Who was the war with 1914. Important dates and events of the First World War

On June 28, 1914, the murder of the Austro-Hungarian Archduke Ferdinand and his wife was committed in Bosnia, in which Serbia was accused of involvement. And although the British statesman Edward Gray called for a settlement of the conflict, proposing the 4 largest powers as mediators, this only managed to intensify the situation and draw the whole of Europe, including Russia, into the war.

Almost a month later, Russia announces the mobilization of troops and conscription, after Serbia turns to her for help. However, what was originally planned as a precautionary measure prompted a backlash from Germany with demands for an end to the conscription. As a result, on August 1, 1914, Germany declares war on Russia.

The main events of the First World War.

Years of the First World War.

• When did World War I start? The year of the outbreak of the First World War is 1914 (July 28).
• When did World War II end? The year of the end of the First World War is 1918 (November 11).

Key dates of the First World War.

During the 5 years of the war, there were many important events and operations, but among them there are several that have played a decisive role in the war itself and its history.

• On July 28, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. Russia supports Serbia.
• On August 1, 1914, Germany declares war on Russia. Germany in general has always strived for world domination. And throughout August, all of them put ultimatums to each other, and all they do is declare war.
• In November 1914 Great Britain begins a naval blockade of Germany. Gradually, active mobilization of the population into the army begins in all countries.
• At the beginning of 1915, large-scale offensive operations were launched in Germany, on its eastern front. The spring of the same year, namely April, can be associated with such a significant event as the start of the use of chemical weapons. Again from Germany.
• In October 1915, hostilities were unleashed against Serbia by Bulgaria. In response to these actions, the Entente declares war on Bulgaria.
• In 1916, the use of tank equipment began, mainly by the British.
• In 1917, Nicholas II abdicated the throne in Russia, a provisional government came to power, which led to a split in the army. Active hostilities continue.
• In November 1918, Germany proclaims itself a republic - the result of the revolution.
• On November 11, 1918, in the morning, Germany signed the Compiegne armistice and from that time on, the hostilities ended.

End of the First World War.

Despite the fact that for most of the war German forces were able to deliver serious blows to the Allied army, by December 1, 1918, the Allies were able to break through to the borders of Germany and begin its occupation.

Later, on June 28, 1919, having no other choice, the German representatives signed a peace treaty in Paris, which was eventually named the "Peace of Versailles", and put an end to the First World War.

There was a sharp exacerbation of contradictions between the leading countries of the world due to their uneven development. An equally important reason was the arms race, on the supply of which the monopolies received super-profits. The militarization of the economy and the consciousness of huge masses of people took place, the mood of revanchism and chauvinism grew. The deepest were the contradictions between Germany and Great Britain. Germany strove to put an end to British domination at sea and to seize its colonies. Germany's claims to France and Russia were great.

The plans of the top military German leadership were to seize the economically developed regions of northeastern France, the desire to sever the Baltic states, "Don region", Crimea and the Caucasus from Russia. In turn, Great Britain wanted to preserve its colonies and dominance at sea, to take away from Turkey oil-rich Mesopotamia and part of the Arabian Peninsula. France, which suffered a crushing defeat in the Franco-Prussian war, hoped to regain Alsace and Lorraine, annex the left bank of the Rhine and the Saar coal basin. Austria-Hungary hatched expansionist plans in relation to Russia (Volyn, Podolia), Serbia.

Russia sought to annex Galicia and seize the Black Sea straits of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles. By 1914. the contradictions between the two military-political groupings of the European powers, the Triple Alliance and the Entente, escalated to the limit. The Balkan Peninsula has become a zone of particular tension. The ruling circles of Austria-Hungary, following the advice of the German emperor, decided to finally establish their influence in the Balkans with one blow at Serbia. Soon there was a reason to declare war. The Austrian command deployed military maneuvers near the Serbian border. The head of the Austrian "war party", the heir to the throne, Franz-Ferdinand, demonstratively inflicted
visit to the capital of Bosnia Sarajevo. On June 28, a bomb was thrown into his carriage, which the Archduke threw away, demonstrating his presence of mind. On the way back, a different route was chosen.

But for some unknown reason, the carriage returned through the maze of poorly guarded streets to the same place. A young man ran out of the crowd and fired two shots. One bullet hit the Archduke in the neck, the other in the stomach of his wife. Both died within minutes. The terrorist act was carried out by the Serbian patriots Gavrilo Princip and his associate Gavrilovic from the Black Hand paramilitary organization. July 5, 1914 Following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Austrian government received assurances from Germany to support its claims against Serbia. Kaiser Wilhelm II promised the Austrian representative Count Hoyos that Germany would support Austria even if the conflict with Serbia led to a war with Russia. On July 23, the Austrian government issued an ultimatum to Serbia.

It was presented at 6 pm, and a response was expected in 48 hours. The terms of the ultimatum were harsh, some seriously hurt Serbia's pan-Slavic ambitions. The Austrians did not expect and did not want the conditions to be accepted. On July 7, having received confirmation of support from Germany, the Austrian government decided to provoke an ultimatum and was drawn up with this in mind. Austria was also encouraged by the conclusions that Russia was not ready for war: the earlier it happened, the better, it was decided in Vienna. The Serb response to the July 23 ultimatum was rejected, although it did not contain unconditional recognition of the demands, and on July 28, 1914. Austria has declared war on Serbia. Both sides began mobilizing even before a response was received.

August 1, 1914 Germany declared war on Russia, and two days later on France. After a month of mounting tension, it became clear that a major European war could not be avoided, although Britain was still hesitant. A day after the declaration of war on Serbia, when Belgrade was already bombed, Russia began to mobilize. The original order for general mobilization, an act equivalent to a declaration of war, was almost immediately canceled by the tsar in favor of partial mobilization. Perhaps Russia did not expect large-scale action from Germany. On August 4, German troops invaded Belgium. Luxembourg had suffered the same fate two days earlier. Both states had international guarantees against attack, however, only Belgium's guarantees provided for the intervention of the guaranteeing power. Germany made public the "reasons" for the invasion, accusing Belgium of "non-neutral behavior", but no one took it seriously. The invasion of Belgium brought England into the war. The British government issued an ultimatum demanding an immediate cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of German soldiers.

The demand was ignored, thus, all the great powers Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, Russia and England were drawn into the war. Although the great powers have been preparing for war for many years, it still caught them by surprise. For example, England and Germany spent huge amounts of money on the construction of a navy, but the bulky floating fortresses played an insignificant role in the battles, although they were undoubtedly of strategic importance. Likewise, no one expected that the infantry (especially on the Western Front) would lose the ability to move, being paralyzed by the power of artillery and machine guns (although this was predicted by the Polish banker Ivan Bloch in his work "The Future of War" in 1899). In terms of training and organization, the German army was the best in Europe. In addition, the Germans were burning with patriotism and faith in their great assignment, which had not yet been realized.

In Germany, they understood the importance of heavy artillery and machine guns in modern combat, as well as the importance of railroad communications. The Austro-Hungarian army was a cast of the German army, but it was inferior to it because of an explosive mixture of different nationalities in its composition and mediocre performance in previous wars.

The French army was only 20% smaller than the German army, but its manpower resources barely exceeded half. The main difference, therefore, was in reserves. Germany had a lot of them, France had nothing at all. France, like most other countries, hoped for a short war. She was not ready for a prolonged conflict. Like the rest, France believed that everything would be decided by the movement, and did not expect a static trench war in any way.

Russia's main advantage was inexhaustible human resources and the proven courage of the Russian soldier, but its leadership was corrupt and incompetent, and its industrial backwardness made Russia unadapted to modern warfare. Communications were very poor, borders were endless, and the allies were geographically cut off. Russian involvement, billed as a "Pan-Slavic crusade," was supposed to represent a desperate attempt to restore ethnic unity, led by the tsarist government. Britain's position was completely different. Britain never had a large army, and back in the eighteenth century was dependent on naval forces, and tradition rejected a "standing army" from even more ancient times.

The British army was, therefore, extremely small, but highly professional and had the main goal of maintaining order in the overseas possessions. There were doubts whether the British command would be able to run the real company. Some generals were too old, however, this deficiency was also inherent in Germany. The most striking example of the incorrect assessment of the nature of modern war by the command of both sides was the widespread opinion about the primary role of cavalry. At sea, traditional British supremacy was challenged by Germany.

In 1914. Britain had 29 large ships, Germany 18. Britain also underestimated enemy submarines, although it was particularly vulnerable to them due to its dependence on overseas supplies of food and raw materials for its industry. Britain became the main factory for the Allies, what Germany was for its own. The First World War was fought on almost a dozen fronts in different parts of the world. The main fronts were the Western, where German troops were fighting against British, French and Belgian troops; and Eastern, where Russian troops opposed the combined forces of the Austro-Hungarian and German armies. The human, raw material and food resources of the Entente countries significantly exceeded the resources of the Central Powers, therefore the chances of Germany and Austria-Hungary to win the war on two fronts were small.

The German command understood this and therefore relied on lightning-fast war. The military action plan developed by the Chief of the General Staff of Germany von Schlieffen proceeded from the fact that Russia would need at least one and a half months to concentrate its troops. During this time, it was supposed to defeat France and force her to surrender. Then it was planned to transfer all German troops against Russia.

According to the "Schlieffen plan" the war was supposed to end in two months. But these calculations did not come true. In early August, the main forces of the German army approached the Belgian fortress of Liege, which covered the crossings of the Meuse River, and after bloody battles captured all its forts. On August 20, German troops entered the Belgian capital Brussels. German troops reached the Franco-Belgian border and defeated the French in a "border battle", forcing them to withdraw inland, which created a threat to Paris. The German command overestimated its successes and, considering the strategic plan in the West fulfilled, transferred two army corps and a cavalry division to the East. In early September, German troops reached the Marne River, seeking to encircle the French. In the battle on the river Marne, September 3-10, 1914. Anglo-French troops stopped the German offensive on Paris and even for a short time managed to launch a counteroffensive. One and a half million people took part in this battle.

The losses on both sides amounted to almost 600 thousand people killed and wounded. The result of the Battle of the Marne was the final failure of the plans for a "lightning war". The weakened German army began to "dig" into the trenches. The western front, stretching from the English Channel to the Swiss border, by the end of 1914. stabilized. Both sides began building earthworks and concrete fortifications. A wide strip in front of the trenches was mined and covered in thick rows of barbed wire. The war on the Western Front was transformed from a "mobile" war into a positional one. The offensive of Russian troops in East Prussia ended unsuccessfully, they were defeated and partially destroyed in the Masurian swamps. The offensive of the Russian army under the command of General Brusilov in Galicia and Bukovina, on the contrary, threw the Austro-Hungarian units back to the Carpathians. By the end of 1914. there was also a respite on the Eastern Front. The belligerents went over to a long positional war.

August icon of the Mother of God

The Augustow Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos is an icon revered in the Russian Church, written in memory of her appearance in 1914 to Russian soldiers on the North-Western Front, shortly before the victory in the August Battle, near the town of Augustow in the Suwalki province of the Russian Empire (now on the territory of Eastern Poland). The very event of the apparition of the Mother of God took place on September 14, 1914. The Gatchina and Tsarskoye Selo cuirassier Life Guards regiment moved towards the Russian-German border. At about 11 o'clock at night, the Mother of God appeared to the soldiers of the cuirassier regiment, the vision lasted 30-40 minutes. All the soldiers and officers knelt down and prayed, watching the Mother of God in the dark night starry sky: in extraordinary radiance, with the Infant God Jesus Christ sitting on Her left hand. She pointed to the west with her right hand - the troops were moving in this direction.

A few days later, at the Headquarters, a message was received from General Sh., Commander of a separate unit in the Prussian theater of operations, which said that after our retreat, a Russian officer with a whole half-squadron saw a vision. It was 11 o'clock in the evening, a private comes running with a surprised face and says; "Your Excellency, go." Lieutenant R. went and suddenly sees the Mother of God in heaven with Jesus Christ on one hand, and with the other hand pointing to the West. All the Lower ranks kneel and pray to the Heavenly Patroness. He looked at the vision for a long time, then this vision changed into the Big Cross and disappeared. After that, a great battle broke out in the west near Augustow, which was marked by a great victory.

Therefore, this appearance of the Mother of God was called the "Sign of the August victory", or "August appearance". The apparition of the Mother of God in the Augustow forests was reported to Emperor Nicholas II, and he gave the order to paint an icon-painting image of this phenomenon. The Holy Synod considered the issue of the apparition of the Mother of God for about a year and a half, and on March 31, 1916, it decided: "to bless the celebration in the churches of God and the houses of believers of icons depicting the aforementioned apparition of the Mother of God to Russian soldiers ...". On April 17, 2008, at the suggestion of the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II blessed the official month to include a celebration in honor of the August Icon of the Mother of God.

The celebration is set to take place on September 1 (14). On November 5, 1914, Russia, England and France declared war on Turkey. In October, the Turkish government closed the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus to the passage of Allied ships, practically isolating Russia's Black Sea ports from the outside world and causing irreparable damage to its economy. Such a step by Turkey was an effective contribution to the military efforts of the central powers. The next provocative step was the shelling of Odessa and other South Russian ports at the end of October by a squadron of Turkish warships. The declining Ottoman Empire was gradually falling apart and over the last half century has lost most of its European possessions. The army was exhausted by the failed military action against the Italians in Tripoli, and the Balkan Wars further depleted its resources. Young Turkish leader Enver Pasha, who, as Minister of War, was a leading figure in the Turkish political scene, believed that an alliance with Germany would best serve the interests of his country, and on August 2, 1914, a secret treaty was signed between the two countries.

The German military mission has been active in Turkey since the end of 1913. She was tasked with reorganizing the Turkish army. Despite serious objections from his German advisers, Enver Pasha decided to invade the Caucasus, which belonged to Russia, and in mid-December 1914 launched an offensive in difficult weather conditions. The Turkish soldiers fought well, but suffered a severe defeat. Nevertheless, the Russian high command was concerned about the threat that Turkey posed to Russia's southern borders, and German strategic plans were well served by the fact that this threat in this sector fettered Russian troops, which were in great need on other fronts.

World War I was the result of the exacerbation of the contradictions of imperialism, the uneven, abrupt development of the capitalist countries. The most acute contradictions existed between Great Britain, the oldest capitalist power, and economically strong Germany, whose interests collided in many parts of the world, especially in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Their rivalry turned into a fierce struggle for dominance in the world market, for the seizure of foreign territories, for the economic enslavement of other peoples. Germany set itself the goal of crushing the armed forces of England, depriving her of colonial and naval primacy, subordinating the Balkan countries to her influence, and creating a semi-colonial empire in the Middle East. England, in turn, intended to prevent Germany from establishing itself in the Balkan Peninsula and the Middle East, to destroy its armed forces, and to expand its colonial possessions. In addition, she hoped to seize Mesopotamia, to establish her rule in Palestine and Egypt. Sharp contradictions also existed between Germany and France. France sought to return the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, captured as a result of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871, as well as to take the Saar basin from Germany, to preserve and expand its colonial possessions (see Colonialism).

Bavarian troops are sent by rail towards the front. August 1914



The territorial division of the world on the eve of the First World War (by 1914)



Arrival of Poincaré to St. Petersburg, 1914 Raymond Poincaré (1860-1934) - President of France in 1913-1920. He pursued a reactionary militaristic policy, for which he received the nickname "Poincaré-war."



Partition of the Ottoman Empire (1920-1923)



American infantryman injured by phosgene exposure.



Territorial changes in Europe in 1918-1923



General von Kluck (in a car) and his headquarters on large maneuvers, 1910



Territorial changes after World War I in 1918-1923

The interests of Germany and Russia collided mainly in the Middle East and the Balkans. Kaiser's Germany also sought to sever Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states from Russia. Contradictions also existed between Russia and Austria-Hungary because of the desire of both sides to establish their dominance in the Balkans. Tsarist Russia intended to seize the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, Western Ukrainian and Polish lands, which were under the rule of the Habsburgs.

The contradictions between the imperialist powers had a significant impact on the alignment of political forces in the international arena, the formation of opposing military-political alliances. In Europe at the end of the 19th century. - the beginning of the 20th century. two largest blocs were formed - the Triple Alliance, which included Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy; and the Entente, consisting of England, France and Russia. The bourgeoisie of each country pursued its own selfish goals, which sometimes contradicted the goals of the coalition allies. However, all of them were relegated to the background against the background of the main contradictions between the two groupings of states: on the one hand, between England and her allies, and Germany and her allies, on the other.

The ruling circles of all countries were to blame for the outbreak of the First World War, but the initiative in unleashing it belonged to German imperialism.

Not the least role in the outbreak of the First World War was played by the desire of the bourgeoisie to weaken the growing class struggle of the proletariat and the national liberation movement in the colonies in their countries, to distract the working class from the struggle for its social liberation by war, and to decapitate its vanguard by means of repressive wartime measures.

The governments of both hostile groups carefully concealed from their peoples the real goals of the war, tried to instill in them a false idea about the defensive nature of military preparations, and then the conduct of the war itself. The bourgeois and petty-bourgeois parties of all countries supported their governments and, playing on the patriotic feelings of the masses, came out with the slogan "defending the fatherland" from external enemies.

The peace-loving forces of that time could not prevent the outbreak of a world war. The real force capable of largely blocking its path was the international working class, numbering over 150 million on the eve of the war. However, the lack of unity in the international socialist movement frustrated the formation of a united anti-imperialist front. The opportunist leadership of the Western European Social Democratic parties did nothing to implement the anti-war decisions taken at the pre-war congresses of the Second International. A significant role in this was played by a misconception about the sources and nature of the war. Right-wing socialists, finding themselves in the warring camps, agreed that "their" own government had nothing to do with its emergence. They even continued to condemn the war, but only as an evil approaching the country from the outside.

The First World War lasted over four years (from August 1, 1914 to November 11, 1918). It was attended by 38 states, over 70 million people fought on its fields, of which 10 million people were killed and 20 million maimed. The immediate reason for the war was the murder by members of the Serbian conspiratorial organization Young Bosnia on June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo (Bosnia), the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Franz Ferdinand. Encouraged by Germany, Austria-Hungary presented a deliberately impossible ultimatum to Serbia and declared war on it on July 28. In connection with the opening of military operations in Russia by Austria-Hungary on July 31, a general mobilization began. In response, the German government warned Russia that if the mobilization was not stopped within 12 hours, then a mobilization would also be announced in Germany. The armed forces of Germany by this time were already fully prepared for war. The tsarist government did not respond to the German ultimatum. On August 1, Germany declared war on Russia, on August 3 - on France and Belgium, on August 4, Great Britain declared war on Germany. Later, most of the countries of the world were involved in the war (on the side of the Entente - 34 states, on the side of the Austro-German bloc - 4).

Both warring sides began the war with multi-million dollar armies. Military operations took place in Europe, Asia and Africa. The main land fronts in Europe are Western (in Belgium and France) and Eastern (in Russia). By the nature of the tasks to be solved and the military-political results achieved, the events of the First World War can be divided into five campaigns, each of which included several operations.

In 1914, in the very first months of the war, the military plans developed by the general staffs of both coalitions long before the war and designed for its short duration collapsed. The fighting on the Western Front began in early August. On 2 August, the German army occupied Luxembourg, and on 4 August invaded Belgium, violating its neutrality. The small Belgian army was unable to offer serious resistance and began to retreat to the north. On August 20, German troops occupied Brussels and were able to move unhindered to the borders of France. Three French and one British armies were brought forward to meet them. On August 21-25, in a border battle, the German armies threw back the Anglo-French troops, invaded northern France and, continuing the offensive, by the beginning of September reached the Marne River between Paris and Verdun. The French command, having formed two new armies from reserves, decided to go over to a counteroffensive. The Battle of the Marne began on 5 September. It was attended by 6 Anglo-French and 5 German armies (about 2 million people). The Germans were defeated. On September 16, oncoming battles unfolded, called "Run to the Sea" (they ended when the front reached the sea coast). In October and November, bloody battles in Flanders depleted and balanced the forces of the parties. A continuous front line stretched from the Swiss border to the North Sea. The war in the West took on a positional character. Thus, Germany's calculation of the defeat and withdrawal of France from the war failed.

The Russian command, yielding to the insistent demands of the French government, decided to proceed to active operations even before the end of the mobilization and concentration of its armies. The purpose of the operation was to defeat the 8th German Army and capture East Prussia. On August 4, the 1st Russian army under the command of General P.K. Rennenkampf crossed the state border and entered the territory of East Prussia. In the course of fierce fighting, German troops began to retreat to the West. Soon the 2nd Russian army of General A.V. Samsonov crossed the border of East Prussia. The German headquarters had already decided to withdraw the troops beyond the Vistula, but, taking advantage of the lack of interaction between the 1st and 2nd armies, the mistakes of the Russian high command, the German troops managed to inflict a heavy defeat at the beginning of the 2nd army, and then push back the 1st army to its starting positions.

Despite the failure of the operation, the Russian army's invasion of East Prussia had important results. It forced the Germans to transfer from France to the Russian front two army corps and one cavalry division, which seriously weakened their strike force in the West and was one of the reasons for its defeat at the Battle of the Marne. At the same time, with their actions in East Prussia, the Russian armies fettered the German troops and kept them from assisting the allied Austro-Hungarian troops. This made it possible for the Russians to inflict a major defeat on Austria-Hungary in the Galician direction. During the operation, the threat of invasion of Hungary and Silesia was created; the military power of Austria-Hungary was significantly undermined (Austro-Hungarian troops lost about 400 thousand people, of which more than 100 thousand were prisoners). Until the end of the war, the Austro-Hungarian army lost the ability to conduct operations independently, without the support of German troops. Germany was again forced to withdraw part of its forces from the Western Front and transfer them to the Eastern Front.

As a result of the 1914 campaign, neither side achieved its goals. The plans of waging a short-term war and winning it at the cost of one general battle collapsed. On the Western Front, the period of mobile warfare is over. Trench warfare began. On August 23, 1914, Japan declared war on Germany; in October, Turkey entered the war on the side of the German bloc. New fronts were formed in Transcaucasia, Mesopotamia, Syria and the Dardanelles.

In the 1915 campaign, the center of gravity of hostilities shifted to the Eastern Front. Defense was planned on the Western Front. Operations on the Russian front began in January and continued with short interruptions until late autumn. In the summer, the German command carried out a breakthrough of the Russian front near Gorlitsa. Soon it launched an offensive in the Baltic, and Russian troops were forced to leave Galicia, Poland, part of Latvia and Belarus. However, the Russian command, having switched to strategic defense, managed to withdraw its armies from enemy attacks and halt its advance. The bloodless and exhausted Austro-German and Russian armies in October went over to the defensive along the entire front. Germany was faced with the need to continue a long war on two fronts. The main burden of the struggle was borne by Russia, which provided France and England with a respite to mobilize the economy for the needs of the war. Only in the fall did the Anglo-French command conduct an offensive operation in Artois and Champagne, which did not significantly change the situation. In the spring of 1915, the German command for the first time used chemical weapons (chlorine) on the Western Front, near Yprom, as a result of which 15 thousand people were poisoned. After that, the gases began to be used by both belligerents.

In the summer, Italy entered the war on the side of the Entente; in October Bulgaria joined the Austro-German bloc. The large-scale Dardanelles landing operation of the Anglo-French fleet was aimed at capturing the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits, breaking through to Constantinople and withdrawing Turkey from the war. It ended in failure, and the Allies at the end of 1915 ceased hostilities and evacuated troops to Greece.

In the 1916 campaign, the Germans again shifted their main efforts to the West. For their main attack, they chose a narrow sector of the front in the Verdun area, since a breakthrough here posed a threat to the entire northern wing of the Allied armies. Fighting at Verdun began on 21 February and continued until December. This operation, called the "Verdun meat grinder", was reduced to grueling and bloody battles, where both sides lost about 1 million people. The offensive operations of the Anglo-French troops on the Somme River, which began on July 1 and continued until November, were also unsuccessful. Anglo-French troops, having lost about 800 thousand people, were never able to break through the enemy's defenses.

Operations on the Eastern Front were of great importance in the 1916 campaign. In March, at the request of the allies, Russian troops conducted an offensive operation near Lake Naroch, which significantly influenced the course of hostilities in France. She not only pinned down about 0.5 million German troops on the Eastern Front, but also forced the German command to cease attacks on Verdun for a while and transfer part of the reserves to the Eastern Front. In connection with the heavy defeat of the Italian army in Trentino in May, the Russian high command launched an offensive on May 22, two weeks ahead of schedule. In the course of hostilities, Russian troops on the Southwestern Front under the command of A. A. Brusilov managed to break through the strong positional defense of the Austro-German troops to a depth of 80-120 km. The enemy suffered heavy losses - about 1.5 million people killed, wounded and captured. The Austro-German command was forced to transfer large forces to the Russian front, which facilitated the position of the allied armies on other fronts. The Russian offensive saved the Italian army from defeat, eased the position of the French at Verdun, and accelerated the advance of Romania on the side of the Entente. The success of the Russian troops was ensured by the use by General A.A. Brusilov of a new form of breaking through the front by simultaneous strikes in several sectors. As a result, the enemy lost the ability to determine the direction of the main attack. Along with the Battle of the Somme, the offensive on the Southwestern Front marked the beginning of a turning point in the First World War. The strategic initiative completely passed into the hands of the Entente.

On May 31 - June 1, the largest naval battle in the entire First World War took place near the Jutland Peninsula in the North Sea. The British lost 14 ships in it, about 6800 people killed, wounded and captured; the Germans lost 11 ships, about 3,100 people killed and wounded.

In 1916, the German-Austrian bloc suffered huge losses and lost its strategic initiative. The bloody battles depleted the resources of all the belligerent powers. The situation of the working people has deteriorated sharply. The hardships of the war, their awareness of its anti-popular character, aroused deep discontent among the masses. In all countries, revolutionary sentiments grew in the rear and at the front. A particularly stormy rise of the revolutionary movement was observed in Russia, where the war exposed the corruption of the ruling elite.

Military operations in 1917 took place in conditions of a significant growth of the revolutionary movement in all the belligerent countries, and an increase in anti-war sentiments in the rear and at the front. The war significantly weakened the economies of the opposing factions.

The preponderance of the Entente became even more significant after the United States entered the war on its side. The state of the armies of the German coalition was such that they could not take active action either in the West or in the East. The German command decided in 1917 to go over to strategic defense on all land fronts and focused its main attention on waging unlimited submarine warfare, hoping in this way to disrupt the economic life of England and withdraw it from the war. But, despite some success, the submarine war did not give the desired result. The military command of the Entente went over to coordinated strikes on the Western and Eastern fronts in order to inflict the final defeat of Germany and Austria-Hungary.

However, the offensive of the Anglo-French forces, undertaken in April, failed. On February 27 (March 12), a bourgeois-democratic revolution took place in Russia. The Provisional Government that came to power, taking a course to continue the war, organized, with the support of the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, a large offensive of the Russian armies. It began on June 16 on the Southwestern Front in the general direction of Lvov, but after some tactical success due to the lack of reliable reserves, the enemy's increased resistance collapsed. The inaction of the allies on the Western Front allowed the German command to quickly transfer troops to the Eastern Front, create a powerful grouping there, and on July 6 launch a counteroffensive. Russian units, unable to withstand the onslaught, began to retreat. The offensive operations of the Russian armies on the Northern, Western and Romanian fronts also ended unsuccessfully. The total number of casualties on all fronts exceeded 150 thousand people killed, wounded and missing.

The artificially created offensive impulse of the soldier masses was replaced by the realization of the senselessness of the offensive, the unwillingness to continue the aggressive war, to fight for interests alien to them.

The First World War is a very large and multifaceted event in the history of mankind. To study such a capacious topic in this article, the Table "First World War 1914 1918" will be formed, which will outline the main fronts and the course of hostilities on the western and eastern fronts.

Briefly about the war

It is known that the main reason for the First World War 1914-1918 was the colonial race between France, Britain on the one hand and Germany on the other. The result of this race was the war between the Entente and the Triple Alliance, followed by the collapse of the four largest empires in the world and a change in the political map of Europe in subsequent years.

More than two dozen different states arose on the territory of the former Russian Empire, Yugoslavia and other states were created at the expense of Austria-Hungary. Germany, although it lost, was ready to take revenge, which happened in 1939.

Rice. 1. Military alliances in Europe in 1914.

The chronology of an event of this magnitude is quite diverse, but we will talk briefly about the stages of the First World War, analyze its events and results, summarizing the course of the war in a chronological table.

The pretext for the war was the assassination on June 28, 1914 of the Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand by the Serbian nationalist Gavrila Princip. After that Vienna officially declared war on Belgrade, starting shelling of the city.

Rice. 2. Gavrilo Principle.

Table "First World War"

The White Guard movement in Russia did not recognize the results of the Brest-Litovsk Peace and continued de jure to wage a war against Germany. After the attack on Moscow and Petrograd, the Supreme Ruler of Russia A. V. Kolchak intended to continue the war against the Bolsheviks until complete victory together with the Entente.

Rice. 3. Tanks on the Somme.

The defeat of Germany led to the redistribution of all its colonies among the victorious countries, not counting Russia. The new Soviet government found itself in political isolation, abandoning the imperial legacy and intending to "ignite the fire of the world revolution."

38 states participated in the First World War, more than one and a half billion people were involved in it, i.e. more than ¾ of the world's population.

The pretext for unleashing an international conflict was the murder by Serbian conspirators in the Bosnian city of Sarajevo in June 1914, the heir to the Austrian throne, Franz Ferdinand. On July 15, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. In response, Russia, as the guarantor of Serbia's independence, began to mobilize. Germany demanded an ultimatum to stop it and, having received a refusal, declared war on Russia on July 19. France, an ally of Russia, entered the war on July 21, England the next day, and on July 26 a state of war between Russia and Austria-Hungary was declared.
There are two fronts in Europe: the Western (in France and Belgium) and the Eastern (against Russia).

At the heart of the war 1914 — 1918 biennium there were the growing contradictions over many decades between groups of capitalist states, the struggle for spheres of influence, sales markets, which led to a redivision of the world. On the one hand, these were Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, which took shape in Triple Alliance... On the other hand, England, France and Russia ( Entente).

The course of hostilities on the Eastern Front

The main battles in Russian ( East) the theater of operations at the beginning of the war unfolded on northwest (against Germany) and southwest (against Austria-Hungary) directions. The war for Russia began with the offensive of the Russian armies in East Prussia and Galicia.

East Prussian operation

The East Prussian operation (August 4 - September 2, 1914) ended in a serious failure for the Russian army, but had a great influence on the course of operations on the Western Front: the German command was forced to transfer large forces to the east. This was one of the reasons for the failure of the German offensive on Paris and the success of the Anglo-French troops in the battle on the Marne River.

Galician battle

The Battle of Galicia (August 10 - September 11, 1914) led to a significant military-strategic victory for Russia: the Russian army advanced 280 - 300 km, occupying Galicia and its ancient capital Lvov.

During the subsequent battles in Poland(October - November 1914) the German army repelled attempts to move Russian troops into its territory, but it failed to defeat the Russian armies.

Russian soldiers and officers had to fight in extremely difficult conditions. Russia's unpreparedness for war manifested itself especially sharply in the poor supply of ammunition to the army. Member of the State Duma V. Shulgin, who visited the front soon after the outbreak of hostilities, recalled: “The Germans covered our positions with hurricane fire, and we were silent in response. For example, in the artillery unit where he worked, it was ordered to spend no more than seven shells per day on one field ... gun ”. In such a situation, the front was held in large measure by the courage and skill of the soldiers and officers.

The difficult situation on the Eastern Front forced Germany to take a number of steps to curb Russia's activity. She managed in October 1914 to involve Turkey in the war with Russia. But the very first major operation of the Russian army on Caucasian Front in December 1914 g. led to the defeat of the Turkish army.

The active actions of the Russian army forced the German command in 1915 to radically revise its original plans; instead of a defense in the east and an offensive in the west, a different plan of action was adopted. Center of gravity in the war moved to Eastern front and specifically against Russia. The offensive began in April 1915 with a breakthrough in the defense of the Russian troops in Galicia. By the fall, the German army occupied most of Galicia, Poland, part of the Baltic States and Belarus. However, their main task - the complete defeat of the Russian armed forces and the withdrawal of Russia from the war - was not solved by the German command.

By the end of 1915, the war on all fronts took positional character, which was extremely disadvantageous for Germany. In an effort to achieve victory as soon as possible and not being able to carry out a broad offensive on the Russian front, the German command again decided to transfer its efforts to the Western Front, making a breakthrough in the area of ​​the French fortress Verdun.

And again, as in 1914, the Allies turned to Russia, insisting on an offensive in the East, i.e. on the Russian front. Summer 1916 troops Southwestern Front under the command of General A.A. Brusilov went on the offensive, as a result of which Russian troops captured Bukovina and South Galicia.

As a result, “ Brusilov breakthrough The Germans were forced to withdraw 11 divisions from the western front and send them to help the Austrian troops. At the same time, a number of victories were won in Caucasian front, where the Russian army plunged into the territory of Turkey for 250 - 300 km.

Thus, in 1914 - 1916. the Russian army had to take on the powerful blows of the enemy forces. At the same time, the lack of weapons and equipment reduced the fighting efficiency of the army and significantly increased its casualties.

The entire period 1916 - early 1917. in political circles of Russia there was a stubborn struggle between supporters of a separate peace with Germany and supporters of Russia's participation in the war on the side of the Entente. After the February Revolution of 1917, the Provisional Government declared its loyalty to Russia to its obligations to the Entente countries and in June 1917 launched an offensive at the front, which turned out to be unsuccessful.

Russia's participation in the First World War ended with the signing in March 1918 of the Brest Peace between Germany and Soviet Russia.

On the Western Front, hostilities continued until the fall of 1918, when November 11, 1918 in the Compiegne forest(France) an armistice was signed between the victors (the Entente countries) and the defeated Germany.