[a] After the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II during the February Revolution, the Russian Provisional Government pledged to fulfill Russia's existing commitments to the Triple Entente, which included launching an offensive in the spring of 1917.

The collapse of the Provisional Government's popularity as a result of the offensive, and even more so after the Kornilov coup, was critical to the Bolsheviks increasing their influence over both the army and the Petrograd Soviet shortly before the October Revolution.

But when Germany and Austria-Hungary were advancing on the Eastern Front in mid-1915, France and Britain did relatively little to assist Russia, waiting for months before starting their own offensive and providing too few supplies to address the Russian Army's munition shortages.

[12][13] The Russian high command's proposal was rejected by the Western Allies, which had already decided that Russia would launch an offensive in coordination with their efforts in the West, initially set for February 1917.

[11][12] But at a meeting of the Stavka on 30–31 December 1916 involving Emperor Nicholas II, who had assumed the post of Supreme Commander himself, the generals told him that the Russian Army would not be ready for an offensive by the requested date.

On 1 February 1917, at a conference with French, British, and Italian delegations in Petrograd, it was agreed by Entente military leaders that an offensive in the West would start in April and the Russians would begin about one month later, giving them more time.

[13] On 6 February, Nicholas accepted the suggestion of his chief of staff, General Mikhail Alekseyev, that the offensive would be conducted by the Southwestern Front with the focus on capturing Lemberg and the region of Galicia.

Russia experienced a decline in grain production since the start of the war in 1914, which, combined with the demands of the army and problems with the rail system, caused shortages in Petrograd and other cities.

Furthermore, the government's inability to finance the war effort led to a large deficit, which was partly covered by printing money, and the resulting inflation caused food prices to more than triple by the start of 1917.

[17][18] Before he abdicated the emperor approved Prince Georgy Lvov to lead the Provisional Government, which consisted mostly of liberals and a few socialists, though it had no control over the revolutionary mobs in Petrograd without cooperation from the Soviet.

[19] Whether or not the war should continue was not one of the main topics in Russian politics during the events of March 1917,[21] but this changed by April, when the Soviet declared that it wanted peace "without annexations or reparations," but also stating that the revolution could not retreat in the face of foreign conquest.

The more radical Bolshevik faction took advantage of the crisis to agitate for the overthrow of the Provisional Government, but the Soviet Executive Committee opposed this and worked to prevent another uprising.

Those with a middle class professional or student background were most likely to sympathize with the revolution and work with the committees; they tended to support War Minister Kerensky, were pro-war and patriotic, and made preparations for the June offensive.

[30] There were also reports of Russian soldiers talking and sharing food and alcohol with the Germans and Austrians, who took the opportunity to spread propaganda among them after they became aware of the revolutionary developments in Russia.

[31] General Alekseyev, who became the army supreme commander after the Revolution, told his French counterpart Robert Nivelle in March that the offensive would have to be delayed until June, because of low morale, logistical issues, and problems caused by bad weather.

Kerensky also thought that a Russian military success would persuade the other Allies to seek peace on the terms in his government's earlier declaration calling for self-determination for all nations.

The stand of the Congress was clarified when the Petrograd Soviet's newspaper, Izvestia, called on soldiers to go on the offensive against the Central Powers to prevent the disintegration of the army, put Russia in a better negotiating position to end the war, and defend the territory of the country.

[48][45] After the first two days of fighting the Seventh Army took about 15,000 casualties and inflicted about 12,500 on the opposing German-Austrian-Ottoman force, which challenged them for control of the heights of the Zolota Lypa river valley.

The successful Czechoslovak attack caused the division to withdraw from the town, and, together with Russian assistance, threatened a breakthrough on this part of the front before reinforcements were used to strengthen that area.

The artillery barrage ahead of their attack never occurred, leaving the fortifications of the defenders intact, and the guards units were quickly pushed back with heavy losses.

The initial infantry attack at several locations did not make much progress, but two days of an artillery barrage weakened the Austrian defenses, and a renewed assault led to the capture of Stanislau on 8 July.

[51][58] However, the Russian advance was halted, including by a German reinforcements to strengthen the Austrians and by problems caused by bad weather in the area of the Lomnitsa river that destroyed the bridges they had built.

His promotion was requested to Kerensky by Boris Savinkov, a Provisional Government commissar to the Southwestern Front, who believed the Kornilov could restore the power of the army and save Russia.

[61] After only encountering limited Russian resistance, Austro-German troops took the city of Tarnopol on 25 July as the Seventh and parts of the Eleventh Armies withdrew to the other side of the Zbruch river.

The Western Front, led by Anton Denikin, started the offensive on 20 July with the Tenth Army attacking in the direction of Smorgon and Krevo,[10] but they were stopped by German reinforcements, and many of the larger units refused to fight or began disintegrating.

[69] The main advance on Nămoloasa was permanently delayed, but the Russo-Romanian actions at the Battles of Mărăști, Mărășești, and Oituz were successful in retaking some territory from the Austrians and Germans, and prevented the Central Powers from conquering what was left of Romania.

[72] As many Russian units disintegrated during the retreat, some soldiers committed crimes against the local population in the area near the front, causing Kornilov and Savinkov to ask the Provisional Government to restore the death penalty in the army.

[4] At a meeting of senior commanders at the Stavka on 29 July 1917, Kerensky was criticized for all of the policies that the Provisional Government implemented in the army since the February Revolution, and he agreed on the necessity of restoring order among the troops.

Before the German counteroffensive in Galicia was over, the high command began planning an offensive further north to capture Riga, a city not very far from the Russian capital Saint Petersburg.

He attended the Moscow State Conference in mid-August 1917, where he received the support of right-wing industrialists and politicians that were secretly wanted to remove the Provisional Government from power.