Brusilov, Aleksey Alekseyevich

Brusilov, Aleksey Alekseyevich (əlyĭksyā` əlyĭksyā`əvĭch brsē`ləf), 1853–1926, Russian general. As a commander in World War I, he won victories in Galicia. In 1916 he organized the Russian offensive against Austria, which relieved the pressure on the Allies. The offensive, successful at first, cost Russia at least a million lives. Brusilov was briefly commander in chief under the Kerensky provisional government set up after the Russian Revolution (1917), and in 1920 he joined the Soviet army's staff in directing the war against Poland.