rasputitsa
Sign in to savethumb|Spring thaw and huge puddles in Komi Republic, March 2015 Rasputitsa (from ; literally "season of bad roads") is the mud season that occurs in various rural areas of Eastern Europe, when the rapid snowmelt or thawing of frozen ground combined with wet weather in spring, or heavy rains in autumn lead to muddy conditions that make travel on unpaved roads problematic and even treacherous.
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6 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Effects
- Armed conflict
- See also
- References
- Sources
thumb|Spring thaw and huge puddles in Komi Republic, March 2015 Rasputitsa (from ; literally "season of bad roads") is the mud season that occurs in various rural areas of Eastern Europe, when the rapid snowmelt or thawing of frozen ground combined with wet weather in spring, or heavy rains in autumn lead to muddy conditions that make travel on unpaved roads problematic and even treacherous.
Rasputitsa has repeatedly affected wars by causing military vehicles and artillery pieces to become mired in the mud. In conjunction with the general conditions of winter, rasputitsa has been credited with encumbering the military campaigns of the French Empire in 1812 and Nazi Germany in 1941, as well as all belligerents in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.