Germany Ascendant: The Eastern Front 1915

I reviewed Collision of Empires, the previous installment of Mr. Buttar's histories of the Eastern Front in WWI and found this volume better written and organized. I still can't give the series 5 stars because of the sparse number of maps and total absence of Orders of Battle. Without an outside reference it remains very difficult to follow the authors frequent and interchanging references to, for example, Austro-Hungarian Army Corps, without an O.B. to show the commander and other formations the Corps was organized with. Having gotten the criticisms out of the way, I felt this volume makes even better use of first hand accounts from both officers and enlisted men to tell the story of 1915 on the Eastern Front. One stride forward Mr. Buttar makes in understanding the front is pointing out that the Gorlitz-Tarnow offensive on the southern end of the front was only a part of an overall retreat by the Russians from the Baltic to the Carpathians. The author continues to highlight relationships between the Austrian and German commanders. I had thought the A-H Commanders had already lost the power of command to Falkenhayn - Hindenburg by 1915, but that was not the case. Germany Ascendant continues to highlight the machinations of perhaps the greatest armchair general of all time, A-H Chief of Staff, Conrad von Hotzendorf, who in the winter of 1914-15 took 800,000 casualties assaulting the Russians in the Carpathian mountains in an effort to relieve the fortress of Przemsyl and it's garrison of 130,000. While Conrad was probably correct, that this effort depleted the Russian Army and made possible the success of the spring offensive, it undoubtedly bled his own army to a fraction of its former effectiveness. And, no volume I've previously read on the subject of the Central Powers strategy in the war, covers the subject of the efforts of Germans to get their A-H allies to agree to an earlier destruction of Serbia so that a railroad from Berlin to Constantinople could be constructed. Conrad, quite correctly I think, wanted the Russian threat eliminated first. Despite the flaws, mentioned earlier, the passion of this author to illuminate an unfortunately obscure campaign is most refreshing. And, this from a man who is not a trained historian and writer. I am looking forward to the next installment of this work being published in September.

This, the second in a four book series on the Eastern Front in the Great War once again shows the sanguinary massive scale of fighting in 1915. All battles from the brutal Carpathian fiasco, to the Gorlice Tarnow offensive, arguably the greatest victory for the Central Powers in the Great War, to the great Russian retreat and stand in Volhynia in the fall, to the destruction of Serbia is covered in full military detail along with their corresponding political implications. This book is superbly done as was its predecessor Collision of Empires and reflects once again Mr. Buttar's intricate attention to detail. Germany comes out as by far the dominant power in the east in 1915, while Austria Hungary showed increasing but reluctant subservience to the great German war machine, in effect becoming by spring and summer an associate power. Serbia comes out as proud and fighting to the end but doomed by circumstances, and Russia comes out as showing great fortitude on the battlefield by her NCO's and private soldiers but let down by incompetence and vacillation by her high command and political leaders.This book is excellent on the technical military side of things and is interspersed with contemporary views from soldiers, generals and political leaders from both sides. The British and French also come out as a bit unscrupulous in their Balkan intrigues as well and unable to alter the course or events in the east in 1915. This is an excellent successor to Mr. Buttar's first volume and should be read by any serious student of the Great War and in particular the battles in the east. Eagerly looking forward to volume 3, covering, I assume, the Brusilov offensive and the entrance of Romania in the Great War and the repercussions of these events, as well as the beginning of the crumbling of Tsarist Russia, although of course those cracks had begun decades earlier. Very well done Mr. Buttar

T’s Rating System0 to 5 with 0 the lowest score and 5 the highest and NA for not applicable:Books (nonfiction) Content 5 Coverage of topic 5 Adequacy of descriptions 5 Detail 5 Accuracy 5 References 5 Illustrations 3 Size 2 Detail 4 Captions 4 Sufficient Maps 2 Sufficient Drawings NA Sufficient Photos 5 Product worth the price - Yes, 5.Very detailed coverage of the 1915 campaign that presents a view from both sides. Some complain it is difficult to follow, but that it only because the maps are so dam small they are hard to see. Considering it is an Osprey book, and Osprey is known for their graphics, they could have done a much better job on the maps and not tried to use an 1/8 of a page we they needed a full page. This of course, is not a problem created by the author. I see no difficulty in following his text, it is just so complete it takes some time to read it. I would highly recommend the book for anyone interested in the 1915 campaign on the Eastern Front. It is certainly not for those with just a passing interest and could care less why the Germans were able to run the Russian railroads more effectively than their opponent or why the Russian command was not able to reinforce the threatened front near Gorlice. For those that don't want that type of detail, then order one of the 60 to 80 page Osprey picture books that cover similar topics.

I found it an interesting read. He gives us what we already know, but with a few reminisces from Francois, Hoffman, Ludendorf, and Danilov. There is little discussion of the development in 1915 of tactics and weaponry, however. There is a lot of little anecdotes he could have incorporated that could have given the narrative more versimilitude, but he basically says stuff like there were battles, appointments, suffering, and a few officers lost their prized horses. There is no mention of the naval war in the Baltic and the beginnings of aerial combat.

This book covers the campaigns of 1915 on the Eastern Front where Germany became more dominant as the Austo-Hungarian forces suffered crippling casualties in disastrous offensives. The author is obviously an expert on the subject and, fortunately, a good writer as well. The research is meticulous covering all participants in detail. The scope of the battles covered is impressive, I confess i knew very little about the theatre until now. Highy recommended.

Clear, organized, and just well written, it lays out the events of 1915 on the Eastern Front in what certainly appears to be a very authoritative manner.

great book loved it

Excellent and well written account.