On August 1, 1914, Germany declared war on the Russian Empire. The First World War (1914-1918) became the second Patriotic War for Russia.
This unprecedented war must be brought to complete victory. Whoever thinks about peace now, who desires it, is a traitor to the Fatherland, his traitor.
From the farewell address of Nicholas II to the troops(March 8, 1917)
In that war, the Russian Empire saved Europe, but did not reach the Victory. The reasoning of Churchill, a direct participant in the events, is well known: “Fate has not been so cruel to any country as to Russia. Her ship sank with the harbor in sight. She had already weathered the storm when everything collapsed. All the sacrifices have already been made, all the work is done. The selfless impulse of the Russian armies that saved Paris in 1914; overcoming a painful, shellless retreat; slow recovery; Brusilov's victories; Russia's entry into the 1917 campaign invincible, stronger than ever. With victory already in her hands, she fell to the ground. There is truth in these arguments. The line of Russian history in October 1917 (and, possibly, even earlier, after the abdication of the emperor) diverged from the logic of the great war. Tragedy? Undoubtedly.
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Chief Researcher of the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IVI RAS), President of the Russian Association of World War I Historians (RAIPMV) Evgeny Sergeev spoke about the history of this war, about what it was for Russia.
Visit to Russia of French President R. Poincaré. July 1914
Evgeny Yurievich, the First World War (WWI) is one of the main areas of your scientific activity. What influenced the choice of this topic?
This interest Ask. On the one hand, the significance of this event for world history leaves no doubt. This alone can inspire a historian to engage in WWI. On the other hand, this war still remains, to a certain extent, "terra incognita" national history. The Civil War and the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) overshadowed it, relegated it to the background in our minds.
No less important are the extremely interesting and little-known events of that war. Including those whose direct continuation we find during World War II.
For example, there was such an episode in the history of WWI: On August 23, 1914, Japan declared war on Germany., being in alliance with Russia and with other countries of the Entente, supplied weapons and military equipment to Russia. These deliveries went through the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER). The Germans organized an entire expedition (sabotage team) there in order to blow up the tunnels and bridges of the CER and interrupt this communication. Russian counterintelligence officers intercepted this expedition, that is, they managed to prevent the elimination of the tunnels, which would have caused significant damage to Russia, because an important supply artery would have been interrupted.
- Marvelous. How is it, Japan, with which we fought in 1904-1905 ...
By the time the WWI began, relations with Japan were different. Relevant agreements have already been signed. And in 1916, an agreement on a military alliance was even signed. We had a very close collaboration.
Suffice it to say that Japan gave us, although not free of charge, three ships that Russia lost during the Russo-Japanese War. "Varangian", which the Japanese raised and restored, was among them. As far as I know, the Varyag cruiser (the Japanese called it Soya) and two other ships raised by the Japanese were bought by Russia from Japan in 1916. On April 5 (18), 1916, the Russian flag was raised over the Varyag in Vladivostok.
At the same time, after the victory of the Bolsheviks, Japan participated in the intervention. But this is not surprising: after all, the Bolsheviks were considered accomplices of the Germans, the German government. You yourself understand that the conclusion of a separate peace on March 3, 1918 was essentially a stab in the back of the allies, including Japan.
Along with this, of course, there were quite specific political and economic interests of Japan in the Far East and Siberia.
- But were there other interesting episodes in WWI?
Certainly. It can also be said (few people know about this) that the military convoys known from the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 were also in the WWII, and also went to Murmansk, which in 1916 was specially built for this. A railroad connecting Murmansk with the European part of Russia was opened. The deliveries were quite significant.
Together with the Russian troops, a French squadron operated on the Romanian front. Here is the prototype of the squadron "Normandie - Neman". British submarines fought in the Baltic Sea alongside the Russian Baltic Fleet.
Cooperation on the Caucasian front between the corps of General N. N. Baratov (who, as part of the Caucasian army, fought there against the troops of the Ottoman Empire) and British forces is also a very interesting episode of WWI, one might say, a prototype of the so-called “meeting on the Elbe” during the Second World War . Baratov made a march and met with British troops near Baghdad, in what is now Iraq. Then it was the Ottoman possessions, of course. As a result, the Turks were squeezed into pincers.
Visit to Russia of French President R. Poincaré. Photo 1914
- Evgeny Yurievich, but who is still to blame for unleashing the First World War?
The blame clearly lies with the so-called Central Powers, that is, with Austria-Hungary and Germany. And even more in Germany. Although WWI began as a local war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, but without the firm support that was promised to Austria-Hungary from Berlin, it would not have acquired first a European, and then a global scale.
Germany needed this war very much. Its main goals were formulated as follows: to eliminate the hegemony of Great Britain on the seas, to seize its colonial possessions and to acquire "living space in the East" (that is, in Eastern Europe) for the rapidly growing German population. There was a geopolitical concept of "Middle Europe", according to which the main task of Germany was to unite European countries around itself into a kind of modern European Union, but, of course, under the auspices of Berlin.
For the ideological support of this war in Germany, a myth was created about the "encirclement of the Second Reich by a ring of hostile states": from the West - France, from the East - Russia, on the seas - Great Britain. Hence the task: to break through this ring and create a prosperous world empire centered in Berlin.
- In the event of its victory, what role did Germany assign to Russia and the Russian people?
In case of victory, Germany hoped to return the Russian kingdom to the borders of about the 17th century (that is, before Peter I). Russia, in the German plans of that time, was to become a vassal of the Second Reich. The Romanov dynasty was supposed to be preserved, but, of course, Nicholas II (and his son Alexei) would have been removed from power.
- How did the Germans behave in the occupied territories during WWI?
In 1914-1917, the Germans managed to occupy only the extreme western provinces of Russia. They behaved quite reservedly there, although, of course, they carried out requisitions of the property of the civilian population. But there was no mass deportation of people to Germany or atrocities directed against civilians.
Another thing is 1918, when German and Austro-Hungarian troops occupied vast territories in the conditions of the actual collapse of the tsarist army (I remind you that they reached Rostov, the Crimea and the North Caucasus). Here, mass requisitions for the needs of the Reich had already begun and resistance units appeared, created in Ukraine by nationalists (Petliura) and Socialist-Revolutionaries, who strongly opposed Brest Peace. But even in 1918, the Germans could not particularly turn around, since the war was already coming to an end, and they threw their main forces on the Western Front against the French and British. However, the partisan movement against the Germans in 1917-1918 in the occupied territories was nevertheless noted.
World War I. Political poster. 1915
Session of the III State Duma. 1915
- What did Russia do to prevent war?
Nicholas II hesitated to the end - whether to start a war or not, offering to resolve all controversial issues at a peace conference in The Hague through international arbitration. Such offers from Nicholas were made to Wilhelm II, the German emperor, but he rejected them. And therefore, to say that the blame for the outbreak of the war lies with Russia is absolute nonsense.
Unfortunately, Germany ignored Russian initiatives. The fact is that German intelligence and the ruling circles were well aware that Russia was not ready for war. And Russia's allies (France and Great Britain) were not quite ready for it, especially Great Britain in terms of ground forces.
Russia in 1912 began to carry out a large program of rearmament of the army, and it should have ended only by 1918-1919. And Germany actually completed preparations for the summer of 1914.
In other words, the "window of opportunity" was quite narrow for Berlin, and if you start a war, then it should have started in 1914.
- How justified were the arguments of the opponents of the war?
The arguments of the opponents of the war were quite strong and clearly formulated. There were such forces among the ruling circles. There was a fairly strong and active party that opposed the war.
A note is known from one of the major statesmen of that time - P. N. Durnovo, which was filed at the beginning of 1914. Durnovo warned Tsar Nicholas II about the perniciousness of the war, which, in his opinion, meant the death of the dynasty and the death of imperial Russia.
There were such forces, but the fact is that by 1914 Russia was in allied relations not with Germany and Austria-Hungary, but with France, and then with Great Britain, and the very logic of the development of the crisis associated with the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the heir to Austria -Hungarian throne, brought Russia to this war.
Speaking about the possible fall of the monarchy, Durnovo believed that Russia would not be able to withstand a large-scale war, that a supply crisis and a crisis of power would arise, and this would ultimately lead not only to the disorganization of the political and economic life of the country, but also to the collapse of the empire. , loss of control. Unfortunately, his prediction came true in many respects.
- Why did the anti-war arguments, for all their validity, clarity and clarity, not have the proper impact? Russia could not help but enter the war, even despite such clearly expressed arguments of its opponents?
Allied debt on the one hand, on the other hand, the fear of losing prestige and influence in the Balkan countries. After all, if we did not support Serbia, it would be disastrous for Russia's prestige.
Of course, the pressure of certain forces set up for war also had an effect, including those associated with some Serbian circles at the court, with Montenegrin circles. The well-known "Montenegrins", that is, the spouses of the Grand Dukes at court, also influenced the decision-making process.
It can also be said that Russia owed significant amounts of money received as loans from French, Belgian and English sources. The money was received specifically for the rearmament program.
But the question of prestige (which was very important for Nicholas II) I would still put in the foreground. We must give him his due - he always advocated maintaining the prestige of Russia, although, perhaps, he did not always understand this correctly.
- Is it true that the motive for helping the Orthodox (Orthodox Serbia) was one of the decisive factors that determined Russia's entry into the war?
One of the most important factors. Maybe not decisive, because - I emphasize again - Russia needed to maintain the prestige of a great power and not turn out to be an unreliable ally at the very beginning of the war. This is probably the main motive.
The sister of mercy writes down the last will of the dying. Western front, 1917
WWI became the Patriotic War for our Motherland, the Second Patriotic War, as it is sometimes called. In Soviet textbooks, the WWI was called "imperialist". What is behind these words?
Giving WWI an exclusively imperialist status is a serious mistake, although this moment is also present. But first of all, we must look at it as the Second Patriotic War, bearing in mind that the First Patriotic War was the war against Napoleon in 1812, and we had the Great Patriotic War back in the 20th century.
Taking part in WWI, Russia defended itself. After all, it was Germany that declared war on Russia on August 1, 1914. The First World War became the Second Patriotic War for Russia. In support of the thesis about the main role of Germany in unleashing WWI, one can also say that at the Paris Peace Conference (which was held from 01/18/1919 to 01/21/1920), the Allied Powers, among other requirements, set the condition for Germany to agree with the article on "war crime and acknowledge their responsibility for starting the war.
The whole people then rose up to fight against the foreign invaders. War, I emphasize again, was declared to us. We didn't start it. And not only active armies took part in the war, where, by the way, several million Russians were called up, but the whole people. The rear and the front acted together. And many of the trends that we later observed during the Great Patriotic War, originate precisely in the period of WWI. Suffice it to say that partisan detachments were active, that the population of the rear provinces actively showed themselves when they helped not only the wounded, but also refugees from the western provinces fleeing the war. The sisters of mercy were active, the clergy who were at the forefront and often raised troops to attack showed themselves very well.
It can be said that the designation of our great defensive wars by the terms: “First Patriotic War”, “Second Patriotic War” and “Third Patriotic War” is the restoration of that historical continuity that was broken in the period after WWI.
In other words, whatever the official goals of the war, there were ordinary people who perceived this war as a war for their Fatherland, and died and suffered precisely for this.
- And what, from your point of view, are the most common myths about WWI now?
We have already named the first myth. It is a myth that the WWI was unequivocally imperialistic and was conducted solely in the interests of the ruling circles. This is probably the most common myth that has not yet been eliminated even on the pages of school textbooks. But historians are trying to overcome this negative ideological legacy. We are trying to take a different look at the history of WWI and explain to our students the true essence of that war.
Another myth is the idea that the Russian army only retreated and suffered defeat. Nothing like this. By the way, this myth is widespread in the West, where, in addition to the Brusilov breakthrough, that is, the offensive of the troops of the Southwestern Front in 1916 (spring-summer), even Western experts, not to mention the general public, no major victories of Russian weapons in WWI they cannot name.
In fact, excellent examples of Russian military art were demonstrated in WWI. Say, on the Southwestern Front, on the Western Front. This is the Battle of Galicia, and the Lodz operation. . Osowiec is a fortress located on the territory of modern Poland, where the Russians defended themselves from superior German forces for more than six months (the siege of the fortress began in January 1915 and lasted 190 days). And this defense is quite comparable with the defense of the Brest Fortress.
You can give examples with Russian pilots-heroes. One can recall the sisters of mercy who saved the wounded.
There is also a myth that Russia fought this war in isolation from its allies. Nothing like this. The examples I gave earlier debunk this myth.
The war was coalition. And we received significant assistance from France, Great Britain, and then the United States, which entered the war later, in 1917.
- Is the figure of Nicholas II mythologized?
In many ways, of course, mythologized. Under the influence of revolutionary agitation, he was branded almost as an accomplice of the Germans. There was a myth according to which Nicholas II allegedly wanted to conclude a separate peace with Germany.
Actually, it wasn't. He was a sincere supporter of waging war to a victorious end and did everything in his power for this. Already in exile, he extremely painfully and with great indignation took the news that the Bolsheviks had concluded a separate Brest Peace.
Another thing is that the scale of his personality as a statesman was not quite adequate for Russia to be able to go through this war to the end.
None I emphasize , none documentary evidence of the desire of the emperor and empress to conclude a separate peace not found. He didn't even think about it. These documents do not exist and could not exist. This is another myth.
As a very vivid illustration of this thesis, one can cite Nicholas II’s own words from the Act of Abdication (March 2 (15), 1917 at 15:00): "In the days of the greatstruggle with an external enemy who has been striving to enslave our homeland for almost three years, the Lord God was pleased to send Russia a new ordeal. The outbreak of internal popular unrest threatens to have a disastrous effect on the further conduct of the stubborn war.The fate of Russia, the honor of our heroic army, the good of the people, the whole future of our dear Fatherland demand that the war be brought to a victorious end at all costs. <…>».
Nicholas II, V. B. Frederiks and Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich at Headquarters. 1914
Russian troops on the march. Photo 1915
The First World War - is, as some believe, a shameful defeat of the tsarist regime, a catastrophe or something else? After all, as long as the last Russian tsar remained in power, the enemy could not enter the Russian Empire? Unlike the Great Patriotic War.
You are not quite right that the enemy could not enter our borders. He nevertheless entered the Russian Empire as a result of the offensive of 1915, when the Russian army was forced to retreat, when our opponents transferred virtually all their forces to the Eastern Front, to the Russian front, and our troops had to retreat. Although, of course, the enemy did not enter the deep regions of Central Russia.
But I would not call what happened in 1917-1918 a defeat, a shameful defeat of the Russian Empire. It would be more correct to say that Russia was forced to sign this separate peace with the Central Powers, that is, with Austria-Hungary and Germany and with other members of this coalition.
This is a consequence of the political crisis in which Russia found itself. That is, the reasons for this are internal, and by no means military. And we must not forget that the Russians actively fought on the Caucasian front, and the successes were very significant. In fact, the Ottoman Empire was dealt a very serious blow by Russia, which later led to its defeat.
Although Russia has not fully fulfilled its allied duty, it must be admitted, it certainly made its significant contribution to the victory of the Entente.
Russia lacked literally a year of some kind. Maybe a year and a half in order to adequately end this war as part of the Entente, as part of a coalition
And how was the war generally perceived in Russian society? The Bolsheviks, representing an overwhelming minority of the population, dreamed of the defeat of Russia. But what was the attitude ordinary people?
The Russian Empire collapsed. One of the goals of the war is solved.
Chamberlain
The First World War lasted from August 1, 1914 to November 11, 1918. 38 states with a population of 62% of the world took part in it. This war was rather ambiguous and extremely contradictory described in modern history. I specifically cited Chamberlain's words in the epigraph to once again emphasize this inconsistency. A prominent politician in England (Russia's ally in the war) says that one of the goals of the war has been achieved by overthrowing the autocracy in Russia!
The Balkan countries played an important role in the beginning of the war. They were not independent. Their policy (both foreign and domestic) was greatly influenced by England. Germany by that time had lost its influence in this region, although it controlled Bulgaria for a long time.
The following took part in the war major countries: Austria-Hungary (July 27, 1914 - November 3, 1918), Germany (August 1, 1914 - November 11, 1918), Turkey (October 29, 1914 - October 30, 1918), Bulgaria (October 14, 1915 - September 29, 1918). Entente countries and allies: Russia (August 1, 1914 - March 3, 1918), France (August 3, 1914), Belgium (August 3, 1914), Great Britain (August 4, 1914), Italy (May 23, 1915), Romania (August 27, 1916) .
Another important point. Initially, a member of the "Triple Alliance" was Italy. But after the outbreak of the First World War, the Italians declared neutrality.
The main reason for the outbreak of the First World War is the desire of the leading powers, primarily England, France and Austria-Hungary, to redistribute the world. The fact is that the colonial system collapsed by the beginning of the 20th century. The leading European countries, which had prospered for years by exploiting the colonies, were no longer allowed to obtain resources simply by taking them away from the Indians, Africans and South Americans. Now resources could only be won back from each other. Therefore, contradictions arose:
The events in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) served as the reason for the start of the First World War. On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Black Hand organization of the Young Bosnia movement, assassinated Archduke Frans Ferdinand. Ferdinand was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, so the resonance of the murder was enormous. This was the reason for Austria-Hungary to attack Serbia.
The behavior of England is very important here, since Austria-Hungary could not start a war on its own, because this practically guaranteed a war throughout Europe. The British, at the level of the embassy, convinced Nicholas 2 that Russia, in the event of aggression, should not leave Serbia without help. But then all (I emphasize this) the English press wrote that the Serbs were barbarians and Austria-Hungary should not leave the murder of the Archduke unpunished. That is, England did everything so that Austria-Hungary, Germany and Russia did not shy away from war.
In all textbooks we are told that the main and only reason for the outbreak of the First World War was the assassination of the Austrian Archduke. At the same time, they forget to say that the next day, June 29, another significant murder took place. The French politician Jean Jaures, who actively opposed the war and had great influence in France, was killed. A few weeks before the assassination of the Archduke, there was an attempt on Rasputin, who, like Zhores, was an opponent of the war and had a great influence on Nicholas 2. I also want to note some facts from the fate of the main characters of those days:
All this indicates that there were a lot of black spots in the events of the days, which have not yet been revealed. And this is very important to understand.
At the beginning of the 20th century, there were 2 great powers in continental Europe: Germany and Russia. They did not want to openly fight against each other, since the forces were approximately equal. Therefore, in the "July crisis" of 1914, both sides took a wait-and-see attitude. English diplomacy came to the fore. By means of the press and secret diplomacy, she conveyed to Germany the position - in the event of war, England would remain neutral or take the side of Germany. By open diplomacy, Nicholas 2 heard the opposite idea that in the event of a war, England would take the side of Russia.
It must be clearly understood that one open statement by England that she will not allow war in Europe would be enough for neither Germany nor Russia to even think about anything of the kind. Naturally, under such conditions, Austria-Hungary would not have dared to attack Serbia. But England, with all her diplomacy, pushed the European countries to war.
Before the First World War, Russia reformed the army. In 1907, the fleet was reformed, and in 1910 the land forces were reformed. The country increased military spending many times over, and the total number of the army in peacetime was now 2 million people. In 1912 Russia takes new charter field service. Today it is rightfully called the most perfect Charter of its time, since it motivated soldiers and commanders to take personal initiative. Important point! The doctrine of the army of the Russian Empire was offensive.
Despite the fact that there were many positive changes, there were also very serious miscalculations. The main one is the underestimation of the role of artillery in the war. As the course of events of the First World War showed, this was a terrible mistake, which clearly showed that at the beginning of the 20th century, Russian generals were seriously behind the times. They lived in the past when the role of the cavalry was important. As a result, 75% of all the losses of the First World War were caused by artillery! This is a sentence to the imperial generals.
It is important to note that Russia never finished preparing for the war (at the proper level), while Germany completed it in 1914.
Number of guns |
Of these, heavy weapons |
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Austria-Hungary |
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Germany |
According to the data from the table, it can be seen that Germany and Austria-Hungary were many times superior to Russia and France in terms of heavy guns. Therefore, the balance of power was in favor of the first two countries. Moreover, the Germans, as usual, before the war created an excellent military industry, which produced 250,000 shells daily. For comparison, Britain produced 10,000 shells a month! As they say, feel the difference...
Another example showing the importance of artillery is the battles on the Dunajec Gorlice line (May 1915). In 4 hours, the German army fired 700,000 shells. For comparison, during the entire Franco-Prussian War (1870-71), Germany fired just over 800,000 shells. That is, in 4 hours a little less than in the entire war. The Germans clearly understood that heavy artillery would play a decisive role in the war.
Production of weapons and equipment during the First World War (thousand units).
Shooting |
Artillery |
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Great Britain |
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TRIPLE ALLIANCE |
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Germany |
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Austria-Hungary |
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This table clearly shows the weakness of the Russian Empire in terms of equipping the army. In all major indicators, Russia is far behind Germany, but also behind France and Great Britain. Largely because of this, the war turned out to be so difficult for our country.
The number of fighting infantry (millions of people).
At the beginning of the war |
By the end of the war |
Losses killed |
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Great Britain |
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TRIPLE ALLIANCE |
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Germany |
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Austria-Hungary |
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The table shows that the smallest contribution, both in terms of combatants and in terms of deaths, was made by Great Britain to the war. This is logical, since the British did not really participate in major battles. Another example from this table is illustrative. We are told in all textbooks that Austria-Hungary, due to heavy losses, could not fight on its own, and it always needed Germany's help. But pay attention to Austria-Hungary and France in the table. The numbers are identical! Just as Germany had to fight for Austria-Hungary, so Russia had to fight for France (it is no coincidence that the Russian army saved Paris from capitulation three times during the First World War).
The table also shows that in fact the war was between Russia and Germany. Both countries lost 4.3 million killed, while Britain, France and Austria-Hungary together lost 3.5 million. The numbers are telling. But it turned out that the countries that fought the most and made the most efforts in the war ended up with nothing. First, Russia signed the shameful Brest peace for itself, losing a lot of land. Then Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles, in fact, having lost its independence.
July 28 Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. This entailed the involvement in the war of the countries of the Triple Alliance, on the one hand, and the Entente, on the other.
Russia entered World War I on August 1, 1914. Nikolai Nikolaevich Romanov (uncle of Nicholas 2) was appointed supreme commander.
In the first days of the beginning of the war, Petersburg was renamed Petrograd. Since the war with Germany began, and the capital could not have a name of German origin - "burg".
History reference
Germany was under the threat of a war on two fronts: East - with Russia, West - with France. Then the German command developed the "Schlieffen plan", according to which Germany should defeat France in 40 days and then fight with Russia. Why 40 days? The Germans believed that this is how much Russia would need to mobilize. Therefore, when Russia mobilizes, France will already be out of the game.
On August 2, 1914, Germany captured Luxembourg, on August 4 they invaded Belgium (a neutral country at that time), and by August 20 Germany had reached the borders of France. The implementation of the Schlieffen plan began. Germany advanced deep into France, but on September 5 was stopped at the Marne River, where a battle took place, in which about 2 million people participated on both sides.
Russia at the beginning of the war made a stupid thing that Germany could not calculate in any way. Nicholas 2 decided to enter the war without fully mobilizing the army. On August 4, Russian troops, under the command of Rennenkampf, launched an offensive in East Prussia (modern Kaliningrad). Samsonov's army was equipped to help her. Initially, the troops were successful, and Germany was forced to retreat. As a result, part of the forces of the Western Front was transferred to the Eastern. The result - Germany repulsed the Russian offensive in East Prussia (the troops acted disorganized and lacked resources), but as a result, the Schlieffen plan failed, and France could not be captured. So, Russia saved Paris, though by defeating its 1st and 2nd armies. After that, a positional war began.
On the southwestern front in August-September, Russia launched an offensive operation against Galicia, which was occupied by the troops of Austria-Hungary. The Galician operation was more successful than the offensive in East Prussia. In this battle, Austria-Hungary suffered a catastrophic defeat. 400 thousand people were killed, 100 thousand captured. For comparison, the Russian army lost 150 thousand people killed. After that, Austria-Hungary actually withdrew from the war, as it lost the ability to conduct independent operations. Austria was saved from complete defeat only by the help of Germany, which was forced to transfer additional divisions to Galicia.
In 1915, Germany decided to shift the main blow to the eastern front, directing all its forces to the war with Russia, which was the weakest country of the Entente, according to the Germans. It was a strategic plan developed by the commander of the Eastern Front, General von Hindenburg. Russia managed to thwart this plan only at the cost of colossal losses, but at the same time, 1915 turned out to be simply terrible for the empire of Nicholas 2.
From January to October, Germany waged an active offensive, as a result of which Russia lost Poland, western Ukraine, part of the Baltic states, and western Belarus. Russia went into deep defense. Russian losses were gigantic:
Russia did not capitulate, but the countries of the "Triple Alliance" were convinced that Russia would not be able to recover from the losses it had received.
Germany's successes in this sector of the front led to the fact that on October 14, 1915, Bulgaria entered the First World War (on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary).
The Germans, together with Austria-Hungary, organized the Gorlitsky breakthrough in the spring of 1915, forcing the entire southwestern front of Russia to retreat. Galicia, which was captured in 1914, was completely lost. Germany was able to achieve this advantage thanks to the terrible mistakes of the Russian command, as well as a significant technical advantage. German superiority in technology reached:
It was not possible to withdraw Russia from the war, but the losses on this sector of the front were gigantic: 150,000 killed, 700,000 wounded, 900,000 prisoners and 4 million refugees.
All is calm on the Western Front. This phrase can describe how the war between Germany and France in 1915 proceeded. There were sluggish hostilities in which no one sought the initiative. Germany was implementing plans in Eastern Europe, while England and France were calmly mobilizing the economy and the army, preparing for further war. No one provided any assistance to Russia, although Nicholas 2 repeatedly appealed to France, first of all, so that she would switch to active operations on the Western Front. As usual, no one heard him ... By the way, this sluggish war on the western front for Germany is perfectly described by Hemingway in the novel “Farewell to Arms”.
The main result of 1915 was that Germany was unable to withdraw Russia from the war, although all forces were thrown at it. It became obvious that the First World War would drag on for a long time, since in 1.5 years of the war no one was able to gain an advantage or a strategic initiative.
In February 1916, Germany launched a general offensive against France, with the aim of capturing Paris. For this, a campaign was carried out on Verdun, which covered the approaches to the French capital. The battle lasted until the end of 1916. During this time, 2 million people died, for which the battle was called the Verdun Meat Grinder. France survived, but again thanks to the fact that Russia came to its rescue, which became more active on the southwestern front.
In May 1916, Russian troops went on the offensive, which lasted 2 months. This offensive went down in history under the name "Brusilovsky breakthrough". This name is due to the fact that the Russian army was commanded by General Brusilov. The breakthrough of defense in Bukovina (from Lutsk to Chernivtsi) happened on June 5th. The Russian army managed not only to break through the defense, but also to advance into its depths in places up to 120 kilometers. German and Austro-Hungarian losses were catastrophic. 1.5 million dead, wounded and captured. The offensive was stopped only by additional German divisions, which were hastily transferred here from Verdun (France) and from Italy.
This offensive of the Russian army was not without a fly in the ointment. They threw it, as usual, the allies. On August 27, 1916, Romania enters the First World War on the side of the Entente. Germany very quickly inflicted a defeat on her. As a result, Romania lost its army, and Russia received an additional 2,000 kilometers of front.
On the Northwestern Front positional battles continued in the spring-autumn period. As for the Caucasian front, here the main events continued from the beginning of 1916 to April. During this time, 2 operations were carried out: Erzumur and Trebizond. According to their results, Erzurum and Trebizond were conquered, respectively.
The year 1917 in the First World War was marked by the fact that the war continued against the background of the revolutionary situation in Russia and Germany, as well as the deterioration of the economic situation of the countries. I will give an example of Russia. During the 3 years of the war, prices for basic products increased by an average of 4-4.5 times. Naturally, this caused discontent among the people. Add to this heavy losses and a grueling war - it turns out excellent ground for revolutionaries. The situation is similar in Germany.
In 1917, the United States enters World War I. The positions of the "Triple Alliance" are deteriorating. Germany with allies cannot effectively fight on 2 fronts, as a result of which it goes on the defensive.
In the spring of 1917, Germany launched another offensive on the Western Front. Despite the events in Russia, Western countries demanded that the Provisional Government implement the agreements signed by the Empire and send troops on the offensive. As a result, on June 16, the Russian army went on the offensive in the Lvov region. Again, we saved the allies from major battles, but we set ourselves up completely.
The Russian army, exhausted by the war and losses, did not want to fight. Issues of provisions, uniforms and supplies during the war years have not been resolved. The army fought reluctantly, but moved forward. The Germans were forced to re-deploy troops here, and Russia's Entente allies again isolated themselves, watching what would happen next. On July 6, Germany launched a counteroffensive. As a result, 150,000 Russian soldiers died. The army actually ceased to exist. The front has collapsed. Russia could no longer fight, and this catastrophe was inevitable.
People demanded that Russia withdraw from the war. And this was one of their main demands on the Bolsheviks, who seized power in October 1917. Initially, at the 2nd Party Congress, the Bolsheviks signed the Decree "On Peace", in fact declaring Russia's withdrawal from the war, and on March 3, 1918, they signed the Brest Peace. The conditions of this world were as follows:
As a result of its participation in the First World War, Russia lost: about 1 million square meters territory, lost about 1/4 of the population, 1/4 of arable land and 3/4 of the coal and metallurgical industries.
History reference
Germany got rid of the Eastern Front and the need to wage war in 2 directions. As a result, in the spring and summer of 1918, she attempted an offensive on the Western Front, but this offensive had no success. Moreover, in its course it became obvious that Germany was squeezing the maximum out of herself, and that she needed a break in the war.
The decisive events in the First World War took place in the autumn. The Entente countries, together with the United States, went on the offensive. The German army was completely ousted from France and Belgium. In October, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria signed a truce with the Entente, and Germany was left to fight alone. Her position was hopeless, after the German allies in the "Triple Alliance" essentially capitulated. This resulted in the same thing that happened in Russia - a revolution. On November 9, 1918, Emperor Wilhelm II was deposed.
On November 11, 1918, the First World War of 1914-1918 ended. Germany signed a complete surrender. It happened near Paris, in the forest of Compiègne, at the Retonde station. The surrender was accepted by the French Marshal Foch. The terms of the signed peace were as follows:
The terms of "peace" were so humiliating for Germany that the country actually became a puppet. Therefore, many people of that time said that the First World War, although it ended, did not end with peace, but with a truce for 30 years. And so it eventually happened ...
The First World War was fought on the territory of 14 states. Countries with a total population of over 1 billion people took part in it (this is approximately 62% of the total world population at that time). In total, 74 million people were mobilized by the participating countries, of which 10 million died and another 20 million were injured.
As a result of the war, the political map of Europe changed significantly. There are such independent states like Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Albania. Austria-Hungary split into Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Increased their borders Romania, Greece, France, Italy. There were 5 countries that lost and lost in the territory: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey and Russia.
At the beginning of the 20th century, disagreements between world powers reached their peak. A comparatively long period without major European conflicts (since about the 1870s) allowed contradictions to accumulate between the leading world powers. There was no single mechanism for resolving such issues, which inevitably led to "detente". At that time, it could only be war.
The prehistory of the First World War is rooted in the 19th century, when the German Empire, which gained strength, entered into colonial competition with other world powers. Late to the colonial division, Germany often had to enter into conflicts with other countries to secure a "piece of the pie" of the African and Asian capital markets.
On the other hand, the decrepit Ottoman Empire also caused a lot of inconvenience to the European powers, who were eager to take part in the division of its inheritance. These tensions eventually culminated in the Tripolitan War (in which Italy took possession of Libya, formerly held by the Turks) and in the two Balkan Wars, during which Slavic nationalism in the Balkans reached its highest point.
Closely followed the situation in the Balkans and Austria-Hungary. Losing prestige of the empire, it was important to regain respect and consolidate heterogeneous national groups in its composition. It was for this purpose, as well as for an important strategic foothold from which Serbia could be threatened, that Austria occupied Bosnia in 1908, and later included it in its composition.
At the beginning of the 20th century, two military-political blocs almost completely took shape in Europe: the Entente (Russia, France, Great Britain) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy). These two alliances united states primarily in terms of their foreign policy goals. Thus, the Entente was mainly interested in maintaining the colonial redistribution of the world, with minor changes in their favor (for example, the division colonial empire Germany), while Germany and Austria-Hungary wanted a complete redistribution of the colonies, the achievement of economic and military hegemony in Europe and the expansion of their markets.
Thus, by 1914 the situation in Europe had become quite tense. The interests of the great powers clashed in almost all areas: trade, economic, military and diplomatic. In fact, already in the spring of 1914, the war became inevitable, and all that was needed was a "push", a pretext that would lead to a conflict.
June 28, 1914 in the city of Sarajevo (Bosnia) was killed the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, along with his wife. The killer was Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip, who belonged to the Young Bosnia organization. Austrian reaction was not long in coming. Already on July 23, the Austrian government, believing that Serbia was behind the Young Bosnia organization, presented the Serbian government with an ultimatum, according to which Serbia was required to stop any anti-Austrian actions, ban anti-Austrian organizations, and also allow the Austrian police to enter the country to investigation.
The Serbian government, rightly believing that this ultimatum was an aggressive diplomatic attempt by Austria-Hungary to limit or completely destroy Serbian sovereignty, decided to satisfy almost all Austrian demands except for one: the admission of the Austrian police to the territory of Serbia was clearly unacceptable. This refusal was enough for the Austro-Hungarian government to accuse Serbia of insincerity and preparation of provocations against Austria-Hungary and start concentrating troops on the border with it. Two days later, on July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.
The military doctrine of Germany at the beginning of the First World War was the well-known "Schlieffen Plan". The plan involved inflicting a swift, crushing defeat on France, as in 1871. The French campaign was supposed to be completed within 40 days, before Russia could mobilize and concentrate its army on the eastern borders of the German Empire. After the defeat of France, the German command planned to quickly transfer troops to the Russian borders and launch a victorious offensive there. The victory, therefore, had to be achieved in a very short time - from four months to six months.
The plans of Austria-Hungary consisted of a victorious offensive against Serbia and, at the same time, a strong defense against Russia in Galicia. After the defeat of the Serbian army, it was supposed to transfer all available troops against Russia and, together with Germany, carry out its defeat.
The military plans of the Entente also provided for the achievement of a military victory in the shortest possible time. So. It was assumed that Germany would not be able to withstand a war on two fronts for any long time, especially with the active offensive actions of France and Russia on land and the naval blockade by Great Britain.
Russia, which traditionally supported Serbia, could not remain aloof from the outbreak of the conflict. On July 29, a telegram from Emperor Nicholas II was sent to Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, proposing to resolve the Austro-Serbian conflict through international arbitration in The Hague. However, the German Kaiser, fascinated by the idea of hegemony in Europe, left his cousin's telegram unanswered.
Meanwhile, mobilization began in the Russian Empire. It was initially carried out exclusively against Austria-Hungary, but after Germany also clearly indicated its position, mobilization measures became universal. The reaction of the German Empire to the Russian mobilization was an ultimatum demand under the threat of war to stop these massive preparations. However, it was no longer possible to stop mobilization in Russia. As a result, on August 1, 1914, Germany declared war on Russia.
Simultaneously with these events, the German General Staff initiated the implementation of the Schlieffen Plan. On the morning of August 1, German troops invaded Luxembourg and the next day completely occupied the state. At the same time, an ultimatum was presented to the Belgian government. It consisted in demanding the unhindered passage of German troops through the territory of the Belgian state for operations against France. However, the Belgian government refused the ultimatum.
A day later, on August 3, 1914, Germany declared war on France, and the next day on Belgium. At the same time, Great Britain entered the war on the side of Russia and France. On August 6, Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia. Italy, unexpectedly for the countries of the Triple Alliance, refused to enter the war.
By the beginning of the First World War, the German army was not fully prepared for active hostilities. Nevertheless, already two days after the declaration of war, Germany managed to capture the cities of Kalisz and Czestochowa, in Poland. At the same time, Russian troops with the forces of two armies (1st and 2nd) launched an offensive in East Prussia with the aim of capturing Koenigsberg and leveling the front line from the north in order to eliminate the unsuccessful configuration of the pre-war borders.
Initially, the Russian offensive developed quite successfully, but soon, due to the uncoordinated actions of the two Russian armies, the 1st Army came under a powerful German flank attack and lost about half of its personnel. The commander of the army, Samsonov, shot himself, and by September 3, 1914, the army itself retreated to its original positions. From the beginning of September, Russian troops in the northwestern direction went on the defensive.
At the same time, the Russian army launched a major offensive against the Austro-Hungarian troops in Galicia. On this sector of the front, five Russian armies were opposed by four Austro-Hungarian ones. The fighting here initially developed not entirely favorable for the Russian side: the Austrian troops put up fierce resistance on the southern flank, due to which the Russian army was forced to retreat to their original positions in mid-August. However, soon, after fierce battles, the Russian army managed to capture Lvov on August 21. After that, the Austrian army began to withdraw in a southwestern direction, which soon turned into a real flight. The catastrophe in front of the Austro-Hungarian troops rose to its full height. It was not until mid-September that the offensive of the Russian army in Galicia ended about 150 kilometers west of Lvov. In the rear of the Russian troops was the strategically important fortress of Przemysl, in which about 100 thousand Austrian soldiers took refuge. The siege of the fortress continued until 1915.
After the events in East Prussia and Galicia, the German command decided to go on the offensive in order to eliminate the Warsaw salient and level the front line by 1914. Already on September 15, the Warsaw-Ivangorod operation began, during which German troops came close to Warsaw, but with powerful counterattacks, the Russian army managed to push them back to their original position.
In the West, on August 4, German troops launched an offensive into Belgian territory. Initially, the Germans did not meet with serious defense, and pockets of resistance were managed by their forward detachments. On August 20, having occupied Brussels, the Belgian capital, the German army came into contact with French and British forces. Thus began the so-called Frontier Battle. During the battle, the German army managed to inflict a serious defeat on the Allied forces and capture the north of France and most of Belgium.
By the beginning of September 1914, the situation on the Western Front for the Allies became threatening. German troops were 100 kilometers from Paris, and the French government fled to Bordeaux. However, at the same time, the Germans were already acting with full exertion of forces, which were fading away. To deliver the final blow, the Germans decided to carry out a deep bypass of the Allied forces covering Paris from the north. However, the flanks of the German strike group were not covered, which was what the allied leadership took advantage of. As a result of this battle, part of the German troops was defeated, and the chance to take Paris in the fall of 1914 was missed. The "Miracle on the Marne" allowed the Allies to regroup their forces and build a strong defense.
After the failure near Paris, the German command launched an offensive to the coast of the North Sea in order to envelop the Anglo-French troops. Simultaneously with them, the Allied troops were moving to the sea. This period, which lasted from mid-September to mid-November 1914, was called the "Run to the Sea".
In the Balkan theater of operations, events for the Central Powers developed extremely unsuccessfully. From the very beginning of the war, the Serbian army put up fierce resistance to the Austro-Hungarian army, which managed to capture Belgrade only in early December. However, a week later, the Serbs managed to return the capital back.
From the very beginning of the First World War, the government of the Ottoman Empire closely followed its progress. At the same time, the government of the country did not have a consensus on which side to take. However, it was clear that the Ottoman Empire would not be able to refrain from entering the conflict.
In the course of numerous diplomatic maneuvers and intrigues in the Turkish government, supporters of the pro-German position took over. As a result, almost the entire country and the army were under the control of German generals. The Ottoman fleet, without declaring war on October 30, 1914, fired at a number of Russian Black Sea ports, which was immediately used by Russia as a pretext for declaring war, which happened already on November 2. A few days later, France and Great Britain declared war on the Ottoman Empire.
Simultaneously with these events, the offensive of the Ottoman army began in the Caucasus, with the goal of capturing the cities of Kars and Batumi, and in the long term, the entire Transcaucasus. However, here the Russian troops managed to first stop and then push the enemy back beyond the border line. As a result, the Ottoman Empire was also embroiled in a large-scale war with no hope of a quick victory.
Since October 1914, on the Western Front, troops took up positional defense, which had significant influence for the next 4 years of the war. The stabilization of the front and the lack of offensive potential on both sides led to the construction of a strong and deep defense by the German and Anglo-French troops.
1915 turned out to be more active on the Eastern Front than in the West. First of all, this is due to the fact that the German command, in planning military operations for 1915, decided to strike the main blow precisely in the East and withdraw Russia from the war.
In the winter of 1915, German troops launched an offensive in Poland in the area of Augustow. Here, despite initial successes, the Germans encountered stubborn resistance from the Russian troops and were unable to achieve decisive success. After these failures, the German leadership decided to shift the direction of the main attack to the south, to the region of the south of the Carpathians and Bukovina.
This strike almost immediately reached its goal, and the German troops managed to break through the Russian front in the Gorlice region. As a result, in order to avoid encirclement, the Russian army had to start a retreat in order to level the front line. This withdrawal, which began on April 22, lasted 2 months. As a result, Russian troops lost a large territory in Poland and Galicia, and the Austro-German forces almost came close to Warsaw. However, the main events of the 1915 campaign of the year were yet to come.
The German command, although it managed to achieve good operational success, still failed to bring down the Russian front. It was precisely the goal of neutralizing Russia that from the beginning of June began planning a new offensive, which, according to the plan of the German leadership, should lead to the complete collapse of the Russian front and the speedy withdrawal of the Russians from the war. It was supposed to deliver two blows under the base of the Warsaw ledge with the aim of encircling or displacing enemy troops from this ledge. At the same time, it was decided to advance on the Baltic in order to divert at least part of the Russian forces from the central sector of the front.
On June 13, 1915, the German offensive began, and a few days later the Russian front was broken through. In order to avoid encirclement near Warsaw, the Russian army began to retreat to the east in order to create a new united front. As a result of this "Great Retreat", Warsaw, Grodno, Brest-Litovsk were abandoned by Russian troops, and the front stabilized only by autumn on the Dubno-Baranovichi-Dvinsk line. In the Baltic states, the Germans occupied the entire territory of Lithuania and came close to Riga. After these operations, there was a lull on the Eastern Front of the First World War until 1916.
On the Caucasian front during 1915 fighting spread to the territory of Persia, which, after long diplomatic maneuvers, took the side of the Entente.
On the Western Front, 1915 was marked by a reduced activity of the German troops, with a higher activity of the Anglo-French. So, at the beginning of the year, hostilities took place only in the Artois region, but they did not lead to any noticeable results. In terms of their intensity, these positional actions, however, could not in any way claim the status of a serious operation.
The unsuccessful Allied attempts to break through the German front led, in turn, to a German offensive with limited objectives in the Ypres region (Belgium). Here, for the first time in history, German troops used poison gases, which turned out to be very unexpected and stunning for their enemy. However, not having sufficient reserves to develop success, the Germans were soon forced to stop the offensive, achieving very modest results (their advance was only 5 to 10 kilometers).
In early May 1915, the Allies launched a new offensive in Artois, which, according to the plan of their command, was supposed to lead to the liberation greater territory France and a major defeat of the German troops. However, neither thorough artillery preparation (which lasted 6 days) nor large forces (about 30 divisions concentrated on a 30-kilometer section) allowed the Anglo-French leadership to achieve victory. Last but not least, this was due to the fact that the German troops built a deep and powerful defense here, which was a reliable remedy against the Allied frontal attacks.
The same result ended with the larger offensive of the Anglo-French troops in Champagne, which began on September 25, 1915 and lasted only 12 days. During this offensive, the Allies managed to advance only 3-5 kilometers with a loss of 200 thousand people. The Germans suffered losses of 140 thousand people.
On May 23, 1915, Italy entered the First World War on the side of the Entente. This decision was not easy for the Italian leadership: a year ago, on the eve of the war, the country was an ally of the Central Powers, but refrained from entering into a conflict. With the entry into the war of Italy, a new - Italian - front appeared, to which Austria-Hungary had to divert large forces. During 1915, there were no significant changes on this front.
In the Middle East, the allied command planned operations in 1915 with the aim of withdrawing the Ottoman Empire from the war and finally strengthening its superiority in the Mediterranean. According to the plan, the allied fleet was supposed to break through to the Bosphorus, shell Istanbul and the Turkish coastal batteries, and prove to the Turks the superiority of the Entente, force the Ottoman government to capitulate.
However, from the very beginning, this operation developed unsuccessfully for the Allies. Already at the end of February, during the raid of the allied squadron against Istanbul, three ships were lost, and the Turkish coastal defense was not suppressed. After that, it was decided to land an expeditionary force in the Istanbul region and with a swift offensive to withdraw the country from the war.
The landing of the Allied troops began on April 25, 1915. But here, too, the allies faced the fierce defense of the Turks, as a result of which they managed to land and gain a foothold only in the Gallipoli region, about 100 kilometers from the Ottoman capital. The Australian and New Zealand units (ANZAC) landed here fiercely attacked the Turkish troops until the end of the year, when the complete futility of the landing in the Dardanelles became absolutely clear. As a result, already in January 1916, the Allied expeditionary forces were evacuated from here.
In the Balkan theater of operations, the outcome of the 1915 campaign was determined by two factors. The first factor was the "Great Retreat" of the Russian army, due to which Austria-Hungary managed to transfer part of the troops from Galicia against Serbia. The second factor was the entry into the war on the side of the Central Powers of Bulgaria, encouraged by the success of the Ottoman troops in Gallipoli and suddenly stabbed Serbia in the back. The Serbian army could not repel this blow, which led to the complete collapse of the Serbian front and the occupation of the territory of Serbia by the Austrian troops by the end of December. Nevertheless, the Serbian army, retaining its personnel, managed to retreat to the territory of Albania in an organized manner and subsequently participated in the battles against the Austrian, German and Bulgarian troops.
The year 1916 was marked by Germany's passive tactics in the East and more active tactics in the West. Having failed to achieve a strategic victory on the Eastern Front, the German leadership decided to concentrate the main efforts in the 1916 campaign on the West in order to withdraw France from the war and, by transferring large forces to the East, achieve a military victory over Russia as well.
This led to the fact that for the first two months of the year there were practically no active hostilities on the Eastern Front. Nevertheless, the Russian command planned major offensive operations in the western and southwestern directions, and a sharp jump in military production made success at the front very possible. In general, the whole of 1916 in Russia passed under the sign of general enthusiasm and high fighting spirit.
In March 1916, the Russian command, meeting the wishes of the Allies to conduct a distraction operation, launched a major offensive in order to liberate the territory of Belarus and the Baltic states and drive German troops back to East Prussia. However, this offensive, which began two months earlier than planned, failed to achieve its goals. The Russian army lost about 78 thousand people, while the German one - about 40 thousand. Nevertheless, the Russian command managed, perhaps, to decide the outcome of the war in favor of the allies: the German offensive in the West, which by that time was beginning to acquire a critical turn for the Entente, was weakened and gradually began to fizzle out.
The situation on the Russian-German front remained calm until June, when the Russian command began a new operation. It was carried out by the forces of the Southwestern Front, and its goal was to defeat the Austro-German forces in this direction and liberate part of Russian territory. It is noteworthy that this operation was also carried out at the request of the allies in order to divert enemy troops from threatened areas. However, it was this Russian offensive that became one of the most successful operations of the Russian army in the First World War.
The offensive began on June 4, 1916, and five days later the Austro-Hungarian front was broken through in several dreams. The enemy began to retreat, alternating with counterattacks. It was as a result of these counterattacks that the front was kept from complete collapse, but only for a short time: already in early July, the front line in the southwest was broken through, and the troops of the Central Powers began to retreat, suffering huge losses.
Simultaneously with the offensive in the southwestern direction, the Russian troops delivered the main blow in the western direction. However, here the German troops managed to organize a solid defense, which led to heavy losses in the Russian army without noticeable results. After these failures, the Russian command decided to shift the main attack from the Western to the Southwestern Front.
A new stage of the offensive began on July 28, 1916. Russian troops again inflicted a major defeat on the enemy forces and in August captured the cities of Stanislav, Brody, Lutsk. The position of the Austro-German troops here became so critical that even Turkish troops were transferred to Galicia. Nevertheless, by the beginning of September 1916, the Russian command was faced with a stubborn enemy defense in Volhynia, which led to heavy losses among the Russian troops and, as a result, to the fact that the offensive ran out of steam. The offensive, which brought Austria-Hungary to the brink of disaster, received a name in honor of its performer - the Brusilovsky breakthrough.
On the Caucasian front, Russian troops managed to capture the Turkish cities of Erzurum and Trabzon and reach the line 150-200 kilometers from the border.
On the Western Front in 1916, the German command launched an offensive operation, which later became known as the Battle of Verdun. A powerful grouping of Entente forces was located in the area of this fortress, and the configuration of the front, which looked like a ledge towards the German positions, led the German leadership to the idea of encircling and destroying this grouping.
The German offensive, preceded by extremely intensive artillery preparation, began on 21 February. At the very beginning of this offensive, the German army managed to advance 5-8 kilometers deep into the Allied positions, but the stubborn resistance of the Anglo-French troops, which inflicted significant losses on the Germans, did not allow for a complete victory. Soon it was stopped, and the Germans had to fight hard to keep the territory that they managed to capture at the beginning of the battle. However, everything was in vain - in fact, since April 1916, the Battle of Verdun was lost by Germany, but it still continued until the end of the year. At the same time, the losses of the Germans were about two times less than those of the Anglo-French forces.
Another important event of 1916 was the entry into the war on the side of the Entente powers of Romania (August 17). The Romanian government, inspired by the defeat of the Austro-German troops during the Brusilov breakthrough of the Russian army, planned to increase the country's territory at the expense of Austria-Hungary (Transylvania) and Bulgaria (Dobruja). However, the low fighting qualities of the Romanian army, the configuration of borders that was unsuccessful for Romania, and the proximity of large Austro-German-Bulgarian forces did not allow these plans to come true. If at first the Romanian army managed to advance 5-10 km deep into Austrian territory, then, after the concentration of enemy armies, the Romanian forces were defeated, and by the end of the year the country was almost completely occupied.
The results of the 1916 campaign had a major impact on the 1917 campaign. So, the Verdun meat grinder was not in vain for Germany, and the country entered 1917 with almost completely depleted human resources and a difficult food situation. It became clear that if the Central Powers did not manage to defeat their opponents in the near future, then the war would end in defeat for them. At the same time, the Entente was planning a major offensive for 1917 with the goal of an early victory over Germany and its allies.
In turn, for the countries of the Entente, 1917 promised truly gigantic prospects: the exhaustion of the Central Powers and the seemingly inevitable entry into the war of the United States was to finally turn the tide in favor of the Allies. At the Petrograd Conference of the Entente, which took place from February 1 to 20, 1917, the situation at the front and action plans were actively discussed. However, the situation in Russia was also discussed unofficially, which worsened every day.
In the end, on February 27, the revolutionary unrest in the Russian Empire reached its peak, and the February Revolution broke out. This event, along with the moral decay of the Russian army, practically deprived the Entente of an active ally. And although the Russian army still occupied its positions at the front, it became clear that it would no longer be able to advance.
At this time, Emperor Nicholas II abdicated, and Russia ceased to be an empire. New provisional government Russian republic decided to continue the war, without breaking the alliance with the Entente, in order to bring the hostilities to a victorious end and thereby still be in the camp of the winners. The preparations for the offensive were carried out on a grand scale, and the offensive itself was to become a "triumph of the Russian revolution."
This offensive began on June 16, 1917 in the zone of the Southwestern Front, and in the first days of the Russian army, success was accompanied. However, then, due to the catastrophically low discipline in the Russian army and due to high losses, the June offensive “stalled”. As a result, by the beginning of July, the Russian troops had exhausted their offensive impulse and were forced to go on the defensive.
The Central Powers were not slow to take advantage of the exhaustion of the Russian army. Already on July 6, the Austro-German counteroffensive began, which in a matter of days managed to return the territories left since June 1917, and then move deep into Russian territory. The Russian retreat, at first carried out in a fairly organized manner, soon became catastrophic. The divisions scattered at the sight of the enemy, the troops retreated without orders. In such an environment, it became increasingly clear that there could be no talk of any active actions on the part of the Russian army.
After these failures, the Russian troops went on the offensive in other directions. However, both on the North-Western and on the Western fronts, due to the complete moral decay, they simply could not achieve any significant success. At first, the offensive developed most successfully in Romania, where the Russian troops had practically no signs of decomposition. However, against the background of failures on other fronts, the Russian command soon stopped the offensive here as well.
After that, until the very end of the war on the Eastern Front, the Russian army no longer made serious attempts to attack and, in general, resist the forces of the Central Powers. The October Revolution and the fierce struggle for power only exacerbated the situation. However, the German army could no longer conduct active hostilities on the Eastern Front. There were only separate local operations to occupy individual settlements.
In April 1917, the United States of America joined the war against Germany. Their entry into the war was motivated by closer interests with the Entente countries, as well as aggressive submarine warfare by Germany, which resulted in the death of American citizens. The US entry into the war finally changed the balance of power in the First World War in favor of the Entente countries and made its victory inevitable.
In the Middle East theater of operations, the British army went on a decisive offensive against the Ottoman Empire. As a result, almost all of Palestine and Mesopotamia were cleared of the Turks. At the same time, an uprising was raised in the Arabian Peninsula against the Ottoman Empire in order to create an independent Arab state. As a result of the 1917 campaign, the position of the Ottoman Empire became truly critical, and its army was demoralized.
At the beginning of 1918, the German leadership, despite the truce signed earlier with Soviet Russia, launched a local offensive in the direction of Petrograd. In the area of Pskov and Narva, the Red Guard detachments blocked their path, with which military clashes took place on February 23-25, which later became known as the date of the birth of the Red Army. However, despite the official Soviet version of the victory of the Red Guard units over the Germans, the real outcome of the battles is debatable, since the Red units were forced to retreat to Gatchina, which would have been meaningless in the event of a victory over the German troops.
The Soviet government, realizing the precariousness of the armistice, was forced to sign a peace treaty with Germany. This agreement was signed in Brest-Litovsk on March 3, 1918. According to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic States were transferred under German control, and the independence of Poland and Finland was also recognized. In addition, Kaiser Germany received a huge indemnity in resources and money, which in fact allowed her to prolong her agony until November 1918.
After the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the bulk of the German troops were transferred from the east to the Western Front, where the fate of the war was decided. Nevertheless, the situation in the areas of the former Russian Empire occupied by the Germans was uneasy, and therefore, until the end of the war, Germany was forced to keep about a million soldiers here.
On March 21, 1918, the German army launched its last large-scale offensive on the Western Front. His goal was to encircle and destroy the British troops located between the Somme and the English Channel, and then go to the rear of the French troops, capture Paris and force France to surrender. However, from the very beginning of the operation it became clear that the German troops would not be able to break through the front. By July they managed to advance 50-70 kilometers, but by this time, in addition to the French and British troops, large and fresh American forces began to operate on the front. This circumstance, as well as the fact that the German army finally ran out of steam by mid-July, forced the German command to stop the operation.
In turn, the allies, realizing that the German troops were extremely exhausted, launched a counteroffensive with virtually no operational pause. As a result, the Allied attacks were no less effective than the German ones, and already after 3 weeks the German troops were thrown back to the same positions that they had occupied by the beginning of 1918.
After that, the command of the Entente decided to continue the offensive in order to bring the German army to disaster. This offensive went down in history under the name "hundred-day" and ended only in November. During this operation, the German front was broken through, and the German army had to start a general retreat.
On the Italian front in October 1918, the Allies also launched an offensive against the Austro-German troops. As a result of stubborn battles, they managed to liberate almost all Italian territories occupied in 1917 and defeat the Austro-Hungarian and German armies.
In the Balkan theater of operations, the Allies launched a major offensive in September. A week later, they managed to inflict a serious defeat on the Bulgarian army and begin to advance deep into the Balkans. As a result of this crushing offensive, on September 29, Bulgaria withdrew from the war. By the beginning of November, as a result of this operation, the Allies managed to liberate almost the entire territory of Serbia.
In the Middle East, the British Army also launched a major offensive in the autumn of 1918. The Turkish army was completely demoralized and disorganized, thanks to which the Ottoman Empire already signed a truce with the Entente on October 30, 1918. On November 3, after a series of setbacks in Italy and the Balkans, Austria-Hungary also capitulated.
As a result, by November 1918, the position of Germany became truly critical. Hunger, exhaustion of moral and material forces, as well as heavy losses at the front gradually heated up the situation in the country. Revolutionary fermentation began in the naval crews. The reason for a full-fledged revolution was the order of the German command to the fleet, according to which it was supposed to give a general battle to the British Navy. Given the existing balance of forces, the fulfillment of this order threatened the complete destruction of the German fleet, which caused a revolutionary uprising in the ranks of the sailors. The uprising began on November 4, and on November 9, Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated. Germany became a republic.
By that time, the Kaiser government had begun peace negotiations with the Entente. Germany was exhausted and could no longer continue to resist. As a result of the negotiations, on November 11, 1918, an armistice was signed in the Compiègne Forest. With the signing of this truce, the First World War ended.
The First World War caused enormous damage to all the warring countries. The demographic echoes of this conflict are still being felt.
Military casualties in the conflict are generally estimated at about 9-10 million killed and about 18 million wounded. The loss of the civilian population in the First World War is estimated at 8 to 12 million people.
The losses of the Entente in total amount to approximately 5-6 million people killed and about 10.5 million wounded. Of these, Russia lost about 1.6 million dead and 3.7 million wounded. French, British and US losses in killed and wounded are estimated at 4.1, 2.4 and 0.3 million, respectively. Such low losses in the American army are explained by the relatively late time the United States entered the war on the side of the Entente.
The losses of the Central Powers in World War I are estimated at 4-5 million killed and 8 million wounded. Of these losses, Germany accounts for approximately 2 million killed and 4.2 million wounded. Austria-Hungary lost 1.5 and 26 million people killed and wounded, respectively, the Ottoman Empire - 800 thousand killed and 800 thousand wounded.
World War I was the first global conflict in human history. Its scale has become disproportionately larger than that of Napoleonic Wars, as well as the number of forces involved in the struggle. The war was the first conflict that showed the leaders of all countries a new type of war. From now on, the full mobilization of the army and the economy became necessary for victory in the war. During the conflict, military theory underwent significant changes. It became clear that it was very difficult to break through a well-fortified line of defense and that this required enormous expenditure of ammunition and heavy losses.
The First World War showed the world new types and means of weapons, as well as the use of those means that had not previously been appreciated. Thus, the use of aviation has increased significantly, tanks and chemical weapons have appeared. At the same time, the First World War showed mankind how terrible war can be. Millions of wounded, maimed and maimed for a long time were a reminder of the horrors of war. It was with the aim of preventing such conflicts that the League of Nations was created - the first international community designed to maintain peace throughout the world.
Politically, the war also became a kind of turning point in world history. As a result of the conflict, the map of Europe has become noticeably “more colorful”. Four empires disappeared: Russian, German, Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian. Independence was gained by such states as Poland, Finland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and others.
The alignment of forces in Europe and the world has also changed. Germany, Russia (soon to be transformed into the USSR along with part of the territories of the former Russian Empire) and Turkey lost their former influence, which shifted the center of gravity in Europe to the west. The Western powers, on the contrary, have seriously strengthened due to war reparations and colonies acquired at the expense of losing Germany.
At the signing of the Treaty of Versailles with Germany, French Marshal Ferdinand Foch declared: “This is not peace. This is a truce for 20 years.” The terms of the peace were very difficult and humiliating for Germany, which could not but arouse in her strong revanchist sentiments. Further actions France, Great Britain, Belgium and Poland (separation from Germany of the Saar, part of Silesia, occupation of the Ruhr in 1923) only intensified these grievances. We can say that the Treaty of Versailles was one of the causes of World War II.
Thus, the point of view of a number of historians considering 1914-1945. as a period of one big global world war, is not unreasonable. The contradictions that the First World War was supposed to resolve only deepened, and, consequently, a new conflict was just around the corner ...
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On June 28, 1914, in the city of Sarajevo, which was part of Bosnia and Herzegovina annexed by Austria-Hungary, the Serbian nationalist Gavrila Princip assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, a hardliner against Serbia. Accusing the Serbian government of the assassination attempt, Austria-Hungary gave him an ultimatum. German Emperor Wilhelm II supported the actions of his ally.
The Serbian government complied with all the demands made by Austria-Hungary, except for the point on the investigation of the murder by Austrian officials, but agreed to negotiate on this point. However, on July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and the next day began the bombardment of Belgrade.
August 1, 1914 Germany declared war on Russia, then France. Violating the neutrality of Belgium, the German troops launched an offensive through its territory. Great Britain entered the war. Montenegro, Japan and Egypt took the side of the Entente, and Bulgaria and Turkey took the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary (Germany and its allies are often called a coalition of the Central Powers).
The reasons for the war were the contradictions between the powers of the Entente and Germany with Austria-Hungary. The desire to seize foreign and maintain their colonies in Africa and Asia has become one of the main aspirations of the warring parties. Territorial disputes in Europe itself also played a significant role. Between the powers there were also huge trade and economic contradictions, they fought for the spheres of sale of their products and for sources of raw materials. The initiator of the war was the German block, which considered itself deprived in all respects.
The main fronts, on which heavy fighting broke out already in August 1914, were the French Western and Russian Eastern. At the first stage of the war, in early September, the main grouping of the German armies reached the Marne River between Paris and Verdun, and then crossed it. On September 6, the counteroffensive of the Anglo-French troops began on the entire front from Paris to Verdun. Only by September 12 did the German troops gain a foothold behind the Aisne River and on the line east of Reims. On September 15, the Allies stopped their offensive.
The unsuccessful German attack on Paris and the defeat of the German troops on the Marne led to the failure of the German strategic war plan, designed to quickly defeat the enemy on the Western Front. From the border of Switzerland to the North Sea, a positional front was established.
In the East European theater, hostilities began on 4-7 (17-20) August. During the East Prussian operation, the 1st Russian army defeated the German corps. Continuing to advance, she defeated one of the German armies. At the same time, the 2nd Russian Army began to move to the flank and rear of the Germans. The successful offensive of the Russian troops in East Prussia forced the German command to transfer additional troops from the Western to the Eastern Front. German troops, taking advantage of the mistakes of the Russian command, which did not establish interaction between the 1st and 2nd armies, managed to inflict a heavy defeat first on the 2nd, and then l-th Russian armies. Russian troops withdrew from East Prussia.
At the same time, a battle took place in Galicia, in which the troops of the Russian Southwestern Front inflicted a major defeat on the Austro-Hungarian troops. The Russians occupied Lvov. The Austro-Hungarian garrison of the Przemysl fortress was blocked, advanced Russian units reached the foothills of the Carpathians.
The German High Command hastily transferred large forces here. However, the timely regrouping of forces carried out by the Russian Headquarters made it possible during the Warsaw-Ivangorod operation to stop the enemy’s offensive on Ivangorod, and then repel the attack on Warsaw. Soon the parties, having exhausted all possibilities, went over to the defensive.
On August 10, Germany sent the battlecruiser Goeben and the light cruiser Breslau to the Black Sea to support the Turkish fleet. Turkish and German ships suddenly fired on Sevastopol, Odessa, Novorossiysk and Feodosia. Russia, Great Britain and France declared war on Turkey. Russia pushed the Caucasian army to the border with Turkey. In December, the 8th Turkish Army went on the offensive, but was defeated.
Military action in 1915
The German command decided to devote the next campaign entirely to the defeat of the Russian troops. Almost 30 infantry and 9 cavalry divisions were transferred from France. In February 1915, Russian troops crossed the Carpathians in winter conditions, and in March, after a long siege, they took Przemysl. About 120,000 enemy soldiers and officers surrendered.
However, passivity Western allies Russia in 1915 allowed the German command to go on the offensive on April 19 (May 2). Under the onslaught of the enemy, who had a huge superiority in strength, the defense of the 3rd Russian army was broken through in the Gorlice region. The troops of the Southwestern Front were forced to leave Galicia. At the same time, German troops were advancing in the Baltic. They occupied Libava, went to Kovno. To avoid encirclement, Russian troops were forced to leave Poland. During the 1915 campaign, Russia lost about 2 million people killed, wounded and captured.
In August 1915, Nicholas II assumed supreme command of the active troops, hoping to turn the tide of events with his authority. In October 1915, the front was established on the line Riga - Baranovichi - Dubno.
In the Western European theater throughout 1915, both sides fought local battles without planning major operations. In 1915, the Entente, having promised to satisfy the territorial claims of Italy more fully than Germany offered, attracted this country to its side. The Italian army launched an offensive, but it was not successful. In October 1915, Bulgaria entered the war on the side of the Central Powers.
In the autumn of 1915, the offensive of the Austro-German and Bulgarian troops began against Serbia. The Serbian army resisted for 2 months and then was forced to retreat to Albania. Part of the Serbian troops was transported by the Entente fleet to the Greek island of Corfu.
The 1915 campaign did not justify the hopes of both warring coalitions, but its course was more favorable for the Entente. The German command, having failed to liquidate the Eastern Front, found itself in a difficult situation.
Military operations in 1916
On February 21, the German command launched the Verdun operation on the Western Front. During fierce fighting, both sides suffered heavy losses. The Germans could not break through the front.
On May 22 (June 4) in the East European Theater, the Southwestern Front (commanded by General A.A. Brusilov) launched a decisive offensive. The defense of the Austro-German troops was broken through to a depth of 80 to 120 km. The command of the Central Powers urgently transferred here 11 German divisions from France and 6 Austro-Hungarian divisions from Italy.
The offensive of the South-Western Front eased the position of the French near Verdun, and also saved the Italian army from defeat and accelerated the appearance of Romania on the side of the Entente countries. However, the actions of Romania were unsuccessful. The Russian Romanian Front was formed to help Romania.
In July, Anglo-French troops launched a major offensive on the Somme. It lasted until mid-November, but, despite huge losses, the Allies advanced only 5-15 km, failing to break through the German front.
The troops of the Caucasian Front successfully carried out a number of operations, as a result of which the cities of Erzurum and Trebizond were occupied.
At the end of 1916, the superiority of the Entente over the countries of the German bloc became obvious. Germany was forced to defend on all fronts.
Military operations in 1917-1918
The campaign of 1917 was being prepared and proceeded in the conditions of the growth of the revolutionary movement in all countries, which had a great influence on the course of the war as a whole.
In February 1917, a revolution broke out in Russia. In June 1917, the offensive of the Southwestern Front was carried out, which ended in failure. The last Russian military operations were the defense of Riga and the defense of the Moonsund Islands.
After the October Revolution in Russia, on December 2 (15), 1917, the new government concluded an armistice with the German coalition. The revolution in Russia thwarted the strategic plan of the Entente, which was designed to defeat Austria-Hungary. However, the troops of the Central Powers were still forced to go on the defensive.
In March 1918, a major German offensive in France. The German troops broke through the allied defenses to a depth of 60 km, but then the allied command, having brought reserves into battle, liquidated the breakthrough. At the end of May, the German armies struck north of the Rhine, and reached the Marne River, being less than 70 km from Paris. Here they were stopped. On July 15, the German command made a last desperate attempt to defeat the allied armies. But the second Battle of Marne ended in failure.
In August 1918, the Anglo-French armies went on the offensive and inflicted a major defeat on the German troops. In September, the general offensive of the Allies began on the entire front. On November 9, the monarchy was overthrown in Germany. On November 11, 1918, the Entente concluded the Compiègne truce with Germany. Germany declared itself defeated.
The First World War gave a powerful impetus to the development military equipment. Since 1915, the main problem in the conduct of hostilities has been the breakthrough of the positional front. The appearance in 1916 of tanks and new types of escort artillery increased the firepower and strike power of the advancing troops. On September 15, 1916, the British used tanks for the first time. With the support of 18 tanks, the infantry was able to ADVANCE 2 km. The first case of massive use of tanks is the Battle of Cambrai on November 20-21, 1917, where 378 tanks operated. The surprise and great superiority in forces and means allowed the British troops to break through the German defenses. However, the tanks that broke away from the infantry and cavalry suffered heavy losses.
The war gave a sharp impetus to the development of aviation. Initially, aircraft, along with balloons, served as a means of reconnaissance and artillery fire correction. Then they began to put machine guns on the planes and hang bombs.
The most famous aircraft were the German Fokker, the English Sopwith, and the French Farman, Voisin, and Nieuport. Military aircraft in Russia were built mainly according to French models, but there were also their own designs. So, in 1913, a heavy 4-engine aircraft by I. Sikorsky "Ilya Muromets" was built, lifting up to 800 kg of bombs and armed with 3-7 machine guns.
A qualitatively new type of weapon was chemical weapons. In April 1915, near Ypres, the Germans released 180 tons of chlorine from cylinders. As a result of the attack, about 15 thousand people were hit, of which 5 thousand died. Such large losses from relatively low-toxic chlorine were caused by the lack of protective equipment, the first samples of which appeared only a year later. On April 12, 1917, in the area of Ypres, the Germans used mustard gas (mustard gas). In total, about 1 million people were affected by poisonous substances during the war years.
State regulation of the economy.
In all the warring countries, state military-economic departments were created to regulate the economy, which put industry and agriculture under their control. State bodies distributed orders and raw materials, disposed of the products of enterprises. These bodies not only supervised production process, but also regulated working conditions, wages, etc. In general, state intervention in the economy during the war years had a visible effect. This gave rise to an idea of the beneficence of such a policy.
In Russia, the relatively weak development of heavy industry could not but affect the supply of the army. Despite the transfer of workers to the position of military personnel, the growth of military production at first was insignificant. The supply of weapons and ammunition from the allies was carried out in extremely limited quantities. In order to establish military production, the government proceeded to sequester (transfer to the state) large military factories and banks. For the owners, this was a huge source of income.
When major abuses of officials in supplying the fronts with everything necessary were revealed, the government went to the creation of committees and meetings that were supposed to deal with military orders. But in practice, this only led to the distribution of military orders and the issuance of cash subsidies.
Due to the mass mobilization of peasants into the army in Russia, the harvest of grain was sharply reduced, and the cost of processing it increased. A significant part of the horses and cattle was also requisitioned as a draft force and to feed the army. The food situation was sharply worsened by the Axis, speculation flourished and the prices of essential goods rose. Hunger has begun.
Public opinion during the war.
The beginning of the war caused an explosion of patriotic feelings in all the warring countries. There were mass rallies in support of the government's actions. However, by the end of 1915, the mood of the population of the warring countries began to gradually change. Everywhere the strike movement grew, and the opposition, including the parliamentary one, intensified. In Russia, where the military defeats of 1915 sharply aggravated the internal political situation, this process proceeded especially rapidly. The defeats aroused in the Duma opposition a desire to re-start the fight against the autocratic regime, "not knowing how to wage war." Several groups in the Duma, led by the Cadets, united in " progressive block”, the purpose of which was the creation of a cabinet of public trust, I.e. government based on the Duma majority.
The activity of groups in the Social Democratic parties, which from the very beginning spoke with varying degrees of categorical opposition to the war, intensified. On September 5-8, 1915, the Zimmerwald Conference of such groups took place. It was attended by 38 delegates from Russia, Germany, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Poland, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands. They issued a statement against the war and called the peoples to peace. About a third of the delegates, headed by the leader of the Russian Bolsheviks, V.I. Lenin, considered this call too soft. They spoke in favor of turning the "imperialist war into a civil war", taking advantage of the fact that weapons are in the hands of millions of "proletarians".
On the fronts, there were more and more cases of fraternization of soldiers of the opposing armies. During the strikes, anti-war slogans were put forward. On May 1, 1916, in Berlin, at a mass demonstration, the leader of the left-wing Social Democrats, K. Liebknecht, issued an appeal “Down with the war!”.
National uprisings intensified in multinational countries. In July 1916, the Central Asian uprising began in Russia, which was finally suppressed only in 1917. On April 24-30, 1916, the Irish uprising broke out, brutally suppressed by the British. There were also performances in Austria-Hungary.
World War I ended with the defeat of Germany and its allies. At the Paris Peace Conference agreements have been prepared. June 28, 1919 was signed Treaty of Versailles with Germany, September 10 - Treaty of Saintgermain with Austria, November 27 - Treaty of Nein with Bulgaria, June 4 - Treaty of Trianon with Hungary and August 10, 1920 - Treaty of Sevres with Turkey. The Paris Peace Conference decided to establish League of Nations. Germany and its allies lost significant territories, and were also forced to significantly limit their armed forces and pay large reparations.
The post-war peace settlement was completed by the Washington Conference, which took place in 1921-1922. Its initiator, the United States, dissatisfied with the results of the Paris Conference, made a serious bid for leadership in the Western world. Thus, the United States succeeded in achieving recognition of the principle of "freedom of the seas", weakening Great Britain as a great maritime power, pushing Japan out of China, and also achieving the approval of the principle of "equal opportunities". However, the position of Japan in the Far East and in pacific ocean were strong enough.
The First World War is the first military conflict on a global scale, in which 38 of the 59 independent states that existed at that time were involved.
The main reason for the war was the contradictions between the powers of two large blocs - the Entente (a coalition of Russia, England and France) and the Triple Alliance (a coalition of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy).
The reason for the start of an armed clash, a member of the Mlada Bosna organization, a high school student Gavrilo Princip, during which on June 28 (all dates are given according to the new style) 1914 in Sarajevo, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were killed.
On July 23, Austria-Hungary presented an ultimatum to Serbia, in which it accused the country's government of supporting terrorism and demanded that its military formations be allowed into the territory. Despite the fact that the note of the Serbian government expressed readiness to resolve the conflict, the Austro-Hungarian government declared that it was not satisfied and declared war on Serbia. On July 28, hostilities began on the Austro-Serbian border.
On July 30, Russia announced a general mobilization, fulfilling its allied obligations to Serbia. Germany used this occasion to declare war on Russia on August 1, and on France on August 3, as well as on neutral Belgium, which refused to allow German troops to pass through its territory. On August 4, Great Britain with its dominions declared war on Germany, on August 6, Austria-Hungary on Russia.
In August 1914, Japan joined the hostilities, in October, Turkey entered the war on the side of the Germany-Austria-Hungary bloc. In October 1915, Bulgaria joined the bloc of the so-called Central States.
In May 1915, under diplomatic pressure from Great Britain, Italy, which initially took a position of neutrality, declared war on Austria-Hungary, and on August 28, 1916 on Germany.
The main land fronts were the Western (French) and Eastern (Russian) fronts, the main maritime theaters of military operations were the North, Mediterranean and Baltic Seas.
Hostilities began on the Western Front - German troops acted according to the Schlieffen plan, which involved a large offensive against France through Belgium. However, Germany's calculation of a quick defeat of France turned out to be untenable; by mid-November 1914, the war on the Western Front took on a positional character.
The confrontation went along a line of trenches with a length of about 970 kilometers along the German border with Belgium and France. Until March 1918, any, even minor changes in the front line were achieved here at the cost of huge losses on both sides.
The eastern front during the maneuverable period of the war was located on the strip along the border of Russia with Germany and Austria-Hungary, then - mainly on the western border strip of Russia.
The beginning of the 1914 campaign on the Eastern Front was marked by the desire of the Russian troops to fulfill their obligations to the French and pull the German forces from the Western Front. During this period, two major battles took place - the East Prussian operation and the Battle of Galicia, during these battles the Russian army defeated the Austro-Hungarian troops, occupied Lvov and pushed the enemy back to the Carpathians, blocking the large Austrian fortress of Przemysl.
However, the losses of soldiers and equipment were colossal, due to the underdevelopment of transport routes, replenishment and ammunition did not have time to arrive on time, so the Russian troops could not build on their success.
On the whole, the 1914 campaign ended in favor of the Entente. German troops were defeated on the Marne, Austrian - in Galicia and Serbia, Turkish - at Sarykamysh. In the Far East, Japan captured the port of Jiaozhou, the Caroline, Mariana and Marshall Islands, which belonged to Germany, British troops captured the rest of Germany's possessions in the Pacific.
Later, in July 1915, British troops captured German South West Africa (a German protectorate in Africa) after protracted fighting.
The First World War was marked by the testing of new means of warfare and weapons. On October 8, 1914, the first air raid was carried out: British aircraft, equipped with 20-pound bombs, attacked the German airship workshops in Friedrichshafen.
After this raid, aircraft of a new class, bombers, began to be created.
The defeat ended the large-scale Dardanelles landing operation (1915-1916) - a naval expedition that the Entente countries equipped in early 1915 with the aim of taking Constantinople, opening the Dardanelles and Bosporus for communication with Russia through the Black Sea, withdrawing Turkey from the war and attracting allies to the side Balkan states. On the Eastern Front, by the end of 1915, German and Austro-Hungarian troops had driven the Russians out of almost all of Galicia and most of Russian Poland.
On April 22, 1915, during the battles near Ypres (Belgium), Germany used chemical weapons for the first time. After that, poison gases (chlorine, phosgene, and later mustard gas) began to be used regularly by both warring parties.
In the 1916 campaign, Germany again shifted its main efforts to the West in order to withdraw France from the war, but a powerful blow to France during the Verdun operation ended in failure. This was largely facilitated by the Russian Southwestern Front, which broke through the Austro-Hungarian front in Galicia and Volhynia. The Anglo-French troops launched a decisive offensive on the Somme River, but, despite all efforts and the involvement of huge forces and means, they could not break through the German defenses. During this operation, the British used tanks for the first time. At sea, the largest battle of Jutland in the war took place, in which the German fleet failed. As a result of the military campaign of 1916, the Entente seized the strategic initiative.
In late 1916, Germany and its allies first began to talk about the possibility of a peace agreement. The Entente rejected this proposal. During this period, the armies of the states actively participating in the war numbered 756 divisions, twice as many as at the beginning of the war, but they lost the most qualified military personnel. The bulk of the soldiers were reserve older ages and youth of early conscription, poorly trained in military and technical terms and not physically trained enough.
In 1917 two major events radically influenced the balance of forces of opponents. On April 6, 1917, the United States, which had long been neutral in the war, decided to declare war on Germany. One of the reasons was an incident off the southeastern coast of Ireland, when a German submarine sank the British liner Lusitania, sailing from the USA to England, carrying a large group of Americans, 128 of them died.
Following the United States in 1917, China, Greece, Brazil, Cuba, Panama, Liberia and Siam also entered the war on the side of the Entente.
The second major change in the confrontation of forces was caused by Russia's withdrawal from the war. On December 15, 1917, the Bolsheviks who came to power signed an armistice agreement. On March 3, 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was concluded, according to which Russia renounced its rights to Poland, Estonia, Ukraine, part of Belarus, Latvia, Transcaucasia and Finland. Ardagan, Kars and Batum went to Turkey. In total, Russia has lost about one million square kilometers. In addition, she was obliged to pay Germany an indemnity of six billion marks.
The major battles of the 1917 campaign, the Nivelle operation and the Cambrai operation, showed the value of using tanks in battle and laid the foundation for tactics based on the interaction of infantry, artillery, tanks and aircraft on the battlefield.
On August 8, 1918, in the battle of Amiens, the German front was torn apart by the Allied forces: entire divisions surrendered almost without a fight - this battle was the last major battle of the war.
On September 29, 1918, after the Entente offensive on the Thessaloniki front, Bulgaria signed a truce, Turkey capitulated in October, and Austria-Hungary on November 3.
In Germany, popular unrest began: on October 29, 1918, in the port of Kiel, a team of two warships broke out of obedience and refused to go to sea on a combat mission. Mass mutinies began: the soldiers intended to establish councils of soldiers' and sailors' deputies in northern Germany on the Russian model. On November 9, Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated and a republic was proclaimed.
November 11, 1918 at the Retonde station in the Compiègne forest (France), the German delegation signed the Compiègne truce. The Germans were ordered to liberate the occupied territories within two weeks, establish a neutral zone on the right bank of the Rhine; transfer guns and vehicles to the allies, release all prisoners. The political provisions of the agreement provided for the abolition of the Brest-Litovsk and Bucharest peace treaties, the financial ones - the payment of reparations for the destruction and the return of valuables. The final terms of the peace treaty with Germany were determined at the Paris Peace Conference in Palace of Versailles June 28, 1919.
The First World War, which for the first time in the history of mankind engulfed the territories of two continents (Eurasia and Africa) and vast sea areas, radically redrawn the political map of the world and became one of the largest and bloodiest. During the war, 70 million people were mobilized into the ranks of the armies; of these, 9.5 million were killed and died of wounds, more than 20 million were injured, 3.5 million were left crippled. The greatest losses were suffered by Germany, Russia, France and Austria-Hungary (66.6% of all losses). The total cost of the war, including property losses, was estimated at between $208 billion and $359 billion.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
