World War I

Introduction

Much has gone forever from history with the volleys of the "salute of nations" that sounded on November 11, 1918 - too much for the historian's thoughts not to turn again and again to the events of the World Crisis.

The point is not only and not so much in the human victims of the Great War, it is not in the huge material and financial losses. Although these losses were many times greater than the conservative estimates of pre-war theorists, calling them "incalculable" or "beyond the human imagination" is unjustified. In absolute terms, human losses were less than from the influenza epidemic of 1918-1919, and material losses were inferior to the consequences of the 1929 crisis. As for relative figures, the First World War cannot bear any comparison with medieval plague epidemics. Nevertheless, it is the armed conflict of 1914 that is perceived by us (and was perceived by contemporaries) as a terrible, irreparable catastrophe that led to the psychological breakdown of the entire European civilization.

In this work, I will try to consider what economic and political motives allowed the world war to break out at the beginning of the last century and summarize this grandiose event.

1. Causes, nature and main stages of the First World War

Economic causes of the First World War

The world entered the 20th century under the conditions of a crushing industrial crisis of 1900-1901. It began almost simultaneously in the US and Russia, and soon the crisis became general, engulfing England, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium and other countries. The crisis hit the metallurgical industry, then affected the chemical, electrical and construction industries. It led to the ruin of a mass of enterprises, causing a rapid increase in unemployment. A serious shock for many countries that had barely coped with the consequences of the crisis at the turn of the century was the crisis of 1907.

Monopolies in the pursuit of profit influenced the sphere of pricing, which led to the creation of disproportions within the national economy selected countries and exacerbated international economic tensions. Thus, economic crises were associated not with failures in the sphere of commodity and money circulation, but with the policy of monopolies. This is what determined the peculiarities of the course of crises, their cyclical nature, depth, length and consequences.

Looking carefully at the pre-war political map of Europe, we will see that it is impossible to explain the nature and origin of the World Crisis of 1914 starting from the geopolitical interests of the countries participating in the conflict. Germany plays the role of the attacking side in the World War, having no meaningful territorial claims at all. France, acting under the banner of revenge and the return of lost territories, on the contrary, is on the defensive. Russia, which is destined by historical fate for the southern direction of expansion (the Straits and the Middle East), is planning operations against Berlin and Vienna. Perhaps only Turkey is trying (albeit unsuccessfully) to act in some way in accordance with its geopolitical goals.

Orthodox Marxism explaining the origin of World War I economic reasons- First of all, the sharpest competitive struggle between Germany and Great Britain is probably closer to the truth than the geopolitical concept. In any case, the British-German economic rivalry did take place. The sharp increase in industrial production in Germany (with a relatively low cost of labor) seriously undermined the position of the UK in the markets and forced the UK government to move to a protectionist trade policy.

By the beginning of the XX century. the struggle of the capitalist powers for markets and sources of raw materials has become extremely acute.

Political reasons

Russian foreign policy after 1905

Russo-Japanese War and Revolution 1905-1907 worsened the situation in the country. The army was demoralized and incapacitated, finances were in disorder. Internal political problems made it difficult for tsarist diplomacy to pursue such a foreign policy that would allow the country to avoid participation in international conflicts. But the rivalry between the great powers was getting too sharp. Anglo-German antagonism came to the fore. Under these conditions, back in 1904, London agreed with Paris on the division of spheres of influence. This is how the Anglo-French Entente took shape. Allied to France, Russia was in no hurry to get closer to England. Germany actively sought to involve Russia in the wake of its policy and split the Franco-Russian alliance. In 1905, during a meeting between Nicholas II and Wilhelm II in Bjerka, the Kaiser persuaded the tsar to sign an agreement on mutual assistance in the event of an attack on one of the parties. Despite the indignation of Wilhelm II, the Bjork agreement, which was in conflict with the alliance treaty with France, had no practical results and in the autumn of 1905 was essentially annulled by Russia. The logic of the development of international relations pushed the autocracy in the direction of the Entente. In 1907, a Russian-Japanese agreement on political issues was signed. The parties agreed to maintain the "status quo" in the Far East. At the same time, Russian-English conventions on Persia, Afghanistan and Tibet were concluded. Persia was divided into three zones: northern (Russian sphere of influence), southeast (English sphere of influence) and central (neutral). Afghanistan was recognized as a sphere of influence of England.

These agreements became an important stage in the process of forming an anti-German coalition. In 1908, Minister of Foreign Affairs A.P. Izvolsky, during negotiations with his Austrian colleague A. Erenthal, agreed to annex Bosnia and Herzegovina to Austria-Hungary, occupied by the Austrians after the Berlin Congress (1878), having received in exchange a promise not to object to the opening of the Black Sea straits for Russian military ships. However, England and France did not support the claims of tsarist diplomacy. Austria-Hungary announced the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Germany sent an ultimatum to Russia in March 1909, demanding recognition of this act. The tsarist government was forced to yield. The Bosnian crisis turned into a "diplomatic Tsushima" for the autocracy. A.P. Izvolsky was dismissed in 1910, S.D. was appointed instead. Sazonov. Despite the deterioration of Russian-German relations, Germany still tried to draw Russia into the orbit of its policy. But she failed to achieve the desired results, and only in the summer of 1911 an agreement was signed relating only to the Persian question (the Potsdam Agreement), which actually did not lead to the settlement of disputed problems.

The prologue to the First World War was the attack on Turkey by Italy in 1911 heralded another aggravation of the Eastern question. Without waiting for the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Italian government decided to carry out its colonial claims to Tripolitania and Cyrenaica by force of arms. And the Balkan wars of 1912-1913. In 1912, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Greece, united as a result of the active efforts of Russian diplomacy, started a war against Turkey and defeated it. Soon the winners quarreled with each other. This was facilitated by Germany and Austria-Hungary, who viewed the formation of the Balkan Union as a success for Russian diplomacy. They took measures aimed at its collapse, and pushed Bulgaria to act against Serbia and Greece. During the second Balkan war, Bulgaria, against which Romania and Turkey also began hostilities, was defeated. All these events significantly exacerbated the Russian-German and Russian-Austrian contradictions. Turkey more and more submitted to German influence. German General L. Von Sanders in 1913 was appointed commander of the Turkish corps, located in the region of Constantinople, which was rightly regarded by St. Petersburg as a serious threat to Russian interests in the strait zone. Only with great difficulty did Russia succeed in moving L. Von Sanders to another post.

The tsarist government, realizing the country's unpreparedness for war and relying on the (defeat) of a new revolution, sought to delay an armed clash with Germany and Austria-Hungary. At the same time, in the context of the progressive deterioration of relations with its Western neighbors, it tried to conclude an alliance with England. But the latter did not want to bind herself with any obligations. At the same time, the allied relations between Russia and France by 1914 were significantly strengthened. In 1911-1913. at the meetings of the chiefs of the Russian and French general staffs, decisions were made that provided for an increase in the number of troops deployed against Germany in the event of war, and an acceleration of the time for their concentration. The naval headquarters of England and France concluded a naval convention entrusting the protection of the Atlantic coast of France to the English fleet, and the protection of England's interests in the Mediterranean - to the French.

The Entente as a coalition of England, France and Russia, directed against the Triple Alliance, which included Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy (the latter, however, had already actually moved away from its partners, it was replaced by Turkey), was becoming a reality, despite the fact that England was not connected with Russia and France by an alliance treaty5. The formation of two blocs of great powers hostile to each other, which took place against the backdrop of an intensified arms race, created a situation in the world that threatened at any moment to turn into a military conflict on a global scale.

Events in Sarajevo. On June 15 (28), 1914, a Serbian student from the national-terrorist organization "Black Hand" Gavrilo Princip shot the heir to the Austrian throne Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. This happened in the Bosnian town of Sarajevo, where the Archduke arrived at the maneuvers of the Austrian troops. Bosnia at that time still remained part of Austria-Hungary, and Serbian nationalists considered part of the Bosnian territory, including Sarajevo, to be theirs. The murder of the Archduke, the nationalists wanted to reassert their claims.

As a result, Austria-Hungary and Germany received an extremely convenient opportunity to defeat Serbia and gain a foothold in the Balkans. The main question now is whether Russia, which has patronized Serbia, will stand up for Serbia. But in Russia, just at that time, a major reorganization of the army was going on, which was planned to be completed only by 1917. Therefore, in Berlin and

Vienna hoped that the Russians did not risk getting involved in a serious conflict. Nevertheless, Germany and Austria-Hungary discussed the plan of action for almost a month. Only on July 23, Austria-Hungary gave Serbia an ultimatum with a number of demands, which boiled down to the complete cessation of all anti-Austrian actions, including propaganda. Two days were allotted for the fulfillment of the conditions of the ultimatum.

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

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

Reasons for the war:

1. The struggle of the capitalist powers for markets and sources of raw materials;

The aggravation of all contradictions in the countries of capitalism;

Creation of two opposing blocs;

Weak peace forces (weak labor movement);

Striving for the division of the world.

The nature of the war:

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

State goals:

¾ Germany sought to establish world domination.

¾ Austria-Hungary Control over the Balkans => control over the movement of ships in the Adriatic Sea => enslave the Slavic countries.

¾ England sought to capture Turkish possessions, as well as Mesopotamia and Palestine with their oil possessions.

¾ France sought to weaken Germany, return Alsace and Lorraine (lands); seize the coal basin, claims to be the hegemon in Europe.

¾ Russia sought to undermine the position of Germany and secure free passage for itself through the Strait of Vasbor and the Dardanelles in the Mediterranean Sea. Strengthen influence in the Balkans (by weakening German influence on Turkey).

¾ Turkey sought to leave the Balkans under its influence, seize the Crimea and Iran (raw material base).

¾ Italy Dominance in the Mediterranean and Southern Europe.

The war can be divided into three periods:

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

In the next period (1917), two events occurred that led to an imbalance of power: the first was the entry of the United States into the war on the side of the Entente, the second was the revolution in Russia and its withdrawal from the war.

The third period (1918) began with the last major advance of the Central Powers in the west. The failure of this offensive was followed by revolutions in Austria-Hungary and Germany and the surrender of the Central Powers.

The first main stage of the war. Allied forces initially included Russia, France, Great Britain, Serbia, Montenegro and Belgium and enjoyed overwhelming naval superiority (Table 2). The Entente had 316 cruisers, while the Germans and Austrians had 62. But the latter found a powerful countermeasure - submarines. By the beginning of the war, the armies of the Central Powers numbered 6.1 million people; Entente army - 10.1 million people. The Central Powers had an advantage in internal communications, which allowed them to quickly transfer troops and equipment from one front to another. In the long run, the Entente countries had superior resources of raw materials and food, especially since the British fleet paralyzed Germany's ties with overseas countries, from where before the war German enterprises received copper, tin and nickel. Thus, in the event of a protracted war, the Entente could count on victory. Germany, knowing this, relied on a lightning war - "blitzkrieg".

The Germans put into action the Schlieffen plan, which was supposed to ensure a rapid success in the West with a large offensive against France through Belgium. After the defeat of France, Germany hoped, together with Austria-Hungary, by transferring the liberated troops, to strike a decisive blow in the East. But this plan was not carried out. One of the main reasons for his failure was the sending of part of the German divisions to Lorraine in order to block the enemy's invasion of southern Germany. On the night of August 4, the Germans invaded Belgian territory. It took them several days to break the resistance of the defenders of the fortified regions of Namur and Liege, which blocked the path to Brussels, but thanks to this delay, the British transported almost 90,000 expeditionary corps across the English Channel to France (August 9-17). The French, on the other hand, gained time to form 5 armies that held back the German advance. However, on August 20, the German army occupied Brussels, then forced the British to leave Mons (August 23), and on September 3, the army of General A. von Kluk was 40 km from Paris. Continuing the offensive, the Germans crossed the Marne River and on September 5 stopped along the Paris-Verdun line. The commander of the French forces, General Jacques Joffre, having formed two new armies from the reserves, decided to launch a counteroffensive.

The first battle on the Marne began on 5 and ended on 12 September. It was attended by 6 Anglo-French and 5 German armies. The Germans were defeated. One of the reasons for their defeat was the absence of several divisions on the right flank, which had to be transferred to the eastern front. The French advance on the weakened right flank made it inevitable that the German armies would retreat northward to the line of the Aisne River. The battles in Flanders on the rivers Yser and Ypres on October 15 - November 20 were also unsuccessful for the Germans. As a result, the main ports on the English Channel remained in the hands of the Allies, which ensured communication between France and England. Paris was saved and the Entente countries got time to mobilize resources. The war in the west took on a positional character, Germany's hopes of defeating and withdrawing France from the war turned out to be untenable.

Hopes remained that on the Eastern Front the Russians would be able to crush the armies of the Central Powers bloc. On August 17, Russian troops entered East Prussia and began to push the Germans to Koenigsberg. Leading the counteroffensive was entrusted to the German generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff. Taking advantage of the mistakes of the Russian command, the Germans managed to drive a "wedge" between the two Russian armies, defeat them on August 26-30 near Tannenberg and force them out of East Prussia. Austria-Hungary did not act so successfully, abandoning the intention to quickly defeat Serbia and concentrating large forces between the Vistula and the Dniester. But the Russians launched an offensive in a southerly direction, broke through the defenses of the Austro-Hungarian troops and, having captured several thousand people, occupied the Austrian province of Galicia and part of Poland. The advance of the Russian troops posed a threat to Silesia and Poznan, important industrial regions for Germany. Germany was forced to transfer additional forces from France. But an acute shortage of ammunition and food stopped the advance of the Russian troops. The offensive cost Russia huge losses, but undermined the power of Austria-Hungary and forced Germany to keep significant forces on the Eastern Front.

Back in August 1914, Japan declared war on Germany. In October 1914, Turkey entered the war on the side of the bloc of the Central Powers. With the outbreak of war, Italy, a member of the Triple Alliance, declared its neutrality on the grounds that neither Germany nor Austria-Hungary had been attacked. But at the secret London talks in March-May 1915, the Entente countries promised to satisfy the territorial claims of Italy in the course of the post-war peace settlement if Italy came out on their side. May 23, 1915 Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary. And on August 28, 1916, Germany on the western front, the British were defeated in the second battle of Ypres. Here, during the battles that lasted for a month (April 22 - May 25, 1915), chemical weapons were used for the first time. After that, poison gases (chlorine, phosgene, and later mustard gas) began to be used by both warring parties. The large-scale Dardanelles landing operation, a naval expedition that the Entente countries equipped at the beginning of 1915, ended in defeat with the aim of taking Constantinople, opening the Dardanelles and Bosporus for communication with Russia through the Black Sea, withdrawing Turkey from the war and attracting 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 from most of the territory of Russian Poland. But it was not possible to force Russia to a separate peace. In October 1915, Bulgaria declared war on Serbia, after which the Central Powers, together with a new Balkan ally, crossed the borders of Serbia, Montenegro and Albania. Having captured Romania and covered the Balkan flank, they turned against Italy.

war historical versailles peaceful

The balance of power at the beginning of the war

СтранаЧисленность армии после мобилизации (млн. чел.)Численность Легких орудийЧисленность Тяжелых орудийЧисленность СамолетовРоссия5.3386.848240263Великобритания1.0001.50050090Франция3.7813.960688156Антанта10.11912.3081.428449Германия3.8226.3292.076232Австро-Венгрия2.3003.10450665Центральные державы6.1229.4332.582297

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

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

The naval blockade forced Germany to resort to drastic measures. Its only effective means at sea remained the submarine fleet, capable of freely bypassing surface barriers and sinking merchant ships of neutral countries that supplied the allies. It was the turn of the Entente countries to accuse the Germans of violating international law, which obliged them to save the crews and passengers of torpedoed ships.

On February 1915, the German government declared the waters around the British Isles a military zone and warned of the danger of ships from neutral countries entering them. On May 7, 1915, a German submarine torpedoed and sank the ocean-going steamer Lusitania with hundreds of passengers on board, including 115 US citizens. President W. Wilson protested, the United States and Germany exchanged sharp diplomatic notes.

Verdun and the Somme. Germany was ready to make some concessions at sea and seek a way out of the deadlock in action on land. In April 1916, British troops had already suffered a serious defeat at Kut-el-Amar in Mesopotamia, where 13,000 people surrendered to the Turks. On the continent, Germany was preparing for a large-scale offensive operation on the Western Front, which was supposed to turn the tide of the war and force France to ask for peace. The key point of the French defense was the ancient fortress of Verdun. After an artillery bombardment of unprecedented power, 12 German divisions went on the offensive on February 21, 1916. The Germans slowly advanced until the beginning of July, but they did not achieve their intended goals. The Verdun "meat grinder" clearly did not justify the calculations of the German command. Great importance during the spring and summer of 1916 they had operations on the Eastern and Southwestern fronts. In March, at the request of the Allies, Russian troops carried out an operation near Lake Naroch, which significantly influenced the course of hostilities in France. The German command was forced to stop attacks on Verdun for a while and, holding 0.5 million people on the Eastern Front, transfer an additional part of the reserves here. At the end of May 1916, the Russian High Command launched an offensive on the Southwestern Front. During the fighting under the command of A.A. Brusilov managed to carry out a breakthrough of the Austro-German troops to a depth of 80-120 km. Brusilov's troops occupied part of Galicia and Bukovina, entered the Carpathians. For the first time in the entire previous period of trench warfare, the front was broken through. If this offensive had been supported by other fronts, it would have ended in disaster for the Central Powers. To relieve pressure on Verdun, on July 1, 1916, the Allies launched a counterattack on the Somme River. For four months - until November - there were unceasing attacks. The Anglo-French troops, having lost about 800 thousand people, could not break through the German front. Finally, in December, the German command decided to stop the offensive, which cost the lives of 300,000 German soldiers. The 1916 campaign claimed more than 1 million lives, but did not bring tangible results to either side.

Basis for peace negotiations. At the beginning of the 20th century, the ways of conducting military operations completely changed. The length of the fronts increased significantly, the armies fought on fortified lines and attacked from the trenches, machine guns and artillery began to play a huge role in offensive battles. New types of weapons were used: tanks, fighters and bombers, submarines, asphyxiating gases, hand grenades. Every tenth inhabitant of the warring country was mobilized, and 10% of the population was engaged in supplying the army. In the warring countries, there was almost no room for ordinary civilian life: everything was subordinated to the titanic efforts aimed at maintaining the military machine. The total cost of the war, including property losses, was estimated to be between $208 billion and $359 billion. By the end of 1916, both sides were tired of the war, and it seemed that the time had come to start peace negotiations.

The second main stage of the war. On December 12, 1916, the Central Powers asked the United States to send a note to the Allies with a proposal to start peace negotiations18. The Entente rejected this proposal, suspecting that it was made in order to break up the coalition. In addition, she did not want to talk about a world that would not provide for the payment of reparations and the recognition of the right of nations to self-determination. President Wilson decided to initiate peace negotiations, and on December 18, 1916, he turned to the warring countries with a request to determine mutually acceptable peace terms.

As early as December 12, 1916, Germany proposed to convene a peace conference. The civil authorities of Germany were clearly striving for peace, but they were opposed by the generals, especially General Ludendorff, who was confident of victory. The Allies specified their terms: the restoration of Belgium, Serbia and Montenegro; withdrawal of troops from France, Russia and Romania; reparations; return to France of Alsace and Lorraine; liberation of subject peoples, including Italians, Poles, Czechs, elimination of the Turkish presence in Europe.

The Allies did not trust Germany and therefore did not take seriously the idea of ​​peace negotiations. Germany intended to take part in a peace conference in December 1916, relying on the benefits of her martial law. The case ended with the Allies signing secret agreements designed to defeat the Central Powers. Under these agreements, Great Britain laid claim to the German colonies and part of Persia; France was to receive Alsace and Lorraine, as well as establish control on the left bank of the Rhine; Russia acquired Constantinople; Italy - Trieste, Austrian Tyrol, most of Albania; Turkey's possessions were to be divided among all the allies.

US entry into the war. At the beginning of the war public opinion in the USA it was divided: some openly sided with the allies; others - like the Irish-Americans who were hostile to England, and the German-Americans - supported Germany. Over time, government officials and ordinary citizens leaned more and more on the side of the Entente. This was facilitated by several factors, and, above all, the propaganda of the Entente countries and the German submarine war.

On January 22, 1917, President Wilson set out in the Senate terms of peace acceptable to the United States. The main one was reduced to the demand for "peace without victory", i.e. non-annexations and indemnities; others included the principles of the equality of peoples, the right of nations to self-determination and representation, freedom of the seas and trade, the reduction of armaments, the rejection of the system of rival alliances. If peace is made on the basis of these principles, Wilson argued, then a world organization of states can be created that guarantees security for all peoples. On January 31, 1917, the German government announced the resumption of unlimited submarine warfare in order to disrupt enemy communications. Submarines blocked the supply lines of the Entente and put the allies in an extremely difficult position. There was growing hostility towards Germany among Americans, as the blockade of Europe from the west boded ill for the United States. In the event of a victory, Germany could establish control over the entire Atlantic Ocean.

Along with the noted circumstances, other motives also pushed the United States to the war on the side of the allies. The economic interests of the United States were directly connected with the countries of the Entente, since military orders led to the rapid growth of American industry. In 1916, the warlike spirit was spurred on by plans to develop programs for the preparation of military operations. Anti-German sentiment among North Americans increased even more after the publication on March 1, 1917, of the secret Zimmermann dispatch of January 16, 1917, which was intercepted by British intelligence and passed on to Wilson. German Foreign Minister A. Zimmermann offered Mexico the states of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona if it would support Germany's actions in response to the US entry into the war on the side of the Entente. By the beginning of April, anti-German sentiment in the United States reached such a pitch that on April 6, 1917, Congress voted to declare war on Germany.

Russia's exit from the war. In February 1917, a revolution took place in Russia. Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate. The provisional government (March - November 1917) could no longer conduct active military operations on the fronts, since the population was extremely tired of the war. On December 15, 1917, the Bolsheviks, who took power in November 1917, signed an armistice agreement with the Central Powers at the cost of huge concessions. Three months later, on March 3, 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed. Russia gave up its rights to Poland, Estonia, Ukraine, part of Belarus, Latvia, Transcaucasia and Finland. In total, Russia has lost about 1 million square meters. km. She was also obliged to pay Germany an indemnity in the amount of 6 billion marks.

The third main stage of the war. The Germans had good reason to be optimistic. The German leadership used the weakening of Russia, and then its withdrawal from the war, to replenish resources. Now it could transfer the eastern army to the west and concentrate troops on the main directions of the offensive. The allies, not knowing where the blow would come from, were forced to strengthen their positions along the entire front. American help was late. In France and Great Britain, defeatism grew with threatening force. On October 24, 1917, Austro-Hungarian troops broke through the Italian front near Caporetto and defeated the Italian army.

The German offensive of 1918 On a foggy morning on March 21, 1918, the Germans launched a massive attack on the British positions near Saint-Quentin. The British were forced to retreat almost to Amiens, and its loss threatened to break the united Anglo-French front. The fate of Calais and Boulogne hung in the balance.

However, the offensive cost Germany heavy losses - both human and material. The German troops were exhausted, their supply system was shattered. The Allies were able to neutralize the German submarines by creating convoy and anti-submarine defense systems. At the same time, the blockade of the Central Powers was carried out so effectively that food shortages began to be felt in Austria and Germany.

Soon long-awaited American aid began to arrive in France. The ports from Bordeaux to Brest were filled with American troops. By the beginning of the summer of 1918, about 1 million American soldiers had landed in France.

July 1918 the Germans made their last attempt to break through. A second decisive battle unfolded on the Marne. In the event of a breakthrough, the French would have to leave Reims, which, in turn, could lead to the retreat of the allies along the entire front. In the first hours of the offensive, the German troops advanced, but not as fast as expected.

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

The Allied advance began on other fronts as well. Ethnic unrest flared up in Austria-Hungary - not without the influence of the Allies, who encouraged the defection of Poles, Czechs and South Slavs. The Central Powers mustered the last of their forces to contain the expected invasion of Hungary. The way to Germany was open.

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

To negotiate peace in Germany, a moderate government was formed, headed by Prince Max B., who already on October 5, 1918, proposed to President Wilson to begin the negotiation process. In the last week of October, the Italian army launched a general offensive against Austria-Hungary. By October 30, the resistance of the Austrian troops was broken. The cavalry and armored vehicles of the Italians made a swift raid behind enemy lines and captured the Austrian headquarters. On October 27, Emperor Charles I issued an appeal for a truce, and on October 29, 1918, he agreed to conclude peace on any terms.

Brief conclusions. At the beginning of the XX century. the struggle of the capitalist powers for markets, and the sources of raw materials reached extreme severity, against the backdrop of economic rivalry, political disagreements occurred, which led to the political rivalry of the great powers, the result of the rivalry was the formation of two political blocs: the Entente and the Triple Alliance. The formation of two blocs of great powers hostile to each other, which took place against the backdrop of an intensified arms race, created a situation in the world that threatened at any moment to turn into a military conflict on a global scale. The impetus for the outbreak of the First World War was the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. But Russia intervened in the events, which began the mobilization of its army. Germany demanded its termination. When Russia did not respond to her ultimatum, Germany declared war on her on August 1, and later on France. Then Britain and Japan entered the war. The First World War began. The German command believed that after the defeat of France, the army should have been transferred to the east against Russia. Initially, the offensive in France developed successfully. But then part of the German troops were transferred to the Eastern Front, where the Russian army launched an offensive. The French took advantage of this and stopped the advance of the German army on the Marne River. The Western Front was formed. Soon the Ottoman Empire entered the war on the side of the Triple Alliance. Military operations against it began in Transcaucasia, in Mesopotamia, on the Sinai Peninsula. April 6, 1917 The United States declares war on Germany, the United States takes the side of the countries participating in the Entente. By the beginning of the summer of 1918, the United States is landing its troops in France. The First World War ended with the complete defeat of the countries of the Triple Alliance. In October 1918, a truce was signed for 36 days and the German government turned to US President Woodrow Wilson with a proposal to conclude a truce on all fronts. On June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed, which put an end to World War I.

Chronology of important events in the First World War

YearThe course of hostilitiesFeatures of the warOn August 4, 1914, the Germans invaded Belgium.Continuing the offensive, the Germans crossed the Marne River and on September 5 stopped along the Paris-Verdun line. The Battle of Verdun was attended by 2 million people, 5 German and 6 million people. Anglo-French soldiers. The war was of an opposition nature. On August 4, the Russian army invaded the aisles of Germany. The German army is defeated. Japan starts the war on August 23. New fronts were formed in Transcaucasia and Mesopotamia, on the Sinai Peninsula. The war is waged on 2 fronts and takes on a positional character (i.e. protracted). 1915 The use of chemical weapons. Chemical weapons, namely chlorine, were used for the first time on the western front near Ypres. In total, 15 thousand people died. 1916 Germany shifts its efforts to the western front The city of Verden became the main theater (place) of hostilities. The operation was called the Verdun meat grinder. It lasted from February 21 to December, and 1 million people died. There is an active offensive of the Russian army, the strategic initiative was in the hands of the Entente. Bloody battles that depleted the resources of all warring countries. The situation of the workers worsened, revolutionary actions of soldiers grew, especially in Russia. 1917 The United States enters the war In October, Russia withdrew from the war. Revolution in Russia. Spring 1918 Anglo-French troops had a significant advantage under the German armies. The Entente troops used tanks for the first time. German troops were ousted from the territory of France, Belgium, the soldiers of Austria-Hungary refused to fight. On November 3, 1918, a revolution took place in Germany itself, and on November 11, the Peace Treaty was signed in the Compiègne forest.

The use of tanks. The strongest revolutionary uprisings took place in all the belligerent countries.

2. Socio-economic situation in Russia during the First World War

The specifics of the economic and social development of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. led to the fact that the country was a complex conglomerate of almost autonomous socio-economic enclaves with their own, often irreconcilable interests. Under these conditions, the flexibility and far-sightedness of the authorities, the ability not only to adapt to existing conditions, but to influence them through anticipatory steps that could keep the entire socio-economic system in balance and prevent its collapse were of particular importance. At the same time, it should be noted once again that for the time being, not a single social force, except for a part of the intelligentsia, openly raised the question of forcibly changing the autocratic principle of government, relying only on the fact that government policy would take into account their interests. Therefore, all layers jealously perceived the traditional attachment of power to the nobility, and the latter became openly aggressive with any attempt to encroach on its primordial rights and interests.

In such conditions, the personality of the monarch was of decisive importance. However, at a critical time, a man appeared on the Russian throne who did not understand the scale of the tasks ahead. Nikolai, unlike his famous grandfather, did not feel the alarming atmosphere of general expectation, bringing the country to a revolutionary explosion. Not having his own program, he was forced to use the one that was strongly imposed by liberal forces to get out of the crisis. But Nicholas was inconsistent. His domestic politics lost its historical logic, therefore it met with rejection and irritation both from the left and from the right. The result was a rapid decline in the prestige of power. Not a single tsar in the history of Russia was subjected to such impudent and open reproach as Nicholas II. This led to a decisive change in the public consciousness. The most terrible thing happened: the halo of the king as the Divine chosen one, a bright and infallible personality dissipated. And from the fall of the moral authority of the authorities there was only a step to its overthrow. It was accelerated by the First World War.

At the same time, most political parties, having no real social base, appealed to the darkest instincts of the masses. The Black Hundreds, with their bloody pogroms and anti-Semitism, the Bolsheviks, with their violent rejection of the idea of ​​social peace, the Socialist-Revolutionaries, with their romanticization of the gravest sin - the murder of a person - they all introduced ideas of hatred and enmity into the mass consciousness. The populist, punchy slogans of the radical parties - from the Black Hundreds "beat the Jew, save Russia" to the revolutionary "rob the loot" - were simple and understandable. They did not affect the mind, but the feelings, and could at any moment turn ordinary people into a crowd capable of any illegal actions. Separate visionary warnings about the perniciousness of such sentiments remained "the voice of one crying in the wilderness." The psychology of hatred, destruction, the loss of a sense of the very value of human life was greatly intensified by the world war. The slogan of the defeat of their government became the apogee of the moral decay of the Russian people. And the collapse of traditional moral foundations was bound to lead to the collapse of the state. It was accelerated by the revolution.

Changes in the country's economy during the First World War:

The pride of the nation was also domestic science and technology. They are represented by the names of I.P. Pavlova, K.A. Timiryazev and others I.P. Pavlov was the first Russian scientist to be awarded the Nobel Prize.

Changes in the economy led to changes in the social sphere. The reflection of this process was the increase in the size of the working class. However, the country still 75% of the population were peasants. In the political field, Russia remained a Duma monarchy.

The total cost of the war by March 1917 had already exceeded 30 billion rubles. The money spent on the war is not returned in the form of goods or profits, which leads to an increase in the total amount of money in the country26. They are depreciating. So, by February 1917, the ruble fell to 27 kopecks. Food prices have increased by 300%. Began to disappear from circulation silver coins, instead of them issued a large amount of paper money.

Industrial enterprises reduced output. Small businesses closed. Consequently, the mobilization of industry accelerated.

The role of banks has grown significantly. In 1917, the largest Russian banks dominated railway companies, machine building, controlled 60% of the share capital in ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, oil, timber and other industries.

Russia has lost its traditional trading partner, Germany. The system of free market relations was supplanted by the ordering system, the redistribution of funds for the needs of the military industry, caused a shortage of goods in the country of free competition.

Restructuring the economy for military needs:

By this time, it became clear that victory was determined not so much by actions on the fronts as by the situation in the rear. The command of all the warring countries counted on the short duration of hostilities. There were no large stocks of equipment and ammunition. Already in 1915, everyone faced difficulties in supplying the army. It became clear that a sharp expansion of the scale of military production was required. The restructuring of the economy began. In all countries, it primarily meant the introduction of strict state regulation. The state determined the volume of necessary production, placed orders, provided raw materials and labor. Labor service was introduced, which made it possible to reduce the shortage of workers caused by the conscription of men into the army. As military production grew at the expense of civilian production, there was a shortage consumer goods. This forced the introduction of price controls and consumption rationing. The mobilization of men and the requisition of horses caused severe damage to agriculture. In all the warring countries, except England, food production was reduced, and this led to the introduction of a rationing system for the distribution of food. In Germany, which traditionally imported food, a particularly deplorable situation developed due to the blockade. The government was forced to prohibit the feeding of livestock with grain and potatoes, and the introduction of all kinds of low-nutrient food substitutes - ersatz.

At the time of the October uprising in Russia and for the first time after it, the Bolsheviks did not have a clear and detailed plan for transformations, including in the economic sphere. They expected that after the victory of the revolution in Germany, "the German proletariat, as more organized and advanced" would take upon itself the task of developing a socialist course, and the Russian would only have to support this course. Lenin at that time sounded characteristic phrases like “We don’t know how to build socialism” or “We dragged socialism into everyday life and we have to figure it out here.”

The reference point for the economic policy of the Bolsheviks was the model of the economic structure described in the works of the classics of Marxism. According to this model, the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat was to become a monopolist of all property, all citizens became employees of the state, equalization was to dominate in society, i.e. a course was taken to replace commodity-money relations with centralized distribution of products and administrative management of the national economy. Lenin described the socio-economic model he presented as follows: "The whole society will be one office and one factory with equality of labor and equality of pay."

In practice, these ideas were realized in the liquidation of industrial, banking and commercial capital. All private banks were nationalized, all external state loans were canceled, foreign trade was monopolized - the financial system was completely centralized.

In the first weeks after October, industry was transferred under "workers' control", which did not give a noticeable economic - and political - effect. An accelerated nationalization of industry, transport, and the merchant fleet was carried out, which Lenin called "a Red Guard attack on capital." All trade was quickly nationalized, down to small shops and workshops.

The strictest centralization of the management of the national economy was introduced. In December 1917, the Supreme Council of the National Economy was created, in whose hands all economic management and planning was concentrated. The demand for military discipline in production was announced, general labor service was introduced for persons from 16 to 50 years old. Strict sanctions were envisaged for evading compulsory labor. The idea of ​​creating labor. troops hatched and actively put into practice by Trotsky. Lenin declared the need to move "from labor service as applied to the rich."

Trade was replaced by card distribution of products. Those not engaged in socially useful work did not receive cards.

Having rather quickly solved the problem of suppressing the big bourgeoisie, the Bolshevik leaders announced the transfer of the center of the class struggle and economic reforms to the countryside. A surplus was introduced. This measure reflected the theoretical ideas of the Bolsheviks: an attempt was made to administratively abolish commodity-money relations in the countryside. But, on the other hand, the specific practice left the Bolsheviks with a rather small choice: after the liquidation of the landlord and monastic economic complexes, the mechanism for the procurement and sale of food was broken. The peasantry in the conditions of communal locality tended to naturalism in housekeeping. The Bolsheviks tried to create state farms and agricultural communes in the countryside, to transfer agriculture to the rails of centralized production and management. More often than not, these attempts have been outright failures. There was a threat of famine. The authorities saw the overcoming of food difficulties in emergency measures, in the use of force. Agitation was carried out among the urban workers, calling for a "campaign against the kulaks." Food detachments were allowed to use weapons.

Centralizing tendencies in the economy appeared even before the Bolsheviks. During the war years, the rationing of production, marketing and consumption was characteristic of all warring countries. In 1916, the tsarist government in Russia decided on a surplus appropriation, this measure was confirmed by the Provisional Government: in the conditions of the world war, it was clearly forced. The Bolsheviks, on the other hand, turned the surplus appropriation into a program requirement, striving for its conservation and carrying it out much tougher. Coercion against the peasantry was becoming the norm. In addition to natural grain duty, the peasants were required to participate in the system of labor duties, in the mobilization of horses and carts. All granaries were nationalized, all privately owned farms were rapidly liquidated. Fixed prices for agricultural products were introduced. They were 46 times lower than the market ones. Everything was aimed at the accelerated creation of an economic model.

The leaders of the Bolsheviks persistently called the rationing system a sign of socialism, and trade - the main attribute of capitalism. The organization of labor took on paramilitary forms, the ultimate centralization of production and product exchange was intended to oust money from economic life.

Communist, natural elements were introduced into everyday life: food rations, utilities, industrial clothing for workers, and urban transport were declared free; some printing etc. . Such a system had its supporters among employees, unskilled workers, etc. In those difficult economic conditions, they were afraid of free market prices. Many welcomed the fight against speculation.

In general, however, the economic policy of the Bolsheviks caused discontent. It did not focus on the development of production, but on the control of distribution and consumption. Money artificially depreciated. The peasants did not want to work in conditions of reduced sowing. The grain harvest was reduced by 40%, the sown areas of industrial crops decreased by 12-16 times compared with pre-war. The number of livestock has been significantly reduced. Workers were transferred from piecework to tariffs, which also reduced their interest in productive labor. Money lost its production-stimulating function. Under the conditions of natural product exchange, the role of money as a universal equivalent was also gradually eroded, without which it was impossible to establish normal production. The economy quickly deteriorated. The pre-revolutionary production assets were being eaten up, there was no new construction, and there was no expansion. People's lives were getting harder.

The new technique used by the Russians during the First World War:

At the beginning of the century, the development of automatic weapons began in Russia. His sample was created by a soldier - a blacksmith Y. Rotsepey. Despite the award of a large silver medal to him, the weapon was not produced until the very first world war.

In 1906, V. Fedotov designed an automatic rifle. In 1911, its first sample was released. The following year, 150 pieces were made. However, the king spoke out against further release, because. for her, they say, there will not be enough cartridges.

T. Kotelnikov created the first parachute. During the First World War, the tsarist government paid foreigners 1,000 rubles. for the right to manufacture a parachute at the Triangle plant in Petrograd.

M. Naletov created the world's first submarine designed for laying mines.

Russia was the only country that at the beginning of the war had further bomber aircraft - the Ilya Muravets airships.

On the eve of the war, Russia had excellent field artillery, but was much inferior to the Germans in heavy artillery.

Industry

The war made its demands on industry as well. In order to mobilize it for the needs of the front, the government decided to create meetings and committees. In March 1915, a committee for the distribution of fuel was created, in May of the same year - the main food committee, etc. Almost simultaneously with the indicated actions of the government, military-industrial committees began to form. The leading role in them belonged to the bourgeoisie, and 226 committees were created by it. The Russian bourgeoisie was able to attract 1200 private enterprises to the production of weapons. The measures taken made it possible to significantly improve the supply of the army. Paying tribute to them, we emphasize that the produced stocks were enough for a civil war.

However, the development of industry was one-sided. Enterprises not related to military production were closed, thereby accelerating the process of monopolization. The war disrupted traditional market ties. Part of the factories closed because it was impossible to get equipment from abroad. The number of such enterprises in 1915 amounted to 575. The war led to the strengthening of state regulation of the economy and the curtailment of free market relations. For the country's economy, the curtailment of market relations and the strengthening of state regulation turned into a fall in industrial production. By 1917 it was 77% of the pre-war level. Small and medium capital was the least interested in the development of the trend noted above and showed extreme interest in ending the war.

Transport was also in a difficult position. By 1917, the locomotive fleet was reduced by 22%. Transport did not provide either military or civilian cargo transportation. In particular, in 1916 he carried out only 50% of food transportation for the army.

Agriculture was also in a difficult position. During the war years, 48% of the male population was mobilized from the village to the army. The shortage of workers led to a reduction in the area under crops, an increase in prices for the processing of agricultural products, and, ultimately, an increase in retail prices. Huge damage was done to livestock. The total number of livestock and, especially, the main draft force - horses, has sharply decreased.

All this had its consequences. The food problem associated with transport and other troubles has become extremely aggravated in the country. It increasingly embraced both the army and the civilian population. The situation was greatly aggravated by the disorder of finances. The commodity value of the ruble by 1917 was 50% of the pre-war, and the issue of paper money increased 6 times.

Failures at the front, the deterioration of the internal situation led to the growth of social tension in society. It manifested itself in all areas. Unity based on patriotic sentiments was replaced by disillusionment and dissatisfaction with the policies of the government and the monarchy, and as a result, a sharp increase in the political activity of various social groups. In August 1915, the "Progressive Bloc" was formed. It included representatives of bourgeois and partially monarchist parties - a total of 300 Duma deputies. Representatives of the bloc presented their program. Its main provisions were: the creation of the Ministry of Public Trust, a broad political amnesty, which included the permission of the activities of trade unions, the legalization of the workers' party, the weakening of the political regime in Poland, Finland and other national outskirts.

. Treaty of Versailles

In October 1918, a truce was signed for 36 days: the development of peace conditions, but they were tough. They were dictated by the French. Peace was not signed. The truce was extended 5 times. There was no unity in the Allied camp. France held the first position. She was greatly weakened by the war, both economically and financially. She came out with demands for the payment of colossal reparations, as she sought to crush the German economy. She demanded the division of Germany, but England opposed this.

Germany agreed to Wilson's Fourteen Points, the document that served as the basis for a just world. Nevertheless, the countries of Atlanta demanded from Germany full compensation for the damage caused to the civilian population and the economy of these countries. In addition to demands for restitution, negotiations were complicated by territorial claims and secret agreements made by England, France and Italy with each other and with Greece and Romania in the last year of the war.

June 1919 - Signing of the Treaty of Versailles, which put an end to World War I. The peace treaty between Germany and the countries of the Entente was signed in the Mirror Hall of the Palace of Versailles in the suburbs of Paris. The date of its signing went down in history as the day the World War I ended, despite the fact that the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles came into force only on January 10, 1920.

27 countries participated in it. It was an agreement between the winners and Germany. Germany's allies did not take part in the conference. The text of the peace treaty was created during the Paris Peace Conference in the spring of 1919. In fact, the conditions were dictated by the leaders of the Big Four represented by British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, French President Georges Clemenceau, American President Woodrow Wilson and Italian President Vittorio Orlando. The German delegation was shocked by the harsh terms of the treaty and the apparent contradictions between the armistice agreements and the future peace provisions. The vanquished were especially indignant at the wording of German war crimes and the incredible amount of her reparations.

The legal basis for Germany's reparations was accusations of her war crimes. It was unrealistic to calculate the real damage caused by the war to Europe (especially France and Belgium), but the approximate amount was $ 33,000,000,000. Despite the statements of world experts that Germany would never be able to pay such reparations without pressure from the Entente countries, the text The peace treaty contained provisions that allowed for certain measures of influence on Germany. Among the opponents of the recovery of reparations was John Maynard Keynes, who, on the day of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, said that Germany's huge debt would lead to a world economic crisis in the future. His prediction, unfortunately, came true: in 1929, the United States and other countries suffered the Great Depression. By the way, it was Keynes who stood at the origins of the creation of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The leaders of the Entente, in particular, Georges Clemenceau, were interested in excluding any possibility of Germany starting a new world war. To this end, the treaty included provisions according to which the German army was to be reduced to 100,000 personnel, military and chemical production in Germany was prohibited. The entire territory of the country east of the Rhine and 50 km to the west was declared a demilitarized zone.

From the very signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the Germans declared that "the Entente imposed a peace treaty on them." In the future, the rigid provisions of the treaty were relaxed in favor of Germany. However, the shock that the German people experienced after the signing of this shameful peace remained in memory for a long time, and Germany harbored hatred for the rest of the states of Europe. In the early 1930s, in the wake of revanchist ideas, Adolf Hitler managed to come to power in an absolutely legal way.

The capitulation of Germany allowed Soviet Russia to denounce the provisions of the Brest-Litovsk separate peace concluded between Germany and Russia in March 1918, and return their western territories.

Germany has lost a lot. Alsace and Lorraine went to France, and northern Schleswick to Denmark. Germany lost more territories that were given to Holland. But France failed to achieve a border along the Rhine. Germany was forced to recognize the independence of Austria. Unification with Austria was forbidden. In general, a colossal number of different prohibitions were imposed on Germany: a ban on creating a large army and having many types of weapons. Germany was forced to pay reparations. But the issue of quantity has not been resolved. A special commission was created, which practically dealt only with the fact that appointed the amount of reparations for the next year. Germany was deprived of all her colonies.

Austria-Hungary split into Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. From Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Herzegovina and Southern Hungary, at the end of the war, the Serbo-Croatian-Slovenian state was formed, which later became known as Yugoslavia. They looked like Versailles. Austria lost a number of its territories and army. Italy received South Tyrol, Trieste, Istria with adjacent areas. The Slavic lands of Czech Republic and Moravia, which for a long time were part of Austria-Hungary, became the basis of the Czechoslovak Republic that was formed. Part of Silesia also passed to her. The Austro-Hungarian naval and Danube fleets were placed at the disposal of the victorious countries. Austria had the right to keep an army of 30 thousand people on its territory. Slovakia and Transcarpathian Ukraine were transferred to Czechoslovakia, Croatia and Slovenia were included in Yugoslavia, Transylvania, Bukovina and most of Banata Romania. The size of the Vegerian army was determined at 35 thousand people.

It came to Turkey. Under the Treaty of Sèvres, she lost about 80% of her former lands. England received Palestine, Transjordan and Iraq. France - Syria and Lebanon. Smyrna and the surrounding areas, as well as the islands in the Aegean Sea, were to pass to Greece. In addition, Masuk went to England, Alexandretta, Killikia and a strip of territories along the Syrian border to France. The creation of independent states - Armenia and Kurdistan - in the east of Anatolia was envisaged. The British wanted to turn these countries into a springboard for the fight against the Bolshevik threat. Turkey was limited to the territory of Asia Minor and Constantinople with a narrow strip of European land. The straits were entirely in the hands of the victorious countries. Turkey officially renounced its previously lost rights to Egypt, Sudan and Cyprus in favor of England, Morocco and Tunisia - in favor of France, Libya - in favor of Italy. The army was reduced to 35 thousand people, but it could be increased to suppress anti-government protests. In Turkey, the colonial regime of the victorious countries was established. But because of the beginning of the national liberation movement in Turkey, this treaty was not ratified and then annulled.

The United States left the Versailles conference dissatisfied. It has not been ratified by the US Congress. It was her diplomatic defeat. Italy was also not happy: it did not get what it wanted. England was forced to reduce the fleet. It's expensive to maintain. She had a difficult financial situation, a large debt to the United States, and they put pressure on her. In February 1922, the 9-Power Treaty on China was signed in Washington. He did not sign the Treaty of Versailles, as it was planned to give some territory of German China to Japan. The division into spheres of influence in China was eliminated, there were no colonies left there. This treaty gave rise to another discontent in Japan. This is how the Versailles-Washington system was formed, which lasted until the mid-1930s.

4. Results of the First World War

November at 11 o'clock in the morning the signalman, who was standing at the headquarters car of the supreme commander, blew the signal "Cease fire." The signal was transmitted along the entire front. At the same time, hostilities were stopped. The First World War is over.

The Russian monarchy could not stand the test of the world war either. It was swept away within a few days by the storm of the February Revolution. The reasons for the fall of the monarchy are the chaos in the country, the crisis in the economy, politics, the contradictions of the monarchy with the general public. The catalyst for all these negative processes was the ruinous participation of Russia in the First World War. Largely due to the inability of the Provisional Government to solve the problem of achieving peace for Russia, the October Revolution took place.

World War I 1914-1918 lasted 4 years, 3 months and 10 days, 33 states participated in it (the total number of independent states is 59) with a population of more than 1.5 billion people (87% of the world's population).

The world imperialist war of 1914-1918 was the most bloody and cruel of all wars that the world knew before 1914. Never before have opposing sides deployed such huge armies for mutual destruction. The total number of armies reached 70 million people. All the achievements of technology, chemistry were aimed at the extermination of people. Killed everywhere: on land and in the air, on water and under water. Poisonous gases, explosive bullets, automatic machine guns, shells of heavy weapons, flamethrowers - everything was aimed at the destruction of human life. 10 million killed, 18 million wounded - this is the result of the war.

In the minds of millions of people who were not even directly affected by the war, the course of history was divided into two independent streams - “before” and “after” the war. "Before the war" - a free pan-European legal and economic space (only politically backward countries - like Tsarist Russia - humiliated their dignity with passport and visa regimes), continuous development "ascending" - in science, technology, economics; a gradual but steady increase in personal freedoms. "After the war" - the collapse of Europe, the transformation of most of it into a conglomerate of small police states with a primitive nationalist ideology; a permanent economic crisis, aptly called by Marxists the “general crisis of capitalism”, a turn towards a system of total control over the individual (state, group or corporate).

The post-war redistribution of Europe according to the treaty looked like this. Germany was losing about 10% of its original territory. Alsace and Lorraine passed to France, and Saarland - under the temporary control of the League of Nations (until 1935). Three small northern provinces were given to Belgium, while Poland received West Prussia, the Pozdnań region and part of Upper Silesia. Gdansk was declared a free city. The German colonies in China, the Pacific region and Africa were divided among England, France, Japan and other allied countries.

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“Lights go out all over Europe,
our generation will not see
How do they light up again?

Edward Grey, Foreign Minister
Affairs of Great Britain (1905-1916)

The First World War in its consequences had a tremendous impact on the development of Europe and the whole world. Events of 1914-1918 not only left an indelible mark on the hearts and minds of contemporaries, but also turned the idea of ​​​​a person about war and peace, about life and death, about enemy and ally. The collapse of four empires (Russian, German, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman), the formation of nine new states in Europe, a huge number of killed and wounded soldiers, officers, civilians and even more crippled and shell-shocked under continuous shelling - this is an incomplete list of what left to future generations by the suicidal massacre of the early twentieth century.

The war had the most painful impact on the people directly involved in the battles. For a long time of sitting in the trenches under incessant enemy shelling, for those minutes spent in deadly attacks and counterattacks, Europe has lost a whole generation of its young people, who received the name "lost" in literature. Such a diagnosis at that time could be made throughout Europe. People who returned from the war could not adapt to a new peaceful life. This is due not only to the fear of what they managed to see and experience at the front, but also to the socio-economic and political upheavals that took place in European countries by the end of 1918 and the beginning of 1919. German soldiers, for example, went to war as subjects of the German Empire, and returned to a country engulfed in revolutionary sentiment, mired in mass unemployment and inflation.

Fire kills people. War destroys entire empires

The First World War claimed the lives of more than 10 million soldiers and officers, about 12 million civilians, about 55 million were injured, destroyed four empires (Russian, German, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman), redrawn the political map of Europe beyond recognition. It brought to the world new types of weapons (tanks, gas), a new character of warfare (trench, positional), new battles striking in their cruelty (Verdun, Ypres, Galicia). The First World War took away a huge number of young people from Europe, and returned the crippled and embittered "lost generation".

The First World War had a special character of warfare that distinguished it from other wars. First of all, it was trench warfare. The soldiers, along with the equipment, dug into the ground as much as possible, showing that they prioritize defense over attack. Secondly, tanks, which were first used by the British in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, also had a defensive character. Thirdly, the monotonous method of warfare. The classic attack of the First World War looked like this: a preliminary 2-hour artillery preparation, after which the infantry offensive began, accompanied by large quantity killed and wounded soldiers, faced with the fierce defense of the enemy. Then the attack was followed by a counterattack. It often happened that in the course of a months-long offensive, the attacking side managed, straining a huge amount of forces, to break through the enemy defenses and move forward only a few tens of kilometers. Fourthly, the use of prohibited weapons, primarily the military poison gas chlorine, used by the German army near the town of Ypres in 1915, will forever remain one of the most shameful pages in the history of mankind.

During the First World War, the world witnessed bloody and brutal battles that it had not yet seen. Verdun "meat grinder", Brusilovsky breakthrough, battle on the river. The Somme, in which the deaths of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and officers, showed everyone the very essence of a suicidal war.

The collapse of four empires, the formation of new states, the international isolation of Russia, the humiliation of Germany, which was given full responsibility for unleashing the war, became the foundations of a new world order, formed on the basis of the year signed at Versailles on June 28, 1919. New system international relations had the following characteristics:

1. The scale of the international system has increased. If earlier it was limited mainly to Europe, now, with the entry into the international arena of new non-European actors (USA, Japan), it has acquired a global character.

2. The principle of collective security was to replace the principle of "balance of power".

3. The formed League of Nations was to become an instrument for maintaining peace, order and stability.

4. The new system of international relations could not provide a solution to the problems assigned to it, due to the presence of contradictions in it, expressed in the unwillingness of the United States, France and Great Britain to give Russia and Germany a worthy place in the new world order. Instead, the first found itself in international isolation, while the second was humiliated and crushed by the pressure of reparations.

Obscene World: How the Great War Was Forgotten

The Great October Revolution and the coming to power of the Bolsheviks radically changed Russia's foreign policy, subordinating it to communist ideology. Having given the First World War the status of an imperialist one, they threw all their forces into the search for a speedy way out of hostilities.

Taking into account the fatigue of the army and society from the war, the cases of desertion and fraternization at the front, as well as the simple unwillingness of the soldiers to go on the attack, led the Bolshevik government to the decision to conclude a separate peace treaty with Germany and withdraw the country from the war.

The agreement concluded in March 1918 in Brest, depriving Russia of a territory of a total of 780 thousand square meters. km, with a population of 56 million people, V.I. Lenin was characterized as "obscene". He wrote: "The world is obscene, but if war breaks out, our government will be swept away and peace will be made by another government." Of course, the separate treaty was of tactical importance for the Bolsheviks, they needed to save their strength for a decisive blow. But, nevertheless, the "obscene peace" had a tremendous impact on the former allies in the Entente, who considered it a betrayal. Because of this, instead of Constantinople and victory, Russia received defeat, civil war and international isolation. Churchill wrote: “Fate was not so cruel to any country as to Russia ... Holding the victory already in her hands, she fell to the ground, alive, like Herod of old, devoured by worms.”

Thanks to the Soviet government, the very memory of the First World War was erased, of its soldiers who fearlessly fought for their homeland, and all the military graves of Russian soldiers and officers were destroyed. Great War remained “forgotten” for a long time, but the worst thing is that the memory of the participants in this war and their exploits was destroyed. This decision to “forget” was one of the most shameful pages in our history.

Difficult years in Europe

After the end of the First World War and the signing of the Versailles Peace Treaty, many politicians and journalists believed that peace on the planet was now established for all time. This was a delusion. The Versailles-Washington system of international relations, initially unfair, turned out to be unable to save humanity from the horrors of war. After a suicidal massacre that lasted 4 years, the suffering of Europe did not end.

In 1918-1919. the whole world was hit by an epidemic of the Spanish flu, or "Spanish flu", which claimed the lives of 90 million people. Those who could not be killed by the fire of a cruel war were finished off by a deadly disease, which can rightly be called the plague of the twentieth century.

Crushed and humiliated Germany, which lost its place in the rank of great powers by the decision of the USA, Great Britain and France and turned out to be the only country that bore the moral responsibility for starting the war, will still make itself felt. The national feelings of the Germans were so hurt that sooner or later there would be forces that would touch the sore points of German society and give the country such a policy aimed at revising the "fetters of Versailles."

Isolated Russia, now acting under the name of the USSR, for a long time considered a stranger in Europe, over which the “ghost” of communism hung, lost a huge territory under the Brest Treaty and also considered its place in the new world order unfair. Moreover, Western politicians saw the danger in the Soviet government in the form of a "red flood" that could flood the Old World. As it will become clear later, in London and Paris they will make a terrible mistake, deciding that fascism and Nazism are less dangerous for Europe than communism.

In Italy, which did not receive the regions of Istria, Dalmatia and the city of Rijeka promised to it by the results of the Versailles Treaty, they gave rise in this country to the myth of a “trimmed victory”, which was painfully perceived in Italian society. This was also perceived as a national humiliation and prepared the coming to power of the fascist forces led by B. Mussolini in 1922.

The problems also affected the socio-political atmosphere in Germany. The growth of instability, unemployment, and crime in a country engulfed in revolution exacerbated the formation of social inequality in this country. Thus, a breeding ground was created for the formation of radical parties, which, playing on the feelings of the Germans, rushed to power.

The climax came in 1929 with the onset of the economic crisis and the onset of the Great Depression. This led to mass unemployment, rising inflation and a slowdown in economic growth. In the wake of these events, forces led by A. Hitler came to power in Germany, openly calling for a revision of the articles of the Versailles Treaty and striving to pursue a policy based on the notorious theory of racial superiority. Skillfully playing on the national feelings of the German people and intimidating France and Great Britain with the “red threat”, from which only Germany is able to protect Europe, Hitler managed in a short time, unilaterally, to throw off the “fetters of Versailles”, recreate the army and aviation and begin to carry out territorial seizures. . All this will plunge the Old World and the whole world into a new, even more destructive and cruel, World War II.

Lost generation

What happened to the people who experienced all the hardships and torments of the First World War? How did four years of sitting in the trenches and attacking change their view of life and death? What did the soldiers face at the front? How did the war affect their psyche and what impact did it have on the formation of their post-war worldview?

After the First World War, most of Europe and the world were diagnosed with a "lost generation", or, as they used to say in Britain, a generation of "embittered young people". It is believed that the term itself was introduced in the post-war period by the American writer Gertrude Stein. But it is most fully developed and presented in the works of E.M. Remarque and E. Hemingway.

Young people and girls at the age of 18 went straight from school to the front, not knowing what awaits them there. Initially, it seemed that the war would not last long, and they, as winners, covered with glory, would return to their hometowns, villages, villages, to their families. A trip to the military registration and enlistment offices as volunteers, followed by sending to the war, was accepted in European countries as a short and exciting adventure. No one then knew that most of them would take part in the bloodiest and most brutal battles in history, which the world had not yet seen, some would experience terrible torment from gas attacks, some would die under shelling in the trenches, and some would forever remain disabled. Many will understand that everything they were taught at school, telling stories about great battles, about valiant heroes, about love for their homeland, is not reflected in reality in any way. The idea of ​​war as a jousting tournament in the brightest colors of the Middle Ages, after the first battle, will be replaced by a dirty soldier's overcoat and eternal fear that every day may be the last. In the novel by E.M. The remark “All Quiet on the Western Front”, one of the heroes, recalling his school days, notes quite interestingly: “... no one taught us at school how to smoke in the rain and in the wind or how to make a fire from damp wood, no one explained that it is best to strike with a bayonet in the stomach, and not in the ribs, because the bayonet does not get stuck in the stomach. This phrase perfectly shows how war changes people, how it takes away their sense of beauty, forcing them to pay attention only to what they immediately need in order to survive, forgetting everything superfluous that can interfere with this. Maybe those who came to the war did not realize what a family, love, but they clearly knew that "a blow with a bayonet must be directed to the stomach, and not to the heart."

In the novels dedicated to the First World War, special attention is paid to how ordinary soldiers themselves reflect on the causes of military conflicts. Moreover, the search for an answer to this question is accompanied by a misunderstanding of how one people, experiencing incredible suffering from pain and fear, from the loss of friends and relatives, pushes another people on the same path. This is clearly traced in another Remarque novel, The Return, where one can find the following: “Perhaps, only because wars arise again and again, that one can never fully feel how the other suffers.”

Another explanation for the emergence of wars can be found in the novel by the famous writer, Nobel Prize winner in literature, E. Hemingway, “Farewell to Arms!”, One of whose heroes says: “The country is ruled by a class that is stupid and does not understand anything and will never understand. That's why we're fighting." This shows the desire to lay the responsibility for the war on the ruling classes, who profess their own selfish interests and for their sake draw the peoples into a suicidal slaughter. In this case, the lack of hatred for the soldiers of the enemy armies is very revealing. Understanding perfectly well that the French and Russians, just like the Germans, are fighting for their homeland, the participants in the First World War see each other not as irreconcilable enemies, but as people equally exhausted by the war.

At the same time, when reading the literature of the writers of the lost generation, one comes across pages that describe all the hardships and torments experienced by the soldiers. Fear for one's life sometimes exceeds fear for the death of one's Fatherland. Sometimes no one even understood what the war was about. For some straits or territories in the Middle East. In battle, the soldiers, first of all, thought about how not to die themselves and help their comrades avoid this fate. The war was no longer about glorious conquests, but about one's own survival.

The fear of war did not leave the soldiers even after they returned home. Those who managed to survive under deadly fire, to recover from their wounds, could not forget the feelings that they had to endure. Many even after the war did not feel alive, knowing full well that even a peaceful life, to which it was so difficult for them to adapt, would not be able to return them to a normal state. E. Hemingway in the novel "Farewell to Arms!" wrote: "What a joy it is not to be wounded, if at the same time you die of fear."

There was also pronounced war weariness in Russian society. This was especially clear in the military environment. Russian soldiers, to put it bluntly, are tired of sitting in the trenches and endless attacks in which they risked their lives. Many crippled, killed and wounded - that's what the war left for a society that, like in the West, had to go through the syndrome of the lost generation. Despair and resentment at one's fate are reflected in the soldiers' songs. For example, lines from the song "Galician Fields":

The Russian brigade took
Galician fields,
And got me as a reward
Two maple crutches.

Do not forget about the role of women during the First World War. Of course, that the main hardships were assumed by men in military uniform. It was they who fell under gas attacks, they were torn to pieces under artillery fire, they attacked the river. Somme and near Verdun. But women, too, paid a heavy price in this war. Many have lost husbands, brothers, fathers, sons on the battlefields. A large number of women worked in hospitals, where sometimes, under heavy fire, wounded soldiers had to perform complex operations. But most importantly, this is the contribution that women made while working in the rear. First of all, at chemical industry plants, endangering their lives and health, sometimes forgetting about sleep and rest. Many of the women received permanent burns to their hands and faces while making chemicals and most have lost the opportunity to have children forever.
As we can see, the Great War affected everyone. A heavy burden fell on the shoulders of both men and women. Most have not been able to adapt to civilian life. Many were left crippled. Some committed suicide or went insane. There were even cases when a person who returned from the war fell into hysterics from the mere sight of a military uniform. The First World War was, unfortunately, stronger than people. As E.M., who has already been mentioned by us more than once, Remarque: "Thousands and thousands of those who returned will still regret that they did not lie down with the dead."

Sergey Ignatiev, master student of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs, National Research University Higher School of Economics

Our colleague, journalist Konstantin Gaivoronsky is seriously interested in military history. He studied a huge amount of literature and historical documents, devoted dozens of articles to the participants, battles and little-known episodes of the First World War, and is now finishing a voluminous book on this topic.
Konstantin outlined to "Saturday" his view of the causes and lessons of the war, the centenary of which Europe and Russia began to celebrate last year. He believes that Russia partly unleashed the world massacre on its own - and itself became its victim. The war stirred up revolutionary moods, split the nation, the empire collapsed, and the people were plunged into bloody civil strife. However, other countries participating in the war had to endure the most difficult trials. Modern politicians would do well to learn the lessons of the First World War. For example, to realize that petty nit-picking and big humiliations of national minorities do not lead to good.
* Why is the First World War more important for Europe than the Second World War?
* Why does Russia keep silent about some facts about the First World War?
* How did the First World War change the world community?
Natalia SEVIDOVA,
Olga KNYAZEVA.

disillusionment

- Kostya, why are you interested in the period of the First World War (WWII)?
“Because it has become an unprecedented example of a military conflict in the history of Europe and the world, in which people began to fight with weapons and tactics invented back in the 19th century. And by the end of the war in 1918, all types of weapons that we have today were already present on the battlefields, except for nuclear weapons. Poisonous substances, tanks, aviation, strategic bombing of cities - all this happened. London began to be bombed already in 1915, and they bombed in such a way that once a shell hit a school and killed 32 children. For ordinary people, it was a shock.
The Europeans were sure that a world of progress and social well-being awaits everyone. And they were one step away from this: in Germany by that time there were both insurance and old-age pensions. And then suddenly the war, and, it would seem, from scratch. World War I literally broke the Europeans. Many call it the suicide of European civilization.

By prior arrangement

- In the USSR, they wrote about the First World War in textbooks like this: it was an imperialist war, where the interests of large powers clashed. In your opinion, where were the roots of the conflict?
- The lesson and paradox of this war is that a group of people, and far from the first persons of the state, by prior agreement can plunge several countries into a military conflict. Yes, there were contradictions between the powers, but they always existed, and Europe somehow knew how to smooth them out. Two groups - Germany and Austria-Hungary against England, France and Russia - coexisted quite peacefully, although they could not always share something. Of all the heads of state, only Raymond Poincare, the President of France, was a supporter of the war. Everyone else was against it. Although England is more often blamed for starting the war. But it was precisely this decision that was most difficult for her, since the ministers who were in favor of the war were a minority in the cabinet.

They wanted to return the export, but lost the country

- Let me remind you about the crisis at the end of 1912, when Austria-Hungary was going to defeat Serbia. The Russian generals, under the impression of that covert mobilization, decided that we would do the same. And Russia announced a general mobilization, and this was then considered the beginning of hostilities. Thus, Russia launched a chain reaction.
While the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sazonov was negotiating with the Germans on the settlement of the military conflict, the generals carried out mobilization activities.
How did the Germans react to this? They were territorially squeezed between two potential adversaries: Russia and France. And they perfectly understood that if these countries mobilize faster than them, they lose the war. Therefore, the Germans had no choice but to declare war. All this happened from July 24 to August 1, 2014.
Moreover, Minister Sazonov was warned: do not give free rein to the military! And he pretended that he had nothing to do with it, that it was all the generals' fault! Although on the most critical day for his career - July 30, 1914, when Nicholas II first allowed and immediately banned mobilization - Sazonov first delayed the tsar's letter about the abolition of mobilization, and then nevertheless persuaded the emperor to take this fatal step.
- What explains such militancy of the tsar's entourage?
- By that time, Germany had practically ousted Russia from the bread markets of Europe. Sazonov and his assistants, generals of the General Staff, Minister of Agriculture Krivoshein advocated using military force to return the possibility of export to Russia.

For Latvians, World War I was national

- Are the losses of the First World War known?
- There are no exact figures. Statistics in Russia were kept poorly. They call from 900 thousand to two million dead Russians. In total, about nine million people died in WWI. If we compare these two wars, then the loss of people on the battlefield during the Second World War was about eight to nine million people, the remaining 15-20 million people are civilians who died in burned villages, from starvation, epidemics and bombings.
- For this reason, in Russia, the attitude to the Second World War is completely different than in Europe, where there are a lot of memorials and monuments about the WWII?
- Undoubtedly. During the Great Patriotic War, it was really about the survival of the country and the existence of the Russian people: the OST plan to consolidate the dominance of the Third Reich in Eastern Europe was known. And during the First World War, people no longer understood for the second year: what, in fact, are we fighting for? The Germans are not on Russian territory, that is, there is no obvious enemy. For the Latvians, this war was patriotic: when the front line passes through Latvia, and Kurzeme remains occupied by German territory, of course, you are eager to liberate them. And some Siberian shooter from Omsk had a completely different attitude, in front of whom comrades die every day, and tomorrow his turn will come. Very soon, the soldiers had a question: what is all this for?

Behind the front line - horned nonhumans

- At first, the military was told: we are helping our brother Serbs. For a while it worked. And in the third year of the war, any soldier began to think: is it really worth so many lives, or maybe it was possible to agree differently? The decomposition of the Russian army went faster, because in it many soldiers were illiterate. It was difficult to influence them with printed propaganda. In England, France and Germany, soldiers were convinced to the last that this was a righteous war in the name of civilization. The propaganda was terrible! In the July days of 1914, when the question of starting hostilities was being decided in England, there was a very broad anti-war movement. Industrialists, banks, professors, students - almost everyone was against it: they say, why should we fight the civilized country of Schiller and Goethe? And a year later, the British were successfully convinced that the Germans were almost new Huns, they were barbarians, that they raped Belgian girls, and then cut off their arms to the elbow. Mass hysteria began: they say, everything German needs to be removed from the streets. Even the dachshund was recognized as a German breed, which was called for to be taken to shelters. The British royal family was forced to change their surname from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor. In Russia it was no better. In May 1915, it came to German pogroms: the Germans broke down to withdraw, shops were smashed.
In order to keep the soldiers in the trenches, they were told that we were opposed by nonhumans with horns! But the Germans had helmets with horns. And the Germans were told that they were fighting homosexuals and degenerates, who had nothing sacred in their souls. The same propaganda methods are being used today.
— In Ukraine and in Russia?
- Yes, and nothing new came up! The enemy must be presented, on the one hand, as pitiful and insignificant, on the other, predatory and insidious.
Civilians were not spared
- And the methods of warfare were the same as during the Second World War?
- Almost the same, only the scale is smaller due to the limited technology. Shelling, chemical weapons, bombing of cities were used. The only difference was that the attitude of the prisoners was softer. But there were atrocities against civilians during WWI. Unless the Jewish question was so acute. In Belgium, for example, the Germans took hostages, and if suddenly the partisans killed a couple of German soldiers, they shot 20-30 well-known residents of the city in response.

Forgotten War

Why is the First World War so little talked about in Russia?
Her memory was erased by the Civil War. WWI mainly affected those who were drafted into the army, as well as their relatives. The civil war affected absolutely everyone. And there were many more victims. 20 million people who died during the Civil War on the battlefield and from hunger, epidemics - these were colossal losses. In addition, after WWI, a revolution followed and we began to build new world. And our attitude after this war was completely different. Europe after WWI was a pitiful sight. When people came to their senses in 1918, they clutched their heads: my God, what did we put a whole generation of our young people for?! For Europeans, losses in WWI are the same as for Russia, losses in the Great Patriotic War. The West received the same lost generation that Hemingway wrote about in his novels.
Good example. The British have a memorial day - July 1st. On this day they lay out poppies. This is the day the Battle of the Somme began. They went on the offensive and on the first day they lost 60 thousand people. These are the largest losses in one day in all wars that have ever been. In 1941, our daily losses did not reach this figure. There were only a couple of days in 1941 when we were just approaching this level. And all along the front. And they lost 60 thousand people at once on a small sector of the front. Therefore, for Europeans, WWI is certainly a more significant memorable date than the Second World War.

A bad peace is better than a good quarrel

Are wars like World War I unpredictable?
- In most cases, yes - they are unleashed by politicians who think this way: if I do not solve this problem with the help of war now, I will never solve it again. The Austrian-Hungarians decided that if they didn't deal with Serbia now, they wouldn't have that opportunity again. Russia has decided that if they don't get the Black Sea straits now to control grain exports, the window of opportunity will also close. The Straits were controlled by the Turks, who were heavily influenced by Germany. After a couple of years, the Russians realized that there were other methods to achieve these goals. And 20 years later, historians found out that the goals were false. If Austria-Hungary had waited, then it would have solved its problem with the Serbs without a war. Austria-Hungary was a dynamically developing country with a European bureaucracy, and Serbia was a small, corrupt Balkan state. And sooner or later, the Serbs would have made a choice in favor of a more prosperous life. Everyone understood this, except for the thugs and bawlers who organized anti-Serb movements. The same goes for Russia. For her, these straits would be incredibly profitable to get 20 years of peace, as Stolypin said.

World War I (1914 - 1918)

The Russian Empire collapsed. One of the goals of the war is solved.

Chamberlain

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

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

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

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

Another important point. Initially, a member of the "Triple Alliance" was Italy. But after the outbreak of the First World War, the Italians declared neutrality.

Causes of World War I

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

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

Cause to start a war

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

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

Important nuances of the reason for war

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

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

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

The role of England in starting the war

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

It must be clearly understood that one open statement by England that she will not allow war in Europe would be enough for neither Germany nor Russia to even think about anything of the kind. Naturally, under such conditions, Austria-Hungary would not have dared to attack Serbia. But England, with all her diplomacy, pushed the European countries to war.

Russia before the war

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

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

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

The balance of forces and means before and after the war

Artillery

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

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

Armament and military equipment

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

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

Number of people (infantry)

The number of fighting infantry (millions of people).

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

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

The course of the war

Military events of 1914

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

Russia entered World War I on August 1, 1914. Nikolai Nikolaevich Romanov (uncle of Nicholas 2) was appointed supreme commander.

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

History reference

German "Schlieffen Plan"

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

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

Northwestern front of Russia in 1914

Russia at the beginning of the war made a stupid thing that Germany could not calculate in any way. Nicholas 2 decided to enter the war without fully mobilizing the army. On August 4, Russian troops, under the command of Rennenkampf, launched an offensive in East Prussia (modern Kaliningrad). Samsonov's army was equipped to help her. Initially, the troops were successful, and Germany was forced to retreat. As a result, part of the forces of the Western Front was transferred to the Eastern. The result - Germany repelled the Russian offensive in East Prussia (the troops acted disorganized and lacked resources), but as a result, the Schlieffen plan failed, and France could not be captured. So, Russia saved Paris, though by defeating its 1st and 2nd armies. After that, a positional war began.

Southwestern Front of Russia

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

The main results of the military campaign of 1914

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

Map of military events in 1914-15

Military events of 1915

In 1915, Germany decided to shift the main blow to the eastern front, directing all its forces to the war with Russia, which was the weakest country of the Entente, according to the Germans. It was a strategic plan developed by the commander of the Eastern Front, General von Hindenburg. Russia managed to thwart this plan only at the cost of colossal losses, but at the same time, 1915 turned out to be simply terrible for the empire of Nicholas 2.

The situation on the northwestern front

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

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

Russia did not capitulate, but the countries of the "Triple Alliance" were convinced that Russia would not be able to recover from the losses it had received.

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

The situation on the southwestern front

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

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

It was not possible to withdraw Russia from the war, but the losses on this sector of the front were gigantic: 150,000 killed, 700,000 wounded, 900,000 prisoners and 4 million refugees.

The situation on the western front

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

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

Military events of 1916

"Verdun meat grinder"

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

Events on the southwestern front in 1916

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

This offensive of the Russian army was not without a fly in the ointment. They threw it, as usual, the allies. On August 27, 1916, Romania enters the First World War on the side of the Entente. Germany very quickly inflicted a defeat on her. As a result, Romania lost its army, and Russia received an additional 2,000 kilometers of front.

Events on the Caucasian and Northwestern fronts

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

Outcome of 1916 in World War I

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

Military and political events of 1917

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

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

End of the war for Russia

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

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

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

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

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

History reference

Events in the war in 1918

Germany got rid of the Eastern Front and the need to wage war in 2 directions. As a result, in the spring and summer of 1918, she attempted an offensive on the Western Front, but this offensive had no success. Moreover, in its course it became obvious that Germany was squeezing the maximum out of herself, and that she needed a break in the war.

Autumn 1918

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

End of World War I

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

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

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

Results of the First World War

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

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

Map of the First World War 1914-1918

Premiere of the eight-episode documentary film "The First World War" from the author's cycle Felix Razumovsky"WHO ARE WE?" will take place on September 11 at 20:40 on the Russia. Culture.

Felix Razumovsky told Pravmir about what the soldiers fought for in the First World War, whether the February coup of 1917 was a betrayal, and about many other things.

- In the new cycle, you are probably talking about the causes of the First World War. On this topic, you can often hear that we fought for no one knows what. And the soldiers did not know why they were sent to die.

“You know, I believe that this kind of talk contains a fair amount of slyness. Do you really think that the miraculous heroes, led by Suvorov in the Italian campaign, understood the intricacies European politics late eighteenth century? Of course not. However, they did not demand an explanation about the need to cross the Alps. The order of their beloved commander was enough for them.

When the First World War broke out more than a hundred years later, the situation was already different. Not a trace remained of the Russian optimism of the 18th century. Among the high command there was no national hero whom the army trusts and cherishes. Favorite commanders, of course, were, but in this case it's about something else. About figures of the scale of Suvorov, Kutuzov or Nakhimov.

The leaders of the Headquarters, and first of all, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich, are a person of very average abilities, who did not have the necessary military talents and spiritual qualities. Yes, at the beginning of the war, the Grand Duke was popular ... That's all. In order to send thousands of people to their deaths, this is clearly not enough.

I will say more, the Russian soldier has always poorly imagined the imperial tasks and needs. And here I do not see a big problem. Soldiers' loyalty - that's what kept a huge country. However, the First World War revealed an obvious decline in the soldier's spirit. And not only soldiers. And that's why, in the end, we didn't make it.

An amazing situation arose, unprecedented in history: on the threshold of victory, we refused to fight, betrayed ourselves, our Fatherland. For us, the First World War is not a forgotten, but a devoted war. And since it is unpleasant to remember this betrayal and betrayal, we talk a lot about the senselessness of that war, about the absence of clear goals, about the fact that the people did not understand why such sacrifices were required of them. However, the war was very, very difficult, including psychologically difficult, it's true.

–The war that was the harbinger of the revolution, the collapse of Russia?

- This war for Russia ended in a national catastrophe, the nation committed suicide. Although we had everything we needed to defeat the enemy. As once in 1812, Russia had to cast aside all internal strife. And unite, at least from the instinct of self-preservation. Alas, this did not happen. The country began to rapidly split, internally divided - into military and politicians, soldiers and generals, into government and society, into "white" and "black" bones.

The predisposition to such a collapse has been around for a long time. Tolstoy in "War and Peace" did not accidentally depict the scene of a peasant revolt in the village of Bogucharovo, in the estate of the princes Bolkonsky. It was an important sign of that wartime. The invasion of Napoleon, the "thunderstorm of 1812" shook the usual order of Russian life. And in this life, both strengths and weaknesses immediately showed themselves. “Bonaparte will come, he will give us freedom, but we don’t want to know the masters anymore,” such words could be heard from the peasants near Moscow. And not only Moscow region.

But this is not class enmity, despite serfdom. This is something more serious: it is a cultural split. The traditional village that gives soldiers and the Europeanized manor that gives officers are both spoken different languages. A hundred years later, during the First World War, this split will lead to the collapse of the Russian army and the death of historical Russia.

–But after all, from the countries of the Entente, it seems that no one suffered so much, before self-destruction, like Russia ...

- This is an important topic. The fate of Russia, its position and role in the First World War is unique. Maybe it's not quite obvious. As you know, as a result of the war, three more empires collapsed. But as soon as we wanted to destroy ourselves “to the ground”: both the political regime and the very foundations of national existence, that is, the entire Russian world, which was built up over centuries.

Various forces pushed the country to this catastrophe, but the Bolsheviks surpassed everyone with their recklessness and cynicism. They staked on national treason, on the destruction of the country. And they won. The call to "turn the imperialist war into a civil war" (Lenin) is incitement to treason.

So, the calculation turned out to be correct, despite the fact that Lenin's understanding and vision of the First World War is nothing more than a crude and primitive simplification. The creator of the new type of party labeled the war "imperialist". Allegedly, this is only a struggle of interests, a struggle for markets, spheres of influence, and so on. Russia does not fit into this picture at all.

Our goal cannot be the assertion of national exclusivity and pride. We have enough of our own historical illnesses and ailments, why should we ascribe to ourselves strangers. It is in Germany that militant Germanism, a kind of European nationalism, triumphs. And here you can only find something opposite - the diverse manifestations of Russian nihilism. But first of all, of course, the Troubles, the collapse and self-destruction of Russian life. The war, which demanded the utmost exertion of forces from Russia, again opened the way for the Time of Troubles.

The films of the new cycle show what actions of the authorities and society contributed to the growth of the Time of Troubles. For example, it was impossible to drive a wave of Germanophobia in a country where many Germans lived. Where they traditionally served in the Russian army. Sounding everywhere and everywhere accusations against the Germans, idle talk about "hostile subjects" caused enormous damage to the army. And they provoked a German pogrom in Moscow in the summer of 1915.

- How do you assess the behavior of those senior military officials of the Russian army who participated in the coup d'état in February-March 1917. At a time when the country was at war?

- By the beginning of the 17th year, the Time of Troubles is decomposing not only the mass of soldiers, but also to a large extent the generals. In March 1917, the army, represented by its high command, would support the abdication of Nicholas II. As is known, only two generals will send telegrams to Headquarters containing a different attitude to events. Only two generals will want to support the monarchy. The rest will frivolously rejoice at the change of power.

In fact, there will be no new government, anarchy will begin. “With the fall of the tsar, the very idea of ​​power fell,” and without this idea, both the state and the army inevitably collapse. A soldier who has renounced his oath, loyalty, duty is simply a "man with a gun." It is completely pointless in this case to discuss whether Nicholas II was good or bad. It was impossible to save the Russian army after his abdication.

All that comes after is agony. The army will be overwhelmed by revolution, democratization, soldiers' councils and committees will appear in the military units, and the killing of officers and desertion will become an ordinary phenomenon.

It is impossible not to notice that the Great War for the first time in Russian history did not leave a pantheon of national heroes. And it's not just about the Bolsheviks, believe me. Well, who do we remember today, who can we put on a par with the names of Kutuzov, Nakhimov, Skobelev? There is nothing to say about Rumyantsev and Suvorov. There are no such names in the history of the First World War. There were victories and exploits. There was a heroic defense of the Osovets fortress, there were victories in Galicia. And the national memory is silent. And that means ... It means that the nation as such then no longer existed.

It has been 100 years since the start of the First World War. But we have not fully comprehended it, we have not studied it. What does it mean for us?

– How could we comprehend the First World War if it was erased from historical memory? The Bolsheviks at one time did not want to remember this war, because they participated and took advantage of national betrayal, treason. The destruction of the state and the army during the war is precisely treason, there can be no two opinions. The Bolsheviks always remembered this and did everything possible to bring the First World into oblivion.

However, this is actually only half the truth. Because we ourselves also did not really want to remember that war. In a certain sense, this is natural; a person prefers to turn to unpleasant and even more shameful pages of his life as rarely as possible. The nation does the same. In a word, we did not begin to learn the bitter lessons of the First World War. And therefore we still cannot deal with the issue of historical continuity.

What kind of Russia are we inheriting: historical or Soviet? There is still no clear answer. Our sitting on two chairs continues. This "resonates" with us, in particular, the lack of political will, the inability to determine the vector of one's development. Build a memory policy. It is impossible to talk about national revival without understanding the phenomenon of the 17th year.

The persistence of the Soviet myth about the Great October Revolution is a consequence of the oblivion of the First World War. The same applies to the Civil War (more precisely, the Troubles), which began precisely before the October 17th coup and in many ways prepared it. And this greatest tragedy of ours remained unresolved. Many years have passed, but still we do not know how to restore the unity of the Russian world, the unity of Russia, destroyed by the civil war.

–In eight episodes of the film fit the entire history of the First World War?

– These series are part of a large historical project. The films that will be shown this season cover the first year of the war. The first film is called "On the Threshold of War" and is dedicated to its prehistory. And we end with the events of the autumn of 1915, when we managed to stabilize the front after the Great Retreat.

It is worth noting in passing that we then retreated not to Moscow and not even to Smolensk. This, among other things, speaks of the strength and stamina of Russian soldiers. Our almost unarmed army, deprived of shells, did not run, but gradually retreated deep into the country in perfect order.

Probably, the consequences of the "shell hunger" could not have been so tragic if not for the Headquarters and its mediocre actions. It was impossible to endure this longer, and in August 1915, Nicholas II dismissed the supreme commander in chief, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich. The sovereign himself takes command of the army and heads the Headquarters. This ends the first stage of the war and the first 8-episode block of our cycle.