CHAPTER SEVEN
FIRST WAR WITH GERMANY
July 1914 - February 1917
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1914- the beginning of the First World War, during which and, largely thanks to it, a change took place political system and the collapse of the Empire. The war did not stop with the fall of the monarchy; on the contrary, it spread from the outskirts into the interior of the country and lasted until 1920. Thus, the war, in total, went on six years.
As a result of this war, they ceased to exist on the political map of Europe. THREE EMPIRES at once: Austro-Hungarian, German and Russian (see map). At the same time, on the ruins Russian Empire a new state was created - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
By the time the World War began, Europe had not seen large-scale military conflicts for almost a hundred years, since the end of the Napoleonic Wars. All European wars of the period 1815 - 1914. were predominantly local in nature. At the turn of the 19th – 20th centuries. the illusory thought was in the air that war would be irrevocably banished from the life of civilized countries. One of the manifestations of this was the Hague Peace Conference of 1897. It is noteworthy that the opening took place in May 1914 in The Hague, in the presence of delegates from numerous countries. Palace of Peace.
On the other hand, at the same time, contradictions between European powers grew and deepened. Since the 1870s, military blocs have been forming in Europe, which in 1914 will oppose each other on the battlefields.
In 1879, Germany entered into a military alliance with Austria-Hungary directed against Russia and France. In 1882, Italy joined this union, and a military-political Central Bloc was formed, also called Triple Alliance.
In contrast to him in 1891 - 1893. a Russian-French alliance was concluded. Great Britain entered into an agreement with France in 1904, and in 1907 with Russia. The bloc of Great Britain, France and Russia was named Heartfelt agreement, or Entente.
The immediate cause of the outbreak of war was the murder by Serbian nationalists June 15 (28), 1914 in Sarajevo, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Austria-Hungary, supported by Germany, presented Serbia with an ultimatum. Serbia accepted most of the terms of the ultimatum.
Austria-Hungary was dissatisfied with this and began military action against Serbia.
Russia supported Serbia and announced first partial and then general mobilization. Germany presented Russia with an ultimatum demanding that the mobilization be cancelled. Russia refused.
On July 19 (August 1), 1914, Germany declared war on her.
This day is considered the date of the beginning of the First World War.
The main participants in the war from the Entente were: Russia, France, Great Britain, Serbia, Montenegro, Italy, Romania, USA, Greece.
They were opposed by the countries of the Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Türkiye, Bulgaria.
Military operations took place in Western and Eastern Europe, in the Balkans and Thessaloniki, in Italy, in the Caucasus, in the Middle and Far East, in Africa.
First World War was distinguished by an unprecedented scale. At its final stage it involved 33 states (out of 59 existing then independent states) with population amounting to 87% population of the entire planet. The armies of both coalitions in January 1917 numbered 37 million people. In total, during the war, 27.5 million people were mobilized in the Entente countries, and 23 million people were mobilized in the countries of the German coalition.
Unlike previous wars, the First World War was total in nature. Most of the population of the states participating in it was involved in it in one form or another. It forced enterprises in the main industries to be transferred to military production and the entire economy of the warring countries to be serviced by it. The war, as always, gave a powerful impetus to the development of science and technology. Previously non-existent types of weapons appeared and began to be widely used: aircraft, tanks, chemical weapons, etc.
The war lasted 51 months and 2 weeks. Total losses amounted to 9.5 million people killed and died from wounds and 20 million people wounded.
The First World War was of particular importance in the history of the Russian state. It became a difficult test for the country, which lost several million people on the fronts. Its tragic consequences were revolution, devastation, civil war and the death of old Russia.”
PROGRESS OF COMBAT OPERATIONS
Commander-in-Chief Western Front Emperor Nicholas appointed his uncle, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich Jr. (1856 − 1929). From the very beginning of the war, Russia suffered two major defeats in Poland.
East Prussian operation lasted from August 3 to September 2, 1914. It ended with the encirclement of the Russian army near Tannenberg and the death of the general A.V. from infantry. Samsonova. At the same time, a defeat occurred on the Masurian Lakes.
The first successful operation was the offensive in Galicia September 5-9, 1914, as a result of which Lvov and Przemysl were taken, and the Austro-Hungarian troops were pushed back across the San River. However, already on April 19, 1915, on this section of the front the retreat began Russian army, after which Lithuania, Galicia and Poland came under the control of the German-Austrian bloc. By mid-August 1915, Lvov, Warsaw, Brest-Litovsk and Vilna were abandoned, and thus the front moved into Russian territory.
August 23, 1915 year, Emperor Nicholas II removed the leader. book Nikolai Nikolaevich from the post of commander-in-chief and assumed authority. Many military leaders considered this event fatal for the course of the war.
October 20, 1914 Nicholas II declared war on Turkey, and fighting began in the Caucasus. Infantry General N.N. was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Caucasian Front. Yudenich (1862 − 1933, Cannes). Here in December 1915 the Sarakamysh operation began. On February 18, 1916, the Turkish fortress of Erzurum was taken, and on April 5, Trebizond was taken.
May 22, 1916 year for Southwestern Front The offensive of Russian troops began under the command of cavalry general A.A. Brusilova. This was the famous "Brusilov breakthrough", but the neighboring commanders of neighboring fronts, Generals Evert and Kuropatkin, did not support Brusilov, and on July 31, 1916, he was forced to stop the offensive, fearing that his army would be encircled from the flanks.
This chapter uses documents and photographs from state archives and from publications (Diary of Nicholas II, Memoirs of A. Brusilov, Verbatim reports of State Duma meetings, poems by V. Mayakovsky). Using materials from the home archive (letters, postcards, photographs) you can get an idea of how this war affected the lives of ordinary people. Some fought at the front, those living in the rear participated in providing assistance to the wounded and refugees in the institutions of such public organizations as the Russian Red Cross Society, the All-Russian Zemstvo Union, and the All-Russian Union of Cities.
It’s a shame, but precisely during this most interesting period, our Family Archive did not preserve anyone’s diaries, although perhaps no one led them at that time. It’s good that grandma saved it letters those years that her parents wrote from Chisinau and sister Ksenia from Moscow, as well as several postcards from Yu.A. Korobyina from the Caucasian front, which he wrote to his daughter Tanya. Unfortunately, the letters written by her have not survived - from the front in Galicia, from Moscow during the Revolution, from Tambov provinces during the Civil War.
In order to somehow make up for the lack of daily records from my relatives, I decided to look for the published diaries of other participants in the events. It turned out that the Diaries were regularly kept by Emperor Nicholas II, and they were “posted” on the Internet. Reading his diaries is boring, because day after day the same small everyday details are repeated in the entries (like got up, "took a walk" received reports, had breakfast, walked again, swam, played with the children, had lunch and drank tea, and in the evening "was dealing with documents" In the evening played dominoes or dice). The Emperor describes in detail the reviews of troops, ceremonial marches and ceremonial dinners given in his honor, but speaks very sparingly about the situation at the fronts.
I would like to remind you that the authors of diaries and letters, unlike memoirists, don't know the future, and for those who read them now, their “future” has become our “past”, and we know what awaits them. This knowledge leaves a special imprint on our perception, especially because their “future” turned out to be so tragic. We see that participants and witnesses of social disasters do not think about the consequences and therefore have no idea what awaits them. Their children and grandchildren forget about the experience of their ancestors, which is easy to see by reading the diaries and letters of contemporaries of the following wars and “perestroikas.” In the world of politics, everything is also repeated with amazing monotony: after 100 years, the newspapers again write about Serbia and Albania, someone again bombs Belgrade and fights in Mesopotamia, again are coming Caucasian wars , and in the new Duma, as in the old, members are engaged in verbiage... It’s like watching remakes of old movies.
PREPARATION FOR WAR
The diary of Nicholas II serves as the background for the publication of letters from the Family Archive. The letters are printed in places where they coincide chronologically with entries from his Diary. The text of the entries is given with abbreviations. Italic highlighted daily verbs and phrases used. Subheadings and notes are provided by the compiler.
Since April 1914 Royal family lived in Livadia. Ambassadors, ministers and Rasputin, whom Nicholas II names in his diary, came there to visit the Tsar. Gregory. It is noticeable that Nicholas II attached special importance to meetings with him. Unlike world events, he certainly noted them in his diary. Here are some typical entries from May 1914.
NICHOLAY'S DIARYII
May 15th.I took a walk in the morning. We had breakfast Georgy Mikhailovich and several lancers, on the occasion of the regimental holiday . During the day played tennis. Read[documents] before lunch. We spent the evening with Gregory, who arrived in Yalta yesterday.
May 16th. Went for a walk quite late; it was hot. Before breakfast accepted Bulgarian military agent Sirmanov. Had a good afternoon of tennis. We drank tea in the garden. Finished all the papers. After lunch there were the usual games.
May 18th. In the morning I walked with Voeikov and examined the area of the future large road. After mass there was Sunday breakfast. We played during the day. B 6 1/2 took a walk with Alexey along a horizontal path. After lunch took a ride in the motor in Yalta. Seen Gregory.
THE TSAR'S VISIT TO ROMANIA
May 31, 1914 Nicholas II left Livadia, moved to his yacht “Standard” and, accompanied by a convoy of 6 warships, went on a visit to Ferdinand von Hohenzollern(b. 1866), who became in 1914 Romanian king. Nicholas and Koroleva were relatives along the line Saxe-Coburg-Gotha The house, the same one to which both the ruling dynasty in the British Empire and the Russian Empress (Nicholas’ wife) on her mother’s side belonged.
Therefore he writes: "In the Queen's Pavilion had breakfast as a family». In the morning 2 June Nikolai arrived in Odessa, and in the evening got on the train and went to Chisinau.
VISITING CHISINAU
June 3rd. We arrived in Chisinau at 9 1/2 on a hot morning. We rode around the city in carriages. The order was exemplary. From the cathedral, with a procession of the cross, they went to the square, where the solemn consecration of the monument to Emperor Alexander I took place in memory of the centenary of the annexation of Bessarabia to Russia. The sun was hot. Accepted immediately all the volost elders of the province. Then let's go to the reception to the nobility; From the balcony they watched the boys and girls gymnastics. On the way to the station we visited the Zemsky Museum. At an hour 20 minutes. left Chisinau. We had breakfast in great stuffiness. Stopped at 3 o'clock in Tiraspol, Where had a viewing [hereinafter the listing of parts is omitted]. Received two delegations And got on the train when a refreshing rain began. Until the evening read papers .
Note by N.M. Nina Evgenievna's father, E.A. Belyavsky, a nobleman and active state councilor, served in the Excise Department of the Bessarabian province. Together with other officials, he probably participated in the “celebrations of the consecration of the monument and in the reception of the nobility,” but my grandmother never told me about this. But at that time she lived with Tanya in Chisinau.
June 15 (28), 1914 in Serbia, and the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne was killed by a terrorist in the city of Sarajevo Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
Note N.M.. C 7 (20) to 10 (23) July The visit of the President of the French Republic Poincaré to the Russian Empire took place. The President had to persuade the Emperor to enter into a war with Germany and its allies, and for this he promised help from the allies (England and France), to whom the Emperor had been in unpaid debt since 1905, when US and European bankers gave him a loan of 6 billion rubles under 6% per annum. In his Diary, Nicholas II, naturally, does not write about such unpleasant things.
Strangely, Nicholas II did not note in his Diary the assassination of the Archduke in Serbia, so when reading his diary it is not clear why Austria presented an ultimatum to this country. But he describes Poincaré's visit in detail and with obvious pleasure. Writes , how “a French squadron entered the small raid of Kronstadt”, with what honor the president was greeted, how a ceremonial dinner took place with speeches, after which he names his guest "kind president." The next day they go with Poincaré "to review the troops."
July 10 (23), Thursday, Nikolai accompanies Poincaré to Kronstadt, and in the evening of the same day.
BEGINNING OF THE WAR
1914. NICHOLAS' DIARYII.
July 12th. On Thursday evening Austria presented an ultimatum to Serbia with demands, 8 of which are unacceptable for an independent state. Obviously, this is all we talk about everywhere. From 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. I had a meeting with 6 ministers on the same issue and on the precautions we should take. After conversations, I went with my three older daughters to [Mariinsky] theater.
July 15 (28), 1914. Austria declared war on Serbia
July 15th.Accepted representatives of the congress of military naval clergy with his father Shavelsky at the head. Played tennis. At 5 o'clock. let's go with our daughters to Strelnitsa to Aunt Olga and drank tea with her and Mitya. At 8 1/2 accepted Sazonov, who reported that Today at noon Austria declared war on Serbia.
July 16th. In the morning accepted Goremykina [Chairman of the Council of Ministers]. During the day played tennis. But the day was unusually restless. I was constantly called to the phone by either Sazonov, or Sukhomlinov, or Yanushkevich. In addition, he was in urgent telegraph correspondence with Wilhelm. In the evening read[documents] and more accepted Tatishchev, whom I am sending to Berlin tomorrow.
July 18th. The day was grey, and so was the inner mood. At 11 o'clock A meeting of the Council of Ministers took place at the Farm. After breakfast I took German Ambassador. I took a walk with daughters. Before lunch and in the evening was studying.
July 19 (Aug. 1), 1914. Germany declared war on Russia.
July 19th. After breakfast I called Nikolasha and announced to him his appointment as supreme commander in chief until my arrival in the army. Went with Alix to the Diveyevo monastery. I walked with the children. Upon returning from there learned, What Germany declared war on us. We had lunch... I arrived in the evening English Ambassador Buchanan with a telegram from Georgie. I composed for a long time with him answer.
Note by N.M. Nikolasha - uncle of the king, led. book Nikolai Nikolaevich. Georgie ― cousin of the Empress, King George of England. Start of war with cousin "Willy" caused Nicholas II to “elevate his spirit”, and, judging by the entries in his diary, he maintained this mood until the end, despite constant failures at the front. Did he remember what the war he started and lost with Japan led to? After all, after that war the first Revolution happened.
July 20th. Sunday. A good day, especially in the sense uplifting spirit. At 11 went to mass. We had breakfast alone. Signed the manifesto declaring war. From Malakhitovaya we walked out into the Nikolaevskaya Hall, in the middle of which the manifesto was read and then a prayer service was served. The whole hall sang “Save, Lord” and “Many Years.” Said a few words. Upon returning, the ladies rushed to kiss hands and a little beat up Alix and me. Then we went out onto the balcony on Alexander Square and bowed to the huge mass of people. We returned to Peterhof at 7 1/4. The evening was spent calmly.
July 22nd. Yesterday Mom A came to Copenhagen from England via Berlin. From 9 1/2 to one o'clock continuously took. Alec arrived first Grand Duke], who returned from Hamburg with great difficulties and barely reached the border. Germany declared war on France and directs the main attack on her.
July 23rd. I found out in the morning kind[??? – comp.] news: England declared to the German warrior because the latter attacked France and most unceremoniously violated the neutrality of Luxembourg and Belgium. In the best possible way from the outside, the campaign could not begin for us. Took it all morning and after breakfast until 4 o'clock. The last one I had French Ambassador Paleologue, who came to officially announce the break between France and Germany. I walked with the children. The evening was free[Department - comp.].
July 24 (Aug. 6), 1914. Austria declared war on Russia.
July 24th. Today Austria, finally, declared war on us. Now the situation is completely clear. From 11 1/2 it happened to me meeting of the Council of Ministers. Alix went into town this morning and returned with Victoria and Ella. I took a walk.
Historical meeting of the State Duma July 26, 1914 With. 227 − 261
TRANSCRIPT REPORT
Greeting Emperor NicholasII
State Council and State Duma,
Word from the interim Chairman of the State Council Golubev:
“Your Imperial Majesty! The State Council brings before you, Great Sovereign, loyal feelings imbued with boundless love and all-submissive gratitude... The unity of the beloved Sovereign and the population of His Empire strengthens its power... (etc.)"
Word from the Chairman of the State Duma M.V. Rodzianko: “Your Imperial Majesty! With a deep sense of delight and pride, all of Russia listens to the words of the Russian Tsar, calling His people to complete unity... Without difference of opinions, views and beliefs, the State Duma on behalf of the Russian land calmly and firmly says to its Tsar: dare, sir, The Russian people are with you... (etc.)"
At 3:37 a.m. The State Duma meeting began.
M.V. Rodzianko exclaims: “Long live the Emperor!” (Long incessant clicks: hurray) and invites gentlemen Members of the State Duma to listen standing The highest manifesto from 20 July 1914(Everyone gets up).
The Supreme Manifesto
By God's Grace,
WE ARE NICHOLAS THE SECOND,
Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia,
Tsar of Poland, Grand Duke of Finland and so on, and so on, and so on.
“We announce to all Our faithful subjects:
<…>Austria hastily launched an armed attack, opening the bombing of defenseless Belgrade... Forced, due to the circumstances, to take the necessary precautions, We ordered to bring army and navy under martial law. <…>Germany, an ally of Austria, contrary to Our hopes for an age-old good neighborliness and not heeding Our assurance that Taken measures do not have hostile goals at all, began to seek their immediate abolition and, having met a refusal, suddenly declared war on Russia.<…>In the terrible hour of trial, let internal strife be forgotten. May it strengthen even more closely unity of the King with His people…
Chairman M.V. Rodzianko: Hurray for the Emperor! (Long incessant clicks: hooray).
Explanations from the ministers about the measures taken in connection with the war follow. Speakers: Chairman of the Council of Ministers Goremykin, Foreign Secretary Sazonov, Minister of Finance Barque. Their speeches were often interrupted stormy and prolonged applause, voices and clicks: “Bravo!”
After the break M.V. Rodzianko invites the State Duma to stand and listen second manifesto of July 26, 1914
The Supreme Manifesto
“We announce to all Our faithful subjects:<…>Now Austria-Hungary has declared war on Russia, which has saved it more than once. In the upcoming war of peoples, We [that is, Nicholas II] are not alone: together with Us [with Nicholas II] stood our valiant allies [Nicholas the Second], who were also forced to resort to force of arms in order to finally eliminate the eternal threat of the German powers to common peace and peace.
<…>May the Lord Almighty bless Our [Nicholas the Second] and the weapons allied to Us, and may all Russia rise to feat of arms with iron in his hands, with a cross in his heart…»
Chairman M.V. Rodzianko:Long live the Emperor!
(Long incessant clicks: hooray; voice: Hymn! Members of the State Duma sing folk anthem).
[AFTER 100 YEARS, MEMBERS OF THE DUMA OF THE RF ALSO PRAISE “THE GOVERNOR” AND SING THE ANTHEM!!! ]
A discussion of government explanations begins. Social Democrats speak first: from the Labor Group A.F. Kerensky(1881, Simbirsk -1970, New York) and on behalf of the RSDLP Khaustov. After them, various “Russians” (Germans, Poles, Little Russians) spoke with assurances of their loyal feelings and intentions to “sacrifice their lives and property for the unity and greatness of Russia”: Baron Felkersam and Goldman from Courland province, Yaronsky from Kletskaya, Ichas and Feldman from Kovenskaya, Lutz from Kherson. Speeches were also given by: Miliukov from St. Petersburg, Count Musin-Pushkin from the Moscow province, Markov 2nd from the Kursk province, Protopopov from the Simbirsk province. and others.
Against the backdrop of the loyal verbiage that the gentlemen Members of the State Duma were engaged in that day, the speeches of the socialists look like the exploits of the Gracchi brothers.
A.F. Kerensky (Saratov province): The labor group instructed me to issue the following statement: “<…>The responsibility of the governments of all European states, in the name of the interests of the ruling classes, who pushed their people into a fratricidal war, is irredeemable.<…>Russian citizens! Remember that you have no enemies among the working classes of the warring countries.<…>While defending to the end everything dear to us from attempts to seize it from the hostile governments of Germany and Austria, remember that there would not have been this terrible war if the great ideals of democracy - liberty, equality and fraternity - guided the activities of governments all countries».
―――――――
Poems:“You are all so chilling, // Far from ours.
Sausage cannot compare // With Russian black porridge.
Notes from a Petrograd citizen during the Russian-German War. P.V. With. 364 − 384
August 1914.“The Germans are waging this war like Huns, vandals and desperate super-scoundrels. They take out their failures on the defenseless population of the regions they occupy. The Germans mercilessly plunder the population, impose monstrous indemnities, shoot men and women, rape women and children, destroy monuments of art and architecture, and burn precious book depositories. In support, we provide a number of excerpts from correspondence and telegrams for this month.
<…>News from the Western Front is confirmed that German troops set fire to the town of Badenvilliers, shooting women and children there. One of the sons of Emperor William, having arrived in Badenvilliers, made a speech to the soldiers in which he said that the French were savages. “Exterminate them as much as you can!” - said the prince.
Belgian envoy provides irrefutable evidence that the Germans maim and burn villagers alive, kidnap young girls, and rape children. Near villages of Lensino There was a battle between the Germans and the Belgian infantry. Not a single civilian took part in this battle. However, the German units that invaded the village destroyed two farms and six houses, rounded up the entire male population, put them in a ditch and shot them.
London newspapers are full of details about the terrible atrocities of German troops in Louvain. Pogrom civilian population continued continuously. Moving from house to house, German soldiers indulged in robbery, violence and murder, sparing neither women, nor children, nor the elderly. The surviving members of the city council were driven into the cathedral and bayoneted there. The famous local library, containing 70,000 volumes, was burned."
It's finished. Rock with a harsh hand
Lifted the veil of time.
Before us are the faces of a new life
They worry like a wild dream.
Covering capitals and villages,
The banners rose, raging.
Through the pastures of ancient Europe
The last war is underway.
And everything about which with fruitless fervor
Centuries argued timidly.
Ready to resolve with a blow
Her iron hand.
But listen! In the hearts of the oppressed
Summoning the Enslaved Tribes
Bursts into a war cry.
Under the tramp of armies, the thunder of guns,
Under the Newports the buzzing flight,
Everything we talk about is like a miracle,
We dreamed, maybe it’s getting up.
So! we've been stuck for too long
And Belshazzar's feast continued!
Let, let from the fiery font
The world will emerge transformed!
Let him fall into a bloody hole
The building is shaky for centuries, -
In the false glimmer of glory
There will be a world to come new!
Let the old vaults crumble,
Let the pillars fall with a roar;
The beginning of peace and freedom
Yes it will be terrible year fight!
V. MAYAKOVSKY. 1917.TO THE ANSWER!
The drum of war thunders and thunders.
Calls to stick iron into the living.
From every country for a slave a slave
throwing a bayonet onto the steel.
For what? The earth is shaking, hungry, naked.
Vaporized humanity in a bloodbath
just to someone somewhere
got hold of Albania.
The anger of human packs has grappled,
falls upon the world blow by blow
only so that the Bosphorus is free
someone's ships were passing by.
Soon the world will have no unbroken rib left.
And they will take out your soul. And they will trample A m her
just to so that someone
took Mesopotamia into his hands.
In the name of what does the creaking and rough boot trample the earth?
Who is above the sky of battles - freedom? God? Ruble!
When you stand up to your full height,
you who give your life Yu them?
When do you throw the question in their face:
What are we fighting for?
Turning to international relations in the first decades of the 20th century, historians most often try to find an answer to the question: why did the world war begin? Let's consider events and phenomena that will help find out the reasons for its occurrence.
International relations at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century
The rapid industrial development of the countries of Europe and North America at that time pushed them to enter the wide world market and spread their economic and political influence in different parts of the world.
The powers that already had colonial possessions sought in every possible way to expand them. Thus, France in the last third of the 19th - early 20th centuries. increased the territory of its colonies more than 10 times. The clash of interests of individual European powers led to armed confrontation, as, for example, in Central Africa, where British and French colonialists competed. Great Britain also tried to strengthen its position in South Africa - in the Transvaal and the Orange Republic. The determined resistance of the descendants of European settlers living there - the Boers - led to Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902).
Guerrilla warfare of the Boers and the most brutal methods of warfare by British troops (up to the burning of peaceful settlements and the creation concentration camps, where thousands of prisoners died) showed the whole world the terrible face of war in the coming 20th century. Great Britain defeated the two Boer republics. But this inherently imperialist war was condemned by most European countries, as well as by democratic forces in Britain itself.
Completed by the beginning of the 20th century. the colonial division of the world did not bring peace to international relationships. Countries that have noticeably advanced in industrial development (USA, Germany, Italy, Japan) are actively involved in the struggle for economic and political influence in the world. In some cases, they seized colonial territories from their owners by military means. This is what the United States did when it launched a war against Spain in 1898. In other cases, colonies were “bargained.” This was done, for example, by Germany in 1911. Having declared its intention to seize part of Morocco, it sent a warship to its shores. France, which had earlier penetrated Morocco, ceded part of its possessions in the Congo to Germany in exchange for recognition of its priority. The following document testifies to the decisiveness of Germany's colonialist intentions.
From Kaiser Wilhelm II's farewell message to the German troops heading to China in July 1900 to suppress the Yihetuan uprising:
“The newly emerged German Empire faces great challenges overseas... And you... must teach the enemy a good lesson. When you meet an enemy, you must beat him! Give no quarter! Take no prisoners! Don't stand on ceremony with those who fall into your hands. Just as a thousand years ago the Huns, under their king Attila, glorified their name, which is still preserved in fairy tales and legends, so the name of the Germans, even a thousand years later, should evoke such feelings in China that never again would a single Chinese dare to look askance at the German!”
The increasing frequency of conflicts between great powers in different parts of the world caused concern not only in public opinion, but also among politicians themselves. In 1899, at the initiative of Russia, a peace conference was held in The Hague with the participation of representatives of 26 states. The second conference in The Hague (1907) was attended by 44 countries. At these meetings, conventions (agreements) were adopted that contained recommendations on the peaceful settlement of international disputes, limiting brutal forms of warfare (prohibition of the use of explosive bullets, toxic substances, etc.), reducing military spending and armed forces, humane treatment of prisoners, and also determined the rights and obligations of neutral states.
Discussion common problems maintaining peace did not prevent the leading European powers from dealing with completely different issues: how to ensure the achievement of their own, not always peaceful, foreign policy goals. It was becoming increasingly difficult to do this alone, so each country looked for allies. WITH late XIX V. two international blocs began to take shape - the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy) and the Franco-Russian alliance, which outgrew at the beginning of the 20th century. in the Triple Entente of France, Russia, Great Britain - the Entente.
Dates, documents, events
Triple Alliance
1879 - secret agreement between Germany and Austria-Hungary on joint defense against Russian attack.
1882 - Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy.
Franco-Russian alliance
1891-1892 - consultative pact and military convention between Russia and France.
Entente
1904 - agreement between Great Britain and France on the division of spheres of influence in Africa.
1906 - negotiations between Belgium, Great Britain and France on military cooperation.
1907 - agreement between Great Britain and Russia on the division of spheres of influence in Iran, Afghanistan and Tibet.
International conflicts of the early 20th century. were not limited to disputes over overseas territories. They also arose in Europe itself. In 1908-1909 The so-called Bosnian crisis occurred. Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was formally part of Ottoman Empire. Serbia and Russia protested because they were in favor of granting independence to these territories. Austria-Hungary announced mobilization and began to concentrate troops on the border with Serbia. Austria-Hungary's actions received German support, which forced Russia and Serbia to accept the takeover.
Balkan Wars
Other states also sought to take advantage of the weakening of the Ottoman Empire. Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro formed the Balkan Union and in October 1912 attacked the empire in order to liberate territories inhabited by Slavs and Greeks from Turkish rule. IN short term the Turkish army was defeated. But peace negotiations turned out to be difficult because the great powers were involved: the Entente countries supported the states of the Balkan Union, and Austria-Hungary and Germany supported the Turks. Under the peace treaty signed in May 1913, the Ottoman Empire lost almost all of its European territories. But less than a month later, the second Balkan War broke out - this time between the victors. Bulgaria attacked Serbia and Greece, trying to get its part of Macedonia liberated from Turkish rule. The war ended in August 1913 with the defeat of Bulgaria. It left behind unresolved interethnic and interstate contradictions. These were not only mutual territorial disputes between Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, and Romania. Austria-Hungary's dissatisfaction with the strengthening of Serbia as a possible center for the unification of the South Slavic peoples, some of which were in the possession of the Habsburg Empire, also grew.
Beginning of the war
On June 28, 1914, in the capital of Bosnia, the city of Sarajevo, a member of the Serbian terrorist organization Gavrilo Princip killed the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife.
June 28, 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophia in Sarajevo Five minutes before the assassination attempt
Austria-Hungary accused Serbia of incitement, to which an ultimatum note was sent. Fulfillment of the requirements contained in it meant for Serbia the loss of its state dignity and consent to Austrian intervention in its affairs. Serbia was ready to fulfill all the conditions, except for one, the most humiliating for it (about the investigation by Austrian services on the territory of Serbia of the causes of the Sarajevo assassination attempt). However, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914. Two weeks later, 8 European countries were involved in the war.
Dates and events
August 1 - Germany declared war on Russia.
August 2 - German troops occupied Luxembourg.
August 3 - Germany declared war on France, its troops moved towards France through Belgium.
August 4 - Great Britain entered the war against Germany.
August 6 - Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia.
August 11 - France entered the war against Austria-Hungary.
August 12 - Great Britain declared war on Austria-Hungary.
On August 23, 1914, Japan declared war on Germany and began to seize German possessions in China and the Pacific. In the fall of the same year, the Ottoman Empire entered the fight on the side of the Triple Alliance. The war went beyond the borders of Europe and turned into a global one.
States that entered the war, as a rule, explained their decision by “higher interests” - the desire to protect themselves and other countries from aggression, allied duty, etc. But true goals The goal of most participants in the conflict was to expand their territories or colonial possessions, increase influence in Europe and on other continents.
Austria-Hungary wanted to subjugate the growing Serbia and weaken Russia’s position in the Balkans. Germany sought to annex the border territories of France and Belgium, the Baltic states and other lands in Europe, as well as expand its colonial possessions at the expense of the English, French, and Belgian colonies. France resisted the onslaught of Germany and at least wanted to return Alsace and Lorraine captured from it in 1871. Britain fought to maintain its colonial empire and wanted to weaken Germany, which had gained strength. Russia defended its interests in the Balkans and the Black Sea and at the same time was not averse to annexing Galicia, which was part of Austria-Hungary.
Some exceptions were Serbia, which became the first victim of the attack, and Belgium, occupied by the Germans: they fought the war primarily to restore their independence, although they also had other interests.
War and Society
So, in the summer of 1914, the wheel of war rolled out of the hands of politicians and diplomats and invaded the lives of millions of people in dozens of countries in Europe and the world. How did people feel when they learned about the war? In what mood did the men go to the mobilization points? What did those who were not supposed to go to the front prepare for?
Official reports of the start of hostilities were accompanied by patriotic appeals and assurances of imminent victory.
French President R. Poincaré noted in his notes:
“The German declaration of war caused a magnificent outburst of patriotism in the nation. Never in its entire history has France been so beautiful as in these hours, which we were given to witness. The mobilization, which began on August 2, ended today, it took place with such discipline, in such order, with such calm, with such enthusiasm, which arouse the admiration of the government and military authorities... In England there is the same enthusiasm as in France; the royal family became the subject of repeated ovations; Patriotic demonstrations are everywhere. The Central Powers aroused against themselves the unanimous indignation of the French, English and Belgian peoples.”
A significant part of the population of the countries that entered the war was captured by nationalist sentiments. Attempts by pacifists and some socialists to raise their voices against the war were drowned out by a wave of jingoism. The leaders of the labor and socialist movements in Germany, Austria-Hungary, and France put forward slogans of “civil peace” in their countries and voted for war loans. The leaders of Austrian Social Democracy called on their supporters to “fight tsarism,” and the British socialists decided first of all to “fight against German imperialism.” The ideas of class struggle and international solidarity of workers were relegated to the background. This led to the collapse of the Second International. Only certain groups of Social Democrats (including the Russian Bolsheviks) condemned the outbreak of war as imperialist and called on workers to refuse support for their governments. But their voices were not heard. Armies of thousands went to war, hoping for victory.
Blitz plans fail
Although Austria-Hungary took the lead in declaring war, Germany immediately took the most decisive action. She sought to avoid a war on two fronts - against Russia in the east and France in the west. The plan of General A. von Schlieffen, developed before the war, provided first for the rapid defeat of France (in 40 days), and then for an active struggle against Russia. The German strike group, which invaded Belgian territory at the beginning of the war, approached the French border a little over two weeks later (later than planned, as the fierce resistance of the Belgians prevented it). By September 1914, German armies crossed the Marne River and approached the Verdun fortress. Execute the blitzkrieg plan ( lightning war) failed. But France found itself in a very difficult situation. Paris was under threat of capture. The government left the capital and turned to Russia for help.
Despite the fact that the deployment and equipment of Russian troops had not been completed by this time (this is exactly what Schliefen was counting on in his plan), two Russian armies under the command of generals P.K. Rennenkampf and A.V. Samsonov were abandoned on the offensive in August East Prussia(here they soon failed), and troops under the command of General N.I. Ivanov in September - in Galicia (where they dealt a serious blow to the Austrian army). The offensive cost Russian troops heavy losses. But to stop him, Germany transferred several corps from France to the Eastern Front. This allowed the French command to gather forces and repel the onslaught of the Germans in a difficult battle on the Marne River in September 1914 (over 1.5 million people took part in the battle, losses on both sides amounted to almost 600 thousand killed and wounded).
The plan to quickly defeat France failed. Unable to get the better of each other, the opponents “sat into trenches” along a huge front line (600 km long) that crossed Europe from the North Sea coast to Switzerland. A protracted positional war ensued on the Western Front. By the end of 1914, a similar situation had developed on the Austro-Serbian front, where the Serbian army managed to liberate the territory of the country previously captured (in August - November) by Austrian troops.
During the period of relative calm at the fronts, diplomats became more active. Each of the warring factions sought to attract new allies into its ranks. Both sides negotiated with Italy, which declared its neutrality at the beginning of the war. Seeing the failures of the German and Austrian troops in carrying out the lightning war, Italy in the spring of 1915 joined the Entente.
On the fronts
Since the spring of 1915, the center of combat operations in Europe moved to the Eastern Front. The combined forces of Germany and Austria-Hungary carried out a successful offensive in Galicia, displacing Russian troops from there, and by the fall the army under the command of General P. von Hindenburg captured the Polish and Lithuanian territories that were part of the Russian Empire (including Warsaw).
Despite the difficult situation Russian army, the French and British command was in no hurry to attack on their front. Military reports of the time included the proverbial phrase: “No change on the Western Front.” True, trench warfare was also a difficult test. The fight intensified, the number of victims steadily increased. In April 1915 on the Western Front near the Ypres River german army carried out a gas attack for the first time. About 15 thousand people were poisoned, 5 thousand of them died, the rest remained disabled. That same year, the war at sea between Germany and Great Britain intensified. To blockade the British Isles, German submarines began to attack all ships going there. Over the course of a year, over 700 ships were sunk, including many civilian ships. Protests from the United States and other neutral countries forced the German command to abandon attacks on passenger ships for some time.
After the successes of the Austro-German forces on the Eastern Front in the fall of 1915, Bulgaria entered the war on their side. Soon, as a result of a joint offensive, the Allies occupied the territory of Serbia.
In 1916, believing that Russia was sufficiently weakened, the German command decided to launch a new blow to France. The goal of the German offensive launched in February was the French fortress of Verdun, the capture of which would open the way for the Germans to Paris. However, it was not possible to take the fortress.
This was explained by the fact that during the previous break in active operations on the Western Front, the British-French troops secured an advantage over the Germans of several dozen divisions. In addition, at the request of the French command, in March 1916, an offensive of Russian troops was launched near Lake Naroch and the city of Dvinsk, which diverted significant German forces.
Finally, in July 1916, a massive offensive of the British-French army began on the Western Front. Particularly heavy fighting took place on the Somme River. Here the French concentrated powerful artillery, creating a continuous barrage of fire. The British were the first to use tanks, which caused real panic among the German soldiers, although they were not yet able to turn the tide of the fighting.
The bloody battle, which lasted almost six months, in which both sides lost about 1 million 300 thousand people killed, wounded and prisoners, ended with a relatively small advance of British and French troops. Contemporaries called the battles of Verdun and the Somme “meat grinders.”
Even the inveterate politician R. Poincaré, who at the beginning of the war admired the patriotic upsurge of the French, now saw a different, terrible face of the war. He wrote:
“How much energy does this life of troops require every day, half underground, in trenches, in the rain and snow, in trenches destroyed by grenades and mines, in shelters without clean air and light, in parallel ditches, always subject to the destructive action of shells, in side passages , which can suddenly be cut off by enemy artillery, at forward posts, where the patrol can be caught every minute by an impending attack! How can we in the rear still know moments of deceptive calm, if there, at the front, people like us are doomed to this hell?
Significant events unfolded in 1916 on the Eastern Front. In June, Russian troops under the command of General A. A. Brusilov broke through the Austrian front to a depth of 70-120 km. The Austrian and German command hastily transferred 17 divisions from Italy and France to this front. Despite this, Russian troops occupied part of Galicia, Bukovina, and entered the Carpathians. Their further advance was suspended due to a lack of ammunition and isolation of the rear.
In August 1916, Romania entered the war on the side of the Entente. But by the end of the year, its army was defeated and the territory was occupied. As a result, the front line for the Russian army increased by another 500 km.
Rear position
The war required the warring countries to mobilize all human and material resources. The life of people in the rear was built according to the laws of war. Working hours at enterprises were increased. Restrictions were introduced on meetings, rallies, and strikes. There was censorship in the newspapers. The state strengthened not only political control over society. During the war years, its regulatory role in the economy grew noticeably. Government bodies distributed military orders and raw materials, and managed manufactured military products. Their alliance with the largest industrial and financial monopolies was taking shape.
Changed and everyday life of people. The work of the young, strong men who left to fight fell on the shoulders of the elderly, women and teenagers. They worked in military factories and cultivated the land in conditions that were immeasurably more difficult than before.
From the book “Home Front” by S. Pankhurst (the author is one of the leaders of the women’s movement in England):
“In July (1916) women who worked in aviation factories in London approached me. They covered airplane wings with camouflage paint for 15 shillings a week, working from 8 a.m. to half past six in the evening. They were often asked to work until 8 o'clock in the evening, and were paid for this overtime work as if it were regular work... According to them, constantly six or more of the thirty women working in the painting were forced to leave the workshop and lie down on the stones for half an hour and more before they could return to their workplace.”
In most of the countries at war, a system of strictly rationed distribution of food and essential goods on food cards was introduced. At the same time, standards were cut two to three times compared to the pre-war level of consumption. It was possible to purchase products in excess of the norm only on the “black market” for fabulous money. Only industrialists and speculators who got rich from military supplies could afford this. Most of the population was starving. In Germany, the winter of 1916/17 was called the “rutabaga” winter, as due to a poor potato harvest, rutabaga became a staple food. People also suffered from a lack of fuel. In Paris in the mentioned winter there were cases of death from cold. The prolongation of the war led to an ever greater deterioration of the situation in the rear.
The crisis is ripe. The final stage of the war
The war brought ever-increasing losses and suffering to the people. By the end of 1916, about 6 million people died on the fronts, and about 10 million were wounded. The cities and villages of Europe became places of battle. In the occupied territories, the civilian population was subjected to looting and violence. In the rear, both people and machines worked to their limits. The material and spiritual strength of the peoples was exhausted. Both politicians and the military already understood this. In December 1916, Germany and its allies proposed that the Entente countries begin peace negotiations, and representatives of several neutral states also spoke in favor of this. But each of the warring parties did not want to admit that they were losers and sought to dictate their own terms. Negotiations did not take place.
Meanwhile, in the countries at war themselves, dissatisfaction with the war and those who continued to wage it grew. The “civil peace” was falling apart. Since 1915, the strike struggle of workers intensified. At first they mainly demanded an increase in wages, which were constantly depreciating due to rising prices. Then anti-war slogans began to be heard more and more often. The ideas of the struggle against the imperialist war were put forward by revolutionary social democrats in Russia and Germany. On May 1, 1916, during a demonstration in Berlin, the leader of the left Social Democrats, Karl Liebknecht, made calls: “Down with the war!”, “Down with the government!” (for this he was arrested and sentenced to four years in prison).
In England, the strike movement of workers in 1915 was led by the so-called shop elders. They presented the workers' demands to the management and steadily achieved their fulfillment. Pacifist organizations launched active anti-war propaganda. The national question has also become more acute. In April 1916 there was an uprising in Ireland. Rebel troops led by the socialist J. Connolly seized government buildings in Dublin and proclaimed Ireland independent republic. The uprising was mercilessly suppressed, 15 of its leaders were executed.
An explosive situation has developed in Russia. Here the matter was not limited to the growth of strikes. February Revolution 1917 overthrew the autocracy. The Provisional Government intended to continue the war “until the victorious end.” But it did not retain power over either the army or the country. In October 1917 it was proclaimed Soviet authority. As for their international consequences, the most noticeable at that moment was Russia’s exit from the war. First, unrest in the army led to the collapse of the Eastern Front. And in March 1918, the Soviet government concluded the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany and its allies, under whose control vast territories remained in the Baltic states, Belarus, Ukraine and the Caucasus. Impact Russian revolution events in Europe and the world were not limited to this; it, as it became clear later, also affected the internal life of many countries.
Meanwhile the war continued. In April 1917, the United States of America declared war on Germany and then its allies. Several states followed Latin America, China and other countries. The Americans sent their troops to Europe. In 1918, after peace was concluded with Russia, the German command made several attempts to attack France, but to no avail. Having lost about 800 thousand people in battles, German troops retreated to their original lines. By the fall of 1918, the initiative in the conduct of hostilities passed to the Entente countries.
The question of ending the war was decided not only at the fronts. Anti-war protests and discontent grew in the countries at war. At demonstrations and rallies, slogans put forward by the Russian Bolsheviks were increasingly heard: “Down with war!”, “Peace without annexations and indemnities!” Workers' and soldiers' councils began to appear in different countries. French workers adopted resolutions that said: “From the spark lit in Petrograd, the light will light over the rest of the world enslaved by militarism.” In the army, battalions and regiments refused to go to the front line.
Germany and its allies, weakened by defeats at the fronts and internal difficulties, were forced to ask for peace.
On September 29, 1918, Bulgaria ceased hostilities. On October 5, the German government made a request for an armistice. On October 30, the Ottoman Empire signed a truce with the Entente. On November 3, Austria-Hungary capitulated, overwhelmed by the liberation movements of the peoples living in it.
On November 3, 1918, a sailors' uprising broke out in Germany in the city of Kiel, marking the beginning of the revolution. On November 9, the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II was announced. On November 10, the Social Democratic government came to power.
November 11, 1918 Commander-in-Chief allied forces in France, Marshal F. Foch, in his headquarters carriage in the Compiegne Forest, dictated the terms of the truce to the German delegation. Finally, the war ended, in which over 30 states took part (in terms of population, they accounted for more than half of the planet’s population), 10 million people were killed and 20 million were wounded. was coming hard way to the world.
References:
Aleksashkina L.N. / General History. XX - early XXI centuries.
The First World War was the first military conflict on a global scale, in which 38 of the 59 independent states that existed at that time were involved.
The main cause of the war was the contradictions between two coalitions of European powers - the Entente (Russia, England and France) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy), caused by the intensification of the struggle for the redistribution of already divided colonies, spheres of influence and sales markets. Starting in Europe, where the main events took place, it gradually acquired a global character, also covering the Far and Middle East, Africa, and the waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic and Indian oceans.
The reason for the start of the armed conflict was the terrorist attack by a member of the Mlada Bosna organization, high school student Gavrilo Princip, during which on June 28 (all dates are given in the new style) 1914 in Sarajevo by Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
On July 23, under pressure from Germany, Austria-Hungary presented Serbia with obviously unacceptable conditions for resolving the conflict. In her ultimatum, she demanded that her military formations be allowed into the territory of Serbia in order to, together with Serbian forces, suppress hostile actions. After the ultimatum was rejected by the Serbian government, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28.
Fulfilling its allied obligations to Serbia, Russia, having received assurances of support from France, announced general mobilization on July 30. The next day, Germany, in the form of an ultimatum, demanded that Russia stop mobilization. Having received no answer, on August 1 she declared war on Russia, and on August 3 on France, as well as neutral Belgium, which refused to allow German troops through its territory. On August 4, Great Britain and its dominions declared war on Germany, and on August 6, Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia.
In August 1914, Japan declared war on Germany, in October, Turkey entered the war on the side of the Germany-Austria-Hungary bloc, and in October 1915, Bulgaria.
Italy, which initially occupied a position of neutrality, declared war on Austria-Hungary in May 1915, under diplomatic pressure from Great Britain, and on August 28, 1916, on Germany.
The main land fronts were the Western (French) and Eastern (Russian), the main naval theaters of military operations were the North, Mediterranean and Baltic seas.
Military operations began on the Western Front - German troops acted according to the Schlieffen plan, which envisaged an attack by large forces on France through Belgium. However, Germany's hope for a quick defeat of France turned out to be untenable; by mid-November 1914, the war on the Western Front assumed a positional character.
The confrontation took place along a line of trenches stretching about 970 kilometers along the German border with Belgium and France. Until March 1918, any, even minor, changes in the front line were achieved here at the cost of huge losses at both sides.
During the maneuverable period of the war, the Eastern Front was located on a strip along the Russian border with Germany and Austria-Hungary, then mainly on the western border strip of Russia.
The beginning of the 1914 campaign on the Eastern Front was marked by the desire of Russian troops to fulfill their obligations to the French and draw back German forces from the Western Front. During this period, two major battles took place - the East Prussian operation and the Battle of Galicia. During these battles, the Russian army defeated the Austro-Hungarian troops, occupied Lviv and pushed the enemy back to the Carpathians, blocking the large Austrian fortress of Przemysl.
However, the losses of soldiers and equipment were colossal; due to the underdevelopment of transport routes, reinforcements and ammunition did not arrive in time, so the Russian troops were unable to develop their success.
Overall, the 1914 campaign ended in favor of the Entente.
The 1914 campaign was marked by the world's first aerial bombing. On October 8, 1914, British planes armed with 20-pound bombs attacked German airship workshops in Friedrichshafen. After this raid, a new class of aircraft began to be created - bombers.
In the 1915 campaign, Germany shifted its main efforts to the Eastern Front, intending to defeat the Russian army and take Russia out of the war. As a result of the Gorlitsky breakthrough in May 1915, the Germans inflicted a heavy defeat on Russian troops, who were forced to leave Poland, Galicia and part of the Baltic states in the summer. However, in the fall, having repelled the enemy’s offensive in the Vilna region, they forced the German army to switch to positional defense on the Eastern Front (October 1915).
On the Western Front, the parties continued to maintain a strategic defense. On April 22, 1915, during the battles near Ypres (Belgium), Germany used chemical weapons (chlorine) for the first time. After this, poisonous gases (chlorine, phosgene, and later mustard gas) began to be used regularly by both warring parties.
The large-scale Dardanelles ended in defeat landing operation(1915-1916) - a naval expedition that the Entente countries equipped at the beginning of 1915 with the goal of taking Constantinople, opening the Dardanelles and Bosporus straits for communication with Russia through the Black Sea, withdrawing Turkey from the war and winning the Balkan states to the side of the allies.
On the Eastern Front, by the end of 1915, German and Austro-Hungarian troops had driven the Russians out of almost all of Galicia and most of Russian Poland.
In the 1916 campaign, Germany again shifted its main efforts to the west with the goal of withdrawing France from the war, but a powerful blow to France during the Verdun operation ended in failure. This was largely facilitated by the Russian Southwestern Front, which carried out a breakthrough of the Austro-Hungarian front in Galicia and Volhynia. Anglo-French troops launched a decisive offensive on the Somme River, but, despite all efforts and the attraction of enormous forces and resources, they were unable to break through the German defenses. During this operation, the British used tanks for the first time. The largest battle of the war, the Battle of Jutland, took place at sea, in which the German fleet failed. As a result of the military campaign of 1916, the Entente seized the strategic initiative.
At the end of 1916, Germany and its allies first began to talk about the possibility of a peace agreement. The Entente rejected this proposal. During this period, the armies of the states actively participating in the war numbered 756 divisions, twice as many as at the beginning of the war, but they lost the most qualified military personnel. The bulk of the soldiers were elderly reserves and young people conscripted early, poorly prepared in military-technical terms and insufficiently trained physically.
In 1917, two major events radically affected the balance of power of the opponents.
April 6, 1917 USA, which for a long time maintained neutrality in the war and decided to declare war on Germany. One of the reasons was an incident off the southeast coast of Ireland, when a German submarine sank the British liner Lusitania, sailing from the United States to England, which was carrying a large group of Americans, killing 128 of them.
Following the United States in 1917, China, Greece, Brazil, Cuba, Panama, Liberia and Siam also entered the war on the side of the Entente.
The second major change in the confrontation of forces was caused by Russia's withdrawal from the war. On December 15, 1917, the Bolsheviks who came to power signed an armistice agreement. On March 3, 1918, the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty was concluded, according to which Russia renounced its rights to Poland, Estonia, Ukraine, part of Belarus, Latvia, Transcaucasia and Finland. Ardahan, Kars and Batum went to Turkey. In total, Russia lost about one million square kilometers. In addition, she was obliged to pay Germany an indemnity in the amount of six billion marks.
The major battles of the 1917 campaign, Operation Nivelle and Operation Cambrai, demonstrated the value of using tanks in battle and laid the foundation for tactics based on the interaction of infantry, artillery, tanks and aircraft on the battlefield.
In 1918, Germany, concentrating its main efforts on the Western Front, launched the March offensive in Picardy, and then offensive operations in Flanders, on the Aisne and Marne rivers, but due to the lack of sufficient strategic reserves, it was unable to develop the initial success achieved. The Allies, having repelled the attacks of German troops, on August 8, 1918, in the Battle of Amiens, tore apart the German front: entire divisions surrendered almost without a fight - this battle became the last major battle of the war.
On September 29, 1918, after the Entente offensive on the Thessaloniki Front, Bulgaria signed an armistice, Turkey capitulated in October, and Austria-Hungary capitulated on November 3.
Popular unrest began in Germany: on October 29, 1918, in the port of Kiel, the crew of two warships disobeyed and refused to go to sea on a combat mission. Mass revolts began: the soldiers intended to establish councils of soldiers' and sailors' deputies in northern Germany on the Russian model. On November 9, Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated the throne and a republic was proclaimed.
On November 11, 1918, at the Retonde station in the Compiegne Forest (France), the German delegation signed the Compiegne Armistice. The Germans were ordered to liberate the occupied territories within two weeks and establish a neutral zone on the right bank of the Rhine; hand over guns and vehicles to the allies and release all prisoners. The political provisions of the treaty provided for the abolition of the Brest-Litovsk and Bucharest peace treaties, financial - payment of reparations for destruction and return of valuables. The final terms of the peace treaty with Germany were determined at the Paris peace conference at the Palace of Versailles on June 28, 1919.
The First World War, which for the first time in human history engulfed the territories of two continents (Eurasia and Africa) and vast sea areas, radically reshaped political map world and became one of the largest and bloodiest. During the war, 70 million people were mobilized into the ranks of the armies; of these, 9.5 million were killed or died from their wounds, more than 20 million were wounded, and 3.5 million were left crippled. The greatest losses were suffered by Germany, Russia, France and Austria-Hungary (66.6% of all losses). The total cost of the war, including property losses, was variously estimated to range from $208 billion to $359 billion.
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
Both sides pursued aggressive goals. Germany sought to weaken Great Britain and France, seize new colonies on the African continent, tear Poland and the Baltic states away from Russia, Austria-Hungary - to establish itself on the Balkan Peninsula, Great Britain and France - to retain their colonies and weaken Germany as a competitor in the world market, Russia - to seize Galicia and take possession of the Black Sea straits.
Causes
Intending to go to war against Serbia, Austria-Hungary secured German support. The latter believed that the war would become local if Russia did not defend Serbia. But if it provides assistance to 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 units be allowed into Serbia in order to, together with Serbian forces, suppress hostile actions. 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. On July 30, Russia announced general mobilization; Germany used this occasion to declare war on Russia on August 1, and on France on August 3. Following the German invasion of Belgium on 4 August, 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.
Progress of the war
1914
The war consisted of five campaigns. During the First Campaign, Germany invaded Belgium and northern France, but was defeated at the Battle of the Marne. Russia captured parts of East Prussia and Galicia (East Prussian Operation and Battle of Galicia), but was then defeated by the German and Austro-Hungarian counter-offensive. As a result, there was a transition from maneuvering to positional forms of combat.
1915
Italy, the disruption of the German plan to withdraw Russia from the war and bloody, inconclusive battles on the Western Front.
During this campaign, Germany and Austria-Hungary, concentrating their main efforts on the Russian front, carried out the so-called Gorlitsky breakthrough and ousted Russian troops from Poland and parts of the Baltic states, but were defeated in the Vilna operation and were forced to switch to positional defense.
On the Western Front, both sides fought a strategic defense. Private operations (at Ypres, Champagne and Artois) were unsuccessful, despite the use of poison gases.
On Southern Front Italian troops launched an unsuccessful operation against Austria-Hungary on the Isonzo River. German-Austrian troops managed to defeat Serbia. Anglo-French troops successfully carried out the Thessaloniki operation in Greece, but were unable to capture the Dardanelles. On the Transcaucasian front, Russia, as a result of the Alashkert, Hamadan and Sarykamysh operations, reached the approaches to Erzurum.
1916
The city's campaign is associated with the entry of Romania into the war and the waging of a grueling positional war on all fronts. Germany again turned its efforts against France, but was unsuccessful at the Battle of Verdun. The operations of the Anglo-French troops on Somna were also unsuccessful, despite the use of tanks.
On the Italian front, Austro-Hungarian troops launched the Trentino offensive, but were driven back by a counter-offensive by Italian troops. On the Eastern Front, troops of the Southwestern Russian Front carried out a successful operation in Galicia on a wide front stretching up to 550 km (Brusilovsky breakthrough) and advanced 60-120 km, occupied the eastern regions of Austria-Hungary, which forced the enemy to transfer up to 34 divisions to this front from the Western and Italian fronts.
The decisive Battle of Jutland took place on the Baltic Sea. As a result of the campaign, conditions were created for the Entente to seize the strategic initiative.
1917
The city's campaign is associated with the entry of the United States into the war, Russia's revolutionary exit from the war and the conduct of a number of successive offensive operations on the Western Front (Nivelle's operation, operations in the Messines area, Ypres, near Verdun, and Cambrai). These operations, despite the use of large forces of artillery, tanks and aviation, practically did not change the general situation in the Western European theater of military operations. In the Atlantic at this time, Germany launched an unrestricted submarine war, during which both sides suffered heavy losses.
1918
The campaign was characterized by a transition from positional defense to a general offensive by the Entente armed forces. First, Germany launched the Allied March offensive in Picardy and private operations in Flanders and on the Aisne and Marne rivers. But due to lack of strength, they did not develop.
From the second half of the year, with the entry of the United States into the war, the Allies prepared and launched retaliatory offensive operations (Amiens, Saint-Miel, Marne), during which they eliminated the results of the German offensive, and in September they launched a general offensive, forcing Germany to surrender ( Truce of Compiegne).
Results
The final terms of the peace treaty were worked out at the Paris Conference of 1919-1920. ; During the sessions, agreements regarding five peace treaties were determined. After its completion, the following were signed: 1) the Treaty of Versailles with Germany on June 28; 2) Saint-Germain Peace Treaty with Austria on September 10, 1919; 3) Neuilly Peace Treaty with Bulgaria on November 27; 4) Trianon Peace Treaty with Hungary on June 4; 5) Treaty of Sèvres with Turkey on August 20. Subsequently, according to the Treaty of Lausanne on July 24, 1923, changes were made to the Treaty of Sèvres.
As a result of the First World War, the German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires were liquidated. Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire were divided, and Russia and Germany, ceasing to be monarchies, were reduced territorially and economically weakened. Revanchist sentiments in Germany led to World War II. The First World War accelerated the development of social processes and was one of the prerequisites that led to revolutions in Russia, Germany, Hungary, and Finland. As a result, a new military-political situation in the world was created.
In total, World War I lasted 51 months and 2 weeks. Covered the territories of Europe, Asia and Africa, the waters of the Atlantic, North, Baltic, Black and Mediterranean seas. This is the first military conflict on a global scale, in which 38 of the 59 independent states that existed at that time were involved. Two-thirds of the world's population took part in the war. The number of warring armies exceeded 37 million people. The total number of people mobilized into the armed forces was about 70 million. The length of the fronts was up to 2.5-4 thousand km. The casualties of the parties amounted to about 9.5 million killed and 20 million wounded.
During the war, new types of troops were developed and widely used: aviation, armored forces, anti-aircraft troops, anti-tank weapons, and submarine forces. New forms and methods of armed struggle began to be used: army and front-line operations, breaking through front fortifications. New strategic categories have emerged: operational deployment of the armed forces, operational cover, border battles, initial and subsequent periods of the war.
Used materials
- Dictionary "War and Peace in Terms and Definitions", First World War
- Encyclopedia "Around the World"
105 years ago, on August 1, 1914, Germany declared war on the Russian Empire. The First World War (1914-1918) became the Second Patriotic War for Russia...
This unprecedented war must be brought to complete victory. Whoever thinks now about peace, who desires it, is a traitor to the Fatherland, its traitor.
From Nicholas II's farewell address to the troops(8 March 1917)
In that war, the Russian Empire saved Europe, but fell short of Victory. The reasoning of Churchill, a direct participant in the events, is well known: “Fate has not been as cruel to any country as to Russia. Her ship sank while the harbor was in sight. She had already weathered the storm when everything collapsed. All the sacrifices have already been made, all the work has been completed. The selfless impulse of the Russian armies that saved Paris in 1914; overcoming a painful, shell-free retreat; slow recovery; Brusilov's victories; Russia entering the 1917 campaign undefeated, stronger than ever. With victory already in her hands, she fell to the ground.” There is truth in these arguments. The line of Russian history in October 1917 (and perhaps even earlier, after the abdication of the emperor) diverged from logic great war. Tragedy? Without a doubt.
The doctor spoke about the history of this war, what it meant for Russia historical sciences, professor, chief researcher of the Institute general history RAS (IVI RAS), President of the Russian Association of Historians of the First World War (RAIWW) Evgeniy Yuryevich Sergeev.
Visit of French President R. Poincaré to Russia. July 1914
What the masses don't know
Evgeniy Yurievich, The First World War (WWII) is one of the main directions of your scientific activity. What influenced the choice of this particular topic?
This interest Ask. On the one hand, the significance of this event for world history leaves no doubt. This alone can motivate a historian to study WWII. On the other hand, this war still remains, to a certain extent, “terra incognita” national history. Civil War and the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) overshadowed it, relegated it to the background in our consciousness.
No less important are the extremely interesting and little-known events of that war. Including those whose direct continuation we find during the Second World War.
For example, there was such an episode in the history of WWII: On August 23, 1914, Japan declared war on Germany., being in alliance with Russia and other Entente countries, supplied Russia with weapons and military equipment. These supplies went through the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER). The Germans organized an entire expedition (sabotage team) there in order to blow up the tunnels and bridges of the Chinese Eastern Railway and interrupt this communication. Russian counterintelligence intercepted this expedition, that is, they managed to prevent the liquidation of the tunnels, which would have caused significant damage to Russia, because an important supply artery would have been interrupted.
- Marvelous. How can it be, Japan, with whom we fought in 1904-1905...
By the time WWII began, relations with Japan were different. The corresponding agreements have already been signed. And in 1916, an agreement on a military alliance was even signed. We had a very close collaboration.
Suffice it to say that Japan handed over to us, although not free of charge, three ships that Russia lost in the years Russo-Japanese War. The Varyag, which the Japanese raised and restored, was among them. As far as I know, the cruiser "Varyag" (the Japanese called it "Soya") and two other ships raised by the Japanese were bought by Russia from Japan in 1916. On April 5 (18), 1916, the Russian flag was raised over the Varyag in Vladivostok.
Moreover, after the Bolshevik victory, Japan participated in the intervention. But this is not surprising: the Bolsheviks were considered accomplices of the Germans, the German government. You yourself understand that the conclusion of a separate peace on March 3, 1918 was essentially a stab in the back of the allies, including Japan.
Along with this, of course, there were very specific political and economic interests of Japan in the Far East and Siberia.
- But there were other interesting episodes in WWII?
Certainly. It can also be said (few people know about this) that military convoys known from the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 were present during WWII, and also went to Murmansk, which in 1916 was specially built for this purpose. Was open Railway, connecting Murmansk with the European part of Russia. The supplies were quite significant.
A French squadron operated together with Russian troops on the Romanian front. Here is a prototype of the Normandy-Niemen squadron. British submarines fought in the Baltic Sea alongside the Russian Baltic Fleet.
Cooperation on the Caucasian front between the corps of General N.N. Baratov (who fought there against the troops of the Ottoman Empire as part of the Caucasian Army) and British forces is also a very interesting episode of WWII, one might say, the prototype of the so-called “meeting on the Elbe” during the Second World War . Baratov made a forced march and met with British troops near Baghdad, in what is now Iraq. Then these were Ottoman possessions, naturally. As a result, the Turks found themselves caught in a pincer movement.
Visit of French President R. Poincaré to Russia. Photo 1914
Grand plans
- Evgeniy Yuryevich, who is to blame for this? the outbreak of the First World War?
The blame clearly lies with the so-called Central Powers, that is, Austria-Hungary and Germany. And even more so in Germany. Although WWII began as a local war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, without the strong support that was promised to Austria-Hungary from Berlin, it would not have acquired first a European and then a global scale.
Germany really needed this war. Its main goals were formulated as follows: to eliminate British hegemony on the seas, seize its colonial possessions and acquire “living space in the East” (that is, in Eastern Europe) for the rapidly growing German population. There was a geopolitical concept of “Middle Europe”, according to which Germany’s main task was to unite European countries around itself into a kind of modern European Union, but, naturally, under the auspices of Berlin.
To ideologically support this war, a myth was created in Germany about “surrounding the Second Reich with a ring of hostile states”: from the West - France, from the East - Russia, on the seas - Great Britain. Hence the task: to break through this ring and create a prosperous world empire centered in Berlin.
- What role did Germany assign to Russia and the Russian people in the event of its victory?
In case of victory, Germany hoped to return the Russian kingdom to the borders of approximately the 17th century (that is, before Peter I). Russia, in the German plans of that time, was to become a vassal of the Second Reich. The Romanov dynasty was supposed to be preserved, but, of course, Nicholas II (and his son Alexei) would be removed from power.
- How did the Germans behave in the occupied territories during WWI?
In 1914-1917, the Germans managed to occupy only the extreme western provinces of Russia. They behaved there rather restrainedly, although, of course, they requisitioned the property of the civilian population. But there were no mass deportations to Germany or atrocities directed against civilians.
Another thing is 1918, when German and Austro-Hungarian troops occupied vast territories in conditions of the actual collapse of the tsarist army (let me remind you that they reached Rostov, Crimea and North Caucasus). Mass requisitions for the needs of the Reich had already begun here, and resistance units appeared, created in Ukraine by nationalists (Petlyura) and Socialist Revolutionaries, who spoke out sharply against the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty. But even in 1918, the Germans could not make much of a turn, since the war was already coming to an end, and they sent their main forces to the Western Front against the French and British. However partisan movement against the Germans in 1917–1918 in the occupied territories was nevertheless noted.
World War I. Political poster. 1915
Meeting of the III State Duma. 1915
Why did Russia get involved in the war?
- What did Russia do to prevent war?
Nicholas II hesitated to the end - to start a war or not, proposing to allow everything controversial issues at the peace conference in The Hague through international arbitration. Such proposals on the part of Nicholas were made to Wilhelm II, the German Emperor, but he rejected them. And therefore, to say that the blame for the start of the war lies with Russia is absolute nonsense.
Unfortunately, Germany ignored Russian initiatives. The fact is that German intelligence and ruling circles were well aware that Russia was not ready for war. And Russia’s allies (France and Great Britain) were not quite ready for it, especially Great Britain in terms of ground forces.
In 1912, Russia began to carry out a large program of army rearmament, and it was supposed to end only by 1918–1919. And Germany actually completed preparations for the summer of 1914.
In other words, the “window of opportunity” was quite narrow for Berlin, and if a war was to start, it had to start in 1914.
- How justified were the arguments of opponents of the war?
The arguments of the opponents of the war were quite strong and clearly formulated. There were such forces among the ruling circles. There was a fairly strong and active party that opposed the war.
There is a well-known note from one of the major statesmen of that time, P. N. Durnovo, which was submitted at the beginning of 1914. Durnovo warned Tsar Nicholas II about the destructiveness of the war, which, in his opinion, meant the death of the dynasty and the death of Imperial Russia.
There were such forces, but the fact is that by 1914 Russia was in allied relations not with Germany and Austria-Hungary, but with France, and then with Great Britain, and the very logic of the development of the crisis associated with the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, heir to Austria -The Hungarian throne, brought Russia to this war.
Speaking about the possible fall of the monarchy, Durnovo believed that Russia would not be able to withstand a war on a large scale, that there would be a supply crisis and a crisis of power, and this would ultimately lead not only to the disorganization of political and economic life country, but also to the collapse of the empire and loss of control. Unfortunately, his prediction was largely justified.
- Why did anti-war arguments, for all their validity, clarity and clarity, not have the desired impact? Russia could not help but enter the war, even despite such clearly expressed arguments of its opponents?
Allied duty on the one hand, on the other hand - fear of losing prestige and influence in Balkan countries. After all, if we had not supported Serbia, it would have been catastrophic for Russia’s prestige.
Of course, the pressure also took its toll certain forces, war-minded, including those associated with some Serbian circles at court, with Montenegrin circles. Famous “Montenegro women”, that is, the wives of the grand dukes at court, also influenced the decision-making process.
It can also be said that Russia owed significant amounts of money received as loans from French, Belgian and English sources. The money was received specifically for the rearmament program.
But I would still put the issue of prestige (which was very important for Nicholas II) to the fore. We must give him his due - he always advocated maintaining the prestige of Russia, although, perhaps, he did not always understand this correctly.
- Is it true that the motive of helping the Orthodox (Orthodox Serbia) was one of the decisive factors that determined Russia’s entry into the war?
One of the very significant factors. Perhaps not decisive, because - I emphasize again - Russia needed to maintain the prestige of a great power and not turn out to be an unreliable ally at the very beginning of the war. This is probably the main motive.
A sister of mercy writes down the last will of a dying person. Western Front, 1917
Myths old and new
WWII became for our Motherland the Patriotic War, the Second Patriotic War, as it is sometimes called. In Soviet textbooks, WWI was called “imperialist.” What is behind these words?
Giving WWI an exclusively imperialist status is a serious mistake, although this point is also present. But first of all, we must look at it as the Second Patriotic War, remembering that the First Patriotic War was the war against Napoleon in 1812, and we had the Great Patriotic War back in the 20th century.
By taking part in WWII, Russia defended itself. After all, it was Germany that declared war on Russia on August 1, 1914. The First World War became the Second Patriotic War for Russia. In support of the thesis about the main role of Germany in the outbreak of WWII, it can be said that at the Paris Peace Conference (which took place from 01/18/1919 to 01/21/1920), the Allied powers, among other demands, set a condition for Germany to agree to the article on the “war crime” "and admit their responsibility for starting the war.
The whole people then rose up to fight against the foreign invaders. War, I emphasize once again, was declared on us. We didn't start it. And not only the active armies, where, by the way, several million Russians were drafted, but also the entire people took part in the war. The rear and the front acted together. And many trends that we later observed during the Great Patriotic War, originate precisely during the WWI period. Suffice it to say that partisan detachments were active, that the population of the rear provinces actively showed themselves when they helped not only the wounded, but also refugees fleeing the war from the western provinces. The sisters of mercy were active, and the clergy who were on the front line and often raised troops to attack performed very well.
It can be said that the designation of our great defensive wars by the terms: “First Patriotic War,” “Second Patriotic War,” and “Third Patriotic War” is the restoration of that historical continuity that was broken in the period after WWI.
In other words, whatever the official goals of the war, there were simple people who perceived this war as a war for their Fatherland, and died and suffered precisely for this.
- And what, from your point of view, are the most common myths about WWI now?
We have already named the first myth. It is a myth that WWII was clearly imperialist and was carried out exclusively in the interests of the ruling circles. This is probably the most common myth, which has not yet been eradicated even on the pages of school textbooks. But historians are trying to overcome this negative ideological legacy. We are trying to take a different look at the history of WWII and explain to our schoolchildren the true essence of that war.
Another myth is the idea that the Russian army only retreated and suffered defeats. Nothing like this. By the way, this myth is widespread in the West, where, apart from the Brusilov breakthrough, that is, the offensive of the troops of the Southwestern Front in 1916 (spring-summer), even Western experts, not to mention the general public, there were no major victories of Russian weapons in WWII They can’t name it.
In fact, excellent examples of Russian military art were demonstrated in WWI. Let's say, on the Southwestern Front, on the Western Front. This is both the Battle of Galicia and the Lodz operation. . Osowiec is a fortress located on the territory of modern Poland, where the Russians defended themselves against superior German forces for more than six months (the siege of the fortress began in January 1915 and lasted 190 days). And this defense is quite comparable to the defense of the Brest Fortress.
You can give examples of Russian hero pilots. You can remember the sisters of mercy who saved the wounded.
There is also a myth that Russia fought this war in isolation from its allies. Nothing like this. The examples I gave earlier debunk this myth.
The war was a coalition one. And we received significant assistance from France, Great Britain, and then the United States, which entered the war later, in 1917.
- Is the figure of Nicholas II mythologized?
In many ways, of course, it is mythologized. Under the influence of revolutionary agitation, he was branded almost as an accomplice of the Germans. There was a myth according to which Nicholas II allegedly wanted to conclude a separate peace with Germany.
In fact, this was not the case. He was a sincere supporter of waging war to a victorious end and did everything in his power to achieve this. Already in exile, he received the news of the Bolsheviks concluding a separate Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty extremely painfully and with great indignation.
Another thing is that the scale of his personality as a statesman turned out to be not entirely adequate for Russia to be able to get through this war to the end.
None I emphasize , no documentary evidence of the desire of the emperor and empress to conclude a separate peace not found. He didn't even allow the thought of it. These documents do not exist and could not exist. This is another myth.
As a very clear illustration of this thesis, we can cite Nicholas II’s own words from the Act of Abdication (March 2 (15), 1917 at 3 p.m.): "In the days of the greatstruggle against an external enemy who had been striving to enslave our homeland for almost three years, the Lord God was pleased to send Russia a new and difficult test. The outbreak of internal popular unrest threatens to have a disastrous effect on the further conduct of the stubborn war.The fate of Russia, the honor of our heroic army, the good of the people, the entire future of our dear Fatherland require bringing the war to a victorious end at all costs. <…>».
Nicholas II, V.B. Fredericks and Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich at Headquarters. 1914
Russian troops on the march. Photo 1915
Defeat a year before victory
The First World War, as some believe, was a shameful defeat of the tsarist regime, a disaster, or something else? After all, as long as the last Russian Tsar remained in power, the enemy could not enter the Russian Empire? Unlike the Great Patriotic War.
You are not entirely right that the enemy could not enter our borders. It nevertheless entered the Russian Empire as a result of the offensive of 1915, when the Russian army was forced to retreat, when our opponents transferred virtually all their forces to the Eastern Front, to the Russian front, and our troops had to retreat. Although, of course, the enemy did not enter the deep regions of Central Russia.
But I would not call what happened in 1917-1918 a defeat, a shameful defeat of the Russian Empire. It would be more accurate to say that Russia was forced to sign this separate peace with the Central Powers, that is, with Austria-Hungary and Germany and with other participants in this coalition.
This is a consequence of the political crisis in which Russia finds itself. That is, the reasons for this are internal, and not at all military. And we must not forget that the Russians actively fought on the Caucasian front, and the successes were very significant. In fact, the Ottoman Empire was dealt a very serious blow by Russia, which later led to its defeat.
Although Russia did not fully fulfill its allied duty, this must be admitted, it certainly made its significant contribution to the victory of the Entente.
Russia literally didn't have enough for a year. Maybe a year and a half in order to finish this war with dignity as part of the Entente, as part of a coalition
How was the war generally perceived in Russian society? The Bolsheviks, representing an overwhelming minority of the population, dreamed of the defeat of Russia. But what was the attitude of ordinary people?
