Russian Empire during the First World War. Russia in the First World War

What was the Russian Empire like on the eve of the World War? Here it is necessary to distance ourselves from two myths – the Soviet one, when “ Tsarist Russia“is shown as a backward country with a downtrodden people, and “Novorossiysk” - the essence of this legend can be expressed by the title of the documentary journalistic film by the Soviet and Russian director Stanislav Govorukhin “The Russia We Lost” (1992). This is an idealized idea of Russian Empire, which was destroyed by the scoundrels Bolsheviks.

The Russian Empire really had enormous potential and could, with the appropriate global, external and domestic policy become a world leader due to its human reserves (the third largest population on the planet, after China and India), natural resources, creative potential and military power. But there were also powerful, deep-seated contradictions, which ultimately destroyed the building of the empire. Don't have these internal prerequisites, the subversive activities of the financial international, Western intelligence services, freemasons, liberals, socialist revolutionaries, nationalists and other enemies of Russia would not have been successful.

The cornerstones of the Russian Empire were: Orthodoxy, which preserved the foundations of Christianity as the basis of the system of upbringing and education; autocracy (autocracy) as a basis state system; Russian national spirit, which was the basis for unity huge territory, the core of the empire, at the same time capable of mutually beneficial cooperation with other races, nationalities and religions. But these three foundations were largely undermined: Orthodoxy for the most part became a formality, having lost its fiery spirit of righteousness, the essence was lost behind the rituals - “The Glory of Truth, Righteousness.” The Russian national spirit was eroded by the pressure of Westernism, as a result, a split of the people occurred - the elite (for the most part) accepted European culture, for her, Paris and the Cote d'Azur have become closer than the Ryazan or Pskov regions, and Marx and Voltaire are more interesting than Pushkin or Lomonosov.

Economic development of Russia that time evokes an ambivalent impression; on the one hand, the successes were high. The empire experienced three economic booms - the first was under Alexander II, the second in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (was associated with the stability of the emperor's era Alexandra III and a number of positive innovations such as the introduction of protectionist tariffs and a wine monopoly, policies to encourage entrepreneurship, etc.), the third rise occurred in 1907-1913 and, interestingly, continued even during the First World War and was associated with the activities of P.A. Stolypin and V.N. Kokovtseva (Minister of Finance 1906 -1914, Chairman of the Council of Ministers in 1911 - 1914). Average annual growth rate in last period amounted to 5-8%. This rise was even called the “Russian miracle,” which occurred much earlier than the German or Japanese.

Count Vladimir Nikolaevich Kokovtsov, Russian statesman, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Russia in 1911-1914.

For 13 pre-war years, the volume industrial production tripled in size. New industries grew especially rapidly - chemical production, oil production, rapid growth was recorded in coal mining. Railways were built: from 1891 to 1916, the Trans-Siberian Railway (Trans-Siberian, or Great Siberian way), it connected Moscow and the largest Siberian and Far Eastern industrial centers empire, effectively tightening Russia with an iron belt. It was the longest railway in the world - more than 9 thousand km. The southern branch of the Trans-Siberian Railway became the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER), built in 1897-1903. It belonged to the Russian state and was served by subjects of the empire. It passed through the territory of Manchuria and connected Chita with Vladivostok and Port Arthur.

IN lung area, textile (textiles were exported to China and Persia), food industry, Russia was fully self-sufficient and exported goods to the foreign market. The situation was more negative in the field of mechanical engineering - Russia itself produced 63% of equipment and means of production.

Western economists and politicians were of great concern fast development Russia. In 1913, the Russian Empire took first place in the world, ahead of the United States, in terms of industrial production growth. Russia was one of the five strongest economic powers, second only to Great Britain and Germany, and catching up with France and the United States. According to the calculations of French economists, if Russia had maintained the pace of such development, while other powers maintained the same rate of development, then by the middle of the 20th century Russian state peacefully, in an evolutionary way, it was supposed to dominate the world in financial and economic terms, i.e. also in political terms, becoming the number one superpower.

And this despite the fact that it is somewhat incorrect to compare Russia and the British and French colonial empires - Paris and London siphoned funds from the colonies, developed the subordinate territories one-sidedly, only in their own interests. The British and French received huge amounts of cheap raw materials from their overseas possessions. The Russian Empire developed under different conditions - the outskirts were considered Russian and they tried to develop them at the same level as the Great Russian and Little Russian provinces. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the natural and climatic conditions of Russia - there is an excellent book about this by A.P. Parshev, “Why Russia is not America.” Developing a high civilization in such conditions is an order of magnitude more difficult than in Europe, the USA or the countries of South Asia, Latin America and Africa.

We must also take into account the fact that, although the colonies worked for France and England, researchers forget to include the population of Egypt, India, Sudan, Burma and a host of other possessions in the gross per capita indicators, take into account their standard of living, well-being, education and other factors. . And without colonies, the level of development of the “metropolises” was indeed high.

A certain danger for Russia was posed by relatively high financial debt. Although it’s also not worth going too far and considering that the empire was almost an “appendage of Western countries.” The total volume of foreign investment ranged from 9 to 14%, in principle, not much higher than in Western countries. We must take into account the fact that Russia developed according to a capitalist scheme, was not a socialist state, and therefore played the same games as Western countries. By 1914, Russia's external debt reached 8 billion francs (2.9 billion rubles), and the external debt of the United States reached 3 billion dollars (approximately 6 billion rubles). The States were in debt at that time, reversing the trend only due to the First World War .

It was believed that it was more profitable to borrow money; the money was used for the development of the country, large infrastructure projects or stabilization financial situation in 1905-1906 (defeat in the war, the beginning of the revolution in the country). By the beginning of the First World War, the gold reserves of the Russian Empire were the largest in the world and amounted to 1 billion 695 million rubles.

The population of the empire was 160 million people and was growing rapidly, the birth rate was high - 45.5 children per 1 thousand inhabitants annually. The myth about the widespread illiteracy and low culture of the Russian people at the beginning of the 20th century also raises doubts. Western researchers, speaking about 30% of literate people, mainly took into account graduates of universities, gymnasiums, real schools, and zemstvo schools. Parochial schools, which covered a significant part of the population, were not taken seriously in the West, believing that they did not provide “real education”. Again, we must take into account the factor of widespread illiteracy of the inhabitants of the European colonies, who were legally and actually part of European countries. In addition, in 1912, the Russian Empire adopted a law on universal primary education and about primary schools. If it were not for the war and the collapse of the empire, the empire would have repeated what the Bolsheviks did - illiteracy would have been completely eliminated. Therefore, complete illiteracy persisted only among foreigners (a category of subjects within the framework of the law of the Russian Empire, which did not have a pejorative meaning) in a number of regions of the empire, in the North Caucasus, Central Asia, in Siberia and the Far North.

In addition, imperial gymnasiums and real schools (secondary education) provided a level of knowledge that was approximately equal to the volume of programs of most modern universities. And a person who has completed higher education educational institution Russia, differed in better side in terms of knowledge than the majority of current university graduates. Russian culture experienced “Silver Years” - successes were noted in poetry, literature, music, science, etc.

Parliamentary monarchy. You need to know that by the beginning of the 20th century Russia was no longer absolute monarchy, V in every sense this concept. In 1864, during judicial reform(the Judicial Charter was introduced) the power of the emperor was actually limited. In addition, the country began to introduce zemstvo self-government, which was in charge of issues of improvement, health care, education, social protection, etc. The Manifesto of October 17, 1905 and the reforms of 1907 established a regime of parliamentary constitutional monarchy in the country.

Therefore, citizens of the empire had approximately the same amount of rights and freedoms as residents of other great powers. Western “democracy” of the early 20th century was very different from modern one. Suffrage was not universal, the majority of the population did not have this privilege, their rights were limited by age, property, gender, national, racial and other qualifications.

In Russia, since 1905, all parties were allowed, except for those who carried out terrorist activities, which is quite normal. Both Bolsheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries got into the State Duma. Strikes were suppressed in all countries (and are still being suppressed), and often in the West the actions of the authorities were harsher. In Russia, preliminary censorship was abolished, which was used by numerous opponents of the regime, from freemasons-liberals to leftists and nationalists. There was only punitive censorship - a publication could be fined or closed for breaking the law (such censorship was widespread and existed not only in Russia). Therefore, you need to know that the myth of the “prison of nations,” where the tsar is the “chief overseer,” was invented by the Western press and then supported in Soviet historiography.

Foreign policy

Petersburg tried to pursue a peaceful policy. At two Hague conferences (1899 and 1907), which were convened at the initiative of Russia, international conventions on the laws and customs of war were adopted, included in a set of norms of world humanitarian law.

In 1899, 26 countries participated in it and adopted 3 conventions: 1) On the peaceful resolution of international conflicts; 2) About laws and customs land war; 3) On the application of the principles of the Geneva Convention to naval warfare (dated August 10, 1864). At the same time, the use of shells and explosives with balloons and ships, shells with asphyxiating and harmful gases, explosive bullets.

In 1907, 43 states took part in it; they had already adopted 13 conventions, including on the peaceful resolution of world conflicts, on restrictions on the use of force in the collection of contractual debt obligations, on the laws and customs of land war, etc.

After the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War of 1871-1871, Russia several times restrained Germany from a new attack on French state. St. Petersburg tried to resolve disputes on the Balkan Peninsula through political and diplomatic means, without bringing matters to war, even to the detriment of its strategic interests. During two Balkan Wars(1912-1913), due to its peace-loving policy, all countries in this region, even the Serbs, were dissatisfied with Russia.

Although society was “infected” with Francophilism and Pan-Slavism, great war in Europe the Russian public did not want it. The nobility and intelligentsia considered Paris cultural center peace. They considered it their sacred duty to stand up for their “Slavic brothers” or “brothers in faith,” although there were many examples when these “brothers” entered into alliances with Western countries and acted contrary to the interests of Russia.

For a long time, until 1910-1912, Germany was not perceived as an enemy in Russia. They didn’t want to fight the Germans; this war did not bring any benefit to Russia, but it could have brought a lot of harm (as it did).

But Paris and London had to pit the “Russian giant” against the “Teutons.” The British feared growth navy German Empire, German dreadnoughts could seriously change the balance of power in the world. It was the fleet that allowed the “mistress of the seas” to control the vast expanses of the planet and her colonial empire. They needed to provoke a conflict between Germany and Russia and, if possible, stay on the sidelines. Thus, Sir Edward Gray (British Foreign Secretary in 1905-1916) told French President Poincaré: “Russian resources are so great that Germany will ultimately be exhausted even without the help of England.”

The French were ambivalent about the war; on the one hand, there was no longer “Napoleonic” belligerence, and they did not want to lose the achieved level of well-being (France was the world’s cultural and financial center), but they could not forget the shame of 1870-1871 in Paris. The topic of Alsace and Lorraine was regularly raised on the panel. Many politicians openly led the country to war, among them was Raymond Poincaré, who was elected president in 1913. In addition, many did not like living under the Sword of Damocles of Germany; the German Empire provoked the outbreak of conflict several times, and only the position of Russia and Britain restrained the warlike impulses of Berlin. I wanted to solve the problem in one blow.

There was great hope in Russia. In Paris, many believed that if the “Russian barbarians” were let off the leash, then Germany would be finished. But Russia was quite stable, and its peace-loving position was not shaken by either the Moroccan crises (1905-1906, 1911) or the mess in the Balkans (1912-1913).

Russia’s love of peace is also confirmed by the fact that if Germany began to prepare for war and heavily arm itself, to build more and more powerful fleet Almost immediately after the victory over France in 1871, Russia only adopted a shipbuilding program in 1912. And even then it was much more modest than the German or British; in the Baltic, the forces of 4 battleships and 4 battlecruisers were only enough to defend their shores. In March 1914 (!) the State Duma adopted a large military program, which provided for an increase in the army and modernization of weapons, as a result the Russian army was supposed to be superior to the German one. But both programs were supposed to be completed only by 1917.

In September 1913, Paris and St. Petersburg reached a final agreement regarding cooperation in case of war. France was supposed to begin military operations on the 11th day after the start of mobilization, and Russia on the 15th. And in November the French gave a large loan for construction railways in the west of the empire. To improve Russia's mobilization capabilities.

Internal opponents of the Russian Empire

- A significant part of the imperial elite. The February Revolution of 1917 was organized not by the Bolsheviks or the Socialist Revolutionaries, but by financiers, industrialists, part of the generals, senior dignitaries, officials, and State Duma deputies. It was not the Red Commissars and Red Guards who forced Nicholas II to abdicate the throne, but ministers, generals, deputies, and freemasons who were quite well-to-do and well-settled in life. high levels dedication.

They dreamed of making Russia “nice” England or France; their consciousness was formed by the matrix of Western civilization. Autocracy seemed to them the last obstacle on the way to Western Europe. These were supporters of the “European choice” of Russia at that time.

- Foreign bourgeoisie, mostly Germans and Jews. Many were members of Masonic lodges. Had contacts abroad. They also dreamed of a “European choice” for Russia. They supported the liberal bourgeois parties - the Octobrists and the Cadets.

- A significant part of the Russian national bourgeoisie. A significant number of them were Old Believers (Old Believers). The Old Believers considered the power of the Romanovs to be the Antichrist. This government split the church, violated proper development Russia, subjected them to persecution, destroyed the institution of patriarchy and nationalized the church. Petersburg planted Western abominations in Russia.

- Most of the intelligentsia was fundamentally Westernized, divorced from the people, a terrible mixture of Voltaires, Hegels, Mars and Engels reigned in their heads... The intelligentsia was fascinated by the West, dreamed of dragging Russia into Western civilization and rooting it there. In essence, the intelligentsia was “anti-people” (despite its high level education), there were few exceptions like Leo Tolstoy or Leskov, and they could not change the general Western vector of movement. The intelligentsia did not understand and did not accept the Russian civilizational project, therefore, having taken part in kindling the fire of the revolution, they themselves burned out.

- Professional revolutionaries. These were passionaries of all estates and classes; they were united by a thirst for change. They rejected modern world fully. These people believed that they could create new world, much better than the previous one, but for this it is necessary to completely destroy the old one. Among them were Russians, Jews, Poles, Georgians, etc. This movement was not united, it consisted of many parties, organizations, and factions.

- Jews. These people have become important factor Russian revolution, there is no need to downplay their importance, but you shouldn’t exaggerate them either. They made up a significant part of revolutionaries of all stripes. Moreover, it should be noted that these were not Jews in the traditional sense of the word. For the most part, these were “crosses,” “outcasts” of their tribe, those who did not find themselves in the traditional life of Jewish shtetls. Although they used connections among relatives, including abroad.

- Nationalists. Polish, Finnish, Jewish, Georgian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Ukrainian and other nationalists became a powerful factor in the collapse of the empire, on which the Western powers relied.

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

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Political situation before the conflict

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

To strengthen their positions, states tried to unite in unions.

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

Background and goals of the First World War

Main prerequisites and goals:

1. Alliances. According to the treaties, if one of the countries of the union declared war, then the others must take their side. This leads to a chain of involving states in the war. This is exactly what happened when the First World War began.
2. Colonies. Powers that did not have colonies or did not have enough of them sought to fill this gap, and the colonies sought to free themselves.
3. Nationalism. Each power considered itself unique and the most powerful. Many empires claimed world domination.
4. Arms race. Your power needed to be strengthened military power, therefore, the economies of major powers worked for the defense industry.
5. Imperialism. Every empire, if not expanding, then collapses. There were five of them then. Each sought to expand its borders at the expense of weaker states, satellites and colonies. The young German Empire, formed after the Franco-Prussian War, especially strived for this.
6. Terrorist attack. This event became the reason for the world conflict. Austro-Hungarian Empire annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina. The heir to the throne, Prince Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophia arrived in the acquired territory - Sarajevo. There was a fatal assassination attempt by Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip. Due to the assassination of the prince, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, which led to a chain of conflicts.

If we talk about the First World War briefly, US President Thomas Woodrow Wilson believed that it began not for any reason, but for all of them at once.

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

When did the first world war begin

Austria-Hungary gave Serbia an ultimatum to carry out a purge of all government bodies and the army, eliminate persons with anti-Austrian beliefs, arrest members of terrorist organizations, and, in addition, allow the Austrian police to enter Serbian territory to conduct an investigation.

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

July 28th, under the pretext of non-fulfillment of the ultimatum, Austro-Hungarian Empire declares war on Serbia. From this date they officially count down the time when the First World War began.

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

After Germany invaded neutral Belgium, Britain did not adhere to neutrality and declared war on the Germans. August 6, Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia. Italy adheres to neutrality. On August 12, Austria-Hungary begins to fight with Britain and France. Japan plays against Germany on August 23. Further down the chain, more and more states are drawn into the war, one after another, all over the world. The United States of America does not join until December 7, 1917.

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

Main events of the First World War and Russia's role in the conflict

The main battles take place on the Western Front, in the direction of Belgium and France, as well as on the Eastern Front, on the Russian side. With the entry of the Ottoman Empire has begun new round actions in the eastern direction.

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

• East Prussian operation. The Russian army crossed the border of East Prussia towards Königsberg. 1st Army from the east, 2nd Army from the west of the Masurian Lakes. The Russians won the first battles, but misjudged the situation, which led to further defeat. Big number soldiers became prisoners, many died, so had to retreat fighting.
• Galician operation. A huge battle. Five armies were involved here. The front line was oriented towards Lvov, it was 500 km. Later the front split into separate positional battles. Then the rapid advance began Russian army to Austria-Hungary, its troops were pushed back.
• Warsaw ledge. After a number of successful operations with different sides the front line became crooked. There was a lot of strength thrown to level it. The city of Lodz was alternately occupied by one side or the other. Germany launched an attack on Warsaw, but it was unsuccessful. Although the Germans failed to capture Warsaw and Lodz, the Russian offensive was thwarted. Russia's actions forced Germany to fight on two fronts, thanks to which a large-scale offensive against France was thwarted.
• Japan's entry into the Entente. Japan demanded that Germany withdraw its troops from China, and after the refusal announced the beginning of hostilities, taking the side of the Entente countries. This was an important event for Russia, since now there was no need to worry about the threat from Asia, and the Japanese were helping with supplies.
• Entry of the Ottoman Empire to the side Triple Alliance. Ottoman Empire hesitated for a long time, but still took the side of the Triple Alliance. The first act of her aggression was attacks on Odessa, Sevastopol, and Feodosia. After which, on November 15, Russia declared war on Turkey.
• August operation. It took place in the winter of 1915, and received its name from the city of Augustow. Here the Russians could not resist; they had to retreat to new positions.
• Carpathian operation. There were attempts on both sides to cross the Carpathian Mountains, but the Russians failed to do so.
• Gorlitsky breakthrough. The army of Germans and Austrians concentrated their forces near Gorlitsa, towards Lvov. On May 2, an offensive was carried out, as a result of which Germany was able to occupy Gorlitsa, Kielce and Radom provinces, Brody, Ternopil, and Bukovina. With the second wave, the Germans managed to recapture Warsaw, Grodno, and Brest-Litovsk. In addition, they managed to occupy Mitava and Courland. But off the coast of Riga the Germans were defeated. To the south, the offensive of the Austro-German troops continued, Lutsk, Vladimir-Volynsky, Kovel, Pinsk were occupied there. By the end of 1915 the front line has stabilized. Germany sent its main forces towards Serbia and Italy. As a result of major failures at the front, the heads of the army commanders rolled. Emperor Nicholas II took upon himself not only the governance of Russia, but also direct command of the army.
• Brusilovsky breakthrough. The operation was named after commander A.A. Brusilov, who won this fight. As a result of the breakthrough (May 22, 1916) the Germans were defeated they had to retreat with huge losses, leaving Bukovina and Galicia.
• Internal conflict. The Central Powers began to become significantly exhausted from the war. The Entente and its allies looked more advantageous. Russia at that time was on the winning side. She put a lot of effort into this and human lives, but could not become a winner due to an internal conflict. Something happened in the country, because of which Emperor Nicholas II abdicated the throne. The Provisional Government came to power, then the Bolsheviks. To stay in power, they withdrew Russia from the theater of hostilities, making peace with the central states. This act is known as Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
• Internal conflict of the German Empire. On November 9, 1918, a revolution took place, the result of which was the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II. The Weimar Republic was also formed.
• Treaty of Versailles. Between the winning countries and Germany On January 10, 1920, the Treaty of Versailles was concluded. Officially The First World War ended.
• The League of nations. The first assembly of the League of Nations took place on November 15, 1919.

Attention! The field postman wore a bushy mustache, but during a gas attack, the mustache prevented him from putting on his gas mask tightly, because of this the postman was severely poisoned. I had to make small antennae so that they wouldn’t interfere with putting on a gas mask. The postman's name was .

Consequences and results of the First World War for Russia

Results of the war for Russia:

• One step away from victory, the country made peace, having lost all privileges as a winner.
• The Russian Empire ceased to exist.
• The country voluntarily gave up large territories.
• Undertook to pay indemnity in gold and food.
• It was not possible to establish the state machine for a long time due to internal conflict.

Global consequences of the conflict

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

1. Territory. 34 of the 59 states were involved in the theater of operations. This is more than 90% of the Earth's territory.
2. Human sacrifices. Every minute 4 soldiers were killed and 9 were injured. In total there are about 10 million soldiers; 5 million civilians, 6 million died from epidemics that broke out after the conflict. Russia in the First World War lost 1.7 million soldiers.
3. Destruction. A significant part of the territories where the fighting was carried out fighting, were destroyed.
4. Dramatic changes in the political situation.
5. Economy. Europe has lost a third of its gold and foreign exchange reserves, leading to difficult economic situation almost all countries except Japan and the USA.

Results of the armed conflict:

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

The role of Russia in the 1st World War

Results of the First World War for Russia

Conclusion

Russia in the First World War 1914 – 1918. had victories and defeats. When the First World War ended, it received its main defeat not from external enemy, from itself, the internal conflict that brought an end to the empire. It is unclear who won the conflict. Although the Entente and its allies are considered victorious, but their economic condition was deplorable. They did not have time to recover, even before the start of the next conflict.

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

Oleg Airapetov

Participation of the Russian Empire in the First World War (1914–1917). 1915 Apogee

German and Austro-Hungarian opponents at the end of 1914 - beginning of 1915. Choosing the direction of the main attack

The first period of the war is over. “This period, glorious for the physical exploits of its fighters,” recalled Infantry General F.F. Palitsyn in the fall of 1916, “was terrible for the lack of firm thought and consistency in execution. Both in my notes at the beginning of the war, and now I assert that Russia owes the possibility of such a phenomenon to the absence General Staff. There was and is no General Staff. Attempts to create it from 1905 in 1908 ended in failure. We have officers of the General Staff, and sometimes they are capable and gifted, but the institution of the General Staff, the thought of the General Staff, working to prepare for war by developing workers adapted to working together in a united direction in achieving the goals of the war, we have no”1. These shortcomings in the management system have appeared again and again. At the end of 1914 - beginning of 1915, the high military command again faced the question of the direction of the main attack with particular urgency.

Nikolai Nikolaevich (junior) again rushed from one extreme to another. On January 2, 1915, he informed the Allies of his readiness to go on the offensive on German section front, as soon as the Guards and 6th Siberian Corps approach Warsaw, and, consequently, to hold the defense along the Carpathians. Two days later, he already asked J. Joffre to consider the possibility of sending some of the ammunition from the reserve to Russia French army, otherwise the Russians will be forced to limit themselves to active defense2. In any case, there was no longer enough strength for a simultaneous offensive on two directions, but in any case there was no talk of reducing activity on the German sector of the Russian front.

On December 31, 1914 (January 13, 1915), M. V. Alekseev presented a report on strategic considerations to N. I. Ivanov, and a copy was sent to Headquarters. The report contained two main points. Firstly, M.V. Alekseev considered it fundamentally impossible to conduct an offensive in two directions at once, and therefore, he considered it necessary to concentrate all efforts on only one, limiting himself to defense on the other. Secondly, the general believed that there were forces in the East Prussian theater that significantly exceeded his needs, “to the detriment of main direction(emphasis mine. – A. O.), and that we had drawn them into a hopeless struggle that should have been avoided. For a short time, at least, we need to transfer part of our forces from there to the left bank of the Vistula, where the fate of this period of the campaign is being decided, and maybe more(emphasis mine. – A. O.)"3.

M.V. Alekseev considered this direction not the Carpathians, but the left bank of the Vistula. It was here that he proposed organizing an offensive, and as quickly as possible, for which it was necessary to transfer cavalry to the infantry available here. “When assessing the relative possibilities of the left bank of the Vistula and the Galician (theater. - A. O.), it must be admitted,” the general wrote, “that in given time and in the current situation, the most important is the left bank. Here is a significant part allied forces, German troops operate here, to which the Supreme Command and Control belongs. Although the Austrians have significant forces in the Galician theater, the defeat of their situation on the left bank will not change in general terms”4. So, M.V. Alekseev proposed to attack the predominantly German group with the forces of the Southwestern Front, while Northwestern Front was supposed to carry out a diversionary attack. The direction of attack proposed by the chief of staff of the Southwestern Front lay between the Vistula and Pilica rivers, bypassing the Krakow fortress.

In the second half of November 1914, the main forces of General R.D. Radko-Dmitriev were only two transitions from the eastern forts of Krakow. However, they made up only two battered corps, while the rest of his army was already drawn into battles in the Carpathian passes. Ensure a blockade of the fortress or at least cut it off from the southern and western directions R.D. Radko-Dmitriev could not with these forces. True, in mid-November M.V. Alekseev decided to assemble a siege army. Krakow was surrounded by a ring of six powerful forts, but the perimeter of the fortress was small, and no one expected it to withstand a siege for any length of time. New army The commandant of Brest-Litovsk, General V.A. Lai-ming, was to be headed, and General A.V. von Schwartz became the head of the engineering corps. However, barely the headquarters of this army had time to hold several meetings when the Lodz operation began. Preparations for the siege of Krakow had to be abandoned. In addition, the Russian armies had already begun to lack ammunition and trained replacements. In the 2nd Guards Division For example, by November 19, the supply of cartridges was only 180 per rifle, while over the three days of previous battles an average of 715 cartridges per rifle was spent, and the next delivery was expected only on November 215.

Thus, Austria-Hungary remained the strategic target of the strike proposed by M.V. Alekseev. This note has special meaning due to the misunderstanding of his position of this period, which exists among both memoirists and historians. “General Ivanov, with the energetic support of Brusilov and lack of sympathy from his chief of staff, Gen. Alekseev, who, however, did not provide decisive opposition(emphasis mine. – A. O.), insisted on concentrating the main forces and means to cross the Carpathians and attack Budapest”6. On the other hand, N.I. Ivanov said that he agreed to an offensive in the Carpathians under pressure from M.V. Alekseev, and he, in turn, was under the strong influence of the “dry doctrinaire” General V.E. Borisov7. Moreover, the idea of ​​​​this offensive itself arose more than once.

On November 7 (20), 1914, the Serbian envoy to Russia M. Spalajkovic informed the governor R. Putnik that Russia had long ago decided to attack in Hungary in order to assist Serbia. The Russian command, according to the Serbian diplomat, expected to reach Budapest in six days8. N.I. Ivanov strengthened the 8th Army of General A.A. Brusilov, weakening the Krakow direction. In turn, A. A. Brusilov hoped to implement the plan for crossing the Carpathians. On November 6 (19), the 24th Army Corps, which had previously covered the approaches to Przemysl, on his orders went on the offensive with the aim of invading Hungary. On November 16 (29), the corps approached the Rostock Pass and captured it on November 18 (December 1). The road to the plain was open, but A. A. Brusilov changed the task: now the corps had to move west from the pass, cutting off the forces of the retreating Austrians from the Carpathian ridge9. This clearly complicated the task of the corps, and yet it was not supported by reserves. The Russian High Command counted on help from the Serbian army.

By the end of September 1914, she was far from better condition. Serbia’s unpreparedness for a long and large-scale war: with the advent of cold weather, a shortage of winter clothing began to be felt. Significant losses of career officers were practically irreplaceable; in addition, there was not enough ammunition10. Quite quickly, Russia was able to provide assistance to its ally using trophies captured in Galicia, most of which were sent to the Serbs through Romania. By mid-October, the Serbian army received 3 million cartridges, 15,090 tunics, 1,715 trousers, 5,481 overcoats11. It was impossible to count on the constant favor of Bucharest on the issue of transporting military cargo through Romanian territory. The main route for delivering military cargo from Russia to Serbia was the Danube.

Back on August 3 (16), 1914, to provide military assistance to Serbia along the Danube in Russia, a Special Purpose Expedition was created, led by Captain 1st Rank M. M. Veselkin12. It consisted of three passenger and 11 tug steamers, 130 large scows and 15 fire ships. The expedition was based in the port of Reni, where M. M. Veselkin was in charge of the fortifications that were erected to protect navigation along the Danube and Prut13. Sailing to Serbia was risky: Russian transports could become easy prey for the enemy. Danube river flotilla Austria-Hungary had virtually no opponent of equal strength. It consisted of two divisions of monitors, armed with 1–2 130 mm, 2–3 75 mm guns, armed steamers, patrol vessels, etc.14.

Heavy fighting took place near Belgrade; the city was subjected to non-stop bombardment by Austrian artillery. From October 2 to October 4, 1914, R. Reiss, a professor at the University of Lausanne, was here; by this time, the capital of Serbia had been shelled non-stop for 36 days. “I think no one will try to dispute the fact,” he wrote, “that Belgrade is open city because it's old Turkish fortress cannot be considered modern fortification. This is interesting historical monument and nothing more"15. On October 3, Serbian artillery knocked out the enemy monitor Leita, and the Austrians were forced to tow it to the rear for repairs16. Thanks to the minefields placed in the area of ​​the Serbian capital, it was possible to limit the capabilities of the Austrians, but there was no complete confidence in security. Military intelligence reported that in the area of ​​the Bulgarian Vidin there were two Austrian ships armed with four guns and four machine guns, the crews of which consisted of Austrian and German sailors. It was also possible to lay mines along the route of the caravan17.

Announcement: in fact, World War 1 took place in the 8th century, but no one remembers this anymore. Then all of Europe and part of Asia were at war. As a result, for example, the Avar state disappeared, and Charlemagne strengthened his empire.

1914 - 1918 – World War I. 38 states fought. More than 10 million were killed, more than 20 million were maimed and wounded.

CAUSES OF WAR:

1. Germany's desire for world domination.

2. France wanted to become main country in Europe.

3. Great Britain wanted to prevent anyone from becoming stronger in Europe.

4. Russia wanted to protect countries of Eastern Europe from aggression.

5. Strong contradictions between the countries of Europe and Asia in the struggle for spheres of influence.

Triple Alliance - military bloc of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy.

Entente (consent) – military bloc of Great Britain, France and Russia.

REASON for war: in the city of Sarajevo (Bosnia), one fanatic killed the Prince of Austria-Hungary. As a result, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Turkey and Bulgaria began to fight against the Entente countries.

PROGRESS OF THE WAR:

In August 1914 Russia achieved success, but then the inconsistency of the armies, supply problems, betrayal and espionage led to defeats. By the end of 1915 Russia lost the Baltic states, Poland, part of Ukraine and Belarus. In 1916 under the leadership of General Brusilov, a breakthrough was carried out on the Southwestern Front. More than 400 thousand enemies were killed, wounded and captured. Germany sent forces to help Austria-Hungary and saved it from disaster. On March 1, 1917 A general offensive of the Russian army was being prepared along the entire front line. But a week before this, the enemies staged a revolution in Petrograd. The offensive failed. February Revolution destroyed all the army's victorious plans. Mass desertion began, soldiers did not obey orders, intelligence data was declassified. As a result, all offensives of the Russian army failed. There were many killed and captured.

RESULTS: After October 1917 The Bolsheviks came to power. In March 1918 they concluded with Germany " Treaty of Brest-Litovsk", gave the western lands to Russia and stopped participating in the war. Russia lost the most: more than 6 million killed, wounded, and maimed. The main industrial areas were destroyed.

The war we won ended in shame and a humiliating peace. This is what happens when people succumb to the provocations of their enemies.

World War II briefly

Announcement: unfortunately, our enemies strove for it. But, as they say, it was smooth on paper, but they forgot about the ravines.

September 1939 – September 2, 1945 – World War II. Lasted 6 years. 61 states (80% of the world's population) participated. Approx. was mobilized. 110 million people. Approximately died. 65 million people. Tens of millions more were wounded, maimed, and left without relatives. Part of the Second World War is the war of the Nazis against the USSR.

June 22, 1941 – May 9, 1945 – Great Patriotic War Soviet people against fascism 4 years. The USSR lost 27 million people killed. More than 1,700 cities, more than 70 thousand villages, more than 32 thousand industrial facilities, and more than 65 thousand km of railways were destroyed. Several million children were stillborn or died after birth. More than 5 million people returned disabled and suffered.

Action movies show that war is fun for tough guys. War is madness, destruction, hunger, death or disability. War is poverty, dirt, humiliation, the loss of everything that is dear to a person.

Fascism – this is a direction in politics when one’s own people are put above everyone else, and other peoples begin to be destroyed and turned into slaves.

CAUSES OF WAR:

1. The creation of fascism in Europe to resist communism.

2. Germany's desire for world domination.

3. Weakening of the USSR by Stalin’s repressions (about 4 million people were arrested and killed in the army alone).

4. Japan's desire for dominance in Asia.

5. Passivity of France and Great Britain in order to set Hitler against the USSR.

6. The desire of each European country to achieve its goals by participating in the war (for example, Poland dreamed of attacking the USSR, Italy dreamed of seizing neighboring lands).

September 1, 1939- German fascists attacked Poland, violating the peace treaty. By June 1941 they captured all of Europe except Sweden, Great Britain and Switzerland.

June 22, 1941– Plan “Barbarossa” - a Nazi attack on the USSR. From this day the Great Patriotic War began.

02 September 1945- After the defeat, Japan signed a surrender. The Second World War is over.

The news of the war caused a wave of patriotic sentiment throughout the country. In all major cities Mass patriotic demonstrations took place, surpassing in scope those that took place at the very beginning of the Russo-Japanese War. It is characteristic that the strikes that took place in the summer of 1914 automatically stopped. Even the authorities were amazed at the active turnout at the recruiting stations. 96% of those liable for military service showed up.

Russia's opponents in the First World War

The main opponents of Russia and its allies were Germany and its allies - Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria. At the very beginning of the war, German troops were the first to invade Luxembourg, and then Belgium. Their Austrian allies, who were the first to enter the territory of Serbia, did not lag behind the Germans. Thus, two fronts of the war were formed - Western and Balkan.

In the Russian-German theater of military operations, Russian troops crossed the Prussian border. The Germans, in turn, invaded the southwest of Russian Poland and occupied a number of border towns. In the first months of the war, the main battles took place in the Russian part of Poland. From the end of April 1915 (the beginning of the Great Retreat of the Russian Army) until Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Russian troops defend their native borders, while simultaneously holding a small part of Austro-Hungarian territory.

After the Russians abandoned Poland and conquered it in 1914. Galicia, enemy troops rushed deep into the empire: into Courland, Livonia, Estland, Belarus, Polesie and Volyn. In 1918 after Russia left the war German command continued the offensive. The Germans reached Rostov, penetrated Crimea and Georgia...

To avoid the simultaneous conduct of military operations on two fronts, the German generals developed strategic plan"lightning war" with France. Following this plan German command threw significant forces against France and soon they were already 120 km from Paris. French government appealed to Russia with a request for a speedy offensive by Russian troops.

Russia was forced, in order to save its Entente ally, to begin military operations in East Prussia, without having yet completed the mobilization and deployment of its entire army. This forced the German command to remove two corps from the Western Front and send them to East Prussia. The Russian 2nd Army under the command of General Samsonov was defeated. Losses amounted to 170 thousand people. Shocked, Samsonov shot himself. At this price Paris was saved. Germany increasingly concentrated its troops on the Eastern Front.

During military operations in the fall of 1914. both sides suffered heavy losses. The enemy lost 950 thousand people killed, wounded and prisoners. Russian losses amounted to 2 million people. The war acquired a defensive, positional character, a war of attrition. But no one was ready for such a war.

Positional war is a special, exhausting war. Sitting in wet trenches, stuffy dugouts, constant firefights, machine gun and artillery duels, reconnaissance in force, surprises gas attacks. Such a war requires regular supplies of ammunition, uniforms and food, rotation of troops at the forefront, and special training of soldiers and officers.

From the very beginning of hostilities, a tragic paradox emerged: heroic soldiers and courageous officers fought in the army. However, the level of the high command turned out to be lower than the level of the army as a whole. There was neither a single will nor serious plans for waging war. This filled the army with uncertainty. But most importantly, catastrophic shortcomings in the supply of ammunition were discovered.

Requests Russian representatives to the allies to hit German troops on the Western Front were ignored. Retreat with heavy fighting in 1915. cost the Russian army 1 million. 410 thousand killed and wounded.

War Minister V.A. Sukhomlinov was put on trial and removed from the post of Supreme Commander-in-Chief Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich. At the end of August 1915 Nicholas II himself became Commander-in-Chief. From now on and finally, all failures, mistakes, miscalculations and defeats were associated with his name. But the army still lacked guns and rifles, shells and cartridges. There was also a lack of competent, authoritative leadership.

The character of the army changed during the war years. The growth of its numbers, mobilization, and the loss of personnel officers-commanders of companies and battalions led to the fact that officer corps replenished with educated people who passed accelerated training. There is no reason to doubt their patriotism and courage. But like many representatives of the intelligentsia, they were susceptible to oppositional sentiments, and everyday participation in the war, in which there was always a shortage of the most necessary things, gave rise to doubts.

At the end of 1915 Russian command proposed to the Allies a plan for a united offensive with the goal of linking up in Budapest. But again the Allies did not accept the proposal. In May 1916 The armies of the Southwestern Front broke through the front in Galicia and Volhynia and launched an offensive. This was the famous Brusilov breakthrough. It marked a radical turning point in the world war. It became clear that the countries of the Fourth Alliance (to Germany and Austria-Hungary Türkiye and Bulgaria joined) are doomed to defeat. It was only a matter of time. At the end of 1916 diplomatic relations The USA broke off with Germany. At the beginning of 1917 their entry into the war was expected.

Despite the debilitating losses and fatigue from the war, the Russian army by the beginning of 1917. was able to protect most of the Russian Empire, moving away only from the Kingdom of Poland and the provinces in the Baltic states. It firmly held the approaches to Riga and Petrograd. Improved combat supplies army. Victory was not far away. But she decided differently.