea.

The war in the East was almost as brutal as in the West, with casualties almost as high. Learn more about the Eastern Front

in World War I on this to picture the trench warfare that took place in France and Belgium.

To be sure, the Western Front was brutal, and it was where many of the resources warfare that took place in France and Belgium. To be sure, the Western Front

was brutal, and it was where many of the resources of both the Allies and Central Powers were put.

However, that was not the whole war. There were fronts in Italy, the Balkans, the Middle East,

and even limited fighting in Africa and Asia. My goal for this episode is to provide a high-level overview of the events

of the Eastern Front, and how the War in the East eventually ended. In many ways, the Eastern Front

was the forgotten front, yet it suffered almost as many casualties as the Western Front,

and may have suffered even more if the war hadn't ended almost a year sooner.

The Eastern Front extended from the Baltic Sea down to the Black Sea,

although the actual front moved considerably during the course of the war.

The primary belligerence on the Eastern Front were the Russian Empire,

Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Romania.

The length of the Eastern Front was more than double the length of the Western Front.

The distances alone made the conflict in the Eastern Front fundamentally different from that in the West, as the forces were more dispersed.

Russia entered World War I in August of 1914 in defense of its ally Serbia, after Austria-Hungary

declared war on Serbia following the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

Bound by Pan-Slavic sentiment and its alliance with France, Russia mobilized against Austria-Hungary

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