by Tucker Koch, Commentary Writer
World War I was a weird time. Planes, tanks, chemicals, zeppelins, submachine guns, and semi-automatic pistols were all being field-tested during this war to see what did and didn’t work. Like most European wars, it’s not about glory, it’s about testing out our new toys. Another peculiar aspect of it is how it all began. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, which led to Russia declaring war on Austria-Hungary, in turn prompting Germany to declare war on Russia, and subsequently, France to declare war on Germany, and so on. You get the gist. When discussing these fronts, however, not many history teachers in America focus on the Eastern Front (probably because we, as a nation, never fought on the Eastern Front).
Now, if I were to talk about all the various things about any factor in WW1, I’d be here all day. There are just so many neat tidbits to discuss from the most politically confusing war in history. Today, however, I will be focusing on one particular battle fought between the Germans and the Russians in 1915. The battle in question is the Battle of Osowiec Fortress, otherwise known as the Attack of the Dead Men.
A little historical background before we begin: the Russians, among many other nations participating in WW1, such as Austria-Hungary and Turkey, were very unprepared for a war of this scale. Their country was divided politically, they were low on cash, their navy was a joke (And it still kind of is nowadays), and Rasputin was running around Russia doing some shenanigans as well; Trust me, he’ll get an article soon enough.
Now, let’s get back to the war. German generals decided to invade the Osowiec Fortress in August, since everybody knows that invading anything named ‘Russia’ in the winter is a bad idea, ask Napoleon. The fortress lies relatively close to East Prussia (Kaliningrad, for those unfamiliar with historical map names; yes, Germany once controlled that Russian exclave), so they thought it’d be a good place to launch a larger offensive against Russia. They were also aware that the Russians didn’t have adequate gas masks to give to their troops due to being both a new form of technology and also quite expensive. So, they decided they would gas out the fort and achieve an easy victory. It should be simple.
At around 4 p.m. on August 7th, the Germans struck. The gassing of the entire building killed 800 Russian soldiers and forced the remaining few to flee for their lives. The gas also had the side effect of making the tree wilt and its weapons corrode slightly, which is somewhat humorous, as it set up a creepy atmosphere for what was to come. When the gas cleared out, roughly 7 thousand troops (A bit of overcompensation if you ask me) moved into the base to secure it for the Germans.
The thing is, though, not all the Russians were killed. An unknown amount (Due to them all dying from the gas afterwards) got up from the ground, blood on their suit from coughing it up so much due to the gas dissolving their internal organs (Yep, don’t even have anything witty to say here, just really horrifying to picture the amount of pain these soldiers were in), and just started charging at the German soldiers. The German soldiers were frightened and booked it out of the fort. Some even tripped over the barbed wire the Germans themselves put up, resulting in a lot of casualties. While this was all happening, the Russian soldiers, who had just gotten up from being basically dead on the floor, started firing their rifles and artillery pieces at the fleeing German soldiers, causing even more casualties. Afterwards, the remaining Russian soldiers who didn’t collapse back onto the floor due to the lingering effects of the gas essentially did a banzai charge at the Germans with their bayonets, pretty much wiping out the invading German forces.
Sadly, their efforts did not prevent Germany from retaking the fort the next day. However, this is one of the most harrowing examples of the horrors of war. This has been Tucker Koch, and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this.
