World War I 1914 - 1918 became one of the most bloody and large-scale conflicts in human history. It began on July 28, 1914 and ended on November 11, 1918. 38 states participated in this conflict. If we talk briefly about the causes of the First World War, then we can say with confidence that this conflict was provoked by serious economic contradictions of the unions of world powers that formed at the beginning of the century. It is also worth noting that, probably, there was a possibility of a peaceful settlement of these contradictions. However, feeling the increased power, Germany and Austria-Hungary moved to more decisive action.

Participants of the First World War were:

• on the one hand, the Quadruple Alliance, which included Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey (Ottoman Empire);
• on the other block, the Entente, which was made up of Russia, France, England and allied countries (Italy, Romania and many others).

The outbreak of World War I was provoked by the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife by a member of a Serbian nationalist terrorist organization. The murder committed by Gavrilo Princip provoked a conflict between Austria and Serbia. Germany supported Austria and entered the war.

The course of the First World War is divided by historians into five separate military campaigns.

The beginning of the military campaign of 1914 is dated July 28. On August 1, Germany, which entered the war, declares war on Russia, and on August 3 on France. German troops invade Luxembourg and later Belgium. In 1914, the most important events of the First World War unfolded in France and today are known as the “Run to the Sea”. In an effort to surround the enemy troops, both armies moved to the coast, where the front line eventually closed. France retained control of the port cities. Gradually the front line stabilized. The calculation of the German command for a quick capture of France did not materialize. Since the forces of both sides were exhausted, the war took on a positional character. Such are the events on the Western Front.

Military operations on the Eastern Front began on August 17. The Russian army launched an attack on the eastern part of Prussia and initially it turned out to be quite successful. The victory in the Battle of Galicia (August 18) was accepted by the majority of society with joy. After this battle, Austrian troops no longer entered into serious battles with Russia in 1914.

Events in the Balkans did not develop too well either. Belgrade, captured earlier by Austria, was recaptured by the Serbs. There were no active battles in Serbia this year. In the same year, 1914, Japan also came out against Germany, which allowed Russia to secure the Asian borders. Japan began to take action to seize the island colonies of Germany. However, the Ottoman Empire entered the war on the side of Germany, opening the Caucasian front and depriving Russia of convenient communication with the allied countries. According to the results at the end of 1914, none of the countries participating in the conflict was able to achieve their goals.

The second campaign in the chronology of the First World War dates from 1915. On the Western Front there were fierce military clashes. Both France and Germany made desperate attempts to turn the tide in their favor. However, the huge losses suffered by both sides did not lead to serious results. In fact, the front line by the end of 1915 had not changed. Neither the spring offensive of the French in Artois, nor the operations transported to Champagne and Artois in the autumn changed the situation.

The situation on the Russian front has changed for the worse. The winter offensive of the poorly prepared Russian army soon turned into the August counteroffensive of the Germans. And as a result of the Gorlitsky breakthrough of the German troops, Russia lost Galicia and, later, Poland. Historians note that in many ways the Great Retreat of the Russian army was provoked by a supply crisis. The front stabilized only by autumn. The German troops occupied the west of the Volyn province and partially repeated the pre-war borders with Austria-Hungary. The position of the troops, just as in France, contributed to the beginning of a positional war.

1915 was marked by Italy's entry into the war (May 23). Despite the fact that the country was a member of the Quadruple Alliance, it announced the start of the war against Austria-Hungary. But on October 14, Bulgaria declared war on the Entente alliance, which led to the complication of the situation in Serbia and its imminent fall.

During the military campaign of 1916, one of the most famous battles of the First World War, Verdun, took place. In an effort to suppress the resistance of France, the German command concentrated huge forces in the area of ​​the Verdun ledge, hoping to overcome the Anglo-French defenses. During this operation, from February 21 to December 18, up to 750 thousand soldiers of England and France and up to 450 thousand German soldiers died. The battle of Verdun is also known for the fact that for the first time a new type of weapon was used - a flamethrower. However, the greatest effect of this weapon was psychological. To assist the allies, an offensive operation was undertaken on the Western Russian front, called the Brusilov breakthrough. This forced Germany to transfer serious forces to the Russian front and somewhat eased the position of the allies.

It should be noted that hostilities developed not only on land. Between the blocks of the strongest world powers there was a fierce confrontation on the water. It was in the spring of 1916 that one of the main battles of the First World War took place on the Jutland Sea. In general, at the end of the year, the Entente bloc became dominant. The proposal of the Quadruple Alliance for peace was rejected.

During the military campaign of 1917, the preponderance of forces in the direction of the Entente increased even more and the United States joined the obvious winners. But the weakening of the economies of all countries participating in the conflict, as well as the growth of revolutionary tension, led to a decrease in military activity. The German command decides on a strategic defense on the land fronts, while at the same time focusing on attempts to withdraw England from the war using the submarine fleet. In the winter of 1916-17 there were no active hostilities in the Caucasus either. The situation in Russia has deteriorated to the maximum. In fact, after the October events, the country withdrew from the war.

1918 brought the most important victories to the Entente, which led to the end of the First World War.

After the actual withdrawal from the war of Russia, Germany managed to eliminate the eastern front. She made peace with Romania, Ukraine, Russia. The terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, concluded between Russia and Germany in March 1918, turned out to be the most difficult for the country, but this agreement was soon canceled.

Subsequently, Germany occupied the Baltic States, Poland and partly Belarus, after which it threw all its forces to the Western Front. But, thanks to the technical superiority of the Entente, the German troops were defeated. After Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria made peace with the Entente countries, Germany was on the brink of disaster. Due to revolutionary events, Emperor Wilhelm leaves his country. November 11, 1918 Germany signs the act of surrender.

According to modern data, the losses in the First World War amounted to 10 million soldiers. Accurate data on casualties among the civilian population does not exist. Presumably, due to difficult living conditions, epidemics and famine, twice as many people died.

Following the results of the First World War, Germany had to pay reparations to the allies for 30 years. She lost 1/8 of her territory, and the colonies went to the victorious countries. The banks of the Rhine were occupied by the Allied forces for 15 years. Also, Germany was forbidden to have an army of more than 100 thousand people. Strict restrictions were imposed on all types of weapons.

But, the consequences of the First World War also affected the situation in the victorious countries. Their economies, with the possible exception of the United States, were in a difficult state. The standard of living of the population dropped sharply, the national economy fell into decay. At the same time, the military monopolies enriched themselves. For Russia, the First World War became a serious destabilizing factor that largely influenced the development of the revolutionary situation in the country and caused the subsequent civil war.

The First World War began in 1914 after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and lasted until 1918. In the conflict, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire (Central Powers) fought Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan, and the United States (Allied Powers).

Thanks to new military technology and the horrors of trench warfare, World War I was unprecedented in terms of bloodshed and destruction. By the time the war ended and the victory of the Allied Powers, more than 16 million people, both soldiers and civilians, were dead.

The beginning of the first world war

Tension hung over Europe, especially in the problematic Balkan region and southeastern Europe, long before the actual start of the First World War. Some alliances that included European powers, the Ottoman Empire, Russia and other powers had existed for years, but political instability in the Balkans (in particular Bosnia, Serbia and Herzegovina) threatened to destroy these agreements.

The spark that ignited the First World War originated in Sarajevo (Bosnia), where Archduke Franz Ferdinand - heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire - was shot dead along with his wife Sofia by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip on June 28, 1914. Princip and other nationalists were fed up with Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The assassination of Franz Ferdinand set off a fast-paced chain of events: Austria-Hungary, like many other countries around the world, blamed the Serbian government for the attack and hoped to use the incident to settle the issue of Serbian nationalism once and for all under the pretense of restoring justice.

But because of Russia's support for Serbia, Austria-Hungary delayed declaring war until their leaders received confirmation from the German ruler, Kaiser Wilhelm II, that Germany would support their cause. Austria-Hungary was afraid that the Russian intervention would also attract Russia's allies - France, and possibly Great Britain.

On July 5, Kaiser Wilhelm secretly pledged his support, giving Austria-Hungary the so-called carte blanche to take action and the assurance that Germany would be on their side in case of war. The dualistic Monarchy of Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia with conditions so harsh that they could not be accepted.

Convinced that Austria-Hungary is preparing for war, the Serbian government orders the mobilization of the army and asks for help from Russia. July 28 Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia and the fragile peace between the greatest European powers collapses. For a week, Russia, Belgium, France, Great Britain and Serbia oppose Austria-Hungary and Germany. Thus began the First World War.

Western Front

Under an aggressive military strategy known as the Schlieffen Plan (named for the Chief of the German General Staff, General Alfred von Schlieffen), Germany began fighting World War I on two fronts, invading France through neutral Belgium in the west and confronting powerful Russia in the east. .

On August 4, 1914, German troops crossed the Belgian border. In the first battle of the First World War, the Germans laid siege to the well-fortified city of Liege. They used the most powerful weapon in their arsenal, heavy artillery pieces, and captured the city by 15 August. Leaving death and destruction in their wake, including the execution of civilians and the execution of a Belgian priest who was suspected of organizing civil resistance, the Germans advanced through Belgium towards France.

In the first battle of the Marne, which took place on September 6-9, French and British troops entered the battle with the German army, which had penetrated deep into French territory from the northeast and was already 50 kilometers from Paris. Allied forces halted the German advance and launched a successful counterattack, driving the Germans back north of the Ein River.

The defeat meant the end of the German plans for a quick victory over France. Both sides dug in trenches, and the western front turned into a hellish war of extermination that lasted more than three years.

Particularly long and major battles of the campaign took place at Verdun (February-December 1916) and on the Somme (July-November 1916). The combined losses of the German and French armies amount to about a million casualties in the Battle of Verdun alone.

The bloodshed on the battlefields of the western front and the hardships faced by the soldiers over the years inspired such works as All Quiet on the Western Front and In Flanders Fields by Canadian doctor Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae.

Eastern front

On the eastern front of the First World War, Russian troops invaded the German-controlled regions of Eastern and Poland, but were stopped by German and Austrian forces at the Battle of Tannenberg in late August 1914.

Despite this victory, the Russian attack forced Germany to transfer 2 corps from the western to the eastern front, which ultimately had an impact on the German defeat at the Battle of the Marne.
The fierce allied resistance in France, coupled with the ability to quickly mobilize Russia's huge war machine, led to a longer and more exhausting military confrontation than the quick victory plan that Germany had hoped for under the Schlieffen plan.

Revolution in Russia

From 1914 to 1916, the Russian army launched several attacks on the eastern front, but the Russian Army was unable to break through the German defensive lines.

The defeats on the battlefields, coupled with economic instability and a shortage of food and basic necessities, led to growing discontent among the bulk of the Russian population, especially among the poor workers and peasants. The increased hostility was directed against the monarchical regime of Emperor Nicholas II and his extremely unpopular German-born wife.

Russian instability exceeded the boiling point, which resulted in the Russian Revolution of 1917, led by and. The revolution ended monarchical rule and led to the end of Russia's participation in the First World War. Russia reached an agreement to cease hostilities with the Central Powers in early December 1917, freeing German troops to fight the remaining Allies on the western front.

USA enters World War I

At the outbreak of hostilities in 1914, the United States preferred to remain on the sidelines, adhering to President Woodrow Wilson's policy of neutrality. At the same time, they maintained commercial relations and trade with European countries on both sides of the conflict.

Neutrality, however, became more difficult to maintain as German submarines became aggressive against neutral ships, even those carrying only passengers. In 1915, Germany declared the waters around the British Isles a war zone and German submarines sank several commercial and passenger ships, including US ships.

Widespread public outcry was caused by the sinking of the British transatlantic liner Lusitania by a German submarine en route from New York to Liverpool. Hundreds of Americans were on board, which in May 1915 caused a shift in American public opinion against Germany. In February 1917, the US Congress passed a $250 million arms appropriation bill to enable the US to prepare for war.

Germany sank 4 more US merchant ships in the same month, and on April 2, President Woodrow Wilson appeared before Congress calling for a declaration of war on Germany.

Dardanelles operation and the battle of the Isonzo

When World War I put Europe in a stalemate, the Allies attempted to defeat the Ottoman Empire, which had entered the war on the side of the Central Powers in late 1914.

After a failed attack on the Dardanelles (the strait connecting the Seas of Marmara and the Aegean), Allied troops, led by Britain, landed a large force on the Gallipoli peninsula in April 1915.

The invasion turned out to be a crushing defeat and in January 1916 the Allied forces were forced to make a full retreat from the coast of the peninsula, having suffered losses of 250,000 people.
Young, First Lord of the Admiralty of Great Britain resigned as commander after the lost Gallipoli campaign in 1916, accepting appointment as commander of an infantry battalion in France.

British-led forces also fought in Egypt and Mesopotamia. At the same time, in northern Italy, Austrian and Italian troops met in a series of 12 battles on the banks of the Isonzo River, located on the border of the two states.

The first Battle of the Isonzo took place in the late spring of 1915, shortly after Italy entered the war on the side of the Allies. At the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo, also known as the Battle of Caporetto (October 1917), German reinforcements helped Austria-Hungary win a landslide victory.

After Caporetto, the allies of Italy got involved in the confrontation to provide support to Italy. British and French, and then American troops landed in the region, and Allied troops began to retake their lost positions on the Italian front.

World War I at sea

In the years leading up to the First World War, the superiority of the British Royal Navy was undeniable, but the German Imperial Navy made significant progress in closing the gap between the forces of the two fleets. The strength of the German fleet in open waters was supported by deadly submarines.

After the Battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915, in which Britain launched a surprise attack on German ships in the North Sea, the German Navy chose not to engage the mighty British Royal Navy in major battles for a year, preferring to pursue a strategy of stealth strikes by submarines. .

The largest naval battle of World War I was the Battle of Jutland in the North Sea (May 1916). The battle confirmed British naval superiority, and Germany made no further attempts to lift the Allied naval blockade until the end of the war.

Towards a truce

Germany was able to strengthen its position on the western front after the armistice with Russia, which forced the Allied forces to do their best to contain the German advance until the arrival of the reinforcements promised by the United States.

On July 15, 1918, German troops launched what would become the last attack of the war on French troops, joined by 85,000 American soldiers and the British Expeditionary Force, in the Second Battle of the Marne. The Allies successfully repulsed the German offensive and launched their own counterattack after only 3 days.

Having suffered significant losses, the German forces were forced to abandon the plan to attack in the north in Flanders - the region stretching between France and Belgium. The region seemed particularly important to Germany's prospects for victory.

The Second Battle of the Marne turned the balance of power in favor of the Allies, who were able to take control of large parts of France and Belgium in the following months. By the autumn of 1918, the Central Powers were losing on all fronts. Despite the Turkish victory at Gallipoli, subsequent defeats and the Arab revolt devastated the Ottoman economy and devastated their lands. The Turks were forced to sign a settlement agreement with the Allies at the end of October 1918.

Austria-Hungary, eroded from within by the growing nationalist movement, concluded an armistice on 4 November. The German army was cut off from supplies from the rear and faced with a decrease in resources for combat operations due to the encirclement of Allied troops. This forced Germany to seek an armistice, which she concluded on November 11, 1918, ending the First World War.

Treaty of Versailles

At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, Allied leaders expressed their desire to build a post-war world capable of protecting itself from future destructive conflicts.

Some hopeful conference attendees even called World War I "The War to End All Other Wars." But the Treaty of Versailles, signed on June 28, 1919, did not achieve its goals.

Years later, the hatred of the Germans for the Treaty of Versailles and its authors will be considered one of the main reasons that provoked the Second World War.

Results of the First World War

The First World War claimed the lives of more than 9 million soldiers and more than 21 million were wounded. Losses among the civilian population amounted to about 10 million. Germany and France suffered the most significant losses, sending about 80 percent of their male population between the ages of 15 and 49 to the war.

The collapse of political alliances that accompanied the First World War led to the displacement of 4 monarchical dynasties: German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian and Turkish.

The First World War led to a massive shift in social strata, as millions of women were forced to go into working professions to support the men fighting at the front and replace those who never returned from the battlefields.

The first, such a large-scale war, also caused the spread of one of the world's largest epidemics of the Spanish flu, or "Spanish Flu", which claimed the lives of 20 to 50 million people.

The First World War is also called the "first modern war", as it was the first time that the latest military developments were used in it, such as machine guns, tanks, aircraft and radio transmissions.

The grave consequences caused by the use of chemical weapons such as mustard gas and phosgene against soldiers and civilians have intensified public opinion in the direction of prohibiting their further use as weapons.

Signed in 1925, it banned the use of chemical and biological weapons in armed conflicts to this day.

World War I (1914 - 1918)

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

Chamberlain

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

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

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

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

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

Causes of World War I

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

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

Cause to start a war

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

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

Important nuances of the reason for war

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

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

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

The role of England in starting the war

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

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

Russia before the war

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

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

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

The balance of forces and means before the war and after it

Artillery

	Number of guns	Of these, heavy weapons
Austria-Hungary
Germany

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

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

Armament and military equipment

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

	Shooting	Artillery
United Kingdom
TRIPLE ALLIANCE
Germany
Austria-Hungary

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

Number of people (infantry)

The number of fighting infantry (millions of people).

	At the beginning of the war	By the end of the war	Losses killed
United Kingdom
TRIPLE ALLIANCE
Germany
Austria-Hungary

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

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

The course of the war

Military events of 1914

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

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

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

History reference

German "Schlieffen Plan"

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

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

Northwestern front of Russia in 1914

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

Southwestern Front of Russia

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

The main results of the military campaign of 1914

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

Map of military events in 1914-15

Military events of 1915

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

The situation on the northwestern front

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

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

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

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

The situation on the southwestern front

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

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

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

The situation on the western front

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

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

Military events of 1916

"Verdun meat grinder"

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

Events on the southwestern front in 1916

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

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

Events on the Caucasian and Northwestern Fronts

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

Outcome of 1916 in World War I

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

Military and political events of 1917

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

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

End of the war for Russia

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

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

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

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

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

History reference

Events in the war in 1918

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

Autumn 1918

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

End of World War I

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

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

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

Results of the First World War

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

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

Map of the First World War 1914-1918

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

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Political situation before the conflict

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

To strengthen their positions, the states tried to form unions.

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

Background and objectives of the First World War

Main background and goals:

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

Speaking briefly about the First World War, US President Thomas Woodrow Wilson believed that it did not start for any reason, but cumulatively for all at once.

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

When did World War I start

Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to Serbia to purge all authorities and the army, eliminate persons with anti-Austrian convictions, arrest members of terrorist organizations, and also allow Austrian police to enter Serbia for investigation.

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

July 28th, under the pretext of not complying with the ultimatum, Austro-Hungarian Empire declares war on Serbia. From this date officially count down the time when the First World War began.

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

After the German invasion of neutral Belgium, Britain did not remain neutral, declaring war on the Germans. August 6 Russia declares war on Austria-Hungary. Italy is neutral. August 12 Austria-Hungary begins to fight with Britain and France. Japan opposes Germany on August 23. Further along the chain, more and more new states are involved in the war, one after another, all over the world. The United States of America enters only on December 7, 1917.

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

The main events of the First World War and the role of Russia in the conflict

The main battles are unfolding on the western front, in the direction of Belgium and France, as well as the East - from Russia. With the accession of the Ottoman Empire began a new round of operations in the eastern direction.

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

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

Attention! The field postman wore a lush mustache, but during the gas attack, the mustache prevented him from wearing a gas mask tightly, because of this the postman was severely poisoned. I had to make a small antennae so as not to interfere with wearing a gas mask. The postman was called.

Consequences and results of the First World War for Russia

The results of the war for Russia:

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

Global consequences of the conflict

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

1. Territory. 34 out of 59 states were involved in the theater of operations. This is more than 90% of the Earth's territory.
2. human sacrifice. Every minute 4 soldiers were killed and 9 were injured. In total, about 10 million soldiers; 5 million civilians, 6 million died from epidemics that flared up after the conflict. Russia in World War I lost 1.7 million soldiers.
3. Destruction. A significant part of the territories where hostilities were fought were destroyed.
4. Cardinal changes in the political situation.
5. Economy. Europe lost a third of its gold and foreign exchange reserves, which led to a difficult economic situation in almost all countries except Japan and the United States.

The results of the armed conflict:

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

The role of Russia in the 1st world war

Results of the First World War for Russia

Conclusion

Russia in the First World War 1914-1918 had victories and defeats. When the First World War ended, she received the main defeat not from an external enemy, from herself, an internal conflict that put an end to the empire. Who won the conflict is unclear. Although the Entente with its allies is considered the winner, but their economic condition was deplorable. They did not have time to recover, even before the start of the next conflict.

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

WORLD WAR I
(July 28, 1914 - November 11, 1918), the first military conflict on a global scale, in which 38 of the 59 independent states that existed at that time were involved. About 73.5 million people were mobilized; 9.5 million of them were killed and died from wounds, more than 20 million were injured, 3.5 million were left crippled.
Main reasons. The search for the causes of the war leads to 1871, when the process of unification of Germany was completed and the hegemony of Prussia was consolidated in the German Empire. Under Chancellor O. von Bismarck, who sought to revive the system of alliances, the foreign policy of the German government was determined by the desire to achieve Germany's dominant position in Europe. To deprive France of the opportunity to avenge the defeat in the Franco-Prussian war, Bismarck tried to link Russia and Austria-Hungary with Germany by secret agreements (1873). However, Russia came out in support of France, and the Union of the Three Emperors fell apart. In 1882, Bismarck strengthened Germany's positions by creating the Tripartite Alliance, which united Austria-Hungary, Italy and Germany. By 1890, Germany came to the fore in European diplomacy. France emerged from diplomatic isolation in 1891-1893. Taking advantage of the cooling of relations between Russia and Germany, as well as Russia's need for new capital, she concluded a military convention and an alliance treaty with Russia. The Russian-French alliance was supposed to serve as a counterbalance to the Triple Alliance. Great Britain has so far stood aloof from rivalry on the continent, but the pressure of political and economic circumstances eventually forced her to make her choice. The British could not but be disturbed by the nationalist sentiments prevailing in Germany, its aggressive colonial policy, rapid industrial expansion and, mainly, the buildup of the power of the navy. A series of relatively quick diplomatic maneuvers led to the elimination of differences in the positions of France and Great Britain and the conclusion in 1904 of the so-called. "cordial consent" (Entente Cordiale). Obstacles to Anglo-Russian cooperation were overcome, and in 1907 an Anglo-Russian agreement was concluded. Russia became a member of the Entente. Great Britain, France and Russia formed an alliance Triple Entente (Triple Entente) as opposed to the Triple Alliance. Thus, the division of Europe into two armed camps took shape. One of the causes of the war was the widespread strengthening of nationalist sentiments. In formulating their interests, the ruling circles of each of the European countries sought to present them as popular aspirations. France hatched plans for the return of the lost territories of Alsace and Lorraine. Italy, even being in alliance with Austria-Hungary, dreamed of returning their lands to Trentino, Trieste and Fiume. The Poles saw in the war an opportunity to recreate the state destroyed by the divisions of the 18th century. Many peoples who inhabited Austria-Hungary aspired to national independence. Russia was convinced that it could not develop without limiting German competition, protecting the Slavs from Austria-Hungary and expanding influence in the Balkans. In Berlin, the future was associated with the defeat of France and Great Britain and the unification of the countries of Central Europe under the leadership of Germany. In London, it was believed that the people of Great Britain would live in peace only by crushing the main enemy - Germany. Tension in international relations was intensified by a series of diplomatic crises - the Franco-German clash in Morocco in 1905-1906; the Austrian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908-1909; finally, the Balkan wars of 1912-1913. Great Britain and France supported Italy's interests in North Africa and thereby weakened her commitment to the Triple Alliance so much that Germany could hardly count on Italy as an ally in a future war.
July crisis and the beginning of the war. After the Balkan Wars, active nationalist propaganda was launched against the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. A group of Serbs, members of the conspiratorial organization "Young Bosnia", decided to kill the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The opportunity for this presented itself when he and his wife went to Bosnia for the teachings of the Austro-Hungarian troops. Franz Ferdinand was killed in the city of Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip on June 28, 1914. Intending to start a war against Serbia, Austria-Hungary enlisted the support of Germany. The latter believed that the war would take on a local character if Russia did not defend Serbia. But if she helps Serbia, then Germany will be ready to fulfill its treaty obligations and support Austria-Hungary. In an ultimatum presented to Serbia on July 23, Austria-Hungary demanded that its military formations be allowed into Serbian territory in order to prevent hostile actions together with Serbian forces. The answer to the ultimatum was given within the agreed 48-hour period, but it did not satisfy Austria-Hungary, and on July 28 it declared war on Serbia. SD Sazonov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, openly spoke out against Austria-Hungary, having received assurances of support from French President R. Poincaré. On July 30, Russia announced a general mobilization; Germany used this occasion to declare war on Russia on August 1, and on France on August 3. Britain's position remained uncertain due to its treaty obligations to protect Belgian neutrality. In 1839, and then during the Franco-Prussian War, Great Britain, Prussia and France provided this country with collective guarantees of neutrality. After the Germans invaded Belgium on August 4, Great Britain declared war on Germany. Now all the great powers of Europe were drawn into the war. Together with them, their dominions and colonies were involved in the war. The war can be divided into three periods. During the first period (1914-1916), the Central Powers achieved superiority on land, while the Allies dominated the sea. The situation seemed to be a stalemate. This period ended with negotiations on a mutually acceptable peace, but each side still hoped for victory. In the next period (1917), two events occurred that led to an imbalance of power: the first was the entry into the war of the United States on the side of the Entente, the second was the revolution in Russia and its exit from the war. The third period (1918) began with the last major advance of the Central Powers in the west. The failure of this offensive was followed by revolutions in Austria-Hungary and Germany and the surrender of the Central Powers.
First period. Allied forces initially included Russia, France, Great Britain, Serbia, Montenegro and Belgium and enjoyed overwhelming naval superiority. The Entente had 316 cruisers, while the Germans and Austrians had 62. But the latter found a powerful countermeasure - submarines. By the beginning of the war, the armies of the Central Powers numbered 6.1 million people; Entente army - 10.1 million people. The Central Powers had an advantage in internal communications, which allowed them to quickly transfer troops and equipment from one front to another. In the long term, the Entente countries had superior resources of raw materials and food, especially since the British fleet paralyzed Germany's ties with overseas countries, from where before the war German enterprises received copper, tin and nickel. Thus, in the event of a protracted war, the Entente could count on victory. Germany, knowing this, relied on a lightning war - "blitzkrieg". The Germans put into action the Schlieffen plan, which was supposed to ensure a rapid success in the West with a large offensive against France through Belgium. After the defeat of France, Germany hoped, together with Austria-Hungary, by transferring the liberated troops, to strike a decisive blow in the East. But this plan was not carried out. One of the main reasons for his failure was the sending of part of the German divisions to Lorraine in order to block the enemy's invasion of southern Germany. On the night of August 4, the Germans invaded Belgian territory. It took them several days to break the resistance of the defenders of the fortified areas of Namur and Liège, which blocked the path to Brussels, but thanks to this delay, the British transported almost 90,000 expeditionary force across the English Channel to France (August 9-17). The French, on the other hand, gained time to form 5 armies that held back the German advance. Nevertheless, on August 20, the German army occupied Brussels, then forced the British to leave Mons (August 23), and on September 3, the army of General A. von Kluk was 40 km from Paris. Continuing the offensive, the Germans crossed the Marne River and on September 5 stopped along the Paris-Verdun line. The commander of the French forces, General J. Joffre, having formed two new armies from the reserves, decided to go on the counteroffensive. The first battle on the Marne began on 5 and ended on 12 September. It was attended by 6 Anglo-French and 5 German armies. The Germans were defeated. One of the reasons for their defeat was the absence of several divisions on the right flank, which had to be transferred to the eastern front. The French advance on the weakened right flank made it inevitable that the German armies would retreat northward to the line of the Aisne River. The battles in Flanders on the rivers Yser and Ypres on October 15 - November 20 were also unsuccessful for the Germans. As a result, the main ports on the English Channel remained in the hands of the Allies, which ensured communication between France and England. Paris was saved and the Entente countries got time to mobilize resources. The war in the west took on a positional character; Germany's hopes of defeating and withdrawing France from the war turned out to be untenable. The opposition followed a line running south from Newport and Ypres in Belgium to Compiègne and Soissons, then east around Verdun and south to the salient near Saint-Miyel, and then southeast to the Swiss frontier. Along this line of trenches and barbed wire, approx. 970 km trench war was fought for four years. Until March 1918, any, even minor changes in the front line were achieved at the cost of huge losses on both sides. Hopes remained that on the Eastern Front the Russians would be able to crush the armies of the Central Powers bloc. On August 17, Russian troops entered East Prussia and began to push the Germans to Koenigsberg. The German generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff were entrusted with directing the counteroffensive. Taking advantage of the mistakes of the Russian command, the Germans managed to drive a "wedge" between the two Russian armies, defeat them on August 26-30 near Tannenberg and force them out of East Prussia. Austria-Hungary did not act so successfully, abandoning the intention to quickly defeat Serbia and concentrating large forces between the Vistula and the Dniester. But the Russians launched an offensive in a southerly direction, broke through the defenses of the Austro-Hungarian troops and, having captured several thousand people, occupied the Austrian province of Galicia and part of Poland. The advance of the Russian troops posed a threat to Silesia and Poznan, important industrial regions for Germany. Germany was forced to transfer additional forces from France. But an acute shortage of ammunition and food stopped the advance of the Russian troops. The offensive cost Russia huge losses, but undermined the power of Austria-Hungary and forced Germany to keep significant forces on the Eastern Front. As early as August 1914, Japan declared war on Germany. In October 1914, Turkey entered the war on the side of the bloc of the Central Powers. With the outbreak of war, Italy, a member of the Triple Alliance, declared its neutrality on the grounds that neither Germany nor Austria-Hungary had been attacked. But at the secret London talks in March-May 1915, the Entente countries promised to satisfy the territorial claims of Italy in the course of the post-war peace settlement if Italy came out on their side. On May 23, 1915, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary, and on August 28, 1916, on Germany. On the western front, the British were defeated in the second battle of Ypres. Here, during the battles that lasted for a month (April 22 - May 25, 1915), chemical weapons were used for the first time. After that, poison gases (chlorine, phosgene, and later mustard gas) began to be used by both warring parties. The large-scale Dardanelles landing operation, a naval expedition that the Entente countries equipped in early 1915 with the aim of taking Constantinople, opening the Dardanelles and Bosporus for communication with Russia through the Black Sea, withdrawing Turkey from the war and attracting the Balkan states to the side of the allies, also ended in defeat. On the Eastern Front, towards the end of 1915, German and Austro-Hungarian troops ousted the Russians from almost all of Galicia and from most of the territory of Russian Poland. But it was not possible to force Russia to a separate peace. In October 1915 Bulgaria declared war on Serbia, after which the Central Powers, together with a new Balkan ally, crossed the borders of Serbia, Montenegro and Albania. Having captured Romania and covered the Balkan flank, they turned against Italy.

War at sea. Control of the sea allowed the British to freely move troops and equipment from all parts of their empire to France. They kept sea lanes open for US merchant ships. The German colonies were captured, and the trade of the Germans through the sea routes was suppressed. In general, the German fleet - except for the submarine - was blocked in their ports. Only occasionally did small fleets come out to attack British seaside towns and attack Allied merchant ships. During the entire war, only one major naval battle took place - when the German fleet entered the North Sea and unexpectedly met with the British off the Danish coast of Jutland. The Battle of Jutland May 31 - June 1, 1916 led to heavy losses on both sides: the British lost 14 ships, approx. 6,800 killed, captured and wounded; Germans who considered themselves winners - 11 ships and approx. 3100 people killed and wounded. Nevertheless, the British forced the German fleet to withdraw to Kiel, where it was effectively blockaded. The German fleet no longer appeared on the high seas, and Great Britain remained the mistress of the seas. Having occupied a dominant position at sea, the Allies gradually cut off the Central Powers from overseas sources of raw materials and food. According to international law, neutral countries, such as the United States, could sell goods that were not considered "military contraband" to other neutral countries - the Netherlands or Denmark, from where these goods could be delivered to Germany. However, the warring countries usually did not bind themselves to the observance of international law, and Great Britain so expanded the list of goods considered contraband that in fact nothing passed through its barriers in the North Sea. The naval blockade forced Germany to resort to drastic measures. Its only effective means at sea remained the submarine fleet, capable of freely bypassing surface barriers and sinking merchant ships of neutral countries that supplied the allies. It was the turn of the Entente countries to accuse the Germans of violating international law, which obliged them to save the crews and passengers of torpedoed ships. On February 18, 1915, the German government declared the waters around the British Isles a military zone and warned of the danger of ships from neutral countries entering them. On May 7, 1915, a German submarine torpedoed and sank the ocean-going steamship Lusitania with hundreds of passengers on board, including 115 US citizens. President Wilson protested, the US and Germany exchanged sharp diplomatic notes.
Verdun and the Somme. Germany was ready to make some concessions at sea and seek a way out of the deadlock in action on land. In April 1916, British troops had already suffered a serious defeat at Kut-el-Amar in Mesopotamia, where 13,000 people surrendered to the Turks. On the continent, Germany was preparing for a large-scale offensive operation on the Western Front, which was supposed to turn the tide of the war and force France to ask for peace. The key point of the French defense was the ancient fortress of Verdun. After an artillery bombardment of unprecedented power, 12 German divisions went on the offensive on February 21, 1916. The Germans slowly advanced until the beginning of July, but they did not achieve their intended goals. The Verdun "meat grinder" clearly did not justify the calculations of the German command. Operations on the Eastern and Southwestern Fronts were of great importance during the spring and summer of 1916. In March, at the request of the Allies, Russian troops carried out an operation near Lake Naroch, which significantly influenced the course of hostilities in France. The German command was forced to stop attacks on Verdun for some time and, holding 0.5 million people on the Eastern Front, transfer an additional part of the reserves here. At the end of May 1916, the Russian High Command launched an offensive on the Southwestern Front. During the fighting under the command of A.A. Brusilov, it was possible to carry out a breakthrough of the Austro-German troops to a depth of 80-120 km. Brusilov's troops occupied part of Galicia and Bukovina, entered the Carpathians. For the first time in the entire previous period of trench warfare, the front was broken through. If this offensive had been supported by other fronts, it would have ended in disaster for the Central Powers. To relieve pressure on Verdun, on July 1, 1916, the Allies launched a counterattack on the Somme River, near Bapaume. For four months - until November - there were incessant attacks. Anglo-French troops, having lost approx. 800 thousand people were never able to break through the German front. Finally, in December, the German command decided to stop the offensive, which cost the lives of 300,000 German soldiers. The 1916 campaign claimed more than 1 million lives, but did not bring tangible results to either side.
Basis for peace negotiations. At the beginning of the 20th century completely changed the way of warfare. The length of the fronts increased significantly, the armies fought on fortified lines and attacked from the trenches, machine guns and artillery began to play a huge role in offensive battles. New types of weapons were used: tanks, fighters and bombers, submarines, asphyxiating gases, hand grenades. Every tenth inhabitant of the warring country was mobilized, and 10% of the population was engaged in supplying the army. In the warring countries, there was almost no room for ordinary civilian life: everything was subordinated to the titanic efforts aimed at maintaining the military machine. The total cost of the war, including property losses, according to various estimates, ranged from 208 to 359 billion dollars. By the end of 1916, both sides were tired of the war, and it seemed that the right moment had come to start peace negotiations.
Second period.
On December 12, 1916, the Central Powers asked the United States to send a note to the Allies with a proposal to start peace negotiations. The Entente rejected this proposal, suspecting that it was made to break up the coalition. In addition, she did not want to talk about a world that would not provide for the payment of reparations and the recognition of the right of nations to self-determination. President Wilson decided to initiate peace negotiations and December 18, 1916 turned to the warring countries with a request to determine mutually acceptable peace terms. As early as December 12, 1916, Germany proposed to convene a peace conference. The civil authorities of Germany were clearly striving for peace, but they were opposed by the generals, especially General Ludendorff, who was confident of victory. The Allies specified their terms: the restoration of Belgium, Serbia and Montenegro; withdrawal of troops from France, Russia and Romania; reparations; the return of Alsace and Lorraine to France; liberation of subject peoples, including Italians, Poles, Czechs, elimination of the Turkish presence in Europe. The Allies did not trust Germany and therefore did not take seriously the idea of ​​peace negotiations. Germany intended to take part in a peace conference in December 1916, relying on the benefits of her martial law. The case ended with the Allies signing secret agreements designed to defeat the Central Powers. Under these agreements, Great Britain laid claim to the German colonies and part of Persia; France was to receive Alsace and Lorraine, as well as establish control on the left bank of the Rhine; Russia acquired Constantinople; Italy - Trieste, Austrian Tyrol, most of Albania; Turkey's possessions were to be divided among all the allies.
US entry into the war. At the beginning of the war, public opinion in the United States was divided: some openly sided with the Allies; others - like the Irish-Americans who were hostile to England, and the German-Americans - supported Germany. Over time, government officials and ordinary citizens leaned more and more on the side of the Entente. This was facilitated by several factors, and above all the propaganda of the Entente countries and the German submarine war. On January 22, 1917, President Wilson presented in the Senate terms of peace acceptable to the United States. The main one was reduced to the demand for "peace without victory", i.e. without annexations and indemnities; others included the principles of the equality of peoples, the right of nations to self-determination and representation, freedom of the seas and trade, the reduction of armaments, the rejection of the system of rival alliances. If peace is made on the basis of these principles, Wilson argued, then a world organization of states can be created that guarantees security for all peoples. On January 31, 1917, the German government announced the resumption of unlimited submarine warfare in order to disrupt enemy communications. Submarines blocked the supply lines of the Entente and put the allies in an extremely difficult position. There was growing hostility towards Germany among Americans, as the blockade of Europe from the west boded ill for the United States. In the event of a victory, Germany could establish control over the entire Atlantic Ocean. Along with the noted circumstances, other motives also pushed the United States to the war on the side of the allies. The economic interests of the United States were directly connected with the countries of the Entente, since military orders led to the rapid growth of American industry. In 1916, the warlike spirit was spurred on by plans to develop combat training programs. The anti-German sentiments of the North Americans increased even more after the publication on March 1, 1917 of Zimmermann's secret dispatch of January 16, 1917, which was intercepted by British intelligence and handed over to Wilson. German Foreign Minister A. Zimmerman offered Mexico the states of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona if it would support Germany's actions in response to the US entry into the war on the side of the Entente. By the beginning of April, anti-German sentiment in the United States reached such a pitch that on April 6, 1917, Congress voted to declare war on Germany.
Russia's exit from the war. In February 1917, a revolution took place in Russia. Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate. The provisional government (March - November 1917) could no longer conduct active military operations on the fronts, since the population was extremely tired of the war. On December 15, 1917, the Bolsheviks, who took power in November 1917, signed an armistice agreement with the Central Powers at the cost of huge concessions. Three months later, on March 3, 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was concluded. Russia gave up its rights to Poland, Estonia, Ukraine, part of Belarus, Latvia, Transcaucasia and Finland. Ardagan, Kars and Batum went to Turkey; huge concessions were made to Germany and Austria. In total, Russia lost approx. 1 million sq. km. She was also obliged to pay Germany an indemnity in the amount of 6 billion marks.
Third period.
The Germans had good reason to be optimistic. The German leadership used the weakening of Russia, and then her withdrawal from the war, to replenish resources. Now it could transfer the eastern army to the west and concentrate troops on the main directions of the offensive. The allies, not knowing where the blow would come from, were forced to strengthen their positions along the entire front. American help was late. In France and Great Britain, defeatism grew with threatening force. On October 24, 1917, Austro-Hungarian troops broke through the Italian front near Caporetto and defeated the Italian army.
German offensive 1918. On a foggy morning on March 21, 1918, the Germans launched a massive attack on the British positions near Saint-Quentin. The British were forced to retreat almost to Amiens, and its loss threatened to break the united Anglo-French front. The fate of Calais and Boulogne hung in the balance. On May 27, the Germans launched a powerful offensive against the French in the south, pushing them back to Château-Thierry. The situation of 1914 was repeated: the Germans reached the Marne River, just 60 km from Paris. However, the offensive cost Germany heavy losses - both human and material. The German troops were exhausted, their supply system was shattered. The Allies were able to neutralize the German submarines by creating convoy and anti-submarine defense systems. At the same time, the blockade of the Central Powers was carried out so effectively that food shortages began to be felt in Austria and Germany. Soon long-awaited American aid began to arrive in France. The ports from Bordeaux to Brest were filled with American troops. By the beginning of the summer of 1918, about 1 million American soldiers had landed in France. On July 15, 1918, the Germans made their last attempt to break through at Château-Thierry. A second decisive battle unfolded on the Marne. In the event of a breakthrough, the French would have to leave Reims, which, in turn, could lead to the retreat of the allies along the entire front. In the first hours of the offensive, the German troops advanced, but not as fast as expected.
The last offensive of the allies. On July 18, 1918, a counterattack by American and French troops began to relieve pressure on Château-Thierry. At first they advanced with difficulty, but on August 2 they took Soissons. In the battle of Amiens on August 8, the German troops suffered a heavy defeat, and this undermined their morale. Earlier, German Chancellor Prince von Gertling believed that the Allies would sue for peace by September. “We hoped to take Paris by the end of July,” he recalled. “So we thought on the fifteenth of July. And on the eighteenth, even the most optimistic among us realized that everything was lost.” Some military men convinced Kaiser Wilhelm II that the war was lost, but Ludendorff refused to admit defeat. The Allied advance began on other fronts as well. On June 20-26, the Austro-Hungarian troops were driven back across the Piave River, their losses amounted to 150 thousand people. Ethnic unrest flared up in Austria-Hungary - not without the influence of the Allies, who encouraged the defection of Poles, Czechs and South Slavs. The Central Powers mustered the last of their forces to contain the expected invasion of Hungary. The way to Germany was open. Tanks and massive artillery shelling became important factors in the offensive. In early August 1918, attacks on key German positions intensified. In his Memoirs, Ludendorff called August 8 - the beginning of the battle of Amiens - "a black day for the German army." The German front was torn apart: entire divisions surrendered almost without a fight. By the end of September, even Ludendorff was ready to surrender. After the September offensive of the Entente on the Solonik front, Bulgaria signed a truce on September 29. A month later, Turkey capitulated, and on November 3, Austria-Hungary. For peace negotiations in Germany, a moderate government was formed, headed by Prince Max of Baden, who already on October 5, 1918, invited President Wilson to begin the negotiation process. In the last week of October, the Italian army launched a general offensive against Austria-Hungary. By October 30, the resistance of the Austrian troops was broken. The Italian cavalry and armored vehicles made a swift raid behind enemy lines and captured the Austrian headquarters in Vittorio Veneto, the city that gave the battle its name. On October 27, Emperor Charles I issued an appeal for a truce, and on October 29, 1918, he agreed to a peace on any terms.
Revolution in Germany. On October 29, the Kaiser secretly left Berlin and headed for the General Staff, feeling safe only under the protection of the army. On the same day, in the port of Kiel, a team of two warships broke out of obedience and refused to go to sea on a combat mission. By November 4, Kiel came under the control of the rebellious sailors. 40,000 armed men intended to establish councils of soldiers' and sailors' deputies on the Russian model in northern Germany. By November 6, the rebels took power in Lübeck, Hamburg and Bremen. Meanwhile, the Supreme Allied Commander, General Foch, announced that he was ready to receive representatives of the German government and discuss with them the terms of a truce. The Kaiser was informed that the army was no longer under his command. On November 9, he abdicated and a republic was proclaimed. The next day, the German emperor fled to the Netherlands, where he lived in exile until his death (d. 1941). On November 11, at the Retonde station in the Compiègne forest (France), the German delegation signed the Compiègne truce. The Germans were ordered to liberate the occupied territories within two weeks, including Alsace and Lorraine, the left bank of the Rhine and the bridgeheads in Mainz, Koblenz and Cologne; establish a neutral zone on the right bank of the Rhine; transfer to the Allies 5,000 heavy and field guns, 25,000 machine guns, 1,700 aircraft, 5,000 steam locomotives, 150,000 railway wagons, 5,000 vehicles; immediately release all prisoners. The naval forces were to surrender all submarines and almost the entire surface fleet and return all Allied merchant ships captured by Germany. The political provisions of the treaty provided for the denunciation of the Brest-Litovsk and Bucharest peace treaties; financial - the payment of reparations for the destruction and the return of valuables. The Germans tried to negotiate a truce based on Wilson's Fourteen Points, which they believed could serve as a provisional basis for a "peace without victory." The terms of the armistice demanded almost unconditional surrender. The Allies dictated their terms to a bloodless Germany.
The conclusion of the world. A peace conference was held in 1919 in Paris; during the sessions, agreements on five peace treaties were determined. After its completion, the following were signed: 1) the Treaty of Versailles with Germany on June 28, 1919; 2) Saint-Germain peace treaty with Austria on September 10, 1919; 3) Neuilly peace treaty with Bulgaria November 27, 1919; 4) Trianon peace treaty with Hungary on June 4, 1920; 5) Sevres peace treaty with Turkey on August 20, 1920. Subsequently, according to the Lausanne Treaty on July 24, 1923, amendments were made to the Sevres Treaty. At the peace conference in Paris, 32 states were represented. Each delegation had its own staff of specialists who provided information on the geographical, historical and economic situation of those countries on which decisions were made. After Orlando left the internal council, dissatisfied with the solution of the problem of territories in the Adriatic, the "big three" - Wilson, Clemenceau and Lloyd George - became the main architect of the post-war world. Wilson compromised on several important points in order to achieve the main goal - the creation of the League of Nations. He agreed with the disarmament of only the Central Powers, although he initially insisted on general disarmament. The size of the German army was limited and was supposed to be no more than 115,000 people; universal military service was abolished; the German armed forces were to be recruited from volunteers with a service life of 12 years for soldiers and up to 45 years for officers. Germany was forbidden to have combat aircraft and submarines. Similar conditions were contained in the peace treaties signed with Austria, Hungary and Bulgaria. Between Clemenceau and Wilson unfolded a fierce discussion on the status of the left bank of the Rhine. The French, for security reasons, intended to annex the area with its powerful coal mines and industry and create an autonomous Rhineland. France's plan ran counter to the proposals of Wilson, who opposed annexations and advocated the self-determination of nations. A compromise was reached after Wilson agreed to sign free military treaties with France and Great Britain, under which the United States and Great Britain pledged to support France in the event of a German attack. The following decision was made: the left bank of the Rhine and the 50-kilometer strip on the right bank are demilitarized, but remain part of Germany and under its sovereignty. The Allies occupied a number of points in this zone for a period of 15 years. Coal deposits, known as the Saar basin, also passed into the possession of France for 15 years; the Saarland itself came under the control of the Commission of the League of Nations. After a 15-year period, it was planned to hold a plebiscite on the issue of the state ownership of this territory. Italy got Trentino, Trieste and most of Istria, but not the island of Fiume. Nevertheless, Italian extremists captured Fiume. Italy and the newly created state of Yugoslavia were given the right to decide for themselves the issue of disputed territories. Under the Treaty of Versailles, Germany lost its colonial possessions. Great Britain acquired German East Africa and the western part of German Cameroon and Togo, the British dominions - the Union of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand - were transferred to South-West Africa, the north-eastern regions of New Guinea with the adjacent archipelago and the Samoa Islands. France got most of the German Togo and the eastern part of Cameroon. Japan received the German-owned Marshall, Mariana and Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean and the port of Qingdao in China. Secret treaties among the victorious powers also assumed the division of the Ottoman Empire, but after the uprising of the Turks, led by Mustafa Kemal, the allies agreed to revise their demands. The new Treaty of Lausanne canceled the Treaty of Sevres and allowed Turkey to retain Eastern Thrace. Turkey took back Armenia. Syria passed to France; Great Britain received Mesopotamia, Transjordan and Palestine; the Dodecanese islands in the Aegean were ceded to Italy; the Arab territory of the Hijaz on the Red Sea coast was to gain independence. Violations of the principle of self-determination of nations caused Wilson's disagreement, in particular, he sharply protested against the transfer of the Chinese port of Qingdao to Japan. Japan agreed to return this territory to China in the future and fulfilled its promise. Wilson's advisers suggested that, instead of actually handing over the colonies to new owners, they should be allowed to administer as Trustees of the League of Nations. Such territories were called "mandatory". Although Lloyd George and Wilson opposed penalties for damages, the fight over the issue ended in victory for the French side. Reparations were imposed on Germany; the question of what should be included in the list of destruction presented for payment was also subjected to lengthy discussion. At first, the exact amount did not figure, only in 1921 was its size determined - 152 billion marks (33 billion dollars); later this amount was reduced. The principle of self-determination of nations has become a key one for many peoples represented at the peace conference. Poland was restored. The task of defining its boundaries proved to be difficult; of particular importance was the transfer to her of the so-called. "Polish corridor", which gave the country access to the Baltic Sea, separating East Prussia from the rest of Germany. New independent states arose in the Baltic region: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. By the time the conference was convened, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy had already ceased to exist, in its place were Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia and Romania; the borders between these states were disputed. The problem turned out to be difficult due to the mixed settlement of different peoples. When establishing the borders of the Czech state, the interests of the Slovaks were hurt. Romania doubled its territory with Transylvania, Bulgarian and Hungarian lands. Yugoslavia was created from the old kingdoms of Serbia and Montenegro, parts of Bulgaria and Croatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina and Banat as part of Timisoara. Austria remained a small state with a population of 6.5 million Austrian Germans, a third of whom lived in impoverished Vienna. The population of Hungary has greatly decreased and is now approx. 8 million people. At the Paris Conference, an exceptionally stubborn struggle was waged around the idea of ​​creating a League of Nations. According to the plans of Wilson, General J. Smuts, Lord R. Cecil and their other associates, the League of Nations was to become a guarantee of security for all peoples. Finally, the League's charter was adopted, and after lengthy debate, four working groups were formed: the Assembly, the Council of the League of Nations, the Secretariat and the Permanent Court of International Justice. The League of Nations established mechanisms that could be used by its member states to prevent war. Within its framework, various commissions were also formed to solve other problems.
See also LEAGUE OF NATIONS. The League of Nations Agreement represented that part of the Treaty of Versailles that Germany was also asked to sign. But the German delegation refused to sign it on the grounds that the agreement was not in line with Wilson's Fourteen Points. In the end, the German National Assembly recognized the treaty on June 23, 1919. The dramatic signing took place five days later at the Palace of Versailles, where in 1871 Bismarck, ecstatic with victory in the Franco-Prussian War, proclaimed the creation of the German Empire.
LITERATURE
History of the First World War, in 2 vols. M., 1975 Ignatiev A.V. Russia in the imperialist wars of the early 20th century. Russia, the USSR and international conflicts in the first half of the 20th century. M., 1989 On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the start of the First World War. M., 1990 Pisarev Yu.A. Secrets of the First World War. Russia and Serbia in 1914-1915. M., 1990 Kudrina Yu.V. Returning to the origins of the First World War. Pathways to safety. M., 1994 The First World War: debatable problems of history. M., 1994 World War I: pages of history. Chernivtsi, 1994 Bobyshev S.V., Seregin S.V. The First World War and the prospects for the social development of Russia. Komsomolsk-on-Amur, 1995 World War I: Prologue of the 20th century. M., 1998
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