World War I

World War I
date	July 28, 1914  - November 11, 1918 (4 years, 3 months and 2 weeks)
A place	Europe , the Middle East , Africa , briefly in China and the Pacific
Cause	Imperialism politics ; Mutual territorial and economic claims of states; Changing the balance of power ; The growth of militarization ( More info ... )
Summary	Entente victory : Versailles , Saint-Germain , Neyisky , Trianon , Sevres peace treaties; February , October revolution and the beginning of the civil war in Russia; November revolution in Germany
Changes	The collapse of the Russian , German , Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires
Opponents
Entente and its allies: Serbia Russian Empire (until 1917) Russian Republic (1917) RSFSR (1917-1918) Russian State (1918) France United Kingdom       and dominions:[show] •   •   •   •   •   Other participants:[show] • ( 1916) •   ( 1917) •   •   ( 1915) •   • (1916—1918, 1918) • ( 1917) •   ( 1916) •   ( 1917) • ( 1917) •   ( 1917) •  - • • ( 1916) . Central Powers :  Austria-Hungary  German Empire  Ottoman Empire  Bulgaria (since 1915) Allies and satellites:[show] •  -[1][2] • ( 1916)[3][4] • • [5] • • (1916) • (1916) • ( 1916) • (1917—1918) • (1918) •   (1918) •   (1918) • (1918) • (1918) • (1918) •   (1918) •   (1918) • (1918) •   (1918) • (1918) • (1918) • (1918) • (1918) • (1918)
Commanders
Raymond Poincare Georges Clemenceau Full list[show] ’  † Nikolay II  † Nikolay Nikolayevich Junior Mikhail Alekseev Alexey Brusilov Pavel Rennenkampf Alexander Samsonov † Nikolay Ivanov Alexey Evert Nikolay Ruzsky Nikolay Yudenich Georg V Henry Asquith George Lloyd George   Full list[show]  †  † Peter I Karadjordjevic Prince Regent Alexander Radomir Putnik † Zivojin Misic Stepan Stepanovich Petar Bojovic Pavle Jurišić Šturm Albert I Nikola I Janko Vukotic Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Prince Luigi Ferdinand I Constantine Prezan Alexandru Averescu Woodrow Wilson, John J. Pershing Panagiotis Danglis Okuma Shigenobu Terauti Masatake Lee Yuanhong Duan Qizhui Feng Guojang Wachirawood Hussein Camille   Franz Joseph I  † Karl I Franz Konrad von Hottsendorf Arts et background Shtraussenburg Wilhelm II Helmut Moltke Junior † Erich von Falkenhayn Paul von Gindenburg August von Mackensen Reinhard Scheer Maximilian von Spee † Crown Prince Rupprecht Mehmet V † Mehmet VI Enver pacha Ferdinand I Vladimir Vasa Nikolaus Zhekov Georg Stoyanov-Todorov
Forces of the parties
Mobilized throughout the war: 12 million people. 8.84 million people 8.66 million people 5.61 million people 4.74 million people 1.234 million people 800 thousand people 708 thousand people 380 thousand people 250 thousand people 50 thousand people Total: 43.277 million people Mobilized throughout the war: 13.25 million people. 7.8 million people 3 million people 1.2 million people Total: 25.25 million
Losses
Military casualties: 5,953,372 dead, 9,723,991 injured, 4,000,676 missing [6] Civilian casualties: 734,550 killed as a result of hostilities, 7,245,760 dead for other reasons Military casualties: 4,043,397 dead, 8,465,286 injured, 3,470,138 missing [6] Civilian casualties: 227,500 killed as a result of hostilities, 3,232,500 died for other reasons
Total losses
18 429 633 dead and missing as a result of hostilities

The First World War ( July 28, 1914  - November 11, 1918 ) is one of the most widespread wars in the history of mankind .

The formal reason for the war was the events in Sarajevo , where on June 28, 1914, the nineteen-year-old Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip , a member of the terrorist group , carried out an assassination attempt, which resulted in the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand , heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his morganatic wife Sofia Hotek .

The countries participating in the First World War were divided into two warring camps:

• Central powers : German , Austro-Hungarian , Ottoman empires and the Bulgarian kingdom ;
• Entente : Russian Empire , British Empire , French Republic .

In total, during the war years, more than 70 million people were mobilized in the army of the warring countries, including 60 million in Europe, of which 9 to 10 million died. The number of civilian casualties, according to various estimates, is in the range from 7 to 12 million people, of which about 1 million died as a result of hostilities ^{[7] [8]} ; about 55 million people were injured ^[9] . The war served as a prologue and detonator of a number of major revolutions, including the February and October 1917 in Russia, and the November 1918 in Germany ^[10] . As a result of the war, four empires ceased to exist :Russian , Austro-Hungarian , Ottoman and German .

Members

Timeline of the declaration of war

date	Who announced	To whom announced
1914
July 28th	Austria-Hungary	Serbia
August 1	Germany	Russia
August 3rd	Germany	France
August 4	Germany	Belgium
	Britannia	Germany
5th of August	Montenegro	Austria-Hungary
August 6th	Austria-Hungary	Russia
	Serbia	Germany
August 9th	Montenegro	Germany
11th August	France	Austria-Hungary
12th of August	Britannia	Austria-Hungary
August 22	Austria-Hungary	Belgium
August 23	Japan	Germany
25-th of August	Japan	Austria-Hungary
Nov. 1	Russia	Ottoman Empire
November 2	Serbia	Ottoman Empire
the 3rd of November	Montenegro	Ottoman Empire
November 5	Britain France	Ottoman Empire
1915
May, 23rd	Italy	Austria-Hungary
June 3rd	San marino	Austria-Hungary
August 21	Italy	Ottoman Empire
October 14	Bulgaria	Serbia
October 15th	Britain Montenegro	Bulgaria
October 16th	France	Bulgaria
October 19th	Italy Russia	Bulgaria
1916
9th of March	Germany	Portugal
March 15th	Austria-Hungary	Portugal
August 27	Romania	Austria-Hungary
	Italy	Germany
August 28	Germany	Romania
August 30th	Ottoman Empire	Romania
September 1	Bulgaria	Romania
1917
April 6th	USA	Germany
April 7th	Cuba	Germany
April 10th	Bulgaria	USA
April 13th	Bolivia	Germany
20 April	Ottoman Empire	USA
July 2	Greece	Germany Austria-Hungary Ottoman Empire Bulgaria
July 22	Siam	Germany Austria-Hungary
August 4	Liberia	Germany
August 14	China	Germany Austria-Hungary
October 6th	Peru	Germany
October 7th	Uruguay	Germany
October 26th	Brazil	Germany
December 7th	USA	Austria-Hungary
December 7th	Ecuador	Germany
December 10th	Panama	Austria-Hungary
December 16th	Cuba	Austria-Hungary
1918
April 23	Guatemala	Germany
May 8th	Nicaragua	Germany Austria-Hungary
May, 23rd	Costa Rica	Germany
July, 12	Haiti	Germany
July 19	Honduras	Germany
10th of November	Romania	Germany

• Recordings on a yellow background indicate a break in diplomatic relations , but not a declaration of war.

Background to the conflict

Military Alliances in Europe in 1914

The contradictions between the great powers - Germany on the one hand and France , Great Britain , Russia on the other began to grow long before the outbreak of war.

Transforming the North German Union into a single German empire after the victory in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871 , Chancellor Bismarck declared that his state had no aspirations for political and economic domination in Europe.

A strong Germany wants to be left alone and allowed to develop in the world, for which it must have a strong army, since no one dares to attack someone who has a sword in a scabbard ... All states, except France, need us and how much it is possible they will refrain from creating coalitions against us as a result of rivalry with each other ^[11] .

Having strengthened by the mid-1880s in the economic and military sense, Germany changed its foreign policy priorities. The country not only joined the struggle for hegemony in Europe, but also headed for world expansion. Since Germany was “late” to the colonial division of the world, its capital was denied access to overseas markets monopolized by the old colonial powers. To justify the need for a new redivision of the world in favor of Germany and German capital, statements were put into circulation about the lack of living space and the impending food shortage for the growing population of Germany.

Since this rhetoric implied that in order to solve these problems Germany needed to defeat France, Russia and England, as powers that had previously divided the rest of the world, they began to prepare to reflect the aggressive plans of the German leadership. In 1891, Russia and France entered into a military alliance under the name "Cardiac Consent" (French Entente Cordiale - Entente) . England officially joined the Entente in 1907.

In turn, Kaiser William II in his memoirs claims that in fact the Entente bloc took shape as far back as 1897, after the signing of a tripartite agreement between England, America and France, known as the "Gentlemen's Agreement" ^[12] . It provided for the conquest of the Spanish colonies for England, France and America, control of Mexico and Central America, the use of China, as well as the capture of coal stations. Since this was a year before Germany announced its large naval program (1898), the union was not concluded to fight “pan-Germanism”, but to implement its own plans for Britain and France to destroy Germany and Austria as competitors, 17 years before World War ^[12] .

For its part, Austria-Hungary remained a constant hotbed of instability in Europe . This multinational empire strove to keep Bosnia and Herzegovina received by it by the decision of the Berlin Congress and annexed in 1908 (see Bosnian Crisis ). At the same time, she opposed Russia, which took on the role of protector of all Slavs in the Balkans. For its part , Serbia , an ally of Russia , also claimed the role of a unifying center for the southern Slavs .

In the Middle East , the interests of almost all powers clashed, striving to catch the partition of the weakened Ottoman Empire . In particular, Russia laid claim to territories adjacent to the Bosporus and Dardanelles , and also sought to control Anatolia , where more than 1 million Christian Armenians lived , which would give Russia land access to the Middle East.

In February 1914, the Russian Council of Ministers held a meeting to discuss the prospects for the conquest of Constantinople and the straits, and concluded that the most favorable opportunity would arise in the context of the pan-European war. In April 1914, Nicholas II approved the recommendations of his cabinet and instructed the government to take all necessary measures in order to capture Constantinople and the Straits as soon as possible ^[13] .

By 1914, two blocs took shape, the confrontation of which laid the global foundation for the world war:

• Entente Block : Russian Empire , Great Britain , France . It took shape in 1907 after the conclusion of the Russian-French , Anglo-French and Anglo-Russian union treaties.
• Block Triple Alliance : Germany , Austria-Hungary , Italy .

In the course of the war, the Triple Alliance fell apart: in 1915, Italy entered the war on the side of the Entente. After Turkey and Bulgaria joined Germany and Austria-Hungary , the Fourth Union , or block of the Central Powers , formed in its place .

Among other causes of the war, various sources refer to a change in the balance of power , territorial claims and the allied obligations of the European powers, economic imperialism , trade barriers, militarism , autocracy , and also recall previous local conflicts ( Balkan Wars , Italo-Turkish War ) ^[14] :

Everyone seeks and does not find the reason why the war began. Their searches are in vain; they will not find this reason. The war did not begin for one reason, the war began for all reasons at once.

- Thomas Woodrow Wilson

V.I. Lenin wrote in the autumn of 1914 in the article “The War and Russian Social Democracy” ^[15] , which in fact was the Manifesto of the RSDLP (b) in relation to the war, at the very beginning ^[16] :

The German bourgeoisie, spreading tales of a defensive war on her part, actually chose the most convenient moment, from her point of view, for the war, using its latest improvements in military equipment and preventing new weapons already outlined and predetermined by Russia and France.

- V.I. Lenin

It is noteworthy that the closest blood relatives - cousins ​​and grandchildren of Queen Victoria Wilhelm II and George V and their son-in-law, cousin of George V, Nicholas II , married another granddaughter, entered the war who did not manage and did not want to agree on a family instead of a bloody massacre Queen Victoria , while George V and William II were not saved from the death of Nicholas II and his family ^[17] .

Sarajevo assassination attempt, July crisis

Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophia Hotek

On June 28, 1914, a nineteen-year-old student, a Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip , killed the Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo , who came to get acquainted with the newly acquired territories (annexed by Bosnia and Herzegovina), together with his wife Czech Sophia Hotek .

Franz Ferdinand was the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary , was a Slavophile and advocated the creation under the auspices of the Habsburg federation of Austrian, Hungarian and Slavic lands, instead of the existing Austro-Hungarian federation. For its part, Gavrilo Princip was a member of the organization “ Mlada Bosna ” (“Young Bosnia”), which was created in 1912 on the model of the Italian revolutionary underground organization “ Young Italy ” and proclaimed the struggle to unite all South Slavic peoples into one state - Greater Serbia .

On July 5, Germany publicly promised support for Austria-Hungary in the event of a conflict with Serbia, which was perceived as the intention of the ruling circles of these countries to use the Sarajevo assassination as an excuse for starting a European war.

On July 23, Austria-Hungary accused Serbia of allegedly standing behind the assassination of Franz Ferdinand , and announced an ultimatum to her. In the ultimatum, Serbia was required, including: to purge the state apparatus and army from officers and officials noticed in anti-Austrian propaganda; arrest suspected terrorists. In violation of the sovereignty of Serbia, it was demanded that it allow the Austro-Hungarian police to create permanent structures with unlimited personnel to conduct investigations on the Serbian territory and punish those responsible for any anti-Austrian actions. Only 48 hours were given to execute the ultimatum.

On the same day, Serbia agreed with almost all of these requirements, including with the deployment of Austrian security forces in Serbia on an ongoing basis to investigate anti-Austrian actions that may be in the future, but did not agree with the admission of Austrian investigators to investigate the murder in Sarajevo, and announced mobilization.

July 26, Austria-Hungary announced mobilization and began to concentrate troops on the border with Serbia and Russia.

Austrian cartoon "Serbia must perish"

Nicholas II announces the beginning of the war with Germany from the balcony of the Winter Palace

On July 28, Austria-Hungary, declaring that the requirements of the ultimatum were not fulfilled, declared war on Serbia. Austro-Hungarian heavy artillery began shelling Belgrade, and regular troops of Austria-Hungary crossed the Serbian border. Russia said it would not allow the occupation of Serbia. In the French army, holidays were terminated.

On July 29, Nicholas II sent a telegram to William II with a proposal “ to refer the Austro-Serbian question to the Hague Conference ” ^[18] (to the International Court of Arbitration in The Hague) ^[19] . William II did not respond to this telegram ^{[20] [21] [22] [23]} .

On July 29, vacations were canceled in the German army.

On July 30, partial mobilization began in France.

July 31 in the Russian Empire declared general mobilization in the army.

On the same day, a "threatening war" was declared in Germany. Germany presents Russia with an ultimatum: stop conscription, or Germany declares war on Russia. France, Austria-Hungary and Germany announce a general mobilization. Germany draws troops to the Belgian and French borders.

Moreover, on the morning of August 1, British Foreign Minister Edward Gray promised the German ambassador in London that in the event of a war between Germany and Russia, England would remain neutral, provided that France would not be attacked ^[24] . Three days earlier, when the Kaiser on July 28 promised England not to seize French territories in the event of its neutrality, Gray rejected this “shameful proposal” in the House of Commons on July 30 ^[24] . Thus, the inconsistent position of the Minister of Foreign Affairs showed that the British cabinet did not have a definite decision on July 28 - August 1.

The outbreak of World War I

Despite the fact that, according to German military plans, France was considered the main enemy and the main blow was to be delivered against it (see the Schlieffen Plan ), Germany declared Russia to be the first war, although from a purely military point of view it was beneficial to delay the clash with her as long as possible . The reason for this decision was the desire of the German authorities to provide a unanimous vote in parliament (Reichstag) regarding the outbreak of war, the main problem in this case was the Social Democrats faction. The latter approved the entry of Germany into the war, arguing with a reference to the opinion of K. Marx and F. Engels in their time about waging a “revolutionary” war against “Russian despotism” ^[25] . Almost unanimous approval of Germany’s entry into the war was provided.On August 1, Germany declared war on Russia, on the same day the Germans invaded Luxembourg . On August 2, German troops finally occupied Luxembourg , and Belgium issued an ultimatum on the passage of German armies to the border with France. Only 12 hours were given for reflection.

On August 3, Germany declared war on France, accusing her of "organized attacks and aerial bombardments of Germany" and "of violating Belgian neutrality."

On August 3, Belgium refused a German ultimatum. On August 4, German troops invaded Belgium. The King of Belgium, Albert I, appealed for help to the guarantor countries of Belgian neutrality. London sent an ultimatum to Berlin: stop the invasion of Belgium, or England would declare war on Germany. It is precisely with this requirement that the phrase “scrap of paper” entered into history, as the German Reich Chancellor (1909-1917), Theobald Betmap-Holweg, in an interview with the British ambassador Eduard Goshen called the international treaty guaranteeing the neutrality of Belgium. The response from the English ambassador was the words that “on this paper is the signature of England” ^{[26] [27] [28] [29]}. After the expiration of the ultimatum, Britain declared war on Germany and sent troops to help France. On August 6, Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia.

The state of the armed forces at the start of the war

On the eve of World War I, France had the largest army in Europe (including colonial troops) - 882 907 people. This was facilitated by the law of August 7, 1913, which increased the service life from 2 to 3 years and reduced the draft age from 21 years to 20 years. The German army was almost the same in number - 808,280 people ^[30] .

Since the end of the 1890s, there was a confrontation between the "flotophiles" and supporters of building up the army in the German military circles. An ambitious program was underway to create a navy of equal English power, and in order to ensure financial stability, the government was forced to restrain the growth of the land army. This, in turn, caused dissatisfaction with a significant part of the military, which was manifested in discussions around the military budget of 1912 and 1913. Supporters of an increase in the military budget launched a powerful propaganda campaign, and in the end, the 1913 budget already largely corresponded to the requirements of supporters of the buildup of land weapons.

Fleet

For the Russian fleet, German shipyards (including Blohm & Voss) built, but did not have time to complete before the start of the war, 6 destroyers, according to the project of the subsequently famous Novik , built at the Putilov factory and armed with weapons manufactured at the Obukhov factory .

Aviation

The total financial costs of military aviation in 1913 amounted to:

• in Germany - 150 thousand rubles. (322 thousand marks ^[31] )
• in France - 2.26 million rubles. (6 million francs ^[31] )
• in Russia - about 1 million rubles.

The greatest importance was attached to aviation in France, which provided for regular air attacks on the territory of Alsace-Lorraine , Rhineland and the Bavarian Palatinate .

Shortly before the start of the war, the Imperial Russian Air Force received the world's first four-engine aircraft, Ilya Muromets , which was destined to become the first strategic bomber .

Germany's air fleet was numerous but outdated. The main aircraft of the German Air Force was a Taube monoplane . During the mobilization, a significant number of civilian and postal aircraft were also requisitioned. In a separate branch of the army, aviation was allocated in 1916; before that, it was attached to the transport troops . By the beginning of the war, 25 zeppelins were built , 17 of which became part of the Air Force and Navy. In 1913, the rigid Schütte-Lanz airship was adopted . For military purposes, semi-rigid and then soft Parseval airships were also used .

Artillery

Since 1865, the GAU and the Obukhov plant collaborated with the Krupp company. Like other German companies, Krupp sent its latest weapons to Russia for testing. Such contacts continued until the outbreak of the war, even despite the Russo-French alliance. However, under Nicholas II, preference was given to French guns. Thus, the artillery with which Russia entered the war took into account the experience of two leading world manufacturers of these weapons. For small and medium calibers, the ratio was 1 barrel per 786 soldiers in Russia versus 1 barrel per 476 soldiers in Germany. In heavy artillery, the lag was more significant: 1 barrel for 22,241 soldiers in Russia versus 1 barrel for 2798 soldiers in Germany. Finally, by 1914, the German army was already in servicemortars , which the Russian army did not yet have at all ^[32] .

Weapon

The rifle was considered the main means of defeating the enemy at the beginning of the 20th century : in the Boer , Russo-Japanese and Balkan wars, rifle fire caused 70 to 85% ^{[33] of} losses on the battlefield. The armies of the armies consisted of 6.5–8 mm caliber rifles with a scope marked for firing at a range of up to 2000–2400 m and a magazine with 3 rounds ( Berthier rifle ), 5 or 10 ( Lee-Anfield ) rounds ^[34] .

The machine gun teams of the infantry regiments were armed with 6-8 easel machine guns at the rate of 2 per battalion . So, according to the state of May 6, 1910, the Russian infantry regiment of the 4- battalion (16- company ) composition had a machine gun command for 8 Maxim machine guns ; in the German and French armies, regiments of the 3-battalion (12-company) composition had 6 machine guns ^[35] .

The main means of conducting close combat were revolvers . In smaller quantities there were also self - loading pistols with a single-row small-capacity magazine, which appeared after the invention of smokeless gunpowder .

Unexpectedly, in hand-to-hand battles of the trench warfare (especially on the Western Front), melee weapons became widespread in the form of seemingly long-forgotten murder weapons such as clubs, axes, daggers, pointed combat blades (their use was so widespread that it was reflected in literature , for example, in the works of E. M. Remarque) ^[36] .

1914 Campaign

The war in 1914 unfolded in two main theaters of operations  - French and Russian, as well as in the Balkans (in Serbia), the Caucasus and the Middle East (from November 1914), in the colonies of European states - in Africa , China , Oceania . In 1914, all participants in the war were going to end the war in a few months by a decisive offensive. But no one expected the war to become protracted.

The course of hostilities

Western Front

Strategic plans of the parties to the outbreak of war. Germany at the beginning of the war was guided by a rather old military doctrine  - Schlieffen’s plan , which provided for the instant defeat of France , before the “sluggish” Russia could mobilize and push its army to the borders . The attack was envisaged through the territory of Belgium (in order to bypass the main French forces), it was originally intended to take Paris in 39 days. In a nutshell, the essence of the plan was stated by William II : “We will have lunch in Paris and dinner in St. Petersburg ”. In 1906, the plan was modified (under the leadership of the Chief of the German General Staff, General Moltke Jr.) and acquired a not so categorical character - a significant part of the troops was still supposed to be left on the Eastern Front, the attack should have been through Belgium, but without affecting neutral Holland .

The military doctrine of France (the so-called Plan-17 ) ordered the war to begin with the liberation of Alsace and Lorraine , torn away from France in 1871 after the defeat in the Franco-Prussian war . According to the French, the place where the main forces of the German army were concentrated was Alsace .

Belgian armored car "Sava". 1914

The invasion of the German army in Belgium. On the morning of August 4, Germany crossed the border of Belgium without declaring war. As von Moltke, Jr., Chief of the General Staff of Germany later explained, declaring war was “undesirable” in view of the hope that the Belgian leadership “will become clear on the essence of the events” ^[37] . Possessing 10-fold superiority, German troops broke into the defenses and moved inland, possibly avoiding or blocking well-fortified Belgian fortresses. Liege fortress fell on August 16 , and on August 20 the Germans took Brussels , on the same day coming into contact with the Anglo-French forces. Later, on August 25, the besieged Namur fell . Belgian government fled toLe Havre . King Albert I, with the last remaining combat-ready units, continued to defend the national stronghold of Antwerp , but he also fell on October 9 .

Despite the surprise factor, the German invasion of Belgium did not take France by surprise, and the French troops were deployed in the direction of the breakthrough faster than anticipated by the Schlieffen plan .

Actions in Alsace and Lorraine. On August 7, France invaded German territory in Alsace , where during the Lorraine operation they succeeded in capturing Saarbrücken and taking Mühlhausen from battle . Unable to resist German counterattacks in Alsace and Lorraine, by the end of August the French army retreated to its former positions and even left a small part of its territory to the enemy.

The border battle of August 21-25 began after the Anglo-French and German troops entered into contact on August 20 near the Franco-Belgian border. Not expecting the start of the war that Germany would deliver the main blow through Belgium, France concentrated its main forces on the border with Alsace, from where, with the beginning of the German offensive, it was necessary to urgently transfer army units in the direction of the German breakthrough. By the time of contact with the enemy, the allied forces remained dispersed, and therefore the French and British had to accept the battle by three separate unconnected groups. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was located in Belgium, at Mons ; southeast, near Charleroistood the 5th French army. In the Ardennes, approximately on the border of France with Belgium and Luxembourg, the 3rd and 4th French armies were stationed. All three groups of Anglo-French troops in the Border Battle suffered a heavy defeat (see Battle of Mons , Battle of Charleroi , Ardennes operation (1914) ), losing about 250 thousand people. The Germans from the north invaded France on a wide front, delivering the main blow to the west, bypassing Paris , thus taking the French army into giant mites .

The German armies swiftly advanced. The English units retreated to the coast. The French command, no longer hoping to keep Paris, was preparing to surrender the capital and withdraw all troops beyond the river. Hay. On September 2, the French government fled to Bordeaux . The defense of the city was led by General Gallieni . The unsuccessful August actions of the French army forced its commander, General Joffre, to immediately replace a large number (up to 30% of the total) of poor generals; the renewal and rejuvenation of the French general was subsequently evaluated extremely positively.

Expeditionary Force of the Russian Army in France , Champagne , 1916 . The head of the 1st brigade, General Lokhvitsky, with Russian and French officers bypasses the position

Battle of the Marne ("Miracle on the Marne"). The German army did not have enough strength to complete the operation to bypass Paris and encircle the French army. The troops, having gone hundreds of kilometers with battles, were exhausted, communications were stretched out, there was nothing to cover the flanks and arising gaps, there were no reserves, maneuvers had to be carried out in the same units, driving them back and forth, so the Headquarters agreed with the commander’s proposal: bypassing the maneuver 1 von Kluck’s army to shorten the front of the offensive and not make deep coverage of the French army bypassing Paris, but to turn east north of the French capital and strike the rear of the main forces of the French army.

Turning east north of Paris, the Germans substituted their right flank and rear under the blow of the French group, concentrated for the defense of Paris. There was nothing to cover the right flank and rear: 2 corps and an equestrian division, originally intended to strengthen the advancing group, were sent to East Prussia to help the defeated 8th German army . Nevertheless, the German command went on a fatal maneuver for itself: it turned its troops east, not reaching Paris, hoping for the passivity of the enemy. The French command did not fail to seize the opportunity and struck the naked flank and rear of the German army. The First Battle of the Marne Beginsin which the Allies managed to turn the tide of hostilities in their favor and push the German troops at the front from Verdun to Amiens 50–100 kilometers back. The battle on the Marne was intense, but not long - the main battle began on September 5, the defeat of the German army became obvious on September 9, and the withdrawal of the German army to the border along the rivers En and Vel was completed by September 12–13. The withdrawal order was met with complete misunderstanding. As a result, for the first time during the hostilities in the German army, the mood of disappointment and depression was spread ^[37] .

The battle of the Marne was of great moral importance to all parties. For the French, it was the first victory over the Germans, overcoming the shame of defeat in the Franco-Prussian war . After the Battle of Marne, the capitulation sentiment in France markedly declined. The British realized the insufficient combat power of their troops and subsequently headed for an increase in their armed forces in Europe and an increase in their combat training. German plans for the quick defeat of France failed; Moltke , who headed the Field General Staff , was replaced by Falkengine . Geoffreon the contrary, gained great authority in France. The battle on the Marne was a turning point in the war in the French theater of operations, after which the continuous retreat of the Anglo-French forces ceased, the front stabilized, and the forces of the opponents nearly equalized.

"Running to the Sea." Battles in Flanders. The battle on the Marne turned into the so-called " Run to the Sea " - moving, both armies tried to surround each other from the flank, which led only to the fact that the front line closed, resting on the shore of the North Sea . The actions of the armies in this flat, populated, saturated with roads and railways area were extremely mobile; as soon as one clash ended with stabilization of the front, both sides quickly moved their troops north, towards the sea, and the battle resumed at the next stage. At the first stage (second half of September), the battles went along the borders of the Oise and Somme rivers , then, at the second stage (September 29 - October 9), the battles went along the Scarpa River (battle of Arras ); at the third stage, battles took place near Lille (October 10–15), on the Isere River (October 18–20), and at Ypres (October 30 – November 15). On October 9, the last center of resistance of the Belgian army fell - Antwerp , and the battered Belgian units joined the Anglo-French, occupying the extreme northern position at the front.

By November 15, the entire space between Paris and the North Sea was densely filled with troops of both sides, the front was stabilized, the offensive potential of the Germans was exhausted, both sides switched to a positional struggle . An important success of the Entente can be considered that it managed to hold on to the ports most convenient for maritime communication with England (primarily Calais ). On the other hand, an important success for Germany was the possession of a part of the Belgian coast and the port of Antwerp. Thereafter, submarine fleet bases were created for waging war at sea. Already in March 1915, a stronghold for submarines began to function in Seebrugge (the coast of Belgium) ^[38] .

The positions of the parties by the end of 1914. By the end of 1914, Belgium was almost completely conquered by Germany.

The front began on the coast near Ostend and went directly south to Ypres. Thus, only the small western part of Flanders with the city of Ypres remained behind the Entente . Lille was given to the Germans. Then the front went through Arras to Noyon (for the Germans), turned east to Lana (for the French), then south to Soissons (for the French). Here, the front came closest to Paris (about 70 km) and from here through Reims (behind the French) went towards the East and passed to the Verdun fortified area. The territory lost by the French had the shape of a spindle extending along the front 380-400 km, depth at the widest point 100-130 km from the pre-war border of France towards Paris. After that, in the Nancy area, the zone of active military operations of 1914 ended , the front further generally went along the border of France and Germany. Neutral Switzerland and Italy (so far) did not participate in the war.

Air battle

The results of the 1914 campaign at the French theater of operations. The 1914 campaign was extremely dynamic. Large armies of both sides actively and quickly maneuvered, which was facilitated by the busy road network of the war zone. The location of the troops did not always form a continuous front, troops did not build long-term defensive lines. By November 1914, a stable front line began to take shape. Having exhausted their offensive potential, both sides began to build trenches and wire fences designed for continuous use. The war went into a positional phase. Since the length of the entire Western Front (from the North Sea to Switzerland) was a little over 700 kilometers, the density of troops on it was significantly higher than on the Eastern Front. A feature of the campaign was that intense military operations were conducted only on the northern half of the front (north of the Verdun fortified area), where both sides concentrated their main forces. The front from Verdun and to the south was considered by both sides as secondary. The zone lost by the French (the center of which wasPicardy ) was densely populated and significant both agriculturally and industrially.

On November 11, in the battle of Langemarck, the Germans launched an attack that struck the world community with its senselessness and neglect of human life, throwing units recruited from unshielded young people — students and workers — onto the English machine guns ^[37] . Then, military leaders on both sides began to repeat this several times, and soldiers in this war began to be regarded as "cannon fodder."

By the beginning of 1915, the warring powers were faced with the fact that the war had taken on such a character that was not provided for by the pre-war plans of either side — it became protracted. Although the Germans managed to capture almost all of Belgium and a significant part of France, their main goal - a swift victory over the French - was completely unfulfilled. Both the Entente and the Central Powers had, in essence, to start a new type of war not yet seen by mankind - exhausting, long, requiring total mobilization of the population and economy. The ammunition stocks accumulated in the prewar years were just enough only until the end of 1914, and it was urgently needed to establish their mass production. The battles of 1914 proved the power of heavy artillery, whose role before the war in all armies except the German one was underestimated.In connection with the transition to a positional war, the role of engineer and engineer troops has sharply increased. At the same time, the war showed the vulnerability of fortresses, revealing that they are capable of defense only with the support of field armies^[39] .

The relative failure of Germany had another important result - Italy , the third member of the Triple Alliance , refrained from entering the war on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary.

Eastern Front

1914 French postcard Russian Steam Roller crushes the German army

The war began on the Eastern Front on August 2 (15), when German troops occupied Kalisz .

August 3 (16) was captured by Czestochowa .

East Prussian operation. On  August 4 (17), the Russian army crossed the border, launching an offensive on East Prussia . The 1st Army moved to Koenigsberg from the east of the Masurian Lakes , the 2nd Army  - from the west of them. The first week the operations of the Russian armies were successful; Gumbinen-Goldap battle of August 7  (20)ended in favor of the Russian army, German troops began to retreat inland, and Russian troops began to develop an offensive to intercept the retreating German troops. The outcome of the battle was favorably influenced by the combat experience of the Russian troops after the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, the Russian troops effectively used their field artillery, made extensive use of firing from closed positions and inflicted heavy losses on German troops ^[40] . After losing the battle, the commander of the German 8th Army Pritvice proposed leaving East Prussia and stabilizing the front along the Vistula River. However, this proposal was categorically rejected and he was dismissed with the appointment of a new commander of Hindenburg. It was decided to stop the Russian offensive, even if necessary, by withdrawing forces from the Western Front, where the successful German offensive against Paris continued. Also, the Russian armies were not able to take advantage of the fruits of victory due to errors of the front command, which incorrectly assessed the situation. The 1st Russian army suspended the offensive, which was announced on the open air, and the Germans were able to concentrate their efforts against the Russian 2nd army. On August 13-17 (26-30), the 2nd Army of General Samsonov suffered a serious defeat, two of the six corps that were part of it were surrounded and taken prisoner. Commander Samsonov himself, in the recognition of guilt for the defeat, shot himself. In German tradition, these events are called the Battle of Tannenberg.. After that, the Russian 1st Army, being threatened with encirclement by superior German forces, was forced to retreat to the starting position with battles, the withdrawal was completed on  September 3 (16) . The front commander Zhilinsky was removed from his post. The actions of General Rennenkampf , who commanded the 1st Army , were considered unsuccessful, which was the first episode of a characteristic distrust towards military leaders with German surnames. In the German tradition, events were mythologized and considered the greatest victory of German weapons; a huge Tannenberg memorial was built on the site of the battles , in which Field Marshal Hindenburg was subsequently buried .

Battle of Galicia. The  Battle of Galicia began on August 5 (18)  - a huge-scale battle between the Russian forces of the Southwestern Front (5 armies) under the command of General Ivanov and the four Austro-Hungarian armies under the command of Archduke Friedrich . Russian troops went on the offensive on a broad (450-500 km) front, with the center of the offensive of the Lions . The fighting of large armies that took place on an extended front was divided into numerous independent operations, accompanied by both offensives and retreats of both sides.

Actions on the southern part of the border with Austria initially developed unfavorably for the Russian army (Lublin-Kholm operation). By August 19–20 (September 1–2), Russian troops retreated to the territory of the Kingdom of Poland , to Lublin and Kholm . Actions in the center of the front (Galich-Lviv operation) were unsuccessful for the Austro-Hungarians. The offensive of the Russians began on  August 6 (19) and developed very quickly. After the first retreat, the Austro-Hungarian army put up fierce resistance at the borders of the Zolotaya Lipa and Rotten Lipa rivers , but was forced to retreat. The Russians took Lviv on August 21 ( September 3 ) ,August 22 ( September 4 ) - Galich . Until August 31 ( September 12 ), the Austro-Hungarians did not stop trying to recapture the Lions, the fighting went 30-50 km west and north-west of the city ( Gorodok  - Rava-Russkaya ), but ended in a complete victory for the Russian army. On August 29 ( September 11th ) began a general retreat of the Austrian army (more like a flight, so the resistance of the advancing Russian was not significant). The Russian army maintained a high rate of advance and in the shortest possible time captured a huge, strategically important territory - Eastern Galicia and part of Bukovina . TOOn  September 13 (26), the front stabilized at a distance of 120-150 km west of Lviv. The strong Austrian fortress Przemysl was besieged in the rear of the Russian army (see Siege of Przemysl ).

A significant victory caused glee in Russia. The capture of Galicia was perceived in Russia not as occupation, but as the return of the severed part of historical Russia (see Galician Governor General ). Austria-Hungary lost faith in the strength of its army and subsequently did not risk launching major operations without the help of German troops.

Military operations in the Warsaw ledge. The pre-war border of Russia with Germany and Austria-Hungary had a configuration far from smoothness - in the center of the border, the territory (Warsaw ledge) sharply projected to the west. Obviously, both sides started the war with attempts to smooth the front - the Russians tried to straighten out the “dents”, advancing in the north to East Prussia , and in the south - to Galicia , while Germany sought to remove the “ledge”, advancing centrally to Warsaw. After the German army repelled the Russian offensive in East Prussia, Germany was able to help the defeated Austrian army. However, the Germans considered attacking the Warsaw ledge from the north, from East Prussia, too risky, and therefore transferred their forces south to Galicia.

On  September 15 (28), the Warsaw-Ivangorod operation began with the advance of the Germans . The offensive went in a northeast direction, with the aim of taking Warsaw and the fortress of Ivangorod . On September 30 ( October 12 ), the Germans reached Warsaw and reached the border of the Vistula River . Fierce battles began, in which the advantage of the Russian army was gradually determined. On  October 7 (20), Russian troops began to cross the Vistula, and on  October 14 (27), the German army began a general retreat. By October 26 ( November 8) German troops, not achieving results, retreated to their original positions.

On October 29 ( November 11 ), the Germans from the same positions along the pre-war border launched a second offensive in the same northeastern direction ( ód operation ). The center of the battle turned out to be the city ​​of Lodz , captured and abandoned by the Germans a few weeks earlier. In a dynamically unfolding battle, the Germans first surrounded Lodz, then they themselves were surrounded by superior Russian forces and retreated. The results of the battles were uncertain - the Russian troops managed to defend both Lodz and Warsaw and inflict a heavy defeat on the German armies; but at the same time, Germany managed to disrupt the planned on mid-November offensive of the Russian armies inland Germany. The front has stabilized after the Lodz operation.

The positions of the parties on the Eastern Front by the end of 1914

The positions of the parties by the end of 1914. By the new 1915, the front looked like this: on the border of East Prussia and Russia, the front went along the pre-war border, then a gap was poorly filled by troops of both sides, after which a stable front began again from Warsaw to Lodz (northeast and east of the Warsaw ledge with Petrokov , Czestochow and Kalisz was occupied by Germany), in the Krakow region (remained behind Austria-Hungary), the front crossed the pre-war border of Austria-Hungary with Russia and crossed to Austrian territory captured by Russian troops. Most of Galicia went to Russia, Lviv (Lemberg) fell into a deep (180 km from the front) rear. In the south, the front rested on the Carpathianspractically unoccupied by troops of both sides. Located to the east of the Carpathians, Bukovina and Chernivtsi passed to Russia. The total length of the front was about 1200 km.

The results of the 1914 campaign on the Russian front.The campaign as a whole has developed in favor of Russia. The clashes with the German army ended in favor of the Germans, and on the German part of the front, Russia lost a small part of the territory of the Warsaw ledge. The defeat of the 2nd Russian army of Samsonov in East Prussia was morally painful and was accompanied by heavy losses. But Germany was not able to achieve the results it planned at any point, all its successes from a military point of view were modest. Meanwhile, Russia managed to inflict a major defeat on Austria-Hungary and seize significant territories. A certain pattern of actions of the Russian army was formed - the Germans were treated with caution, the Austro-Hungarians were considered a weaker opponent. This assessment has been affirmed throughout the war. According to the memoirs of Marshal Vasilevsky about his then front-line experience:“At the beginning of each artillery shootout, we glanced at the color of the gap and, seeing the familiar pink haze given by the Austrian shells, sighed with relief”^[41] . It also turned out that Austro-Hungarian soldiers were prone to surrender, while German soldiers were not. Austria-Hungary has turned for Germany from a full ally into a weak partner, requiring continuous support.

The fronts were stabilized by the new 1915, and the war passed into a positional phase; but at the same time, the front line (unlike the French theater of operations) continued to be unaligned, and the armies of the parties filled it unevenly, with large gaps. This unevenness next year will make events on the Eastern Front significantly more dynamic than on the Western. By the new year, the Russian army began to feel the first signs of an impending ammunition supply crisis.

Entente countries were able to coordinate actions on two fronts - the Russian offensive in East Prussia coincided with the most difficult moment of battles for France, in fact, breaking the German blitzkrieg. Germany was forced to fight on two fronts at the same time, and also to transfer troops from front to front, not being able to concentrate forces against one enemy.

Balkan theater of operations

On the Serbian front, things went wrong for the Austrians. Despite the large numerical superiority, they managed to occupy Belgrade, which was located on the border, only on December 2 , but on December 15 the Serbs recaptured Belgrade and drove the Austrians from their territory. Although the requirements of Austria-Hungary to Serbia were the direct cause of the outbreak of war, it was in Serbia that the military operations of 1914 went rather sluggishly.

The entry into the war of Japan

In August 1914, the Entente countries (primarily England) managed to convince Japan to oppose Germany, despite the fact that these two countries did not have significant territorial disputes. On August 15, Japan presented an ultimatum to Germany, demanding the withdrawal of troops from China, and on August 23 declared war (see Japan in the First World War ). In late August, the Japanese army launched a siege of Qingdao , the only German naval base in China, ending on November 7 with the surrender of the German garrison (see Siege of Qingdao ).

In September and October, Japan began actively seizing the island colonies and bases of Germany (German Micronesia and German New Guinea , see The Fall of German Micronesia ). The Caroline Islands were captured on September 12, and the Marshall Islands on September 29 . In October, the Japanese landed on the Caroline Islands and captured the key port of Rabaul . At the end of August, New Zealand troops captured German Samoa (see Occupation of German Samoa) Australia and New Zealand entered into an agreement with Japan to divide the German colonies, the equator was adopted by the line of division of interests. German forces in the region were insignificant and sharply inferior to the Japanese, so the hostilities were not accompanied by heavy losses.

The participation of Japan in the war on the side of the Entente was extremely beneficial for the Russian Empire, completely securing its Asian part. The Russian empire no longer needed to spend resources on maintaining the army, navy and fortifications directed against Japan and China. In addition, Japan has gradually turned into an important source of supplying Russia with raw materials and weapons.

The entry into the war of the Ottoman Empire

There was no agreement with the outbreak of war in Turkey - whether to enter the war and on whose side. In an unofficial Young Turkish triumvirate, Minister of War Enver Pasha and Interior Minister Talaat Pasha were allies in the Triple Alliance, but Jemal Pasha was a supporter of the Entente. On August 2, 1914, a German-Turkish union treaty was signed , according to which the Turkish army was actually surrendered under the leadership of the German military mission. Mobilization was announced in the country. However, at the same time, the Turkish government issued a declaration of neutrality. August 10 in the Dardanelles entered the German cruiser " Goeben " and "Breslau ”, who escaped the persecution of the British fleet in the Mediterranean . With the advent of these ships, not only the Turkish army, but also the fleet were under the command of the Germans. On September 9, the Turkish government announced to all powers that it had decided to abolish the surrender regime (preferential legal status of foreign citizens). This caused a protest from all powers.

However, most members of the Turkish government, including the great vizier , still opposed the war. Then Enver Pasha, together with the German command, started the war without the consent of the other members of the government, confronting the country with a fait accompli. Turkey declared jihad (holy war) to the countries of the Entente. On October 29–30 (November 11–12), the Turkish fleet, under the command of the German admiral Sushon, fired on Sevastopol , Odessa , Feodosia, and Novorossiysk . On  November 2 (15), Russia declared war on Turkey. On November 5 and 6, England and France followed.

In the Caucasus, in December 1914 - January 1915, during the Sarykamysh operation, the Russian Caucasian army stopped the Turkish offensive on Kars , and then defeated them and went on a counterattack (see. Caucasian Front ).

The usefulness of Turkey as an ally was reduced by the fact that the Central Powers had no communication with it either by land (between Turkey and Austria-Hungary there was still unoccupied Serbia and so far neutral Romania), nor by sea (the Mediterranean was controlled by the Entente).

At the same time, Russia lost the most convenient way of communication with its allies - through the Black Sea and the straits. Russia has two ports left that are suitable for transporting a large amount of cargo - Arkhangelsk and Vladivostok ; the carrying capacity of the railways that approached these ports was low. As a result, urgent work began on the construction of a new ice-free port on the northern seas - Romanov-on-Murman (today Murmansk) with a railway.

Fighting at sea

With the outbreak of war, the German fleet launched cruising operations around the oceans, which, however, did not lead to a significant violation of the merchant shipping of its opponents. Nevertheless, a part of the Entente fleet was diverted to fight the German raiders. The German squadron of Vice Admiral von Spee, with well-trained crews who received prizes when shooting from a swinging platform, managed to defeat the English squadron under the command of Kredok , equipped with reservists, in a battle at Cape Coronel ( Chile ) on November 1. One of the reasons for the defeat was the unfavorable position of the Cradock squadron in relation to the setting sun.

Escaping sailors from the Gneisenau. In the background is Inflexible

Spee was later instructed to go to the Falklands, where he fell into a trap on December 8, and his squadron (the armored cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau) was shot in the Falkland battle by battlecruisers ( British  battlecruisers ), secretly sent to Port Stanley. By 1915, all the seas and oceans were cleared of the German fleet, its area of ​​operation was limited only to the North and Baltic seas. Germany could only attempt to penetrate the distant seas and disrupt the shipping of opponents only by the actions of individual raider ships disguised as neutral ships, and subsequently by submarines (due to the relatively low technological development, the actions of the latter were limited mainly to areas adjacent to Britain).

In the North Sea, the fleets of the warring parties carried out raiding operations. The first major clash occurred on August 28 near the island of Helgoland ( Helgoland battle ). The victory was won by the English fleet.

The Baltic fleet of Russia occupied a defensive position, to which the German fleet, occupied by operations in other theaters, did not even come close.

The Black Sea Fleet , the main striking force of which was the pre- dreadnought battleships , in the initial period of the war, waged an unequal battle with the latest German battle cruiser Goeben . The turning point came only at the end of 1915 with the entry into operation of two modern dreadnought battleships, Empress Maria (July 1915) and Empress Catherine the Great (October 1915). Until the end of 1917, the fleet took an active part in supporting the actions of the Caucasian Front . After the February revolutionthe Russian fleet began to lose combat effectiveness, and military operations on the Black Sea almost stopped by the end of autumn. After the German offensive and the agreement of the Germans with the Central Council, the Germans, the leaders of Soviet Russia, under the Brest Treaty , Crimea and Sevastopol were transferred.

1915 Campaign

The course of hostilities

Western Front

The action began in 1915. The intensity of operations on the Western Front since the beginning of 1915 has significantly decreased. Germany concentrated its efforts on preparing operations against Russia. The French and British also preferred to take advantage of the pause to build up strength. The first four months of the year there was almost complete calm at the front, the hostilities were fought only in Artois , near the city of Arras (attempted French advance in February) and southeast of Verdun , where the German positions formed the so-called Ser-Miel ledge towards France (attempt French offensive in April). The British in March made an unsuccessful attempt to advance near the village of Nev-Chapelle (see Battle of Nev-Chapelle ).

The Germans, in turn, launched a counterattack in the north of the front, in Flanders near Ypres , against the British troops (April 22 - May 25; see Second Battle of Ypres ). At the same time, Germany, for the first time in the history of mankind and with complete surprise for the English-French, used chemical weapons ( chlorine was released from the cylinders ). 15 thousand people suffered from gas, of which 5 thousand died. The Germans did not have sufficient reserves to take advantage of the gas attack and break through the front. After the Ypres gas attack, both sides very quickly managed to develop gas masks of various designs, and further attempts to use chemical weapons no longer took by surprise large masses of troops.

During these military operations, which yielded the most insignificant results with noticeable casualties, both sides were convinced that the assault on well-equipped positions (several trench lines, dugouts, barbed wire fences) was unpromising without active artillery preparation.

Spring operation in Artois . On May 3, the Entente launched a new offensive in Artois . The offensive was carried out by joint Anglo-French forces. The French were advancing north of Arras, the British - on an adjacent site in the Nev-Chapelle region. The offensive was organized in a new way: huge forces (30 infantry divisions, 9 cavalry corps, more than 1,700 guns) were concentrated on 30 kilometers of the offensive site. The offensive was preceded by a six-day artillery preparation (2.1 million shells were used up), which was supposed to completely suppress the resistance of the German troops. The calculations did not materialize. The huge losses of the Entente (130 thousand people) suffered during the six weeks of fighting did not fully correspond to the results achieved - by mid-June, the French advanced 3-4 km along the 7 km front, and the British less than 1 km along the 3 km front.

Autumn operation in Champagne and Artois. By early September, the Entente had prepared a new large offensive, the task of which was to liberate the north of France. The offensive began on September 25 and occurred simultaneously on two sections 120 km apart - on a 35 km front in Champagne (east of Reims ) and on a 20 km front in Artois (near Arras ; see The Third Battle of Artois ). If successful, the forces advancing on both sides would close in 80-100 km on the French border (at Mons ), which would lead to the liberation of Picardy. Compared to the spring offensive in Artois, the scale was increased: 67 infantry and cavalry divisions were involved in the offensive, up to 2,600 guns; during the operation, more than 5 million shells were fired. The Anglo-French forces used a new offensive tactic in several “waves." By the time of the offensive, the German troops were able to improve their defensive positions - 5-6 kilometers behind the first defensive line a second defensive line was constructed, poorly visible from the enemy’s position (each of the defensive lines consisted, in turn, of three rows of trenches). The offensive, which lasted until October 7, led to extremely limited results - in both areas only the first line of German defense was broken and no more than 2-3 km of territory were recaptured.At the same time, the losses on both sides were huge - the Anglo-French lost 200 thousand people killed and wounded, the Germans - 140 thousand people.

The positions of the parties by the end of 1915 and the results of the campaign. Despite all the fierce offensives, for the whole of 1915 the front line remained virtually unchanged - its movements were no more than 10 km. Both sides, having put all their strength in strengthening defensive positions, could not develop tactics that would allow breaking through the front, even in conditions of high concentration of forces and many-day artillery preparation. Huge sacrifices did not produce meaningful results. At the same time, improving the defensive lines and defense tactics allowed the Germans to be confident in the strength of the Western Front with a gradual reduction in the troops involved in it. This allowed Germany to increase the onslaught on the Eastern Front, and thus the bulk of the German army’s efforts turned out to be aimed at fighting Russia.

The actions of the beginning of 1915 showed that the current type of military operations creates a huge burden on the economies of the warring countries. New battles required not only the mobilization of millions of citizens, but also a huge amount of weapons and ammunition. The pre-war stocks of weapons and ammunition were exhausted, and the warring countries began to actively rebuild their economies for military needs. War from the battle of armies gradually began to turn into a battle of economies. The development of new military equipment, as a means of overcoming the stalemate situation at the front, has intensified; armies became more and more mechanized. The armies noticed the significant benefits brought by aircraft (reconnaissance and artillery adjustment) and automobiles. The methods of trench warfare improved - trench guns, light mortars, and hand grenades appeared.

France and Russia again attempted to coordinate the actions of their armies - the spring offensive in Artois was designed to distract the Germans from an active attack on the Russians. On July 7, the first Inter-Allied Conference opened in Chantilly , aimed at planning joint action by the Allies on different fronts and organizing various kinds of economic and military assistance. On November 23–26, the second conference was held there. It was deemed necessary to begin preparations for a coordinated offensive of all the allied armies in the three main theaters - French, Russian and Italian.

Russian Theater of War - Eastern Front

The German command changed its strategy for 1915, deciding to transfer the main blow from the Western Front to the Eastern, in order to inflict a military defeat on Russia and force it into a separate peace. The command of the German army intended to inflict successive powerful flank attacks from East Prussia and Galicia to break through the defenses of the Russian army, to encircle and defeat its main forces in the Warsaw ledge.

Winter operation in East Prussia. The beginning of the strategic plan of the German command for 1915 on the encirclement and defeat of the Russian army was the so-called August operation (named after the city of Augustow ). Despite the initial success of the operation, when the infantry corps of the 10th Russian army was surrounded and after fierce and stubborn battles, the Germans failed to break through the Russian front. The 10th Army organizedly moved to new positions. And during the next battle - the Prasnyshsky operation (February 25 - the end of March) - the Germans met with fierce resistance of the Russian troops, which turned into a counterattack in the area of the city of the same name, which led to the withdrawal of the Germans to their original positions along the border of East Prussia (the Suvalk province remained with Germany).

Winter operation in the Carpathians. On February 9–11 (22–24), Austro-German troops launched an offensive in the Carpathians (see. Carpathian operation ), particularly pressing hard on the weakest part of the Russian front in the south, in Bukovina . At the same time, the Russian army launched a counter offensive, hoping to cross the Carpathians and invade Hungary from north to south. In the northern part of the Carpathians, closer to Krakow, the forces of the opponents were equal, and the front during the fighting in February and March practically did not move, remaining in the foothills of the Carpathians from the Russian side. But in the south of the Carpathians, the Russian army did not have time to group, and by the end of March, Russian troops had lost most of Bukovina and Chernivtsi . nine On March 22, the besieged Austrian fortress Przemysl fell , more than 120 thousand people surrendered. The capture of Przemysl was the last major success of the Russian army in 1915.

Breakthrough of the Russian Front, Summer 1915

Gorlitsky breakthrough. The beginning of the Great Retreat of the Russian armies: the loss of Galicia. After failures on the northern front of the Warsaw ledge, the German command moved the direction of the main attack on the eastern front to the south, in Galicia. By mid-spring, a powerful group of Austro-German troops was concentrated there. A breakthrough of the Russian front was planned in the Gorlice region, where 32 divisions and 1,500 guns were concentrated on a 35 km section. Russian troops in this sector were completely deprived of heavy artillery and 2 times inferior to the enemy in numbers. Moreover, in the main (three-inch) caliber, a shortage of shells began ("shell hunger").

On April 19 ( May 2 ), Austro-German troops launched a powerful blow to the center of the southern flank of the Russian armies in Austria-Hungary, in the Gorlice region , in the general direction to Lviv (see Gorlitsky breakthrough ). The numerical superiority of the Austro-German forces, the unsuccessful maneuvering and use of reserves by the Russian command, the growing shortage of shells and the complete predominance of German heavy artillery led to the fact that by April 22 ( May 5 ) the Russian front in the Gorlice area was broken.

The begun withdrawal of the Russian armies continued until June 9  (22) (see The Great Retreat of 1915 ). The entire front south of Warsaw shifted toward Russia. In the Privislensky Territory, the Radom and Keleck provinces were left , the front passed through Lublin (behind Russia); most of Galicia was left from the territories of Austria-Hungary (the newly taken Przemysl was left on  June 3 (16) , and Lvov on June 9  [22], only a small strip (up to 40 km deep) with Brody remained for the Russian troops , the entire region Ternopol and a small part of Bukovina. The retreat, starting with the breakthrough of the Germans, by the time Lviv was abandoned acquired a planned character, the Russian troops retreated in relative order. Nevertheless, such a major military failure was accompanied by the loss of morale by the Russian army and mass surrender.

Continuation of the Great Retreat of the Russian armies: the loss of Poland. Having achieved success in the southern part of the theater of operations, the German command decided to immediately continue an active offensive in its northern part - in the Warsaw ledge and in East Prussia  - Ostseen region. Since the Gorlitsky breakthrough did not ultimately lead to the complete fall of the Russian front (the Russian troops were able to stabilize the situation and close the front at the cost of a deep retreat), this time the tactics were changed - the front was supposed to break through not in one direction, but breakouts in three directions. Two attacks were aimed at the base of the Warsaw ledge (where the Russian front continued to form a ledge towards Germany): there the Germans planned a breakthrough of the front from the north, from East Prussia (a breakthrough to the south between Warsaw and Lomza , near the Narew River), and a breakthrough from south, from the side of Galicia (north, between the Vistula and Bug rivers ); at the same time, the directions of both attacks converged on the border of the Privislensky Krai, in the regionBrest-Litovsk ; in the case of the fulfillment of the German plan, Russian troops had to leave the entire Warsaw ledge to avoid encirclement in the Warsaw area . The third strike, from East Prussia towards Riga , was planned as an offensive on a wide front, without concentration on a narrow section and a breakthrough, mainly for holding down Russian reserves.

The offensive between the Vistula and the Bug began on  June 13 [26] , and on June 30 ( July 13 ) the Narevsky operation began. After fierce fighting, the Russian front was broken through in both places, and the Russian army, as stipulated by the German plan, began a general withdrawal from the Warsaw ledge. July 22 ( August 4 ) were left Warsaw and Ivangorod fortress , 7  (20) on August fell Modlin Fortress , 9  (22) on August  - Fortress Osowiec and Kovno , 13  (26) AugustRussian troops left Brest-Litovsk , and on August 19 ( September 2 ) - Grodno .

The offensive from East Prussia (Riga-Shavel operation) began on  July 1 (14) . For a month of fighting, Russian troops were pushed back for the Neman, the Germans captured Kurland with Mitau and the most important naval base of Libava , Kovno , came close to Riga . However, the naval battle in the Gulf of Riga ended in general unsuccessfully for the Germans, the Baltic Fleet continued to provide active support to the army.

The success of the German offensive was facilitated by the fact that by the summer the military supply crisis of the Russian army had reached its maximum. Of particular importance was the so-called "shell hunger" - the most acute shortage of shells for artillery pieces of the Russian army. The seizure of Novogeorgievsk fortress, accompanied by the surrender of large parts of the troops and intact weapons and property without a fight, caused a new outbreak in Russian society of espionage and rumors of treason. The abandoned privileged provinces gave Russia about a quarter of the production of coal, the loss of these deposits led to the beginning of a fuel crisis in Russia from the end of 1915, which, however, was already resolved through the Donbass coal in 1916.

The end of the great retreat and the stabilization of the front. On  August 9 (22), the German command changed the direction of the main attack; now the main one was planned to be carried out at the front north of Vilna , in the Sventsian region , in the general direction to Minsk (see. Vilna operation ). On August 27–28 (September 8–9), the Germans, taking advantage of the looseness of the Russian units, were able to break through the front (Sventsian breakthrough). Large equestrian units were thrown into the breakthrough. However, the Germans failed to expand the breakthrough. Soon, the breakthrough near the Sventsyany was liquidated, and the German cavalry fell under the counterattack of the Russian armies and was defeated. The advance of the German armies choked.

On  December 14 (27), Russian troops launched an offensive against the Austro-Hungarian forces on the Strype River , in the Ternopol region , caused by the need to distract the Austrians from the Serbian front, where the situation of the Serbs became very difficult. Attempts to attack did not bring any success, and on  January 15 (29) the operation was stopped.

Meanwhile, the withdrawal of the Russian armies continued to the south of the Sventsyansky breakthrough zone. In August, Russian troops left Vladimir-Volynsky , Kovel , Lutsk , Pinsk . The situation on the southern flank of the front was stable, since by that time the forces of the Austro-Hungarians had been diverted by fighting in Serbia and on the Italian front. By the end of September - beginning of October, the front stabilized, and throughout its length there was a lull. The offensive potential of the German army was exhausted, Russia began to restore its troops, which were badly damaged during the retreat, and strengthen new defensive lines.

Disguising a machine gun position. 1915

Russian 122 mm howitzer in a fighting position. 1915

The positions of the parties by the end of 1915. By the end of 1915, the front turned into almost a straight line connecting the Baltic and Black Seas; The Warsaw front ledge disappeared - it was completely occupied by Germany. Courland was occupied by Germany, the front came close to Riga and then went along the Western Dvina to the fortified Dvinsk region . Further, the front passed along the North-Western Territory : Kovenskaya , Vilenskaya , Grodno provinces, the western part of the Minsk province were occupied by Germany (Minsk remained with Russia). Then the front passed through the Southwest Territory : the western thirdVolyn province with Lutsk was occupied by Germany, Exactly left for Russia. After that, the front passed to the former territory of Austria-Hungary, where part of the Tarnopol region in Galicia remained with the Russian troops . Further, to the Bessarabian province , the front returned to the pre-war border with Austria-Hungary and ended on the border with neutral Romania. The new configuration of the front, which had no protrusions and was densely filled with troops from both sides, naturally pushed for the transition to a positional war and defensive tactics. A German occupation administration was created on the occupied Russian territory .

The results of the 1915 campaign on the Eastern Front.The results of the 1915 campaign for Germany in the east were in a certain way similar to the campaign of 1914 in the west: Germany was able to achieve significant military victories and seize enemy territory, the tactical advantage of Germany in maneuver warfare was obvious; but at the same time, the general goal - the complete defeat of one of the opponents and his withdrawal from the war - was not achieved in 1915 either. Having gained tactical victories, the Central Powers were unable to completely defeat the leading opponents, while their economy was weakening more and more. Despite great losses in territory and manpower, Russia completely retained the ability to continue the war (although its army lost an offensive spirit during a long period of retreat). In addition, by the end of the Great Retreat in Russia, the military supply crisis had been overcome,and the situation with artillery and shells for her by the end of the year returned to normal. The fierce struggle and heavy casualties led the economies of Germany and Austria-Hungary to overstrain, the negative results of which will become more and more noticeable in the coming years.

The success of Germany was very expensive, as evidenced by its loss. Losses of Germany killed and died during the period of the Great Retreat: 67,290; total losses of Germany (killed and deceased, wounded, prisoners and missing): 447 739 people.

For the entire campaign of 1915 on the Eastern (Russian) front, the loss of Germany by the killed and dead: 95,294 people. Total losses of Germany (killed and deceased, wounded, prisoners missing): 663 789 people ^[42] .

The failures of Russia were accompanied by important personnel shifts. June 30 ( July 13 ) Minister of War V. A. Sukhomlinov was replaced by A. A. Polivanov . Subsequently, Sukhomlinov was put on trial, which caused another outburst of suspicion and spying. On  August 10 (23), Nicholas II assumed the duties of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, sending Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich to the Caucasian front. The actual leadership of military operations in this case passed from N. N. Yanushkevich to M. V. Alekseev . The adoption of the supreme command by the tsar entailed major positive changes in the situation on the fronts^[43] and extremely significant domestic political consequences.

The military historian, General of the Russian Army N. N. Golovin , gives a different point of view. Outstanding self-control and great art in military affairs helped Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich withdraw the army from the Carpathians and from the "Polish Bag" to new defensive lines, avoiding encirclement ^[44] . As the commander of German troops on the Eastern Front, Field Marshal Hindenburg noted:

... the operation in the East <...> did not lead to the destruction of the enemy. The Russians, as one would expect, broke out of ticks and achieved frontal departure in the direction they desired

- Falkenhayn, E. von. The High Command of 1914-1916 in his most important decisions = Falkenhayn E. Die Oberste Heeresleitung, 1914-1916: In ihren wichtigsten Entschließungen. Berlin: ES Mittler, 1919: [trans. with  him. ]. - M  .: The Supreme Military Editorial Council, 1923. - S. 11. - 279 p.

However, on August 19  ( September 1 ),  1915 at a government meeting it became known about the decision taken by the Sovereign "to eliminate the Grand Duke and personally take command of the army." The news caused confusion in government and public circles. At a government meeting, General Polivanov stated that "the city administration of the Mother See of the whole of Russia declares its unwavering trust in the Grand Duke, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, as the leader of our armies against the enemy." On September 2 ( August 20 ), the ministers requested the Tsar not to change the Supreme Commander, but on September 3 ( August 21)) in a collective appeal stated that “the adoption of such a decision threatens, in our extreme understanding, Russia, you and your dynasty with grave consequences” ^[44] . However, contrary to the above arguments, the Tsar succeeded Nikolai Nikolaevich. The words of the German general Ludendorff at the end of his recollections of the 1915 campaign once again emphasize the exceptional harm caused to Russia by the change of commander:

On the way to victory, we took a new big step forward. Having a steel will, the Grand Duke was removed. The king stood at the head of the troops.

- Ludendorf, E. My memories of the war of 1914-1918. - M  .: AST: Harvest, 2005 .-- S. 169. - 800 p. - (Memoirs. Memoirs). - ISBN 5170136366 .

The Italian Front

With the outbreak of war, Italy remained neutral. On August 3, 1914, the Italian king informed William II that the conditions for the outbreak of war did not correspond to those conditions in the Treaty of the Triple Alliance , under which Italy should enter the war. On the same day, the Italian government issued a declaration of neutrality. After lengthy negotiations between Italy and the Central Powers and Entente countries, the London Pact was signed on April 26, 1915according to which Italy pledged to declare war on Austria-Hungary within a month, as well as to oppose all enemies of the Entente. As a "payment for blood" Italy was promised a number of territories. England granted Italy a loan of 50 million pounds. Despite the subsequent reciprocal offers of territories from the Central Powers, amid fierce internal political clashes between opponents and supporters of the two blocs, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary on May 23.

Thus, in Europe there was another theater of operations - Italian. However, during 1915no strategically significant events at this theater happened. Attempts by the Italian army to carry out the offensive were unsuccessful. Austria-Hungary was occupied on other fronts - Russian and Serbian; both there and there in the 2nd half of 1915 major events took place that required a large amount of manpower and resources, therefore Austria-Hungary could not give serious attention to the Italian front (although separate attempts were made to break through). As a result, by the end of 1915 the front line practically did not deviate from the Italo-Austrian border, resting on one side in neutral Switzerland, and on the other on the Adriatic Sea. But on the whole, the entry of Italy diverted the sufficiently large forces of Austria-Hungary.

Balkan theater of war, entry into the Bulgarian war

Until the fall, no activity was observed on the Serbian front. By the beginning of autumn, after the successful campaign to oust Russian troops from Galicia and Bukovina, the Austro-Hungarians and Germans were able to deploy a large number of troops to attack Serbia. At the same time, it was expected that Bulgaria, impressed by the successes of the Central Powers, intended to enter the war on their side. In this case, sparsely populated Serbia with a small army found itself surrounded by enemies from two fronts, which inevitably led to military defeat. Anglo-French help arrived very late - only on October 5, troops began to land in Thessaloniki ( Greece); Russia could not help, since neutral Romania refused to let in Russian troops. On October 5, the offensive of the Central Powers by Austria-Hungary began; on October 14, Bulgaria declared war on the countries of the Entente and began military operations against Serbia. The troops of the Serbs, British and French were numerically inferior to the forces of the Central Powers by more than 2 times and had no chance of success.

By the end of December, Serbian troops left the territory of Serbia, leaving for Albania , from where in January 1916 their remains were evacuated to the island of Corfu and to Bizerte . In December, the Anglo-French troops retreated to Greece, to Thessaloniki, where they were able to gain a foothold, forming the Thessaloniki Front along the Greek border with Bulgaria and Serbia. The personnel of the Serbian army (up to 150 thousand people) were retained and in the spring of 1916 strengthened Thessaloniki front.

The accession of Bulgaria to the Central Powers and the fall of Serbia opened for the Central Powers direct land links with Turkey.

Dardanelles and the Gallipoli Peninsula

By the beginning of 1915, the Anglo-French command had developed a joint operation to break through the Dardanelles and exit to the Sea of ​​Marmara , to Constantinople (see Dardanelles operation ). The objective of the operation was to ensure free maritime communication through the straits and to divert Turkish forces from the Caucasus front.

Australian soldiers in the trenches

According to the original plan, the breakthrough was to be made by the British fleet, which was to destroy the coastal batteries without landing. After the first unsuccessful attacks by small forces (February 19–25), the British fleet launched a general attack on March 18, in which more than 20 battleships, battle cruisers and outdated battleships were involved. After the loss of 3 ships, the British, not succeeding, left the strait.

After this, the Entente's tactics changed - it was decided to land expeditionary forces on the Gallipoli Peninsula (on the European side of the straits) and on the opposite Asian coast. Entente landing (80 thousand people), consisting of the British, French, Australians and New Zealanders, began landing on April 25. The landing was carried out on three bridgeheads, divided between the participating countries. The attackers managed to stay only in one of the sections of Gallipoli, where the Australian-New Zealand corps was landed ( ANZAK) Fierce battles and the deployment of new Entente reinforcements continued until mid-August, however, none of the attempts to attack the Turks yielded a significant result. By the end of August, the failure of the operation became apparent, and the Entente began to prepare for the gradual evacuation of troops. The last troops from Gallipoli were evacuated in early January 1916. The bold strategic plan, initiated by the First Lord of the Admiralty, W. Churchill , ended in complete failure.

Caucasus Front

On the Caucasian front in July, Russian troops repelled the offensive of Turkish troops in the area of Lake Van , yielding part of the territory ( Alashkert operation ). The fighting spread to the territory of Persia . On October 30, Russian troops landed in the port of Anzeli , by the end of December they defeated the pro-Turkish armed forces and took control of the territory of Northern Persia, preventing the Persian attack against Russia and securing the left flank of the Caucasian army.

1916 Campaign

The situation at the beginning of the year was characterized by disappointing results for Germany and its allies. In both previous campaigns, Germany did not achieve its goals. Neither France in 1914 nor Russia in 1915 was incapacitated. Even on the Balkan Front, where Germany and the Allies were most successful, they could not defeat their opponents. The English-French were able to maintain a bridgehead at Thessaloniki, where a full-fledged front was soon organized. The situation was in the form of the usual “indecisive success on all fronts” for Germany ^[45]. Meanwhile, the situation was gradually changing in an unfavorable direction for Germany. By the beginning of 1916, England and France already had an advantage over Germany in 75–80 divisions and largely eliminated their backlog in the field of artillery weapons (heavy artillery and ammunition production) ^[46] The naval blockade of Germany was tightened, “in Germany by 1916 the city began to feel shortcomings in the supply as a result of the naval blockade, carried out mainly by the British fleet, which stopped the supply of not only military smuggling, but in general all types of raw materials and food products ” ^[47]. . This led to a gradual increase in internal problems in the countries of the Fourth Union. In such circumstances, the German command faced the choice of a new war strategy. Not having achieved decisive success on the Eastern Front in the 1915 campaign , the German command decided in 1916strike the main blow in the west and withdraw France from the war. Not already possessing the factor of surprise and significant superiority in forces, with diminished superiority in armaments and in the conditions of a positional impasse, she was looking for a solution to the problem of achieving victory quickly. At that time, he saw a way out in carrying out an offensive on a relatively small section of the front, with the provision of all measures of secretive preparation for the offensive. The offensive itself was planned based on the massive use of artillery, primarily heavy. The offensive itself should not even have been undertaken on fortified defenses along the front, but on fortifications. This was to determine the element of surprise for the enemy. In the offensive on the fortress defense, no fundamental difficulties were expected, after the experience of the successful seizure of fortresses in Belgium in 1914.and in Russia in 1915, the massive use of heavy and super-heavy artillery was supposed to suppress and destroy the enemy’s defenses, even with reliance on fortifications. The breakthrough of the fortified enemy front was to create the conditions for a deep offensive, and an attempt to counter-attack the enemy would be thwarted by a massive artillery strike. Thus, the German command in its calculations drew attention to the capture of the fortified area of ​​Verdun. It planned by powerful flanking strikes at the base of the Verdun ledge to cut it off, encircling the entire Verdun group of the enemy, and thereby creating a huge breach in the Allied defense, through which it was then supposed to strike the flank and rear of the central French armies and defeat the entire front of the Allies.The massive use of heavy and super-heavy artillery was supposed to suppress and destroy the enemy defenses, even with reliance on fortifications. The breakthrough of the fortified enemy front was to create the conditions for a deep offensive, and an enemy counterattack attempt would be thwarted by a massive artillery strike. Thus, the German command in its calculations drew attention to the capture of the fortified area of ​​Verdun. It planned by powerful flanking strikes at the base of the Verdun ledge to cut it off, encircling the entire Verdun group of the enemy, and thereby creating a huge breach in the Allied defense, through which it was then supposed to strike the flank and rear of the central French armies and defeat the entire front of the Allies.The massive use of heavy and super-heavy artillery was supposed to suppress and destroy the enemy defenses, even with reliance on fortifications. The breakthrough of the fortified enemy front was to create the conditions for a deep offensive, and an enemy counterattack attempt would be thwarted by a massive artillery strike. Thus, the German command in its calculations drew attention to the capture of the fortified area of ​​Verdun. It planned by powerful flanking strikes at the base of the Verdun ledge to cut it off, encircling the entire Verdun group of the enemy, and thereby creating a huge breach in the Allied defense, through which it was then supposed to strike the flank and rear of the central French armies and defeat the entire front of the Allies.The breakthrough of the fortified enemy front was to create the conditions for a deep offensive, and an enemy counterattack attempt would be thwarted by a massive artillery strike. Thus, the German command in its calculations drew attention to the capture of the fortified area of ​​Verdun. It planned by powerful flanking strikes at the base of the Verdun ledge to cut it off, encircling the entire Verdun group of the enemy, and thereby creating a huge breach in the Allied defense, through which it was then supposed to strike the flank and rear of the central French armies and defeat the entire front of the Allies.The breakthrough of the fortified enemy front was to create the conditions for a deep offensive, and an attempt to counter-attack the enemy would be thwarted by a massive artillery strike. Thus, the German command in its calculations drew attention to the capture of the fortified area of ​​Verdun. It planned by powerful flanking strikes at the base of the Verdun ledge to cut it off, encircling the entire Verdun group of the enemy, and thereby creating a huge breach in the Allied defense, through which it was then supposed to strike the flank and rear of the central French armies and defeat the entire front of the Allies.the German command in its calculations drew attention to the capture of the fortified area of ​​Verdun. It planned by powerful flanking strikes at the base of the Verdun ledge to cut it off, encircling the entire Verdun group of the enemy, and thereby creating a huge breach in the Allied defense, through which it was then supposed to strike the flank and rear of the central French armies and defeat the entire front of the Allies.the German command in its calculations drew attention to the capture of the fortified area of ​​Verdun. It planned by powerful flanking strikes at the base of the Verdun ledge to cut it off, encircling the entire Verdun group of the enemy, and thereby creating a huge breach in the Allied defense, through which it was then supposed to strike the flank and rear of the central French armies and defeat the entire front of the Allies.

On February 21, 1916, German troops launched an offensive in the area of ​​the Verdun fortress, called the Battle of Verdun , or the Verdun meat grinder. The German offensive was largely unexpected for the French command. At the front of the advance of 40 km, an artillery strike of unprecedented power destroyed the French defense. After 9 hours of artillery preparation “of unprecedented power” and “with an unprecedented use of heavy caliber artillery” ^[48] , German troops launched an attack. At the forefront were small groups, followed by the main forces. The offensive went day and night. Artillery strike force paved the way for German troops. According to the German commander E. Falkenhayn, "people just ran through the nearest enemy lines"^[49] At the same time, the element of surprise played an important role in achieving success, the German command managed to achieve an advantage in the number of troops, in the first days 6½ German divisions, a total of 60 battalions, had to break through the position of 2 French divisions (72nd and 51st) , a total of 30 battalions ^[50] . German troops crossed the 1st and 2nd fortified defense lines. On February 25, the last important success was achieved, with minor losses managed to capture one of the defenses of the defense, Fort Duomon. But later the German offensive was stopped. The attempted offensive due to lack of forces in a small sector of the front allowed the French command to concentrate the artillery group on the flanks of the enemy and inflict heavy losses on the advancing German troops and impede their advance. Hastily deployed French troops from other sectors of the front formed new lines of defense. As a result, the battle turned into a battle to deplete both opponents. After stubborn battles with huge losses on both sides, the Germans managed to advance 6-8 kilometers forward and take some of the forts of the fortress, but their advance was stopped, and later in October - December, the French troops, making a number of powerful counterattacks, knocked the enemy out of the most important positions in the fortress area. This battle lasted untilDecember 18, 1916. The French and British lost 750 thousand people, the Germans lost 450 thousand. This battle, along with the battle on the Somme, became the most bloody battles of the entire war and acquired a common sense. The unsuccessful development of the battle of Verdun led to the resignation of the main initiator of his chief of the German General Staff, E. Falkenheim, and his replacement by P. Hindenburg in the late summer of 1916.

At the request of the French command in March 1916, an offensive Naroch operation was launched on the Russian Western Front . Two-week attempts to break through the line of German defense ended in failure, but during this time the German onslaught on Verdun significantly weakened.

During the battle of Verdun, for the first time, a new weapon from Germany was used - a flamethrower . For the first time in the history of wars, the principles of warfare of aircraft were worked out in the skies over Verdun — the American Lafayette squadron fought on the side of the Entente . The Germans first began to use a fighter plane, in which machine guns fired synchronously through a rotating propeller without damaging it.

The system of combining field and long-term fortifications showed particular survivability. Forts were powerful centers of resistance, which cemented the defense of the fortified area along the front and in depth. Artillery fire, causing huge damage to the defense system, was not able to disable the main (reinforced concrete and armored) fortifications. So, although more than 100 thousand shells were fired at Fort Duomon, mainly super-heavy and heavy calibers, its machine-gun and artillery towers remained unharmed; armored observation posts also survived. ^[51]

The power of artillery fire in the battle of Verdun was reflected in literature, A. Barbus wrote in his work “Fire”: “You would have looked at what we were treated at Verdun, I was there. Only by the "big men": three hundred eighty, four hundred and twenty, four hundred and forty. That's when they fire at you like that, you can say: “Now I know what the bombardment is!” Entire forests are slanted like bread; all coverings are broken, torn apart, even if on them in three rows lay logs and earth; all intersections are watered with steel rain, roads are turned upside down and turned into some kind of long humps; everywhere the wrecked wagons, broken guns, corpses, as if piled in a heap with a shovel ” ^[52] .

The advance of the British infantry in the Battle of the Somme

Austrian mortar crew in a gun trench

At the request of the Italian command and according to the directive of the Russian Headquarters of the High Command on June 4, 1916, an offensive operation began on the Russian South-Western Front, originally planned as auxiliary to the Western Front. Later this operation was called the “ Brusilovsky Breakthrough ” by the name of the front commander A. A. Brusilov . On July 3, in order to break through the German front in Belarus and advance to Brest-Litovsk, the Western Front attempted to launch an offensive, but the Baranavichy operation was unsuccessful, while the South-Western Front inflicted a heavy defeat on the German and Austro-Hungarian forces, common whose losses amounted to more than 1.5 million people.

The operation on the Somme was prepared by the Anglo-French command as the main operation of 1916 ^{[53] The} diversion of the main forces of Germany against Russia in 1915 made it possible for the Allies to accumulate forces for this offensive. The German offensive near Verdun diverted considerable forces of France, but could not stop the preparation of this offensive. In this case, the main efforts should have been followed by England. The total number of Anglo-French divisions for the offensive was 60. The Anglo-French command was also looking for ways to overcome the positional deadlock., a way to break through the fortified enemy front. The main stake was on the organization of powerful artillery training on a wide front, originally 70 km, which was supposed to disorient the enemy by determining the direction of the breakthrough. An "equilibrium military solution to the problem of breaking through the defense was organized, in which both artillery and infantry units are distributed in approximately equal quantities along the entire offensive zone." The offensive was conceived with particular attention to the organization of interaction between the advancing infantry and artillery. The idea of ​​fire support of infantry advancement was put forward. “With regard to the rate of transfer of artillery fire into the depths of the enemy’s defense, the words“ slow flow ”were used in orders; gunners were ordered to retune the sights soso that the range of fire does not increase at a speed greater than 45 m per minute, providing “slow movement of the fire curtain”. At the same time, the infantry was ordered if it reached the object of its combat mission before artillery hit it, before the infantry launched an attack, they would have to stop and wait until artillery shells did their job. The guns were supposed to pave the way for the infantry, and to ensure that this task was accomplished, artillery fire-correcting officers were attached to the assault battalions, whose task was to correct the firing of shells at enemy positions ”what artillery will strike at him before the infantrymen launch an attack, they will have to stop and wait until artillery shells do their job. The guns were supposed to pave the way for the infantry, and to ensure that this task was accomplished, artillery fire-correcting officers were attached to the assault battalions, whose task was to correct the firing of shells at enemy positions ”what artillery will strike at him before the infantrymen launch an attack, they will have to stop and wait until artillery shells do their job. The guns were supposed to pave the way for the infantry, and to ensure that this task was accomplished, artillery fire-correcting officers were attached to the assault battalions, whose task was to correct the firing of shells at enemy positions ”^[54] . Artillery preparation was conceived of tremendous power. As a result, the Anglo-French command turned its attention to a wide sector of the front on both sides of the small Somme River in northern France. “The German positions have been equipped here for 2 years and represented a high example of the use of technology and military engineering. Barbed wire, concrete, safe areas for the garrison, hidden flank defense with machine guns, villages and forests, turned into a kind of small fortresses - this is the general character of the reinforced positions of the Germans, whom they had 2 strips 2-3 km from one another and started build the 3rd ” ^[55]. To destroy the German positions, mine galleries were used, in total, 19 mine explosions of high power were organized on the first day of the offensive. Another means that was supposed to serve as a breakthrough of the fortified front were tanks. But they were not ready for the beginning of the offensive and were applied only subsequently. Due to the diversion of a significant part of the forces under Verdun, the Anglo-French command was forced to reduce the width of the breakthrough front to 40 km. Artillery preparations began on June 24, followed by an offensive on July 1. Initially, the offensive developed successfully. This was largely due to the fact that the German command underestimated the strength of the strike, since it believed that, in the context of the continuation of the German offensive at Verdun, the opponents did not possess sufficient forces.Although the preparation of the offensive was known to the German command, it viewed this impending offensive as an auxiliary blow, which was only to ease the position of the allies near Verdun, as well as for the Russian front. As a result, the force of the blow was to some extent unexpected for him. The artillery preparation of enormous power to a large extent destroyed the German defense, after which waves of infantry attacked.

According to the German report, “the enemy went into a massive attack with densely closed uneven chains, immediately followed by small columns of soldiers ... although there can be no doubt about the extraordinary courage of the advancing, the British army should be obliged to such a battle formation to great losses” ^{[56 ]}. The surviving machine guns inflicted huge losses on the advancing troops, sometimes even the only surviving machine gun created a huge obstacle to the offensive. Defense again demonstrated its superiority over the offensive. Nevertheless, the initial superiority in forces provided advancement to the allies. But the task of organizing fire support proved to be difficult for those conditions, the reduction of the breakthrough front and unsuccessful attack tactics enabled Germany to build up forces in the direction of the strike. The Germans began to quickly concentrate in a threatened direction their reserves from passive sectors of the front. This gave them the opportunity to strengthen their troops in the breakthrough area by half of July by more than 11 divisions, that is, only 18-19 divisions. By the end of July, their strength here increased to 30 divisions.As a result, the offensive again turned into a struggle for exhaustion. The situation was not changed by the introduction of a new weapon into the battle in September -tanks . This marked the first time that Germany was lagging behind the adversaries in military-technical terms; Germany was subsequently able to develop and use tanks only in 1918 and on a very limited scale. In November, the operation gradually froze. The task of breaking through the fortified front was not solved. The results of the operation were reduced to a advance of 10 km, to capture 200 sq. Km. territory, 105 thousand prisoners, 1,500 machine guns and 350 guns. In the battle of the Somme, the Allies lost about 625 thousand people, and the Germans - 465 thousand people. The battle on the Somme itself, as well as Verdun, acquired a common sense, as an example of an extremely difficult and bloody battle, a pyrrhic victory .

On the Caucasian front in January-February in the battle of Erzurum, Russian troops routed the Turkish army and captured the city Erzurum , in the course of the Trabzon operation , the city of Trapezund was taken in April and the cities of Erzincan and Mush in July and August .

The successes of the Russian army prompted Romania to take the side of the Entente. On August 17, 1916, an agreement was concluded between Romania and the four powers of the Entente. Romania pledged to declare war on Austria-Hungary. For this she was promised Transylvania , part of Bukovina and Banat . On August 28, Romania declared war on Austria-Hungary. However, by the end of the year, the Romanian army was defeated, and most of the country's territory with the capital Bucharest was occupied. This required Russia to send military forces to Romania and stabilize the front, thereby further lengthening its front. The capture of part of Romania allowed Germany to draw large reserves of strategic raw materials and fuel from it ^[57] .

The military campaign of 1916 was marked by a major event. May 31  - June 1 was the largest battle of the whole Jutland naval battle .

Germany’s attempt to lift the naval blockade ended in failure, the German blockade remained fully provided ^[58] . This led to a further deterioration in the supply of resources to the military industry and the food supply to the army and the population, and the growing economic and political crisis in the countries of the Fourth Union. Germany was unable to make more attempts to break the naval blockade, and Germany began to transfer the severity of the war at sea to the actions of the submarine fleet. According to Scheer, the commander of the German Navy, the actions of the fleet were now manifested mainly in support of the submarine war ^[59] . Thus, all efforts to create a huge surface naval fleet of Germany were pointless.

All the previous events described have demonstrated an advantage for the Entente. By the end of 1916, both sides lost 6 million people dead, about 10 million were injured. In November – December 1916, Germany and its allies proposed peace, but the Entente rejected the proposal, indicating that peace was impossible “until the restoration of violated rights and freedoms, recognition of the principle of nationalities and the free existence of small states” ^{[60] [ 61]} .

1917 Campaign

Eastern Front (January 1 - September 1, 1917)

Russian soldier, faithful oath, is trying to stop his fellow soldiers

By 1917, the situation of the Central Powers became catastrophic: there were no reserves for the army, the scale of hunger, transport disruption and the fuel crisis were growing. Entente countries began to receive significant assistance from the United States (food, manufactured goods, and later reinforcements), while strengthening the economic blockade of Germany. Their victory by depleting the Central Powers was only a matter of time, even without offensive operations. At the same time, the factors that caused the aggravation of the internal crisis in the countries of the Fourth Union strongly affected also the most important ally for England and France - Russia. Before the war, the main flow of its trade was conducted through the ports of the Baltic and Black Seas, which were blocked with the beginning of the war with Germany and with the entry into the war of the Ottoman Empire.All other trade routes did not play a significant role and could not provide a significant trade flow. The urgent measures taken to complete the Trans-Siberian Railway (completed in 1916) and to build a port on the Arctic Ocean (today Murmansk) could not fundamentally turn the tide. Russia became a weak link in the Entente bloc. This began to manifest itself in the strongest way for Russia in 1917.

After the October Revolution, the Bolshevik government, which came to power under the slogan of ending the war, concluded a truce on December 15 with Germany and its allies, the German leadership had hope for a favorable outcome for the war.

The main theaters of operations

After realizing the strategic failures of 1916, the German command in the person of Hindenburg and Ludendorff refused to attempt an offensive and decided to withdraw to a defensive defense on all land fronts, it now intended to deliver a powerful blow to the economy of the main enemy - England - through an "unlimited submarine war". Between March 15 and 20, 1917, the German command withdrew its troops from the dangerous Noyon ledge to a previously fortified position, known as the Hindenburg Line. This shortened the front line and freed up considerable forces (13 divisions), which were to be used to counter the expected Anglo-French offensive. On February 1, the German government announced the start of unlimited submarine warfare. From now on, any merchant ship could be the object of a military attack without any warning and search. The purpose of the military campaign at sea was England. The calculation of the German command was based on causing substantial damage to its trade and military transport in order to get it out of the war. “The size of the British tonnage (...) in 1916 was expressed in the figure of 6.75 million tons, and the neutral in 3 million tons. In addition, England had at its disposal enemy ships captured at the beginning of the war with a total tonnage of about 1 million tons. Thus, England was fed and supplied by means of 10,75 million tons. If, under commercial submarine warfare, limited by observance of prize law, boats drowned 350 thousand tons per month, then subject to unlimited submarine warfare and the ability to heat steamers without warning, boats can destroy 600 thousand tons per month. In addition, it was taken into account that with the declaration of merciless submarine war, 2/3 of neutral shipping, while still engaged in the delivery of goods to England, would cease their activities. Therefore, after 5 months, England will lose 39% of the tonnage necessary for the supply of supplies. "Such losses, apart from others from any accident, are enough for the country to be defeated."then, subject to unlimited submarine warfare and the possibility of drowning ships without warning, boats can destroy 600 thousand tons per month. In addition, it was taken into account that with the declaration of merciless submarine war, 2/3 of neutral shipping, while still engaged in the delivery of goods to England, would cease their activities. Therefore, after 5 months, England will lose 39% of the tonnage necessary for the supply of supplies. "Such losses, apart from others from any accident, are enough for the country to be defeated."then, subject to unlimited submarine warfare and the possibility of drowning ships without warning, boats can destroy 600 thousand tons per month. In addition, it was taken into account that with the declaration of merciless submarine war, 2/3 of neutral shipping, while still engaged in the delivery of goods to England, would cease their activities. Therefore, after 5 months, England will lose 39% of the tonnage necessary for the supply of supplies. "Such losses, apart from others from any accident, are enough for the country to be defeated."so that the country is defeated ”so that the country is defeated ”^[62] US entry into the war against Germany was expected, but it was estimated that active participation in the war would be possible only in 1918 (this happened), and before that England would be forced to withdraw from the war. The forces of the submarine fleet accumulated before that allowed Germany to begin active underwater operations. Initially, these actions brought Germany success. “The total tonnage of Entente vessels sunk in February amounted to 781.5 thousand (while for the whole of 1916 vessels with a displacement of 1125 thousand tons were sunk), in March - 885 thousand, in April - 1091 thousand. Over half of this tonnage belonged to England ” ^[63]. German submarines literally terrorized coastal areas. The objects of attacks were even fishing sailing vessels, which, in order not to spend torpedoes, were drowned by artillery. Nevertheless, Germany’s calculations for Britain’s exit from the war did not materialize. The introduction of the convoy system of shipping, the streamlining of maritime trade, greatly reduced losses. But most of all, the fact that the United States entered the war played a role, which made it possible to exert pressure on neutral countries, which was previously unthinkable and suppress the latest opportunities for Germany to receive food and raw materials through neutral countries. “On May 7, 1917, the US Senate authorizes the president to impose an embargo on exports to neutral European countries. In May, Sweden still exported iron, copper, rubber to Germany, and in June America banned the supply of Scandinavian countries with food products,if they do not stop supplying materials to Germany (...) American controllers were sent to Europe to monitor shipments. On August 27, 1917, the United States, and in October other countries, embarked on the greatest act of economic blockade - a general embargo on all export to neutral countries neighboring Germany. ”^[64] . These measures affected the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries, which were forced to practically stop trade with Germany. There was also pressure on the countries of Latin America, in the ports of which the German merchant fleet was interned. Now they began to declare war on Germany, and this fleet came at the disposal of the Entente. The measures taken as a result completely disrupted the calculations of Germany. Although Germany sank 6.35 million tons of merchant ships in 1917, it did not lead England out of the war. Although Germany continued to recover losses in submarines and active submarine operations continued from Germany until the very end of the war, their effectiveness declined. In 1918, Germany managed to inflict losses of only 2.74 million tons. ^[65]. At the same time, the internal economic situation of Germany and its allies worsened even more.

The Petrograd Conference of the Entente countries was held on February 1–20, 1917 , at which the plans of the 1917 campaign and, unofficially, the internal political situation in Russia were discussed.

General Nikolai Golovin wrote that by December 31, 1916, there were 6.9 million people in the army. However, this number does not include another 2.2 million people belonging to spare parts, and 350 thousand people reporting to the Minister of War (they were counted separately, in contrast to the army, subordinate to the Supreme Commander). Putting all these units together, we get 9.45 million people.

On April 6, the United States came out on the side of the Entente (after the so-called “ Zimmermann telegram ”), which finally changed the balance of power in favor of the Entente, but the Nivelles offensive that began in April was unsuccessful, the French suffered heavy losses. Insurgencies began in the French army , soldiers refused to obey, left the trenches. A wave of strikes took place at the French military factories. Nivelle was removed from the post of commander in chief of the French army, General Petain was appointed in his place .

Private operations in the area of ​​the city of Messin , on the Ypres River , near Verdun and near Cambrai , where tanks were first used in large numbers, did not change the general situation on the Western Front.

In May, General John Pershing was appointed commander of the American Expeditionary Force and arrived in France in June. Separate American units took part in the fighting in July - October, and by the beginning of 1918 four divisions were equipped and trained, consisting of volunteers from the National Army - military units created by the US Congress specifically to participate in hostilities in Europe - and the National Guard , and received by draft in the Regular Army.

On the Eastern Front, due to the anti-war ^{[66] [67] [68]} agitation by the revolutionary parties and the populist policies of the Provisional Government, the Russian army decomposed and lost combat effectiveness. The offensive undertaken in June by the forces of the Southwestern Front failed and the front armies retreated 50-100 km. On the Western front, the offensive Krevskaya operation, despite the brilliant work of Russian artillery, did not lead to a breakthrough of the enemy’s front. However, despite the fact that the Russian army lost its ability to engage in active hostilities, the Central Powers, which had suffered enormous losses in the 1916 campaign, could no longer use the opportunity that had been created for themselves to inflict a decisive defeat on Russia and withdraw it from the war by military means.

On the Eastern Front, the German army was limited only to private operations, which did not affect the strategic position of Germany. During the Riga operation in early September, the Germans occupied Riga, and as a result of Operation Albion, German troops captured the islands of Dago and Ezel in October and forced the Russian fleet to leave the Gulf of Riga .

Other theaters of operations

On the Italian front in October - November, the Austro-Hungarian army inflicted a major defeat on the Italian army at Caporetto and advanced 100-150 km into Italy, reaching the approaches to Venice. Only with the help of the British and French troops deployed in Italy did the Austrian offensive stop.

In 1917, a relative calm was established on the Thessaloniki Front . In April 1917, the Allied forces (which consisted of English , French , Serbian , Italian and Russian troops) conducted an offensive operation that brought the Entente troops insignificant tactical results. However, this offensive could not change the situation on the Thessaloniki front.

Due to the extremely harsh winter of 1916-1917, the Russian Caucasian Army did not conduct any active actions in the mountains. In order not to incur unnecessary losses from frost and disease, Yudenich left only combat guards at the achieved lines, and placed the main forces in the valleys in the settlements. In early March, the 1st Caucasian Cavalry Corps of General Baratov defeated the Persian group of Turks and, capturing the important road junction in Sinnach (Senendezh) and the city of Kermanshah in Persia, moved southwest towards the Euphrates to meet the British. In mid-March, parts of the 1st Caucasian Cossack Division of Raddats and the 3rd Kuban Division, covering more than 400 km, allied with the allies at Kizyl Rabat (Iraq). Thus, Turkey lost Mesopotamia.

After the February Revolution, active hostilities by the Russian army on the Caucasus Front were not conducted, and after the Bolshevik government concluded in December 1917, the armistice with the countries of the Fourth Union ceased completely.

At first, the Turkish army managed to stop the English offensive in Mesopotamia, and an attempt was made with the help of Germany to block the Suez Canal. But in 1917 on the Mesopotamian front, British troops achieved significant success. Increasing the number of troops to 55 thousand people, the British army launched a decisive offensive in Mesopotamia . The British captured a number of the most important cities: El Kut (January), Baghdad (March), and others. The British managed to arm the Bedouins of the Arabian Peninsula and provoke an uprising against the Turks, which aimed to create a single Arab state. Colonel Thomas Lawrence , at first an archaeologist, and after the end of the war, the author of memoirs widely known in the West, played a large role in this enterprise .

On the side of the British troops, volunteers from the Arab population fought, who met the advancing British troops as liberators. Also, by early 1917, British troops invaded Palestine, where fierce battles broke out near Gaza . In October, bringing the number of their troops to 90 thousand, the British launched a decisive offensive at Gaza, and the Turks were forced to retreat. The British by the end of 1917 captured a number of settlements: Jaffa , Jerusalem and Jericho .

In East Africa, the German colonial troops under the command of Colonel Lett-Forbeck , significantly inferior in number to the enemy, offered continuous resistance and in November 1917, under pressure from the Anglo-Portuguese-Belgian troops, invaded the territory of the Portuguese colony of Mozambique .

Diplomatic efforts

On July 19, 1917, the German Reichstag adopted a resolution on the need for peace by mutual agreement and without annexations . But on the part of the governments of England, France and the United States, this resolution did not meet with a sympathetic response. In August 1917, Pope Benedict XV offered his mediation to make peace. However, the Entente governments also rejected the papal proposal, as Germany stubbornly refused to give explicit consent to the restoration of Belgium's independence ^[69] .

1918 Campaign

Russia's exit from the war

The decisive victories of the Entente

Trenches on the Western Front

After concluding peace treaties with the Ukrainian People's Republic , Soviet Russia and Romania and the liquidation of the Eastern Front, Germany was able to concentrate almost all of its forces on the Western Front and try to inflict a decisive defeat on the Anglo-French forces before the main forces of the American army arrive at the front.

The German army in the winter of 1917/18 was intensely preparing for offensive operations. Based on a generalization of the experience of offensive battles, an instruction “Offensive in a positional war” (repeatedly supplemented) was developed and published in January. The divisions designated for the offensive were withdrawn from the front line. They were trained to conduct attacks in accordance with the new instructions and equipped with everything necessary for an offensive battle. ^[70]The new tactic was characterized by a rejection of the desire to achieve the complete destruction of enemy fortifications and the neutralization of his infantry and artillery by the massive use of chemical shells and the action of mortars. The surprise of the attack, a short but massive artillery preparation, had to be ensured. Instead of a wide offensive flow, specially trained and armed units were to move towards enemy positions.

“The strength of the first strike should stun and demoralize the enemy. The strike is provided with powerful support for the mass of mortars and guns (up to 100 guns per 1 km of the front). Continuity of action, as stated in the instructions, is achieved by the fact that once an attack has begun, it must develop non-stop to the greatest possible depth. The speed of advancement is a consequence of the paralysis of the enemy fire system. ” ^[71]

In March - July, the German army launched a powerful offensivein Picardy, Flanders, on the rivers En and Marne, and during fierce battles, it advanced 40–70 km. For the first time, effective tactics of breaking through a fortified enemy front were demonstrated. The positional Western front, almost frozen for 3 years, came into motion. During the period of March 21-July 17, 1918, German troops broke through the fortified fronts and made significant progress, despite the absence of significant superiority in forces and a small number of new types of weapons (tanks). All Germany was rejoicing, it seemed to the Germans that, finally, they had found a way and a means to a victorious end to the war. By the summer of 1918, German troops appeared in areas previously occupied in 1914. Then Germany began shelling Paris from a long-range gun of the Paris gun. The last German offensive on July 15, 1918 was considered by the German command as decisive and bore the corresponding name - “Battle for Peace” ^[72] .

“When the first telegrams about the passage through the Marne and the movement to Paris arrived in Germany, an indescribable excitement swept the country. Observers say that joy, a sense of deliverance from danger, confidence in an imminent victory were so strong that they even drowned out the distrust that was usual in recent times. The end of four years of torment suddenly became near, the reward for all the incredible sacrifices and long suffering was evident. " ^[73] It also found a peculiar reflection in historical memoirs. In his memoirs, the former commander of the German troops E. Ludendorff complains that at that time “many Germans, with their characteristic itching chatter and the desire to show off their awareness, announced the most important and secret affairs and thereby informed the enemy about them” ^[74]

However, the German army could not finally defeat the enemy, take Paris. The limited human and material resources of Germany during the war years were depleted, the Anglo-French-American command had significant reserves, transferred them to the front of the breakthrough, and in stubborn defensive battles it achieved stabilization of the situation. By the summer of 1918, German troops suffered huge losses and almost exhausted their last reserves, including those obtained due to the transfer of troops from the Eastern Front.

In addition, having occupied the vast territories of the former Russian Empire after the signing of the Brest Peace, the German command was forced to leave large forces in the east to maintain control over them, which negatively affected the course of hostilities against the Entente ^[75] . General Kul , the chief of staff of the Army Group of Prince Ruprecht, determines the number of German troops on the Western Front at about 3.6 million; on the Eastern Front, including Romania and excluding Turkey, there were about 1 million people ^[76] .

The German command showed a characteristic inability to concentrate efforts on the main direction of the strike. Despite the fact that the Eastern Front ceased to pose a threat by the beginning of 1918, Germany continued to hold significant forces there and carry out aggressive plans. This is reflected in the statements of the head of the Soviet government V.I. Lenin. In a report on the foreign policy situation of the Soviet Republic on May 14, 1918, he wrote: "The German capitalists prefer to remain on the basis of the Brest Treaty, by no means, I repeat, without abandoning its" improvement " ^[77]. Even after the agreement was signed, the German command repeatedly gave orders to advance the troops and occupy another area, to occupy another territory. In the midst of the German offensive in the West, which decided the fate of the entire war, Germany launched an offensive in June 1918 and occupied Crimea and Sevastopol, partially seized the Black Sea Fleet, while the bulk of the fleet went to Novorossiysk. After that, Germany carried out an amphibious landing on the Kuban and began to develop an offensive on Novorossiysk in order to completely capture the fleet. By order of the Soviet government, the bulk of the Black Sea Fleet was flooded between June 18-19, 1918.

In May, American troops began to operate at the front under the command of General Pershing . In July - August there was a second battle on the Marne, which marked the beginning of the Entente counteroffensive. The turning point was designated on August 8, 1918, which was called the "black day of the German army" and when the decline in combat effectiveness of the German troops was quite evident. On this day, according to the statement of the former commander E. Ludendorff, 6-7 German divisions were utterly defeated. According to him, on that day he heard from reports of combat officers about such things “which he considered impossible in the German army, our soldiers surrendered to individual enemy riders, closed units stacked weapons in front of the tank. The retreating troops shouted “Strikebreakers!” To one fresh division, which bravely went on the attack. They still have little war! ". These words were repeated even later. In many parts, the officers no longer had influence and sailed with the flow ” ^[78] The Entente offensive began on this day. By the end of September, the Entente forces eliminated the results of the previous German offensive in a series of operations. During the further general offensive in October - early November, most of the occupied territory of France and part of the Belgian territory were liberated.

On October 4-5, 1918, Germany announced its acceptance of the “14 points” of US President Wilson as the basis for peace negotiations (see Wilson’s Fourteen Points ). Thus, Germany actually acknowledged its defeat, renounced all its territorial acquisitions of the 19th century, Alsace and Lorraine, provided for the organization of independent Poland, including from the territories of Germany (Poznan district, etc.). Nevertheless, hostilities continued, largely due to the refusal of Emperor Wilhelm from the abdication, which the Allies set as a condition. The Allies also made demands aimed at the impossibility for Germany of a renewal of the war (surrender of weapons, disarmament of the fleet, etc.) ^[79]. In the context of the progressive collapse of the front in the West and a decrease in the combat effectiveness of the ground forces, the German command frantically searched for ways to improve the negotiation positions. To this end, it began planning a new naval battle. According to the Navy commander, the focus in the upcoming battle was to be on the actions of the submarine fleet, in connection with which his actions against merchant shipping were discontinued. As a result, the offensive strength of the fleet increased significantly. The surface fleet was supposed to participate in ensuring the operation of the underwater, as well as the laying of mines. It was planned to inflict significant damage to the enemy with the prospect of resuming submarine warfare. ^[80]In real conditions, the demand for a new “bold feat” was perceived by the fleet as a demand for a “battle of death” and an order to concentrate ships, the threat of aimless death was the spark that produced a long-coming explosion (the beginning of the German revolution) ^[81] .

At the Italian Theater, Austria-Hungary also tried to launch an offensive, which took place in June 1918, but it also did not succeed. in late October, Italian forces defeated the Austro-Hungarian army at Vittorio Veneto and liberated Italian territory captured by the enemy the previous year.

The collapse of the block of the Fourth Union began with Bulgaria. Bulgaria in the summer of 1918 was completely exhausted by the war. The German command withdrew the bulk of its forces from the Balkan Front for an offensive on the Western Front. As a result, the Balkan front was weakened and held only by Bulgarian troops. Bulgaria was not able to carry out the offensive and could only hold the front. Meanwhile, the Entente was preparing the offensive and, by attracting the forces of Greece and Italy, was able to achieve significant superiority in the number of troops, as well as in armament. By the beginning of the offensive, 600 thousand Anglo-Franco-Serbo-Greek-Italian forces were opposed by 400 thousand Bulgarian troops with a small number of German troops. The Entente offensive began on September 15 at the Balkan Theaterand the front was immediately broken through to a depth of 30 km. Bulgarian troops stampeded, surrendered by the thousands, dropped their weapons, scattered in all directions, without even seeing the enemy. There was a determined unwillingness to fight further. Already on September 26, Bulgaria turned (...) to a truce. There was no way to resist further, despite the hasty sending of German and Austrian reinforcements ^[82]. On September 29, the Bulgarians signed conditions that were tantamount to complete surrender. Germany’s attempts to keep Bulgaria on its side by sending new German troops were unsuccessful. October 3, King Ferdinand abdicated in favor of his son Boris and went to Hungary. The whole of Bulgaria, with its railways and all the means of the country, came into the full possession of the Entente, which made inevitable the opening of new fronts against Austria and Turkey with their surrender. All this made the position of Germany completely hopeless. On October 1, in Germany, a new cabinet was formed, headed by Prince Max Baden, to begin peace negotiations on the Entente and to accept 14 points of US President Wilson. By November 1st Entente troops liberated the territory of Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, entered after the armistice on the territory of Bulgaria and invaded the territory of Austria-Hungary.

On September 29, a truce with the Entente was concluded by Bulgaria , October 30  - Turkey , November 3  - Austria-Hungary , November 11  - Germany .

Other theaters of operations

There was a lull on the Mesopotamian front throughout 1918, hostilities ended on November 14 , when the British army, not meeting resistance from the Turkish troops, occupied Mosul . There was also a lull in Palestine; the fate of the war was decided in the main theaters of operations. In the fall of 1918, the British army launched an offensive and occupied Nazareth , the Turkish army was surrounded and defeated. Having captured Palestine, the British invaded Syria . The fighting here ended on October 30 .

In Africa, German forces, cramped by superior enemy forces, continued to resist very successfully. After leaving Mozambique , the Germans invaded the territory of the English colony of Northern Rhodesia . Only when the Germans learned about the defeat of Germany in the war did their colonial troops (which totaled only 1,400 people) finally lay down their arms.

The outcome of the war

Political Results

Six months later, Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles ( June 28, 1919 ), drawn up by the victorious states at the Paris Peace Conference and officially ended the First World War.

Peace treaties with:

• Germany ( Treaty of Versailles )
• Austria ( Saint-Germain Treaty )
• Bulgaria ( Neuilly Agreement )
• Hungary ( Treaty of Trianon )
• Turkey ( Sevres Peace Treaty ).

The results of the First World War were the February and October revolutions in Russia and the November revolution in Germany, the liquidation of four empires: the Russian , German , Ottoman empires and Austria-Hungary , the latter two breaking up into separate states.

Germany suffered the greatest losses in the war. The defeat in the war and the pressure of the victorious countries caused the November Revolution and the change of the political regime in the country. Germany ceased to be a monarchy, the parliamentary form of government in the country was established and maintained. Germany remained a single country, but was cut back territorially and economically weakened. The feeling of defeat in the most difficult war, the difficult conditions for the Versailles Peace for Germany ( reparations , etc.), the national humiliation suffered by it, generated revanchist sentiments and the desire to see the result of the activity of internal enemies in the defeat (for example, the legend of stabbing in the back ), all this became one of the prerequisites for the coming to power of the Nazis led byAdolf Hitler , which led to the fact that in September 1939 Germany launched the Second World War , which became a stage on the way to the national disaster of 1945.

For the victorious countries of England and France, the losses suffered were extremely sensitive. Losses in the war of 1939-1945, despite a significantly longer duration, were more than 2 times less than losses in the war of 1914-1918. ^[83]A direct consequence of the war of 1914-1918. they became extremely tired and unprepared for active international politics, which was especially pronounced during the period of the 1930s when the Nazis came to power in Germany. “A collective rebuff to the aggressors did not exclude the use of force against them. Protecting the world required courage, will and willingness to sacrifice. But the idea of ​​sacrifices for people who only recently survived the war seemed monstrous. Public opinion in countries where it meant a lot, especially in England and France, was categorically against new battles ” ^[84] . For example, in the Anglo-German Declaration signed in Munich following the results of the conference in 1938, it was noted that the parties are considering the Munich Agreement , as well as the one signed back in 1935.the Anglo-German agreement “as symbolizing the desire of our two peoples to never fight each other again”. The parties declared their determination to eliminate possible sources of disagreement by the “method of consultation” ^[85] .

For another victorious country - the USA - the losses in the war were absolutely and relatively small, the US economic situation improved significantly during the war. But US public opinion was disappointed with the results of victory and the postwar world order. In general, American society was inclined to believe that the opponents were mutually responsible for the outbreak of war (the usual definition of war as a “dynastic swara”), was disappointed by the facts of secret diplomacy of its allies made public (secret treaties were made public by the Soviet authorities after 1917), and suspected them of that they just used the US to their advantage. During the post-war settlement, the principle of self-determination of peoples was often violated, the practice of colonialism continued, and the German colonies were actually redistributed by the victors.The United States refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles and to participate inLeague of Nations . In 1935, the US adopted the Law on Neutrality, which limited the possibility of interference in foreign military conflicts. In the event of a military conflict somewhere, the president was supposed to ban the export of weapons to warring states, as well as to ban Americans from sailing on ships of these states. This increased the chances of aggressors to succeed ^[86] .

For the victorious country of Italy, the results of the war were also disappointing. Italy suffered significant losses in the war, although less than England and France, but also significantly heavy. Italy received territorial acquisitions, the last areas inhabited by Italians. Thus, the unification of Italy was finally completed. Italy also received the region of South Tyrol and the Istrian peninsula, inhabited mainly in the first case by Austrian Germans, and in the second by Slavic peoples, but who had a significant Italian minority. But when Italy demanded the annexation of even larger territories in the Balkans in violation of the principle of self-determination of peoples, it was refused this (while Italy was able to annex areas with the Croatian port cities of Rijeka , Zadar, as well as a number of islands in the Adriatic Sea). The factual acquisition of Turkish territories in Asia Minor was disrupted as a result of the revolutionary regime change in Turkey, the overthrow of the Sultan power and the establishment of the Turkish Republic (see. The War of Turkish Independence) Italy did not receive German colonies. All this was painfully perceived by the military-political circles of Italy, who declared Italy "a defeated country in the camp of victors." Italy during the war proved to be a major debtor to the United States and Britain (the total debt amounted to $ 4 billion) and this led to its significant dependence on external influence. Despite the fact that the war slightly affected the territory of Italy, the economic situation in Italy was very difficult due to the high costs of the war, inflation increased during the war years. After the war, a large number of people from the army were demobilized, and after the curtailment of military production, an economic recession ensued. As a result, unemployment has skyrocketed. In 1919-1920 Italy survived the Red Biennium, a surge in the activity of the workers 'and peasants' movement. As a result, Italian workers have achieved the establishment of an 8-hour working day and other measures to alleviate the situation. After achieving the goals of improving the material situation, the revolutionary movement began to decline, and in conditions of economic chaos, anti-democratic forces, especially fascism, gained strength. In 1921 and 1922 Italy survived the “black biennium”, culminating in a campaign in Rome of black shirts led by Benito Mussolini and the establishment of a fascist regime.