[1] After initial advances the Romanian military campaign quickly turned disastrous for Romania as the Central Powers occupied two-thirds of the country, including the capital Bucharest, within months and Russian troops were dispatched to the new front line in order to prop up the Romanian government and prevent an invasion of Russia from the south.

The 1917 February Revolution in Russia forced Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate but the Russian Provisional Government under Alexander Kerensky decided to continue the war on the Entente side though the battle lines remained mostly stalemated.

In the summer of 1917, the Romanian front saw one of the largest concentrations of combat forces and war matériel assembled during World War I: nine armies, 80 infantry divisions with 974 battalions, 19 cavalry divisions with 550 squadrons and 923 artillery batteries, whose effectives amounted to some 800,000 men, with about one million in their immediate reserve.

During this offensive Romania took part in three battles at Mărăști, Mărășești and Oituz, preventing a significant advance of the enemy troops.

Initiated by surprise with three divisions, the offensive succeeded in disrupting the well-organized enemy defenses and compelling the Austro-Hungarians and Germans to retreat.

The results of the offensive can be summarized as follows, the front line was broken on a 30 km (19 mi) stretch and penetrated to a depth of 20 km (12 mi), resulting in the liberation of a 500 km2 (190 sq mi) area comprising 30 villages, the Romanian forces took 2,700 prisoners, 70 guns, and important quantities of matériel, including a significant amount of munitions, and the Romanians lost trust in the Russian forces because when they tried to press their advantage they were told by the Russians that they had "no orders from the Revolution" to advance.

The Romanians separately negotiated the Armistice of Focșani, but millions of German and Russian soldiers still faced off across Romania.

[5][6][7] The Russian Army, led by General Dmitry Shcherbachev, was headquartered in the Socola quarter of Iași, the Romanian capital-in-exile.

Shcherbachev wrote to the Prime Minister of Romania, Ion I. C. Brătianu: "Russian armies have become gangs without leaders, poisoned with violent anarchy, unable to keep the front and incapable of organizing demobilization for withdrawal that without supply is itself a devastating work."

But to his request for support Brătianu replied: "I can not raise any Romanian soldier to defend you against your own troops without seeing me mixed fighting in Russia without causing a conflict with the new rulers."

The next day another train filled with Bolshevik troops left Odessa but was turned back at the Prut River by Romanian soldiers.

[9] Because of so many Russian troops still positioned on the front lines, the Romanian government started to take precautions in the rest of the country.

The territory behind the front was divided into eight regions with military commands (Botoșani, Fălticeni, Iași, Podu Iloaiei, Roman, Vaslui, Bacău, and Bârlad) that reinforced the local gendarmerie with military units that hunted and deported the Russian gangs that roamed and plundered the land.

The greater danger that night for the population was the attempt by the 10th Division to burn the city by filling cars with gasoline and driving flaming vehicles into buildings.

The Romanian 8th Brigade, arrived from Fântânele and surprised the Russian troops stationed in the bog north of Movileni.

Attacked and expelled from the north and east, the Russians in disarray began moving south to the Gara Barboși and the bridge over Siret.

A battle between two allied armies, in front of the enemy's positions and under his gazeBy the end of the day the Russian troops agreed to surrender, were disarmed and sent off over the Prut to the Moldavian Democratic Republic.

Following this victory, Bessarabia was able to receive the armed aid it had requested, so that it could protect the population from the robberies and crimes committed by the Russian armies that were retreating in great disorder.

Over the next few days clashes between Russian and Romanian troops occurred in Bacău, Botoșani, Mihăileni, Pașcani, and Timișești.

[14] The Battle of Galați in 1918 was one of the first armed confrontations following the rules of a modern warfare where all types of weapons are involved and perfectly cooperate, in our case, artillery, aviation, with a double role of recognition, but also that of supporting the land army by bombardment, then the fleet, whose shooting defended and supported the soldiers, who eventually got to the melee fight.

[17][18] The importance of the Romanian victory in Galați against the Bolshevik troops was also highlighted by the awarding of two medals, by Italy and France.

An arched monument was dedicated to the heroes of Galați, but it was torn down after the Communists took control of Romania after World War II.

[19][20] Following the Romanian Revolution of 1989 and the fall of communism, the monument was rebuilt in the same location, being inaugurated on January 20, 2018, on the 100th anniversary of the heroic battles fought to defend the city.