From mid-July to early September, General Ruzsky was in command of the
Third Army. In the beginning, despite receiving information about an Austro-Hungarian offensive in
Lublin and
Holm, he still preserved the offensive against
Lemberg. For the battles against the Austrians, and above all, his participation at Lemberg, he was awarded the
Order of St. George both the 4th and the 3rd degree (VP in August 1914). And the for his participation in the
Invasion of Galicia, he was again awarded the Order of St. George, this time the 2nd degree (VP in October 1914), becoming one of the top three generals (other being General Nikolai Ivanov and
Nikolai Yudenich). General Ruzsky gained the name, the "Conqueror of Galicia", and he also gained great public reputation back in Russia, even his opposition circles. From early September 1914 to mid-March 1915, General Ruzsky was the commander-in-chief of the entire
Northwestern Front. Under his command, the forces of the front fought at the
Vistula River and
Łódź, but despite huge success of the
1st and
10th Armies, he was ordered to retreat, due to a group of German troops commanded by General
Reinhard von Scheffer-Boyadel was able to snuck out from the encircling movement. He and his troops also participated in the disastrous battle at the
Masurian Lakes. In the latter, General Ruzsky was the one who caused the catastrophe of the 10th Army. As a military leader, he was accustomed in blaming his subordinates for his failures, and particularly, he successfully removed General
Paul von Rennenkampf and
Sergei Scheidemann from command, at the Sedlets meeting of the Supreme Headquarters, thereby justifying his order to curtail the offensive of his troops from the frontline. However, the activities of these generals were not expressed groundlessly by the high military commands of the Supreme Command and the Ministry of War. In mid-March 1915, due to poor health, General Ruzsky left the front and handed over the command to the Army Chief of Staff, General
Mikhail Alekseyev. In the same year, General Ruzsky was appointed to the
State Council and in May he was appointed to the
Military Council. Sometimes later, he returned to the highest command thanks to a personal decision by Tsar Nicholas II despite which General Ruzsky revealed his shortcomings as a military leader to the tsar. In late June, General Ruzsky was appointed the commander of
6th Army and in mid-August, he was appointed to command the whole
Northern Front, but in December 1915, he fell ill while commanding the front and left. Then in early August 1916, he recovered from his illness and returned to the front as commander-in-chief, replacing General Kuropatkin. During his time as the commander-in-chief at the Northern Front, his troops were cautious and avoided decisive actions against large-scale enemies.
Russian Revolutions One of the most active military conspiracy participants was the
President of the Imperial Duma,
Mikhail Rodzianko, who played an important role in the abdication of Nicholas II. According to the memoirs of the
Minister of the Imperial Court Count Frederiks, who was present at the abdication of the tsar, General Ruzsky brutally and violently forced the wavering tsar to sign the prepared manifesto on abdication. Ruzsky held the tsar by one hand, with the other hand holding the manifesto, and repeatedly said: Nicholas at this point was embarrassed and dejected. A lawyer named
N.P. Karabchevsky left his memories about the words by
Prince John Konstantinovich's wife,
Helena Petrovna. Which when she was being imprisoned in
Yekaterinburg, she was visited by the doctor of the
Tsesarevich,
Vladimir Derevenko, who told the princess about the recall of Nicholas about General Ruzsky. He said: During a conversation with General
S. N. Vilchkovsky, General Ruzsky detailed the tsar's resistance to the pressure exerted on the introduction of the new so-called "Responsible Ministry". (According to the opposition, this ministry was to be submitted not to the Emperor, but the head of the Cabinet, in turn, responsible to the Duma, that is, the conspirators aspired to introduce a parliamentary system in Russia, which was contrary to the existing legislation of the Empire). He argued heatedly about the need of the immediate imposition of the Responsible Ministry. He informed the tsar that his thoughts were wrong, he told Nicholas that it was necessary to adopt the policy: "the sovereign reigns, and the government rules." The tsar argued that this policy was too incomprehensible for him, he said that what was necessary was that the people should be educated, or in other words, should be reborn. He disagreed and then argued with the tsar. About an hour later, Nicholas finally agreed to the Responsible Ministry. It was not understood that why the fact that Nicholas would just all the sudden, he just abandoned his conviction and agreed with Ruzsky. Analysis of the documents leads to the conclusion that, this decision, was made on behalf of the Sovereign, but not by the Emperor himself. After the Revolution, General Ruzsky advocated in maintaining the discipline of the army, which led him into disagreements with the Minister of War,
Alexander Guchkov, and army chief of staff General Alekseyev. He was then relieved from command, after which he went south to
Kislovodsk. == Demise ==