Kiselev I.V.

Theater maps are the most numerous group of maps showing the areas in which hostilities took place. Maps were issued both for individual sections of the fronts and for the entire European theater. Whole series of maps were also produced on a larger scale, equipped with pointers and covering almost the entire territory of the warring powers.

1. Moscow: Book publishing house I. A. Mayevsky, 1914.
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A total of 10 cards were released in this series. They are provided with detailed signs. The Eastern (Russian) front is reflected on maps of the Prussian-Polish region, the Lithuanian-Baltic region, and also the Galician region. After Turkey entered the war, the series was replenished with maps for the Russian-Turkish region and the Western Black Sea region with straits.

In total, the following cards were released in this series:
No. 1 Prussian-Polish district
No. 2 Galician district
No. 3 Franco-German region
No. 4 Pridunaysky district
No. 5 Russian-Turkish district
No. 6 Balkan region
No. 7 Western Black Sea region with straits
No. 8 Austro-Italian district
No. 9 Anglo-German district
No. 10 Lithuanian-Pribaltiysky district

No. 1 Prussian-Polish region

The map is dedicated to the most difficult and dangerous section of the Eastern Front, where bloody battles of Russian troops against the German army took place, such as the Battle of Gumbinen-Goldap and others.

No. 2 Galician district

A number of outstanding operations of the Russian army were carried out in this area, including the Battle of Galicia and the Brusilovsky breakthrough.

No. 3 Franco-German region

It was on this section of the Western Front that the main events took place, starting with the breakthrough of German troops through Belgium to the French border. It was here that all the major battles of the French-German front took place, such as the Battle of the Marne, the Battle of Ypres, where German troops first used poison gases, and the Battle of Verdun - one of the bloodiest operations of the First World War.

2. Map of the belligerent and neutral states of Europe: Indicating fortresses and armed forces. Moscow: tipo-lit. Russian Partnership for Printing and Publishing, .
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The map is interesting because it represents not only the theater of war in Europe, but also statistical information about the participating states. In addition to statistical information, comments have been added on the entry into the war of participating states, as well as the attitude of neutral countries to the war. Portraits of heads of state and commanders-in-chief of armies and navies are placed, including the President of the French Republic Raymond Poincaré (1860–1931), German Emperor Wilhelm II (1859–1941), commander of the French army General Joseph Joffre (1852–1931), British Admiral John Jellicot ( 1859–1935) and others.

3. London, .
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Map of the European Theater of Operations in Europe during the First World War. The area where hostilities took place is shown, and comparative diagrams of the number of different types of weapons, manpower and military reserves of the warring parties are provided. The most important radio stations and main railways, individual fortresses and fortified lines of forts, such as the Verdun fortified area, are noted.

4. To the German-Japanese War. Map of the theater of war. St. Petersburg: Enlightenment, .
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The map is dedicated to Japan's participation in the First World War. It demonstrates the theater of war in Southeast Asia. Japan entered the war on August 23, 1914, laying siege to the German colony of Qingdao. During the war, taking advantage of the weakness of German influence in this region, Japan launched a real race to seize German colonies in the Pacific Ocean. Only towards the end of 1914, as a result of difficult negotiations with Great Britain, Japan received complete freedom of action north of the equator.

Twenty-five verst Map of Europe in 1914. Moscow: Book publishing house I. A. Mayevsky, 1914
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No. 1: Prussian-Polish region.

An interesting idea was expressed by the Russian religious thinker of the 19th century N.F. Fedorov: “Geography tells us about the earth as a dwelling; history is about it like a cemetery.” Moreover, this statement is relevant for a war situation. The history of wars cannot be studied without a geographical map, so I propose to work out a methodology for solving test tasks in the Unified State Exam format using a map.

COMPLETE STUDY OF EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR THE USE ON THE HISTORY OF THE MATERIAL FOR THE PERIOD 1900-1945.
qualitative analysis of theoretical material
no “water” and empty reasoning
Constant completion of tasks in the Unified State Exam format
great presentation design
constant work with the historical map
constant analysis of documentary sources
constant reference to facts from spiritual culture and art, which are so difficult for graduates

Here are all the topics of the course:
1. Russia at the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th centuries.
2. Social upheavals in Russian history at the beginning of the 20th century.
3. Russia on the eve of the First World War (1907-1914)
4. World War I
5. Russia in 1917
6. Civil war and its consequences
7. NEP
8. History of the USSR in the 1930s.
9. USSR on the eve of the Great Patriotic War
10. Strategic retreat
11. Radical fracture
12. The offensive stage of the Second World War

The First World War is a “blank spot” on the map of Russian history

2. We plotted the front lines and their movements on the map.

3. We refreshed our knowledge of the nuances of the First World War.

4. We have determined how to find World War events on maps.

5. We continued working with part 1 (test)

6. We examined the key event of the First World War on the Eastern Front - the Brusilov breakthrough of 1916.

7. We remembered how to format answers to test tasks of part 1 in the format

Kiselev I.V.

The First World War, or as it is also called, the Great War, became one of the bloodiest in human history. This was the result of the confrontation between two European military-political blocs - the Triple Alliance and the Entente. Germany was the initiator and head of the Triple Alliance. The country, which had strengthened since the mid-1870s, needed resources and living space for further development. In an effort to achieve complete dominance on the European continent, it entered into a military-political alliance with Austria-Hungary and Italy. Seeing the growing power of Germany, the leading European powers, France, Russia and England, also formed a military alliance - the Entente - in 1907.

38 states with a total population of more than 1 billion people were involved in the war. The theater of military operations covered a territory with a total area of ​​more than 4 million square meters. km. 10 million people died on the battlefields, another 20 million from epidemics, hunger and deprivation. The war changed the political map of the planet and the picture of the world. It gave impetus to revolutions that led to new confrontations. The First World War contributed to the development of new types of weapons (tanks, submarines, airplanes) and contributed to the use of such barbaric methods of warfare as the use of poison gases and the bombing of civilian targets.

The First World War ended on November 11, 1918 near Compiegne with the signing of an armistice in the railway carriage of Marshal Ferdinand Foch (1851-1929). The signing of the official peace treaty took place on June 28, 1919 at the Palace of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles, ending the First World War, laid the foundations for the Second World War, making it inevitable.

“This is not peace, this is a truce for twenty years”
Ferdinand Foch, Marshal of France

When turning to the history of wars in general, and especially to the history of the First World War, one cannot help but use cartographic material. It is the maps that allow us to fully understand the events that engulfed half of the globe at the beginning of the 20th century.

The publications presented at the exhibition are divided into five groups.

First World War (1914 - 1918)

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

Chamberlain

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

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

• Entente. Russian Empire, France, Great Britain. The allies were the USA, Italy, Romania, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
• 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. Initially, Italy was a member of the Triple Alliance. But after the outbreak of World War I, the Italians declared neutrality.

Causes of the First World War

The main reason for the outbreak of the First World War was the desire of the leading powers, primarily England, France and Austria-Hungary, to redistribute the world. The fact is that the colonial system collapsed by the beginning of the 20th century. The leading European countries, which had prospered for years through the exploitation of their colonies, could no longer simply obtain resources by taking them away from Indians, Africans and South Americans. Now resources could only be won from each other. Therefore, contradictions grew:

• Between England and Germany. England sought to prevent Germany from increasing its influence in the Balkans. Germany sought to strengthen itself in the Balkans and the Middle East, and also sought to deprive England of maritime dominance.
• Between Germany and France. France dreamed of regaining the lands of Alsace and Lorraine, which it had lost in the war of 1870-71. France also sought to seize the German Saar coal basin.
• Between Germany and Russia. Germany sought to take Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic states from Russia.
• Between Russia and Austria-Hungary. Controversies arose due to the desire of both countries to influence the Balkans, as well as Russia's desire to subjugate the Bosporus and Dardanelles.

The reason for the start of the war

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

The behavior of England is very important here, since Austria-Hungary could not start a war on its own, because this practically guaranteed war throughout Europe. The British at the embassy level convinced Nicholas 2 that Russia should not leave Serbia without help in the event of aggression. But then the entire (I emphasize this) English press wrote that the Serbs were barbarians and Austria-Hungary should not leave the murder of the Archduke unpunished. That is, England did everything to ensure that Austria-Hungary, Germany and Russia did not shy away from war.

Important nuances of the casus belli

In all textbooks we are told that the main and only reason for the outbreak of the First World War was the assassination of the Austrian Archduke. At the same time, they forget to say that the next day, June 29, another significant murder took place. The French politician Jean Jaurès, 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 Zhores, was an opponent of the war and had great influence on Nicholas 2. I would also like to note some facts from the fate of the main characters of those days:

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

This all indicates that in the events of the day there were a lot of black spots that have not yet been revealed. 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 their forces were approximately equal. Therefore, in the “July crisis” of 1914, both sides took a wait-and-see approach. British diplomacy came to the fore. She conveyed her position to Germany through the press and secret diplomacy - in the event of war, England would remain neutral or take Germany's side. Through open diplomacy, Nicholas 2 received the opposite idea that if war broke out, England would take the side of Russia.

It must be clearly understood that one open statement from England that it would not allow war in Europe would be enough for neither Germany nor Russia to even think about anything like that. Naturally, under such conditions, Austria-Hungary would not have dared to attack Serbia. But England, with all its diplomacy, pushed European countries towards war.

Russia before the war

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

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

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

The balance of forces and means before and after the war

Artillery

	Number of guns	Of these, heavy guns
Austria-Hungary
Germany

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

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

Weapons and military equipment

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

	Strelkovoe	Artillery
Great Britain
TRIPLE ALLIANCE
Germany
Austria-Hungary

This table clearly shows the weakness of the Russian Empire in terms of equipping the army. In all 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)

Number of fighting infantry (millions of people).

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

The table shows that Great Britain made the smallest contribution to the war, both in terms of combatants and deaths. This is logical, since the British did not really participate in major battles. Another example from this table is instructive. All textbooks tell us that Austria-Hungary, due to large losses, could not fight on its own, and it always needed help from Germany. But notice Austria-Hungary and France in the table. The numbers are identical! Just as Germany had to fight for Austria-Hungary, so Russia had to fight for France (it is no coincidence that the Russian army saved Paris from capitulation three times during the First World War).

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

Progress of the war

Military events of 1914

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

Russia entered World War I on August 1, 1914. Nikolai Nikolaevich Romanov (Uncle of Nicholas 2) was appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

In the first days of the war, St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd. Since the war with Germany began, the capital could not have a name of German origin - “burg”.

Historical reference

German "Schlieffen Plan"

Germany found itself under the threat of war on two fronts: Eastern - with Russia, Western - with France. Then the German command developed the “Schlieffen Plan”, according to which Germany should defeat France in 40 days and then fight with Russia. Why 40 days? The Germans believed that this was exactly what Russia would need to mobilize. Therefore, when Russia mobilizes, France will already be out of the game.

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

Northwestern Front of Russia in 1914

At the beginning of the war, Russia did something stupid that Germany could not 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 (modern Kaliningrad). Samsonov's army was equipped to help her. Initially, the troops acted successfully, and Germany was forced to retreat. As a result, part of the forces of the Western Front was transferred to the Eastern Front. The result - Germany repelled the Russian offensive in East Prussia (the troops acted disorganized and lacked resources), but as a result the Schlieffen plan failed, and France could not be captured. So, Russia saved Paris, albeit by defeating its 1st and 2nd armies. After this, 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 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 this, 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 of 1914

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

Map of military events of 1914-15

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 2.

Situation on the northwestern front

From January to October, Germany waged an active offensive, as a result of which Russia lost Poland, western Ukraine, part of the Baltic states, and western Belarus. Russia went on the defensive. Russian losses were gigantic:

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

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

Germany's successes on 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).

Situation on the southwestern front

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

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

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

Situation on the Western Front

"Everything is calm on the Western Front." This phrase can describe how the war between Germany and France proceeded in 1915. There were sluggish military operations in which no one sought the initiative. Germany was implementing plans in eastern Europe, and England and France were calmly mobilizing their economy and army, preparing for further war. No one provided any assistance to Russia, although Nicholas 2 repeatedly turned to France, first of all, so that it would take active action on the Western Front. As usual, no one heard him... By the way, this sluggish war on Germany’s western front was perfectly described by Hemingway in the novel “A Farewell to Arms.”

The main result of 1915 was that Germany was unable to bring Russia out of the war, although all efforts were devoted to 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 was able 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 goal of capturing Paris. For this purpose, a campaign was carried out on Verdun, which covered the approaches to the French capital. The battle lasted until the end of 1916. During this time, 2 million people died, for which the battle was called the “Verdun Meat Grinder”. France survived, but again thanks to the fact that Russia came to its rescue, which became more active on the southwestern front.

Events on the southwestern front in 1916

In May 1916, Russian troops went on the offensive, which lasted 2 months. This offensive went down in history under the name “Brusilovsky breakthrough”. This name is due to the fact that the Russian army was commanded by General Brusilov. The breakthrough of 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 some 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. As usual, the allies dropped her off. On August 27, 1916, Romania entered the First World War on the side of the Entente. Germany defeated her very quickly. As a result, Romania lost its army, and Russia received an additional 2 thousand kilometers of front.

Events on the Caucasian and Northwestern fronts

Positional battles continued on the Northwestern Front during the spring-autumn period. As for the Caucasian Front, the main events here 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.

The result of 1916 in the First World War

• The strategic initiative passed 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 carried out 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 the example of Russia. During the 3 years of the war, prices for basic products increased on average by 4-4.5 times. Naturally, this caused discontent among the people. Add to this heavy losses and a grueling war - it turns out to be excellent soil for revolutionaries. The situation is similar in Germany.

In 1917, the United States entered the First World War. The position of the Triple Alliance is deteriorating. Germany and 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 went on the offensive in the Lvov area. Again, we saved the allies from major battles, but we ourselves were completely exposed.

The Russian army, exhausted by the war and losses, did not want to fight. The issues of provisions, uniforms and supplies during the war years were never resolved. The army fought reluctantly, but moved forward. The Germans were forced to transfer troops here again, and Russia's Entente allies again isolated themselves, watching what would happen next. On July 6, Germany launched a counteroffensive. As a result, 150,000 Russian soldiers died. The army virtually ceased to exist. The front fell apart. Russia could no longer fight, and this catastrophe was inevitable.

People demanded Russia's withdrawal from the war. And this was one of their main demands from the Bolsheviks, who seized power in October 1917. Initially, at the 2nd Party Congress, the Bolsheviks signed the decree “On Peace,” essentially proclaiming Russia’s exit from the war, and on March 3, 1918, they signed the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty. The conditions of this world were as follows:

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

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

Historical reference

Events in the war in 1918

Germany got rid of the Eastern Front and the need to wage war on two fronts. 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 progressed, it became obvious that Germany was getting the most out of itself, and that it 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 concluded a truce with the Entente, and Germany was left to fight alone. Her situation was hopeless after the German allies in the Triple Alliance essentially capitulated. This resulted in the same thing that happened in Russia - a revolution. On November 9, 1918, Emperor Wilhelm II was 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 Compiègne forest, at the Retonde station. The surrender 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 the province of Alsace and Lorraine to France to the borders of 1870, as well as the transfer of the Saar coal basin.
• Germany lost all its colonial possessions, and was also obliged to transfer 1/8 of its territory to its geographical neighbors.
• For 15 years, Entente troops were on the left bank of the Rhine.
• By May 1, 1921, Germany had to pay members of the Entente (Russia was not entitled to anything) 20 billion marks in gold, goods, securities, etc.
• Germany must pay reparations for 30 years, and the amount of these reparations is determined by the winners themselves and can be increased at any time during these 30 years.
• Germany was prohibited from having an army of more than 100 thousand people, and the army had 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 did not end in peace, but in a truce for 30 years. That’s how it ultimately turned out...

Results of the First World War

The First World War was fought on the territory of 14 states. Countries with a total population of over 1 billion people took part in it (this is approximately 62% of the entire world population at that time). In total, 74 million people were mobilized by the participating countries, of whom 10 million died and another 20 million were injured.

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

Map of the First World War 1914-1918

Beginning of the First World War

In 1914, the Russian Empire entered a war marked by the first large-scale use of tanks, aircraft, and chemical weapons, a war that resulted in millions of casualties. Her memory was undeservedly pushed away from the center of public attention, the military courage and self-sacrifice of Russian soldiers were unfairly forgotten.
The main reason for the First World War was the sharp aggravation of contradictions between the leading countries of the world due to their uneven development. An equally important reason was the arms race, on the supply of which the monopolies received super-profits. The militarization of the economy and the consciousness of huge masses of people took place, and sentiments of revanchism and chauvinism grew.
The deepest contradictions were between Germany and Great Britain. Germany sought to end British dominance at sea and seize its colonies. Germany's claims to France and Russia were great. The plans of the top German military leadership included the seizure of economically developed regions of northeastern France, the desire to tear the Baltic states, the Don region, Crimea and the Caucasus from Russia. In turn, Great Britain wanted to maintain its colonies and dominance at sea, and take away oil-rich Mesopotamia and part of the Arabian Peninsula from Turkey. France, which suffered a crushing defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, hoped to regain Alsace and Lorraine and annex the left bank of the Rhine and the Saar coal basin.
Austria-Hungary nurtured expansionist plans for Russia (Volyn, Podolia) and Serbia. Russia sought to annex Galicia and take possession of the Black Sea straits of the Bosporus and Dardanelles.
By 1914, the contradictions between the two military-political groupings of European powers - the Triple Alliance and the Entente - had escalated to the limit. The Balkan Peninsula has become a zone of particular tension. The ruling circles of Austria-Hungary, following the advice of the German emperor, decided to finally establish their influence in the Balkans with one blow to Serbia. Soon a reason was found to declare war. The Austrian command launched military maneuvers near the Serbian border. The head of the Austrian “military party,” heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand, defiantly paid a visit to the capital of Bosnia, Sarajevo. On June 28, a bomb was thrown at his carriage, which the Archduke threw away, demonstrating his presence of mind. On the way back, a different route was chosen. But for some unknown reason, the carriage returned through a labyrinth of poorly guarded streets to the same place. A young man ran out of the crowd and fired two shots. One bullet hit the Archduke in the neck, the other in the stomach of his wife. Both died within minutes.

Gavrilo Princip

The terrorist act was carried out by Serbian patriots Gavrilo Princip and his associate Gavrilović from the paramilitary organization Black Hand.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

On July 5, 1914, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Austrian government received assurances from Germany to support its claims against Serbia. Kaiser Wilhelm II promised the Austrian representative Count Hoyos that Germany would support Austria even if the conflict with Serbia led to war with Russia. On July 23, the Austrian government presented an ultimatum to Serbia. It was presented at six in the evening, a response was expected within 48 hours.

Assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne, Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo

The terms of the ultimatum were harsh, some seriously hurting Serbia's pan-Slavic ambitions. The Austrians did not expect or desire that the terms would be accepted. On July 7, having received confirmation of German support, the Austrian government decided to provoke war - an ultimatum was drawn up with this in mind. Austria was also encouraged by the conclusions that Russia is not ready for war: the sooner it happens, the better, they decided in Vienna.
The Serbian response to the July 23 ultimatum was rejected, and on July 28, 1914, Austria declared war on Serbia. Both sides began to mobilize even before a response was received,
On August 1, 1914, Germany declared war on Russia, and two days later on France. After a month of mounting tension, it became clear that a major European war could not be avoided, although Britain still hesitated.

Nicholas II declares war on Germany from the balcony of the Winter Palace

A day after the declaration of war on Serbia, when Belgrade was already bombed, Russia began mobilization. The original order for general mobilization - an act tantamount to a declaration of war - was almost immediately canceled by the Tsar in favor of partial mobilization. Perhaps Russia did not expect large-scale actions from Germany.

Hostilities

On August 4, German troops invaded Belgium. Luxembourg had suffered the same fate two days earlier. Both states had international guarantees against attack, but only Belgium's guarantees provided for the intervention of a guaranteeing power. Germany made public the "reasons" for the invasion, accusing Belgium of being "not neutral", but no one took it seriously. The invasion of Belgium brought England into the war. The British government presented an ultimatum demanding an immediate cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of German soldiers. The demand was ignored, thus all the great powers - Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, Russia and England were drawn into the war.
Although the great powers had been preparing for war for many years, it still took them by surprise. For example, England and Germany spent enormous amounts of money on the construction of navies, but bulky floating fortresses played a minor role in the battles, although they undoubtedly had strategic importance. Likewise, no one expected that infantry (especially on the Western Front) would lose the ability to move, finding itself paralyzed by the power of artillery and machine guns (although this was predicted by the Polish banker Ivan Bloch in his Future of War in 1899).
In terms of training and organization, the German army was the best in Europe. In addition, the Germans burned with patriotism and faith in their great destiny, which had not yet been realized. Germany understood better than anyone the importance of heavy artillery and machine guns in modern combat, as well as the importance of railway communications.
The Austro-Hungarian army was a copy of the German army, but was inferior to it due to the explosive mixture of different nationalities in its composition and mediocre performance in previous wars. The French army was only 20% smaller than the German one, but its manpower was barely more than half. The main difference, therefore, was the reserves. Germany had a lot of them, France had nothing at all. France, like most other countries, hoped for a short war. She was not ready for a prolonged conflict. Like the rest, France believed that movement would decide everything, and did not expect static trench warfare.

Russian soldiers

Russia's main advantage was its inexhaustible human resources and the proven courage of the Russian soldier, but its leadership was corrupt and incompetent, and its industrial backwardness made Russia unsuited to modern warfare. Communications were very poor, the borders were endless, and the allies were geographically cut off. It was assumed that Russia's participation, billed as a "pan-Slavic crusade", represented a desperate attempt to restore ethnic unity under the deteriorating Tsarist regime.
Britain's position was completely different. Britain never had a large army, even in the 18th century. depended on naval forces, and tradition rejected a "standing army" from even more ancient times. The British army was thus extremely small in number, but highly professional and had the main goal of maintaining order in its overseas possessions. There were doubts whether the British command would be able to lead a real company. Some commanders were too old, although this disadvantage was also inherent in Germany.
The most striking example of the incorrect assessment of the nature of modern warfare by the commands of both sides was the widespread belief in the overriding role of cavalry. At sea, traditional British supremacy was challenged by Germany. In 1914, Britain had 29 capital ships, Germany - 18. Britain also underestimated enemy submarines, although it was especially vulnerable to them due to its dependence on overseas supplies of food and raw materials for its industry.
The First World War was fought on almost a dozen fronts in different parts of the globe. The main fronts were the Western, where German troops fought against British, French and Belgian troops, and the Eastern, where Russian troops confronted the combined forces of the Austro-Hungarian and German armies. The human, raw material and food resources of the Entente countries significantly exceeded those of the Central Powers, so the chances of Germany and Austria-Hungary to win a war on two fronts were slim. The German command understood this and therefore relied on a lightning war.
The military action plan, developed by the Chief of the German General Staff von Schlieffen, proceeded from the fact that Russia would need at least a month and a half to concentrate its troops. During this time, it was planned to defeat France and force it to surrender. Then it was planned to transfer all German troops against Russia. According to the Schlieffen Plan, the war was supposed to end in two months. But these calculations did not come true.

Albert von Schlieffen

At the beginning of August, the main forces of the German army approached the Belgian fortress of Liege, which covered crossings across the Meuse River, and after bloody battles captured all its forts. On August 20, German troops entered the capital of Belgium, Brussels. German troops reached the Franco-Belgian border and in a “border battle” defeated the French, forcing them to withdraw deeper into the territory, which posed a threat to Paris. The German command overestimated its successes and, considering the strategic plan in the West completed, transferred two army corps and a cavalry division to the East. In early September, German troops reached the Marne River, trying to encircle the French. In the Battle of the Marne River on September 3-10, 1914, Anglo-French troops stopped the German advance on Paris and even managed to launch a counteroffensive for a short time. One and a half million people took part in this battle. Losses on both sides amounted to almost 600 thousand people killed and wounded. The result of the Battle of the Marne was the final failure of the “blitzkrieg” plans.

The weakened German army began to “burrow” into the trenches. The Western Front, stretching from the English Channel to the Swiss border, stabilized by the end of 1914. Both sides began building earthen and concrete fortifications. The wide strip in front of the trenches was mined and covered with thick rows of barbed wire. The war on the Western Front turned from a maneuver to a positional one.
The offensive of Russian troops in East Prussia ended unsuccessfully; they were defeated and partially destroyed in the Masurian swamps. The offensive of the Russian army under the command of General Brusilov in Galicia and Bukovina, on the contrary, pushed the Austro-Hungarian units back to the Carpathians. By the end of 1914, there was also a respite on the Eastern Front. The warring parties switched to a long trench war.
On November 5, 1914, Russia, England and France declared war on Turkey. In October, the Turkish government closed the Dardanelles and Bosporus to Allied ships, virtually isolating Russia's Black Sea ports from the outside world and causing irreparable damage to its economy. This move by Turkey was an effective contribution to the war efforts of the Central Powers. The next provocative step was the shelling of Odessa and other southern Russian ports at the end of October by a squadron of Turkish warships.
The declining Ottoman Empire gradually collapsed and over the course of the last half century lost most of its European possessions. The army was exhausted by unsuccessful military operations against the Italians in Tripoli, and the Balkan Wars caused further depletion of its resources. The Young Turk leader Enver Pasha, who as Minister of War was a leading figure on the Turkish political scene, believed that an alliance with Germany would best serve his country's interests, and on August 2, 1914, a secret treaty was signed between the two countries. The German military mission had been active in Turkey since the end of 1913. She was tasked with reorganizing the Turkish army.
Despite serious objections from his German advisers, Enver Pasha decided to invade the Russian Caucasus and launched an offensive in difficult weather conditions in mid-December 1914. The Turkish soldiers fought well, but suffered a severe defeat. However, the Russian high command was concerned about the threat that Turkey posed to Russia's southern borders, and German strategic plans were well served by the fact that this threat in this sector pinned down Russian troops that were in great need on other fronts.
The year 1915 began with an intensification of military actions by the warring parties.
Symbolizing the emergence of a sinister new means of warfare, on January 19, German Zeppelins began raiding the east coast of England. Several people died in the ports of Norfolk, and several bombs fell near the royal house at Sandringham.
On 24 January, a short but fierce battle took place off Dogger Bank in the North Sea, during which the German cruiser Blücher was sunk and two battlecruisers were damaged. The British battlecruiser Lion was also seriously damaged.
On February 12, the French launched a new offensive in Champagne. The losses were enormous, the French lost about 50 thousand people, having advanced almost 500 yards. This was followed by a British offensive on Neuschtal in March 1915 and a new French offensive in April in an easterly direction. However, these actions did not bring tangible results to the Allies.
In the east, on March 22, after a siege, Russian troops captured the Przemysl fortress, which dominated the bridgehead on the San River in Galicia. Over 100 thousand Austrians were captured, not counting the heavy losses suffered by Austria in unsuccessful attempts to lift the siege.
Russia's strategy at the beginning of 1915 amounted to an offensive in the direction of Silesia and Hungary while securing reliable flanks. During this company, the capture of Przemysl was the main success of the Russian army (although it managed to hold this fortress only for two months). At the beginning of May 1915, a major offensive by the troops of the Central Powers in the East began.
The strike forces of Field Marshal Mackensen's 11th German Army, supported by the 40th Austro-Hungarian Army, went on the offensive along a 20-mile front in Western Galicia. Russian troops were forced to leave Lvov and Warsaw. In the summer, the German command broke through the Russian front near Gorlitsa. Soon the Germans launched an offensive in the Baltic states and Russian troops lost Galicia, Poland, part of Latvia and Belarus. The enemy was preoccupied with the need to repel the impending attack on Serbia, as well as to return troops to the Western Front before the start of a new French offensive.
During the four-month campaign, Russia lost 800 thousand soldiers alone as prisoners. However, the Russian command, switching to strategic defense, managed to withdraw its armies from the enemy’s attacks and stop his advance. Concerned and exhausted, the Austro-German armies went on the defensive along the entire front in October. Germany faced the need to continue a long war on two fronts. Russia bore the brunt of the struggle, which provided France and England with a respite to mobilize the economy for the needs of the war.
On February 16, 1915, British and French warships began shelling Turkish defenses in the Dardanelles. With interruptions caused in part by bad weather, this naval operation continued for two months.
The Dardanelles operation was undertaken at the request of Russia to launch a diversionary attack on Turkey, which would relieve pressure on the Russians fighting the Turks in the Caucasus. In January, the Dardanelles, a strait about 40 miles long and 1 to 4 miles wide, connecting the Aegean Sea with the Sea of ​​Marmara, was chosen as a target.
The operation to capture the Dardanelles, opening the way to an attack on Constantinople, figured in the Allied military plans before the war, but was rejected as too difficult. With Turkey's entry into the war, this plan was revised as possible, although risky. A purely naval operation was initially planned, but it immediately became clear that a combined naval and land operation had to be undertaken. This plan found active support from the English First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill. The outcome of the operation - which, if successful, would have opened the "back door" to Russia - was questioned by the Allies' reluctance to commit large enough forces at once and the choice of largely outdated warships. At the beginning, Türkiye had only two divisions to defend the strait. At the time of the Allied landings, it had six divisions and outnumbered five Allied divisions, not counting the presence of magnificent natural fortifications.
Early on the morning of April 25, 1915, Allied troops landed at two points on the Gallipoli Peninsula. The British landed at Cape Ilyas, at the southern tip of the peninsula, and the Australians and New Zealand units advanced along the Aegean coast about 15 miles to the north. At the same time, the French brigade launched a diversionary attack on Kumkala on the Anatolian coast.
Despite barbed wire and heavy machine-gun fire, both groups managed to seize a bridgehead. However, the Turks controlled the heights, as a result of which the British, Australian and New Zealand troops were unable to advance. As a result, as on the Western Front, there was a lull here.
In August, British troops landed at Suvla Bay in an attempt to capture the central part of the peninsula opposite the pass. Although the landing in the Gulf was sudden, the command of the troops was unsatisfactory, and the opportunity for a breakthrough was lost. The offensive in the south also proved unsuccessful. The British government decided to withdraw troops. W. Churchill was forced to resign as First Lord of the Admiralty.
On May 23, 1915, Italy declared war on Austria, signing a secret treaty with the Allies in London in April. The Triple Alliance, which linked Italy to the Central Powers, was denounced, although at this time it refused to declare war on Germany.
At the beginning of the war, Italy declared its neutrality on the grounds that the Triple Alliance did not oblige it to take part in a war of aggression. However, the main reason for Italy's actions was the desire to gain territorial gains at the expense of Austria. Austria did not want to make the concessions that Italy sought, such as giving up Trieste. Moreover, by 1915, public opinion began to swing in favor of the Allies, and both former pacifists and radical socialists, led by Mussolini, saw an opportunity to bring about a revolution in the face of the lack of stability in society during the war.
In March, the Austrian government took steps to meet Italian demands, but it was already too late. Under the Treaty of London, the Italians got what they wanted, or most of what they wanted. Under this treaty, Italy was promised Trentino, South Tyrol, Trieste, Istria and other predominantly Italian-speaking regions.
On May 30, the Italians began military operations against Austria with the launch of an offensive by the 2nd and 3rd armies under the overall command of General Cadorna in the northeast direction.

Italian motorcyclists against the background of batteries

Italy had very limited capabilities for warfare; its army had low combat effectiveness, especially after the Libyan campaign. The Italian offensive floundered, and the fighting in 1915 took on a positional character.
The year 1916 began with the offensive of Russian troops in the Caucasus on February 16, they took the Turkish fortress of Erzurum. Meanwhile, in England, parliament approved a law on universal conscription, which was strongly opposed by trade unions and Labor. Conservatives and some liberals, led by D. Lloyd George, voted for the introduction of the law. And a food riot broke out in the capital of Germany - there was a catastrophic shortage of food in Berlin. In the same year, the battles of Verdun and the Somme River ended.
These battles were the bloodiest during the war on the Western Front. They were characterized by the massive use of artillery, aviation, infantry, and cavalry and did not bring success to either side. The main reason for this balance was the unconditional advantage of defensive methods of warfare over offensive ones.
The Verdun Offensive signified the desire of the Chief of the German General Staff, Falkenhayn, to deliver a decisive blow on the Western Front, which was postponed in 1915 after the successes achieved in the East. Falkenhayn believed that Germany's main enemy was England, but at the same time he recognized that England could not be conquered, partly because an offensive in the English sector had little chance of success, and also because a military defeat in Europe would not England from the war. Submarine warfare was the best hope for realizing this possibility, and Falkenhayn saw his task as defeating the British allies in Europe. Russia seemed already defeated, and the Austrians showed that they could cope with the Italians.
That left France. Given the proven strength of the defenses in trench warfare, Falkenhayn abandoned the idea of ​​​​trying to break through the French lines. At Verdun, he chose a strategy of war of attrition. He planned a series of attacks to lure out the French reserves and destroy them with artillery. Verdun was chosen partly because it was on a salient and disrupted German communications, but also because of the important historical significance of this major fortress. As soon as the battle began, the Germans were determined to capture Verdun and the French to defend it.
Falkenhayn was right in his assumption that the French would not give up Verdun easily. However, the task was complicated by the fact that Verdun was no longer a strong fortress and was practically deprived of artillery. And yet, forced to retreat, the French maintained their forts, while reinforcements filtered through a very narrow corridor that was not exposed to German artillery fire. By the time General Petain, commanding the Second Army, was sent to Verdun at the end of the month to lead its defense, the immediate threat had passed. The German crown prince, who commanded the army corps, scheduled the main offensive for March 4. After two days of shelling, the offensive began, but by March 9 it was stopped. However, Falkenhayn's strategy remained the same.
On June 7, 1916, the Germans captured Fort Vaux, which controlled the right flank of the French positions at Verdun. The next day they captured Fort Tiomon, which had already changed hands twice since the offensive began on June 1. It seemed that an immediate threat loomed over Verdun. In March, the Germans failed to achieve a quick victory at Verdun, but they continued their attacks with great persistence, which were carried out at short intervals. The French repulsed them and launched a series of counterattacks. German troops continued their offensive.

General Nivelle

On October 24, General Nivelle, who took over the 2nd Army after Petain became commander-in-chief, launched a counteroffensive near Verdun. With the start of the Somme offensive in July, German reserves were no longer sent to Verdun. The French counterattack was covered by the "creeping artillery attack", a new invention in which infantry advanced behind a gradually moving wave of artillery fire according to a precisely timed schedule. As a result, French troops captured their original objectives and captured six thousand prisoners.
The next offensive was hampered by bad weather at the end of November, but was resumed in December and became known as the Battle of Luvemen. Almost 10 thousand prisoners were taken and more than 100 guns were captured.

In December, the Battle of Verdun ended. About 120 divisions were crushed in the “Verdun meat grinder,” including 69 French and 50 German. During the Battle of Verdun, on July 1, 1916, after a week of artillery preparation, the Allies launched an offensive on the Somme River. As a result of the exhaustion of French troops at Verdun, British units became the main part of the offensive forces, and England became the leading Allied power on the Western Front.

French defenses, Somme, 1916

British soldiers repulse a counterattack

The Battle of the Somme saw the first appearance of tanks, a new type of weapon, on September 15th. The effect of the British vehicles, which were initially called “land ships,” was quite uncertain, but the number of tanks taking part in the battle was small. In the fall, the British advance was blocked by swamps. The Battle of the Somme River, which lasted from July to the end of November 1916, did not bring success to either side. Their losses were enormous - 1 million 300 thousand people.

Expeditionary force of the Russian army in France. Summer 1916, Champagne. The head of the 1st brigade, General Lokhvitsky, with several Russian and French officers, goes around the positions

The situation on the Eastern Front was more successful for the Entente. At the height of the battles near Verdun, the French command again turned to Russia for help. On June 4, the Russian 8th Army under the command of General Kaledin advanced into the Lutsk area, which was considered as a reconnaissance operation. To the surprise of the Russians, the Austrian defense line collapsed. And General Alexei Brusilov, who exercised overall command of the southern sector of the front, immediately intensified his offensive, bringing 3 armies into battle. The Austrians were soon put into panic flight. In three days, the Russians captured 200 thousand prisoners. The army of General Brusilov broke through the Austrian front on the Lutsk - Chernivtsi line. Russian troops again occupied most of Galicia and Bukovina, putting Austria-Hungary on the brink of military defeat. And although the offensive petered out by August 1916, the Brusilov breakthrough suspended Austrian activity on the Italian front and greatly eased the position of the Anglo-French troops at Verdun and the Somme.

Naval battles

The war at sea came down to the question of whether Germany could successfully resist England's traditional superiority at sea. As on land, the presence of new types of weapons - aircraft, submarines, mines, torpedoes, radio equipment - made defense easier than attack.
The Germans, having a smaller fleet, believed that the British would seek to destroy it in a battle, which they therefore tried to avoid. However, the British strategy was aimed at achieving other goals. Having relocated the fleet to Scala Flow in the Orkney Islands at the beginning of the war, and thereby establishing control over the North Sea, the British, wary of mines and torpedoes and the inaccessible coast of Germany, chose a long blockade, being always ready in case of an attempt to break through the German fleet. At the same time, being dependent on supplies by sea, they had to ensure security on ocean routes. In August 1914, the Germans had relatively few battleships based overseas, although the cruisers Goeben and Breslau had successfully reached Constantinople early in the war, and their presence contributed to Turkey's entry into the war on the side of the Central Powers. The most significant force, including the battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, was destroyed during the fighting off the Falkland Islands, and by the end of 1914 the oceans were - at least on the surface - cleared of German raiders.

Fleeing sailors from the Gneisenau. "Inflexible" in the background

The main danger to ocean trade routes was not combat squadrons, but submarines. As the war progressed, Germany's inferiority in capital ships forced her to increasingly concentrate her efforts on submarines, which the British, suffering heavy losses in the Atlantic, viewed as an illegal means of warfare. Ultimately, the policy of unrestricted submarine warfare which turned out to be almost disastrous for England, indirectly brought death to Germany, since it was the direct reason for the entry of the United States of America into the war in 1917.
On May 7, 1915, the huge American liner Lusitania, on a voyage from New York to Liverpool, was sunk by a torpedo attack by a German submarine off the Irish coast. The steamer quickly sank, and with it, about 1,200 people went forever into the cold waters of the ocean - almost three-quarters of all those on board.

British transatlantic passenger liner Lusitania

The sinking of the Lusitania, whose speed was thought to make her invulnerable to torpedoes, necessitated an appropriate response. The fact that the Germans gave a cautious warning to the Americans not to sail on this ship only confirmed that the attack on it was most likely pre-planned. It caused sharp anti-German protests in many countries, primarily in the United States. Among the dead were nearly 200 American citizens, including such famous figures as millionaire Alfred Vanderbilt. This sinking had a major impact on President Woodrow Wilson's declared policy of strict neutrality, and from that time on, US entry into the war became a potential possibility.
On July 18, 1915, the Italian cruiser Giuseppe Garibaldi sank after being torpedoed by an Austrian submarine. A few days earlier, the English cruiser Dublin was attacked in a similar manner, but managed to escape despite being seriously damaged.
The French fleet, based in Malta, fell to the task of implementing a blockade in the Adriatic Sea. Austrian submarines were active, and after the loss of the battleship Jean Bart in December 1914, the French were wary of releasing their heavy ships, relying on cruisers and destroyers. German U-boats also entered the Mediterranean in the summer of 1915, and the Allies' position was complicated by the task of protecting the numerous transports and supply ships making raids to and from the Gallipoli Peninsula, and later to Thessaloniki. In September, an attempt was made to block the Strait of Otranto using nets, but German submarines managed to pass under them.
Military operations in the Baltic intensified. Russian sailors disabled a German minelayer, and a British submarine torpedoed the cruiser Prinz Adalbert.
The Russian naval forces, supplemented by several British submarines, as a rule, successfully thwarted German plans to land troops in Courland and prevented the laying of mines. British submarines also tried to disrupt the supply of iron and steel from Sweden to Germany, later sinking 14 ships engaged in these shipments in 1915.
But the British losses also grew. By the end of 1915, the total number of British merchant ships sunk by German submarines exceeded 250.
The Battle of Jutland between the British and German fleets in the summer of 1916 led to large mutual losses, but in strategic terms it changed little. England retained superiority at sea and the blockade of Germany continued. The Germans had to return to submarine warfare again. However, its effectiveness became less and less, especially after the United States entered the war.

The influence of the 1917 revolution on the course of the world war

The 1917 revolution was a turning point in human history. It had a significant influence on the course of the world war.
After the victory of the February Revolution, a Provisional Government was formed in early March 1917, which, together with the Soviets, exercised real power in the country.
In the field of foreign policy, the Provisional Government advocated the continuation of the world war, despite the difficult situation in Russia. On April 18, a note from Foreign Minister P. N. Milyukov was published to the governments of the Entente countries about Russia’s continuation of the war and its fidelity to its allied obligations. This note and the intensification of military operations at the front caused a powerful demonstration on April 20-21 by soldiers of the Petrograd garrison and city workers against the policy of continuing the war, demanding the resignation of Miliukov. At the end of April, Milyukov and Guchkov (Minister of Military and Naval Affairs of the Russian Provisional Government) were forced to resign.
After the April crisis of the Provisional Government, a second coalition government was formed. The post of Minister of War in it was taken by A.F. Kerensky, and M.I. Tereshchenko became Minister of Foreign Affairs. Disagreements over war and peace again dominated the many political issues.
Right-wing parties, officers and generals, government officials, and major entrepreneurs were ready to continue the war. Supporters of Russia's liberal-democratic development sought to achieve an honorable peace. Left and left-radical forces expressed an irrepressible desire to turn the world war into a world revolution.
In June 1917, a new offensive of the Russian army began under the overall command of Brusilov. The morale of the army improved somewhat after the February Revolution, but the offensive itself was dictated by political considerations. Success could force the Germans to agree to peace. Failure could help strengthen the position of German revolutionary socialists supporting Russia. The offensive was poorly prepared and ended in a heavy defeat for Russia. During 18 days of fighting at the front, about 60 thousand soldiers and officers died.
After the suppression of the mass uprising of workers and soldiers of Petrograd on July 4, 1917, power completely passed to the Provisional Government. The appointment of General L.G. Kornilov as commander-in-chief of the Russian army was met with approval in the West, but Kornilov attempted a military coup, which ended in failure for the monarchists, the military supporters of continuing the war.
After the October Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks were one of the first to adopt the Decree on Peace, which reflected their intention to withdraw from the world war. At the end of the year, the Council of People's Commissars began unprecedented separate negotiations with Germany.
The peace treaty was signed on March 3, 1918 in Brest.
According to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Soviet Russia recognized Germany as the territory of the Baltic states, Poland, and part of Belarus. She pledged to renounce claims to Finland, transfer Kara, Batum, Ardagan to Turkey, make peace with the Ukrainian Central Rada, democratize the army, disarm the fleet, renew the old trade agreement, and pay reparations to Germany in the amount of 6 billion marks. Thus, Soviet Russia lost a territory of 800 thousand square meters. km, where 26% of the population lived. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk meant Russia's withdrawal from the war. It operated until November 1918. After the November revolution in Germany, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee suspended its operation.
On April 6, 1917, the United States officially declared war on Germany. In his speech addressed to Congress with a request to approve the adoption of this declaration, President Wilson denied that the United States had any territorial claims and argued that it was necessary to save the world for democracy. His policies received the approval of an overwhelming majority - only 6 people voted against in the Senate and 50 (out of 423) in the House of Representatives.
The immediate reasons for Wilson's change in policy towards Germany were her resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare at the end of January 1916 against both neutral and allied ships, as well as the discovery of the Germans' attempt to persuade Mexico to start a war against the United States. Up to this point, official US policy had been strict neutrality, which most Americans approved of.
Meanwhile, in Europe, the Allies launched their planned large-scale offensive in the spring of 1917. On April 9, the British 3rd Army began fighting near Arras in Artois. The offensive was initially successful - most of the Vishli mountain range was captured. English gas had a paralyzing effect on the German artillery - it killed horses carrying ammunition. But the spring offensive of the French army in the Reims area was unsuccessful. The Germans were well prepared, and the French units were thrown against barbed wire and a shower of machine gun fire. By May 7, the French, having suffered heavy losses, had advanced only 4 miles.
On July 13, 1917, near Ypres, Germany used a new toxic substance mustard gas, which caused serious harm to the skin, eyes, and lungs.

Gas attack

British soldiers injured in a gas attack

In the summer of 1917, British troops carried out a successful offensive in Flanders, but their efforts at Ypres were unsuccessful.

In the autumn, German troops under the command of General Gouthières captured Riga, encountering weak resistance from the demoralized Russian army. By occupying the island of Ezel in October, the Germans secured a dominant position in the Baltic. However, soon the British, having launched a series of attacks on German battleships, forced the German fleet to retreat. In November 1917, the British occupied German East Africa. That same fall, fighting began in France and American troops arrived in Europe.
The beginning of 1918 was marked by the publication by US President William Wilson of peace conditions (Wilson's “Fourteen Points”) for ending the war and concluding peace. They also determined the basic principles of the post-war period.
In March 1918, the Germans made a desperate attempt to break through the Allied defenses in the Somme River area. Thanks to the Brest-Litovsk Treaty with Russia, Germany transferred significant forces to the West. However, it was clear that the successful start of the operation was short-lived, especially as American troops began to arrive in France in increasing numbers.

German trenches, July 1918

Despite the extremely unfavorable strategic position, Germany made new attempts to seize the initiative in the war. In April, General Ludendorff launched an offensive in Flanders, 7 British submarines were sunk in the Baltic, and a major battle took place on the Marne. But Germany's forces were already running out. On August 8, British and French troops launched an offensive to relieve German pressure on Amiens. By the second half of September, the Allies crossed the Somme and approached Saint-Quentin. The Germans were once again on the Siegfried Line, from which they had begun their spring offensive. This Allied operation was the most successful of the entire war on the Western Front.
End of the war
The autumn of 1918 brought with it serious geopolitical changes. Bulgaria capitulated in September, and Turkey capitulated on October 31. On November 3, Austria signed an armistice. The bloc of central powers practically no longer existed. The war was approaching its logical end.

French patrol. Marne, 1918

The inevitability of defeat forced Germany to look for ways to end the war. The new German government, created on September 30, 1918, with the participation of the Social Democrats, turned to the United States with a request for an armistice based on Wilson’s “14 points.” At the same time, German troops, by decision of the command, began a major naval operation, which was supposed to show that Germany’s forces had not yet dried up; on October 30, the German military squadron, located in the harbor of the city of Kiel, received an order to go to sea and attack the English fleet. The sailors, exhausted by the war, realizing the adventurism of the order, refused to obey the order; on November 3, 1918, demonstrations of sailors, soldiers and workers began in the city of Kiel, which soon developed into an uprising. The city fell into the hands of the rebels, the rebels created the Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. Following Kiel, councils arose in other cities. A revolution began in Germany.
On the night of November 10, William II fled to the Netherlands. Max Badensky handed over the post of Reich Chancellor to the first Social Democrat Friedrich Ebert.
On November 9, an armed uprising took place in Berlin, the participants of which captured the city by mid-day. A coalition government was formed - the Council of People's Representatives (SNU), which included representatives of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (NSPD). The new government carried out a number of democratic reforms: abolished martial law, abolished some reactionary laws, and proclaimed freedom of speech, press, and assembly. This government ended the war by signing an armistice agreement with the Entente powers on November 11. With the formation of the SNU, the first stage of the November Revolution ended. In Germany, the monarchy was overthrown and a “Social Republic” was proclaimed.
The First World War had a catastrophic effect on the economic situation of Germany and extremely aggravated the socio-political situation in the country. The war cost the German people dearly: 2 million Germans were killed, more than 4.5 million were wounded, 1 million were captured. The country was suffocating in the grip of economic ruin, high prices, hunger, and taxes increased monstrously. The beginning of the November Revolution was a natural manifestation of the deepest crisis in German society.
In Austria-Hungary, the approaching military collapse coincided with a revolutionary crisis. The general political strike in the Czech Republic on October 14, 1918 grew into a national liberation democratic revolution. On October 28, when it became known that the Austro-Hungarian government had agreed to accept the peace terms proposed by President Wilson, the National Committee, created in the summer of 1918, announced the creation of the Czechoslovak state. On October 30, the Slovak National Council announced the separation of Slovakia from Hungary and its annexation to the Czech lands. The formation of the Czechoslovak state ended the long struggle of the two fraternal peoples for national liberation. On November 14, 1918, the National Assembly, formed by expanding the membership of the National Committee, declared Czechoslovakia a republic and elected Tomas Masaryk as president.
The revolutionary actions of the soldiers of Istria, Dalmatia, and Croatia led to the separation of all South Slavic provinces from Austria-Hungary. On December 1, 1918, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was formed. It included Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Croatia, Dalmatia, part of Macedonia and Montenegro. The new state was a constitutional monarchy led by the Serbian royal dynasty of Karadjordjević, and the king had the right, together with the parliament (assembly), to legislative power. At the same time, Northern Bukovina announced its annexation to Ukraine, and Galicia - to Poland.
In October 1918, the once dual Austro-Hungarian Habsburg monarchy effectively ceased to exist. On November 3, the new Austrian government, on behalf of the now defunct Austria-Hungary, signed the terms of the armistice dictated by the Entente. Two more new states appeared on the map of Europe - Austria and Hungary. On November 16, the National Council of Hungary proclaimed the Hungarian Republic. During the emerging democratic revolution, tendencies to create a more just structure of society dominated. Representatives of the independent and radical parties came to power. The government was headed by Count M. Karolyi. Democratic transformations began: general equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot was established, laws on freedom of assembly, unions, and political organizations were adopted. Large-scale agrarian reform was planned.
However, in Hungary, unlike Austria, where a democratic revolution also took place, the strong influence of the Communist Party remained, mainly consisting of Hungarian prisoners of war who returned from Russia, led by Bela Kun, and who had attended Bolshevik universities there. The communists called for a socialist revolution and the establishment of a dictatorship of the proletariat along the Soviet model. They began active work to expand their influence in the Councils created throughout the country. In 1919, the communists managed to seize power in the country for a short time.

Results of the First World War

Early in the morning of November 11, 1918, in the saloon car of the headquarters train of the Commander-in-Chief of the Entente forces, Marshal Foch, which stood near the Retonde station in the Compiegne Forest, a truce was signed by representatives of the armed forces of Germany and its allies. The war ended with the defeat of the countries of the German bloc. At 11 o'clock that same day, 101 artillery salvos rang out in Paris, signaling the end of the First World War.
In its scale and consequences, the First World War had no equal in the entire previous history of mankind. It lasted 4 years, 3 months and 10 days (from August 1, 1914 to November 11, 1918), covering 38 countries with a population of over 1.5 billion people. 70 million people were mobilized into the armies of the warring countries.
The war required colossal financial costs, which were many times greater than the costs of all previous wars. There is no scientifically sound estimate of the total cost of the First World War. The most common estimate in the literature is given by the American economist E. Bogart, who determined the total cost of the war at 359.9 billion dollars in gold.
The growth of military production was achieved at the expense of peaceful industries and overstrain of the national economy, which led to a general breakdown of the economy. In Russia, for example, 2/3 of all industrial production went to military needs, and only 1/3 remained for consumption by the population.
All this gave rise to commodity hunger, high prices and speculation in all the warring countries. The war caused a reduction in the production of many types of industrial products. The smelting of cast iron, steel and non-ferrous metals, the production of coal and oil, and the production of products in all sectors of light industry decreased significantly. The war destroyed the productive forces of society and undermined the economic life of peoples.
Agriculture was especially badly damaged. Mobilization into the army deprived the village of its most productive labor force and taxes. Cultivated areas have decreased, crop yields have fallen, and the number of livestock and its productivity have decreased. In the cities of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia, there was an acute shortage of food, and then real famine broke out. It even spread to the army, where food standards were reduced.
The war required the mobilization of all material resources, showed the decisive role of the economy during the armed struggle, and was characterized by the massive use of a variety of military equipment. The industry of the warring countries gave the front millions of rifles, over 1 million light and heavy machine guns, over 150 thousand guns, 47.7 billion cartridges, over 1 billion shells, 9200 tanks, 183 thousand aircraft.
The war brought unprecedented hardships and suffering, general hunger and ruin, and brought all of humanity to the brink of abyss and despair. During the war, there was a massive destruction of material assets, the total cost of which amounted to 58 billion rubles. Entire areas (especially in Northern France) were turned into desert, 9.5 million people were killed and died from wounds, 20 million people were injured, of which 3.5 million were left crippled. Germany suffered the greatest losses. Russia, France and Austria-Hungary (66.6% of all losses), the United States accounted for only 1.2% of total losses.
Famine and other disasters caused by the war led to an increase in mortality and a decrease in the birth rate. The population decline for these reasons was: in Russia 5 million people, in Austria-Hungary 4.4 million people, in Germany 4.2 million people. Unemployment, inflation, rising taxes, rising prices - all this exacerbated need, poverty, and extreme insecurity for the vast majority of the population of the warring countries.
At the same time, the profits of the German monopolies by 1918 amounted to 10 billion gold marks, and the American monopolies received income for 1914-1918. 3 billion dollars.
The First World War should be considered as a milestone in the world historical process. The immediate result of the war and one of its most far-reaching consequences was the complete collapse of the multinational empires - Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, Russian. It caused an unprecedented scale of the revolutionary and national liberation movement, intensified the confrontation between totalitarianism and democracy, contributed to the emergence of various political regimes, and significantly redrew the map of the world.
Until recently, due to certain political and ideological reasons and dogmatic attitudes, it was generally accepted that the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia was a turning point in the history of human civilization and opened its new era. It was considered as an independent, isolated phenomenon that stood at the origins of the world historical process in modern history.
However, the October Revolution and the subsequent series of European revolutions were organically connected with the First World War and the peculiarities of the socio-economic and socio-political development of each country. There is plenty of evidence for this. Firstly, the war put on the agenda not only at the front, but also in the rear, the problem of human physical survival. Secondly, the short-sighted policies of the governments of the warring countries, who did not care about the social protection of the working population during the war and about observing at least the appearance of justice in the distribution of its burdens between the “tops” and “bottoms” of society, steadily undermined the patriotic feelings of peoples and pushed them to the revolution. Thirdly, the weakening of all structures of state power and the transformation of the “man with a gun” into a real participant in the country’s political life created additional preconditions for military confrontation, sharply reducing the chances of achieving a socio-political compromise.
Thus, the October Revolution, like other revolutions in this period of history, was generated by the First World War and internal specific reasons in each of the countries where revolutionary upheavals occurred.

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