The First World War is one of the bloodiest in human history. The armed conflict began in 1914 with the Sarajevo massacre. On June 28, Archduke Franz Ferdinand died at the hands of a terrorist, a student from Bosnia. This caused aggression in Europe, and more and more countries were drawn into hostilities. As a result of the war, four empires were wiped off the face of the earth, 10 million soldiers and officers were killed, and five times as many were wounded. People remember the First World War as massive and merciless. The main battles of this European “meat grinder” are still striking in their scale and cruelty.
Tannenberg operation
In another way it is also called the Battle of Grunwald. During this battle in the east of Prussia, Russian troops, the first and second armies, in which there were 250 thousand soldiers, and the German army of 200 thousand soldiers came together.
Constant discord and inconsistency of actions within the Russian army led to the fact that entire divisions were defeated and severely driven back. As a result, many ordinary soldiers died. Losses on the part of the Russians were larger: 150-200 thousand, which was almost 2/3 of the total number of military personnel based in this area. Germany lost 50 thousand of its citizens who fought under its flag.
The Russian army was defeated in the Tannenberg operation. And this led to the fact that the Germans were able to transfer significant reinforcements to the Western Front. At the same time, Russia's rapid offensive cut off German troops from their allies, the Austro-Hungarian soldiers. Having received no help from Prussia, they lost another important battle, the Battle of Galicia, for which the First World War is also famous. The main battles also include this fight in their bloody list.
Battle of Galicia
It happened in the summer, in August 1914. The main stage fell on the first days of this month. As historical archival records testify, Russian and Austro-Hungarian forces met in equal numbers: 4 armies took part in the battles on both sides.
The main battles of the First World War are also distinguished by these battles, which took place near Lvov, Galich and Lublin on Ukrainian-Polish territory. The fate of the Battle of Galicia was sealed when the Russians near Tarnavka broke through and launched an offensive. This greatly influenced the further course of events and became their trump card in obtaining the coveted victory.
Austria-Hungary's losses from the Battle of Galicia were colossal: 325 thousand soldiers. This was a third of all the empire's forces on the Eastern Front. Subsequently, the fallout from this defeat was felt in the actions of the army. She was never able to get back on her feet after the crushing blow, and only achieved a handful of minor successes thanks to the help of the Germans.
Sarykamysh battle
Speaking about the main battles of the Great Patriotic War (that’s what it was called before the start of World War II), one cannot fail to mention this operation. Russia and Turkey competed in it on the threshold of the new year 1915. At that time, the Turkish command was developing a cunning plan: to capture Karas and completely destroy the army of the Caucasus.
The Crescent Forces advanced. The Russians were surrounded in Sarykamysh, but they continued to pin down the main forces of the enemy and impede their advance. Accustomed to a milder climate, their opponents could not withstand the harsh winter. Tens of thousands of Turkish soldiers died from severe frosts and snowstorms in just one day.
The Russians were waiting at this time, which was the right decision. Soon reinforcements approached Sarykamysh, and the Crescent Army was defeated. In total, about 100 thousand people died in this operation. The largest battles of the First World War also included this battle, since it played an important strategic role: the situation in the Caucasus was stabilized, and the Russians were able to curb their ardent enemy - Turkey.
Brusilovsky breakthrough
The main battles of World War 1 were not without the courage and strategic skills of General Brusilov. In the summer of 2016, under his leadership, the Russians broke through on the Southwestern Front. The Austro-Hungarian army lost many soldiers and officers. The figure is astonishing - 1.5 million killed.
The Russians occupied Bukovina and Galicia. This forced the Germans to strengthen their positions here by transferring additional forces from the Western Front to this area. Despite this, Russia's allies strengthened in this territory, the Entente was also completed by Romania, which went over to the side of the Union.
Russian troops were also missing many valiant heroes. And therefore, a new wave of mobilization was announced in the country, calling on newcomers to join the thinning ranks of the army. This unpopular step by the government caused outrage and discontent among the common people. People did not want to be “cannon fodder,” because the First World War spared neither the old nor the young. The main battles show that there were many losses both on the part of the Russians and on the part of their opponents.
Kerensky's offensive
In 1917, the Bolsheviks overthrew the monarchy, and therefore the further course of the war was dictated by revolutionary events in the country. The Russians began their offensive in June 1917, but after two days of active advance they suddenly stopped. The soldiers considered that this was enough; they had completely fulfilled their sacred duty.
Newcomers also refused to take the front row. All this disorder and general disobedience occurred against the backdrop of regular desertion that the revolution provoked. The major battles of World War I had never seen such widespread chaos and panic among the military personnel.
At this time, taking advantage of the situation, Germany attacked and pushed the Russian units back to their old positions. The once strong and courageous Russian army has virtually ceased to exist as an organized force. Germany was no longer afraid of its enemy and was able to strengthen itself on all fronts. The Russians had to conclude the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty, which was unprofitable and humiliating for our country.
"Goeben" and "Breslau"
The naval battles of the First World War are also striking in their scale. With the start of the battles, the parties to the conflict turned their attention to the Mediterranean Sea. It was an important component for transporting the army, especially the French. In order to transport its soldiers through the waters of the Mediterranean without obstacles, France had to destroy the German cruisers Goeben and Breslau, which were cruising off the coast of Sardinia.
In August 1914, these two German ships shelled the ports of Algeria and headed for Constantinople. No matter how hard the British troops tried, the German ships reached the Sea of Marmara. Having become part of the Turkish fleet, Goeben and Breslau fired at Russian positions in the Black Sea. This changed the course of the First World War. Russia declared war on Turkey, and at the same time British and French forces began a blockade of the Dardanelles. They also believed that it was necessary to neutralize Germany's Austrian allies. The Anglo-French fleet crossed the Adriatic more than once, hoping to challenge the Austrian ships to a duel, but this did not bring the desired result.
Operation Dardanelles
Another major naval battle, stretched over the whole of 1915. The campaign included the capture of the straits and the landing of Anglo-French troops. But the First World War was characterized by unforeseen situations. Major battles did not always go according to the plan, and sometimes operations failed. This is what happened with the strategic plan called the Dardanelles. The parties suffered colossal losses: almost 200 thousand soldiers were injured in the Turkish army, and 150 thousand among the allies. These are the wounded and killed, as well as the missing.
In May, Italy joined the Entente. At the same time, German submarines were able to penetrate the Mediterranean. They managed to sink 100 merchant ships, while simultaneously losing only one piece of equipment. Thus, despite Italian assistance, the Allies were unable to achieve superiority in the 1915 naval campaign. The only positive was the evacuation of the Serbian army, which was defeated by enemy forces in the fall.
Fighting in the Baltic
The parties called this sea secondary. The First World War, the main battles of which took place not only on land, but also on water, did not rely on the Baltic. The British considered the Russian fleet exhausted after the Russo-Japanese War, so they did not count on its help. Only old ships plied the Baltic.
But in August 1914, on this calm and serene sea, an incident occurred that could influence the course of the war. The German cruiser Magdeburg ran aground in the Gulf of Finland. It was soon captured by the Russians. They found the signal book of this ship, handed it over to the British - this played a major role in breaking the German naval code. Using the knowledge gained, the Allies carried out many successful operations.
This is only part of the main battles of that time. And there were a lot of them. The main battles of the First World War, the diagram, table and graphics of operations, their detailed course are described today in history textbooks. Reading them, we understand how bloody that period of time became, and how it influenced the future fate of the countries involved in it.
Recently, President Vladimir Putin, speaking at the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, called the First World War a “forgotten war.” This is actually true. Unfairly forgotten during the years of Soviet power, the “imperialist” war, nevertheless, became the crucible in which the military geniuses of the 20th century were forged. And Soviet, and English, and German. Which later, a quarter of a century later, met again on the battlefields of another world war. And it’s not often customary to remember those millions of soldiers who died or were maimed during bloody battles.
More than 3 million soldiers took part in this grandiose battle on both sides. It is worth noting that the forces of the German side outnumbered the troops of the Franco-Belgian-British alliance by almost 300 thousand people. The Allies did not expect that their enemy would use neutral Belgium as a springboard for a further offensive. However, it was this small country that became the scene of the first grandiose battle of the First World War. The start of the German offensive operation was slowed down by the heroic resistance of the defenders of Liege. In fact, the battles that historians unite under the name “Border Battle” lasted almost a month: the Battle of Milhausen, the Ardennes Operation, the Battle of Charleroi... This is not a complete list of clashes that by the end of August turned into a positional war. The battlefield of the Border Battle remained with German weapons. The losses of the Entente troops amounted to more than 265 thousand people, while the German army had 165 thousand killed and wounded.
This battle, without exaggeration, is considered the most brutal and bloody in the history of the First World War. And probably the longest. About a million soldiers suffered in the “Verdun meat grinder,” as its participants later called it. 543 thousand - from the French side and 434 - from the German side. Of these, 430 thousand were killed. The battle lasted 70 days, after which it turned into “trench warfare.” Artillery, airplanes, bullets, bayonets, spiked clubs and even brass knuckles - everything was used by frenzied fighters, trying to turn the tide of the battle. Gas weapons were also used. However, in the end, neither side managed to gain a decisive advantage. However, it was at the Battle of Verdun that the tactics chosen by the German headquarters showed their inconsistency - to take France out of the war with one powerful blow. Blitzkrieg failed.
The response to the German Verdun offensive was a joint Anglo-French attack at the Somme. As a result, the whole world learned about a small river in France. In fierce battles, the number of victims again reached hundreds of thousands. Both sides suffered huge losses in the operation: the French - 204 thousand people, the British - almost 420 thousand. Among them, the Entente troops lost more than 146 thousand soldiers killed and missing. The losses of the British divisions, which became the main striking force of the battle, reached 80-85%. During the Battle of the Somme, the German side lost up to 600 thousand people, including more than 164 thousand killed. It was in this battle that tanks and massive air raids were used for the first time. It essentially became the “beginning of the end” for the Kaiserreich’s army, which, unlike its allies, lost all its color – the veterans who were fired upon. While the Allied army was mainly composed of unfired youths.
In fact, this operation of Russian General Alexei Brusilov, which went down in history, became a new word in the conduct of military operations - this is exactly how, breaking through the front in many sectors at once with massive artillery support, the German units operating 25 years later, rushing to Moscow in 1941. But in 1916 this was the “know-how” of military thought. Initially, the operation, according to tradition, was named after the location - Lutsk breakthrough. But, taking into account the merits of its ideologist and organizer, General Brusilov was given an unprecedented part. And the operation was named after him. General Alexei Brusilov managed, in fact, to break the back of Germany’s main ally, Austria-Hungary. German-Austrian losses amounted to about 800 thousand people, of which 200 thousand were killed and died from frames. At the same time, the Russian army paid a high price for this victory - 116 thousand killed and more than 670 thousand sick and wounded. By the way, it was during this operation that the hero of the Civil War, Anton Denikin, became famous.
In the entire history of mankind, there has never been a period when people lived in peace and harmony. Wars are an integral, albeit terrible, part of our past. Unfortunately, after the death of eyewitnesses, people begin to forget about the terrible battles. World War I was carried out exactly a century ago, but its events have already been shrouded in a haze of oblivion. Let's remember today the great battles of the First World War and honor the memory of the soldiers who died in battle.
Photo: spitfirespares.co.ukAlthough we can assume that Russia was defeated in the First World War, we should not forget: at first, Russian troops won victory after victory. The won battles include, first of all, the Battle of Galicia - a confrontation between two armies: Russian and Austro-Hungarian, which lasted from August 5 to September 13 of the first year of the war - 1914.
If we consider the equipment of the two armies, we can immediately understand: technically Russia was ahead of Austria-Hungary. It was this fact that allowed the government of the Russian Empire to draw up a plan of capture. The attack had to happen quickly enough so that a powerful ally, Germany, would not come to the aid of the enemy empire.
Thanks to well-prepared reconnaissance, the headquarters of the Russian troops thought that they knew the main positions of the enemies - the enemy army was supposed to be located near Lvov, just east of the San River. In fact, the information turned out to be incorrect: either the Austrians knew about the espionage being carried out in their army, or for some other unclear reasons, but the headquarters was moved to the west just before the start of the Russian offensive. The Austrians were ready for an attack and developed their own strategy: an attack from the north.
Photo: photo.i.ua The Battle of Galicia includes several operations. The periodization looks like this:
- Battle of Lublin-Kholm. This stage, unfortunately, cannot be called successful for the Russian troops. They had to constantly retreat: from Krasnik to Lublin, and from there, despite the stabilization of the situation, to Grubeshov. In general, losses in this battle amounted to about 30 thousand soldiers, the Austrians lost 10 thousand more.
- Galich-Lvov battle. Frontal clashes between the armies of Brusilov and Ruzsky with enemy troops threatened to break through the front of both one side and the other. But this time our troops turned out to be stronger: during the Battle of Gorodok, the resistance of the enemy was finally broken, and he fled.
The Battle of Galicia showed not only the superiority of Russian soldiers. Significant disadvantages were also identified: unpreparedness of the command and poor work of intelligence officers.
Photo: wdm.ca It is not for nothing that the First World War has another name: “the war of chemists.” It was in this clash of states that weapons were used on the battlefield, which are still considered one of the most dangerous. Of course, we are talking about chemical means of attack. The first official case of the use of deadly gases was recorded at the Battle of Ypres. But in our country, another case of using this type of weapon is better known - the defense of the Osovets fortress, or “Attack of the Dead”.
This structure guarded the only path into the depths of the Russian Empire among the swampy terrain. Germany understood perfectly well that without taking the fortress it would not be possible to advance far. However, the assaults, the first in September 1914, the second in February 1915, did not bring significant success - only the first line of defensive structures of the defensive structure was taken.
And then the German command, tired of constant failures, decides to carry out an attack with chemical weapons. The date was set as 08/06/1915. This day is forever included in the history of Russia as a day of courage and feat of Russian soldiers.
Photo: pravoslavie.fm The Germans waited for a suitable wind for 10 days. And when the air began to move in the right direction, they opened 30 cylinders in which poisonous gas was waiting in the wings. It contained bromine and chlorine. A heavy dark green cloud moved towards the Russian positions, bringing death to all living things.
After some time, the German command considered that the defenders of the fortress were completely destroyed. A selected German unit - approximately 7 thousand soldiers - is sent to capture the vacated structure. The enemy soldiers are sure that there is no one else to resist. This misconception cost the attackers dearly.
From the poisonous fog enveloping the fortress, one after another, the defenders of Osovets began to appear, who should have already been dead. Ragged, bloodied, barely breathing, they advanced towards the enemy’s ranks with incredible tenacity. They were led by a commander who had the same terrifying appearance - Vladimir Kotlinsky.
And the Germans wavered. They began to retreat in panic, trampling their own. The previously silent Russian artillery began to work, pouring fire on the already mortally frightened enemy. The assault was completely repulsed. And the feat of the soldiers of the Russian Empire remained forever in the annals of history.
Photo: military.com The biggest battle at sea, based on firepower and displacement, took place during the First World War. Germany and England took part in the Battle of Jutland in 1916.
Great Britain, as the largest naval power of the time, carried out a blockade of Germany in the hope of reducing its economic potential. Naturally, the German command was not delighted with this state of affairs. The main character of the Quadruple Alliance decided to attempt to destroy the enemy forces at sea using cunning.
The plan was to lure out some of the English ships, separate them from the main forces and destroy them. Then it would be much easier to deal with the remaining fleet. However, British intelligence worked well (especially since the Germans for some reason negotiated without using codes), and the British fleet left the port at the same time as the German ships. This event occurred on May 30th.
Photo: neqashalhob.com The plans of the German command were not destined to come true: it was never possible to separate the British ships from the main forces. In the ensuing battle, Germany lost 11 ships, Great Britain lost 14. If we compare the total tonnage, we can see: this battle cost England twice as much: 114 thousand tons, with 60 on the German side. The same applies to manpower: 6,784 British killed against 3,039 enemy soldiers killed.
However, neither side admitted itself as a loser. Germany pointed out that the enemy’s losses were greater, which means that it was the Germans who won the battle. But on the other hand, they failed to break through the English blockade, therefore, Great Britain was the winner.
The Jutland confrontation was very important. Firstly, the battle proved: it will not be possible to gain supremacy at sea with one battle, as in previous centuries. And secondly, Germany, whose surface fleet was deprived of the ability to operate, began to expand the use of submarine technology. The latter primarily provoked the entry into the war of a new participant who had previously actually adhered to neutrality - the United States.
Photo: wsource.me The offensive of German troops in 1916 near the French city of Verdun was dubbed by descendants the “Verdun Meat Grinder.” The second word in the title was not chosen by chance: the human losses were simply terrifying, they exceeded a million people.
The Entente leadership chose to ignore the enemy's preparatory operations, as well as information gleaned from letters found from captured prisoners. That is why the Verdun offensive took France by surprise. The only salvation of the French was that they understood perfectly well: this settlement is a strategically important object. Therefore, operations to strengthen Verdun were carried out even before the German attack began.
The first 4 days of the offensive were the most successful for the Germans: they captured two lines of French defense. But now they were within range of French artillery, so they began to suffer heavy losses.
Photo: zoozel.ru The French command began transferring resources to the area of active military operations. For this purpose, road transport was used: the transport line along which the traffic passed received the self-explanatory name “the road of paradise.”
Germany expected the French to go on the offensive. But they, it seemed, were not going to undertake any attacking maneuvers, but with unexpected tenacity they defended their existing positions. A bloody “meat grinder” began, where a huge number of people died every day.
The loss of the “effect of surprise” was one of the main reasons for the German defeat. Even those at the head of the German Empire, for example, Crown Prince Wilhelm, opposed the further continuation of the battle of Verdun.
But the “Verdun meat grinder” was finally stopped only after the Russian offensive operation began on the Eastern Front: the Brusilov breakthrough. In fact, it is Russia that France owes for the protection of one of the most strategically important fortresses.
Photo: csef.ru Only one operation among many during the First World War received the name of the general who commanded it. The Brusilov breakthrough is the most important battle that brought long-awaited inspiration to the Russians: the previous year of 1915, full of defeats, significantly undermined the spirit of both soldiers and civilians working in the rear.
In the third year, the war acquired the status of a positional one. The Entente and the Quadruple Alliance were cautious, afraid to go on the offensive, which threatened to result in huge losses. Meanwhile, the war sucked all the juice out of the countries. Among the Entente participants, Russia was the most exhausted: military operations were carried out on several fronts, which resulted in irregular supplies of food and weapons to the main stages of the theater of operations.
The only real proposal for a way out of the created “war of positions” was made by General Brusilov. He decided to fulfill the request of the Italians, who fought with Austria-Hungary: the Southwestern Front, taken under the command of the general, was supposed to distract the enemy. The highest headquarters agreed with this plan, but warned the general: there was no way to help with human resources. But it was possible to ensure regular supplies of good weapons (including hand grenades, which played an important role in the offensive) and food.
Key points of the strategy
Photo: vladtime.ru Tighter discipline and careful preparation played their role: on June 4, the Russians opened fire on enemy positions. It is this moment that is considered to be the origin of such a concept as an “artillery offensive.” Thanks to preliminary zeroing, it became possible to shoot not at areas, but at specific targets. The artillery acted as a single organism: now the gunners were guided not by the officer giving the signal, but by the comrade in arms located on the right. This made it possible to maintain a certain rate of fire without stopping fire even for a second.
The infantry, after shelling the first line of defense, went on the offensive. She was accompanied by artillery: for the first time in the history of wars, such a maneuver was used, which brought excellent results.
Another innovation that was used in this battle is the “roll attack.” The essence of this maneuver was that now the Russians immediately captured not one line of defense, but two. The army was divided into “waves”: the first took several lines of defense and consolidated, the others seized the initiative and went deep into the enemy’s positions. This strategy ensured a continuous offensive of troops.
The new form of breaking through the front - distributing the army into several sectors - bore fruit. Russian soldiers managed to finally gain a foothold in the Carpathian region: vast territories of Bukovina, Volynia and Golicia were taken.
The Brusilov breakthrough, which lasted from May to September, was a radical turning point in the course of military operations. It was thanks to the offensives of Russian troops that the Italians retained their lands, the French managed to survive at Verdun, and Great Britain at the Somme. The initiative passes to the Entente: the main protagonist of the Quadruple Alliance - Germany - is almost completely exhausted. The First World War was coming to an end...
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The German command, planning to deliver the main blow in the Verdun area, expected to quickly achieve success. For the French, Verdun was important. The French positions here jutted like a wedge into the German position, which made it possible to develop an offensive against the Germans and cut off their supply routes. A breakthrough by German troops at Verdun and the capture of this area would create a great danger for the French, as it would allow the Germans to reach the rear of the entire French army, and the path to Paris would open before them. At the same time, the railway tracks in the rear of the French were cut, which made it difficult to transfer French troops along the front. The capture of Verdun could disrupt the impending Allied offensive, which was known to the German command.
However, capturing Verdun was not as easy as it seemed to the German command. Verdun was a fortress with numerous permanent structures made of reinforced concrete and steel. True, at the end of 1915, a significant part of the fortress weapons of the Verdun forts, mainly artillery, was removed. Nevertheless, the Verdun section of the front was a heavily fortified area with a developed system of field-type defensive structures. Four positions were built around Verdun, echeloned in depth. The first position was 6-7 km ahead of the line of forts, the last was on the line of forts. The Verdun fortified area crossed the river. The Meuse, which flowed from southeast to northwest.
The soldiers of the first and second waves had grenades, while the second and third waves had machine guns. The second wave replenished the losses of the first wave, and the fourth wave served as a reserve for regimental commanders. The first wave, having captured the first line of fortifications, did not linger and attacked the second line, after which it consolidated on it. The attack of the next, third line was assigned to the third and fourth waves, which rolled over the first two. This method of attack, first used by the Russian army, was then used by the British in 1917 and was called the “roll attack.”
Already in the first days of the offensive, Russian troops achieved success. So, for example, on the right wing of the front, in the offensive zone of the 8th Army, by the evening of the first day of the offensive, the first line of enemy defense was captured. The offensive developed most successfully in the Lutsk direction, where by the end of June 7 the Russian infantry captured the city of Lutsk, moving forward 30 km.
1916
A major operation of the 1916 campaign in the Western European theater of war was the operation on the river. Somme. The British and French launched an offensive to break through the front of German troops on both sides of the river. Somme I; reach out to their communications. The operation was planned to a depth of 40 km. the main role in it was given to the British, since the main forces of the French troops at this timewas planned at a front of 40 km. Two English armies were advancing north of the river. The Somme is on an area of 25 km, and one French army is on both banks of the river on an area of 15 km. On the front planned for the breakthrough, one German army defended.
The Anglo-French had almost triple superiority in infantry, two and a half times superiority in artillery, and in heavy artillery their superiority was fourfold. In total, the Allies had 28 infantry and 6 cavalry divisions, 1,160 mortars, 1,044 light and 1,205 heavy guns. They were opposed by 10 infantry divisions, about 400 mortars, 550 light and about 300 heavy guns of German troops.
The operation had the goal of breaking through the German defenses on both banks of the river. Somme, develop an offensive deep into the rear and enter the communication routes of German troops in. Valenciennes, Maubeuge.
Preparations for the operation began in the spring of 1916. Bridgeheads were equipped, shelters were prepared, and 733 km of new railway tracks were laid. German troops were preparing to meet the Allied offensive; in the zone of the proposed breakthrough, they intensively strengthened their defenses, which consisted of three positions. At the first position there were three lines of trenches, many communication passages and shelters. The second position was located at a distance of 3-4 km from the first and consisted of one or two lines of trenches. After another 3-4 km there was a third position, only partially prepared. Such a distance between defensive positions did not allow the French artillery to fire at them simultaneously. The positions were densely occupied by troops - infantry divisions occupied a defense front of 4 to 8 km.
The operation was carried out according to the method set out in the new instructions of the French command, which was drawn up on the basis of the experience of the operations of 1915. According to these instructions, the infantry itself had no offensive force; The main role in the battle was assigned to artillery. It was believed that infantry should attack enemy positions only after artillery had destroyed them during a lengthy artillery preparation. The depth of the attack depended on the range of artillery fire and did not exceed 2-4 km. After capturing the first line, the infantry consolidated there, then the artillery was brought up, which began preparing the attack on the second line. This was repeated with the attack of all subsequent lines. To imagine how much the role of artillery in battle has increased, it is enough to compare two figures: by the beginning of the World War, the stock of 75-mm shells prepared for the entire French army was 6 million, for the Russian - 6.5 million, and in 1916 g. the same number of shells, not counting heavy ones, was prepared for only one operation on the river. Somme.
1918
The first of the operations planned by the Allies - Amiens - began on August 8, 1918. It was carried out by the 4th British and 1st French armies. The main blow on a 30-kilometer front was delivered by 23 divisions, supported by 3,110 guns, 500 tanks and 720 aircraft, against 12 German divisions and 1,000 guns. The Allies had double superiority in manpower and triple superiority in artillery, significant superiority in aviation and absolute superiority in tanks.
The Allied attack began at 5:20 a.m. on August 8 without prior artillery preparation. The artillery opened fire at the same time that the infantry and tanks began moving into the attack. Up to two-thirds of the artillery fired at German batteries and rear targets, and one-third of the artillery took part in the barrage of fire. The British order of battle was as follows. Directly behind the barrage of fire, tank platoons moved at intervals of 50-100 m from one another. Behind the tanks, at a distance of 150-200 m, platoons of the leading infantry companies advanced in open formation in sections. Then the infantry advanced in platoon columns or rifle chains, depending on the situation. The lead companies were required to assist the tanks in overcoming obstacles.
The French had the same formation of battle. An infantry company was assigned to accompany each tank company. From this company, 3 people were attached to each tank. They had to move in close proximity to the tank to communicate with its crew and provide assistance to it.
By the evening of the same day, the British advanced to a depth of 11 km, defeating 8 German divisions, capturing 53 thousand German soldiers and taking 470 guns. The British attack in this operation was structured in a unique way. All corps of the English army began the attack at the same time, after 2 hours (by 7 hours 20 minutes) they were supposed to reach the first target of the attack at a depth of about 3 km from the advanced English trenches. After this, the troops stopped moving for 2 hours (up to 9 hours 20 minutes). During this time the artillery should have arrived. The attack was resumed at 9:20 a.m. and continued continuously until reaching the third target, which was located 9–12 km from the initial position (the second target was located at a depth of 4.5–8 km).
The German defense in this area had a depth of 3-4 km and was not strong enough. The wire fences were weak, the anti-tank defense was not organized. The divisions of the first echelon occupied the defense according to the pattern: regiments in a line, each regiment had battalions in three echelons.
Battle of Galicia 1914.
Having suffered defeat from Russian troops in East Prussia, the Germans rushed their ally, Austria-Hungary, to attack Russia. The task of the Austro-Hungarian armies was to defeat the Russian troops between the Western Bug and the Vistula.The Russian command decided to defeat the Austro-Hungarian armies and delay the withdrawal of significant enemy forces to the south beyond the river. Dniester and west to Krakow.
For this purpose, enveloping attacks of the 4th Army from north to south and the 8th Army from east to west were planned. The Russian command sought to capture the center of Galicia - Lvov. In the future, it was planned to develop the offensive and capture the capital of Austria - Vienna.
In order to implement their plans, the opposing troops moved towards each other. As a result, a battle took place in Galicia from August 23 to September 12, 1914, which brought victory to the Russians. Four Russian armies (4th, 5th, 3rd and 8th), deployed along a huge 450-kilometer arc from Lublin through Kholm, Kovel, Lutsk, Dubno, Proskurov to Kamenets-Podolsk, faced four Austro-Hungarian armies (1st, 4th, 3rd and 2nd), supported by German units. About 700 thousand people took part in this grandiose battle on the Russian side, and more than 830 thousand people on the Austro-Hungarian side.
The Austrians, operating against the 4th and 5th Russian armies, occupied a more advantageous operational position, and therefore initially success was on their side: the 4th and 5th Russian armies were forced to retreat to Lublin and Kholm. But the 3rd and 8th Russian armies invaded Galicia from Proskurov in the direction of Lvov and in battles on the Zolotaya Lipa and Rotten Lipa rivers defeated the Austro-Hungarian troops, throwing them back to the west. On September 3, Russian troops occupied Lvov. In further battles at the Gorodok position west of Lvov, the Austro-Hungarian troops suffered a new defeat and retreated across the river on September 12. San. But even here the Austro-Hungarians failed to hold out, and on September 17 they were forced to continue their retreat further, beyond the river. Dunajec. However, it becomes difficult for the Russians to further pursue the Austro-Hungarians, since they have already suffered heavy losses, were significantly separated from their supply bases, and lacked ammunition and food.
The advance of Russian armies towards Krakow posed a direct threat to Germany. Therefore, the Germans began hastily transferring four army corps and one cavalry division to Silesia, concentrating them in the area of Czestochowa and Krakow. Here a new 9th Army was created under the command of General Hindenburg. The German command intended to strike the flank and rear of the Russian troops pursuing the Austrians.
It ended in a brilliant victory for the Russian troops and was of great significance. The Austro-Hungarian army suffered such a blow from which it could not recover throughout the war: it lost over 400 thousand people, its personnel, 400 guns and a huge amount of military equipment. The Austro-Hungarian government even considered ending the war. The defeat of the Austro-Hungarian army was also a blow to the entire German coalition. Now the German command was forced to support the battered Austro-Hungarian army with its units, and this required the transfer of troops from the west, since the Germans had no reserves. Thus, the Battle of Galicia was one of the main reasons for the failure of the entire German war plan.
1914
Simultaneously with the fighting in the west, fighting also unfolded in the Eastern European theater of war. Hostilities here began at the same time as the Border Battle in the west.The Russian General Staff believed that the Russian army should deliver the main blow to Austria-Hungary. But according to the Franco-Russian treaty, Russia was supposed to begin military operations against Germany already on the 15th day of mobilization. Then the Russian command decided to launch an offensive simultaneously in two directions - against Germany in East Prussia and against Austria-Hungary in Galicia. This decision led to the two most important operations of 1914 in the Eastern European theater of war - East Prussian and Galician.
The first half of August 1914 in the Eastern European theater took place in major reconnaissance operations. Both sides sought to find out the enemy's groupings and intentions. However, the French hurried Russia to launch a general offensive. The Russian command, without completing the concentration of troops, without providing their rear, ordered the North-Western Front to launch an offensive into East Prussia on August 17. The Russian 1st Army, under the command of General Rennenkampf, advanced from the east, and the 2nd Army, under the command of General Samsonov, from the south. Thus, in the plan of the North-Western Front, the fashionable idea of attacking on the enemy’s flanks with the aim of encircling him is visible at that time. The Russian armies were supposed to defeat the 8th German Army, which was concentrated in East Prussia.
German troops moved towards the Russians. A number of counter-battles took place. The first battle, in which the 1st German Corps was defeated, broke out on August 19 at Stalupenen. On August 20, the Battle of Gumbinen-Goldap began, in which the Germans were defeated and were forced to retreat.
The operation began, as planned, on the morning of February 19 with the shelling of the outer forts of the Dardanelles by the allied Anglo-French fleet, and the general attack was scheduled for March 18. However, it did not lead to success: of the 16 large ships that took part in the breakthrough, 3 were killed and another 3 were out of action for a long time, while the Turkish forts were only slightly destroyed. During the operation, the Anglo-French fleet made a number of serious tactical mistakes, as a result of which it was never able to complete the tasks assigned to it: the fire was poorly adjusted, the Allies were not prepared at all to fight against field artillery, they underestimated the mine danger in the strait - The minesweepers failed to cope with their task.
The failure of the Allies' attempts to cross the Dardanelles and strike at Constantinople had very important political consequences: Bulgaria accelerated the process of rapprochement with the Triple Alliance, Germanophiles came to power in Greece, and the Italians thought about the advisability of joining the Entente.
Despite the serious setbacks that befell the Allies during the first phase of the Dardanelles operation, it was decided not to cancel its second phase - the landing. On the morning of April 25, French, English, New Zealand marine units and the Greek volunteer legion - a total of 18 thousand bayonets - landed in the Dardanelles Strait area. Heavy bloody battles began, which were aggravated by the loss of 2 British battleships. In July 1915, the Allied command decided to land several more divisions on the peninsula. However, the Entente failed to achieve the desired result and a decisive turn in the course of events in its favor. The Allies were completely stuck in the Dardanelles. Ultimately, they decided to evacuate their troops from Gallipoli and transfer them to the Salonika front. On January 9, 1916, the Gallipoli operation ended with the evacuation of the last British soldier. Its result for the Allies was extremely sad. One of its main initiators, W. Churchill, resigned from the post of minister and went into the active army as a simple officer. As a result of the Battle of Jutland at the end of May - beginning of June 1916, all previous strategic ideas of war at sea were completely discredited. This was the only general battle between the fleets of England and Germany during the war.
During Battle of Jutland The limitations and unviability of both the strategy of a “general battle” to strengthen supremacy at sea, put forward by the British Admiralty, and the theory of “equalization of forces” preached by the Kaiser’s admirals were clearly revealed. The actual side of the Jutland battle is well known: the British lost 14 ships with a total tonnage of 113,570 tons; while 6,097 people were killed, 510 wounded and 177 captured. The Germans lost 11 ships with a total tonnage of 60,250 tons with 2,551 killed and 507 wounded. Thus, the victory “on points” seemed to go to the Germans, but everything was not so simple.
In fact, the largest naval battle in the entire history of mankind did not solve any of the assigned tasks for both some and others. The English fleet was not destroyed, and the balance of power at sea did not change radically; the Germans also managed to preserve their entire fleet and prevent its destruction, which would inevitably affect the actions of the Reich submarine fleet. Ultimately, the disposition at sea continued to remain unstable after the Battle of Jutland, and from this point of view the battle was inconclusive.
After the Battle of Jutland, it became finally clear to the German sailors that they did not have enough strength to defeat the British in the next “general battle” and thereby make a radical change in the course of the struggle at sea. Therefore, they again turned their attention to the submarine fleet, on which they now placed even greater hopes. On June 9, the chief of the Imperial Admiralty, Holzendorf, notified the Chancellor that, given the changed situation at sea after the Battle of Jutland, he would ask for an audience with Wilhelm in order to convince him to resume submarine warfare in limited forms from July 1, 1916. Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg reacted negatively to this news. The offensive of Russian troops in Galicia, the danger of Romania entering the war, the negative attitude towards submarine warfare on the part of neutrals, primarily the USA, Holland and Sweden - all this could, in the event of a resumption of German submarine operations, lead to undesirable consequences for Germany.
The First World War began like in the Middle Ages - with cavalry raids, saber fights and theft of cattle from the enemy
The First World War, which would become a struggle between technology and economics, began almost like in the times of Attila and Genghis Khan. In August 1914, the first to go on the offensive were huge masses of cavalry, tens of thousands of cavalrymen, for whom sabers, checkers, broadswords and even pikes were still considered the main thing.
Sabers and pikes of the First World War
The war, then not yet called the First World War, was started by the great cavalry powers. Russia had the most numerous cavalry - almost 100 thousand riders and horses in peacetime. After mobilization, mainly at the expense of the Cossacks, the number of Russian cavalry could be doubled. The second largest cavalry in Europe was the German one - almost 90 thousand riders and horses. In industrial Germany, where almost half the population already lived in cities, where engineers Diesel and Benz invented the world's first automobile engines, and the production of automobiles was already in the thousands per year, the generals still considered it impossible to do without cavalry with sabers and pikes.
The third in Europe was the French cavalry, numbering 60 thousand horsemen, among which, inherited from Napoleon, there were still cuirassier regiments, and the analogue of the Russian Cossacks were the “spagi” - light cavalry from the nomads of North Africa. By 1914, the French cuirassier's field uniform included scarlet trousers and gloves, a shiny gilded cuirass, and an equally flamboyant helmet adorned with a ponytail.
Lieutenant Winston Churchill of Her Majesty's 4th Queen's Hussars. Photo: Imperial War Museums
Already all the armies of the world were armed with machine guns, the first bombers and automatic cannons appeared, chemical weapons were being prepared, but the cavalry of the European powers was still training to attack with medieval spears. French dragoons were armed with pikes on a three-meter bamboo shaft. In industrial Germany, advanced technology meant that all the Kaiser's cavalrymen carried pikes on all-metal hollow shafts almost three and a half meters long. The newest model of pike for the Russian cavalry was approved in 1901, the same year in which the Maxim machine gun was officially adopted by the Russian army.
Even among the British in the summer of 1914, 8% of the warring army was cavalry, where, according to tradition, the scions of the highest British aristocracy served. There were no tanks yet, armored cars were just leaving the experimental stage, and the military had not yet fully appreciated the importance of tractors and cars. Therefore, for generals around the world, it was the cavalry that remained the most mobile branch of the ground forces. She was entrusted with the tasks of reconnaissance, quickly capturing key points, and pursuing the enemy. Due to the inertia of the experience of previous centuries, army headquarters still believed in the success of swift cavalry attacks with drawn sabers.
At the very beginning of the war, the cavalry had to cover the mobilization of its troops, conduct reconnaissance in border areas on enemy territory and, at the same time, protect its border from reconnaissance raids of enemy cavalry. That is why the Russian cavalry went to war even before its official announcement.
Kuban Cossacks and Hungarian Hussars
On July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. On the same day, by order of the high command of the Russian Imperial Army, the 2nd Combined Cossack Division moved to the Austrian border. It consisted of Don, Terek and Kuban Cossacks and in peacetime was located on the right bank of the Dnieper in the territory of modern Vinnitsa and Khmelnytsky regions of Ukraine. Tsar Nicholas II still hoped to reach an agreement with the German Kaiser, and the troops stood motionless on the German border. Mobilization began only to put pressure on Austria, so the Cossack cavalry located in Ukraine became the first part of the Russian army to leave the barracks and go to the yet undeclared war.
The consolidated Cossack division was supposed to cover the mobilization and concentration of troops of the 8th Army of General Brusilov, which needed several weeks to receive reinforcements from the internal provinces of Russia. And in the first week of August 1914, the front line became the border river Zbruch, a tributary of the Dniester, dividing the possessions of the Austrian and Russian empires in Ukraine. The Cossacks prevented the Austrian cavalry reconnaissance from crossing the river, and they themselves tried to swim across the Zbruch to reconnoiter the situation on enemy territory.
After several skirmishes without hits, the Cossacks suffered their first losses on the morning of August 4, 1914, when two privates from the 1st Line Regiment of the Kuban Cossack Army were seriously wounded. In fact, these were the first Russian losses of the great war of 1914-18. On the same day, August 4, London officially declared war on Berlin - the conflict quickly became global. At the same time, Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were not yet officially at war. Vienna's representative in St. Petersburg, Count Friedrich Szapary, half German, half Hungarian, would deliver the note declaring hostilities two knocks later.
The “Dual Monarchy,” as the Austro-Hungarian Empire was then called, was the largest state in Central Europe, whose borders ran from Western Ukraine to Italy, from Balkan Bosnia to Czech Prague and Polish Krakow. The most multinational of the Western states was ruled by the German and Hungarian aristocracy.
The Hungarians traced their ancestry to the nomadic peoples of Asia. The Hungarian “Pushta” steppe between the Danube and Tissa fed almost 4 million horses at the beginning of the 20th century; local breeds were considered among the best in Europe. Therefore, according to contemporaries, the combination of the German military school and Hungarian horsemen produced one of the best cavalry of the time. The regular Austro-Hungarian cavalry numbered almost 50 thousand horsemen, half of which were Hungarian hussar regiments.
Uhlans attack. Photo: Library of Congress
Therefore, in the first days of the First World War on the Austrian front, the Don, Terek and Kuban Cossacks from the 2nd Combined Cossack Division were opposed by four hussar regiments of the 5th Cavalry Division of Austria-Hungary, where a third of the composition was from Austrian Germans and two-thirds from Hungarians.
Two weeks after the start of mobilization and border skirmishes, the Austrian cavalrymen decided to attack the Cossacks. On August 17, 1914, the Austro-Hungarian hussars began crossing the border river Zbruch. The Cossack podesaul (in the modern hierarchy - lieutenant) Evgeniy Tikhotsky, who took part in that battle, described these events as follows: “The crossing was bold and non-stop. The Austro-Hungarian squadrons crossed under fire from our dismounted hundreds, leveled the formation and moved at a trot along the road...”
The Austrian cavalry broke through to Kamenets-Podolsky, one of the oldest cities in Ukraine, where the headquarters of the Russian Southwestern Front was then located. The advancing 5th Austro-Hungarian Cavalry Division was commanded by General Ernst-Anton von Freureich-Chabot, a half-German, half-Hungarian born in Bohemia (Czech Republic). This Austrian aristocrat turned 59 years old that year, and all his ideas about the actions of cavalry came exclusively from the 19th century.
Therefore, the general managed to break through to the Russian bank of the border river Zbruch with a dashing cavalry raid. But at 2 o'clock in the afternoon on August 17, 1914, the Austrian cavalry stumbled upon Russian Cossacks defending a village named Gorodok. It was a typical “shtetl,” as such small villages on the right bank of Ukraine at the beginning of the 20th century were called, where there were two Orthodox churches, one Catholic church, seven synagogues and three brick factories. Almost half of the 7 thousand population of the Town were Jews, a quarter were Poles.
For two hours the Austrians shelled the “town” of the town with cannons; the Austrian cavalrymen, in the spirit of the 20th century, dismounted and tried to attack, but were stopped by rifle fire from the Cossacks. And then the old General Freureich-Chabot decided not to waste time and try to take the city with a swift cavalry attack. At 3:55 a.m. on August 18, 1914, three squadrons of the 7th Hussars of the Austrian Army - almost 500 horsemen - launched a cavalry attack.
“Despite the artillery fire, the hussars galloped forward...”
They attacked the real hussars, in dark blue jackets embroidered with twisted cords, familiar to every reader from the images of 1812. The Hungarians called such a hussar jacket “Attila” - the term “hussar” itself goes back to the Hungarian Huszar, which meant light steppe cavalry, and the twists embroidered with cords really go back to the era of the Great Migration and the Huns of Attila, the legendary ancestors of the Ugric-Hungarians.
The 7th Hussars wore dark green shakos decorated with gold cords and horsehair plumes. The hussar uniform was complemented by speckled red, bright cavalry riding breeches - “chikchirs”. At the head of the German and Hungarian horsemen attacking in even ranks rode Major Bartsai, a Hungarian.
A Russian witness to that cavalry attack described it this way: “The slender lines of the Hungarian hussars in their bright uniforms presented a beautiful sight. Despite the artillery fire, the hussars moved forward at a wide gallop, maintaining complete order. The horsemen who had lost their horses quickly rose from the ground, gathered in chains and advanced on foot... Not a single shot was fired from our trenches. The shooters, having placed their rifles on the parapet, calmly waited for the enemy at a distance of a direct rifle shot. When the hussars approached 900–1000 steps, on the orders of Colonel Kuzmin, bursts of rifle and machine-gun fire were opened along the entire line of trenches.”
Russian Cossacks. Photo: Agence Rol / Gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliotheque nationale de France
With weapons even from the beginning of the 20th century, the result of a beautiful cavalry attack was deadly for the attackers: “The hussars wavered, people and horses began to fall, the lines became confused, and the order of movement was disrupted. Unable to withstand the fire, the horsemen began to cluster in heaps and partly turned back, partly turned to the right and for some time continued to gallop in disorder along the front, littering the field with the bodies of people and horses. Within a short time, the lines of hussars almost completely melted away, mowed down by frontal and flanking fire... The area ahead was empty again and only riderless horses rushing across the field, and a large number of bodies of killed and wounded hussars and horses lying on the yellow stubble, were reminders of what was taking place here bloody battle episode."
Most of the attacking hussars were killed, and all of their officers were killed or wounded. Among the wounded who were captured by Russians was Major Bartsai, a Hungarian in Austrian service, who commanded the attack.
At the same time, north of Gorodok, Austrian cavalrymen tried to bypass the Russian positions. And two squadrons of Hungarian hussars collided with two hundred mounted Kuban Cossacks. The result was a typical cavalry battle - typical of previous centuries and millennia. Two lines of cavalry came together head-on, chopping each other with sabers.
The Cossacks defeated the Hungarians, the hussars fled. The fierce hand-to-hand combat lasted literally several minutes, but ended with heavy losses for both sides. All the commanders of both the Austrians and Russians who participated in that battle died, hacked to death with sabers. Cossack sabers killed captains Kemeny and Mikesh, the Hungarians who commanded the attacking squadrons of hussars. On the Russian side, both commanders of the attacking Cossack hundreds, Captain Vitaly Chervinsky and Captain Shahrukh-Mirza of Persia, were killed by Hungarian sabers.
50-year-old esaul (captain - in modern terminology, analogous to a company commander) Vitaly Yakovlevich Chervinsky came from the nobility of the Kiev province, descendants of the Polish-Ukrainian gentry, and was the author of a number of books on the Kuban Cossacks, published in St. Petersburg at the end of the 19th century. His brother in arms who fell next to him, recorded in army documents in the Russian manner as “Persian Shahrukh-Marza Darabovich,” came from Azerbaijani nobles related to the shahs of Iran and therefore bore the official title “prince,” but served as captain of the Kuban Cossacks.
Austrian cavalry. Photo: Library of Congress
In that battle near Gorodok on August 18, 1914, about 500 Hungarian hussars died. Russian losses were lower due to the fact that the Cossacks did not attack in close formation under artillery and rifle fire. Pursued by the Cossacks, the Austrian cavalrymen began to retreat, and the return crossing of the Zbruch River turned into panic and disaster. The 5th Austro-Hungarian Cavalry Division lost its combat capability. That same night, its commander, 59-year-old General Freureich-Chabot, shot himself.
“The success was decisive. A lot of cattle and about 50 horses were stolen."
Almost a thousand kilometers north of Austrian Bukovina and Galicia, on the Baltic Sea coast near the borders of East Prussia, cavalry was also the first to appear in the First World War.
On the morning of August 2, 1914, the headquarters of General Khan Nakhichevan received a telegram declaring war with Germany. 50-year-old General Hussein Khan of Nakhichevan was the grandson of the last ruler of the Nakhichevan Khanate. His grandfather was a vassal of the Persian Shah, and his father had already become a general of the Russian Tsar. Hussein Khan Nakhichevan himself successfully participated in the Russo-Japanese War as the commander of a cavalry regiment of Dagestan volunteers, conducting several successful cavalry attacks against Japanese infantry.
In August 1914, Khan Nakhichevan commanded the Combined Cavalry Corps, located in the west of modern Lithuania. The corps, consisting of selected cavalry, including two guards cavalry divisions, was to become the vanguard of the offensive of the 1st Army of General Rennenkampf. Thus, East Prussia was attacked by Russian troops under the command of a Baltic German and an Azerbaijani Turk. By the way, both of them would be shot by the Bolsheviks in just 4 years, but in August 1914 these two brave generals looked to the future with great optimism.
Having received a telegram about the beginning of the war, Khan of Nakhichevan gave a dashing cavalry order: “The army cavalry should move to Prussia in order to scout out the enemy’s location in battle and, if necessary, defeat his cavalry...”.
The main forces of Germany in those days were thrown against France; the Germans hoped to defeat its army and force it to surrender. Therefore, in August 1914, on the Eastern Front, the Kaiser had only 6 regiments of army cavalry, less than 10% of the entire German cavalry.
On the morning of August 3, 1914, the Russian cavalry crossed the Lipona River, beginning to advance deeper into East Prussia. The first clash with German cavalry occurred on the evening of August 4 near the village of Eidkunen (now the village of Chernyshevskoye, Kaliningrad region). A German cavalry regiment fired on and put to flight a battalion of Russian infantry. When the Russian cavalry came to the aid of the retreating infantrymen, the German cavalry retreated without taking the fight. Pursuing the enemy, the cavalrymen captured 17 prisoners and 2 machine guns.
However, the territory of East Prussia - numerous farmsteads and villages with stone houses, forests, lakes, swamps and canals - was not conducive to the rapid advance of the cavalry masses. The combined cavalry corps of Khan Nakhichevan moved forward slowly, and most importantly, could not fulfill one of the main tasks of the cavalry - to collect information about the enemy troops.
Parade of the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment. On the left is the commander of the Guards Corps, General Danilov, on the right is the regiment commander, General Hussein Khan Nakhichevansky. Photo: Karl Bulla
The army commander, General Rennenkampf, himself had considerable cavalry experience. In 1901, commanding a detachment of Transbaikal Cossacks, he distinguished himself in the war with the Chinese rebels in Manchuria. During the Russo-Japanese War, he commanded a Cossack division in northern Korea.
In August 1914, intending to advance deep into East Prussia, Rennenkampf more than once expressed dissatisfaction with the actions of the cavalry of Khan of Nakhichevan, telegraphing to his subordinate: “Having a mass of cavalry, it was easy to cover the flanks, rear, find out everything. Report more fully and in a timely manner.” However, there was virtually nothing to report. East Prussia turned out to be not medieval Manchuria and Korea. The Russian cavalry was unable to provide intelligence collection here, while the Germans, using advanced telephone communications, had all the data on the advancement of Russian troops.
General Khan Nakhichevansky, trying to report to his superiors, on August 9, 1914, sent the 3rd Cavalry Division of General Bellegarde into a raid on the outskirts of the Prussian town of Stallupen (now the city of Nesterov, the regional center of the Kaliningrad region). Lieutenant General Vladimir Bellegarde was a descendant of a French nobleman who, at the height of the Jacobin Terror, defected to the Russian army.
General Bellegarde would not live to see the red and white terror of the civil war in Russia; he would die in battle a week after the raid on Stallupen. But that day was successful for him - the Russian cavalrymen forced the German company to retreat, cut down several telegraph poles, plundered the surrounding area a little and returned to the Russian border.
Pleased with even such a minor success, General Khan Nakhichevansky reported to army headquarters on August 10, 1914: “The enemy retreated to his fortified zone. The success was decisive. Telegraph and telephone wires were cut, a lot of cattle and about 50 horses were stolen.”
So, with horse raids, like the ancient wars of the Middle Ages, the future battle of engines, tanks, bombers, deadly chemicals, millions of armies and thousand-kilometer fronts began.