home biology tutor World on the border of the First World War. Russia in the First World War: briefly about the main events. The Germans were especially adept at intercepting and breaking Allied ciphers. Subsequently, the Americans began to use radio cipher operators from the Choctaw tribe, who

World on the border of the First World War. Russia in the First World War: briefly about the main events. The Germans were especially adept at intercepting and breaking Allied ciphers. Subsequently, the Americans began to use radio cipher operators from the Choctaw tribe, who

World War I 1914 - 1918 became one of the most bloody and large-scale conflicts in human history. It began on July 28, 1914 and ended on November 11, 1918. 38 states participated in this conflict. If we talk briefly about the causes of the First World War, then we can say with confidence that this conflict was provoked by serious economic contradictions of the alliances of world powers that formed at the beginning of the century. It is also worth noting that, probably, there was a possibility of a peaceful settlement of these contradictions. However, feeling the increased power, Germany and Austria-Hungary moved to more decisive action.

Participants of the First World War were:

on the one hand, the Quadruple Alliance, which included Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey (Ottoman Empire);
on the other block, the Entente, which was made up of Russia, France, England and allied countries (Italy, Romania and many others).

The outbreak of World War I was provoked by the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife by a member of a Serbian nationalist terrorist organization. The murder committed by Gavrilo Princip provoked a conflict between Austria and Serbia. Germany supported Austria and entered the war.

The course of the First World War is divided by historians into five separate military campaigns.

The beginning of the military campaign of 1914 is dated July 28. On August 1, Germany, which entered the war, declares war on Russia, and on August 3 on France. German troops invade Luxembourg and later Belgium. In 1914, the most important events of the First World War unfolded in France and today are known as the “Run to the Sea”. In an effort to surround the enemy troops, both armies moved to the coast, where the front line eventually closed. France retained control of the port cities. Gradually the front line stabilized. The calculation of the German command for a quick capture of France did not materialize. Since the forces of both sides were exhausted, the war took on a positional character. Such are the events on the Western Front.

Military operations on the Eastern Front began on August 17. The Russian army launched an attack on the eastern part of Prussia and initially it turned out to be quite successful. The victory in the Battle of Galicia (August 18) was accepted by the majority of society with joy. After this battle, Austrian troops no longer entered into serious battles with Russia in 1914.

Events in the Balkans did not develop too well either. Belgrade, captured earlier by Austria, was recaptured by the Serbs. There were no active battles in Serbia this year. In the same year, 1914, Japan also came out against Germany, which allowed Russia to secure the Asian borders. Japan began to take action to seize the island colonies of Germany. However, the Ottoman Empire entered the war on the side of Germany, opening the Caucasian front and depriving Russia of convenient communication with the allied countries. According to the results at the end of 1914, none of the countries participating in the conflict was able to achieve their goals.

The second campaign in the chronology of the First World War dates from 1915. On the Western Front there were fierce military clashes. Both France and Germany made desperate attempts to turn the tide in their favor. However, the huge losses suffered by both sides did not lead to serious results. In fact, the front line by the end of 1915 had not changed. Neither the spring offensive of the French in Artois, nor the operations transported to Champagne and Artois in the autumn changed the situation.

The situation on the Russian front has changed for the worse. The winter offensive of the poorly prepared Russian army soon turned into the August counteroffensive of the Germans. And as a result of the Gorlitsky breakthrough of the German troops, Russia lost Galicia and, later, Poland. Historians note that in many ways the Great Retreat of the Russian army was provoked by a supply crisis. The front stabilized only by autumn. The German troops occupied the west of the Volyn province and partially repeated the pre-war borders with Austria-Hungary. The position of the troops, just as in France, contributed to the beginning of a positional war.

1915 was marked by Italy's entry into the war (May 23). Despite the fact that the country was a member of the Quadruple Alliance, it announced the start of the war against Austria-Hungary. But on October 14, Bulgaria declared war on the Entente alliance, which led to the complication of the situation in Serbia and its imminent fall.

During the military campaign of 1916, one of the most famous battles of the First World War, Verdun, took place. In an effort to suppress the resistance of France, the German command concentrated huge forces in the area of the Verdun ledge, hoping to overcome the Anglo-French defenses. During this operation, from February 21 to December 18, up to 750 thousand soldiers of England and France and up to 450 thousand German soldiers died. The battle of Verdun is also known for the fact that for the first time a new type of weapon was used - a flamethrower. However, the greatest effect of this weapon was psychological. To assist the allies, an offensive operation was undertaken on the Western Russian front, called the Brusilov breakthrough. This forced Germany to transfer serious forces to the Russian front and somewhat eased the position of the allies.

It should be noted that hostilities developed not only on land. Between the blocks of the strongest world powers there was a fierce confrontation on the water. It was in the spring of 1916 that one of the main battles of the First World War took place on the Jutland Sea. In general, at the end of the year, the Entente bloc became dominant. The proposal of the Quadruple Alliance for peace was rejected.

During the military campaign of 1917, the preponderance of forces in the direction of the Entente increased even more and the United States joined the obvious winners. But the weakening of the economies of all countries participating in the conflict, as well as the growth of revolutionary tension, led to a decrease in military activity. The German command decides on a strategic defense on the land fronts, while at the same time focusing on trying to take England out of the war using the submarine fleet. In the winter of 1916-17 there were no active hostilities in the Caucasus either. The situation in Russia has deteriorated to the maximum. In fact, after the October events, the country withdrew from the war.

1918 brought the most important victories to the Entente, which led to the end of the First World War.

After the actual withdrawal from the war of Russia, Germany managed to eliminate the eastern front. She made peace with Romania, Ukraine, Russia. The terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, concluded between Russia and Germany in March 1918, turned out to be the most difficult for the country, but this agreement was soon canceled.

Subsequently, Germany occupied the Baltic States, Poland and partly Belarus, after which it threw all its forces to the Western Front. But, thanks to the technical superiority of the Entente, the German troops were defeated. After Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria made peace with the Entente countries, Germany was on the brink of disaster. Due to revolutionary events, Emperor Wilhelm leaves his country. November 11, 1918 Germany signs the act of surrender.

According to modern data, the losses in the First World War amounted to 10 million soldiers. Accurate data on casualties among the civilian population does not exist. Presumably, due to difficult living conditions, epidemics and famine, twice as many people died.

Following the results of the First World War, Germany had to pay reparations to the allies for 30 years. She lost 1/8 of her territory, and the colonies went to the victorious countries. The banks of the Rhine were occupied by the Allied forces for 15 years. Also, Germany was forbidden to have an army of more than 100 thousand people. Strict restrictions were imposed on all types of weapons.

But, the consequences of the First World War also affected the situation in the victorious countries. Their economies, with the possible exception of the United States, were in a difficult state. The standard of living of the population dropped sharply, the national economy fell into decay. At the same time, the military monopolies enriched themselves. For Russia, the First World War became a serious destabilizing factor that largely influenced the development of the revolutionary situation in the country and caused the subsequent civil war.

World War I is one of the greatest tragedy in the history of the world. Millions of victims who died as a result of geopolitical games the mighty of the world this. This war has no clear winners. Completely changed political map, four empires collapsed, in addition, the center of influence shifted to the American continent.

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Political situation before the conflict

There were five empires on the world map: the Russian Empire, the British Empire, the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires, as well as such superpowers as France, Italy, Japan, tried to take their place in world geopolitics.

To strengthen their positions, the states tried to form unions.

The most powerful were the Triple Alliance, which included the central powers - the German, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, and the Entente: Russia, Great Britain, France.

Background and objectives of the First World War

Main background and goals:

Alliances. According to the treaties, if one of the countries of the union declared war, then others should take their side. Behind this stretches a chain of involvement of states in the war. This is exactly what happened when the First World War began.
Colonies. Powers that did not have colonies or did not have enough of them sought to fill this gap, and the colonies sought to free themselves.
Nationalism. Each power considered itself unique and the most powerful. many empires claimed world domination.
Arms race. We had to reinforce our power military power, therefore, the economies of large powers worked for the defense industry.
Imperialism. Every empire, if not expanding, is collapsing. There were five then. Each sought to expand its borders at the expense of weaker states, satellites and colonies. Especially the young German Empire, which was formed after the Franco-Prussian war, aspired to this.
Terrorist attack. This event was the reason for the global conflict. The Austro-Hungarian Empire annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina. The heir to the throne, Prince Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sofia arrived in the acquired territory - Sarajevo. There was a fatal assassination attempt by a Bosnian Serb, Gavrilo Princip. Because of the assassination of the prince, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, which led to a chain of conflicts.

Speaking briefly about the First World War, US President Thomas Woodrow Wilson believed that it did not start for any reason, but cumulatively for all at once.

Important! Gavrilo Princip was arrested, but death penalty they could not apply to him, because he was not 20 years old. The terrorist was sentenced to twenty years in prison, but he died of tuberculosis four years later.

When did World War I start

Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to Serbia to purge all authorities and the army, eliminate persons with anti-Austrian convictions, arrest members of terrorist organizations, and, in addition, allow the Austrian police to enter the territory of Serbia to conduct an investigation.

Two days were given to fulfill the ultimatum. Serbia agreed with everything except the admission of the Austrian police.

July 28th, under the pretext of not complying with the ultimatum, Austro-Hungarian Empire declares war on Serbia. From this date officially count down the time when the First World War began.

The Russian Empire has always supported Serbia, therefore it began to mobilize. On July 31, Germany delivered an ultimatum to stop mobilization, and gave 12 hours to complete. The response announced that the mobilization was taking place exclusively against Austria-Hungary. Despite the fact that Wilhelm ruled the German Empire, a relative of Nicholas the Emperor of the Russian Empire, August 1, 1914 Germany declares war on the Russian Empire. Then Germany concludes an alliance with the Ottoman Empire.

After the German invasion of neutral Belgium, Britain did not remain neutral, declaring war on the Germans. August 6 Russia declares war on Austria-Hungary. Italy is neutral. August 12 Austria-Hungary begins to fight with Britain and France. Japan opposes Germany on August 23. Further along the chain, more and more new states are involved in the war, one after another, all over the world. The United States of America enters only on December 7, 1917.

Important! England first used tracked fighting vehicles, now known as tanks, during the First World War. The word "tank" means tank. So British intelligence tried to disguise the transfer of equipment under the guise of tanks with fuel and lubricants. Subsequently, this name was assigned to combat vehicles.

The main events of the First World War and the role of Russia in the conflict

The main battles are unfolding on the western front, in the direction of Belgium and France, as well as the East - from Russia. With the accession of the Ottoman Empire began a new round of operations in the eastern direction.

Chronology of Russia's participation in the First World War:

Attention! The field postman wore a lush mustache, but during the gas attack, the mustache prevented him from wearing a gas mask tightly, because of this the postman was severely poisoned. I had to make a small antennae so as not to interfere with wearing a gas mask. The postman was called.

Consequences and results of the First World War for Russia

The results of the war for Russia:

For a step away from victory, the country made peace, stripped of all privileges like a winner.
The Russian Empire ceased to exist.
The country voluntarily gave up large territories.
Undertook to pay an indemnity in gold and products.
It was not possible to establish a state machine for a long time due to an internal conflict.

Global consequences of the conflict

Irreversible consequences occurred on the world stage, the cause of which was the First World War:

Territory. 34 out of 59 states were involved in the theater of operations. This is more than 90% of the Earth's territory.
human sacrifice. Every minute 4 soldiers were killed and 9 were injured. In total, about 10 million soldiers; 5 million civilians, 6 million died from epidemics that flared up after the conflict. Russia in World War I lost 1.7 million soldiers.
Destruction. A significant part of the territories where fighting, were destroyed.
Cardinal changes in the political situation.
Economy. Europe lost a third of its gold and foreign exchange reserves, which led to a difficult economic situation in almost all countries except Japan and the United States.

The results of the armed conflict:

Russian, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and German Empire have ceased to exist.
The European powers lost their colonies.
Such states as Yugoslavia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland, Austria, Hungary appeared on the world map.
The United States of America became the leader of the world economy.
Communism has spread in many countries.

The role of Russia in the 1st world war

Results of the First World War for Russia

Conclusion

Russia first world war 1914 - 1918 had victories and defeats. When the First World War ended, she received the main defeat not from an external enemy, from herself, an internal conflict that put an end to the empire. Who won the conflict is unclear. Although the Entente with its allies is considered the winner, but their economic condition was deplorable. They did not have time to recover, even before the start of the next conflict.

To maintain peace and consensus among all states, the League of Nations was organized. She played the role of an international parliament. Interestingly, the United States initiated its creation, but they themselves refused membership in the organization. As history has shown, it became a continuation of the first, as well as a revenge of the powers offended by the results of the Versailles Treaty. The League of Nations here proved to be an absolutely ineffective and useless body.

§ 76. Military operations in 1914-1918

The beginning of the First World War.

June 28, 1914 in the city of Sarajevo, which was part of the annexed Austria-Hungary Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, a hardliner against Serbia. Accusing the Serbian government of the assassination attempt, Austria-Hungary gave him an ultimatum. German Emperor Wilhelm II supported the actions of his ally.
The Serbian government complied with all the demands made by Austria-Hungary, except for the point on the investigation of the murder by Austrian officials, but agreed to negotiate on this point. However, on July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and the next day began the bombardment of Belgrade.
August 1, 1914 Germany declared war on Russia, then France. Violating the neutrality of Belgium, the German troops launched an offensive through its territory. Great Britain entered the war. Montenegro, Japan and Egypt took the side of the Entente, and Bulgaria and Turkey took the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary (Germany and its allies are often called a coalition of the Central Powers).
The reasons for the war were the contradictions between the powers of the Entente and Germany with Austria-Hungary. The desire to seize foreign and maintain their colonies in Africa and Asia has become one of the main aspirations of the warring parties. Territorial disputes in Europe itself also played a significant role. Between the powers there were also huge trade and economic contradictions, they fought for the spheres of sale of their products and for sources of raw materials. The initiator of the war was the German block, which considered itself deprived in all respects.

Military operations in 1914

The main fronts, on which heavy fighting broke out already in August 1914, were the French Western and Russian Eastern. At the first stage of the war, in early September, the main grouping of the German armies reached the Marne River between Paris and Verdun, and then crossed it. On September 6, the counteroffensive of the Anglo-French troops began on the entire front from Paris to Verdun. Only by September 12 did the German troops gain a foothold behind the Aisne River and on the line east of Reims. On September 15, the Allies stopped their offensive.
The unsuccessful German attack on Paris and the defeat of the German troops on the Marne led to the failure of the German strategic war plan, designed to quickly defeat the enemy on the Western Front. From the Swiss border to North Sea a positional front was established.
In the East European theater, hostilities began on 4-7 (17-20) August. During the East Prussian operation l-th Russian army defeated the German corps. Continuing to advance, she defeated one of the German armies. At the same time, the 2nd Russian Army began to move to the flank and rear of the Germans. The successful offensive of Russian troops in East Prussia forced the German command to transfer additional troops from Western to Eastern front. The German troops, taking advantage of the mistakes of the Russian command, which did not establish interaction between the 1st and 2nd armies, managed to inflict a heavy defeat first on the 2nd, and then l-th Russian armies. Russian troops withdrew from East Prussia.
At the same time, a battle took place in Galicia, in which the troops of the Russian Southwestern Front inflicted a major defeat on the Austro-Hungarian troops. The Russians occupied Lvov. The Austro-Hungarian garrison of the Przemysl fortress was blocked, advanced Russian units reached the foothills of the Carpathians.
The German High Command hastily transferred large forces here. However, the timely regrouping of forces carried out by the Russian Headquarters made it possible during the Warsaw-Ivangorod operation to stop the enemy’s offensive on Ivangorod, and then repel the attack on Warsaw. Soon the parties, having exhausted all possibilities, went over to the defensive.
On August 10, Germany sent the battlecruiser Goeben and the light cruiser Breslau to the Black Sea to support the Turkish fleet. Turkish and German ships suddenly fired on Sevastopol, Odessa, Novorossiysk and Feodosia. Russia, Great Britain and France declared war on Turkey. Russia pushed the Caucasian army to the border with Turkey. In December, the 8th Turkish Army went on the offensive, but was defeated.
Military action in 1915
The German command decided to devote the next campaign entirely to the defeat of the Russian troops. Almost 30 infantry and 9 cavalry divisions were transferred from France. In February 1915, Russian troops crossed the Carpathians in winter conditions, and in March, after a long siege, they took Przemysl. About 120,000 enemy soldiers and officers surrendered.
However, the passivity of Russia's Western allies in 1915 allowed the German command to go on the offensive on April 19 (May 2). Under the onslaught of the enemy, who had a huge superiority in strength, the defense of the 3rd Russian army was broken through in the Gorlice region. The troops of the Southwestern Front were forced to leave Galicia. At the same time, German troops were advancing in the Baltic. They occupied Libava, went to Kovno. To avoid encirclement, Russian troops were forced to leave Poland. During the 1915 campaign, Russia lost about 2 million people killed, wounded and captured.
In August 1915, Nicholas II assumed supreme command of the active troops, hoping to turn the tide of events with his authority. In October 1915, the front was established on the line Riga - Baranovichi - Dubno.
In the Western European theater throughout 1915, both sides fought local battles without planning major operations. In 1915, the Entente, having promised to satisfy the territorial claims of Italy more fully than Germany offered, attracted this country to its side. The Italian army launched an offensive, but it was not successful. In October 1915, Bulgaria entered the war on the side of the Central Powers.
In the autumn of 1915, the offensive of the Austro-German and Bulgarian troops began against Serbia. The Serbian army resisted for 2 months and then was forced to retreat to Albania. Part of the Serbian troops was transported by the Entente fleet to the Greek island of Corfu.
The 1915 campaign did not justify the hopes of both warring coalitions, but its course was more favorable for the Entente. The German command, having failed to liquidate the Eastern Front, found itself in a difficult situation.
Military operations in 1916
On February 21, the German command launched the Verdun operation on the Western Front. During fierce fighting, both sides suffered heavy losses. The Germans could not break through the front.
On May 22 (June 4) in the East European Theater, the Southwestern Front (commanded by General A.A. Brusilov) launched a decisive offensive. The defense of the Austro-German troops was broken through to a depth of 80 to 120 km. The command of the Central Powers urgently transferred here 11 German divisions from France and 6 Austro-Hungarian divisions from Italy.
The offensive of the South-Western Front eased the position of the French near Verdun, and also saved the Italian army from defeat and accelerated the appearance of Romania on the side of the Entente countries. However, the actions of Romania were unsuccessful. The Russian Romanian Front was formed to help Romania.
In July, Anglo-French troops launched a major offensive on the Somme. It lasted until mid-November, but, despite huge losses, the Allies advanced only 5-15 km, failing to break through the German front.
The troops of the Caucasian Front successfully carried out a number of operations, as a result of which the cities of Erzurum and Trebizond were occupied.
At the end of 1916, the superiority of the Entente over the countries of the German bloc became obvious. Germany was forced to defend on all fronts.
Military operations in 1917-1918
The campaign of 1917 was prepared and proceeded in the conditions of the growth of the revolutionary movement in all countries, which had big influence on the course of the war as a whole.
In February 1917, a revolution broke out in Russia. In June 1917, the offensive of the Southwestern Front was carried out, which ended in failure. The last Russian military operations were the defense of Riga and the defense of the Moonsund Islands.
After the October Revolution in Russia, on December 2 (15), 1917, the new government concluded an armistice with the German coalition. The revolution in Russia thwarted the strategic plan of the Entente, which was designed to defeat Austria-Hungary. However, the troops of the Central Powers were still forced to go on the defensive.
In March 1918, a major German offensive began in France. The German troops broke through the allied defenses to a depth of 60 km, but then the allied command, having brought reserves into battle, liquidated the breakthrough. At the end of May, the German armies struck north of the Rhine, and reached the Marne River, being less than 70 km from Paris. Here they were stopped. On July 15, the German command made a last desperate attempt to defeat the allied armies. But the second Battle of Marne ended in failure.
In August 1918, the Anglo-French armies went on the offensive and inflicted a major defeat on the German troops. In September, the general offensive of the Allies began on the entire front. On November 9, the monarchy was overthrown in Germany. On November 11, 1918, the Entente concluded the Compiègne truce with Germany. Germany declared itself defeated.

§ 77. War and society

The development of military equipment during the war.

The First World War gave a powerful impetus to the development military equipment. Since 1915, the main problem in the conduct of hostilities has been the breakthrough of the positional front. The appearance in 1916 of tanks and new types of escort artillery increased the firepower and strike power of the advancing troops. On September 15, 1916, the British used tanks for the first time. With the support of 18 tanks, the infantry was able to ADVANCE 2 km. The first case of massive use of tanks is the Battle of Cambrai on November 20-21, 1917, where 378 tanks operated. The surprise and great superiority in forces and means allowed the British troops to break through the German defenses. However, the tanks that broke away from the infantry and cavalry suffered heavy losses.
The war gave a sharp impetus to the development of aviation. Initially, aircraft, along with balloons, served as a means of reconnaissance and artillery fire correction. Then they began to put machine guns on the planes and hang bombs.
The most famous aircraft were the German Fokker, the English Sopwith, and the French Farman, Voisin, and Nieuport. Military aircraft in Russia were built mainly according to French models, but there were also their own designs. So, in 1913, a heavy 4-engine aircraft by I. Sikorsky "Ilya Muromets" was built, lifting up to 800 kg of bombs and armed with 3-7 machine guns.
A qualitatively new type of weapon was chemical weapons. In April 1915, near Ypres, the Germans released 180 tons of chlorine from cylinders. As a result of the attack, about 15 thousand people were hit, of which 5 thousand died. Such large losses from relatively low-toxic chlorine were caused by the lack of protective equipment, the first samples of which appeared only a year later. On April 12, 1917, in the area of Ypres, the Germans used mustard gas (mustard gas). In total, about 1 million people were affected by poisonous substances during the war years.
State regulation of the economy.
In all the warring countries, state military-economic departments were created to regulate the economy, which put industry and Agriculture. State bodies distributed orders and raw materials, disposed of the products of enterprises. These bodies not only managed the production process, but also regulated working conditions, wages, and so on. In general, state intervention in the economy during the war years had a visible effect. This gave rise to an idea of the beneficence of such a policy.
In Russia, the relatively weak development of heavy industry could not but affect the supply of the army. Despite the transfer of workers to the position of military personnel, the growth of military production at first was insignificant. The supply of weapons and ammunition from the allies was carried out in extremely limited quantities. In order to establish military production, the government moved to the sequestration (transfer to the state) of large military factories and banks. For the owners, this was a huge source of income.
When major abuses of officials in supplying the fronts with everything necessary were revealed, the government went to the creation of committees and meetings that were supposed to deal with military orders. But in practice, this only led to the distribution of military orders and the issuance of cash subsidies.
Due to the mass mobilization of peasants into the army in Russia, the harvest of grain was sharply reduced, and the cost of processing it increased. A significant part of the horses and cattle was also requisitioned as a draft force and to feed the army. The food situation was sharply worsened by the Axis, speculation flourished and the prices of essential goods rose. Hunger has begun.
Public opinion during the war.
The beginning of the war caused an explosion of patriotic feelings in all the warring countries. There were mass rallies in support of the government's actions. However, by the end of 1915, the mood of the population of the warring countries began to gradually change. Everywhere the strike movement grew, and the opposition, including the parliamentary one, intensified. In Russia, where the military defeats of 1915 sharply aggravated the internal political situation, this process proceeded especially rapidly. The defeats aroused in the Duma opposition a desire to re-start the fight against the autocratic regime, "not knowing how to wage war." Several groups in the Duma, led by the Cadets, united in " progressive block”, the purpose of which was the creation of a cabinet of public trust, I.e. government based on the Duma majority.
The activity of groups in the Social Democratic parties, which from the very beginning spoke with varying degrees of categorical opposition to the war, intensified. On September 5-8, 1915, the Zimmerwald Conference of such groups took place. It was attended by 38 delegates from Russia, Germany, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Poland, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands. They issued a statement against the war and called the peoples to peace. About a third of the delegates, headed by the leader of the Russian Bolsheviks, V.I. Lenin, considered this call too soft. They spoke in favor of turning the "imperialist war into a civil war", taking advantage of the fact that weapons are in the hands of millions of "proletarians".
On the fronts, there were more and more cases of fraternization of soldiers of the opposing armies. During the strikes, anti-war slogans were put forward. On May 1, 1916, in Berlin, at a mass demonstration, the leader of the left-wing Social Democrats, K. Liebknecht, issued an appeal “Down with the war!”.
National uprisings intensified in multinational countries. In July 1916, the Central Asian uprising began in Russia, which was finally suppressed only in 1917. On April 24-30, 1916, the Irish uprising broke out, brutally suppressed by the British. There were also performances in Austria-Hungary.

Results of the war.

World War I ended with the defeat of Germany and its allies. At the Paris Peace Conference agreements have been prepared. June 28, 1919 was signed Treaty of Versailles with Germany, September 10 - Treaty of Saintgermain with Austria, November 27 - Treaty of Nein with Bulgaria, June 4 - Treaty of Trianon with Hungary and August 10, 1920 - Treaty of Sevres with Turkey. The Paris Peace Conference decided to establish League of Nations. Germany and its allies lost significant territories, and were also forced to significantly limit their armed forces and pay large reparations.
The post-war peace settlement was completed by the Washington Conference, which took place in 1921-1922. Its initiator, the United States, dissatisfied with the results of the Paris Conference, made a serious bid for leadership in the Western world. Thus, the United States succeeded in achieving recognition of the principle of "freedom of the seas", weakening Great Britain as a great maritime power, pushing Japan out of China, and also achieving the approval of the principle of "equal opportunities". However, Japan's position on Far East and in the Pacific proved to be strong enough.

Almost 100 years ago, an event took place in world history that turned the entire world order upside down, capturing almost half of the world in a whirlpool of hostilities, leading to the collapse of powerful empires and, as a result, to a wave of revolutions - the Great War. In 1914, Russia was forced into World War I, a fierce confrontation in several theaters of war. In a war marked by the use of chemical weapons, the first large-scale use of tanks and aircraft, a war with a huge number of casualties. The outcome of this war was tragic for Russia - a revolution, fratricidal Civil War, the split of the country, the loss of faith and a thousand-year-old culture, the split of the whole society into two irreconcilable camps. tragic crash state system The Russian Empire turned the age-old way of life of all strata of society without exception. A series of wars and revolutions, like an explosion of colossal power, shattered the world of Russian material culture into millions of fragments. The history of this catastrophic war for Russia, for the sake of the ideology that reigned in the country after the October Revolution, was considered as historical fact and how the war is imperialist, and not the war "For the Faith, the Tsar and the Fatherland."

And now our task is to revive and preserve the memory of the Great War, its heroes, the patriotism of the entire Russian people, its moral and spiritual values, and its history.

It is quite possible that the world community will widely celebrate the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War. And most likely, the role and participation of the Russian army in the Great War of the early twentieth century, as well as the history of the First World War, will be forgotten today. In order to counteract the facts of distortion of national history, the RPO "Academy of Russian Symbols" MARS "opens a memorial folk project dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the First World War.

As part of the project, we will try to objectively cover the events of 100 years ago with the help of newspaper publications and photographs of the Great War.

Two years ago, the people's project "Fragments of Great Russia" was launched, the main task of which is to preserve the memory of the historical past, the history of our country in the objects of its material culture: photographs, postcards, clothes, signs, medals, household items, all kinds of everyday little things and other artifacts that constituted an integral environment for the citizens of the Russian Empire. Formation of a reliable picture Everyday life Russian Empire.

Origin and beginning great war

Entering the second decade of the 20th century, European society was in an alarming state. Large sections of it experienced the extreme burden of military service and military taxes. It was found that by 1914 the military expenditures of the big powers had grown to 121 billion, and they absorbed about 1/12 of the entire income received from the wealth and work of the population of cultured countries. Europe was running the show clearly at a loss to itself, burdening all other forms of income and profit with the cost of destruction. But at a time when the majority of the population seemed to be protesting with all their might against the growing demands of the armed world, certain groups wanted the continuation or even strengthening of militarism. Such were all the suppliers to the army, navy, and fortresses, the ironworks, steelworks, and machine factories that made guns and shells, the numerous technicians and workers employed in them, as well as the bankers and paper holders who credited the government with equipment. Not only that, the leaders of this type of industry got into the taste of huge profits to such an extent that they began to seek real war expecting more orders from her.

In the spring of 1913, Reichstag deputy Karl Liebknecht, son of the founder of the Social Democratic pariah, exposed the intrigues of the supporters of the war. It turned out that the Krupp firm systematically bribed employees in the military and naval departments in order to learn the secrets of new inventions and attract government orders. It turned out that the French newspapers, bribed by the director of the German gun factory Gontard, spread false rumors about French armaments in order to arouse the desire of the German government to take on new and new armaments in turn. It turned out that there are international companies that benefit from the supply of weapons to various states, even those at war with each other.

Under pressure from the same circles interested in the war, the governments continued their armaments. At the beginning of 1913, there was an increase in the personnel of the active army in almost all states. In Germany, they decided to bring the figure to 872,000 soldiers, and the Reichstag gave a one-time contribution of 1 billion and an annual new tax of 200 million for the maintenance of surplus units. On this occasion, in England, supporters of a warlike policy started talking about the need to introduce a universal military service in order that England might equalize with the land powers. Especially difficult, almost painful, was the position of France in this matter due to the extremely weak population growth. Meanwhile, in France, from 1800 to 1911, the population increased from only 27.5 million. to 39.5 million, in Germany over the same period it rose from 23 million. to 65. With such a relatively weak increase, France could not keep up with Germany in the size of the active army, although it took 80% of the draft age, while Germany was limited to only 45%. The radicals prevailing in France, in agreement with the conservative nationalists, saw only one outcome - to replace the two-year service introduced in 1905 with a three-year one; under this condition, it was possible to bring the number of soldiers under arms to 760,000. In order to carry out this reform, the government tried to warm up militant patriotism; by the way, Secretary of War Milliran, a former socialist, put on brilliant parades. Socialists protested against the three-year service, large groups of workers, entire cities, for example, Lyon. Recognizing, however, the need to take measures in view of the impending war, yielding to general fears, the socialists proposed the introduction of a nationwide militia, meaning full armament, while maintaining the civilian character of the army.

It is not difficult to point out the direct perpetrators and organizers of the war, but it is very difficult to describe its remote foundations. They are rooted primarily in the industrial rivalry of peoples; the industry itself grew out of military takeovers; it remained a merciless conquering force; where she needed to create a new space for herself, she made weapons work for herself. When military masses were formed in its interests, they themselves became dangerous weapons, as if a defiant force. Huge military reserves cannot be kept with impunity; the car becomes too expensive, and then there is only one thing left - to put it into action. In Germany, due to the peculiarities of its history, military elements have accumulated the most. It was necessary to find service places for 20 too royal and princely families, for the Prussian landowning nobility, it was necessary to give an end to the arms factories, it was necessary to open a field for the application of German capital in the abandoned Muslim east. The economic conquest of Russia was also a tempting task, which the Germans wanted to facilitate for themselves by its political weakening, pushing it inland from the seas beyond the Dvina and the Dnieper.

Wilhelm II and Archduke Ferdinand of France, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, undertook to carry out these military-political plans. The desire of the latter to gain a foothold on the Balkan Peninsula was a considerable obstacle to independent Serbia. Economically, Serbia was quite dependent on Austria; now it was the destruction of its political independence. Franz Ferdinand intended to annex Serbia to the Serbo-Croatian provinces of Austria-Hungary, i.e. to Bosnia and Croatia, as a satisfaction of the national idea, he came up with the idea of creating Greater Serbia within the state on equal terms with the two former parts, Austria and Hungary; power from dualism had to move to trialism. In turn, Wilhelm II, taking advantage of the fact that the children of the Archduke were deprived of the right to the throne, directed his thoughts to creating an independent possession in the east by seizing the Black Sea and Transnistria from Russia. From the Polish-Lithuanian provinces, as well as the Baltic region, it was supposed to create another state in vassal dependence on Germany. In the upcoming war with Russia and France, William II hoped for the neutrality of England in view of the extreme aversion of the British to land operations and the weakness of the English army.

The course and features of the great war

The outbreak of war was accelerated by the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, which occurred while he was visiting Sarajevo, the main city of Bosnia. Austria-Hungary took the opportunity to accuse the entire Serbian people of preaching terror and to demand the admission of Austrian officials to the territory of Serbia. When, in response to this and to protect the Serbs, Russia began to mobilize, Germany immediately declared war on Russia and began military operations against France. Everything was done by the German government with extraordinary haste. Only with England did Germany try to negotiate the occupation of Belgium. When the British ambassador in Berlin referred to the Belgian neutrality treaty, Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg exclaimed: "But this is a piece of paper!"

By occupying Belgium, Germany caused a declaration of war on the part of England. The plan of the Germans apparently consisted in defeating France and then attacking Russia with all their might. In a short time, all of Belgium was captured, and german army occupied northern France, moving on Paris. In a great battle on the Marne, the French stopped the advance of the Germans; but the subsequent attempt by the French and British to break through the German front and drive the Germans out of France failed, and from that time the war in the west took on a protracted character. The Germans erected a colossal line of fortifications along the entire length of the front from the North Sea to the Swiss border, which abolished the former system of isolated fortresses. Opponents turned to the same method of artillery warfare.

At first, the war was fought between Germany and Austria, on the one hand, Russia, France, England, Belgium and Serbia, on the other. The Triple Entente Powers established an agreement among themselves not to conclude a separate peace with Germany. Over time, new allies appeared on both sides, and the theater of war expanded enormously. The tripartite agreement was joined by Japan, Italy, which separated from the tripartite alliance, Portugal and Romania, and the alliance central states- Turkey and Bulgaria.

Military operations in the east began along a large front from the Baltic Sea to the Carpathian Islands. The actions of the Russian army against the Germans and especially the Austrians were at first successful and led to the occupation of most of Galicia and Bukovina. But in the summer of 1915, due to a shortage of shells, the Russians had to retreat. Not only the cleansing of Galicia followed, but also the occupation by the German troops of the kingdom of Poland, Lithuanian and part of the Belarusian provinces. Here, too, a line of impregnable fortifications was established on both sides, a formidable continuous rampart, beyond which not one of the opponents dared to cross; only in the summer of 1916 did the army of General Brusilov advance into the corner of eastern Galicia and somewhat change this line, after which a fixed front was again defined; with the accession to the powers of consent of Romania, it extended to the Black Sea. During 1915, as Turkey and Bulgaria entered the war, hostilities opened in Western Asia and the Balkan Peninsula. Russian troops occupied Armenia; the British, advancing from the Persian Gulf, fought in Mesopotamia. The English fleet unsuccessfully tried to break through the fortifications of the Dardanelles. After that, the Anglo-French troops landed in Thessaloniki, where the Serbian army was transported by sea, forced to leave their country to the capture of the Austrians. Thus, in the east, a colossal front stretched from the Baltic Sea to the Persian Gulf. At the same time, the army operating from Thessaloniki, and the Italian forces occupying the entrances to Austria at the Adriatic Sea, constituted the southern front, the significance of which is that it cuts off the alliance of the Central Powers from the Mediterranean.

At the same time there were big battles at sea. The stronger British fleet destroyed the German squadron that appeared on the high seas and locked the rest of the German fleet in the harbors. This achieved a blockade of Germany and cut off the supply of supplies and shells to her by sea. At the same time, Germany lost all its overseas colonies. Germany responded with submarine attacks, destroying both military transport and merchant steamships of opponents.

Until the end of 1916, Germany and her allies generally held the upper hand on land, while the powers of agreement retained dominance at sea. Germany occupied the entire strip of land that she outlined for herself in the plan of "Central Europe" - from the North and Baltic Seas through the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula, Asia Minor to Mesopotamia. She had a concentrated position for herself and the ability, using an excellent network of communications, to quickly transfer her forces to places threatened by the enemy. On the other hand, its disadvantage consisted in the limitation of means of food due to circumcision from the rest of the World, while the opponents enjoyed the freedom of sea movements.

The war that began in 1914 far exceeds in size and ferocity all the wars that have ever been waged by mankind. In previous wars, only active armies fought only in 1870, in order to defeat France, the Germans used reserve cadres. In the great war of our time, the active armies of all peoples constituted only a small part, one weighty or even one tenth of the total composition of the mobilized forces. England, which had an army of 200-250 thousand volunteers, introduced general military service during the war itself and promised to bring the number of soldiers to 5 million. In Germany, not only almost all men of military age were taken, but also young men of 17-20 years old and elderly people over 40 and even over 45 years old. The number of people called to arms throughout Europe has reached perhaps 40 million.

Correspondingly, losses in battles are also great; never have people been spared so little as in this war. But its most striking feature is the predominance of technology. In the first place in it are cars, aircraft, armored vehicles, colossal guns, machine guns, asphyxiating gases. The Great War is primarily an engineering and artillery competition: people dig into the ground, create labyrinths of streets and villages there, and when they storm fortified lines, they bombard the enemy with an incredible number of shells. So, during the attack of the Anglo-French on the German fortifications near the river. Somme in the autumn of 1916, on both sides in a few days up to 80 million were released. shells. The cavalry is hardly used at all; and the infantry has very little to do. In such battles, the one of the opponents who has the best equipment and large quantity material. Germany wins over opponents with its military training, which took place over 3-4 decades. Extraordinarily important was the fact that since 1870, the richest country of iron, Lorraine, was in her possession. With their rapid onslaught in the autumn of 1914, the Germans prudently took possession of two areas of iron production, Belgium and the rest of Lorraine, which was still in the hands of France (the whole of Lorraine provides half of the total amount of iron produced in Europe). Germany also owns huge deposits of coal, necessary for iron processing. In these circumstances, one of the main conditions for the stability of Germany in the struggle lies.

Another feature of the great war is its merciless nature, plunging civilized Europe into the depths of barbarism. AT 19th wars in. did not touch the civilian population. Back in 1870, Germany announced that it was only fighting the French army, not the people. In modern warfare, Germany not only mercilessly takes away all supplies from the population of the captured territories of Belgium and Poland, but they themselves are reduced to the position of hard labor slaves who are driven to the hardest work of building fortifications for their conquerors. Germany brought the Turks and Bulgarians into battle, and these semi-savage peoples brought their cruel customs: they do not take prisoners, they exterminate the wounded. Whatever the outcome of the war, the European nations will have to deal with the desolation of vast expanses of land and the decline of cultural habits. The position of the working masses will be more difficult than it was before the war. Then European society will show whether enough art, knowledge and courage have been preserved in it to revive a deeply disturbed way of life.