The First World War became the largest military conflict of the first third of the twentieth century and all the wars that took place before that. So when did World War I start and what year did it end? The date July 28, 1914 is the beginning of the war, and its end is November 11, 1918.
When did the first world war start?
The beginning of the First World War was the declaration of war by Austria-Hungary on Serbia. The reason for the war was the murder of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown by the nationalist Gavrilo Princip.
Speaking briefly about the First World War, it should be noted that the main reason for the hostilities that arose was the conquest of a place in the sun, the desire to rule the world with the emerging balance of power, the emergence of Anglo-German trade barriers, the absolute phenomenon in the development of the state as economic imperialism and territorial claims one state to another.
On June 28, 1914, Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in Sarajevo. On July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, beginning the main war of the first third of the 20th century.
Rice. 1. Gavrilo Princip.
Russia in the First World War
Russia announced mobilization, preparing to defend the fraternal people, which brought upon itself an ultimatum from Germany to stop the formation of new divisions. On August 1, 1914, Germany declared an official declaration of war on Russia.
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In 1914, military operations on the Eastern Front took place in Prussia, where the rapid advance of Russian troops was driven back by a German counteroffensive and the defeat of Samsonov's army. The offensive in Galicia was more effective. On Western Front the course of military operations was more pragmatic. The Germans invaded France through Belgium and moved at an accelerated pace to Paris. Only at the Battle of the Marne was the offensive stopped by Allied forces and the parties moved on to a long trench war that lasted until 1915.
In 1915, Germany's former ally, Italy, entered the war on the side of the Entente. This is how the southwestern front was formed. The fighting took place in the Alps, giving rise to a mountain war.
On April 22, 1915, during the Battle of Ypres, German soldiers used chlorine poison gas against Entente forces, which became the first gas attack in history.
A similar meat grinder happened on the Eastern Front. The defenders of the Osovets fortress in 1916 covered themselves with unfading glory. The German forces, several times superior to the Russian garrison, were unable to take the fortress after mortar and artillery fire and several assaults. After this, a chemical attack was used. When the Germans, walking in gas masks through the smoke, believed that there were no survivors left in the fortress, Russian soldiers ran out at them, coughing blood and wrapped in various rags. The bayonet attack was unexpected. The enemy, many times superior in number, was finally driven back.
Rice. 2. Defenders of Osovets.
At the Battle of the Somme in 1916, tanks were used for the first time by the British during an attack. Despite frequent breakdowns and low accuracy, the attack had a more psychological effect.
Rice. 3. Tanks on the Somme.
In order to distract the Germans from the breakthrough and pull forces away from Verdun, Russian troops planned an offensive in Galicia, the result of which was to be the surrender of Austria-Hungary. This is how the “Brusilovsky breakthrough” occurred, which, although it moved the front line tens of kilometers to the west, did not solve the main problem.
At sea, a major battle took place between the British and Germans near the Jutland Peninsula in 1916. The German fleet intended to break the naval blockade. More than 200 ships took part in the battle, with the British outnumbering them, but during the battle there was no winner, and the blockade continued.
The United States joined the Entente in 1917, for which entering a world war on the winning side at the very last moment became a classic. The German command erected a reinforced concrete “Hindenburg Line” from Lens to the Aisne River, behind which the Germans retreated and switched to a defensive war.
French General Nivelle developed a plan for a counteroffensive on the Western Front. Massive artillery barrage and attacks on different areas front did not give the desired effect.
In 1917, in Russia, during two revolutions, the Bolsheviks came to power and concluded the shameful separate Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. On March 3, 1918, Russia left the war.
In the spring of 1918, the Germans launched their last, “spring offensive.” They intended to break through the front and take France out of the war, however, the numerical superiority of the Allies prevented them from doing this.
Economic exhaustion and growing dissatisfaction with the war forced Germany to the negotiating table, during which a peace treaty was concluded at Versailles.
What have we learned?
Regardless of who fought whom and who won, history has shown that the end of the First World War did not solve all of humanity's problems. The battle for the redivision of the world did not end; the allies did not finish off Germany and its allies completely, but only depleted them economically, which led to the signing of peace. World War II was only a matter of time.
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The First World War was the first military conflict on a global scale, in which 38 of the 59 independent states that existed at that time were involved.
The main reason for the war was the contradictions between the powers of two large blocs - the Entente (a coalition of Russia, England and France) and the Triple Alliance (a coalition of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy).
The reason for the outbreak of an armed clash between a member of the Mlada Bosna organization, high school student Gavrilo Princip, during which on June 28 (all dates are given according to the new style) 1914 in Sarajevo, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were killed.
On July 23, Austria-Hungary presented an ultimatum to Serbia, in which it accused the country’s government of supporting terrorism and demanded that its military units be allowed into the territory. Despite the fact that the Serbian government's note expressed its readiness to resolve the conflict, the Austro-Hungarian government declared that it was not satisfied and declared war on Serbia. On July 28, hostilities began on the Austro-Serbian border.
On July 30, Russia announced a general mobilization, fulfilling its allied obligations to Serbia. Germany used this occasion to declare war on Russia on August 1, and on August 3 on France, as well as neutral Belgium, which refused to allow German troops through its territory. On August 4, Great Britain and its dominions declared war on Germany, and on August 6, Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia.
In August 1914, Japan joined the hostilities, and in October, Turkey entered the war on the side of the Germany-Austria-Hungary bloc. In October 1915, Bulgaria joined the bloc of the so-called Central States.
In May 1915, under diplomatic pressure from Great Britain, Italy, which initially took a position of neutrality, declared war on Austria-Hungary, and on August 28, 1916, on Germany.
The main land fronts were the Western (French) and Eastern (Russian) fronts, the main naval theaters of military operations were the North, Mediterranean and Baltic seas.
Military operations began on the Western Front - German troops acted according to the Schlieffen plan, which envisaged an attack by large forces on France through Belgium. However, Germany's hope for a quick defeat of France turned out to be untenable; by mid-November 1914, the war on the Western Front assumed a positional character.
The confrontation took place along a line of trenches stretching about 970 kilometers along the German border with Belgium and France. Until March 1918, any, even minor changes in the front line were achieved here at the cost of huge losses on both sides.
During the maneuverable period of the war, the Eastern Front was located on the strip along the Russian border with Germany and Austria-Hungary, then mainly on the western border strip of Russia.
The beginning of the 1914 campaign on the Eastern Front was marked by the desire of Russian troops to fulfill their obligations to the French and draw back German forces from the Western Front. During this period, two major battles took place - the East Prussian operation and the Battle of Galicia. During these battles, the Russian army defeated the Austro-Hungarian troops, occupied Lvov and pushed the enemy to the Carpathians, blocking the large Austrian fortress of Przemysl.
However, the losses of soldiers and equipment were colossal; due to the underdevelopment of transport routes, reinforcements and ammunition did not arrive in time, so the Russian troops were unable to develop their success.
Overall, the 1914 campaign ended in favor of the Entente. German troops were defeated on the Marne, Austrian troops in Galicia and Serbia, and Turkish troops at Sarykamysh. On Far East Japan captured the port of Jiaozhou, the Caroline, Mariana and Marshall Islands, which belonged to Germany, and British troops captured the rest of Germany's possessions in the Pacific Ocean.
Later, in July 1915, British troops, after protracted fighting, captured German South-West Africa (a German protectorate in Africa).
First world war was marked by the testing of new means of combat and weapons. On October 8, 1914, the first air raid took place: British planes equipped with 20-pound bombs flew into German airship workshops in Friedrichshafen.
After this raid, a new class of aircraft began to be created - bombers.
The large-scale Dardanelles landing operation (1915-1916) ended in defeat - a naval expedition that the Entente countries equipped at the beginning of 1915 with the goal of taking Constantinople, opening the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits for communication with Russia through Black Sea, withdraw Turkey from the war and win over the Balkan states to the side of the allies. On the Eastern Front, by the end of 1915, German and Austro-Hungarian troops had driven the Russians out of almost all of Galicia and most of Russian Poland.
On April 22, 1915, during the battles near Ypres (Belgium), Germany was used for the first time chemical weapons. After this, poisonous gases (chlorine, phosgene, and later mustard gas) began to be used regularly by both warring parties.
In the 1916 campaign, Germany again shifted its main efforts to the west with the goal of withdrawing France from the war, but a powerful blow to France during the Verdun operation ended in failure. This was largely facilitated by the Russian Southwestern Front, which carried out a breakthrough of the Austro-Hungarian front in Galicia and Volyn. Anglo-French troops launched a decisive offensive on the Somme River, but, despite all efforts and the attraction of enormous forces and resources, they were unable to break through the German defenses. During this operation, the British used tanks for the first time. The largest battle of the war, the Battle of Jutland, took place at sea, in which the German fleet failed. As a result of the military campaign of 1916, the Entente seized the strategic initiative.
At the end of 1916, Germany and its allies first began to talk about the possibility of a peace agreement. The Entente rejected this proposal. During this period, the armies of the states actively participating in the war numbered 756 divisions, twice as many as at the beginning of the war, but they lost the most qualified military personnel. The bulk of the soldiers were elderly reserves and young people on early conscription, poorly prepared in military-technical terms and insufficiently trained physically.
In 1917 two most important events radically influenced the balance of power of the opponents. On April 6, 1917, the United States, which had long maintained neutrality in the war, decided to declare war on Germany. One of the reasons was an incident off the southeast coast of Ireland, when a German submarine sank the British liner Lusitania, sailing from the United States to England, which was carrying a large group of Americans, killing 128 of them.
Following the United States in 1917, China, Greece, Brazil, Cuba, Panama, Liberia and Siam also entered the war on the side of the Entente.
The second major change in the confrontation of forces was caused by Russia's withdrawal from the war. On December 15, 1917, the Bolsheviks who came to power signed an armistice agreement. On March 3, 1918, the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty was concluded, according to which Russia renounced its rights to Poland, Estonia, Ukraine, part of Belarus, Latvia, Transcaucasia and Finland. Ardahan, Kars and Batum went to Turkey. In total, Russia lost about one million square kilometers. In addition, she was obliged to pay Germany an indemnity in the amount of six billion marks.
The largest battles of the 1917 campaign, Operation Nivelle and Operation Cambrai, demonstrated the value of using tanks in battle and laid the foundation for tactics based on the interaction of infantry, artillery, tanks and aircraft on the battlefield.
On August 8, 1918, in the Battle of Amiens, the German front was torn apart by the Allied forces: entire divisions surrendered almost without a fight - this battle became the last major battle of the war.
On September 29, 1918, after the Entente offensive on the Thessaloniki Front, Bulgaria signed an armistice, Turkey capitulated in October, and Austria-Hungary capitulated on November 3.
Popular unrest began in Germany: on October 29, 1918, in the port of Kiel, the crew of two warships disobeyed and refused to go to sea on a combat mission. Mass revolts began: the soldiers intended to establish councils of soldiers' and sailors' deputies in northern Germany on the Russian model. On November 9, Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated the throne and a republic was proclaimed.
On November 11, 1918, at the Retonde station in the Compiegne Forest (France), the German delegation signed the Compiegne Armistice. The Germans were ordered to liberate the occupied territories within two weeks and establish a neutral zone on the right bank of the Rhine; hand over guns and vehicles to the allies and release all prisoners. The political provisions of the treaty provided for the abolition of the Brest-Litovsk and Bucharest peace treaties, and the financial provisions provided for the payment of reparations for destruction and the return of valuables. The final terms of the peace treaty with Germany were determined at the Paris peace conference at the Palace of Versailles on June 28, 1919.
The First World War, which for the first time in human history engulfed the territories of two continents (Eurasia and Africa) and vast sea areas, radically reshaped political map world and became one of the largest and bloodiest. During the war, 70 million people were mobilized into the ranks of the armies; of these, 9.5 million were killed or died from their wounds, more than 20 million were wounded, and 3.5 million were left crippled. Nai big losses Germany, Russia, France and Austria-Hungary suffered (66.6% of all losses). Total cost war, including property losses, according to various estimates, ranged from $208 to $359 billion.
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
The horrors of the planetary massacre of 1939-1945 made us think of the previous World War I as a relatively minor conflict. Indeed, losses among the armies of the warring countries and their civilian populations were then several times smaller, although they were calculated in multi-million dollar figures. However, it should also be remembered that the warring parties actively used combat weapons, and the participation in combat operations of submarine, surface and air fleets, as well as tanks, indicates that the nature of the First World War was as close as possible to modern ideas about strategy and tactics.
On June 28, 1914, a terrorist attack occurred in the Bosnian city of Sarajevo, as a result of which members of the august Austro-Hungarian family Archduke Ferdinand and Sophia, his wife, were killed. The culprits were subjects of the empire, but their nationality gave rise to accusing the Serbian government of supporting terrorists, and at the same time holding this country responsible for fanning separatism.
When it began, even those who started it did not imagine that it would drag on for four years, cover vast areas from the Arctic to South America and will lead to such large-scale losses. Serbia, suffering internally and weakened by two in a row, was a practically defenseless victim, and defeating it was not a problem. The question was which countries would react to this attack and how.
Despite the fact that the Serbian government accepted almost all the conditions of the ultimatum presented to it, this was no longer taken into account. When the First World War began, the government of Austria-Hungary announced mobilization, enlisting the support of Germany and assessing the combat readiness of possible opponents, as well as the degree of their interest in territorial redistribution. As subsequent events showed, not all factors were taken into account.
Exactly one month after Sarajevo murder fighting began. At the same time, the German Empire informed France and Russia of its intentions to support Vienna.
In the days when the First World War began, the population of both Austria-Hungary and Germany was swept by a single patriotic impulse. The citizens of the opposing countries did not lag behind in their desire to “teach a lesson” to the enemy. The mobilized soldiers were showered with flowers and treats on both sides of the border, which soon became the front line.
When the First World War began, the general staffs made plans for rapid offensives, captures and encirclements of enemy army groups, but soon the fighting acquired a pronounced positional character. For all this time, there was only one breakthrough of layered defense; it was named after General Brusilov, who commanded this operation. The winners in such conditions were determined not so much by the quality of equipment or the talents of the command staff, but by the economic potential of the warring countries.
The Austro-Hungarian and German empires turned out to be weaker. Exhausted by the four-year confrontation, despite the favorable situation for them with Russia, they suffered a defeat, the result of which was that the Heroes of the First World War in Russia, engulfed in the flames of revolution, and in Germany and Austria turned out to be unnecessary human material, rejected by society.
World War I briefly
About the First World War in brief 1914 - 1918
Pervaya mirovaya vo yna
Beginning of the First World War
Stages of the First World War
Results of the First World War
The First World War, in short, represents one of the largest and most difficult military conflicts of the 20th century.
Causes of military conflict
To understand the causes of the First World War, we need to briefly consider the balance of power in Europe. Three major world powers - Russian Empire, Great Britain and England 19th century have already divided spheres of influence among themselves. Until a certain point, Germany did not strive for a dominant position in Europe; it was more concerned with its economic growth.
But everything changed at the end of the 19th century. Having strengthened economically and militarily, Germany began to urgently need new living space for its growing population and markets for its goods. Colonies were needed, which Germany did not have. To achieve this, it was necessary to begin a new redivision of the world by defeating the allied bloc of three powers - England, Russia and France.
TO end of the 19th century century, Germany's aggressive plans became finally clear to its neighbors. In response to the German threat, the Entente alliance was created, consisting of Russia, France and England, which joined them.
In addition to Germany's desire to win living space and colonies, there were other reasons for the First World War. This issue is so complex that there is still no single point of view on this matter. Each of the main countries participating in the conflict puts forward its own reasons.
The First World War, in short, began due to irreconcilable differences between the countries of the Entente and the Central Alliance, primarily between Great Britain and Germany. Other states also had their own claims against each other.
Another reason for the war is the choice of the path of development of society. And here again two points of view collided - Western European and Central-South European.
Could the war have been avoided? All sources unanimously say that it is possible if the leadership of the countries participating in the conflict really wanted this. Germany was most interested in the war, for which it was fully prepared, and made every effort to get it started.
Main participants
The war was fought between the two largest political blocs at that time - the Entente and the Central Bloc (formerly the Triple Alliance). The Entente included the Russian Empire, England and France. The central block consisted of the following countries: Austria-Hungary, Germany, Italy. The latter later joined the Entente, and the Triple Alliance included Bulgaria and Türkiye.
In total, 38 countries took part in the First World War, briefly speaking.
Reason for war
The beginning of the military conflict was associated with the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. The killer was a member of the Yugoslav revolutionary youth organization.
Beginning of the war 1914
This event was enough for Austria-Hungary to start a war with Serbia. At the beginning of July, the Austrian authorities announced that Serbia was behind the assassination of the Archduke and put forward an ultimatum that could not be fulfilled. Serbia, however, agrees to all of his conditions except one. Germany, which desperately needed war, stubbornly pushed Austria-Hungary to declare war. At this time, all three countries are mobilizing.
July 28, Austria-Hungary announces Serbia’s failure to comply with the terms of the ultimatum, begins shelling the capital and sends troops into its territory. Nicholas II calls in a telegram from William I for a peaceful resolution of the situation through the Hague Conference. The German authorities are silent in response.
On July 31, Germany announced an ultimatum to Russia and demanded an end to mobilization, and on August 1, an official declaration of war came.
It must be said that none of the participants in these events imagined that the war, which was planned to end within a few months, would drag on for more than 4 years.
Progress of the war
It is simpler and more convenient to divide the course of the war into five periods, according to the years during which it lasted.
1914 - military operations unfolded on the Western (France) and Eastern (Prussia, Russia) fronts, the Balkans and the colonies (Oceania, Africa and China). Germany quickly captured Belgium and Luxembourg, and launched an offensive against France. Russia led a successful offensive in Prussia. In general, in 1914, none of the countries managed to fully implement their plans.
1915 - Fierce fighting took place on the Western Front, where France and Germany desperately sought to turn the situation in their favor. On the Eastern Front, the situation changed for the worse for Russian troops. Due to supply problems, the army began to retreat, losing Galicia and Poland.
1916 - during this period, the bloodiest battle took place on the Western Front - Verdun, during which more than a million people died. Russia, trying to help the allies and draw back the forces of the German army, launched a successful counteroffensive - the Brusilov breakthrough.
1917 - success of the Entente troops. The USA joins them. Russia, as a result of revolutionary events, is actually leaving the war.
1918 - Russia concluded peace with Germany on extremely unfavorable and difficult terms. The remaining allies of Germany make peace with the Entente countries. Germany is left alone and in November 1918 agrees to surrender.
Results of the war 1918
Before World War II, this military conflict was the most widespread, affecting almost the entire globe. The shocking number of victims (taking into account the loss of military and civilian casualties, as well as the wounded) is about 80 million people. During the 5 years of war, empires such as the Ottoman, Russian, German and Austro-Hungarian collapsed.
First World War was the result of the aggravation of the contradictions of imperialism, the unevenness and spasmodic development of capitalist countries. The most acute contradictions existed between Great Britain - the oldest capitalist power and the economically strengthened Germany, whose interests collided in many areas globe, especially in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Their rivalry turned into a fierce struggle for dominance in the world market, for the seizure of foreign territories, for the economic enslavement of other peoples. Germany's goal was to defeat the armed forces of England, deprive it of colonial and naval primacy, subjugate the Balkan countries to its influence, and create a semi-colonial empire in the Middle East. England, in turn, intended to prevent Germany from establishing itself in the Balkan Peninsula and the Middle East, to destroy its armed forces, to expand its colonial possessions. In addition, she hoped to seize Mesopotamia and establish her dominance in Palestine and Egypt. Acute contradictions also existed between Germany and France. France sought to return the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, captured as a result of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, as well as to take away the Saar Basin from Germany, to maintain and expand its colonial possessions (see Colonialism).
Bavarian troops are sent by rail towards the front. August 1914
Territorial division of the world on the eve of the First World War (by 1914)
Poincaré's arrival in St. Petersburg, 1914. Raymond Poincaré (1860-1934) - President of France in 1913-1920. He pursued a reactionary militaristic policy, for which he received the nickname “Poincare War.”
Chapter Ottoman Empire(1920-1923)
American infantryman who suffered from exposure to phosgene.
Territorial changes in Europe in 1918-1923.
General von Kluck (in a car) and his staff during large maneuvers, 1910
Territorial changes after the First World War in 1918-1923.
The interests of Germany and Russia collided mainly in the Middle East and the Balkans. The Kaiser's Germany also sought to tear Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states away from Russia. Contradictions also existed between Russia and Austria-Hungary due to the desire of both sides to establish their dominance in the Balkans. Tsarist Russia intended to seize the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, Western Ukrainian and Polish lands under Habsburg rule.
The contradictions between the imperialist powers had a significant impact on the alignment of political forces in the international arena and the formation of military-political alliances opposing each other. In Europe at the end of the 19th century. - early 20th century two largest blocs were formed - the Triple Alliance, which included Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy; and the Entente consisting of England, France and Russia. The bourgeoisie of each country pursued its own selfish goals, which sometimes contradicted the goals of the coalition allies. However, all of them were relegated to the background against the background of the main contradictions between two groupings of states: on the one hand, between England and its allies, and Germany and its allies, on the other.
The ruling circles of all countries were to blame for the outbreak of the First World War, but the initiative in unleashing it belonged to German imperialism.
Not the least role in the outbreak of the First World War was played by the desire of the bourgeoisie to weaken in their countries the growing class struggle of the proletariat and the national liberation movement in the colonies, to distract the working class from the struggle for their social liberation by war, to decapitate its vanguard through repressive wartime measures.
The governments of both hostile groups carefully concealed the true goals of the war from their people and tried to instill in them a false idea about the defensive nature of military preparations, and then of the conduct of the war itself. Bourgeois and petty-bourgeois parties of all countries supported their governments and, playing on the patriotic feelings of the masses, came up with the slogan “defense of the fatherland” from external enemies.
The peace-loving forces of that time could not prevent the outbreak of a world war. The real force capable of significantly blocking its path was the international working class, numbering over 150 million people on the eve of the war. However, the lack of unity in the international socialist movement thwarted the formation of a united anti-imperialist front. The opportunistic leadership of the Western European social democratic parties did nothing to implement the anti-war decisions taken at the congresses of the 2nd International held before the war. A significant role in this was played by a misconception about the sources and nature of the war. Right-wing socialists, finding themselves in warring camps, agreed that “their” own government had nothing to do with its emergence. They even continued to condemn the war, but only as an evil that had come upon the country from the outside.
The First World War lasted over four years (from August 1, 1914 to November 11, 1918). 38 states took part in it, over 70 million people fought on its fields, of which 10 million people were killed and 20 million were maimed. The immediate cause of the war was the murder of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Franz Ferdinand, by members of the Serbian secret organization “Young Bosnia” on June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo (Bosnia). Incited by Germany, Austria-Hungary presented Serbia with an obviously impossible ultimatum and declared war on it on July 28. In connection with the opening of hostilities in Russia by Austria-Hungary on July 31, general mobilization. In response, the German government warned Russia that if mobilization was not stopped within 12 hours, then mobilization would also be declared in Germany. By this time, the German armed forces were already fully prepared for war. The tsarist government did not respond to the German ultimatum. On August 1, Germany declared war on Russia, on August 3 on France and Belgium, on August 4, Great Britain declared war on Germany. Later, most of the countries of the world were involved in the war (on the side of the Entente - 34 states, on the side of the Austro-German bloc - 4).
Both warring sides started the war with multimillion-dollar armies. Military actions took place in Europe, Asia and Africa. The main land fronts in Europe: Western (in Belgium and France) and Eastern (in Russia). Based on the nature of the tasks being solved and the military-political results achieved, the events of the First World War can be divided into five campaigns, each of which included several operations.
In 1914, in the very first months of the war, military plans developed by the general staffs of both coalitions long before the war and designed for its short duration collapsed. Fighting on the Western Front began in early August. On August 2, the German army occupied Luxembourg, and on August 4, it invaded Belgium, violating its neutrality. The small Belgian army was unable to provide serious resistance and began to retreat north. On August 20, German troops occupied Brussels and were able to freely advance to the borders of France. Three French and one British armies were advanced to meet them. On August 21-25, in a border battle, the German armies drove back the Anglo-French troops, invaded Northern France and, continuing the offensive, reached the Marne River between Paris and Verdun by the beginning of September. The French command, having formed two new armies from reserves, decided to launch a counteroffensive. The Battle of the Marne began on September 5. 6 Anglo-French and 5 German armies (about 2 million people) took part in it. The Germans were defeated. On September 16, oncoming battles began, called the “Run to the Sea” (they ended when the front reached the sea coast). In October and November, bloody battles in Flanders exhausted and balanced the forces of the parties. A continuous front line stretched from the Swiss border to the North Sea. The war in the West took on a positional character. Thus, Germany’s hope for the defeat and withdrawal of France from the war failed.
The Russian command, yielding to the persistent demands of the French government, decided to take active action even before the end of the mobilization and concentration of its armies. The goal of the operation was to defeat the 8th German Army and capture East Prussia. On August 4, the 1st Russian Army under the command of General P.K. Rennenkampf crossed state border and entered the territory of East Prussia. During fierce fighting, German troops began to retreat to the West. Soon the 2nd Russian Army of General A.V. Samsonov also crossed the border of East Prussia. The German headquarters had already decided to withdraw troops beyond the Vistula, but, taking advantage of the lack of interaction between the 1st and 2nd armies and the mistakes of the Russian high command, German troops managed to inflict a heavy defeat on the 2nd Army first, and then throw the 1st Army back to her starting positions.
Despite the failure of the operation, the invasion of the Russian army into East Prussia had important results. It forced the Germans to transfer two army corps and one cavalry division from France to the Russian front, which seriously weakened their strike force in the West and was one of the reasons for its defeat in the Battle of the Marne. At the same time, by their actions in East Prussia, the Russian armies shackled the German troops and kept them from assisting the allied Austro-Hungarian troops. This made it possible for the Russians to inflict a major defeat on Austria-Hungary in the Galician direction. During the operation, the threat of invasion of Hungary and Silesia was created; The military power of Austria-Hungary was significantly undermined (Austro-Hungarian troops lost about 400 thousand people, of which more than 100 thousand were captured). Until the end of the war, the Austro-Hungarian army lost the ability to conduct operations independently, without the support of German troops. Germany was again forced to withdraw some of its forces from the Western Front and transfer them to the Eastern Front.
As a result of the 1914 campaign, neither side achieved its goals. Plans for waging a short-term war and winning it at the cost of one general battle collapsed. On the Western Front, the period of maneuver warfare was over. Positional, trench warfare began. On August 23, 1914, Japan declared war on Germany; in October, Turkey entered the war on the side of the German bloc. New fronts formed in Transcaucasia, Mesopotamia, Syria and the Dardanelles.
In the 1915 campaign, the center of gravity of military operations shifted to the Eastern Front. Defense was planned on the Western Front. Operations on the Russian front began in January and continued, with minor interruptions, until late autumn. In the summer, the German command broke through the Russian front near Gorlitsa. Soon it launched an offensive in the Baltic states, and Russian troops were forced to leave Galicia, Poland, part of Latvia and Belarus. However, the Russian command, switching to strategic defense, managed to withdraw its armies from the enemy’s attacks and stop his advance. The bloodless and exhausted Austro-German and Russian armies in October went on the defensive along the entire front. Germany faced the need to continue a long war on two fronts. Russia bore the brunt of the struggle, which provided France and England with a respite to mobilize the economy for the needs of the war. Only in the fall did the Anglo-French command carry out an offensive operation in Artois and Champagne, which did not significantly change the situation. In the spring of 1915, the German command used chemical weapons (chlorine) for the first time on the Western Front, near Ypres, as a result of which 15 thousand people were poisoned. After this, gases began to be used by both warring sides.
In the summer, Italy entered the war on the side of the Entente; in October, Bulgaria joined the Austro-German bloc. The large-scale Dardanelles landing operation of the Anglo-French fleet was aimed at capturing the Dardanelles and Bosporus straits, breaking through to Constantinople and withdrawing Turkey from the war. It ended in failure, and the Allies stopped hostilities at the end of 1915 and evacuated troops to Greece.
In the 1916 campaign, the Germans again shifted their main efforts to the West. For their main attack, they chose a narrow section of the front in the Verdun area, since a breakthrough here created a threat to the entire northern wing of the Allied armies. The fighting at Verdun began on February 21 and continued until December. This operation, called the “Verdun Meat Grinder,” boiled down to grueling and bloody battles, where both sides lost about 1 million people. The offensive actions of the Anglo-French troops on the Somme River, which began on July 1 and continued until November, were also unsuccessful. The Anglo-French troops, having lost about 800 thousand people, were unable to break through the enemy’s defenses.
Operations on the Eastern Front were of great importance in the 1916 campaign. In March, Russian troops, at the request of the allies, carried out an offensive operation near Lake Naroch, which significantly influenced the course of hostilities in France. It not only pinned down about 0.5 million German troops on the Eastern Front, but also forced the German command to stop attacks on Verdun for some time and transfer some of its reserves to the Eastern Front. Due to the heavy defeat of the Italian army in Trentino in May, the Russian high command launched an offensive on May 22, two weeks earlier than planned. During the fighting, Russian troops on the Southwestern Front under the command of A. A. Brusilov managed to break through the strong positional defense of the Austro-German troops to a depth of 80-120 km. The enemy suffered heavy losses - about 1.5 million people killed, wounded and captured. The Austro-German command was forced to transfer large forces to the Russian front, which eased the position of the Allied armies on other fronts. The Russian offensive saved the Italian army from defeat, eased the position of the French at Verdun, and accelerated the appearance of Romania on the side of the Entente. The success of the Russian troops was ensured by the use of General A. A. Brusilov new form breaking through the front through simultaneous attacks in several areas. As a result, the enemy lost the opportunity to determine the direction of the main attack. Along with the Battle of the Somme, the offensive on the Southwestern Front marked the turning point in the First World War. The strategic initiative completely passed into the hands of the Entente.
On May 31 - June 1, the largest naval battle of the entire First World War took place off the Jutland Peninsula in the North Sea. The British lost 14 ships in it, about 6,800 people killed, wounded and captured; The Germans lost 11 ships, about 3,100 people killed and wounded.
In 1916, the German-Austrian bloc suffered huge losses and lost its strategic initiative. Bloody battles drained the resources of all the warring powers. The situation of workers has sharply worsened. The hardships of the war and their awareness of its anti-national character caused deep discontent among the masses. In all countries, revolutionary sentiments grew in the rear and at the front. A particularly rapid rise of the revolutionary movement was observed in Russia, where the war revealed the corruption of the ruling elite.
Military operations in 1917 took place in the context of a significant growth of the revolutionary movement in all the warring countries, strengthening of anti-war sentiments in the rear and at the front. The war significantly weakened the economies of the warring factions.
The advantage of the Entente became even more significant after the United States entered the war on its side. The condition of the armies of the German coalition was such that they could not take active action either in the West or in the East. The German command decided in 1917 to switch to strategic defense on all land fronts and focused its main attention on waging unlimited submarine warfare, hoping in this way to disrupt the economic life of England and take it out of the war. But, despite some success, the submarine war did not give the desired result. The Entente military command moved to coordinated strikes on the Western and Eastern fronts in order to inflict the final defeat of Germany and Austria-Hungary.
However, the offensive of the Anglo-French troops launched in April failed. On February 27 (March 12), a bourgeois-democratic revolution took place in Russia. The Provisional Government that came to power, taking a course to continue the war, organized, with the support of the Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, a large offensive of the Russian armies. It began on June 16 on the Southwestern Front in general direction on Lvov, but after some tactical success, due to the lack of reliable reserves, the increased enemy resistance choked. The inaction of the Allies on the Western Front allowed the German command to quickly transfer troops to the Eastern Front, create a powerful group there, and launch a counteroffensive on July 6. The Russian units, unable to withstand the onslaught, began to retreat. Ended unsuccessfully offensive operations Russian armies and on the Northern, Western and Romanian fronts. Total number losses on all fronts exceeded 150 thousand people killed, wounded and missing.
The artificially created offensive impulse of the soldier masses was replaced by an awareness of the pointlessness of the offensive, an unwillingness to continue the war of conquest, to fight for interests alien to them.
