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I usually make somewhat of a distinction between those actually doing the fighting & the dying in WW1 and the Royal or elective Head of State who decrees that the brave boys go off and die for King & Country / God & Country, etc. Also their Officers Commanding.
For Russia:
Nicky: Dangerously inbred and about as sharp as a hammer.
General Brusilov: Possibly one of the best pre-revolutionary era commanders they had.
Average "Ivan Ivanovich" Tsarist Russian Soldier. Maybe not the brightest or most educated of lads, poorly supplied, insufficiently trained, but as of June 1916 still had his heart in the fight.
For Austria:
Franz-Josef: Though an octogenarian workaholic, still whip-smart and clever enough to make decent appointments to highest commands.
Archduke & General Josef von Alcsut: Apparently had almost all of The Late Prince Rupert's failings, and apparently few of his good points. For Gospodin Brusilov, the best possible opponent to be up against given the circusmstances
Average "Otto the Austrijanski" K.u.K. soldier: Not that much better educated than his Russian counterpart, slightly better equipped ca. 1916, and unfortunately trained rather unevenly. Though stirrings of pan-Slavist Nationalism had begun to manifest themselves, only IR 36 and IR 91 had been seriously affected in their loyalty & combat effectiveness by that date.
What IMHO made the whole thing a donnybrook was a combination of von Alcsut's cronies' overconfidence in their defenses--mixed with Gospodin Brusilov's belated discovery that his commanders in the field were not able to exploit most of the gains that they had made versus the Austrijanskis--and that Kaiser Bill's Njeimacku might have been stretched a little thin but they were STILL the same folks that kicked butt at Tannenberg and helped save the day for all the poor Ottos (and Stefans & Stans & Vajkos) who were suffering under the auspices of officers still not quite able to do 20th Century Warfare yet.
Can't blame "Ivan Ivanovich" for the ultimate failure of Brusilov... the poor guy didn't have what he needed to score the victory.
The SECOND Brusilov, under Aleksandr Kerenski'i -- different story!
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 Thee Mad Reloader (Moderator--Back in Time, Cowboy Action, Outdoor Cooking, Subcalibers)
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