The main stages of the First World War. The stages of the First World War are brief. The reason for the start of the war

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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE of the Russian Federation

Branch of the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education "National Research University" MPEI "" in Smolensk

by discipline: "History"

Topic: World War I: causes, stages, results

Student: A.V. Kokashinskaya

Group: TM - 13

Teacher:

Ph.D., associate professor

N.P. Starodvortseva

Smolensk, 2014

Introduction

In August 1914, the world did not yet know how grandiose and catastrophic the war declared on the first day of the last summer month would become. No one had ever known what innumerable sacrifices, calamities and upheavals it would bring to humanity and what an indelible mark it would leave in its history.

As a result of a hitherto unprecedented scale of hostilities, tens of millions of people died and were crippled, four empires - Russian, German, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman - ended their existence, an unthinkable amount of everything that was created by people for more than one hundred years was destroyed.

The imperialists of all countries are to blame for the preparations for the First World War. However, the main, leading imperialist contradiction that hastened the outbreak of this war was the Anglo-German contradiction.

Each of the imperialist powers, entering the world war, pursued its own predatory goals.

The war lasted 4 years, 3 months and 10 days, drawing into its orbit 38 states with a population of over 1.5 billion people, which was at that time three quarters of the world's population. The total number of mobilized people reached 73.5 million. Military operations took place in vast land and naval theaters, and were conducted with the help of the latest weapons of warfare at that time.

The war has had a great impact on the entire course of world history. In this regard, the study of the history of the First World War is relevant today. world war empire brusilovsky

The purpose of the essay is to highlight the First World War.

This goal involves the solution of the following tasks:

Describe the escalation of the global crisis on the eve of the war;

Reveal the strategic plans of the countries that unleashed the war;

Describe the consequences of the war;

Summarize the results of the First World War.

1. Causes and nature of the war

On June 28, 1914, a Serbian student from the Black Hand national - terrorist organization Gavrilo Princip shot the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife. This happened in the Bosnian town of Sarajevo, where the Archduke arrived for the maneuvers of the Austrian troops. Bosnia at that time was still a part of Austria-Hungary, and Serbian nationalists considered part of Bosnian territory, including Sarajevo, theirs. The assassination of the Archduke, the nationalists wanted to reiterate their claims.

As a result, Austria-Hungary and Germany received an extremely convenient opportunity to defeat Serbia and gain a foothold in the Balkans. The main question now is whether the Russia that patronized Serbia will stand up for Serbia. But in Russia just at that time there was a major reorganization of the army, which was planned to be completed only by 1917. Therefore, in Berlin and Vienna they hoped that the Russians did not risk getting involved in a serious conflict. And yet Germany and Austria-Hungary discussed the plan of action for almost a month. Only on July 23, Austria-Hungary handed Serbia an ultimatum with a number of demands, which boiled down to a complete cessation of all anti-Austrian actions, including propaganda. Two days were allotted to fulfill the conditions of the ultimatum.

Russia advised the Serb allies to accept the ultimatum, and they agreed to fulfill nine of its ten conditions. They only refused to allow the Austrian representatives to investigate the assassination of the Archduke. But Austria-Hungary, pushed by Germany, was determined to fight even if the Serbs accepted the entire ultimatum. On July 28, she declared war on Serbia and immediately began hostilities, shelling the Serbian capital Belgrade.

The very next day, Nicholas II signed a decree on general mobilization, but almost immediately received a telegram from Wilhelm II. The Kaiser assured the tsar that he would do his best to "pacify" the Austrians. Nikolai canceled his decree, but Minister of Foreign Affairs S.N.Sazonov managed to persuade him, and on July 30, Russia nevertheless announced a general mobilization. In response, Germany itself began a general mobilization, simultaneously demanding that Russia cancel its military preparations within 12 hours. Having received a decisive refusal, Germany on August 1 declared war on Russia. It is characteristic that even on the eve of the Germans announced their intention to France, insisting on her observance of neutrality. However, the French, bound to Russia by treaty, also announced mobilization. Then on August 3, Germany declared war on France and Belgium. The next day, England, initially showing some hesitation, declared war on Germany. So the Sarajevo murder led to a world war. Later, 34 states were drawn into it on the side of the opposite bloc (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria).

Causes of war:

1. Aggravation of all contradictions in the capitalist countries;

2. Creation of two opposing blocks;

3. Weak peace-loving forces (weak labor movement);

4. Striving for the division of the world;

· The nature of the war:

For all, the war was aggressive, but for Serbia it was fair, because the conflict with her (presentation of an ultimatum on July 23, 1914) of Austria-Hungary was only a pretext for the outbreak of hostilities.

State goals:

Germany:

Strove to establish world domination

Austria-Hungary:

Control over the Balkans => control over the movement of ships in the Adriatic => enslave the Slavic countries.

She strove to seize Turkish possessions, as well as Mesopotamia and Palestine with their oil possessions.

Sought to weaken Germany, return Alsace and Lorraine (lands); capture the coal basin, claims to be the hegemon in Europe.

It sought to undermine the position of Germany and ensure free passage through the Vasbor and Dardanelles Strait in the Mediterranean Sea. Strengthen influence in the Balkans (by weakening Germany's influence on Turkey).

She strove to leave the Balkans under her influence, to seize the Crimea and Iran (raw material base).

Domination in the Mediterranean and Southern Europe.

The war can be divided into three periods:

During the first period (1914-1916), the Central Powers sought the superiority of forces on land, while the Allies dominated the sea. This period ended with negotiations on a mutually acceptable peace, but each side still hoped for victory.

In the next period (1917), two events took place that led to an imbalance of forces: first, the United States entered the war on the side of the Entente, and second, the revolution in Russia and its withdrawal 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 surrender of the Central Powers

2. Stages of the First World War

2.1 Campaigns of 1915 and 1916

Despite the successful completion of military operations in 1914, the position of the Russian army at the beginning of the new campaign was not easy. The stocks of weapons and ammunition were designed for a short war and by the beginning of 1915 were largely depleted. By the end of the year, there was an acute shortage of rifles, cartridges and shells. During the first operations, the superiority of the German troops in the provision of heavy artillery was also revealed. While the fighting was maneuverable, this superiority did not yet give a noticeable advantage. But gradually the troops, as on the Western Front, more and more "gnawed" into the ground, and overcoming well-prepared defensive positions without the assistance of heavy artillery became an almost hopeless affair.

Nevertheless, the High Command of the Russian Army was planning offensive operations in the upcoming campaign as well. The headquarters hoped to achieve success primarily in the German direction, but at the same time it evenly distributed its forces between the Northwestern and Southwestern Fronts. However, these plans were disrupted by the enemy.

The German command, planning a new campaign, faced a more complex dilemma in the distribution of forces. The positional nature of the war on the Western Front called into question the success of any offensive. But getting Russia out of the war did not seem easy. Everything was decided by the activity of Russian troops at the front against Austria-Hungary. Winter battles in the Carpathians revealed the weakness of the Austro-Hungarian army and the threat of its complete defeat. To help an ally, Germany had to deliver a diversionary strike on the Eastern Front. This meant a turn in German war strategy: now she tried to do away first with her enemy in the east. Four newly formed corps of the German army were sent to the Eastern Front. Four more corps were removed from the Western Front.

On March 9 (22), 1915, after months of siege, the Austrian fortress of Przemysl fell. The entire 120,000th garrison was captured. The army blocking it could be used for an offensive in the Carpathians. However, the balance of forces by this time had already changed in favor of Russia's opponents.

By mid-April, the Germans concentrated a strike force in Western Galicia to break through the Russian front. In the area of Gorlitsy, where the main blow was delivered, they had one and a half superiority in the number of troops and a double superiority in artillery. The advantage in heavy artillery was especially tangible. The offensive began on April 19 (May 2) and continued without interruption until early June. During this operation, the Russian army was forced to leave Galicia along with the recent trophies - Przemysl and Lvov. This was the beginning of the "Great Retreat", which resulted in a chain of breakthroughs by German and Austrian troops in different sectors of the huge front and defensive operations of the Russian army to contain the enemy rushing to the east.

The most difficult circumstance that made it difficult to fight the enemy was the lack of ammunition. While German heavy artillery unleashed a flurry of fire on Russian defensive positions, the Russian army was forced to save not only on shells, but also on rifle cartridges. Unable to respond to the enemy with equivalent fire, she had no choice but to retreat.

At the end of the Gorlitsk operation, the German-Austrian command planned to encircle and destroy the group of Russian troops in Poland with joint attacks from the north and south. In early July, the Germans carried out the Prasnysh breakthrough and, reaching the rear of the Russian armies in Poland, threatened to cut off their escape routes. However, the Russian command, having suspended the enemy's offensive from both the south and the north, carried out the withdrawal of its troops to the east, leaving only an 86-thousandth garrison in the Novogeorgievsk fortress. This garrison, however, lasted no more than ten days and shamefully surrendered, leaving over a thousand serviceable guns to the enemy.

Having retreated from Poland, the Russian troops, under the onslaught of the advancing enemy, left most of Lithuania and Western Belarus during August. On August 23 (September 5), in search of a way out of a situation that was becoming more and more threatening, Nicholas II decided to take over the Supreme Command. The emperor appointed General M.V. Alekseev as the chief of his staff, who, despite the unpreparedness of Nicholas II for the strategic leadership of the troops, actually headed the Headquarters. Alekseev was quite in his place in this post: he was an excellent staff officer, and some lack of determination was fully made up for by the august responsibility for the decisions made.

At the end of August, the Germans tried to destroy the Russian armies again, taking them into a ring of encirclement, this time in the Vilna region. They managed to break through the front and go to the rear of the Russian troops. But Stavka calmly assessed the situation and, skillfully using its reserves, coped with this breakthrough. The Vilna operation led to the loss of another part of the territory, and the Russian troops withdrew to the Western Dvina - Dvinsk - Baranovichi - Pinsk line, where the front stabilized. The opponents dug in, erected barrage lines, built fortifications and went over to trench warfare.

Thus, the 1915 campaign turned into heavy defeats for the Russian army. During the "Great Retreat" huge territories were abandoned, and the troops suffered irreparable losses. But at the cost of these losses, the Russian front withstood the German onslaught: Germany failed to solve the main task of the campaign - to withdraw Russia from the war.

2.2 Campaign of 1916. Brusilov breakthrough

Before the new military campaign, the command of the armies of the Entente countries tried to reach an agreement on the mutual coordination of military efforts.

In late November (early December) 1915, an inter-allied conference was held at the Headquarters of the French High Command in Chantilly. The Russian Stavka proposed its own plan of operations for 1916, which boiled down to the simultaneous strikes of the Russian South-Western Front, Anglo-French forces from the Thessaloniki bridgehead on the shores of the Aegean Sea and the Italian army - in the general direction of Budapest - to defeat Austria-Hungary, withdraw it and Bulgaria from the war and, in turn, win over Romania and Greece. However, the allies of Russia rejected this plan, citing their refusal by the weakness of resources for offensive actions. The main theater of the war, in their opinion, was the French, where it was supposed to conduct only defensive operations in order to save the French army for an offensive in the future. The French General Headquarters planned to launch this offensive in the summer of 1916, with Russia and Italy being the first to act to divert Austro-German forces from the main theater.

However, the Germans launched an offensive against the French fortress of Verdun in February. Simultaneously, Austro-Hungarian troops attacked the Italian army. To help its ally in the west, the Russian General Headquarters launched an offensive in March with the forces of the Northern and Western Fronts. However, not prepared either materially or tactically, the 10-day Naroch operation led only to heavy losses (up to 90 thousand people), although it diverted four German divisions from the Western Front.

At the March conference in Chantilly, it was decided to accelerate the general offensive against the Central Powers. It was supposed to be launched by the Russian army at the end of April, so that in May it was supported by the Allied troops. The plan of the Russian offensive was presented to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief by his Chief of Staff M.V. Alekseev at the end of March. The headquarters planned to deliver the main attack by the forces of the Western Front (commander-in-chief A.E. Evert) in the direction of Vilno, and the offensive of the Northern (commander-in-chief A.N. Kuropatkin) and Southwestern (commander-in-chief A.A. Brusilov) fronts was to be of an auxiliary nature. ...

On May 22-25 (June 4-7), all four Brusilov's armies broke through the front line in several places at once and within a week advanced several tens of kilometers. The defeat of the enemy was impressive: only the number of captured in twenty days of battles reached 200 thousand.However, Evert (commander-in-chief of the Western Front), referring to the incomplete concentration of troops and the possible bad weather, first postponed his offensive until June 4 (17), and then another for two weeks. When the strike group of the Western Front finally tried to attack the enemy positions in the Baranovichi area, it faced a well-prepared defense and failed. Thus, the Brusilov breakthrough from a secondary one turned into the main operation of the campaign.

June 21 (July 4) Southwestern Front resumed its offensive against the Austro-German troops. New victories were won, which, however, could not be developed due to Brusilov's lack of reserves. Only on June 26 (July 9), a month after the successful breakthrough, the Stavka refused to deliver the main attack by the Western Front and began to transfer troops, including the Stavka reserve - the guards corps, to the victorious Southwestern Front.

But this decision of the Headquarters turned out to be belated. When Brusilov moved his armies to the offensive on Kovel on July 15 (28), the enemy had already managed to strengthen the defense of this area well. In addition, the armies of the Northern and Western Fronts, which were now ordered to support the offensive impulse of the Southwestern Front, continued to be inactive. Neither Ruzsky, who replaced Kuropatkin, nor Evert were able to act as boldly and decisively as Brusilov. Even the strengthening of the Western Front by two armies could not induce Evert to attack. Again, over and over again he postponed the start of the operation, and then canceled it altogether "after the onset of autumn time."

As a result, several attempts to capture Kovel resulted in heavy, bloody battles on the swampy banks of the river. Stokhod, where both sides suffered heavy losses. The fight for Kovel ended only in October. New successes were achieved only in Southern Galicia and Bukovina.

The result of the Brusilov offensive in the summer of 1916 was the defeat of several divisions and entire corps of the Austro-Hungarian and German armies. Their losses reached 1.5 million people. Over 400 thousand enemy soldiers surrendered alone. However, the strategic importance of this operation was not so great. By conquering parts of Bukovina, Galicia and Volhynia, the front line was pushed to the west up to 150 km, but the Carpathian passes remained in the hands of the enemy. Both Germany and even Austria-Hungary retained their combat capability.

But the Brusilov breakthrough did not give the Central Powers a chance to turn the tide of the war in their favor. The Italian army was saved from defeat, the pressure on Verdun was weakened. Only the postponement of the offensive on the Western Front prevented the Entente armies from taking advantage of simultaneous attacks from the east and west. Anglo-French offensive on the river. The Somme began on June 18 (July 1), when, according to the chief of the German General Staff, E. von Falkenhain, "in Galicia the most dangerous moment of the Russian offensive had already been experienced."

Thus, the Russian army successfully carried out the 1916 campaign. It recovered from the heavy defeats of the "Great Retreat" and showed a fairly high combat readiness. During the year, the combat supplies of the troops improved, and the armies no longer experienced the "shell" hunger that doomed them to powerlessness in the fight against the enemy in the previous campaign. Offensive operations once again raised the morale of the troops, especially the armies of the Southwestern Front.

And yet the reserve of the moral strength of the Russian army was significantly depleted. She suffered unjustifiably large losses both due to a lack of combat support, and due to inept strategic and operational leadership of the troops. Those who managed to survive in three military campaigns, the most seasoned cadres of the army, made up its insignificant minority and, moreover, experienced great fatigue from months of entrenchment. New reinforcements were sent to the German war not with faith in victory, but with a sense of doom.

3. Consequences of the first world war

3.1 Historical background of the end of the war

In 1916-1917. important events took place in Russia. It was the weakest link in the Entente economically, militarily and politically. A crisis was brewing in the country. Defeats at the front, a sharp deterioration in the economic situation led to the growth of the anti-war and anti-government movement. Dissatisfaction with the domestic and foreign policy of the country grew not only among the common people and the intelligentsia, but also in the ruling elite.

At the regular conference of Entente representatives that ended in February 1917, the earlier decision to bring the war to a victorious end was confirmed. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional Government declared that peace is impossible without victory over Germany and is fraught with grave consequences. Having confirmed the obligations of the tsarist government, the new Russian government received the support of other countries. In March - April 1917, almost all states announced the legal recognition of the Provisional Government.

In connection with the economic and, mainly, political events taking place in Russia, the Provisional Government turned to the Allies with a proposal to postpone the start of the general offensive against Germany from spring to summer. But England and France insisted on the earliest possible start of the operation on the eastern front. This led to the breakthrough by German troops of the front line near Ternopil and the retreat of the Russian armies in its southwestern sector. The internal situation in the country has worsened even more. An acute political crisis began.

The decline in the prestige and weight of Russia in the eyes and deeds of the allies, which began under the tsar, intensified after the February revolution. England and France strove to bring the situation inside Russia under their control and prevent her from leaving the war. The resolution adopted by the Reichstag of Germany, calling for the achievement of peace, was met with hostility by the German command. The war continued. Neither the Provisional Government nor the governments of the Entente countries understood the processes taking place in Russia. Their main stake in their political strategy was to continue the war until the complete victory over Germany.

The Bolsheviks opposed this policy to the course of an immediate end to the war and the conclusion of peace. The day after the victory of the revolution, the All-Russian Congress of Soviets adopted the Decree on Peace. Now, when not a single decade has passed since that memorable time, its events are assessed in different ways: with greater or lesser significance. But, despite the different approaches to their coverage, researchers are unanimous that the Peace Decree played a big role in the historical development of our country and in international life. It was not a purely propaganda, transient act calculated for temporary success, but reflected the views of the new government on the problems of war and peace and international relations. It did not put forward the idea of a world revolution, which at that time was fashionable among a certain part of the socialists. The Peace Decree was, as it were, the theoretical basis for the course towards peaceful coexistence of the two systems. It is no coincidence that some of its provisions are reflected in a number of international documents.

On November 8, the Soviet government instructed the commander-in-chief, General Dukhonin, to immediately appeal to all the belligerent countries with a proposal for an armistice. Russia was economically exhausted, and its army was tired and in crisis.

The Soviet peace proposal provoked an acute conflict of opinions in Germany. However, she found it possible to agree to peace negotiations. The attempt of the Soviet government to involve other belligerent countries in them was unsuccessful.

3.2 Negotiations in Brest-Litovsk

On December 3, 1917, negotiations began in Brest-Litovsk between representatives of Soviet Russia, on the one hand, and representatives of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria, on the other.

On March 3, 1918, a peace treaty was concluded in Brest-Litovsk between Russia and the countries of the Quarter Union (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey). His conditions for Russia were very difficult. Poland, Lithuania, Courland, Livonia, Estonia and huge areas occupied by German troops departed from its territory. In the Caucasus, Kara, Ardahan and Batumi passed to Turkey. Ukraine and Finland became independent states. The exchange of prisoners of war was envisaged. In Brest-Litovsk, the following were also signed: the final protocol on customs duties and tariffs, the Russian-German additional agreement, the Russian-Austrian additional agreement, the Russian-Bulgarian additional agreement and the Russian-Turkish additional agreement.

The ratification of the treaty was to take place within two weeks. Both during the negotiations and after the signing of the peace treaty, there was no unanimity in the government and the party. V. I. Lenin more than once remained in the minority, and yet in the end he managed to obtain consent to sign the treaty and its ratification.

On March 12, the All-Russian Congress of Soviets was convened with an agenda for the ratification of the Brest Treaty. Before that, the Seventh Party Congress, by a majority vote, spoke in favor of approving the treaty, authorizing the Central Committee in the future, when the situation changes, to break it as violent. After the debate, the All-Russian Congress of Soviets on March 15 ratified the Brest Treaty.

3.3 The defeat of the Quadruple Alliance and the collapse of the empires participating in it

The hopes of the Bolsheviks that the working people of the belligerent countries would quickly rise to fight for peace and socialism did not come true. Even in the fourth year of the war, patriotism was stronger than internationalism, and most people did not associate the growing desire for peace with socialism. Many were embarrassed by the shameful peace of Soviet Russia with the Quadruple Alliance, and even more by the dictatorship, terror, war communism, the Civil War and devastation. The governments of Lloyd George and Clemenceau, under the pretext of protecting Russia from the Germans, sent their troops there, supporting the opponents of the Bolshevik Soviets.

Under such conditions, the program of US President W. Wilson became an alternative to the Bolshevik revolutionary reorganization of the world. In January 1918, in his message to Congress, he put forward 14 theses that became known to the whole world.

In fact, Wilson was the first of the leaders of the great powers to suggest that the ideas of liberalism be the basis of foreign policy and international relations. He supported the long-popular slogan of a just world without winners and losers and called for the self-determination of peoples, but without revolutions and socialism, for which the Bolsheviks stood up. The implementation of these ideas would still mean the loss of Germany of its conquests and the collapse following the Russian Austro-Hungary and other empires.

Wilson proclaimed the equal freedom of trade and navigation for all. In practice, this was an attempt on the advantages of the Entente powers in their colonies and spheres of influence, where the United States sought to penetrate.

Finally, in order to maintain a just peace, Wilson proposed creating a universal interstate organization - the League of Nations. It was to become an organization of the world community.

Wilson's ideas enhanced the international role of the United States, which was reinforced by their loans to the Entente and the build-up of North American troops in France. The leaders of the Entente could not like them. But for the overwhelming majority of the population of all countries, the Wilsonian theses turned out to be more understandable and attractive than the revolutionary socialist ideas of the Bolsheviks.

From August 1918, the initiative at the fronts was everywhere passed to the Entente. Its troops outnumbered the enemy in numbers, organization and weapons. Her armies broke through the enemy front in the Balkans. On September 29, Bulgaria signed an armistice. This meant the collapse of the Quadruple Alliance: its single space was split.

At the end of September, the commander-in-chief of the combined forces, General F. Foch, threw Franco-Anglo-American troops on the offensive along the entire Western Front. The German resistance was broken. On October 5, 1918, the German government requested an armistice.

The obvious defeat in the war finally deprived the ruling circles of the powers of the Quadruple Alliance of the confidence of the population and favored the actions of the opponents of the regimes. The disintegration of Austria-Hungary began. In early October, a People's Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs was convened in Zagreb, which soon announced the creation of the kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes - Yugoslavia. By the end of October, the Czechoslovak Republic was created, the monarchies were overthrown and the sovereignties of Hungary and Austria were proclaimed. These were national revolutions, in which the leading role belonged to liberals, democrats and social democrats.

On November 11, at the Retonde station in the Compiegne Forest, in the carriage of Marshal F. Foch, representatives of Germany signed an armistice act. Germany, recognizing its defeat, was deprived of all its conquests and colonies, handed over to the victors all military equipment, withdrew troops from the left bank of the Rhine and foreign territories, except for the lands of the former Russian Empire, where German troops were used against revolutionary uprisings.

Polish patriots took advantage of Germany's defeat to revive the independent Polish state. The independence of Latvia was also proclaimed. And Soviet Russia declared the Brest-Litovsk Treaty invalid.

Thus, the First World War and the wave of revolutions in Europe that began in 1917 were an expression of the crisis of world development. Revolutions were scattered attempts by various political forces and peoples to find ways to overcome this crisis.

Conclusion

The First World War, which lasted 4 years, 3 months and 10 days [from July 19 (August 1), 1914 to November 11, 1918], had no equal in scale and consequences in the entire previous history of mankind. Starting between 8 European countries, it gradually attracted 38 states into its orbit, where more than 1.5 billion people lived, or three quarters of the world's population. The total number of those mobilized in the army reached 73.5 million people.

This war went down in history as an event of great importance, which had a great influence on the further course of development of human society. It opened and gave birth to a chain of world catastrophes, social and political cataclysms, which radically changed the political map and the balance of power in the world, and, above all, in Europe. The economic, social and spiritual crisis caused by the war entailed the collapse of four empires (Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey), and initiated a wave of revolutions that swept across the European continent. Truly incalculable misfortunes have been brought about by the war on the peoples. 10 million killed (as many as died in all European wars in a thousand years) and 20 million wounded (3.5 million of them were crippled) - this is its bloody result. The direct military expenditures of the opposing states alone amounted to 208 billion dollars, which is 10 times higher than the cost of wars from 1793 to 1907.

War 1914-1918 demanded an enormous strain on the material resources of all the belligerent powers, forced them to transfer enterprises of the main industries to war production, to supply the entire economy to the service of armed struggle.

The war had a great influence on the development of the armed forces, their types and types of troops.

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When did the first world war start?

The beginning of the First World War was the declaration of war by Austria-Hungary and Serbia. The pretext for the war was the murder of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown by the nationalist Gavrila Princip.

Speaking briefly about the First World War, it should be noted that the main reason for the emerging hostilities is the conquest of a place in the sun, the desire to rule the world with the balance of power that has arisen, the Anglo-German trade barriers that have arisen, such a phenomenon in the development of the state as economic imperialism and territorial claims that has reached the absolute some states to others.

On June 28, 1914, the Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip killed the Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. On July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, starting the main war in the first third of the twentieth century.

Fig. 1. Gavrilo Principle.

Russia in the First World War

Russia announced its mobilization, preparing to defend the fraternal people, which drew upon itself an ultimatum from Germany to stop the formation of new divisions. On August 1, 1914, Germany declared an official declaration of war on Russia.

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In 1914, hostilities on the Eastern Front were fought in Prussia, where the rapid advance of Russian troops was thrown back by the German counteroffensive and the defeat of Samsonov's army. The offensive in Galicia was more effective. On the Western Front, the course of hostilities was more pragmatic. The Germans invaded France through Belgium and moved at a forced pace to Paris. Only in the Battle of the Marne was the offensive managed to be stopped by the forces of the Allies and the parties went over to a long trench war, which lasted until 1915.

In 1915, Germany's former ally, Italy, entered the war on the side of the Entente. So the southwestern front was formed. The fighting unfolded in the Alps, starting the mountain war.

On April 22, 1915, during the Battle of Ypres, German soldiers used chlorine poison gas against the Entente forces, which was the first gas attack in history.

A similar meat grinder happened on the Eastern Front. The defenders of the Osovets fortress in 1916 covered themselves with unfading glory. German forces, several times superior to the Russian garrison, were never able to take the fortress after mortar and artillery fire and several assaults. After that, a chemical attack was applied. When the Germans, walking in gas masks through the smoke, believed that there were no survivors in the fortress, Russian soldiers ran out at them, coughing up blood and wrapped in various rags. The bayonet attack was unexpected. The enemy, many times outnumbered, was finally thrown back.

Fig. 2. Defenders of Osovets.

At the Battle of the Somme in 1916, the British used tanks for the first time during the attack. Despite frequent breakdowns and low accuracy, the attack had more of a psychological effect.

Fig. 3. Tanks on the Somme.

In order to distract the Germans from the breakthrough and draw off the forces from Verdun, the Russian troops planned an offensive in Galicia, the result of which was the surrender of Austria-Hungary. This is how the "Brusilov Breakthrough" took place, which, although it shifted the front line tens of kilometers to the west, did not solve its main task.

At sea between the British and the Germans in 1916, a general battle took place near the Jutland Peninsula. The German fleet intended to break the naval blockade. More than 200 ships took part in the battle with the advantage of the British, but during the battle there was no winner, and the blockade continued.

On the side of the Entente in 1917, the United States entered the world war, for which the entry into the world war on the side of the winner at the very last moment became a classic. The reinforced concrete "Hindenburg Line" was erected by the German command from Lance to the Aisne River, behind which the Germans retreated and went over to a defensive war.

The French General Nivel developed a counter-offensive plan on the Western Front. Massive artillery barrage and attacks on different sectors of the front did not give the desired effect.

In 1917, in the course of two revolutions in Russia, the Bolsheviks came to power, who concluded the shameful separate Brest Peace. On March 3, 1918, Russia withdrew from the war.
In the spring of 1918, the Germans launched their last, "spring offensive". They intended to break through the front and withdraw France from the war, however, the numerical superiority of the allies did not allow them to do this.

Economic exhaustion and growing dissatisfaction with the war forced Germany to sit down at the negotiating table, during which a peace treaty was concluded at Versailles.

What have we learned?

Regardless of who fought with whom and who won, history has shown that the end of the First World War did not solve all the problems of mankind. The battle for the redivision of the world did not end, the allies did not finish off Germany and her allies completely, but only economically exhausted, which led to the signing of the peace. World War II was only a matter of time.

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On June 28, 1914, a Serbian student from the Black Hand national - terrorist organization Gavrilo Princip shot the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife. It happened in a Bosnian town Sarajevo, where the Archduke arrived for the maneuvers of the Austrian troops. Bosnia at that time was still a part of Austria-Hungary, and Serbian nationalists considered part of Bosnian territory, including Sarajevo, theirs. The assassination of the Archduke, the nationalists wanted to reiterate their claims.

Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the throne, and his wife, Archduchess Sophia, before the assassination attempt in Sarajevo

The very next day, Nicholas II signed a decree on general mobilization, but almost immediately received a telegram from Wilhelm II... The Kaiser assured the tsar that he would do his best to "pacify" the Austrians. Nikolai canceled his decree, but Minister of Foreign Affairs S.N.Sazonov managed to persuade him, and on July 30, Russia nevertheless announced a general mobilization.

In response, Germany itself began a general mobilization, simultaneously demanding that Russia cancel its military preparations within 12 hours. Having received a decisive refusal, Germany on August 1 declared war on Russia. It is characteristic that even on the eve of the Germans announced their intention to France, insisting on her observance of neutrality. However, the French, bound to Russia by treaty, also announced mobilization. Then on August 3, Germany declared war on France and Belgium. The next day, England, initially showing some hesitation, declared war on Germany. So the Sarajevo murder led to a world war. Later, 34 states were drawn into it on the side of the opposite bloc (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria).

· Causes of the war:

1. Aggravation of all contradictions in the capitalist countries;

2. Creation of two opposing blocks;

3. Weak peace-loving forces (weak labor movement);

4. Striving for the division of the world;

· The nature of the war:

· Goals of states:

Germany	Strove to establish world domination
Austro-hungary	Control over the Balkans => control over the movement of ships in the Adriatic => enslave the Slavic countries.
	She strove to seize Turkish possessions, as well as Mesopotamia and Palestine with their oil possessions
	Sought to weaken Germany, return Alsace and Lorraine (lands); capture the coal basin, claims to be the hegemon in Europe.
	It sought to undermine the position of Germany and ensure free passage through the Vasbor and Dardanelles Strait in the Mediterranean Sea. Strengthen influence in the Balkans (by weakening Germany's influence on Turkey).
	She strove to leave the Balkans under her influence, to seize the Crimea and Iran (raw material base).
	Domination in the Mediterranean and Southern Europe.

The war can be divided into three periods:

· The first main stage of the war. The allied forces initially included Russia, France, Great Britain, Serbia, Montenegro and Belgium and enjoyed overwhelming superiority at sea. 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; the 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 possessed 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 blitzkrieg war.

The Germans put into effect the Schlieffen plan, which assumed that a large attack on France through Belgium would ensure rapid success in the West. After the defeat of France, Germany counted, 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's 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 way to Brussels, but thanks to this delay, the British ferried an almost 90,000-strong expeditionary force across the English Channel to France (August 9-17). The French gained time for the formation of 5 armies, which held back the German offensive. Nevertheless, on August 20, the German army occupied Brussels, then forced the British to leave Mons (on August 23), and on September 3, the army of General A. von Kluck was 40 km from Paris. Continuing the offensive, the Germans crossed the Marne River and on September 5 stopped along the Paris-Verdun line. The commander of the French forces, General Jacques Joffre, having formed two new armies from the reserves, decided to launch a counteroffensive.

The first battle on the Marne began on 5 and ended on 12 September. It was attended by 6 Anglo-French and 5 German armies. The Germans were defeated. One of the reasons for their defeat was the absence on the right flank of several divisions, 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, inevitable. The battles in Flanders on the Isère 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 the hands of the Allies, which provided communication between France and England. Paris was saved, and the Entente countries were given time to mobilize resources. The war in the west assumed a positional character, Germany's calculation of the defeat and withdrawal of France from the war turned out to be untenable.

There were 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 to Konigsberg. The German generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff were assigned to lead the counter-offensive. 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 Dniester. But the Russians launched an offensive in a southern direction, broke through the defenses of the Austro-Hungarian troops and, taking several thousand prisoners, occupied the Austrian province of Galicia and part of Poland. The advance of the Russian troops created a threat to Silesia and Poznan - industrial regions important for Germany. Germany was forced to transfer additional forces from France. But an acute shortage of ammunition and food stopped the advance of the Russian troops. The offensive cost Russia huge sacrifices, but undermined the power of Austria-Hungary and forced Germany to keep significant forces on the Eastern Front.

Back in August 1914, Japan declared war on Germany. In October 1914, Turkey entered the war on the side of the bloc of the Central Powers. With the outbreak of the 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 talks in March-May 1915, the Entente countries promised to satisfy Italy's territorial claims in the course of a post-war peace settlement in the event that Italy would take their side. May 23, 1915 Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary. And on August 28, 1916 - Germany on western front the British were defeated in the second battle of Ypres. Here, during the battles that lasted for a month (April 22 - May 25, 1915), chemical weapons were used for the first time. After that, poisonous gases (chlorine, phosgene, and later mustard gas) began to be used by both warring parties. The large-scale Dardanelles landing operation - a naval expedition that was equipped by the Entente countries at the beginning of 1915 with the aim of taking Constantinople, opening the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits for communication with Russia through the Black Sea, withdrawing Turkey from the war and attracting the Balkan states to the side of the allies - ended in defeat. On the Eastern Front, by the end of 1915, German and Austro-Hungarian troops drove the Russians out of almost all of Galicia and from most of the territory of Russian Poland. But they failed to force Russia to a separate peace. In October 1915 Bulgaria declared war on Serbia, after which the Central Powers, together with a new Balkan ally, crossed the borders of Serbia, Montenegro and Albania. After capturing Romania and covering the Balkan flank, they turned against Italy.

The balance of forces at the beginning of the war

	Army size after mobilization (thousand people)	Light weapons	Heavy guns	Aircraft

Great Britain

Total: Entente
Germany
Austro-hungary
Total: Central Powers

War at sea. Control at sea made it possible for the British to freely move troops and equipment from all parts of their empire to France. They kept sea lines of communication open to US merchant ships. The German colonies were captured, and the trade of the Germans through the sea routes was suppressed. In general, the German fleet - except for the submarine - was blocked in its ports. Only from time to time did small fleets come out to strike at British coastal cities and attack Allied merchant ships. During the entire war, there was only one major naval battle - when the German fleet entered the North Sea and unexpectedly met the British off the Danish coast of Jutland. The battle of Jutland on May 31 - June 1, 1916 led to heavy losses on both sides: the British lost 14 ships, about 6,800 people killed, captured and wounded; the Germans, who considered themselves victors, - 11 ships and about 3,100 people killed and wounded. However, the British forced the German fleet to withdraw to Keele, where it was effectively blocked. The German fleet on the high seas no longer appeared, and Great Britain remained the ruler of the seas.

Having taken a dominant position at sea, the Allies gradually cut off. Central powers from overseas sources of raw materials and food. According to international law, neutral countries, such as the United States, could sell goods that were not considered "military contraband" to other neutral countries - the Netherlands or Denmark, from where these goods could be delivered to Germany. However, the belligerent countries did not usually bind themselves to compliance with the norms of international law, and Great Britain expanded the list of goods considered to be smuggled so much that practically nothing passed through its screens in the North Sea.

The naval blockade forced Germany to resort to drastic measures. Its only effective means at sea was the submarine fleet, capable of freely bypassing surface barriers and sinking the 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 torpedo ships.

On February 18, 1915, the German government declared the waters around the British Isles a war 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 carrying hundreds of passengers, including 115 US citizens. President W. Wilson protested, the United States and Germany exchanged harsh diplomatic notes.

Verdun and the 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 al-Amar in Mesopotamia, where 13,000 people surrendered to the Turks. On the continent, Germany was preparing for a large-scale offensive operation on the Western Front, which was supposed to turn the tide of the war and force France to ask for peace. The key point of the French defense was the old fortress of Verdun. After an unprecedented artillery bombardment, 12 German divisions launched an offensive on February 21, 1916. The Germans moved slowly until the beginning of July, but did not achieve their goals. The Verdun "meat grinder" clearly did not justify the calculations of the German command. Operations on the Eastern and Southwestern Fronts were of great importance during the spring and summer of 1916. In March, at the request of the allies, Russian troops carried out an operation near Lake Naroch, which significantly influenced the course of hostilities in France. The German command was forced to cease attacks on Verdun for some time and, keeping 0.5 million people on the Eastern Front, to transfer here an additional part of the reserves. At the end of May 1916, the Russian High Command launched an offensive on the Southwestern Front. During the hostilities under the command of A.A. Brusilov, it was possible to break through the Austro-German troops to a depth of 80-120 km. Brusilov's troops occupied part of Galicia and Bukovina, 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 relieve pressure on Verdun, on July 1, 1916, the Allies launched a counterattack on the Somme River. For four months - until November - there were unceasing attacks. Anglo-French troops, having lost about 800 thousand people, were never able to break through the German front. Finally, in December, the German command decided to end the offensive, which had 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 conducting military operations have completely changed. The length of the fronts increased significantly, armies fought on fortified lines and carried out attacks from trenches, machine guns and artillery began to play a huge role in offensive battles. New types of weapons were used: tanks, fighters and bombers, submarines, asphyxiant gases, hand grenades. Every tenth resident of the belligerent country was mobilized, and 10% of the population was engaged in supplying the army. In the belligerent countries, there was almost no room left for ordinary civilian life: everything was subject to titanic efforts aimed at maintaining the military machine. The total cost of the war, including property losses, according to various estimates, ranged from 208 to 359 billion dollars. By the end of 1916, both sides were tired of the war, and it seemed that the time was right to start peace negotiations.

The second main stage of the war. On December 12, 1916, the Central Powers asked the United States to hand over a note to the Allies with a proposal to start peace talks. The Entente rejected this proposal, suspecting that it was made with the aim of destroying the coalition. In addition, she did not want to talk about a peace that would not provide for the payment of reparations and the recognition of the right of nations to self-determination. President Wilson decided to initiate peace negotiations and on December 18, 1916, he asked the belligerent countries to determine mutually acceptable peace terms.

Germany on December 12, 1916 proposed to convene a peace conference. The civilian authorities in Germany clearly strove for peace, but they were opposed by the generals, especially General Ludendorff, who was confident of victory. The allies made their conditions concrete: the restoration of Belgium, Serbia and Montenegro; withdrawal of troops from France, Russia and Romania; reparations; the return of France of Alsace and Lorraine; liberation of subordinate 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 December 1916 peace conference, relying on the benefits of its martial law. The case ended with the Allies signing secret agreements calculated to defeat the Central Powers. Under these agreements, Great Britain laid claim to 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; possessions of Turkey were subject to division among all allies.

US entry into the war. At the beginning of the war, public opinion in the United States was divided: some were openly on the side of the Allies; others, such as Irish Americans who were hostile to England, and German Americans, supported Germany. Over time, government officials and ordinary citizens more and more inclined to the side of the Entente. Several factors contributed to this, and, above all, the propaganda of the Entente countries and the German submarine war.

On January 22, 1917, President Wilson set out in the Senate the terms of peace acceptable to the United States. The most important of them boiled down to the demand for "peace without victory," that is, 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, the rejection of the system of rival alliances. If peace is concluded on the basis of these principles, Wilson argued, then a world organization of states can be created, guaranteeing security for all peoples. On January 31, 1917, the German government announced the resumption of unlimited submarine warfare with the aim of disrupting enemy communications. Submarines blocked the Entente supply lines and put the Allies in an extremely difficult position. Among Americans, hostility to Germany was growing, as the blockade of Europe from the west foreshadowed trouble for the United States. In case of victory, Germany could establish control over the entire Atlantic Ocean.

Along with the aforementioned circumstances, other motives also pushed the United States towards war on the side of its allies. The economic interests of the United States were directly connected with the Entente countries, since military orders led to the rapid growth of American industry. In 1916, the warlike spirit was spurred on by plans to develop programs for the preparation of combat operations. 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 transmitted to Wilson. German Foreign Minister A. Zimmermann offered Mexico the states of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona if it would support Germany's actions in response to the United States entering the war on the side of the Entente. By early April, anti-German sentiment in the United States had reached such a level that Congress on April 6, 1917 voted to declare war on Germany.

Russia's withdrawal from the war. In February 1917, a revolution took place in Russia. Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate. 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, at the cost of huge concessions, signed an armistice agreement with the Central Powers. 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. In total, Russia has lost about 1 million square meters. km. She was also obliged to pay an indemnity to Germany in the amount of 6 billion marks.

· The third main stage of the war. The Germans had enough 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 the offensive. The allies, not knowing where the blow would come from, were forced to strengthen their positions along the entire front. American aid was late. In France and Great Britain, defeatism was growing with menacing force. On October 24, 1917, Austro-Hungarian troops broke through the Italian front at Caporetto and defeated the Italian army.

German offensive of 1918. On a foggy morning on 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 united Anglo-French front. The fate of Calais and Boulogne hung in the balance.

However, the offensive cost Germany heavy losses - both human and material. The German troops were exhausted, and their supply system was shaken. The Allies managed to neutralize the 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.

Long-awaited American aid soon 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 breakthrough attempt. The second decisive battle unfolded on the Marne. In the event of a breakthrough, the French would have to leave Reims, which, in turn, could lead to the retreat of the Allies along the entire front. In the first hours of the offensive, German forces advanced, but not as quickly as expected.

The last Allied offensive. On July 18, 1918, a counterattack by American and French forces began to ease the pressure on Château Thierry. In the battle of Amiens on August 8, German troops suffered a heavy defeat, and this undermined their morale. Earlier, the Chancellor of Germany, Prince von Gertling, believed that by September the Allies would ask for peace. “We hoped to take Paris by the end of July,” he recalled. - So we thought on the fifteenth of July. And on the eighteenth, even the greatest optimists among us realized that everything was lost. " Some military men convinced Kaiser Wilhelm II that the war was lost, but Ludendorff refused to admit defeat.

The Allied offensive began on other fronts as well. In Austria-Hungary, ethnic unrest flared up - not without the influence of the allies, who encouraged the desertion of Poles, Czechs and South Slavs. The Central Powers rallied the remnants of their forces to contain the anticipated invasion of Hungary. The way to Germany was open.

Tanks and massive artillery shelling became important factors in the offensive. In early August 1918, attacks on key German positions intensified. In their Memoirs Ludendorff called 8 August - the beginning of the Battle of Amiens - "a black day for the German army." The German front was torn apart: whole divisions surrendered almost without a fight. By the end of September, even Ludendorff was ready to surrender. On September 29, Bulgaria signed a truce. A month later, Turkey surrendered, and on November 3, Austria-Hungary.

For peace negotiations in Germany, a moderate government was formed, headed by Prince Max B., who already on October 5, 1918 proposed to 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. The cavalry and armored vehicles of the Italians made a rapid raid behind enemy lines and captured the Austrian headquarters. On October 27, Emperor Charles I made an appeal for an armistice, and on October 29, 1918, he agreed to conclude peace on any terms.

Brief conclusions. The impetus for the outbreak of the First World War was the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. But Russia intervened in the events and began to mobilize its army. Germany demanded its termination. When Russia did not respond to her ultimatum, Germany declared war on August 1, and later on France. Then Great Britain and Japan entered the war. The First World War began. The German command believed that after the defeat of France, the army should have been transferred to the east against Russia. Initially, the offensive in France developed successfully. But then part of the German troops were transferred to the Eastern Front, where the Russian army began an offensive. The French took advantage of this and stopped the advance of the German army on the Marne River. The Western Front was formed. Soon, she entered the war on the side of the Triple Alliance Ottoman Empire... Military actions against her began in the Transcaucasia, Mesopotamia, on the Sinai Peninsula.

	The course of hostilities	Features of the war
	On August 4, the Germans invaded Belgium. Continuing the offensive, the Germans crossed the Marne River and on September 5 stopped along the Paris-Verdun line. 2 million people took part in the Battle of Verdun. 5 German and 6 English-French British. It had an oppositional character. On 4 August, the Russian army invaded Germany's side altars. The German army is defeated. On August 23, Japan begins the war. New fronts were formed in Transcaucasia and Mesopotamia, on the Sinai Peninsula.	The war is fought on 2 fronts and takes a positional character (i.e. protracted)
	On the western front, chemical weapons, namely chlorine, were used for the first time near Iprom. A total of 15 thousand people died.	Use of chemical weapons
	Germany is shifting its efforts to the western front. The city of Verdun became the main theater (place) of military operations. The operation was called the Verdun meat grinder. It lasted from February 21 to December, and killed 1 million people. There is an active offensive of the Russian army, the strategic initiative was in the hands of the Entente.	Bloody battles that have drained the resources of all the belligerent countries. The position of the workers worsened, revolutionary actions of the soldiers grew, especially in Russia.
	The United States enters the war. In October, Russia withdrew from the war.	Revolution of Russia.
	By the spring of 1918, the Anglo-French forces had a significant advantage under the German armies. The Entente troops used tanks for the first time. German troops were driven out of the territory of France, Belgium, the soldiers of Austria-Hungary refused to fight. On November 3, 1918, a revolution took place in Germany itself, and on November 11, “MIR” was signed in the Compiegne forest.	The use of tanks. In all the belligerent countries, the strongest revolutionary upheavals took place ..

How was the First World War (1914 - 1918): reasons, stages, results briefly. The years of the war, its beginning and end, the entire chronicle of events and who won and won. Consider a card index of losses, how many died and what losses each country suffered. A tally table will help you to understand the details and see the big picture. You will also find out what were the most famous heroes in Russia and their exploits.

World War I began on August 1, 1914 and ended on November 11, 1918. During this period, 38 states participated in hostilities, which means that 62% of the world population fought at the same time.

World War I is one of those wars that historians call controversial and highly controversial. One of the reasons for the war was the overthrow of the autocracy in Russia, which the opponents managed to achieve. The Balkan countries played the most significant role in the course of events, but England had a direct influence on their decisions and actions. So, these countries could not be called independent. Germany also had some influence (in particular, Bulgaria), but it quickly lost its authority in the region.

Who with whom?

Two groups of countries took part in the First World War. On the one hand, there was the Entente, on the other, the Triple Alliance. Each group had its own leaders and allies.

The Entente included: the Russian Empire, Great Britain and France. On the side of these countries were the USA, Italy, as well as Romania, New Zealand, Canada and Australia.

The Triple Alliance included: Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. In the course of hostilities, the Bulgarian kingdom joined them, which is why the coalition was later called the Quadruple Alliance.

Country	Entering the war	Exit from the war
🌏 Austria-Hungary	July 27, 1914	November 3, 1918
🌏 Germany	August 1, 1914	November 11, 1918
🌏 Turkey	October 29, 1914	October 30, 1918
🌏 Bulgaria	October 14, 1915	September 29, 1918
🌏 Russia	August 1, 1914	March 3, 1918
🌏 France	August 3, 1914
🌏 Belgium	August 3, 1914
🌏 UK	August 4, 1914
🌏 Italy	May 23, 1915
🌏 Romania	August 27, 1916

At the very beginning, Italy was part of the Triple Alliance, but as soon as the beginning of the First World War was announced, this country declared its neutrality.

The reasons

The main reason for the start of the war was the claims of the leading (at that time) world powers for the redivision of the world. England, France, Germany and Austria-Hungary planned to expand their spheres of influence in one way or another.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the colonial system, which fed the leading powers so well, suddenly failed. For decades, European countries have taken away valuable resources from Africans and Indians, exploiting their colonies. But the world has changed, now resources could not be obtained so easily - the powers decided to take them away from each other by force.

Against this background, the contradictions grew stronger and stronger:

England and Germany: the first power did everything possible so that the second could not strengthen its position in the Balkans. At the same time, Germany not only sought to gain a foothold in the Balkans and the Middle East, but also made efforts to deprive England of its naval superiority in the world arena.
Germany and France: the French dreamed of returning Alsace and Lorraine - lands lost during the war of 1870-1871. And France was also interested in the Saar coal basin, which at that time belonged to Germany.
Germany and Russia: the Germans hunted for Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic states, which at that time belonged to the Russian Empire.
Russia and Austria-Hungary: The main contradictions between these two powers focused on the desire to influence the Balkans. And Russia also wanted to take the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles for itself.

Reason for starting a war

The impetus that triggered the outbreak of the First World War happened in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina): nineteen-year-old Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist from the Young Bosnia movement, killed Franz Ferdinand, Archduke and heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne.

"Young Bosnia", within which Gavrilo Princip acted, as a member of the "Black Hand" organization, fought for the liberation of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the rule of Austria-Hungary. The assassination of the heir to the throne was that very step on the path of liberation, but the resonance received on June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo turned out to be more ambitious than the participants in those events probably expected.

German helmets during the First World War

Austria-Hungary received an excuse to attack Serbia, but at the same time it could not start a war on its own. She needed the help of England, which, in turn, acted aggressively, trying to manipulate Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany. On the one hand, the British insisted that Nicholas II and the Russian Empire help Serbia in case of aggression. On the other hand, the British press portrayed the Serbs as real barbarians who cannot be left unpunished, thereby pushing Austria-Hungary to take action.

Thus, the resulting conflict turned into a raging flames of world war. And not the least role in this was played by England as the leading power of that time.

In the textbooks, we adhere to only the most common facts - the reason for the war is the assassination of the Archduke on June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo. But you need to understand that a fertile ground was being prepared behind the scene for inciting a full-fledged world conflict:

Influential French politician Jean Jaures was killed on June 29 - the day after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. Jean Jaures opposed the war.
A few weeks before these two murders, mentioned above, an attempt was made on the life of Rasputin, an ardent enemy of the war, who had a serious influence on Nicholas II, the emperor of the Russian Empire.
Russian Ambassador Hartley died at the Austrian Embassy in Serbia in 1914. By the way, in 1917 his correspondence with Sozonov, the next Russian ambassador to Serbia, mysteriously disappeared.

British diplomats acted "on two fronts": they instigated Germany, promising to take the side of Germany in the war with the Russian Empire or, in extreme cases, to maintain neutrality; and at the same time, Nicholas II received confirmation that he was preparing to help England in a potential war against Germany.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the forces of Russia and Germany were approximately equal in their world influence. Even after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, these two powers took a wait-and-see attitude, not daring to open hostilities. If England had made it clear to both Russia and Germany that it would not allow war in Europe, none of these countries would have dared to go to war. Austria-Hungary, too, would not have gone to war against Serbia, despite the murder. But England did everything so that each of the countries was preparing to fight, promising each side its help behind the backs of the others.

When Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, it was not yet the First World War. In order to grow from a small war of two states on the basis of murder into a world war, all the major powers of that time had to be drawn into the conflict. Each of them was at a different level of readiness for war.

Nicholas II perfectly understood that the Russian Empire was not ready for military action, but it could not stand aside, given that its authority in the Balkans, which had been gained with such difficulty earlier, was at stake. As a result, the emperor signs a decree on mobilization. And despite the fact that the all-Russian mobilization is not yet a declaration of war, Germany and Austria-Hungary perceived the Russian mobilization as a signal for active action. These two powers even demanded that Russia stop mobilizing, but there was no answer. On August 1, the German ambassador, Count Pourtales, arrived at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a note declaring war.

Military power of the powers

Map of military operations in 1914 - 1915 (clickable)

Let's take a look at the balance of power and military armament of the key countries in the First World War:

Country	Number of common guns	Of these heavy weapons
🌏 Russian Empire	7088	240
🌏 Austria-Hungary	4088	1000
🌏 Germany	9388	3260
🌏 France	4300	198

Germany and Austria-Hungary had significantly more heavy guns, but at the same time Germany was even more active in developing its war industry. For comparison, England produced up to 10 thousand shells a month, while Germany only produced more than 250 thousand a day.

Now let's compare the weapons and equipment availability of the leading powers of the First World War:

Side in war	Country	Weapon	Artillery	Tanks
Entente	Russia	3328	11,7
Entente	France	2812	23,2	5,3
Entente	England	4093	26,4	2,8
Triple Alliance	Germany	8827	64	0,1
Triple Alliance	Austro-hungary	3540	15,9

It is obvious that the military power of the Russian Empire was much inferior not only to Germany, but also to France and England. This could not but affect the course of hostilities and losses as a result of the war.

It remains to analyze the number of the fighting infantry at the beginning and at the end of the war, as well as the losses of each side:

Side in war	Country	The beginning of the war	End of the war	Losses
Entente	Russia	5.3 million	7.0 million	2.3 million
Entente	France	3.7 million	4.4 million	1.4 million
Entente	England	1 million	3.9 million	0.7 million
Triple Alliance	Germany	3.8 million	7.6 million	2 million
Triple Alliance	Austro-hungary	2.3 million	4.4 million	1.4 million

What conclusion can we draw from this summary? England suffered the least human losses, which was not a surprise, because this country almost did not take part in major battles.

As a result of the war, it turned out that it was precisely those countries that invested the most in this war that lost the most. While Russia and Germany were losing 4.3 million people for two, France, Austria-Hungary and England together lost 3.5 million.In fact, the war was fought between Russia and Germany, and these two powers were left with nothing: Russia lost land and signed the shameful Peace of Brest, and Germany lost its independence following the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

Chronicle of events

July 28, 1914... Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. The countries of the Triple Alliance and the Entente were drawn into the conflict.

August 1, 1914... The Russian Empire entered the war. Nikolai Romanov, the uncle of Nicholas II, was appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

As soon as the First World War began, Petersburg was immediately rushed to rename Petrograd: the capital of the Russian Empire could not have a name with German origin.

Military action in 1914

What happened on the fronts:

Northwestern Front... The hostilities took place from August to September 1914. Russian troops carried out the East Prussian operation, which ended in the complete defeat of the first and second Russian armies.
Southwestern Front... Military operations during the Galician operation also lasted from August to September 1914 against the Austro-Hungarian troops. The latter received reinforcements from Germany, which saved them.
Caucasian front... From December 1914 to January 1915, the Sarykamysh operation against the Turkish troops was going on, as a result of which most of the Transcaucasia was occupied.

Military action on the Eastern Front in 1914

The Russian Empire opposes Germany and Austria-Hungary. Turkey has also joined the latter.

📌 Military operations on the Eastern Front were not crowned with success for either side - no one achieved a tangible victory.

Germany developed a plan - to crush first France, then Russia with lightning speed, but this plan failed miserably. It was called the Schlieffen plan and its essence was to destroy France from the Western Front in 40 days, and then fight with Russia on the Eastern Front. The Germans focused on 40 days, because they believed that this is how much time the Russian Empire needed to mobilize.

The advance of the German troops began successfully - on August 2, 1914, they captured Luxembourg, and on August 4, the Germans had already invaded Belgium, which at that time was a neutral country. On August 20, Germany moved to France, but on September 5 it was stopped by the Marne River. There was a battle with a total of 2 million people fighting.

Germany thought it would deal with France as long as Russia mobilized its troops, but Nicholas II entered the war without fully mobilizing the army. Russian troops attacked East Prussia on August 4, which the Germans did not expect and even retreated at first. But in the end, Germany repulsed the offensive, since the Russian Empire had neither full-fledged resources nor proper organization. Russia lost the battle, but also did not allow Germany to implement Schlieffen's lightning plan: while the Russian Empire was losing the first and second armies, France saved Paris.

Military operations on the Southwestern Front in 1914

In parallel with the offensive in the East, the Russian Empire went to Galicia, where the Austro-Hungarian troops were stationed. Despite the help from Germany, which sent additional divisions to the allied Austria-Hungary, this operation was more successful for the Russian army: Austria-Hungary lost 400 thousand soldiers, another 100 thousand were taken prisoner. At the same time, Russia lost 150 thousand.

📌 After the Galician operation, Austria-Hungary withdrew from the war, no longer having the opportunity to fight on its own.

Results of 1914:

Schlieffen's German plan for the lightning-fast capture of the French and Russian armies failed miserably.
None of the powers received a significant advantage during the war.
As a result of 1914, the First World War became a trench war.

Military action in 1915

When it became clear that the Schlieffen plan had failed, Germany sent all its forces to the Eastern Front to fight Russia. At that moment, it seemed to Germany that the Russian Empire was the weakest country of the Entente and it was much easier to deal with it than with others.

The strategic plan for command on the Eastern Front was developed by General von Hindenburg. The Russian Empire thwarted this plan too, but spent enormous efforts on it and got out only at the cost of incredible losses.

What happened on the fronts:

Northwestern Front... Military operations were conducted from January to October 1915. As a result of the German offensive, Russia loses Poland, Western Belarus, Ukraine and part of the Baltic states. The Russians are on the defensive.
Southwestern Front... The hostilities lasted from January to March 1915. During the Carpathian operation against the Austro-Hungarian troops, the Russian army loses Galicia and goes on the defensive.
Caucasian front... From June to July 1915, the Alashkert operation lasted at the lakes Van and Urmia against the Turkish army. The Erzurum operation began in December 1915.

Military operations on the North-Western Front in 1915

From the beginning of 1915 until October, Germany actively attacked Russia, as a result of which the latter lost Poland, Western Ukraine, partly the Baltic states and Western Belarus. During this German offensive, the Russian Empire lost 850 thousand people and 900 thousand soldiers were captured.

Despite the fact that the Russian Empire did not surrender after these hostilities, but went on the defensive, the countries of the Triple Alliance were convinced that Russia would not recover from losses.

📌 After a successful attack for Germany and the defeat of the Russian army, Bulgaria joins this side - from October 14, 1915.

Military operations on the Southwestern Front in 1915

The German army with the remnants of the surviving Austro-Hungarian army in the spring of 1915 makes the Gorlitsky breakthrough. Russia retreats along the Southwestern Front and loses Galicia, which it only conquered in 1914. On the side of Germany was not only a significant technical advantage, but also the strategic mistakes of the Russian command.

📌 At that time, Germany had 2.5 times more machine guns, 4.5 times more light artillery, and the number of heavy artillery exceeded 40 times.

Military operations on the Western Front in 1915

On the Western Front, war broke out between Germany and France. Actions on both sides were sluggish and lacking in initiative. Germany concentrated more on the Eastern Front, while England and France were mobilizing their armies at that time, preparing for further actions.

Nicholas II repeatedly turned to France for help, at least to make it more active on the Western Front, but in vain.

Results of 1915:

Germany's plan to annihilate the Russian army failed, but the losses of the Russian Empire were colossal, though not huge enough to pull Russia out of the war.
After 1.5 years of hostilities, neither side received a strategic advantage or advantage. The war dragged on.

Military action in 1916

The 16th year of the 20th century began with Germany losing its strategic initiative. The successful offensive of the Russians once again played into the hands of the allied France - the fortress of Verdun was saved. At this stage, Romania joins the Entente.

Consider briefly what happened in the third year of the war:

Northwestern Front... From spring to autumn, defensive battles are fought on the western border.
Southwestern Front... From May to July 1916, the Russian army advances and makes the Brusilov breakthrough. In the course of these actions, Russia recaptures Bukovina and South Galicia, destroying the Austro-Hungarian troops.
Caucasian front... The Erzurum operation comes to an end and the Trebizond operation begins, as a result of which Erzurum and Trebizond are captured.

Military operations on the Southwestern Front in 1916

In February 1916, German forces decisively attack France to capture Paris. He defended the capital Verdun - a fortress on the outskirts of Paris. It was to Verdun that Germany went. In that battle, 2 million people died, and it lasted until the very end of 1916.

📌 Considering how much time was spent on the capture of the fortress of Verdun, and how many people died, those battles were called the "Verdun meat grinder". France managed to withstand, but only because Russia came to her aid.

Russian troops have been actively advancing along the Southwestern Front since May 1916. This offensive went down in history as the Brusilov Breakthrough, since General Brusilov was in command. The offensive lasted 2 months.

The breakthrough took place on June 5 in Bukovina. The Russian army not only broke through the defenses, but also advanced 120 km inland. The losses of the German and Austro-Hungarian armies in that breakthrough amounted to 1.5 million people - wounded and prisoners in total. The Russian offensive was stopped only after the transfer of additional German divisions, which at that time were located near Verdun and in Italy.

Having entered the war on the side of the Entente, Romania was unable to resist the German army. Germany quickly dealt with the Romanian troops, inflicting a serious defeat on them. As a result, Russia got 2,000 km of additional front, which means additional losses.

Results of 1916:

The strategic initiative was on the side of the Entente.
France again defended Paris from the offensive, retaining the fortress of Verdun. But, like the first time, it happened thanks to the help of the Russian Empire.
In the third year of the war, Romania joins the Entente, but Germany quickly destroyed its army.
A significant achievement of the Russian Empire this year is the Brusilov Breakthrough.

Military action in 1917

1917 was a fatal year for the Russian Empire. On all fronts, Russian troops are conducting unsuccessful operations: Germany captures Riga, and then the Moonsund Archipelago in the Baltic. The Russian army is demoralized, and popular unrest is directed towards peace. Inside the country, their own changes are ripe - on November 20 (December 3) the Bolsheviks seize power and negotiate peace. As a result of these negotiations, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed on March 3, 1918.

An armored train in the Carpathians (archives of the New York Public Library)

Both in Germany and in Russia, against the backdrop of the war in 1917, the economic situation deteriorated. For example, in the Russian Empire, only in the first 3 years of the war, food prices increased 4 - 5 times. A dissatisfied people, a grueling war, great human losses - all this served as fertile ground for the revolutionaries, who hastened to seize the moment to seize power. A similar picture has developed in Germany.

As for the balance of power in the First World War, the position of the Triple Alliance was seriously weakened: Germany could no longer fight on two fronts, and then the United States also entered the war.

End of World War I for the Russian Empire

In the spring of 1917, Germany tried to launch an offensive along the Western Front, but the Provisional Government in Russia, trying to fulfill the agreements signed by the Russian Empire, sent its troops to Lvov on the offensive.

Once again, the allies are saved, but the Russian army suffers crushing losses step by step - the food is scarce, the uniforms and supplies of the soldiers leave much to be desired, but even in such circumstances, the Russian troops are trying to move forward. Meanwhile, Russia's allies are not actively involved and are not providing the necessary assistance.

On July 6, when Germany launched a counteroffensive, 150,000 Russian soldiers were killed. The front collapsed, and the Russian army ceased to exist. Russia had nothing else and had nothing to fight with.

In such conditions, the Bolsheviks, having seized power in the country in October 1917, signed the decree "On Peace", thereby withdrawing from the war, and already in 1918, on March 3, the Brest Peace was signed, according to which Russia:

concludes peace with Austria-Hungary, Germany and Turkey;
renounces claims to Poland, Ukraine, the Baltic States, Finland and part of Belarus;
gives way to Batum, Ardahan and Kars to Turkey.

Having entered the First World War, the Russian Empire:

ceased to exist as a power, giving power to the Bolsheviks;
lost 1 million sq. m of territories;
lost a quarter of the population;
seriously weakened in the agricultural sector and in the coal / metallurgical industry.

Military action in 1918

When the Eastern Front disappeared, Germany could no longer be split into two directions. In the spring, she went to the Western Front, but did not achieve success there. It became obvious that she needed a break.

Decisive events took place in the fall of 1918, when the United States and the Entente countries attacked the German army, displacing it from the territories of France and Belgium. Already in October, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey concluded an armistice with the Entente powers, and now Germany was completely isolated. The Triple Alliance capitulated and, like the events in Russia, fertile ground for the revolution was formed in Germany, which took place on November 9, 1918 - Emperor Wilhelm II was overthrown.

War heroes and their exploits

A.A. Brusilov (1853-1926)... He commanded the Southwestern Front and carried out a successful operation, which was later called the Brusilov Breakthrough. The army of the commander Brusilov made the enemy think from which side the main blow was being delivered. The tactic of simultaneous attacks in several directions worked in four cases at once. For 3 days more than 100 thousand people were taken prisoner. Over the entire summer, the Russian army took away from the Germans and Austro-Hungarians the territory up to the Carpathians.

M.V. Alekseev (1857 - 1918)... Infantry General and Chief of Staff of the Russian Army on the Southwestern Front. He led the largest operations, leading the Russian army.

Kozma Kryuchkov- the first to receive the St. George Cross in the First World War. He served in the Don Cossack regiment and with other comrades in arms once met a patrol of German cavalrymen. Of the 22 enemies, he personally killed ten, among whom was an officer. He himself received 16 wounds. His name is not well known, because in 1919 Kryuchkov gave his life in battles with the Bolsheviks, serving in the ranks of the White Army.

Vasily Chapaev, Georgy Zhukov, Konstantin Rokossovsky, Rodion Malinovsky also received the St. George cross.

A.I. Denikin (1872 - 1947)... Warlord and general of the First World War. He was the commander of the "iron brigade", which has distinguished itself more than once in battles.

P.N. Nesterov (1887 - 1914)... The Russian pilot who invented the air loop named after him. He died in 1914, in battle, having rammed an enemy airplane.

End of the First World War

World War I ended on November 11, 1918, when Germany signed a surrender. In the Compiegne forest at the Retord station, near Paris, the French Marshal Foch accepted the surrender of the defeated power. As a result, Germany:

admitted defeat in the war;
pledged to return Alsace and Lorraine, as well as the Saar coal basin of France;
renounced all its colonies;
transferred an eighth of its territories to neighbors.

In addition, the signed surrender required:

the Entente troops were stationed on the left bank of the Rhine for 15 years;
until May 1921 Germany had to pay the Entente powers (except Russia) 20 billion marks;
for 30 years, Germany was obliged to pay reparations, the amount of which the victorious countries could change during these 30 years;
Germany did not have the right to form an army of more than 100 thousand people, while the army itself should be voluntary for citizens.

All these conditions were so humiliating for Germany that they actually deprived her of independence, making it an obedient puppet in the hands of other powers.

Results of the First World War

The First World War involved 14 major countries and a total of 38 powers in total. This meant that over 4 years of the war, 1 billion people or 62% of the world's population were involved. During the entire war, 74 million people were mobilized, of which 10 million were killed and 20 million were injured.

The political map of Europe has been redrawn:

New states appeared, such as: Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Finland, Estonia, Albania.
Austria-Hungary ceased to exist, divided into 3 independent states: Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
The borders of France, Italy, Greece and Romania have expanded.

The losing countries that lost land were Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Bulgaria and Turkey. During the war, 4 empires ceased to exist: Russian, German, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman.

So, it was the First World War 1914 - 1918: reasons, stages, results in brief and in pictures. We looked at the years - the beginning and end of the battles (including separately for Russia), who won and how many people died (card index of countries' losses in the table), and also found out what the heroes of the war were and their exploits. Do you have any questions? Ask them in the comments.

Sources of

Ardashev A.N. Great trench war. Positional massacre of the First World War
Pereslegin S.B. First World War. War Between Realities
Basil Liddell Garth. World War I history
Evgeny Belash. World War I myths
Anatoly Utkin. World War I
Badak A.N. The World History. Volume 19

World War I (1914 - 1918)

The Russian Empire collapsed. One of the goals of the war has been accomplished.
Chamberlain

The First World War lasted from August 1, 1914 to November 11, 1918. It was attended by 38 states with a population of 62% of the world. This war was quite ambiguous and extremely contradictory described in modern history. I specially cited Chamberlain's words in the epigraph to once again emphasize this inconsistency. A prominent politician in England (Russia's ally in the war) says that one of the goals of the war has been achieved by overthrowing the autocracy in Russia!

The Balkan countries played an important role at the beginning of the war. They were not independent. Their policies (both foreign and domestic) were greatly influenced by England. Germany by that time had lost its influence in this region, although it controlled Bulgaria for a long time.

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

The following large countries took part in the war: Austria-Hungary (July 27, 1914 - November 3, 1918), Germany (August 1, 1914 - November 11, 1918), Turkey (October 29, 1914 - October 30, 1918), Bulgaria (October 14, 1915 - 29 September 1918). Entente countries and allies: Russia (August 1, 1914 - March 3, 1918), France (August 3, 1914), Belgium (August 3, 1914), Great Britain (August 4, 1914), Italy (May 23, 1915), Romania (August 27, 1916) ...

One more important point. Italy was originally a member of the Triple Alliance. But after the outbreak of the First World War, the Italians declared neutrality.

Causes of the First World War

main reason the beginning of the First World War lies in the desire of the leading powers, primarily England, France and Austria-Hungary, to redistribute the world. The fact is that the colonial system collapsed by the beginning of the 20th century. The leading European countries, which for years prospered through the exploitation of colonies, now could not get resources just like that, taking them away from the Indians, Africans and South Americans. Now resources could only be won back from each other. Therefore, contradictions grew:

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

The reason for the start of the war

The events in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) served as a pretext for the outbreak of the First World War. On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Black Hand of the Young Bosnia movement, assassinated Archduke Frans Ferdinand. Ferdinand was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, so the murder had a huge resonance. This was the reason for Austria-Hungary to attack Serbia.

The behavior of England is very important here, since Austria-Hungary on its own could not start a war, because this practically guaranteed a war in all of Europe. The British at the embassy level convinced Nicholas II that Russia should not leave Serbia without help in case of aggression. But then all (I emphasize this) the English press wrote that the Serbs are barbarians and Austria-Hungary should not leave the murder of the Archduke unpunished. That is, England did everything to prevent Austria-Hungary, Germany and Russia from evading the war.

Important nuances of the reason for war

In all textbooks we are told that the main and only reason for the outbreak of the First World War is the assassination of the Austrian Archduke. At the same time, they forget to say that the next day, June 29, another significant murder took place. The French politician Jean Jaures, who actively opposed the war and had great influence in France, was killed. A few weeks before the assassination of the Archduke, there was an attempt on the life of Rasputin, who, like Jaures, was an opponent of the war and had a great influence on Nicholas 2. I also want to note some facts from the fate of the main characters of those days:

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

All this indicates that there were a lot of black spots in the events of the days, which have not been revealed until now. And this is very important to understand.

England's role in starting the war

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were 2 great powers in continental Europe: Germany and Russia. They did not want to openly fight against each other, since the forces were approximately equal. Therefore, in the "July crisis" of 1914, both sides took a wait-and-see attitude. English diplomacy came to the fore. She, through the press and secret diplomacy, conveyed to Germany the position - in case of war, England would remain neutral or take the side of Germany. By open diplomacy, Nicholas II received the opposite idea that in the event of the outbreak of war, England would side with Russia.

It should be clearly understood that one open statement by England that it will not allow war in Europe would be enough for neither Germany nor Russia to think about anything like that. Naturally, in such conditions, Austria-Hungary would hesitate to attack Serbia. But England, with all her diplomacy, pushed European countries to war.

Russia before the war

Before the First World War, Russia carried out a reform of the army. In 1907, a reform of the fleet was carried out, and in 1910 a reform of the ground forces. The country has multiplied military spending, and the total army in peacetime was now 2 million people. In 1912, Russia adopted a new Charter of the Field Service. Today it is rightfully called the most perfect charter of its time, since it motivated soldiers and commanders to show personal initiative. An important point! The doctrine of the army of the Russian Empire was offensive.

Despite the fact that there were many positive changes, there were also very serious miscalculations. The main one is the underestimation of the role of artillery in the war. As the course of events of the First World War showed, it was a terrible mistake, which clearly showed that at the beginning of the 20th century, Russian generals were seriously behind the times. They lived in the past when the role of the cavalry was important. As a result, 75% of all losses of the First World War were inflicted by artillery! This is a sentence to the imperial generals.

It is important to note that Russia never completed preparations for war (at the proper level), and Germany completed it in 1914.

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

Artillery

	Number of guns	Of these, heavy weapons


Austro-hungary
Germany

According to the data from the table, it can be seen that in heavy guns Germany and Austria-Hungary were many times superior to Russia and France. Therefore, the balance of forces was in favor of the first two countries. Moreover, the Germans, as usual, created an excellent war industry before the war, which produced 250,000 rounds daily. By comparison, Britain was producing 10,000 shells a month! As they say, feel the difference ...

Another example showing the importance of artillery is the fighting on the Dunajec Gorlice line (May 1915). In 4 hours, the German army fired 700,000 shells. For comparison, during the entire Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) Germany fired just over 800,000 shells. That is, in 4 hours a little less than in the entire war. The Germans clearly understood that heavy artillery would play a decisive role in the war.

Armament and military equipment

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

	Shooting	Artillery



Great Britain
TRIPLE ALLIANCE
Germany
Austro-hungary

This table clearly shows the weakness of the Russian Empire in terms of equipping the army. In all the main indicators, Russia is much inferior to Germany, but also inferior to France and Great Britain. Largely because of this, the war turned out to be so difficult for our country.

Number of people (infantry)

The number of fighting infantry (millions).

	At the start of the war	By the end of the war	Casualties



Great Britain
TRIPLE ALLIANCE
Germany
Austro-hungary

The table shows that Great Britain made the smallest contribution, both in terms of belligerents and in terms of deaths, to the war. This is logical, since the British did not really participate in major battles. Another example from this table is indicative. We are told in all textbooks that Austria-Hungary, due to heavy losses, could not fight on its own, and she always needed the help of Germany. But pay attention to Austria-Hungary and France in the table. The numbers are identical! Just as Germany had to fight for Austria-Hungary, so Russia had to fight for France (it is no coincidence that the Russian army three times during the First World War saved Paris from surrender by its actions).

The table also shows that in fact the war was between Russia and Germany. Both countries lost 4.3 million people killed, while Britain, France and Austria-Hungary together lost 3.5 million. The numbers are eloquent. But it turned out that the countries that fought the most and made efforts in the war ended up with nothing. First, Russia signed the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty, shameful for itself, losing many lands. Then Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles, essentially losing its independence.

The course of the war

Military events of 1914

On July 28, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. This entailed the involvement in the war of the countries of the Triple Alliance, on the one hand, and the Entente, on the other.

Russia entered World War I on August 1, 1914. Nikolai Nikolayevich Romanov (Nikolai's uncle 2) was appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

In the first days of the outbreak of the war, St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd. Since the war with Germany began, and the capital could not have the name of German origin - "burg".
Historical reference

German "Schlieffen Plan"

Germany was under the threat of war on two fronts: the East with Russia, the West with France. Then the German command developed the "Schlieffen plan", according to which Germany must defeat France in 40 days and then fight with Russia. Why 40 days? The Germans believed that this was exactly how much Russia would need to mobilize. Therefore, when Russia is mobilized, France will already be out of the game.

On August 2, 1914, Germany captured Luxembourg, on August 4, they invaded Belgium (a neutral country at that time), and by August 20, Germany reached the borders of France. The implementation of the Schlieffen plan began. Germany advanced deep into France, but on September 5 was stopped at the River Marne, where a battle took place, in which about 2 million people participated on both sides.

Northwestern Front of Russia in 1914

At the beginning of the war, Russia did something stupid that Germany could not possibly calculate. Nicholas 2 decided to enter the war without fully mobilizing the army. On August 4, Russian troops, under the command of Rennenkampf, launched an offensive in East Prussia (present-day Kaliningrad). Samsonov's army was equipped to help her. Initially, the troops operated successfully, and Germany was forced to retreat. As a result, part of the forces of the Western Front was transferred to the Eastern. The result - Germany repulsed the offensive of Russia in East Prussia (the troops acted unorganized and lacked resources), but as a result, the Schlieffen plan failed, and France was not captured. So, Russia saved Paris, though by defeating its 1st and 2nd armies. After that, trench warfare began.

Southwestern Front of Russia

On the southwestern front in August-September, Russia launched an offensive operation against Galicia, which was occupied by the troops of Austria-Hungary. The Galician operation was more successful than the offensive in East Prussia. In this battle, Austria-Hungary suffered a catastrophic defeat. 400 thousand people killed, 100 thousand captured. For comparison, the Russian army lost 150 thousand people killed. After that, Austria-Hungary actually withdrew from the war, since it lost the ability to conduct independent actions. Austria was saved from complete defeat only by the help of Germany, which was forced to transfer additional divisions to Galicia.

The main results of the military campaign in 1914

Germany failed to implement Schlieffen's plan for lightning war.
No one has won a decisive advantage. The war turned into a trench war.

Map of military events 1914-15 years

Military events of 1915

In 1915, Germany decided to shift the main blow to the eastern front, directing all its forces to the war with Russia, which was the weakest country of the Entente, according to the Germans. It was a strategic plan developed by the commander of the Eastern Front, General von Hindenburg. Russia managed to thwart this plan only at the cost of colossal losses, but at the same time 1915 turned out to be simply terrible for the empire of Nicholas II.

Position on the northwestern front

From January to October, Germany led an active offensive, as a result of which Russia lost Poland, western Ukraine, part of the Baltic states, and western Belarus. Russia went into deep defense. The losses of the Russians were gigantic:

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

Russia did not capitulate, but the countries of the Triple Alliance were convinced that Russia would no longer be able to recover from the losses it had received.

The successes of Germany in this sector of the front led to the fact that on October 14, 1915, Bulgaria entered the First World War (on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary).

Position on the southwestern front

The Germans, together with Austria-Hungary, organized the Gorlitsky breakthrough in the spring of 1915, forcing the entire southwestern front of Russia to retreat. Galicia, which was captured in 1914, was completely lost. Germany was able to achieve this advantage thanks to the terrible mistakes of the Russian command, as well as a significant technical advantage. German superiority in technology reached:

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

It was not possible to withdraw Russia from the war, but the losses in this sector of the front were gigantic: 150 thousand killed, 700 thousand wounded, 900 thousand prisoners and 4 million refugees.

Position on the western front

"Everything is calm on the western front." This phrase can be used to describe the course of the war between Germany and France in 1915. There was a sluggish military action in which no one strove for the initiative. Germany was implementing plans in eastern Europe, while Britain and France calmly mobilized the economy and the army, preparing for further war. Nobody provided any assistance to Russia, although Nicholas II repeatedly appealed to France, first of all, so that she would go over to active operations on the Western Front. As usual, no one heard him ... By the way, this sluggish war on the western front for Germany is perfectly described by Hemingway in his novel A Farewell to Arms.

The main result of 1915 was that Germany was unable to withdraw Russia from the war, although all forces were thrown into this. It became obvious that the First World War would drag on for a long time, since during the 1.5 years of the war no one managed to gain an advantage or strategic initiative.

Military events of 1916

"Verdun meat grinder"

In February 1916, Germany launched a general offensive against France, with the aim of capturing Paris. For this, a campaign was carried out to Verdun, which covered the approaches to the French capital. The battle lasted until the end of 1916. During this time, 2 million people died, for which the battle was named "Verdun meat grinder". France resisted, but again thanks to the fact that Russia came to its rescue, which became more active on the southwestern front.

Events on the southwestern front in 1916

In May 1916, Russian troops launched an offensive that lasted 2 months. This offensive went down in history under the name "Brusilov Breakthrough". This name is due to the fact that the Russian army was commanded by General Brusilov. The breakthrough of the defense in Bukovina (from Lutsk to Chernivtsi) happened on June 5. The Russian army managed not only to break through the defenses, but also to advance into its depths in places up to 120 kilometers. The losses of the Germans and Austro-Hungarians were catastrophic. 1.5 million dead, wounded and prisoners. The offensive was stopped only by additional German divisions, which were hastily transferred here from Verdun (France) and from Italy.

This offensive of the Russian army was not without a fly in the ointment. The allies threw her up, as usual. On August 27, 1916, Romania entered the First World War on the side of the Entente. Germany very quickly defeated her. As a result, Romania lost the army, and Russia received an additional 2 thousand kilometers of the front.

Events on the Caucasian and Northwestern Fronts

Positional battles continued on the North-Western Front during the spring-autumn period. As for the Caucasian Front, here the main events lasted from the beginning of 1916 to April. During this time, 2 operations were carried out: Erzurmur and Trebizond. According to their results, Erzurum and Trebizond were conquered, respectively.

Outcome of 1916 in the First World War

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

Military and political events 1917

The year 1917 in the First World War was marked by the fact that the war continued against the background of the revolutionary situation in Russia and Germany, as well as the deterioration of the economic situation of the countries. Let me give you an example of Russia. Over the 3 years of the war, prices for basic products have grown by an average of 4-4.5 times. Naturally, this caused discontent among the people. Add to this the heavy losses and the exhausting war - it is an excellent ground for revolutionaries. The situation is similar in Germany.

In 1917, the United States entered the First World War. The positions of the "Triple Alliance" are deteriorating. Germany with its allies cannot effectively fight on 2 fronts, as a result of which it goes on the defensive.

The end of the war for Russia

In the spring of 1917, Germany launched another offensive on the Western Front. Despite the events in Russia, Western countries demanded that the Provisional Government implement the agreements signed by the Empire and send troops on the offensive. As a result, on June 16, the Russian army launched an offensive in the Lvov region. Again, we saved the allies from major battles, but we ourselves were completely substituted.

The Russian army, exhausted by the war and losses, did not want to fight. The issues of provisions, uniforms and provision of supplies during the war years were not resolved. The army fought reluctantly, but moved forward. The Germans were forced to redeploy troops here, and Russia's allies in the Entente again isolated themselves, watching what would happen next. On July 6, Germany launched a counteroffensive. As a result, 150,000 Russian soldiers were killed. The army actually ceased to exist. The front fell apart. Russia could no longer fight, and this catastrophe was inevitable.

People demanded that Russia withdraw from the war. And this was one of their main demands on the Bolsheviks, who seized power in October 1917. Initially, at the 2nd congress of the party, the Bolsheviks signed the decree "On Peace", actually proclaiming Russia's withdrawal from the war, and on March 3, 1918, they signed the Brest Peace. The conditions of this world were as follows:

Russia makes peace with Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey.
Russia loses Poland, Ukraine, Finland, part of Belarus and the Baltic states.
Russia yields to Turkey Batum, Kars and Ardahan.

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

Events in the war in 1918

Germany got rid of the Eastern Front and the need to wage a war in two directions. As a result, in the spring and summer of 1918, she attempted an offensive on the Western Front, but this offensive had no success. Moreover, as it went on, it became obvious that Germany was squeezing the maximum out of herself, and that she needed a break in the war.

Autumn 1918

The decisive events in the First World War took place in the fall. The Entente countries, together with the United States, went on the offensive. The German army was completely driven out of France and Belgium. In October, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria signed a truce with the Entente, and Germany was left to fight alone. Her position was hopeless after the German allies in the Triple Alliance had effectively surrendered. This resulted in the same thing that happened in Russia - the revolution. On November 9, 1918, Emperor Wilhelm II was overthrown.

End of the First World War

On November 11, 1918, the First World War of 1914-1918 ended. Germany signed a complete surrender. It happened near Paris, in the Compiegne forest, at the Retonde station. The capitulation was accepted by the French Marshal Foch. The terms of the signed peace were as follows:

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

The terms of the "peace" were so humiliating for Germany that the country actually became a puppet. Therefore, many people of that time said that although the First World War ended, it ended not with peace, but with an armistice for 30 years. So it ultimately happened ...

Results of the first world war

The First World War was fought on the territory of 14 states. It was attended by countries with a total population of more than 1 billion people (this is about 62% of the total population of the world at that time). In total, 74 million people were mobilized by the participating countries, of which 10 million died and another 20 million were injured.

As a result of the war, the political map of Europe has changed significantly. Such independent states as Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Albania appeared. Austria-Hungary split into Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Romania, Greece, France, Italy have increased their borders. Losers and losers in the territory were 5 countries: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey and Russia.

World War I 1914-1918 map

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Thank you so much for the very useful information in the article. Everything is very clear. Feels like a lot of work has been done to analyze the eBay store
- rootshell
  
  Thank you and other regular readers of my blog. Without you, I would not have been motivated enough to devote a lot of time to running this site. My brains are arranged like this: I like to dig deep, organize scattered data, try what no one has done before, or did not look from this angle. It is a pity that only our compatriots, because of the crisis in Russia, are by no means up to shopping on eBay. They buy on Aliexpress from China, as goods there are several times cheaper (often at the expense of quality). But online auctions eBay, Amazon, ETSY will easily give the Chinese a head start on the range of branded items, vintage items, handicrafts and various ethnic goods.
  - Next
    
    It is your personal attitude and analysis of the topic that is valuable in your articles. Do not leave this blog, I often look here. There should be many of us. Email me I recently received an offer to teach me how to trade on Amazon and eBay. And I remembered your detailed articles about these bargaining. area I reread it all over again and concluded that the courses are a scam. I haven't bought anything on eBay myself. I am not from Russia, but from Kazakhstan (Almaty). But we, too, do not need extra spending yet. I wish you the best of luck and take care of yourself in the Asian region.
rootshell

It's also nice that eBay's attempts to russify the interface for users from Russia and the CIS countries have begun to bear fruit. After all, the overwhelming majority of citizens of the countries of the former USSR are not strong in the knowledge of foreign languages. No more than 5% of the population know English. There are more among young people. Therefore, at least the interface in Russian is a great help for online shopping on this marketplace. Ebey did not follow the path of his Chinese counterpart Aliexpress, where a machine (very clumsy and incomprehensible, sometimes causing laughter) translation of the description of goods is performed. I hope that at a more advanced stage in the development of artificial intelligence, high-quality machine translation from any language to any in a matter of seconds will become a reality. So far we have this (a profile of one of the sellers on ebay with a Russian interface, but an English-language description):
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7a52c9a89108b922159a4fad35de0ab0bee0c8804b9731f56d8a1dc659655d60.png

The main stages of the First World War. The stages of the First World War are brief. The reason for the start of the war

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