World War I: the tragedy of the turn of the century

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.

Background and background of the First World 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 redivision of the world, with minor changes in its favor (for example, the division of the colonial empire of Germany), while Germany and Austria-Hungary wanted a complete redivision of the colonies, the achievement of economic and military hegemony in Europe and 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.

Goals and plans of the parties in the First World War

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.

Beginning of World War I - August 1914

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.

World War I flares up - August-November 1914

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 the Russian army managed to push them back to their original position with powerful counterattacks.

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.

The entry into the war of the Ottoman Empire and the prolongation of the conflict (November 1914 - January 1915)

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 on 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.

From October 1914 on the Western Front, the troops took up positional defense, which had a significant impact on 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.

World War I - 1915

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 with the aim of neutralizing Russia that from the beginning of June the planning of a new offensive began, 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, hostilities also 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).

At the beginning of 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 of most of 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) prevented the Anglo-French leadership from achieving 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 to break through to the Bosphorus, fire on 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 was unable to repel this blow, which led to the complete collapse of the Serbian front and the occupation of the territory of Serbia by the end of December by the Austrian troops. 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 course of the First World War in 1916

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 the borders, 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.

Fighting in 1917

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 failed 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 attack.

At this time, Emperor Nicholas II abdicated, and Russia ceased to be an empire. The new provisional government of the 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 thus 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 decay. 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.

World War I - 1918

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.

Losses of the parties in the first world war

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.

Results and consequences of the First World War

World War I was the first global conflict in human history. Its scale has become incommensurably greater than that of the 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 of France, Great Britain, Belgium and Poland (seizure from Germany of the Saar, part of Silesia, occupation of the Ruhr in 1923) only strengthened 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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Commanders

Side forces

World War I(July 28, 1914 - November 11, 1918) - one of the largest armed conflicts in the history of mankind. The first global armed conflict of the XX century. As a result of the war, four empires ceased to exist: Russian, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and German. The participating countries lost more than 10 million people killed soldiers, about 12 million civilians killed, about 55 million were injured.

Military operations at sea in the First World War

Members

The main participants in the First World War:

Central Powers: German Empire, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria.

Entente: Russian Empire, France, Great Britain.

For a complete list of participants, see: World War I (Wikipedia)

Background to the conflict

The naval arms race between the British Empire and the German Empire was one of the most important causes of the First World War. Germany wanted to increase her navy to a size that would allow German overseas trade not to depend on the goodwill of Britain. However, the increase in the German fleet to a size comparable to the British fleet inevitably threatened the very existence of the British Empire.

Campaign of 1914

Breakthrough of the German Mediterranean Division to Turkey

On July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. The Mediterranean squadron of the Kaiser Navy under the command of Rear Admiral Wilhelm Souchon (battlecruiser Goeben and light cruiser Breslau), not wanting to be captured in the Adriatic, went to Turkey. German ships avoided a collision with superior enemy forces and, passing through the Dardanelles, came to Constantinople. The arrival of the German squadron in Constantinople was one of the factors that pushed the Ottoman Empire to enter the First World War on the side of the Triple Alliance.

Operations in the North Sea and the English Channel

Long-range blockade of the German fleet

The British fleet intended to solve its strategic tasks through a long-range blockade of German ports. The German fleet, inferior in strength to the British, chose a defensive strategy and began laying minefields. In August 1914, the British fleet carried out the transfer of troops to the continent. During the cover of the transfer, a battle took place in the Helgoland Bay.

Both sides actively used submarines. German submarines acted more successfully, so on September 22, 1914, U-9 sank 3 British cruisers at once. In response, the British Navy began to strengthen anti-submarine defenses, the Northern Patrol was created.

Operations in the Barents and White Seas

Actions in the Barents Sea

In the summer of 1916, the Germans, knowing that an increasing amount of military cargo was coming to Russia by the northern sea route, sent their submarines into the waters of the Barents and White Seas. They sank 31 Allied ships. For confrontation, he created the Russian Flotilla of the Arctic Ocean.

Operations in the Baltic Sea

The plans of both sides for 1916 did not provide for any major operations. Germany kept insignificant forces in the Baltic, and the Baltic Fleet constantly strengthened its defensive positions by building new minefields and coastal batteries. Actions were reduced to raiding operations of light forces. In one of these operations, on November 10, 1916, the German 10th "destroyer" flotilla lost 7 ships at once in a minefield.

Despite the generally defensive nature of the actions of both sides, the losses in the ship composition in 1916 were significant, especially in the German fleet. The Germans lost 1 auxiliary cruiser, 8 destroyers, 1 submarine, 8 minesweepers and small ships, 3 military transports. The Russian fleet lost 2 destroyers, 2 submarines, 5 minesweepers and small ships, 1 military transport.

Campaign of 1917

Dynamics of losses and reproduction of the tonnage of allied countries

Operations in Western European waters and in the Atlantic

April 1 - a decision was made to introduce a system of convoys on all communications. With the introduction of the convoy system and the increase in anti-submarine defense forces and means, losses in merchant tonnage began to decline. Other measures were also introduced to strengthen the fight against boats - a mass installation of guns on merchant ships was begun. During 1917, guns were installed on 3,000 British ships, and by the beginning of 1918, up to 90% of all large-capacity British merchant ships were armed. In the second half of the campaign, the British began mass laying anti-submarine minefields - in 1917 they laid 33,660 mines in the North Sea and the Atlantic. During 11 months of unrestricted submarine warfare, she lost 1,037 ships with a total tonnage of 2,600,000 tons in the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean alone. In addition, the allies and neutral countries lost 1085 ships with a capacity of 1 million 647 thousand tons. During 1917, Germany built 103 new boats, and the losses were 72 boats, of which 61 were lost in the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

cruiser hike wolf

German cruiser raids

On October 16 - 18 and December 11-12, German light cruisers and destroyers attacked the "Scandinavian" convoys and achieved major successes - they sent 3 English escort destroyers, 3 trawlers, 15 steamers to the bottom and damaged 1 destroyer. Germany in 1917 completed operating on the communications of the Entente with surface raiders. The last raid was made by a raider wolf- in total, he sank 37 ships with a total tonnage of about 214,000 tons. The fight against Entente shipping switched exclusively to submarines.

Operations in the Mediterranean and the Adriatic

barrage of otranto

Combat operations in the Mediterranean boiled down mainly to the unrestricted operations of German boats on enemy sea communications and anti-submarine defense of the Allies. During 11 months of unrestricted submarine warfare in the Mediterranean, German and Austrian boats sank 651 Allied and neutral ships with a total tonnage of 1,647,000 tons. In addition, over a hundred ships with a total displacement of 61,000 tons were blown up and killed on mines laid by minelayer boats. Heavy losses from boats in 1917 were suffered by the Allied naval forces in the Mediterranean: 2 battleships (English - Cornwallis, French - Danton), 1 cruiser (French - Chateaurenault), 1 minelayer, 1 monitor, 2 destroyers, 1 submarine. The Germans lost 3 boats, the Austrians - 1.

Actions in the Baltic

Defense of the Moonsund Archipelago in 1917

The February and October revolutions in Petrograd completely undermined the combat capability of the Baltic Fleet. On April 30, the sailor's Central Committee of the Baltic Fleet (Tsentrobalt) was created, which controlled the activities of officers.

From September 29 to October 20, 1917, using the quantitative and qualitative advantage, the German Navy and ground forces carried out Operation Albion to capture the Moonsund Islands in the Baltic Sea. In the operation, the German fleet lost 10 destroyers and 6 minesweepers, the defenders - 1 battleship, 1 destroyer, 1 submarine, up to 20,000 soldiers and sailors were captured. The Moonsund archipelago and the Gulf of Riga were abandoned by Russian forces, the Germans managed to create an immediate threat of military attack for Petrograd.

Actions in the Black Sea

Since the beginning of the year, the Black Sea Fleet continued to blockade the Bosphorus, as a result of which the Turkish fleet ran out of coal and its ships were in bases. The February events in Petrograd, the abdication of the emperor (March 2) sharply undermined morale and discipline. The actions of the fleet in the summer-autumn of 1917 were limited to raids by destroyers, which still disturbed the Turkish coast.

During the entire campaign of 1917, the Black Sea Fleet was preparing for a major landing operation on the Bosphorus. It was supposed to land 3-4 rifle corps and other units. However, the timing of the landing operation was repeatedly postponed, in October the Headquarters decided to postpone the operation on the Bosphorus to the next campaign.

Campaign of 1918

Events in the Baltic, the Black Sea and the North

On March 3, 1918, a peace treaty was signed in Brest-Litovsk by representatives of Soviet Russia and the Central Powers. Russia withdrew from the First World War.

All subsequent hostilities that took place in these theaters of hostilities historically refer to

World War I (1914 - 1918)

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.

• Entente. Russian Empire, France, Great Britain. The allies were the USA, Italy, Romania, Canada, Australia, New Zealand.
• Triple Alliance. Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire. Later, the Bulgarian kingdom joined them, and the coalition became known as the Quadruple Union.

The following major countries took part in the war: 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 - 29 September 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.

Causes of World War I

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:

• Between England and Germany. England sought to prevent the strengthening of German influence in the Balkans. Germany sought to gain a foothold in the Balkans and the Middle East, and also sought to deprive England of naval dominance.
• Between Germany and France. France dreamed of regaining the lands of Alsace and Lorraine, which she had lost in the war of 1870-71. France also sought to seize the German Saar coal basin.
• Between Germany and Russia. Germany sought to take Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic states from Russia.
• Between Russia and Austria-Hungary. Contradictions arose because of the desire of both countries to influence the Balkans, as well as the desire of Russia to subjugate the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles.

Cause to start a war

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.

Important nuances of the reason for 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:

• Gavrilo Principin. He died in prison in 1918 from tuberculosis.
• Russian Ambassador to Serbia - Hartley. In 1914 he died at the Austrian embassy in Serbia, where he came for a reception.
• Colonel Apis, leader of the Black Hand. Shot in 1917.
• In 1917 Hartley's correspondence with Sozonov (the next Russian ambassador to Serbia) disappeared.

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.

The role of England in starting the war

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.

Russia before the 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 adopts a new Field Service Charter. 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.

The balance of forces and means before the war and after it

Artillery

	Number of guns	Of these, heavy weapons
Austria-Hungary
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.

Armament and military equipment

Production of weapons and equipment during the First World War (thousand units).

	Shooting	Artillery
Great Britain
TRIPLE ALLIANCE
Germany
Austria-Hungary

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.

Number of people (infantry)

The number of fighting infantry (millions of people).

	At the beginning of the war	By the end of the war	Losses killed
Great Britain
TRIPLE ALLIANCE
Germany
Austria-Hungary

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.

The course of the war

Military events of 1914

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

German "Schlieffen Plan"

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.

Northwestern front of Russia in 1914

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.

Southwestern Front of Russia

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.

The main results of the military campaign of 1914

• Germany failed to implement the Schlieffen plan for blitzkrieg.
• No one managed to win a decisive advantage. The war turned into a positional one.

Map of military events in 1914-15

Military events of 1915

In 1915, Germany decided to shift the main blow to the eastern front, sending 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.

The situation on the northwestern front

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:

• Killed and wounded - 850 thousand people
• Captured - 900 thousand people

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 situation on the southwestern front

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:

• 2.5 times in machine guns.
• 4.5 times in light artillery.
• 40 times in heavy artillery.

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.

The situation on the western front

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.

Military events of 1916

"Verdun meat grinder"

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.

Events on the southwestern front in 1916

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.

Events on the Caucasian and Northwestern Fronts

Positional battles continued on the North-Western Front 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.

Outcome of 1916 in World War I

• The strategic initiative went over to the side of the Entente.
• The French fortress of Verdun survived thanks to the advance of the Russian army.
• Romania entered the war on the side of the Entente.
• Russia launched a powerful offensive - the Brusilovsky breakthrough.

Military and political events of 1917

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.

End of the war for Russia

In the spring of 1917, Germany launched another offensive on the Western Front. Despite the events in Russia, the 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 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The conditions of this world were as follows:

• Russia makes peace with Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey.
• Russia is losing Poland, Ukraine, Finland, part of Belarus and the Baltic states.
• Russia cedes Batum, Kars and Ardagan to Turkey.

As a result of its participation in the First World War, Russia lost: about 1 million square meters of territory, about 1/4 of the population, 1/4 of arable land and 3/4 of the coal and metallurgical industry were lost.

History reference

Events in the war in 1918

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.

Autumn 1918

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.

End of World War I

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:

• Germany recognizes complete defeat in the war.
• The return of France of the province of Alsace and Lorraine to the borders of 1870, as well as the transfer of the Saar coal basin.
• Germany lost all its colonial possessions, and also pledged to transfer 1/8 of its territory to its geographical neighbors.
• For 15 years, the Entente troops are located on the left bank of the Rhine.
• By May 1, 1921, Germany had to pay the members of the Entente (Russia was not supposed to do anything) 20 billion marks in gold, goods, securities, etc.
• For 30 years, Germany must pay reparations, and the winners themselves determine the amount of these reparations and can increase them at any time during these 30 years.
• Germany was forbidden to have an army of more than 100 thousand people, and the army was obliged to be exclusively voluntary.

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 ...

Results of the First World War

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 were such independent states as 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.

Map of the First World War 1914-1918

World War I 1914– 1918 - a war between two coalitions of powers (the Entente and the countries of the Triple Alliance) for the redistribution of the world, colonies, spheres of influence and capital investment. This is the first military conflict on a global scale, in which 38 of the 59 independent states that existed at that time (2/3 of the world's population) were involved.

World War I: the causes and essence of the conflict

After a series of successful wars against Denmark in 1864, Austria in 1866, and especially after the victory over France in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, Prussia, under Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, managed to unite the scattered German lands under its rule.

On January 18, 1871, in the Palace of Versailles near Paris, Bismarck, in the presence of the German princes, read out the text of the proclamation of the Prussian king by the German emperor. Thus, a new strong player appeared on the European arena - the German Empire.

The Russian Empire at first did not interfere with the unification of Germany, since Prussia, the only one of the great powers, did not oppose Russia during the Crimean War. In addition, Bismarck promised Alexander II to support Russia in the revision of the Paris Treaty of 1856, which forbade Russia to have a Black Sea navy.

Moreover, in 1873, Alexander II and Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary signed an agreement at the Schönbrunn Palace near Vienna, to which Kaiser Wilhelm I joined a little later. This was the beginning of the Union of Three Emperors.

The agreements were extended twice more: in 1881 and 1884.

But the growing contradictions, first of all, between Russia and Austria-Hungary because of the desire for dominance in the Balkans and Germany's support for the latter led to a cooling of relations between the countries.

In parallel with this, in 1879, the Austro-German Confederation was formalized, to which Italy joined in 1882, competing with France for dominance in North Africa.

In contrast to the formed Triple Alliance, a Russian-French military alliance was concluded in 1891, called the "Cardial Accord" (fr. Entente Cordiale - Entente).

Relations between France and Great Britain were tense due to colonial differences, but in 1904 an agreement was reached between these countries on the most important colonial issues, which served as the basis of the British-French Entente.

Russia in 1907 concluded a similar agreement with Great Britain. Thus, two opposing military-political blocs were formed: the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy) and the Entente (Russia, France and Great Britain).

The main contradictions of the parties

Great Britain:

German support for the Boers in the war with Britain;

German intervention in the economic affairs of East and South-West Africa - British spheres of influence;

Preservation of maritime and colonial power;

It waged an undeclared economic and trade war against Germany.

France:

She sought to take revenge for the defeat inflicted on her by Germany in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870;

The desire to return to its composition Alsace and Lorraine;

It suffered losses in its traditional sales markets in competition with German goods;

Russia:

Claimed the free passage of its fleet to the Mediterranean Sea, insisted on the weakening or revision in its favor of the regime of control over the Dardanelles;

She regarded the construction of the railway Berlin - Baghdad as an unfriendly act on the part of Berlin;

She insisted on the exclusive patronage of the Slavic peoples in the Balkans.

Germany:

Strived for political and economic dominance in Europe;

Wanted to acquire new territories;

Involved in the struggle for the colonies only after 1871, she claimed equal rights in the colonial possessions of the British Empire, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal. She was especially active in obtaining markets.

Austria-Hungary:

She tried to keep Bosnia and Herzegovina captured by her in 1908;

It opposed Russia, which took on the role of the defender of all Slavs in the Balkans, and Serbia, which claimed to be the unifying center of the southern Slavs.

Despite all the above contradictions, the main cause of the First World War was the colonial issue: Britain and France did not want to share the captured colonies, and Germany and its allies sought to get some of these colonies for themselves.

As the 28th President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, said: “Everyone is looking for and does not find the reason why the war began. Their search is in vain, they will not find this reason. The war did not start for any one reason, the war started for all reasons at once.

Start of World War I

On June 28, 1914, a nineteen-year-old student, a Bosnian Serb, Gavrilo Princip, makes a fatal attempt on the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Franz Ferdinand, who came to Sarajevo to get acquainted with the recently annexed territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Gavrilo Princip was a member of the Mlada Bosna organization, which proclaimed its goal to unite all the South Slavic peoples into one state - Greater Serbia.

On July 23, Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia, accusing it of being behind the assassination of the Archduke. 48 hours were allotted for consideration of the ultimatum.

The ultimatum consisted of 10 points and was humiliating for a sovereign state. Despite this, Serbia satisfied 9 out of 10 provisions, with the exception of the item that read: "To conduct an investigation against each of the participants in the Sarajevo murder with the participation of the Austrian government in the investigation."

The Entente countries, in particular Russia, proposed to resolve the conflict peacefully and send the dispute to the Hague Conference.

On July 26, Austria-Hungary, declaring that the requirements of the ultimatum had not been met, began to gather troops to the Serbian border, and on July 28 declared war on Serbia, shelling Belgrade.

Russia issued an appeal that it would not allow the occupation of Serbia, and on July 31, general mobilization into the army was announced in the Russian Empire.

Germany declared that if Russia did not stop mobilization, war would be declared.

On August 1, 1914, Germany declares war on Russia, on August 3 - on France and Belgium, which rejected the ultimatum on the passage of German troops through its territory.

Great Britain demanded that Germany maintain the neutrality of Belgium, but, having received a refusal, on August 4, together with its dominions, declared war on Germany.

On August 6, Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia. An ally of Germany and Austria-Hungary in the Triple Alliance - Italy - declared neutrality. This was the beginning of the First World War.

Side Plans

Without exception, all countries did not expect that the war would turn out to be protracted, hoping to end it with a decisive offensive by the winter of 1914.

Germany adhered to the so-called "Schlieffen plan", which involved 7 out of 8 German armies to concentrate on the Western Front. With a quick offensive through the territories of neutral Luxembourg and Belgium, reach the flank and rear of the main grouping of French troops, defeat it, take Paris and withdraw France from the war, concentrating all forces against Russia.

The phrase said by Wilhelm II became famous: "We will have lunch in Paris, and dinner in St. Petersburg." One field army was concentrated in East Prussia to protect the eastern borders.

Austria-Hungary also had to fight on two fronts: 1/3 of the troops were sent to the Serbian front, 2/3 were concentrated against the Russian Southwestern Front. The goal was to push the Russian troops back from the border, and then, together with the German troops released from the Western Front, defeat Russia.

In plans France included an offensive in the territories of Alsace and Lorraine, but the strategy had to be revised on the move in view of the fact that the Germans had maneuvered through Belgium.

Great Britain was going to focus on combat operations against the German fleet, but under pressure from the Allies on the eve of the war, she sent an expeditionary force of 7.5 divisions to help the French.

Russia she was also forced to divide her troops into 2 fronts: the North-Western, which consisted of 2 armies, was supposed to act against the Germans in East Prussia; Southwestern, consisting of 4 armies, was supposed to counteract the Austrians. The plan was to withdraw Austria-Hungary from the war as soon as possible and to concentrate all forces against Germany.

World War I: the course of events

Course of events. 1914

On the western front, the war began on August 2 with the invasion of German troops in Luxembourg, which, having passed the territory of Belgium, reached the French border.

In a head-on battle, the Germans defeated the Allied forces and reached the Marne River east of Paris.

The French hastily formed two new armies. From September 5 to 12, large-scale hostilities unfolded on both banks of the Marne River, in which about 2 million people participated on both sides.

The Germans were pushed back from Paris. In the future, trying to cover each other from the flank, the opposing armies moved north until they ran into the sea coast - the so-called "run to the sea".

As a result, the front stabilized, trench warfare began. The German Blitzkrieg failed.

On the Eastern Front, Russia launched an offensive at the request of France, which retreated under the onslaught of the German troops, not having fully completed the mobilization. Having invaded the territory of East Prussia, the 1st army of General Rennenkampf defeated the 8th German army in the Gumbinnen-Goldap battle. But it was not possible to build on the success: the German troops regrouped and attacked the 2nd Russian army of General Samsonov in the area of ​​the Masurian Lakes.

The army was surrounded and defeated. Samsonov committed suicide. The 1st Army returned to its original positions behind the Neman.

Despite the catastrophic consequences, the offensive of the Russian army in East Prussia frustrated the German plan: they were forced to transfer troops from the Western Front to the aid of the 8th Army, thereby weakening their forces before the Battle of the Marne.

During the Galician operation of the Southwestern Front, the Austrians were defeated. Lvov, Galich and other cities were taken. In the battles on the Warsaw ledge, during numerous battles, the front remained practically unchanged.

Course of events. 1915

During the campaign of 1915, the German command decided to change the plan: most of the forces were sent to the Eastern Front in order to defeat Russia and withdraw it from the war.

At the same time, the shortage of weapons and ammunition in the Russian army began to affect. Under the blows of the German troops, the so-called "Great Retreat" began - Poland, Galicia, Lithuania, part of Belarus and Latvia were left. The front has stabilized on the line Riga - Dvinsk - Baranovichi - Pinsk - Dubno - Tarnopol. However, the strategic plan to defeat the Russian Armed Forces failed.

On the Western Front, the war took on a positional character. In the conditions of defense in depth on a narrow front, new types of weapons were tested.

During the offensive of the German troops at Ypres, chemical weapons were first used - chlorine was sprayed.

On the initiative of Winston Churchill, the unsuccessful Dardanelles operation was organized, which lasted from February 19, 1915 to January 9, 1916. Its goal was the capture of Constantinople, the withdrawal of Turkey from the war and the opening of a sea route to Russia.

On October 14, Bulgaria enters the war on the side of Germany. The so-called Quadruple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire) appears.

Course of events. 1916

During the 1916 campaign, Germany again concentrated its main forces on the Western Front in order to withdraw France from the war. A huge number of troops and artillery were concentrated in the area of ​​​​the city of Verdun.

Verdun operation The German army began on February 21, but, despite all the power of the initial strike, the success of the Germans was insignificant. The fighting took on a protracted and bloody character. Both sides suffered huge losses (about 1 million people).

The operation, which lasted 10 months, ended in vain. This battle went down in history as the Verdun Meat Grinder.

The Allied offensive on the Somme was also unsuccessful, despite the use of a new type of weapon - tanks.

On the Eastern Front, the so-called Brusilovsky breakthrough, during which the Russian troops defeated the Austro-German troops and threatened the withdrawal of Austria-Hungary from the war. Germany and Austria-Hungary were forced to transfer troops from other fronts, thus easing the position of the French at Verdun and the Italians at Trient.

Having entered the war on August 27 on the side of the Entente, Romania, having suffered a number of defeats, forced Russia to withdraw troops from other sectors of the front to help her. The eastern front was extended by 500 kilometers.

On the Caucasian front, Russian troops advanced 250 km into the territory of the Ottoman Empire and captured the cities of Erzurum, Trebizond and Erzinjan.

At sea, on May 31–June 1, the largest naval battle of the First World War took place - Jutland. The British fleet lost 14 ships in it, about 7 thousand people; the loss of the German fleet - 11 ships and over 3 thousand people. Great Britain retained dominance at sea.

Course of events. 1917

By 1917, the economic superiority of the Entente countries began to show. The Central Powers went on the defensive. In addition, on April 6, the United States entered the war on the side of the Entente (although their troops began to arrive only in the fall). All offensive actions of the allies were unsuccessful.

In Russia, as a result of the February Revolution, the monarchy fell.

Although the Provisional Government declared the war "to a victorious end", Order No. 1 issued by the Petrograd Soviet did not contribute to the combat readiness of the Russian army, which had lost its offensive potential.

After an unsuccessful summer offensive, Russian troops were forced to leave Riga. The Bolsheviks, who came to power as a result of the coup in October, began separate peace negotiations. Russia formally withdrew from the war.

Course of events. 1918

The revolution in Russia had a strong impact on the mood in other countries. The Allies did not plan large-scale offensive operations until a sufficient American contingent arrived. Germany, on the other hand, decided on the last offensive in order to turn the war, as human and economic resources were at the limit. At the same time, the Germans sent about 60 divisions to intervene in Russia.

The large-scale offensive of the Germans on the Western Front did not produce results, and as a result, the Allies launched a counteroffensive in the summer.

In autumn, the military-economic exhaustion of Germany reached its limit, and on October 5, Germany turned to Woodrow Wilson for a truce.

Results of the First World War

The contradictions that led to the outbreak of World War I were not only not resolved, but deepened even more, which subsequently led to a new war.

As a result of the First World War, four empires ceased to exist: Russian, German, Ottoman and Austria-Hungary. A number of new states appeared on the map of Europe.

Of the more than 70 million people mobilized in the armies of the warring countries, between 9 and 10 million died. The number of victims among the civilian population ranged from 7 to 12 million. Famine and epidemics caused by the war claimed the lives of at least 20 million people.

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The last century brought to mankind two of the most terrible conflicts - the First and Second World Wars, which captured the whole world. And if the echoes of the Patriotic War are still heard, then the clashes of 1914-1918 have already been forgotten, despite their cruelty. Who fought with whom, what were the reasons for the confrontation, and in what year did the First World War begin?

A military conflict does not start suddenly, there are a number of prerequisites that directly or indirectly eventually become the causes of an open clash of armies. Differences between the main participants in the conflict, the powerful powers, began to grow long before the start of open battles.

The German Empire began its existence, which was the natural end of the Franco-Prussian battles of 1870-1871. At the same time, the government of the empire argued that the state had no aspirations regarding the seizure of power and domination in Europe.

After the devastating internal conflicts of the German monarchy, it took time to recuperate and build military power, this requires peaceful times. In addition, European states are willing to cooperate with it and refrain from creating an opposing coalition.

Developing peacefully, by the mid-1880s, the Germans were getting stronger enough in the military and economic spheres and changing their foreign policy priorities, starting to fight for dominance in Europe. At the same time, a course was taken for the expansion of the southern lands, since the country did not have overseas colonies.

The colonial division of the world allowed the two strongest states - Great Britain and France to seize economically attractive lands around the world. In order to get overseas markets, the Germans needed to defeat these states and seize their colonies.

But in addition to the neighbors, the Germans also had to defeat the Russian state, since in 1891 it entered into a defensive alliance, which was called "Cardial Accord", or Entente, with France and England (joined in 1907).

Austria-Hungary, in turn, tried to hold on to the annexed territories (Herzegovina and Bosnia) and at the same time tried to resist Russia, which set itself the goal of protecting and uniting the Slavic peoples in Europe and could start a confrontation. Russia's ally, Serbia, also posed a danger to Austria-Hungary.

The same tense situation was in the Middle East: it was there that the foreign policy interests of European states that wanted to gain new territories and greater benefits from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire clashed.

Here Russia claimed its rights, claiming the shores of two straits: the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles. In addition, Emperor Nicholas II wanted to gain control over Anatolia, since this territory allowed access to the Middle East by land.

The Russians did not want to allow the withdrawal of these territories of Greece and Bulgaria. Therefore, European clashes were beneficial to them, since they made it possible to seize the desired lands in the East.

So, two alliances were created, the interests and opposition of which became the fundamental basis of the First World War:

1. Entente - it included Russia, France and Great Britain.
2. The Triple Alliance - it included the empires of the Germans and Austro-Hungarians, as well as the Italians.

It's important to know! Later, the Ottomans and Bulgarians joined the Triple Alliance, and the name was changed to the Quadruple Alliance.

The main reasons for the start of the war were:

1. The desire of the Germans to own large territories and occupy a dominant position in the world.
2. France's desire to take a leading position in Europe.
3. The desire of Great Britain to weaken the European countries that posed a danger.
4. Russia's attempt to seize new territories and protect the Slavic peoples from aggression.
5. Confrontations between European and Asian states for spheres of influence.

The crisis of the economy and the discrepancy between the interests of the leading powers of Europe, and after that of other states, led to the beginning of an open military conflict, which lasted from 1914 to 1918.

German goals

Who started the battles? Germany is considered the main aggressor and the country that actually started the First World War. But at the same time, it is a mistake to believe that she alone wanted a conflict, despite the active preparation of the Germans and the provocation, which became the official cause of open clashes.

All European countries had their own interests, the achievement of which required victory over their neighbors.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the empire was developing rapidly and was well prepared from a military point of view: it had a good army, modern weapons and a powerful economy. Due to the constant strife between the German lands, until the middle of the 19th century, Europe did not consider the Germans as a serious adversary and competitor. But after the unification of the lands of the empire and the restoration of the domestic economy, the Germans not only became an important character in the European arena, but also began to think about seizing colonial lands.

The division of the world into colonies brought England and France not only an expanded market and cheap hired labor, but also an abundance of food. The German economy began to move from intensive development to stagnation due to market glut, and population growth and limited territories led to food shortages.

The country's leadership came to the decision to completely change foreign policy, and instead of peaceful participation in European unions, they chose illusory domination through the military seizure of territories. The First World War began immediately after the assassination of the Austrian Franz Ferdinand, which was rigged by the Germans.

Participants in the conflict

Who fought with whom throughout the battles? The main participants concentrate in two camps:

• Triple and then Quadruple Union;
• Entente.

The first camp included Germans, Austro-Hungarians and Italians. This alliance was created back in the 1880s, its main goal was to oppose France.

At the beginning of the First World War, the Italians took up neutrality, thereby violating the plans of the allies, and later completely betrayed them, in 1915 going over to the side of England and France and taking an opposing position. Instead, the Germans had new allies: the Turks and Bulgarians, who had their own clashes with members of the Entente.

In the First World War, briefly listing, in addition to the Germans, Russians, French and British participated, who acted within the framework of one military bloc "Consent" (as the word Entente is translated). It was created in 1893-1907 in order to protect the Allied countries from the ever-growing military power of the Germans and to strengthen the Triple Alliance. The allies were also supported by other states that did not want to strengthen the Germans, among them Belgium, Greece, Portugal and Serbia.

It's important to know! Russia's allies in the conflict were also outside Europe, among them China, Japan, and the United States.

Russia in the First World War fought not only with Germany, but with a number of smaller states, for example, Albania. Only two main fronts unfolded: in the West and in the East. In addition to them, battles took place in the Transcaucasus and in the Middle Eastern and African colonies.

Interests of the parties

The main interest of all battles was the land, due to various circumstances, each side sought to conquer additional territories. All states had their own interest:

1. The Russian Empire wanted to get an open access to the seas.
2. Great Britain sought to weaken Turkey and Germany.
3. France - to return their lands.
4. Germany - expand the territory by capturing neighboring European states, as well as get a number of colonies.
5. Austria-Hungary - control the sea routes and hold the annexed territories.
6. Italy - to gain dominance in southern Europe and the Mediterranean.

The approaching collapse of the Ottoman Empire made the states also think about seizing its lands. The map of hostilities shows the main fronts and advances of the opponents.

It's important to know! In addition to maritime interests, Russia wanted to unite all the Slavic lands under itself, while the Balkans were especially interested in the government.

Each country had clear plans to seize territories and was determined to win. Most of the countries of Europe participated in the conflict, while their military capabilities were approximately the same, which led to a protracted and passive war.

Results

When did World War I end? Its end came in November 1918 - it was then that Germany capitulated, concluding an agreement in Versailles in June of the following year, thereby showing who won the First World War - the French and the British.

The Russians were the losers on the winning side as they withdrew from the battles as early as March 1918 due to serious internal political divisions. In addition to Versailles, 4 more peace treaties were signed with the main warring parties.

For four empires, the First World War ended with their collapse: the Bolsheviks came to power in Russia, the Ottomans were overthrown in Turkey, the Germans and Austro-Hungarians also became republicans.

There were also changes in the territories, in particular the capture of Western Thrace by Greece, Tanzania by England, Romania took possession of Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia, and the French - Alsace-Lorraine and Lebanon. The Russian Empire lost a number of territories that declared independence, among them: Belarus, Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, Ukraine and the Baltic states.

The French occupied the German region of Saar, and Serbia annexed a number of lands (including Slovenia and Croatia) and subsequently created the state of Yugoslavia. Russia's battles in the First World War were costly: in addition to heavy losses on the fronts, the already difficult situation in the economy worsened.

The internal situation was tense long before the start of the campaign, and when, after an intense first year of fighting, the country switched to positional struggle, the suffering people actively supported the revolution and overthrew the objectionable tsar.

This confrontation showed that from now on all armed conflicts will be total in nature, and the entire population and all available resources of the state will be involved.

It's important to know! For the first time in history, adversaries used chemical weapons.

Both military blocks, entering into a confrontation, had approximately the same firepower, which led to protracted battles. Equal forces at the beginning of the campaign led to the fact that after its end, each country was actively engaged in building up firepower and actively developing modern and powerful weapons.

The scale and passive nature of the battles led to a complete restructuring of the economy and production of countries in the direction of militarization, which in turn significantly influenced the development of the European economy in 1915-1939. Characteristic for this period were:

• strengthening state influence and control in the economic sphere;
• creation of military complexes;
• rapid development of energy systems;
• the growth of defense products.

Wikipedia says that in that historical period the First World War was the bloodiest - it claimed only about 32 million lives, including the military and civilians who died from hunger and disease or from bombing. But even those soldiers who survived were psychologically traumatized by the war and could not lead a normal life. In addition, many of them were poisoned by chemical weapons used at the front.

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Summing up

Germany, which was sure of its victory in 1914, ceased to be a monarchy in 1918, lost a number of its lands and was severely weakened economically not only by military losses, but also by the obligatory payments of reparations. The difficult conditions and general humiliation of the nation that the Germans endured after being defeated by the Allies engendered and fueled nationalist sentiments that subsequently led to the conflict of 1939-1945.

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