History of the First World War 1914 1918. Russia in the First World War: briefly about the main events

WORLD WAR I
(July 28, 1914 - November 11, 1918), the first military conflict on a global scale, in which 38 of the 59 independent states that existed at that time were involved. About 73.5 million people were mobilized; of these, 9.5 million were killed or died from wounds, more than 20 million were wounded, 3.5 million were left crippled.
Main reasons. The search for the causes of the war leads to 1871, when the process of German unification was completed and Prussian hegemony was consolidated in the German Empire. Under Chancellor O. von Bismarck, who sought to revive the system of unions, the foreign policy of the German government was determined by the desire to achieve a dominant position for Germany in Europe. To deprive France of the opportunity to avenge defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, Bismarck tried to bind Russia and Austria-Hungary to Germany with secret agreements (1873). However, Russia came out in support of France, and the Alliance of the Three Emperors disintegrated. In 1882, Bismarck strengthened Germany's position by creating the Triple Alliance, which united Austria-Hungary, Italy and Germany. By 1890, Germany took the leading role in European diplomacy. France emerged from diplomatic isolation in 1891-1893. Taking advantage of the cooling of relations between Russia and Germany, as well as Russia's need for new capital, it concluded a military convention and an alliance treaty with Russia. The Russian-French alliance was supposed to serve as a counterweight to the Triple Alliance. Great Britain has so far stood aloof from competition on the continent, but the pressure of political and economic circumstances eventually forced it to make its choice. The British could not help but be concerned about the nationalist sentiments that reigned in Germany, its aggressive colonial policy, rapid industrial expansion and, mainly, the increase in the power of the navy. A series of relatively quick diplomatic maneuvers led to the elimination of differences in the positions of France and Great Britain and the conclusion in 1904 of the so-called. "cordial agreement" (Entente Cordiale). Obstacles to Anglo-Russian cooperation were overcome, and in 1907 an Anglo-Russian agreement was concluded. Russia became a member of the Entente. Great Britain, France and Russia formed the Triple Entente as a counterbalance to the Triple Alliance. Thus, the division of Europe into two armed camps took shape. One of the reasons for the war was the widespread strengthening of nationalist sentiments. In formulating their interests, the ruling circles of each European country sought to present them as popular aspirations. France hatched plans to return the lost territories of Alsace and Lorraine. Italy, even being in an alliance with Austria-Hungary, dreamed of returning its lands to Trentino, Trieste and Fiume. The Poles saw in the war an opportunity to recreate the state destroyed by the partitions of the 18th century. Many peoples inhabiting Austria-Hungary sought national independence. Russia was convinced that it could not develop without limiting German competition, protecting the Slavs from Austria-Hungary and expanding influence in the Balkans. In Berlin, the future was associated with the defeat of France and Great Britain and the unification of the countries of Central Europe under the leadership of Germany. In London they believed that the people of Great Britain would live in peace only by crushing their main enemy - Germany. Tensions in international relations were heightened by a series of diplomatic crises - the Franco-German clash in Morocco in 1905-1906; annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Austrians in 1908-1909; finally, the Balkan wars of 1912-1913. Great Britain and France supported Italy's interests in North Africa and thereby weakened its commitment to the Triple Alliance so much that Germany could practically no longer count on Italy as an ally in a future war.
The July crisis and the beginning of the war. After the Balkan Wars, active nationalist propaganda was launched against the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. A group of Serbs, members of the Young Bosnia secret organization, decided to kill the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The opportunity for this presented itself when he and his wife went to Bosnia for training exercises with the Austro-Hungarian troops. Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in the city of Sarajevo by high school student Gavrilo Princip on June 28, 1914. Intending to start a war against Serbia, Austria-Hungary enlisted the support of Germany. The latter believed that the war would become local if Russia did not defend Serbia. But if it provides assistance to Serbia, then Germany will be ready to fulfill its treaty obligations and support Austria-Hungary. In an ultimatum presented to Serbia on July 23, Austria-Hungary demanded that its military units be allowed into Serbia in order to, together with Serbian forces, suppress hostile actions. The answer to the ultimatum was given within the agreed 48-hour period, but it did not satisfy Austria-Hungary, and on July 28 it declared war on Serbia. S.D. Sazonov, Russian Foreign Minister, openly opposed Austria-Hungary, receiving assurances of support from French President R. Poincaré. On July 30, Russia announced general mobilization; Germany used this occasion to declare war on Russia on August 1, and on France on August 3. Britain's position remained uncertain due to its treaty obligations to protect Belgium's neutrality. In 1839, and then during the Franco-Prussian War, Great Britain, Prussia and France provided this country with collective guarantees of neutrality. Following the German invasion of Belgium on 4 August, Great Britain declared war on Germany. Now all the great powers of Europe were drawn into the war. Together with them, their dominions and colonies were involved in the war. The war can be divided into three periods. During the first period (1914-1916), the Central Powers achieved superiority on land, while the Allies dominated the sea. The situation seemed stalemate. This period ended with negotiations for a mutually acceptable peace, but each side still hoped for victory. In the next period (1917), two events occurred that led to an imbalance of power: the first was the entry of the United States into the war on the side of the Entente, the second was the revolution in Russia and its exit from the war. The third period (1918) began with the last major offensive of the Central Powers in the west. The failure of this offensive was followed by revolutions in Austria-Hungary and Germany and the capitulation of the Central Powers.
First period. The Allied forces initially included Russia, France, Great Britain, Serbia, Montenegro and Belgium and enjoyed overwhelming naval superiority. The Entente had 316 cruisers, while the Germans and Austrians had 62. But the latter found a powerful countermeasure - submarines. By the beginning of the war, the armies of the Central Powers numbered 6.1 million people; Entente army - 10.1 million people. The Central Powers had an advantage in internal communications, which allowed them to quickly transfer troops and equipment from one front to another. In the long term, the Entente countries had superior resources of raw materials and food, especially since the British fleet paralyzed Germany’s ties with overseas countries, from where copper, tin and nickel were supplied to German enterprises before the war. Thus, in the event of a protracted war, the Entente could count on victory. Germany, knowing this, relied on a lightning war - "blitzkrieg". The Germans put into effect the Schlieffen plan, which proposed to ensure rapid success in the West by attacking France with large forces through Belgium. After the defeat of France, Germany hoped, together with Austria-Hungary, by transferring the liberated troops, to deliver a decisive blow in the East. But this plan was not implemented. One of the main reasons for his failure was the sending of part of the German divisions to Lorraine in order to block the enemy invasion of southern Germany. On the night of August 4, the Germans invaded Belgium. It took them several days to break the resistance of the defenders of the fortified areas of Namur and Liege, which blocked the route to Brussels, but thanks to this delay, the British transported an almost 90,000-strong expeditionary force across the English Channel to France (August 9-17). The French gained time to form 5 armies that held back the German advance. Nevertheless, on August 20, the German army occupied Brussels, then forced the British to leave Mons (August 23), and on September 3, the army of General A. von Kluck found itself 40 km from Paris. Continuing the offensive, the Germans crossed the Marne River and stopped along the Paris-Verdun line on September 5. The commander of the French forces, General J. Joffre, having formed two new armies from the reserves, decided to launch a counteroffensive. The First Battle of the Marne began on September 5 and ended on September 12. 6 Anglo-French and 5 German armies took part in it. The Germans were defeated. One of the reasons for their defeat was the absence of several divisions on the right flank, which had to be transferred to the eastern front. The French offensive on the weakened right flank made the withdrawal of the German armies to the north, to the line of the Aisne River, inevitable. The battles in Flanders on the Yser and Ypres rivers from October 15 to November 20 were also unsuccessful for the Germans. As a result, the main ports on the English Channel remained in Allied hands, ensuring communication between France and England. Paris was saved, and the Entente countries had time to mobilize resources. The war in the West took on a positional character; Germany’s hope of defeating and withdrawing France from the war turned out to be untenable. The confrontation followed a line running south from Newport and Ypres in Belgium, to Compiegne and Soissons, then east around Verdun and south to the salient near Saint-Mihiel, and then southeast to the Swiss border. Along this line of trenches and wire fences, the length is approx. Trench warfare was fought for 970 km for four years. Until March 1918, any, even minor changes in the front line were achieved at the cost of huge losses on both sides. There remained hopes that on the Eastern Front the Russians would be able to crush the armies of the Central Powers bloc. On August 17, Russian troops entered East Prussia and began to push the Germans towards Konigsberg. The German generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff were entrusted with leading the counteroffensive. Taking advantage of the mistakes of the Russian command, the Germans managed to drive a “wedge” between the two Russian armies, defeat them on August 26-30 near Tannenberg and drive them out of East Prussia. Austria-Hungary did not act so successfully, abandoning the intention to quickly defeat Serbia and concentrating large forces between the Vistula and the Dniester. But the Russians launched an offensive in a southern direction, broke through the defenses of the Austro-Hungarian troops and, taking several thousand people prisoner, occupied the Austrian province of Galicia and part of Poland. The advance of Russian troops created a threat to Silesia and Poznan, important industrial areas for Germany. Germany was forced to transfer additional forces from France. But an acute shortage of ammunition and food stopped the advance of Russian troops. The offensive cost Russia enormous casualties, but undermined the power of Austria-Hungary and forced Germany to maintain significant forces on the Eastern Front. Back in August 1914, Japan declared war on Germany. In October 1914, Türkiye entered the war on the side of the Central Powers bloc. At the outbreak of war, Italy, a member of the Triple Alliance, declared its neutrality on the grounds that neither Germany nor Austria-Hungary had been attacked. But at secret London negotiations in March-May 1915, the Entente countries promised to satisfy Italy's territorial claims during the post-war peace settlement if Italy came on their side. On May 23, 1915, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary, and on August 28, 1916 on Germany. On the western front, the British were defeated at the Second Battle of Ypres. Here, during battles that lasted for a month (April 22 - May 25, 1915), chemical weapons were used for the first time. After this, poisonous gases (chlorine, phosgene, and later mustard gas) began to be used by both warring sides. The large-scale Dardanelles landing operation, a naval expedition that the Entente countries equipped at the beginning of 1915 with the goal of taking Constantinople, opening the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits for communication with Russia through the Black Sea, bringing Turkey out of the war and winning the Balkan states to the side of the allies, also ended in defeat. On the Eastern Front, by the end of 1915, German and Austro-Hungarian troops ousted the Russians from almost all of Galicia and from most of the territory of Russian Poland. But it was never possible to force Russia to a separate peace. In October 1915, Bulgaria declared war on Serbia, after which the Central Powers, together with their new Balkan ally, crossed the borders of Serbia, Montenegro and Albania. Having captured Romania and covered the Balkan flank, they turned against Italy.

War at sea. Control of the sea allowed the British to freely move troops and equipment from all parts of their empire to France. They kept sea lines of communication open for US merchant ships. German colonies were captured, and German trade through sea routes was suppressed. In general, the German fleet - except for the submarine one - was blocked in its ports. Only occasionally did small flotillas emerge to strike British seaside towns and attack Allied merchant ships. During the entire war, only one major naval battle took place - when the German fleet entered the North Sea and unexpectedly met with the British one off the Danish coast of Jutland. The Battle of Jutland May 31 - June 1, 1916 led to heavy losses on both sides: the British lost 14 ships, approx. 6800 people killed, captured and wounded; the Germans, who considered themselves victors, - 11 ships and approx. 3100 people killed and wounded. Nevertheless, the British forced the German fleet to retreat to Kiel, where it was effectively blocked. The German fleet no longer appeared on the high seas, and Great Britain remained the mistress of the seas. Having taken a dominant position at sea, the Allies gradually cut off the Central Powers from overseas sources of raw materials and food. Under international law, neutral countries, such as the United States, could sell goods that were not considered “war contraband” to other neutral countries, such as the Netherlands or Denmark, from where these goods could also be delivered to Germany. However, warring countries usually did not bind themselves to adherence to international law, and Great Britain had so expanded the list of goods considered smuggled that virtually nothing was allowed through its barriers in the North Sea. The naval blockade forced Germany to resort to drastic measures. Its only effective means at sea remained the submarine fleet, capable of easily bypassing surface barriers and sinking merchant ships of neutral countries that supplied the allies. It was the turn of the Entente countries to accuse the Germans of violating international law, which obliged them to rescue the crews and passengers of torpedoed ships. On February 18, 1915, the German government declared the waters around the British Isles a military zone and warned of the danger of ships from neutral countries entering them. On May 7, 1915, a German submarine torpedoed and sank the ocean-going steamer Lusitania with hundreds of passengers on board, including 115 US citizens. President William Wilson protested, and the United States and Germany exchanged harsh diplomatic notes.
Verdun and Somme. Germany was ready to make some concessions at sea and look for a way out of the impasse in actions on land. In April 1916, British troops had already suffered a serious defeat at Kut el-Amar in Mesopotamia, where 13,000 people surrendered to the Turks. On the continent, Germany was preparing to launch a large-scale offensive operation on the Western Front that would turn the tide of the war and force France to sue for peace. The ancient fortress of Verdun served as a key point of French defense. After an unprecedented artillery bombardment, 12 German divisions went on the offensive on February 21, 1916. The Germans advanced slowly until the beginning of July, but did not achieve their intended goals. The Verdun “meat grinder” clearly did not live up to the expectations of the German command. During the spring and summer of 1916, operations on the Eastern and Southwestern Fronts were of great importance. In March, Russian troops, at the request of the allies, carried out an operation near Lake Naroch, which significantly influenced the course of hostilities in France. The German command was forced to stop attacks on Verdun for some time and, keeping 0.5 million people on the Eastern Front, transfer an additional part of the reserves here. At the end of May 1916, the Russian High Command launched an offensive on the Southwestern Front. During the fighting, under the command of A.A. Brusilov, it was possible to achieve a breakthrough of the Austro-German troops to a depth of 80-120 km. Brusilov's troops occupied part of Galicia and Bukovina and entered the Carpathians. For the first time in the entire previous period of trench warfare, the front was broken through. If this offensive had been supported by other fronts, it would have ended in disaster for the Central Powers. To ease the pressure on Verdun, on July 1, 1916, the Allies launched a counterattack on the Somme River, near Bapaume. For four months - until November - there were continuous attacks. Anglo-French troops, having lost approx. 800 thousand people were never able to break through the German front. Finally, in December, the German command decided to stop the offensive, which cost the lives of 300,000 German soldiers. The 1916 campaign claimed more than 1 million lives, but did not bring tangible results to either side.
Foundations for peace negotiations. At the beginning of the 20th century. The methods of warfare have completely changed. The length of fronts increased significantly, armies fought on fortified lines and launched attacks from trenches, and machine guns and artillery began to play a huge role in offensive battles. New types of weapons were used: tanks, fighters and bombers, submarines, asphyxiating gases, hand grenades. Every tenth resident of the warring country was mobilized, and 10% of the population was engaged in supplying the army. In the warring countries there was almost no place left for ordinary civilian life: everything was subordinated to titanic efforts aimed at maintaining the military machine. The total cost of the war, including property losses, was variously estimated to range from $208 billion to $359 billion. By the end of 1916, both sides were tired of the war, and it seemed that the time had come to begin peace negotiations.
Second period.
On December 12, 1916, the Central Powers turned to the United States with a request to transmit a note to the allies with a proposal to begin peace negotiations. The Entente rejected this proposal, suspecting that it was made with the aim of breaking up the coalition. Moreover, she did not want to talk about a peace that did not include the payment of reparations and recognition of the right of nations to self-determination. President Wilson decided to initiate peace negotiations and on December 18, 1916, asked the warring countries to determine mutually acceptable peace terms. On December 12, 1916, Germany proposed convening a peace conference. The German civil authorities clearly sought peace, but they were opposed by the generals, especially General Ludendorff, who was confident of victory. The Allies specified their conditions: the restoration of Belgium, Serbia and Montenegro; withdrawal of troops from France, Russia and Romania; reparations; the return of Alsace and Lorraine to France; liberation of subject peoples, including Italians, Poles, Czechs, elimination of the Turkish presence in Europe. The Allies did not trust Germany and therefore did not take the idea of ​​peace negotiations seriously. Germany intended to take part in the peace conference in December 1916, relying on the benefits of its military position. It ended with the Allies signing secret agreements designed to defeat the Central Powers. Under these agreements, Great Britain claimed the German colonies and part of Persia; France was to gain Alsace and Lorraine, as well as establish control on the left bank of the Rhine; Russia acquired Constantinople; Italy - Trieste, Austrian Tyrol, most of Albania; Turkey's possessions were to be divided among all allies.
US entry into the war. At the beginning of the war, public opinion in the United States was divided: some openly sided with the Allies; others - such as Irish Americans who were hostile to England and German Americans - supported Germany. Over time, government officials and ordinary citizens became increasingly inclined to side with the Entente. This was facilitated by several factors, most notably the propaganda of the Entente countries and the submarine war of Germany. On January 22, 1917, President Wilson outlined peace terms acceptable to the United States in the Senate. The main one boiled down to the demand for “peace without victory,” i.e. without annexations and indemnities; others included the principles of equality of peoples, the right of nations to self-determination and representation, freedom of the seas and trade, the reduction of armaments, and the rejection of the system of rival alliances. If peace were made on the basis of these principles, Wilson argued, a world organization of states could be created that would guarantee security for all peoples. On January 31, 1917, the German government announced the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare with the aim of disrupting enemy communications. The submarines blocked the Entente's supply lines and put the Allies in an extremely difficult position. There was growing hostility toward Germany among Americans, since the blockade of Europe from the West foreshadowed troubles for the United States as well. In case of victory, Germany could establish control over the entire Atlantic Ocean. Along with the above-mentioned circumstances, other motives also pushed the United States to war on the side of its allies. US economic interests were directly linked to the Entente countries, as military orders led to the rapid growth of American industry. In 1916, the warlike spirit was spurred by plans to develop combat training programs. Anti-German sentiment among North Americans increased even more after the publication on March 1, 1917 of Zimmermann's secret dispatch of January 16, 1917, intercepted by British intelligence and transferred to Wilson. German Foreign Minister A. Zimmermann offered Mexico the states of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona if it supported Germany's actions in response to the US entry into the war on the side of the Entente. By early April, anti-German sentiment in the United States had reached such intensity that Congress voted on April 6, 1917 to declare war on Germany.
Russia's exit from the war. In February 1917, a revolution occurred in Russia. Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate the throne. The Provisional Government (March - November 1917) could no longer conduct active military operations on the fronts, since the population was extremely tired of the war. On December 15, 1917, the Bolsheviks, who took power in November 1917, signed an armistice agreement with the Central Powers at the cost of huge concessions. Three months later, on March 3, 1918, the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty was concluded. Russia renounced its rights to Poland, Estonia, Ukraine, part of Belarus, Latvia, Transcaucasia and Finland. Ardahan, Kars and Batum went to Turkey; huge concessions were made to Germany and Austria. In total, Russia lost approx. 1 million sq. km. She was also obliged to pay Germany an indemnity in the amount of 6 billion marks.
Third period.
The Germans had ample reason to be optimistic. The German leadership used the weakening of Russia, and then its withdrawal from the war, to replenish resources. Now it could transfer the eastern army to the west and concentrate troops on the main directions of attack. The Allies, not knowing where the attack would come from, were forced to strengthen positions along the entire front. American aid was late. In France and Great Britain, defeatist sentiments grew with alarming force. On October 24, 1917, Austro-Hungarian troops broke through the Italian front near Caporetto and defeated the Italian army.
German offensive 1918. On the foggy morning of March 21, 1918, the Germans launched a massive attack on British positions near Saint-Quentin. The British were forced to retreat almost to Amiens, and its loss threatened to break the Anglo-French united front. The fate of Calais and Boulogne hung in the balance. On May 27, the Germans launched a powerful offensive against the French in the south, pushing them back to Chateau-Thierry. The situation of 1914 repeated itself: the Germans reached the Marne River just 60 km from Paris. However, the offensive cost Germany major losses - both human and material. The German troops were exhausted, their supply system was shaken. The Allies managed to neutralize German submarines by creating convoy and anti-submarine defense systems. At the same time, the blockade of the Central Powers was carried out so effectively that food shortages began to be felt in Austria and Germany. Soon the long-awaited American aid began to arrive in France. The ports from Bordeaux to Brest were filled with American troops. By the beginning of the summer of 1918, about 1 million American soldiers had landed in France. On July 15, 1918, the Germans made their last attempt to break through at Chateau-Thierry. The second decisive battle of the Marne unfolded. In the event of a breakthrough, the French would have to abandon Reims, which, in turn, could lead to an Allied retreat along the entire front. In the first hours of the offensive, German troops advanced, but not as quickly as expected.
The last Allied offensive. On July 18, 1918, a counterattack by American and French troops began in order to relieve pressure on Chateau-Thierry. At first they advanced with difficulty, but on August 2 they took Soissons. At the Battle of Amiens on August 8, German troops suffered a heavy defeat, and this undermined their morale. Previously, German Chancellor Prince von Hertling believed that by September the Allies would sue for peace. “We hoped to take Paris by the end of July,” he recalled. “That’s what we thought on the fifteenth of July. And on the eighteenth, even the greatest optimists among us realized that everything was lost.” Some military personnel convinced Kaiser Wilhelm II that the war was lost, but Ludendorff refused to admit defeat. The Allied offensive began on other fronts as well. On June 20-26, the Austro-Hungarian troops were thrown back across the Piave River, their losses amounted to 150 thousand people. Ethnic unrest flared up in Austria-Hungary - not without the influence of the Allies, who encouraged the desertion of Poles, Czechs and South Slavs. The Central Powers mustered their remaining forces to hold off the expected invasion of Hungary. The path to Germany was open. Tanks and massive artillery shelling were important factors in the offensive. At the beginning of August 1918, attacks on key German positions intensified. In his Memoirs, Ludendorff called August 8 - the beginning of the Battle of Amiens - "a black day for the German army." The German front was torn apart: entire divisions surrendered into captivity almost without a fight. By the end of September even Ludendorff was ready to capitulate. After the September offensive of the Entente on the Soloniki front, Bulgaria signed an armistice on September 29. A month later, Türkiye capitulated, and on November 3, Austria-Hungary. To negotiate peace in Germany, a moderate government was formed headed by Prince Max of Baden, who already on October 5, 1918 invited President Wilson to begin the negotiation process. In the last week of October, the Italian army launched a general offensive against Austria-Hungary. By October 30, the resistance of the Austrian troops was broken. Italian cavalry and armored vehicles made a swift raid behind enemy lines and captured the Austrian headquarters in Vittorio Veneto, the city that gave the entire battle its name. On October 27, Emperor Charles I made an appeal for a truce, and on October 29, 1918 he agreed to conclude peace on any terms.
Revolution in Germany. On October 29, the Kaiser secretly left Berlin and went to the general headquarters, feeling safe only under the protection of the army. On the same day, in the port of Kiel, the crew of two warships disobeyed and refused to go to sea on a combat mission. By November 4, Kiel came under the control of the rebel sailors. 40,000 armed men intended to establish councils of soldiers' and sailors' deputies in northern Germany on the Russian model. By November 6, the rebels took power in Lübeck, Hamburg and Bremen. Meanwhile, the Supreme Allied Commander, General Foch, said that he was ready to receive representatives of the German government and discuss the terms of the armistice with them. The Kaiser was informed that the army was no longer under his command. On November 9, he abdicated the throne and a republic was proclaimed. The next day, the German Emperor fled to the Netherlands, where he lived in exile until his death (d. 1941). On November 11, at the Retonde station in the Compiegne Forest (France), the German delegation signed the Compiegne Armistice. The Germans were ordered to liberate the occupied territories within two weeks, including Alsace and Lorraine, the left bank of the Rhine and the bridgeheads in Mainz, Koblenz and Cologne; establish a neutral zone on the right bank of the Rhine; transfer to the Allies 5,000 heavy and field guns, 25,000 machine guns, 1,700 aircraft, 5,000 steam locomotives, 150,000 railway cars, 5,000 automobiles; release all prisoners immediately. The Navy was required to surrender all submarines and almost all surface fleet and return all Allied merchant ships captured by Germany. The political provisions of the treaty provided for the denunciation of the Brest-Litovsk and Bucharest peace treaties; financial - payment of reparations for destruction and return of valuables. The Germans tried to negotiate an armistice based on Wilson's Fourteen Points, which they believed could serve as a preliminary basis for a "peace without victory." The terms of the truce required almost unconditional surrender. The Allies dictated their terms to a bloodless Germany.
Conclusion of peace. The peace conference took place in 1919 in Paris; During the sessions, agreements regarding five peace treaties were determined. After its completion, the following were signed: 1) the Treaty of Versailles with Germany on June 28, 1919; 2) Saint-Germain Peace Treaty with Austria on September 10, 1919; 3) Neuilly Peace Treaty with Bulgaria November 27, 1919; 4) Trianon Peace Treaty with Hungary on June 4, 1920; 5) Peace Treaty of Sevres with Turkey on August 20, 1920. Subsequently, according to the Treaty of Lausanne on July 24, 1923, changes were made to the Treaty of Sevres. Thirty-two states were represented at the peace conference in Paris. Each delegation had its own staff of specialists who provided information regarding the geographical, historical and economic situation of the countries on which decisions were made. After Orlando left the internal council, not satisfied with the solution to the problem of territories in the Adriatic, the main architect of the post-war world became the “Big Three” - Wilson, Clemenceau and Lloyd George. Wilson compromised on several important points in order to achieve the main goal of creating the League of Nations. He agreed to the disarmament of only the Central Powers, although he initially insisted on general disarmament. The size of the German army was limited and was supposed to be no more than 115,000 people; universal conscription was abolished; The German armed forces were to be staffed by volunteers with a service life of 12 years for soldiers and up to 45 years for officers. Germany was prohibited from having combat aircraft and submarines. Similar conditions were contained in peace treaties signed with Austria, Hungary and Bulgaria. A fierce debate ensued between Clemenceau and Wilson over the status of the left bank of the Rhine. The French, for security reasons, intended to annex the area with its powerful coal mines and industry and create an autonomous Rhineland state. France's plan contradicted the proposals of Wilson, who opposed annexations and favored self-determination of nations. A compromise was reached after Wilson agreed to sign loose war treaties with France and Great Britain, under which the United States and Great Britain pledged to support France in the event of a German attack. The following decision was made: the left bank of the Rhine and a 50-kilometer strip on the right bank are demilitarized, but remain part of Germany and under its sovereignty. The Allies occupied a number of points in this zone for a period of 15 years. The coal deposits known as the Saar Basin also became the property of France for 15 years; the Saar region itself came under the control of the League of Nations commission. After the expiration of the 15-year period, a plebiscite was envisaged on the issue of statehood of this territory. Italy got Trentino, Trieste and most of Istria, but not the island of Fiume. Nevertheless, Italian extremists captured Fiume. Italy and the newly created state of Yugoslavia were given the right to resolve the issue of the disputed territories themselves. According to the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was deprived of its colonial possessions. Great Britain acquired German East Africa and the western part of German Cameroon and Togo; South-West Africa, the north-eastern regions of New Guinea with the adjacent archipelago and the Samoan islands were transferred to the British dominions - the Union of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. France received most of German Togo and eastern Cameroon. Japan received the German-owned Marshall, Mariana and Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean and the port of Qingdao in China. Secret treaties among the victorious powers also envisaged the division of the Ottoman Empire, but after the uprising of the Turks led by Mustafa Kemal, the allies agreed to revise their demands. The new Treaty of Lausanne repealed the Treaty of Sèvres and allowed Turkey to retain Eastern Thrace. Türkiye regained Armenia. Syria went to France; Great Britain received Mesopotamia, Transjordan and Palestine; the Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea were given to Italy; the Arab territory of Hejaz on the Red Sea coast was to gain independence. Violations of the principle of self-determination of nations caused Wilson's disagreement; in particular, he sharply protested against the transfer of the Chinese port of Qingdao to Japan. Japan agreed to return this territory to China in the future and fulfilled its promise. Wilson's advisers proposed that instead of actually transferring the colonies to new owners, they should be allowed to govern as trustees of the League of Nations. Such territories were called “mandatory”. Although Lloyd George and Wilson opposed punitive measures for damages caused, the fight on this issue ended in victory for the French side. Reparations were imposed on Germany; The question of what should be included in the list of destruction presented for payment was also subject to lengthy discussion. At first, the exact amount was not mentioned, only in 1921 its size was determined - 152 billion marks (33 billion dollars); this amount was subsequently reduced. The principle of self-determination of nations became key for many peoples represented at the peace conference. Poland was restored. The task of determining its boundaries was not easy; Of particular importance was the transfer to her of the so-called. the "Polish corridor", which gave the country access to the Baltic Sea, separating East Prussia from the rest of Germany. New independent states emerged in the Baltic region: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. By the time the conference was convened, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy had already ceased to exist, and Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia and Romania arose in its place; the borders between these states were controversial. The problem turned out to be complex due to the mixed settlement of different peoples. When establishing the borders of the Czech state, the interests of the Slovaks were affected. Romania doubled its territory at the expense of Transylvania, Bulgarian and Hungarian lands. Yugoslavia was created from the old kingdoms of Serbia and Montenegro, parts of Bulgaria and Croatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina and Banat as part of Timisoara. Austria remained a small state with a population of 6.5 million Austrian Germans, a third of whom lived in impoverished Vienna. The population of Hungary had decreased greatly and was now approx. 8 million people. At the Paris Conference, an exceptionally stubborn struggle was waged around the idea of ​​​​creating a League of Nations. According to the plans of Wilson, General J. Smuts, Lord R. Cecil and their other like-minded people, the League of Nations was supposed to become a guarantee of security for all peoples. Finally, the League's charter was adopted and, after much debate, four working groups were formed: the Assembly, the Council of the League of Nations, the Secretariat and the Permanent Court of International Justice. The League of Nations established mechanisms that could be used by its member states to prevent war. Within its framework, various commissions were also formed to solve other problems.
See also LEAGUE OF NATIONS. The League of Nations agreement represented that part of the Treaty of Versailles that Germany was also offered to sign. But the German delegation refused to sign it on the grounds that the agreement did not comply with Wilson's Fourteen Points. Ultimately, the German National Assembly recognized the treaty on June 23, 1919. The dramatic signing took place five days later at the Palace of Versailles, where in 1871 Bismarck, ecstatic with victory in the Franco-Prussian War, proclaimed the creation of the German Empire.
LITERATURE
History of the First World War, in 2 vols. M., 1975 Ignatiev A.V. Russia in the imperialist wars of the early 20th century. Russia, the USSR and international conflicts of the first half of the 20th century. M., 1989 To the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War. M., 1990 Pisarev Yu.A. Secrets of the First World War. Russia and Serbia in 1914-1915. M., 1990 Kudrina Yu.V. Turning to the origins of the First World War. Paths to safety. M., 1994 World War I: debatable problems of history. M., 1994 World War I: pages of history. Chernivtsi, 1994 Bobyshev S.V., Seregin S.V. The First World War and prospects for social development in Russia. Komsomolsk-on-Amur, 1995 World War I: Prologue of the 20th century. M., 1998
Wikipedia

Who fought with whom? Now this question will probably confuse many ordinary people. But the Great War, as it was called in the world before 1939, claimed more than 20 million lives and forever changed the course of history. Over the course of 4 bloody years, empires collapsed and alliances were formed. Therefore, it is necessary to know about it, at least for the purposes of general development.

Reasons for the start of the war

By the beginning of the 19th century, the crisis in Europe was obvious to all major powers. Many historians and analysts give various populist reasons why Who fought with whom before, which nations were fraternal to each other, and so on - all this had practically no meaning for most countries. The goals of the warring powers in the First World War were different, but the main reason was the desire of big capital to spread its influence and gain new markets.

First of all, it is worth taking into account the desire of Germany, since it was she who became the aggressor and actually started the war. But at the same time, one should not assume that she only wanted war, and that other countries did not prepare plans for an attack and were only defending themselves.

Germany's goals

By the beginning of the 20th century, Germany continued to develop rapidly. The empire had a good army, modern types of weapons, and a powerful economy. The main problem was that it was possible to unite the German lands under a single flag only in the middle of the 19th century. It was then that the Germans became an important player on the world stage. But by the time Germany emerged as a great power, the period of active colonization had already been missed. England, France, Russia and other countries had many colonies. They opened up a good market for the capital of these countries, made it possible to have cheap labor, an abundance of food and specific goods. Germany did not have this. Commodity overproduction led to stagnation. Population growth and the limited territories of their settlement created a food shortage. Then the German leadership decided to move away from the idea of ​​being a member of a community of countries with a minor voice. Somewhere towards the end of the 19th century, political doctrines were aimed at building the German Empire as the world's leading power. And the only way to this is war.

The year is 1914. World War I: who did you fight with?

Other countries thought similarly. Capitalists pushed the governments of all major states towards expansion. Russia, first of all, wanted to unite as many Slavic lands as possible under its banner, especially in the Balkans, especially since the local population was loyal to such patronage.

Türkiye played an important role. The world's leading players closely watched the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and waited for the moment to bite off a piece of this giant. The crisis and anticipation were felt throughout Europe. There were a series of bloody wars in what is now Yugoslavia, followed by the First World War. Local residents of the South Slavic countries themselves sometimes did not remember who fought with whom in the Balkans. The capitalists drove the soldiers forward, changing allies depending on the benefits. It was already clear that, most likely, something larger than a local conflict would happen in the Balkans. And so it happened. At the end of June, Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Ferdinand. used this event as a reason to declare war.

Expectations of the parties

The warring countries of the First World War had no idea what the conflict would lead to. If you study the plans of the parties in detail, you can clearly see that each was going to win due to a quick offensive. No more than a few months were allotted for hostilities. This was due, among other things, to the fact that there had been no such precedents in history before, when almost all powers took part in a war.

The First World War: who fought against whom?

On the eve of 1914, two alliances were concluded: the Entente and the Triple Alliance. The first included Russia, Britain, France. In the second - Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy. Smaller countries united around one of these alliances, Who was Russia at war with? With Bulgaria, Turkey, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Albania. As well as a number of armed formations of other countries.

After the Balkan crisis, two main theaters of military operations were formed in Europe - Western and Eastern. Also, fighting took place in the Transcaucasus and in various colonies in the Middle East and Africa. It is difficult to list all the conflicts that the First World War gave rise to. Who fought with whom depended on belonging to a particular union and territorial claims. For example, France has long dreamed of returning lost Alsace and Lorraine. And Türkiye is lands in Armenia.

For the Russian Empire, the war turned out to be the most costly. And not only in economic terms. At the fronts, Russian troops suffered the greatest losses.

This was one of the reasons for the start of the October Revolution, as a result of which a socialist state was formed. The people simply did not understand why thousands of conscripts were sent to the West, and few returned.
Basically, only the first year of the war was intense. Subsequent battles were characterized by positional struggle. Many kilometers of trenches were dug and countless defensive structures were erected.

The atmosphere of a positional permanent war is very well described in Remarque’s book “All Quiet on the Western Front.” It was in the trenches that the lives of soldiers were ground up, and the countries' economies worked exclusively for the war, cutting costs on all other institutions. The First World War claimed 11 million civilian lives. Who fought with whom? There can be only one answer to this question: capitalists with capitalists.

World War I was the result of the aggravation of the contradictions of imperialism, the unevenness and spasmodic development of capitalist countries. The most acute contradictions existed between Great Britain, the oldest capitalist power, and the economically strengthened Germany, whose interests collided in many areas of the globe, 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's goal was to defeat the armed forces of England, deprive it of colonial and naval primacy, subjugate the Balkan countries to its influence, and create 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 capture Mesopotamia and establish her dominance in Palestine and Egypt. Acute 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 away the Saar Basin from Germany, to maintain and expand its colonial possessions (see Colonialism).

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



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



Poincaré's arrival in 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 “Poincare War.”



Division of the Ottoman Empire (1920-1923)



American infantryman who suffered from exposure to phosgene.



Territorial changes in Europe in 1918-1923.



General von Kluck (in a car) and his staff during large maneuvers, 1910



Territorial changes after the First World War in 1918-1923.

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

The contradictions between the imperialist powers had a significant impact on the alignment of political forces in the international arena and the formation of military-political alliances opposing each other. In Europe at the end of the 19th century. - early 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 two groupings of states: on the one hand, between England and its allies, and Germany and its 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 in their countries the growing class struggle of the proletariat and the national liberation movement in the colonies, to distract the working class from the struggle for their social liberation by war, to decapitate its vanguard through repressive wartime measures.

The governments of both hostile groups carefully concealed the true goals of the war from their people and tried to instill in them a false idea about the defensive nature of military preparations, and then of the conduct of the war itself. Bourgeois and petty-bourgeois parties of all countries supported their governments and, playing on the patriotic feelings of the masses, came up with the slogan “defense of 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 significantly blocking its path was the international working class, numbering over 150 million people on the eve of the war. However, the lack of unity in the international socialist movement thwarted the formation of a united anti-imperialist front. The opportunistic leadership of the Western European social democratic parties did nothing to implement the anti-war decisions taken at the congresses of the 2nd International held before the war. A misconception about the sources and nature of the war played a significant role in this. Right-wing socialists, finding themselves in 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 that had come upon the country from outside.

The First World War lasted over four years (from August 1, 1914 to November 11, 1918). 38 states took part in it, over 70 million people fought on its fields, of which 10 million people were killed and 20 million were maimed. The immediate cause of the war was the murder of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Franz Ferdinand, by members of the Serbian secret organization “Young Bosnia” on June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo (Bosnia). Incited by Germany, Austria-Hungary presented Serbia with an obviously impossible ultimatum and declared war on it on July 28. In connection with the opening of hostilities in Russia by Austria-Hungary, general mobilization began on July 31. In response, the German government warned Russia that if mobilization was not stopped within 12 hours, then mobilization would also be declared in Germany. By this time, the German armed forces 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 started the war with multimillion-dollar armies. Military actions took place in Europe, Asia and Africa. The main land fronts in Europe: Western (in Belgium and France) and Eastern (in Russia). Based on the nature of the tasks being solved and the military-political results achieved, the events of the First World War can be divided into five campaigns, each of them included several operations.

In 1914, in the very first months of the war, 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 August 2, the German army occupied Luxembourg, and on August 4, it invaded Belgium, violating its neutrality. The small Belgian army was unable to provide serious resistance and began to retreat north. On August 20, German troops occupied Brussels and were able to freely advance to the borders of France. Three French and one British armies were advanced to meet them. On August 21-25, in a border battle, the German armies drove back the Anglo-French troops, invaded Northern France and, continuing the offensive, reached the Marne River between Paris and Verdun by the beginning of September. The French command, having formed two new armies from reserves, decided to launch a counteroffensive. The Battle of the Marne began on September 5. 6 Anglo-French and 5 German armies (about 2 million people) took part in it. The Germans were defeated. On September 16, oncoming battles began, called the “Run to the Sea” (they ended when the front reached the sea coast). In October and November, bloody battles in Flanders exhausted 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 hope for the defeat and withdrawal of France from the war failed.

The Russian command, yielding to the persistent demands of the French government, decided to take active action even before the end of the mobilization and concentration of its armies. The goal 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. During fierce fighting, German troops began to retreat to the West. Soon the 2nd Russian Army of General A.V. Samsonov also crossed the border of East Prussia. The German headquarters had already decided to withdraw troops beyond the Vistula, but, taking advantage of the lack of interaction between the 1st and 2nd armies and the mistakes of the Russian high command, German troops managed to inflict a heavy defeat on the 2nd Army first, and then throw the 1st Army back to her starting positions.

Despite the failure of the operation, the invasion of the Russian army into East Prussia had important results. It forced the Germans to transfer two army corps and one cavalry division from France to the Russian front, which seriously weakened their strike force in the West and was one of the reasons for its defeat in the Battle of the Marne. At the same time, by their actions in East Prussia, the Russian armies shackled 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 captured). 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 some 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. Plans for waging a short-term war and winning it at the cost of one general battle collapsed. On the Western Front, the period of maneuver warfare was over. Positional, 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 formed in Transcaucasia, Mesopotamia, Syria and the Dardanelles.

In the 1915 campaign, the center of gravity of military operations shifted to the Eastern Front. Defense was planned on the Western Front. Operations on the Russian front began in January and continued, with minor interruptions, until late autumn. In the summer, the German command broke through the Russian front near Gorlitsa. Soon it launched an offensive in the Baltic states, and Russian troops were forced to leave Galicia, Poland, part of Latvia and Belarus. However, the Russian command, switching to strategic defense, managed to withdraw its armies from the enemy’s attacks and stop his advance. The bloodless and exhausted Austro-German and Russian armies in October went on the defensive along the entire front. Germany faced the need to continue a long war on two fronts. Russia bore the brunt of the struggle, 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 carry out an offensive operation in Artois and Champagne, which did not significantly change the situation. In the spring of 1915, the German command used chemical weapons (chlorine) for the first time on the Western Front, near Ypres, as a result of which 15 thousand people were poisoned. After this, gases began to be used by both warring sides.

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 Bosporus straits, breaking through to Constantinople and withdrawing Turkey from the war. It ended in failure, and the Allies stopped hostilities at the end of 1915 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 section of the front in the Verdun area, since a breakthrough here created a threat to the entire northern wing of the Allied armies. The fighting at Verdun began on February 21 and continued until December. This operation, called the “Verdun Meat Grinder,” boiled down to grueling and bloody battles, where both sides lost about 1 million people. The offensive actions of the Anglo-French troops on the Somme River, which began on July 1 and continued until November, were also unsuccessful. The Anglo-French troops, having lost about 800 thousand people, were unable to break through the enemy’s defenses.

Operations on the Eastern Front were of great importance in the 1916 campaign. In March, Russian troops, at the request of the allies, carried out an offensive operation near Lake Naroch, which significantly influenced the course of hostilities in France. It not only pinned down about 0.5 million German troops on the Eastern Front, but also forced the German command to stop attacks on Verdun for some time and transfer some of its reserves to the Eastern Front. Due to the heavy defeat of the Italian army in Trentino in May, the Russian high command launched an offensive on May 22, two weeks earlier than planned. During the fighting, 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 eased 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 appearance 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 through simultaneous attacks in several areas. As a result, the enemy lost the opportunity to determine the direction of the main attack. Along with the Battle of the Somme, the offensive on the Southwestern Front marked the 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 of the entire First World War took place off the Jutland Peninsula in the North Sea. The British lost 14 ships in it, about 6,800 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. Bloody battles drained the resources of all the warring powers. The situation of workers has sharply worsened. The hardships of the war and their awareness of its anti-national character caused deep discontent among the masses. In all countries, revolutionary sentiments grew in the rear and at the front. A particularly rapid rise of the revolutionary movement was observed in Russia, where the war revealed the corruption of the ruling elite.

Military operations in 1917 took place in the context of a significant growth of the revolutionary movement in all the warring countries, strengthening of anti-war sentiments in the rear and at the front. The war significantly weakened the economies of the warring factions.

The advantage of the Entente became even more significant after the United States entered the war on its side. The condition 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 switch 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 take it out of the war. But, despite some success, the submarine war did not give the desired result. The Entente military command moved 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 troops launched 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 choked. The inaction of the Allies on the Western Front allowed the German command to quickly transfer troops to the Eastern Front, create a powerful group there, and launch a counteroffensive on July 6. The Russian units, unable to withstand the onslaught, began to retreat. The offensive operations of the Russian armies on the Northern, Western and Romanian fronts ended unsuccessfully. The total number of losses on all fronts exceeded 150 thousand people killed, wounded and missing.

The artificially created offensive impulse of the soldier masses was replaced by an awareness of the pointlessness of the offensive, an unwillingness to continue the war of conquest, to fight for interests alien to them.

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 resolution to the conflict, offering the 4 largest powers as mediators, he only managed to further inflame the situation and drag all of Europe, including Russia, into the war.

Almost a month later, Russia announces the mobilization of troops and conscription into the army, after Serbia turns to it for help. However, what was initially planned as a precautionary measure provoked a response from Germany with demands for an end to conscription. As a result, on August 1, 1914, Germany declared war on Russia.

Main events of the First World War.

Years of the First World War.

• When did the First World War start? The year the First World War began was 1914 (July 28).
• When did World War II end? The year the First World War ended was 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 several stand out that played a decisive role in the war itself and its history.

• 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, everyone gives each other ultimatums and does nothing but 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 beginning of the use of chemical weapons. Again from Germany.
• In October 1915, hostilities began against Serbia from Bulgaria. In response to these actions, the Entente declares war on Bulgaria.
• In 1916, the use of tank technology began, mainly by the British.
• In 1917, Nicholas II abdicated the throne in Russia and a provisional government came to power, which led to a split in the army. Active military operations continue.
• In November 1918, Germany proclaims itself a republic - the result of the revolution.
• On November 11, 1918, in the morning, Germany signed the Compiègne Armistice and from that time on, hostilities ended.

The end of the First World War.

Despite the fact that for most of the war German forces were able to inflict serious blows on 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, German representatives signed a peace treaty in Paris, which was eventually called the “Peace of Versailles,” and put an end to the First World War.

Today no one remembers when it was World War I, who fought with whom and what caused the conflict itself. But millions of soldiers’ graves throughout Europe and modern Russia do not allow us to forget about this bloody page in history, including that of our state.

Causes and inevitability of war.

The beginning of the last century was quite tense - revolutionary sentiments in the Russian Empire with regular demonstrations and terrorist attacks, local military conflicts in the southern part of Europe, the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the exaltation of Germany.

All this did not happen in one day, the situation developed and escalated over decades and no one knew how to “let off steam” and at least delay the start of hostilities.

By and large, each country had unsatisfied ambitions and grievances against its neighbors, which, in the old fashioned way, they wanted to resolve using force of arms. They just didn’t take into account the fact that technological progress gave real “infernal machines” into human hands, the use of which led to a bloodbath. These were the words used by veterans to describe many battles of that period.

The balance of power in Europe.

But in a war there are always two conflicting sides trying to get their way. During WWI these were Entente and Central Powers.

When starting a conflict, it is customary to place all the blame on the losing side, so let’s start with that. The list of Central Powers at various stages of the war included:

• Germany.
• Austria-Hungary.
• Türkiye.
• Bulgaria.

There were only three states in the Entente:

• Russian empire.
• France.
• England.

Both alliances were formed at the end of the nineteenth century, and for some time they balanced political and military forces in Europe.

The awareness of an inevitable major war on several fronts at the same time often stopped people from making hasty decisions, but the situation could not continue this way for long.

How did the First World War start?

The first state to announce the start of hostilities was Austro-Hungarian Empire. As enemy spoke Serbia, which sought to unite all the Slavs in the southern region under its leadership. Apparently this policy was not particularly liked by the restless neighbor, who did not want to have a powerful confederation at his side that could jeopardize the very existence of Austria-Hungary.

Reason for declaring war was caused by the murder of the heir to the imperial throne, who was shot by Serbian nationalists. Theoretically, this would have ended there - this is not the first time that two countries in Europe have declared war on each other and carried out offensive or defensive actions with varying success. But the fact is that Austria-Hungary was only a protégé of Germany, which had long wanted to reshape the world order in its favor.

The reason was the country's failed colonial policy, which got involved in this fight too late. One of the advantages of having a huge number of dependent states was a practically unlimited market. Industrialized Germany desperately needed such a bonus, but could not get it. It was impossible to resolve the issue peacefully; the neighbors safely received their profits and were not eager to share with anyone.

But defeat in hostilities and the signing of surrender could change the situation somewhat.

Allied participating countries.

From the above lists it can be concluded that no more than 7 countries, but why then is the war called World War? The fact is that each of the blocks had allies who entered or left the war at certain stages:

1. Italy.
2. Romania.
3. Portugal.
4. Greece.
5. Australia.
6. Belgium.
7. Japanese Empire.
8. Montenegro.

These countries did not make a decisive contribution to the overall victory, but we must not forget their active participation in the war on the side of the Entente.

In 1917, the United States joined this list after another attack by a German submarine on a passenger ship.

Results of the war for the main participants.

Russia was able to fulfill the minimum plan for this war - provide protection for the Slavs in Southern Europe. But the main goal was much more ambitious: control over the Black Sea straits could make our country a truly great maritime power.

But the then leadership failed to divide the Ottoman Empire and get some of its most “tasty” fragments. And given the social tension in the country and the subsequent revolution, slightly different problems arose. The Austro-Hungarian Empire also ceased to exist - the worst economic and political consequences for the initiator.

France and England were able to gain a foothold in a leading position in Europe, thanks to impressive contributions from Germany. But Germany faced hyperinflation, abandonment of the army, and a severe crisis with the fall of several regimes. This led to the desire for revenge and the NSDAP at the head of the state. But the United States was able to make capital from this conflict, suffering minimal losses.

Do not forget what the First World War was, who fought with whom and what horrors it brought to society. Growing tensions and conflicts of interest may once again lead to similar irreparable consequences.

Video about the First World War