Who won the first world. The situation on the western front

The First World War was the largest military conflict of the first third of the twentieth century and all the wars that took place before that. So when did World War I start and in what year did it end? The date July 28, 1914 is the beginning of the war, and its end is November 11, 1918.

When did World War I start?

The beginning of World War I was the declaration of war by Austria-Hungary on Serbia. The reason for the war was the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown by the nationalist Gavrilo Princip.

Speaking briefly about the First World War, it should be noted that the main reason for the outbreak of hostilities was the conquest of a place under the sun, the desire to rule the world with the emerging balance of power, the emergence of Anglo-German trade barriers, such a phenomenon in the development of the state as economic imperialism and territorial claims that reached the absolute. one state to another.

On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Serb of Bosnian origin, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in Sarajevo. On July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, main war the first third of the twentieth century.

Rice. 1. Gavrilo Princip.

Russia in the First World

Russia announced mobilization, preparing for defense brotherly people, than incurring an ultimatum from Germany to stop the formation of new divisions. On August 1, 1914, Germany officially declared war on Russia.

What have we learned?

Despite who fought with whom and who won, history has shown that the end of the First World War did not solve all the problems of mankind. The battle for the redivision of the world did not end, the allies did not finish off Germany and its allies completely, but only economically exhausted, which led to the signing of peace. World War II was only a matter of time.

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Maxim Kupinov

11.11.2008 - 17:46

How American magic tricks distort the history of mankind Early morning November 11, 1918 English admiral Rosslyn Wimiss and French Marshal Ferdinand Foch received the German delegation, led by Major General Detlef von Winterfeldt, in Foch's railway car in the Compiègne Forest. At 5:10 am the agreement was signed. Its most important conditions were the demands on Germany to withdraw troops from Belgium and France, as well as to surrender 2,500 heavy artillery pieces, 25,000 machine guns, 5,000 trucks, 5,000 aircraft, 1,700 military aircraft, all of their submarines and 150,000 wagons. The truce went into effect at 11 am. 101 volleys were fired - last shots First World War. After 11 am on November 11, 1918, the guns of the Western Front suddenly fell silent after more than 4 years of continuous war. First World War ended. However, at that time no one called her that. used name Great War. In Russia, it was called the Second Patriotic, German; then to the USSR imperialist war. The fact that in 1914-1918 there was the First World War, humanity guessed only when the Second World War began. The First World War lasted 1568 days and nights. 38 states took part in it (in one way or another). general population 1.5 billion people. It cost the warring countries $90 billion (at the rate of 2002 - $1440 billion), and the destruction was estimated at $60 (respectively, $960) billion. Total number mobilized in both coalitions amounted to 74 million people. Of these, according to various estimates, 9.5-10 million were killed and died from wounds, and 20 million left the armies after being wounded. However, it is worth remembering that these figures are very approximate. They only take into account combat losses. This does not include the victims of repressions against the civilian population in Belgium, France, Serbia, Russia, does not include the victims of the Christian genocide in Turkey, does not include refugees who died of starvation and disease. The Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria - were defeated. France, Great Britain, Japan, Serbia, USA, Italy emerged victorious from the war. Russia, which did so much for the victory of the allies, was not among the victorious countries. It was torn apart by the fratricidal Civil War. But then, in November 1918, few people still understood that the true winners in this war were not at all England and France, who had exhausted their forces no less than defeated Germany. The real winner, who entered the war only in 1917, was the United States of America. The Americans, having fought much less than their allies, suffered incomparably fewer losses. But their financial and industrial power has increased incredibly due to military orders from Europe. The German writer Erich Remarque, a participant in the First World War, described the meeting of German and american soldiers shortly after the ceasefire. " Last weeks were especially hard. We were thrown into the fire again and again, and we lost people in vain, but we didn’t ask about anything, we went into battle, as in all these years, and only thirty-two of our company of two hundred people remained. We also left the battles without thinking about anything and feeling nothing, except for one thing: we fulfilled everything that was entrusted to us. But now, under the sympathetic looks of the Americans, we begin to understand how pointless it all was in the end. The sight of endless, well-armed columns shows us how hopeless it was to resist such superiority in men and technology. ... The Americans come close. Another moment, and they surround us. Until now, we have seen them close up only captured or dead. Strange moment. Silently, we look at the Americans. They stand in a semicircle, all as one tall, strong; it is immediately clear that they always had plenty of food ... The Americans are wearing new uniforms, their boots are made of waterproof leather and fitted to the leg, weapons good quality, packs full of ammunition. Everyone has a fresh, cheerful look. Compared to them, we are a real gang of robbers. Our uniforms are faded from years of mud, from the rains of the Ardennes, from the limestone of Champagne, from the swamps of Flanders; overcoats torn apart by shell fragments and shrapnel, sewn up with clumsy stitches, become hardened from clay, and often from dried blood; boots are slapped, weapons are long past their age, ammunition is running out. We are all equally filthy, equally savage, equally exhausted. The war went through us like a steamroller.” In World War II, the Americans will repeat this technique again - they will land in France after many German divisions have turned into a bunch of old people and children, the victims of total mobilization - flat-footed companies and battalions suffering from stomach ulcers - will be in the ranks. By that time, regular German divisions would die near Moscow, Stalingrad and Kursk, they would master prostheses or remove snow in Siberian camps. Americans will fall upon the pitiful semblance of the once victorious German divisions surpassing them in every way. Then the Yankees, with inimitable seriousness, will compose a legend about how Private Ryan landed, and saved Europe from fascism. And even in a country that played leading role in the defeat of Hitler, some will believe this story. But in World War II, the focus - we will appear for a hat analysis and declare ourselves the main participants in the war - the Americans only repeated. They first used this trick in 1918.

Although Britain was destroyed and ruined, from a military point of view, she and her allies won. November 11, 1918 was the day of the surrender of Germany in the First World War.

And the results of the war can be called - the February and October revolutions in Russia, the November revolution in Germany, and of course the beginning of the penetration of American capital into Europe.

And the world war also gave impetus to the development of new weapons - chemical weapons were used for the first time, mortars, flamethrowers, torpedo boats, and a gas mask were invented. In general, the militarization of the economy took place, and indeed the style of warfare itself has changed.

Weird. that at the beginning of the First World War, almost all the monarchs of European countries were related. For example, the Emperor of Germany Wilhelm II was an uncle to the emperor Russian Empire, Nicholas II. which did not prevent them from going to war against each other. Then at the end it was Brest Peace. and England was already attacking Russia, fearing to lose superiority at sea. The result of the First World War was the defeat of Germany and its allies. Was signed Treaty of Versailles . according to which Germany was in the status of a slave to countries triple alliance Entente, and could not have advancing weapons. Everything changed only with the coming to power Hitler and his party NSDAP.

It's pretty interest Ask. In this terrible First World War, so many states participated in one way or another, and such were huge losses some states - participants in this war. That many people assumed that humanity from this horror would still come to its senses for a long time, and in the near future there would be no wars for a very long time. However, those who think as we now know were mistaken, because soon the Second World War came!

If you do not look at the formal side of the one who won the First World War, then we can say that no one won.

If we talk about the winner of the First World War, then we should first remember about its participants. The war involved countries from all continents, up to the exotic Brazil and Japan, which at that time opposed Germany. But the main instigators of the war were Great Britain, France and Russia on the one hand, and Germany and Austria-Hungary on the other. Formally, the Entente won, as Germany signed the surrender and was completely destroyed. But all participants suffered. Empires collapsed, 10 million people died, the map of the world was greatly redrawn. Russia dropped out of the ranks of the winners, because at the time the war ended, the former empire no longer existed - arose Soviet Russia, but formally it was Russia's contribution that was decisive in the victory of the Entente.

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

France wanted to be main country in Europe.
Great Britain wanted to prevent the rise of anyone in Europe.
Russia wanted to protect countries of Eastern Europe from aggression.
Strong contradictions between the countries of Europe and Asia in the struggle for spheres of influence.

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

Entente military bloc of Great Britain, France and Russia.

CAUSE for war: in the city of Sarajevo, a fanatic killed the prince of Austria-Hungary. As a result, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Turkey and Bulgaria began to fight against the Entente countries.

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

RESULTS: After October 1917 the Bolsheviks came to power. March 1918 they made with Germany Brest Peace, gave away western lands Russia and ceased participation in the war. Russia lost the most: more than 6 million killed, wounded, maimed. The main industrial areas were destroyed.

Sources: www.bolshoyvopros.ru, 1line.info, ria.ru, zapolni-probel.ru, news.liga.net

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From an article by Alexei Volynets.

During the First World War, only six states of Europe remained neutral - Holland, Switzerland, Denmark, Spain, Norway and Sweden. Their citizens were lucky enough to escape the horrors of carnage, occupation and devastation.
As a result of the Great War, they all benefited - economy neutral countries worked hard for the belligerent powers, and sometimes at the same time on both sides. It was during the years of the Great War that the foundations of the current "Scandinavian socialism" and the glory of Swiss banks were laid.
However, this wealth was not given to most neutrals easily. Only a very limited number of bankers and industrialists profited personally from the war, and for the majority ordinary citizens the war turned into mass unemployment and the same ration cards.

Dutch army.

Holland.

Holland by 1914 was by no means small European country, but a large and rich colonial empire. Its overseas possessions in the East Indies (Indonesia) and the West Indies (the islands of the Antilles archipelago and Suriname) exceeded the size of the metropolis by more than 60 times.
38 million people lived in the colonies, while the population of Holland proper barely exceeded 6 million. In terms of the formal number of subjects, Koninkrijk der Nederlande, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, was slightly inferior to Austria-Hungary, one of the largest powers of the early 20th century.
Moreover, according to the level economic development Holland was then one of the leading countries, occupying the 5th place in the world by 1914 in terms of foreign trade, and every tenth adult Dutch then worked in the banking and financial sector.

Shower room for Belgian refugees.

The Dutch never had to fight, but they faced another problem. By October 1914, 900 thousand people had fled to Holland from the territory of Belgium, where the fighting had unfolded. Later, several tens of thousands of refugees, deserters and runaway prisoners of war from both sides of the front were added to them.
In the Netherlands, it was necessary to organize 7 large camps for refugees from Belgium, as well as special camps for military internees, which were visited by 35 thousand Belgian soldiers, over 15 thousand deserted Germans, several hundred fugitive British prisoners, French and even several dozen Russians.
In 1918, when the issuance of products on cards was greatly reduced, a wave of riots swept through the cities of Holland. They were called "potato riots", as hungry crowds attacked shops, warehouses and barges with potatoes - the staple food of ordinary Dutch during the war years.

Distribution of products.

While the population of other countries was declining, in Holland it grew by half a million people, or 8%. The country's gold reserves increased by 4.5 times during the years of the World War. In 1915-18. over 400 tons of precious metal, mostly from Germany, got into the vaults of the central bank of the Netherlands.
By the end of the war, the value of the gold reserves of Holland was almost 2 times the total nominal value of all paper money circulating both in the mother country and in the colonies.
The profits and benefits derived from neutrality gave Holland the opportunity not only to avoid revolutionary upheavals, but also to carry out social reforms. By 1920, the country introduced an 8-hour working day, a 45-hour working week, reduced retirement age from 70 to 65 years old, granted women the right to vote.

Switzerland.

More than half of the Swiss spoke and speak German, and only a fifth - in French. By the beginning of the 20th century, the economy of the confederation was most closely connected with Germany and Austria, and pro-German sentiments prevailed in the country. swiss army was built and trained according to the German model, Kaiser Wilhelm II visited her military exercises more than once.
By the autumn of 1918 internal position Switzerland is even more complicated. Due to difficulties with food imports, bread rations on cards in cities have been reduced to 250 grams per day.
True, this was not a real famine, since food products could still be obtained from the market. But chronic malnutrition has affected the poor in Switzerland. The country's authorities even began the forced mobilization of the population for agricultural work.
On September 30, 1918, it came to the point that the bank clerks of Zurich went on strike, announcing that in 1917 the owners of banks on financial fraud on both sides of the front earned 35 million Swiss francs (over 100 tons of gold) in net profit, but at the same time continue to keep citizens countries on a half-starvation diet.
In November 1918, a general strike swept the country, in which more than 10% of the population took part. To suppress the unrest, the authorities even attracted parts of the army that did not fight.

Swiss Army.

The end of the war did not immediately lead to the normalization of life in Switzerland. For example, cards for bread were canceled only in August 1919, and for milk - in May 1920.
However, the end of the blockade and the funds accumulated over the years of the war in banks allowed the authorities to improve the lives of employees - since 1918, a 48-hour work week(whereas prior to 1914 wage earners worked an average of 60 hours per week).
It was after 1918 that Swiss banks began to gain worldwide fame - as reliable keepers of secret accounts and banking secrecy. The gold reserves of the confederation during the First World War increased by 2.5 times.
Until 1913, the leading banking center for covert operations was Brussels, but the capital of Belgium was occupied by the Germans, and the role of intermediary bankers was intercepted by the banks of Zurich, Geneva, Bern. It was there that, in order to ensure financial transactions on both sides of the front, banking and commercial secrets were first equated with state secrets.

Denmark.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the Kingdom of Denmark was not just a prosperous, albeit small, country, but one of the most "authoritative" in Europe - the Danish king Christian IX was the father English queen, Russian empress and Greek king.
By 1914 there were 21 large canned meat factories in Denmark. During the war, their number increased by 7 times - up to 148, and the export of canned meat to the Second Reich increased by more than 50 times. As a result, the number of cattle and pigs in neutral Denmark decreased in the same proportions as in warring Germany.
Prudent Danish businessmen, in order to increase profits, sold to the Germans mainly the so-called "goulash" - canned food Low quality, in which there was less meat than sauce and "vegetable content", and the meat itself was diluted with offal.
But starving Germany also bought such products in any quantity. The nouveau riche, fabulously rich in food supplies to the Germans, were then called "goulash barons" in the Scandinavian kingdom. During the war years, they built real palaces throughout the country, even giving rise to a special architectural style.

But even greater profits for neutral Denmark were brought by the resale of strategic raw materials and materials, which were purchased mainly in the United States. So, by November 1914, the kingdom was buying 13 times more copper there than before the war.
The Danish "East Asia Company", which was engaged in such operations, in 1916 paid dividends to its shareholders in the amount of 30% on the invested capital. The gold reserves of Denmark during the years of the World War increased by more than 2.5 times.
Danish capital was also active in Russia, where its interests were often lobbied by the mother of the last Russian tsar, Empress Dowager Maria Feodorovna (nee Danish Princess Dagmar).
In particular, the "Danish Rifle Syndicate" built a machine-gun plant in the Vladimir province, the director of which was the captain of the Danish army Jurgensen. The royal treasury signed a contract with Danish shareholders for 26 million rubles in gold (about 895 million modern dollars).
However, super profits for the most part settled in the pockets of big capital, and for ordinary citizens the war brought mostly losses.

Meeting three kings Scandinavia in Malmö. From left to right: King Haakon VII of Norway, King Gustav V of Sweden and King Christian X of Denmark. December 18, 1914.

The war significantly changed the borders of the kingdom. The fact is that Denmark in the Middle Ages, the former great maritime power, With XVII century owned several islands in the Caribbean.
In August 1914, the United States just put the Panama Canal into operation, and these three islands immediately acquired strategic importance, allowing you to control the exit from the channel to the Atlantic.
Back in 1902, Washington offered Copenhagen to buy the islands, but the Danish Riksdag refused. In 1916, the United States was again asked to sell the Caribbean islands, and Secretary of State Lansing bluntly told the Danish envoy in Washington that "circumstances may force the United States, without the consent of Denmark, to take possession of the islands." The Danes then agreed to cede overseas territory for $25 million.
The funds accumulated over the years of neutrality allowed the Danish industry to "shoot" after the war - already in 1920, the volume of production exceeded the pre-war one by 40%, and real income industrial workers by 1919 grew by almost 1.5 times. Against this background, the introduction of the 8-hour working day no longer seemed like a huge achievement.

Scandinavian serenity.

Norway.

Formally, by the time the First World War began, Norway was the youngest independent state Europe - as an independent kingdom de jure, it arose only in 1905, after the dissolution of the union with Sweden.
By the beginning of the 20th century, Norway was a very prosperous and prosperous country. Unlike other European countries, by 1914 her land had not known war for two centuries (except for a skirmish with the Swedes in 1814, in which several dozen Norwegians died).
The neutrality of the country with a huge merchant fleet immediately turned into an increase in trade and huge profits. By 1916, the gross income of Norwegian shipowners from freight had increased 5 times compared to pre-war times.
In that year, when hundreds of thousands of soldiers perished near Verdun and in Galicia, Norwegian shipowners earned a fantastic sum of money on the charter of their ships, in terms of the current exchange rate - almost 18 billion dollars.

Norwegian monarchy.

After 1914, Norway became the main supplier of copper and Atlantic herring to Germany. The arms industry could not do without copper, and the fish went not only into food - glycerin was obtained from fish oil, which is necessary for the production explosives.
Neutral Vikings actively traded not only with Germany - the volume of Norwegian exports to Russia in 1914-1916 in monetary terms grew by almost 9 times.
During the war years, its active merchant navy suffered the greatest losses among the ships of all neutral countries. From 1914 to 1918, 889 Norwegian ships were blown up and sunk by mines and torpedoes, about 2 thousand Norwegian sailors died.

Nevertheless, the world war turned for neutral Norway into literally golden rain - by the end of 1918, the state gold reserve had increased more than 3 times compared to the pre-war one, thanks to the flows of foreign currency and gold, 75 new banks were created (by the way, Norwegian banks provided loans to warring Germany for total amount over a billion modern dollars). During the war, the capital of all banks in the kingdom increased by 7 times, and the size of Norwegian bank deposits increased by 4 times.
The growth of national wealth during the four years of neutrality allowed them to buy the shares of most enterprises from foreigners and sharply reduce the participation of foreign capital in the industry of Norway.
Before 1914, two centuries without war made Norway a prosperous country, and four subsequent years of neutrality and profitable trade on both sides of the front turned it into one of the richest and most prosperous states in Europe.

Spain.

By the beginning of the 20th century, Spain had lost its former greatness and was considered one of the poorest and most backward countries Western Europe. The population of Spain on the eve of the war barely exceeded 20 million people.
If until 1914 the kingdom experienced a chronic trade deficit of about 100 million pesetas per year, then in 1914-1918 its annual foreign trade surplus reached 400 million pesetas.
As a result, during the war, Spain not only paid off its considerable external debts, but also increased its gold and foreign exchange reserves, which by 1917 had grown almost 4 times. In the first three years of the war, the Madrid central bank received almost 500 tons of gold from trading with all the warring powers.
However, these profits, due to the economic and social backwardness of the country, almost did not reach ordinary citizens. So, according to economists, the real incomes of workers in Spain during the years of World War II decreased by almost 30%. Already in August 1917, a general labor strike broke out in Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and other cities, which the authorities were able to suppress only with the help of the army.
As a result, unlike Scandinavian countries and Holland, who used the benefits of neutrality to further development and prosperity, for Spain, non-participation in the world war turned into almost a disaster - an aggravation social stratification and social contradictions in the future led her to a bloody civil war.

Sweden.

During the First World War, Sweden turned out to be the only European country that managed to sit on two chairs at once - frank militant revanchism and profitable, extremely cynical neutrality.
It was Sweden that supplied the Kaiser's army with leather boots, selling over 4.5 million pairs to Germany by the end of 1916. In March 1915 alone, the Swedes sold over 10,000 heavy horses for artillery to the Germans. Throughout the war, Swedish factories secretly produced shells of sea mines and spare parts for torpedoes for the German fleet.

Swedish entertainment.

Since the beginning of the war, the export of pork from Sweden to Germany has increased almost 10 times, beef - 4 times. If in 1913 Sweden sold 30 thousand tons of fish to Germany, then in 1915 - already 53 thousand tons. According to the results of 1915, sales of all types of food from Sweden to Germany increased by more than 5 times.
But neutral Sweden traded profitably not only with the Germans - by 1916, exports of Swedish goods to Russia also increased 5 times. Moreover, Sweden has taken an advantageous position as an intermediary between Russia and Germany.
All the years of the war, through the mediation of Swedish firms, the products of German factories were imported to Russia, and money was sent to Germany as payment for supplies.

The example of one of the smugglers detained by the British in 1916 testifies to the super-income of individual Swedish businessmen - in just six months he earned $ 80 million (in prices early XXI century) on the resale to Germany of rubber bought in England.
The state gold reserve of Sweden from 1914 to 1918 increased almost 3 times. The cost has more than tripled valuable papers Swedish joint-stock companies, and the savings of ordinary Swedes in banks during the war years increased by an average of 1.5-2 times.
Already at the end of 1918, the Swedish Parliament approved laws on the 8-hour working day, universal suffrage, shortening military service and wage increases.

Everything is shown on the map.

Nine European rulers at the funeral of Edward VII. 1910 Seated, from left to right: King Alfonso XIII of Spain, King George V of Great Britain, King Frederick VIII of Denmark. Standing, from left to right: King Haakon VII of Norway, King Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, King Manuel II of Portugal, German emperor Wilhelm II, King George I of Greece, King Albert I of Belgium.

Who fought with whom? Now this question will surely baffle many ordinary people. But the Great War, as it was called in the world until 1939, claimed more than 20 million lives and forever changed the course of history. For 4 bloody years, empires collapsed, peoples disappeared, alliances were concluded. Therefore, it is necessary to know about it at least for the purposes of general development.

Reasons for the start of the war

By the beginning of the 19th century, the crisis in Europe was obvious to all major powers. Many historians and analysts cite various populist reasons why who fought with whom before, which peoples were fraternal to each other, and so on - all this had practically no meaning for most countries. The goals of the warring powers in the First World War were different, but main reason there was a desire of big capital to spread its influence and get new markets.

First of all, it is worth considering the desire of Germany, since it was she who became the aggressor and actually unleashed the war. But at the same time, one should not assume that it only wanted war, and the rest of the countries did not prepare attack plans and only defended themselves.

German goals

By the beginning of the 20th century, Germany continued to develop rapidly. The empire had good army, modern types armaments, a powerful economy. The main problem was that to unite the German lands under single flag succeeded only in the middle of the 19th century. It was then that the Germans became an important player on the world stage. But by the time of the formation of Germany as great power the period of active colonization was already missed. England, France, Russia and other countries had many colonies. They opened up a good market for the capital of these countries, made it possible to have cheap labor, an abundance of food and specific goods. Germany did not have this. Commodity overproduction led to stagnation. The growth of the population and the limited territories of their settlement formed a food shortage. Then German leadership decided to move away from the idea of being a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, having a minor vote. Sometime towards the end of the 19th century, political doctrines were aimed at building German Empire as the world's leading power. And the only way to do this is war.

Year 1914. The First World War: who fought?

Other countries thought similarly. The capitalists pushed the governments of all major states to expansion. First of all, Russia wanted to unite as many Slavic lands as possible under its banners, especially in the Balkans, especially since local population loyal to such patronage.

Turkey played an important role. Leading global players closely watched the collapse Ottoman Empire and waited for the moment to bite off a piece from this giant. Crisis and anticipation were felt throughout Europe. There was a row bloody wars on the territory of modern Yugoslavia, after which the First World War followed. Who fought with whom in the Balkans, sometimes they did not remember locals the South Slavic countries themselves. The capitalists drove the soldiers forward, changing allies depending on the benefits. It was already clear that, most likely, something on a larger scale than local conflict will happen in the Balkans. And so it happened. At the end of June, Gavrila Princip assassinated Archduke Ferdinand. used this event as a pretext for declaring war.

Parties' expectations

The warring countries of the First World War did not think what the conflict would result in. If you study in detail the plans of the parties, it is clearly seen that each was going to win due to the rapid offensive. On the fighting took no more than a few months. This was due, among other things, to the fact that before that there were no such precedents in history when almost all powers participate in the war.

World War I: who fought whom?

On the eve of 1914, two alliances were concluded: the Entente and the Triple. The first included Russia, Britain, France. In the second - Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy. Smaller countries united around one of these alliances. With whom was Russia at war? With Bulgaria, Turkey, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Albania. As well as a number of armed formations of other countries.

After Balkan crisis in Europe, two main theaters of military operations were formed - Western and Eastern. Also, hostilities were fought in the Transcaucasus and in various colonies in the Middle East and Africa. It is difficult to list all the conflicts that the First World War gave rise to. Who fought with whom depended on belonging to a particular alliance and territorial claims. For example, France has long dreamed of regaining the lost Alsace and Lorraine. And Turkey is land in Armenia.

For the Russian Empire, the war turned out to be the most costly. And not only in economic terms. On the fronts, Russian troops suffered the greatest losses.

This was one of the reasons for the start October revolution which resulted in the formation of a socialist state. The people simply did not understand why those who were mobilized by the thousands went to the West, and only a few returned.
Intensive was basically only the first year of the war. The subsequent ones were characterized by positional struggle. Many kilometers of trenches were dug, countless defensive structures were erected.

The atmosphere of a positional permanent war is very well described in Remarque's book All Quiet on the Western Front. It was in the trenches that the lives of soldiers were grinded, and the economies of countries worked exclusively for the war, reducing costs for all other institutions. 11 million peaceful lives swept away by the First World War. Who fought with whom? There can be only one answer to this question: capitalists with capitalists.

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