Grand Duke Nicholas becomes commander-in-chief of the Russian army

At the beginning of August 1914 Tsar Nicholas II appointed Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich supreme commander-in-chief of all the land and naval forces of Russia. The decree was signed on 2 August (20 July according to the Julian calendar then in use in Russia), and the chronicles of the time record the appointment under 3 August.

The Tsar had at first intended to take command of the army himself. His ministers, however, advised against it, arguing that the monarch should not tie his authority to the fortunes of military operations and that his presence was needed in the capital. The choice fell on the Grand Duke, a grandson of Emperor Nicholas I and a relative of the Tsar. Nicholas Nikolaevich was a professional soldier, a general of cavalry of enormous height and stern disposition. He enjoyed great authority in the army, although he had taken no part in drawing up the war plans.

The Grand Duke was not able to choose his closest associates himself. His chief of staff was the existing Chief of the General Staff, Nikolai Yanushkevich, while the key role in planning operations was played by the Quartermaster-General, General Yuri Danilov. The supreme commander’s headquarters, known as the Stavka, was set up in mid-August at Baranovichi, an important railway junction in the western lands of the empire.

The Grand Duke’s name holds a special place in Polish history. On 14 August 1914 he issued a proclamation to the Poles announcing that after victory Poland would be reunited under the sceptre of the Tsar and would regain freedom of religion, language and self-government. The proclamation was intended to win the Poles over to the Russian cause in the war against Germany and Austria-Hungary, although its promises remained vague.

Nicholas Nikolaevich commanded the Russian army for more than a year, a period of great victories over Austria-Hungary in Galicia but also of heavy defeats in battles with the Germans. After the so-called Great Retreat of 1915 the Tsar dismissed him and in September 1915 assumed the supreme command himself.