Hello All,

I've been wondering about this for a bit. How many forum members out there are interested in the Eastern Front? By Eastern Front I mean the Russian Fronts, and Balkans?

The discussions here at the forum pretty much center around the British effort, and Western Front, but, we have for example, members who are very knowledgeable on the German army. Do we have any Russian members here?

The Eastern Front has always been one of my passions, and I'm wondering if there are more "Easterners," out there.

Paul

Here are some websites and a discussion forum related to the Eastern Front - I agree there should be more discussion and study of this aspect of the Great War. Borden Battery

Warchron - Great War on the Eastern Front
This is a new discussion forum dedicated to the Eastern Front during the Great War. As such there are 40 members and about 350 postings - however - interest is expected to increase. The subject of Warchron is Russian military (land-sea-air), political-social history, a chronology covering the Pre-War period from 1894-1914 and World War One 1914-1917. The many other belligerents involved in the conflicts of these periods are also addressed in some detail. There is a wide range of pre-set topic areas, which should result in an organized collection of comments and information. [Nov 2005]
http://www.warchron.com/forum/index.php

Austro-Hungarian Land Forces Discussion Forum
This unique forum is for the discussion of the Austro-Hungarian Land Forces 1848-1938 and includes about 560 members Also see: German & Austrian Great War Websites - Part 24] for a related website. This site offers the unique opportunnity to discuss the Great War from the other side of the Line. [April 2006]
http://p205.ezboard.com/faustrohungarianla...ussionforumfrm0

Battles - The Eastern Front [Firstworldwar.com]
This is a sub-set of the FIRSTWORLDWAR.COM [Michael Duffy site] and includes the battles of Battles of Stalluponen, Gumbinnen, Tannenberg, First Battle of the Masurian Lakes, Battle of Bolimov, Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes, Battle of Lake Naroch and Battle of Lutsk. [Nov 2005]
http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/ef.htm

OldPhoto - Czechoslovak Website
This Czechoslovak website contains a very large number of remarkable photographs and postcards from the Eastern Front with many of the photographs from Galizia territory and East Carpathia Mountains. [June 2005]
http://www.oldphoto.info/HTML/en_ramy.html

The Russo-Japanese War Research Society
The Russo-Japanese War Research Society is an on-line study group dedicated to the research and documentation of the Russo-Japanese War 1904-05. Their goal is the quality presentation of articles and archives relating to the war as well as the pre and post war periods. They also offer a free on-line message board, a store where you can buy historic and collectible items, and a book store. [Nov 2005]
http://www.russojapanesewar.com/index.html

Armata Regală Română - The Romanian Royal Army
There is very little information on the Romanian Royal Army during the Great War. This is a very short summary of the Order of Battle. [April 2006]
http://www.geocities.com/dangrecu/

Thanks for the list. Actually I was looking at your website list last night and that's what prompted
my question.

I'm a member of a few of the forums offered by those groups.

Warchon has very little participation, as can be seen from their forum.
RJW is good, but the focus is mostly naval, and posts there are pretty sparse as well.
A-H land forces is very lively--I wish they would use a forum set-up similiar to this one.
Battles-Eastern Front/Romanian sites--not really a group or society (no dicsussion).

There is a ton of Russian information out there on the internet. It would be great if all that knowledge could be gathered together, like the GWF. Russian members would be able to shed light on aspects of their history that we know little about, and members from other countries as well.

I'm just wondering if there isn't a lot of interest in the subject, or it's just not organized.

Paul

It has been my impression that the majority of postings on most discussion forums are by individuals looking for information on a specific soldier, a cemetery and/or sometimes his unit. Discussion of battles or raids, in themselves, is generally not discussed. These facts will, in themselves, reduce the number of postings for discussion forums such as Warchron. However, as the collective maturity of many discussion forums evolves, I believe the next level of discussion will begin to shift to more detailed discussions of the larger events. Also, while the number of daily postings is still low for Warchron, the collective knowledge posted on this site is still unique and of value.

Borden Battery

Well, Maybe I'll give it a try. I was just wondering. I'd say judging from the response here so far, and other places I've posted today that interest seems minimal.

Paul

Another place to try is
forum.boinaslava.net
This is a Bulgarian site where all the fora are in Bulgarian except one. The "International Forum" is in English. Although not strictly a World War I forum there are a number of posts there dealing with the First World War.
There is also
www.worldwar2.ro
which has a small section on World War I and a number of fora. One of those is "WWI and Regional Wars."
Rich

Well, as I am Bulgarian I am deeply interested in Eastern front and The Balkan wars 1912-1918.

Regards
Nikolay

Hi Paul,
I'm an Eastern Front fellow myself, unfortunately the scarcity of works in English hampers interest.
Thinking of starting your own forum?
Neil

Neil,

Yes, I was, depending on interest level. I'd say there are less than 20 people out there right now who are interested on the forums/lists I subscribe to.

I think it might have to wait for a bit, as I'm going to moving house here very soon.

Paul

Hi Paul,
You'd be surprised how many folks come out of the woodwork once a forum is functioning.
Please keep me posted on your plans, and let me know if I can assist in any way.
Neil

Hi, Paul;

I have some interest, and will work more in this area when I write a book on my short list. (It is barely started)

I have a fair number of letters from my grand-father, who was a staff officer mostly on the Eastern Front. Very interesting. I have not yet carefully tracked his movements in Russia as identified in his letters. He got malaria in 1915 (the same year that my father got it in Turkey) and then was not fit for the front, but did serve usefully through the war, and might have been tapped for some mission to Finland that I do not understand. Also have a great picture of him from Russia, in a studio, but a great white fur-trimmed cloak, sword, map-case, Mauser M96 holster, I think, Pickelhaube, usw. Whole nine yards.

Also in the oral history an interesting account of my father being smuggled thru Romania to Turkey, and later of doing pioneer work in Dalmatia on the way back to Germany. Am now researching the training of Bulgarian and Turkish storm formations in Bulgaria and Galicia by German storm cadres.

Bob Lembke

Hi Bob,
As you probably know, the Germans intervened in the Finnish Civil War so it's not surprising your Grandfather may have been there.
Try to track down a copy of Finland & The Russian Revolution by C. Jay Smith it clarifies a lot of the German activities in Finland.
Neil

Neil,

I have my own website, but I have no idea how to set up a forum. I would set it up in a fashion similiar to here. Perhaps it's easier than I think. I can do web design, but I've never set up a forum from scratch.

Paul

Phpbb

Paul,
Although I have had someone handle the nuts & bolts for me, the phpbb sorum software is free and can be customized. See my forum below:

CEF Study Group Forum

I've kicked around the idea of doing a similar AEF forum but I honestly don't have the time. Although I think AEF research would really benefit by having a forum.
Neil

Neil,

Your forum looks very professional. I'll look into it. I agree about the AEF forum. I've thought the same thing.

Paul

Neil:
Ur CEF site is new to me. As it's not exactly a CEF unit, do you include the Newfoundland Rgt in ur discussions?
Rich

Hi Rich,
Although not a part of the CEF, discussion of the Newfoundland Regiment is certainly welcome.
Neil

Thanks for that. Am trying to put together the sequence of the commanders for the RNR and am having trouble. Now I know where to ask.
Rich

Neil;

Thanks! Never thought about that; don't know much about Finland in that era. My father wrote something to my grand-father about his having to, or perhaps having to and then cancelling a trip to Finland for some purpose. I was thinking it was a commercial purpose; my grand-father was an explosives expert and already in 1914 had been given a free-wheeling assignment in Belgium on orders of the War Ministry.

Just this moment checked the on-line catalog of my wife's library, and they have it. Aside from other virtues, like reading 11 European languages quite well, she works in a library with 7 million books and has lovely faculty borrowing priviliges. If I want something usually a phone call results in the book in her backpack that evening.

Bob Lembke

Nikolay,

I apologize--I missed your post originally. You are exactly the type of person who would be so valuable for a discussion group. I think we in the English speaking world are missing out on a lot of knowledge due to the lack of materials on the subject that are available in English.

Paul

Paul, there is a website about the Romanian Armed Forces, mainly WW II.

But there is a chapter about WW I.
http://www.worldwar2.ro/forum/index.php

I am also interested in the Eastern Front - Romanian Front - Caucasus Front

Paul,

The Eastern Front & The Balkans are also my favorite area of World War I.

Regards

A few years ago a couple of guys in the UK, 1 named Nick, started an Eastern Front Association, it had a magazine, I joined, it foundered pretty quickly.

Hello Paul Guthrie, Yes I also remember The Eastern front Association, begun by Nik Cornish and Steve Perry. Am ambitious effort which sadly ended due to lack of participation by members.

As mentioned elsewhere, my website www.Warchron.com is undergoing reorganization of its Forum and expanding its coverage to include the 1918-1922 period in Russia and Europe. We hope to have this done within the next 7-10 days. Please feel free to visit and perhaps participate. agblume

Paul,

Did you start an email list on this topic? I received an email on it, but was unable to subscribe. This was some time back.