Causes of the war. The First World War was caused by the aggravation of the fundamental contradictions between the major capitalist states. The imperialist countries fought with each other for markets and sources of raw materials. These contradictions (mainly of an economic nature) arose and grew for a long time and led to the formation of hostile coalitions.
Germany, late for the colonial division of the world, sought to catch up. It was Germany, of all the powers, that was most interested in a global war for the redivision of the world (although this does not relieve other states of responsibility). Germany's ally was Austria-Hungary, which had its own views of the Balkans.
France, the traditional enemy of Germany on the continent, remembering the unsuccessful war for itself 1870, I was looking for an ally and found him in the person of Russia. Great Britain, in turn, was forced to break the traditional policy of "brilliant isolation". The United Kingdom was the largest colonial empire and possessed the strongest navy, but the United States and Germany, surpassing Britain in economic potential, gradually overtook it in the power of their naval units. Anglo-German contradictions became especially acute. Therefore, Great Britain joined the Russian-French alliance. Russia and Great Britain have smoothed out their differences by delimiting the spheres of influence in Iran, Afghanistan and Tibet. This is how the countries of Concord - the Entente - united.
Russia's participation in the war is explained not by its immediate interests, but, first of all, by allied obligations and the desire to assert its status as a great power. In Russia, they understood the fatalities of war in conditions of an unstable economy and acute internal contradictions. Remembering the results of the Russian-Japanese war and revolution, P.A. Stolypin, and after him Russian diplomacy, adhered to the formula "peace, no matter what." But nevertheless, in the coming war, Russia was going to seize the Black Sea straits, opening the way to the Mediterranean. Russia also sought to gain a foothold in the Balkans to the detriment of the interests of Austria-Hungary.

The nature of the war. Thus, the world war turned into a war of attrition. The outcome of the war was decided by the ratio of material and human resources of both sides. The belligerent states were forced to put their economies on a war footing. The big capitalists who unleashed the war doomed their peoples to the most severe trials and huge sacrifices, unprecedented in the history of mankind.
In such a war, the Entente countries had significant advantages. The two largest colonial empires, Great Britain and France, worked for them. As for the colonies of Germany, they were very quickly conquered by the Allies. The German fleet was blocked in its ports by the more powerful British fleet, attempts to break through to the Atlantic remained just attempts. Only German submarines could interfere with the Allied naval communications.
In this situation, the central powers had to rely only on their own resources.

The beginning of the XX century. characterized by an exacerbation between the leading European countries, the intensification of their struggle for spheres of influence. The main contradictions were the reasons for the First World War: Anglo-German rivalry for leadership in Europe and in sea communications; Franco-German controversy over Alsace-Lorraine; Russia's rivalry with Germany and Austria-Hungary in the Balkans.

At the beginning of the XX century. two opposing blocs of states finally took shape: the Entente (led by Russia, England, France) and the Quadruple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria). The countries of both blocs began to intensively prepare for war.

The events in the Balkans in the summer of 1914, when the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was killed in Sarajevo by Serbian nationalists on June 15 (28). 13 (28) July 1914 Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Russia announced a general mobilization. Germany on July 19 (August 1) 1914 declared war on Russia, and two days later - on France. Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, Japan, Turkey and other countries entered the war.

Russia entered the war unprepared: only by 1917 was it planned to complete the country's military program.

Russia's military operations unfolded in East Prussia against Germany and on the Southwestern Front against Austria-Hungary. In December 1914, Russian troops defeated the Turkish army in the Caucasus. However, in the spring and summer of 1915, due to large losses at the fronts, inconsistency in the actions of the Russian command, and most importantly, an acute shortage of weapons and ammunition, the course of military operations was unsuccessful for the Russian troops. German troops occupied Galicia, Poland, Lithuania, part of the Baltic States and Belarus.

In 1916, only the offensive of the Russian army on the Southwestern Front under the command of General A.A. Brusilov (1853-1926). But the "Brusilov breakthrough", during which the Russian army reached the Carpathians, was not supported by other fronts. Not having received resources and ammunition, Brusilov in Galicia went on the defensive, success was not developed.

Along with the setbacks at the front, the crisis in the country's economy was growing. The war required colossal costs. Budget expenditures in 1916 exceeded revenues by 76%. Taxes were sharply increased. The government launched a massive issue of money without gold backing, which led to a fall in the value of the ruble, a disruption of the entire financial system in the state, and an extraordinary rise in the cost of living.

The collapse of the economy and food difficulties forced the tsarist government in 1916 to introduce compulsory grain appropriation. Food supplies in Petrograd accounted for only half of his needs. Due to the lack of fuel in Petrograd, already in December 1916, the work of about 80 enterprises was stopped.

Failures at the fronts, the deteriorating internal situation gave rise to disappointment and dissatisfaction with the government's policies. The growth of the revolutionary movement in the country led to the winter of 1916-1917. to the emergence of a new revolutionary situation.

February Revolution of 1917 in Russia(also February bourgeois-democratic revolution, February coup, February) - the events in Petrograd, as a result of which Emperor Nicholas II was overthrown in Russia. The revolutionary events spanned the period from late February to early March 1917 (according to the Julian calendar in effect at that time in Russia).

The February revolution continued and completed the work of the previous revolution of 1905-1907. But new features appeared in it.

The first block of contradictions is the need to overcome the country's dangerously lagging behind the advanced industrialized countries.

The second block is internal contradictions between peasants and landowners, workers and capitalists, between town and country, center and outskirts, between different nationalities and confessions. This entire rich spectrum of interests was represented by various political parties and public organizations - from liberal-democratic to left-wing radicals. On the very left wing were the Bolsheviks.

The third block of contradictions is opportunistic, already generated by the hardships and troubles of the imperialist war. The growing economic devastation, the threat of hunger, war weariness, huge sacrifices, and disenchantment with the goals of the war rapidly brought society closer to an explosion, giving rise to protest in the most diverse strata.

The further from February, the clearer it became that the revolution did not have a clearly expressed social character. It did not fall under any of the usual names (bourgeois democratic, national liberation, religious, etc.), including the signs of many.

The Russian character of this revolution was determined by a specific set of reasons and contradictions that gave rise to it, the mentality and type of behavior of the participants in the revolution, their leaders. Antifeudal and anti-capitalist interests, general democratic and narrow class interests, are closely intertwined here. In this revolutionary process both the bourgeoisie and the middle and oppressed (semi-proletarian and proletarian) forces could find their place. When developing programs for the renewal of society, various units of the revolution relied either on the principles of communality (peasantry, Socialist-Revolutionaries), then on the experience of advanced democracy and the highest forms of capitalism in the West (business circles, cadets), then on communist utopias (individual detachments of workers, social democrats) ... And everyone claimed to be the leader of the movement. For such a revolution, overwhelmed by the internal fronts of the struggle, the main danger was degeneration, a bloody discord between its participants.

Provisional government(March 2 (15) - October 26 (November 8) 1917) - the highest legislative and executive body of state power in Russia in the period between the February and October revolutions.

The official organ of the press is the Collections of Legislation and Government Orders issued by the Governing Senate.

In the first days of March, the democratic revolution was victorious in most of the cities of Russia. The complete loss of levers of government in the country, anarchy in the army, forced Nicholas II to abdicate. Power in the country passed to the Provisional Government headed by Prince Lvov.

With the creation of the Provisional Government, the February Revolution actually ended. The coup d'etat affected, first of all, in the political sphere: the police, gendarmerie, governors were replaced, but the old bureaucratic apparatus remained intact, Russia continued to conduct military operations and incur huge human and territorial losses, the old estate system remained, the solution of the agrarian question was postponed indefinitely ...

The Provisional Government, being, in fact, a self-appointed government, did not have real levers of power. The power structures, primarily the army, supported another, spontaneously formed power - the Soviets of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies, which, in turn, did not possess legitimate (legal) power. A situation developed in the country in which the Provisional Government was power without power, and the Soviets were power without power. This was the essence of the so-called dual power. The state of dual power continued until July 1917, when the Provisional Government pulled together military units loyal to it in Petrograd, which shot a peaceful demonstration of workers, held under the slogan "All Power to the Soviets." After this event, the course towards the peaceful development of the revolution became impossible. The Bolshevik wing of the RSDLP decided to overthrow the Provisional Government by force of arms.

By the end of October 1917, the reluctance of the Provisional Government to start radical reforms predetermined a new wave of discontent, which led to the overthrow of the Provisional Government and the establishment of the Bolsheviks' power (October 25, 1917, old style, November 7, new).

Causes of the war. The First World War was caused by the aggravation of the fundamental contradictions between the largest capitalist states. The imperialist countries fought with each other for markets and sources of raw materials. These contradictions (mainly of an economic nature) arose and grew for a long time and led to the formation of hostile coalitions.

Germany, late for the colonial division of the world, sought to catch up. It was Germany, of all the powers, that was most interested in a global war for the redivision of the world (although this does not relieve other states of responsibility). Germany's ally was Avstro-Hungary, which had its own views of the Balkans.

France, the traditional enemy of Germany on the continent, remembering the unsuccessful war of 1870 for itself, looked for an ally and found it in the person of Russia. UK, in in turn, was forced to interrupt the traditional policy of "brilliant isolation". The United Kingdom was the largest colonial empire and possessed the strongest navy, but the United States and Germany, bypassing Britain in terms of economic potential, gradually overtook it in terms of the power of their naval units. Anglo-German contradictions became especially acute. Therefore, Great Britain joined the Russian-French union. Russia and Great Britain have smoothed out their contradictions by delimiting the spheres of influence in Iran, Afghanistan and Tibet. This is how the countries of Concord - the Entente - united.

Russia's participation in the war is explained not by its immediate interests, but, first of all, by allied obligations and the desire to assert its status as a great power. In Russia, they understood the fatalities of war in conditions of an unstable economy and acute internal contradictions. Remembering the results of the Russian-Japanese war and revolution, PA “Stolypin, and after him Russian diplomacy, adhered to the formula“ peace, no matter what ”. But nevertheless, in the coming war, Russia was going to seize the Black Sea straits, opening the way to the Mediterranean. Also, Russia sought to gain a foothold in the Balkans in damage to the interests of Austria-Hungary.

Parties' plans... Germany and Austria-Hungary faced an unattractive prospect of a war on two fronts. Germany intended, first of all, to concentrate troops in the western direction and defeat France, and then transfer them to Russia. The German command proceeded from the fact that the mobilization in Russia, due to the large spaces and the underdevelopment of the railway system, usually proceeded very slowly. In case of war, Russia was late with the start of hostilities.

Reason for war... The reason for the war was the murder in Sarajevo by a Serbian student of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Ferdinand. The murder took place on June 28, 1914, on July 10, Austria-Hungary presented an obviously impracticable ultimatum to Serbia, and on July 14 declared war. Within a matter of days, all the major European powers entered the war.

The beginning of the war. Germany invaded through Belgium France and began to launch an offensive against Paris. The position of France was becoming disastrous. To save the ally, Russia, without completing the mobilization, moved two large military groups to East Prussia. Germany weakened the onslaught on Paris (which remained 30-40 km away) by transferring part of its troops to the Eastern Front. Due to uncoordinated actions, the Russian armies were defeated. Later, Turkey entered the war on the side of the Central Powers.

In the fall, the situation at the fronts stabilized. In all directions, the troops froze in trenches. All countries preparing for war believed that it would be short-lived, as the experience of previous conflicts said. But the defense turned out to be stronger than the offensive, and attempts to break through a powerful, deeply echeloned defense system, as a rule, led only to huge losses.

The nature of the war... Thus, the world war turned into a war of attrition. The outcome of the war was decided by the ratio of material and human resources of both sides. The belligerent states were forced to transfer their economies to a war footing. The large the capitalists doomed their peoples to the most severe ordeals and huge sacrifices, unprecedented in the history of mankind.

In such a war, the Entente countries had significant advantages. The two largest colonial empires, Great Britain and France, worked for them. As for the colonies of Germany, they were very quickly conquered by the Allies. The German fleet was blocked in its ports by the more powerful British fleet, attempts to break through to the Atlantic remained only attempts. Only German submarines could interfere with the Allied naval communications.

In this situation, the central powers had to rely only on your own resources.

The course of the war in 1915-1916... Unable to immediately defeat France, Germany decided to disable Russia in the second year of the war. For Russia, this year was a year of retreat, but after the alignment of the front line, the situation stabilized. Russia constantly pulled over 50% of the enemy's forces.

In the same year, Italy entered the war on the side of the Entente. On the Franco-German front, bloody battles begin at Verdun ("Verdun meat grinder") and on the Somme. All military operations were concentrated on a small sector of the front, to which all new reserves were brought in. In these fierce and bloody massacres, both sides lost millions of people.

A fundamentally different tactic was used by the Russian general A.A. Brusilov during the offensive on the Southwestern Front. The blows were delivered in several places at once. The tactics of the "Brusilov Breakthrough" in 1916 made it possible to inflict the largest defeat on Austria-Hungary. In the same year, Russian troops achieved significant successes on the Turkish front.

Romania, carefully observing the successes of the parties, decided to side with the Entente, but was immediately defeated by the central powers. Russia had to stretch its front south to the Black Sea.

War and Russian society... Attitude towards war in Russian society at different stages was not the same. Initially, the war was met with a surge of patriotism, as, indeed, in other countries. St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd. The mobilization was successful, all parties, except the Bolsheviks, declared their support for the government.

But the war dragged on, and the situation gradually became worse and worse. All pre-war contradictions intensified, the economic situation worsened, and the transport and energy sectors were in crisis. Agriculture also suffered significant losses.

In the period from 1914 to 1917, the government changed the personnel of the Russian army several times. By 1917, it consisted mainly of poorly trained peasants and hastily trained officers. The army turned from a stronghold of the existing order into a source of fermentation and disorder (especially in the rear).

The revolution... The outbreak of the February Revolution falsified the situation at the front. Order No. 1, given by the Soviets, actually disintegrated the army. According to this order, democratic orders were introduced in the army, officers were given equal rights with soldiers, which, naturally, contributed to a sharp drop in discipline.

The Provisional Government did not dare to violate allied obligations and unilaterally withdraw from the war. But the continuation of the war contributed to the protraction of pressing internal problems, the deepening of the social and economic crisis. It turned out to be a vicious circle, which could only be broken by a victory over Germany. The inevitability of victory for the Entente became more and more obvious, especially after the United States entered the war.

But the Russian army was no longer the same. The scale of de- withdrawal from the army, the front could hardly hold out. Russia stood on the verge of a civil war.

Russia's withdrawal from the war... Bolsheviks, who came to power, agreed to conclude a peace agreement with the Austro-German bloc in Brest-Litovsk on March 3, 1918 in order to preserve their own regime amid the growing civil war in the country. By the Peace Decree, the Bolshevik government legalized secret diplomacy and published secret treaties concluded by the tsarist and provisional governments. So Russia came out of world war. The Entente countries did not recognize the Brest Peace and began to prepare for intervention.

Participation in the First World War cost Russia the deaths of 2 million people, another 5 million were wounded and taken prisoner. The war and the crisis caused by it, which engulfed all spheres of life of Russian society, contributed to the activation of social processes that led to the collapse of the empire and the establishment of a new regime.

Military operations in 1917-1918... 1917-1918 was the final stage of the First World War. This period was characterized by a further expansion of the conflict, even greater bitterness and bloodshed, as well as extreme him by the depletion of the forces of all the belligerents. The fighting in 1917 went on with varying success. The large-scale offensive undertaken by the French troops on the Western Front led to nothing but huge losses. The defeat of the Italian troops at the Battle of Caporetto in the fall of 1917 was compensated to a certain extent by the significant successes of the British in the Middle East, where they managed to inflict a number of sensitive blows on the Ottoman Empire. The belligerents were still unable to solve the problem of overcoming the positional defense and entering the operational space. To solve this problem, new types of weapons and equipment were designed, more effective methods of conducting an offensive were developed.

The Entente countries sought not only to achieve military superiority over Germany, but also to seize the initiative on the ideological front. The key role in this belonged to the US President W. Wilson, who delivered his message, which went down in history under the title “Wilson's 14 Points”. It was a program of a post-war peace settlement and, at the same time, an attempt to prevent the emergence of global conflicts in the future by creating an international organization - the League of Nations.

The entry of the United States into the war in 1917 significantly changed the situation in favor of the Entente. Realizing this, the German command in March-July 1918 made several desperate attempts to achieve victory. At the cost of an incredible effort, German troops managed to break through the French front and approach Paris at a distance of 70 kilometers. But I didn't have enough strength for more. On July 18, 1918, the Allies launched a counteroffensive, which the German army was no longer able to contain. By the fall of 1918, the Allies almost completely liberated the territory of France, starting preparations for an offensive on Germany, which by that time had almost completely exhausted its material and human resources. The military bloc opposing Atlanta was falling apart: on September 29, 1918, Bulgaria withdrew from the war, on October 30 - Ottoman Empire. In October 1918, a revolution broke out in Austria-Hungary, which led to the complete collapse of this "patchwork" empire. Germany continued to resist, but here, too, a revolutionary explosion was brewing. On November 3, 1918, a naval uprising took place in Kiel, which quickly spread throughout the country and led to the overthrow of the monarchy. On November 11, 1918, Germany signed an act of surrender. World War I ended.

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1. Reasons, nature and basisclear stages of the first world war

On June 28, 1914, a Serbian student from the Black Hand national - terrorist organization Gavrilo Princip shot the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife. This happened in the Bosnian town of Sarajevo, where the Archduke arrived for the maneuvers of the Austrian troops. Bosnia at that time was still a part of Austria-Hungary, and Serbian nationalists considered part of Bosnian territory, including Sarajevo, theirs. With the assassination of the Archduke, the nationalists wanted to reaffirm their claims.

As a result, Austria-Hungary and Germany received an extremely convenient opportunity to defeat Serbia and gain a foothold in the Balkans. The main question now is whether the Russia that patronized Serbia will stand up for Serbia. But in Russia just at that time there was a major reorganization of the army, which was planned to be completed only by 1917. Therefore, in Berlin and Vienna they hoped that the Russians did not risk getting involved in a serious conflict. And yet Germany and Austria-Hungary discussed the plan of action for almost a month. Only on July 23, Austria-Hungary handed Serbia an ultimatum with a number of demands, which boiled down to a complete cessation of all anti-Austrian actions, including propaganda. Two days were allotted to fulfill the conditions of the ultimatum.

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

The very next day, Nicholas II signed a decree on general mobilization, but almost immediately received a telegram from Wilhelm II. The Kaiser assured the tsar that he would do his best to "pacify" the Austrians. Nikolai canceled his decree, but Minister of Foreign Affairs S.N.Sazonov managed to persuade him, and on July 30, Russia nevertheless announced a general mobilization.

In response, Germany itself began a general mobilization, simultaneously demanding that Russia cancel its military preparations within 12 hours. Having received a decisive refusal, Germany on August 1 declared war on Russia. It is characteristic that even on the eve of the Germans announced their intention to France, insisting on her observance of neutrality. However, the French, bound to Russia by treaty, also announced mobilization. Then on August 3, Germany declared war on France and Belgium. The next day, England, initially showing some hesitation, declared war on Germany. So the Sarajevo murder led to a world war. Later, 34 states were drawn into it on the side of the opposite bloc (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria).

Causes of the war:

Aggravation of all contradictions in the capitalist countries;

Creation of two opposing blocks;

Weak peace-loving forces (weak labor movement);

Striving to divide the world;

The nature of the war:

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

Goals of states:

The war can be divided into three periods:

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

In the next period (1917), two events took place that led to an imbalance of forces: first, the United States entered the war on the side of the Entente, and second, the revolution in Russia and its withdrawal from the war.

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

The first main stage of the war.

The allied forces initially included Russia, France, Great Britain, Serbia, Montenegro and Belgium and enjoyed overwhelming superiority at sea. The Entente had 316 cruisers, while the Germans and Austrians had 62. But the latter found a powerful countermeasure — submarines. By the beginning of the war, the armies of the Central Powers numbered 6.1 million; the Entente army - 10.1 million people.

The Central Powers had an advantage in internal communications, which allowed them to quickly transfer troops and equipment from one front to another. In the long term, the Entente countries possessed superior resources of raw materials and food, especially since the British fleet paralyzed Germany's ties with overseas countries, from where rubber, copper, tin and nickel were supplied to German enterprises before the war. Thus, in the event of a protracted war, the Entente could count on victory. Germany, knowing this, relied on a blitzkrieg war.

The Germans put into effect the Schlieffen plan, which assumed that a large-scale attack on France through Belgium would ensure a quick success in the West. After the defeat of France, Germany counted, together with Austria-Hungary, by transferring the liberated troops, to deliver a decisive blow in the East. But this plan was not implemented. One of the main reasons for his failure was the sending of part of the German divisions to Lorraine in order to block the enemy's invasion of southern Germany. On the night of August 4, the Germans invaded Belgium. It took them several days to break the resistance of the defenders of the fortified areas of Namur and Liege, blocking the way to Brussels, but thanks to this delay, the British ferried an almost 90,000-strong expeditionary force across the English Channel to France (August 9-17). The French gained time for the formation of 5 armies, which held back the German offensive.

Nevertheless, on August 20, the German army occupied Brussels, then forced the British to leave Mons (on August 23), and on September 3, the army of General A. von Kluck was 40 km from Paris. Continuing the offensive, the Germans crossed the Marne River and on September 5 stopped along the Paris-Verdun line. The commander of the French forces, General Jacques Joffre, having formed two new armies from the reserves, decided to launch a counteroffensive.

The first battle on the Marne began on 5 September and ended on 12 September. It was attended by 6 Anglo-French and 5 German armies. The Germans were defeated. One of the reasons for their defeat was the absence on the right flank of several divisions, which had to be transferred to the eastern front. The French offensive on the weakened right flank made the withdrawal of the German armies to the north, to the line of the Aisne, inevitable.

The battles in Flanders on the Isère and Ypres rivers from October 15 to November 20 were also unsuccessful for the Germans. As a result, the main ports on the English Channel remained in the hands of the Allies, which provided communication between France and England. Paris was saved, and the Entente countries were given time to mobilize resources. The war in the west assumed a positional character, Germany's calculation of the defeat and withdrawal of France from the war turned out to be untenable. There were hopes that on the Eastern Front the Russians would be able to crush the armies of the Central Powers bloc. On August 17, Russian troops entered East Prussia and began to push the Germans to Konigsberg. The German generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff were assigned to lead the counter-offensive. Taking advantage of the mistakes of the Russian command, the Germans managed to drive a "wedge" between the two Russian armies, defeat them on August 26-30 near Tannenberg and drive them out of East Prussia. Austria-Hungary did not act so successfully, abandoning the intention to quickly defeat Serbia and concentrating large forces between the Vistula and Dniester. But the Russians launched an offensive in a southern direction, broke through the defenses of the Austro-Hungarian troops and, taking several thousand prisoners, occupied the Austrian province of Galicia and part of Poland. The advance of the Russian troops created a threat to Silesia and Poznan - industrial regions important for Germany. Germany was forced to transfer additional forces from France. But an acute shortage of ammunition and food stopped the advance of the Russian troops. The offensive cost Russia huge sacrifices, but undermined the power of Austria-Hungary and forced Germany to keep significant forces on the Eastern Front. Back in August 1914, Japan declared war on Germany. In October 1914, Turkey entered the war on the side of the bloc of the Central Powers. With the outbreak of the war, Italy, a member of the Triple Alliance, declared its neutrality on the grounds that neither Germany nor Austria-Hungary were attacked. But at secret London talks in March-May 1915, the Entente countries promised to satisfy Italy's territorial claims in the course of a post-war peace settlement in the event that Italy would take their side. May 23, 1915 Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary.

And on August 28, 1916, in Germany on the western front, the British were defeated in the second battle at Ypres. Here, during the battles that lasted for a month (April 22 - May 25, 1915), chemical weapons were used for the first time. After that, poisonous gases (chlorine, phosgene, and later mustard gas) began to be used by both warring parties.

The large-scale Dardanelles landing operation - a naval expedition that was equipped by the Entente countries at the beginning of 1915 with the aim of taking Constantinople, opening the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits for communication with Russia through the Black Sea, withdrawing Turkey from the war and attracting the Balkan states to the side of the allies - ended in defeat. On the Eastern Front, by the end of 1915, German and Austro-Hungarian troops drove the Russians out of almost all of Galicia and from most of the territory of Russian Poland. But they failed to force Russia to a separate peace. In October 1915 Bulgaria declared war on Serbia, after which the Central Powers, together with a new Balkan ally, crossed the borders of Serbia, Montenegro and Albania. After capturing Romania and covering the Balkan flank, they turned against Italy.

The balance of forces at the beginning of the war

War at sea.

Control at sea made it possible for the British to freely move troops and equipment from all parts of their empire to France. They kept sea lines of communication open to US merchant ships. The German colonies were captured, and the trade of the Germans through the sea routes was suppressed. In general, the German fleet - except for the submarine - was blocked in its ports. Only from time to time did small fleets come out to strike at British coastal cities and attack Allied merchant ships. During the entire war, there was only one major naval battle - when the German fleet entered the North Sea and unexpectedly met the British off the Danish coast of Jutland. The battle of Jutland on May 31 - June 1, 1916 led to heavy losses on both sides: the British lost 14 ships, about 6,800 people killed, captured and wounded; the Germans, who considered themselves victors, - 11 ships and about 3,100 people killed and wounded. However, the British forced the German fleet to withdraw to Keele, where it was effectively blocked. The German fleet on the high seas no longer appeared, and Great Britain remained the ruler of the seas.

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

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

On February 18, 1915, the German government declared the waters around the British Isles a war zone and warned of the danger of ships from neutral countries entering them. On May 7, 1915, a German submarine torpedoed and sank the ocean-going steamer Lusitania carrying hundreds of passengers, including 115 US citizens. President W. Wilson protested, the United States and Germany exchanged harsh diplomatic notes.

Verdun and the Somme.

Germany was ready to make some concessions at sea and look for a way out of the impasse in actions on land. In April 1916, British troops had already suffered a serious defeat at Kut al-Amar in Mesopotamia, where 13,000 people surrendered to the Turks. On the continent, Germany was preparing for a large-scale offensive operation on the Western Front, which was supposed to turn the tide of the war and force France to ask for peace. The key point of the French defense was the old fortress of Verdun.

After an unprecedented artillery bombardment, 12 German divisions launched an offensive on February 21, 1916. The Germans moved slowly until the beginning of July, but did not achieve their goals. The Verdun "meat grinder" clearly did not justify the calculations of the German command. Operations on the Eastern and Southwestern Fronts were of great importance during the spring and summer of 1916. In March, at the request of the allies, Russian troops carried out an operation near Lake Naroch, which significantly influenced the course of hostilities in France. The German command was forced to cease attacks on Verdun for some time and, keeping 0.5 million people on the Eastern Front, to transfer here an additional part of the reserves. At the end of May 1916, the Russian High Command launched an offensive on the Southwestern Front.

During the hostilities under the command of A.A. Brusilov, it was possible to break through the Austro-German forces to a depth of 80-120 km. Brusilov's troops occupied part of Galicia and Bukovina, entered the Carpathians. For the first time in the entire previous period of trench warfare, the front was broken through. If this offensive had been supported by other fronts, it would have ended in disaster for the Central Powers. To relieve pressure on Verdun, on July 1, 1916, the Allies launched a counterattack on the Somme River. For four months - until November - there were unceasing attacks. Anglo-French troops, having lost about 800 thousand people, were never able to break through the German front. Finally, in December, the German command decided to end the offensive, which had cost the lives of 300,000 German soldiers. The 1916 campaign claimed more than 1 million lives, but did not bring tangible results to either side.

Foundations for Peace Negotiations. At the beginning of the 20th century. the methods of conducting military operations have completely changed. The length of the fronts increased significantly, armies fought on fortified lines and carried out attacks from trenches, machine guns and artillery began to play a huge role in offensive battles. New types of weapons were used: tanks, fighters and bombers, submarines, asphyxiant gases, hand grenades. Every tenth resident of the belligerent country was mobilized, and 10% of the population was engaged in supplying the army. In the belligerent countries, there was almost no room left for ordinary civilian life: everything was subject to titanic efforts aimed at maintaining the military machine. The total cost of the war, including property losses, according to various estimates, ranged from 208 to 359 billion dollars. By the end of 1916, both sides were tired of the war, and it seemed that the time was right to start peace negotiations.

Second main stage of the war.

On December 12, 1916, the Central Powers asked the United States to hand over a note to the Allies with a proposal to start peace talks. The Entente rejected this proposal, suspecting that it was made with the aim of destroying the coalition. In addition, she did not want to talk about a peace that would not provide for the payment of reparations and the recognition of the right of nations to self-determination. President Wilson decided to initiate peace negotiations and on December 18, 1916, he asked the belligerent countries to determine mutually acceptable peace terms.

Germany on December 12, 1916 proposed to convene a peace conference. The civilian authorities in Germany clearly strove for peace, but they were opposed by the generals, especially General Ludendorff, who was confident of victory. The allies made their conditions concrete: the restoration of Belgium, Serbia and Montenegro; withdrawal of troops from France, Russia and Romania; reparations; the return of France of Alsace and Lorraine; liberation of subordinate peoples, including Italians, Poles, Czechs, elimination of the Turkish presence in Europe.

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

US entry into the war.

At the beginning of the war, public opinion in the United States was divided: some were openly on the side of the Allies; others, such as Irish Americans who were hostile to England, and German Americans, supported Germany.

Over time, government officials and ordinary citizens more and more inclined to the side of the Entente. Several factors contributed to this, and, above all, the propaganda of the Entente countries and the German submarine war.

On January 22, 1917, President Wilson set out in the Senate the terms of peace acceptable to the United States. The most important of them boiled down to the demand for "peace without victory," that is, without annexations and indemnities; others included the principles of equality of peoples, the right of nations to self-determination and representation, freedom of the seas and trade, the reduction of armaments, the rejection of the system of rival alliances. If peace is concluded on the basis of these principles, Wilson argued, then a world organization of states can be created, guaranteeing security for all peoples. On January 31, 1917, the German government announced the resumption of unlimited submarine warfare with the aim of disrupting enemy communications. Submarines blocked the Entente supply lines and put the Allies in an extremely difficult position. Among Americans, hostility to Germany was growing, as the blockade of Europe from the west foreshadowed trouble for the United States. In case of victory, Germany could establish control over the entire Atlantic Ocean.

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

Russia's withdrawal from the war.

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

The third main stage of the war.

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

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

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

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

On July 15, 1918, the Germans made their last breakthrough attempt. The second decisive battle unfolded on the Marne. In the event of a breakthrough, the French would have to leave Reims, which, in turn, could lead to the retreat of the Allies along the entire front. In the first hours of the offensive, German forces advanced, but not as quickly as expected.

The last Allied offensive.

On July 18, 1918, a counterattack by American and French forces began to ease the pressure on Château Thierry. In the battle of Amiens on August 8, German troops suffered a heavy defeat, and this undermined their morale. Earlier, the Chancellor of Germany, Prince von Gertling, believed that by September the Allies would ask for peace. “We hoped to take Paris by the end of July,” he recalled. - So we thought on the fifteenth of July.

And on the eighteenth, even the greatest optimists among us realized that everything was lost. " Some military men convinced Kaiser Wilhelm II that the war was lost, but Ludendorff refused to admit defeat.

The Allied offensive began on other fronts as well. In Austria-Hungary, ethnic unrest flared up - not without the influence of the allies, who encouraged the desertion of Poles, Czechs and South Slavs. The Central Powers rallied the remnants of their forces to contain the anticipated invasion of Hungary. The way to Germany was open.

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

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

Brief conclusions.

The impetus for the outbreak of the First World War was the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. But Russia intervened in the events and began to mobilize its army. Germany demanded its termination. When Russia did not respond to her ultimatum, Germany declared war on her and later on France on August 1. Then Great Britain and Japan entered the war. The First World War began. The German command believed that after the defeat of France, the army should have been transferred to the east against Russia. Initially, the offensive in France developed successfully. But then part of the German troops were transferred to the Eastern Front, where the Russian army began an offensive. The French took advantage of this and stopped the advance of the German army on the Marne River. The Western Front was formed. Soon the Ottoman Empire entered the war on the side of the Triple Alliance. Military operations against her began in Transcaucasia, Mesopotamia, on the Sinai Peninsula.

2. The socio-economic situation in Russia during the First World Waroyne

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

In such conditions, the personality of the monarch was of decisive importance. However, at a crucial time, a man appeared on the Russian throne who did not understand the scale of the tasks facing the dog. Nikolay, unlike his famous grandfather. He did not feel the alarming atmosphere of general expectation "leading the country to a revolutionary explosion. Not having his own program, he was forced to use the one that was strenuously imposed by the liberal forces to overcome the crisis. But Nikolai was inconsistent. His internal policy lost its historical logic, so he met with rejection and irritation both on the left and on the right. The result was a rapid decline in the prestige of power. Not a single tsar in the history of Russia was subjected to such impudent and open reproach as Nicholas II. This led to a decisive change in public consciousness. The worst thing happened: the halo of the Tsar as Divine. the chosen one, a bright and infallible personality scattered, and from the fall of the moral authority of the authorities there was only a step to its overthrow, which was accelerated by the First World War.

At the same time, most political parties, lacking a real social base, appealed to the darkest instincts of the masses. The Black Hundreds, with their bloody pogroms and anti-Semitism, the Bolsheviks, with their furious rejection of the idea of ​​social peace, the Socialist-Revolutionaries, with their romanticization of the most serious sin - the murder of a person - all of them introduced the ideas of hatred and enmity into the mass consciousness. Populist, beating on the go, slogans of radical parties - from the Black Hundreds "beat the Jew, save Russia" to the revolutionary "plunder the loot" - were simple and understandable. They influenced not the mind, but the feelings, and could at any moment turn ordinary people into a crowd capable of any illegal actions. Some prophetic warnings about the perniciousness of such moods remained "a voice crying in the wilderness." The psychology of hatred, destruction, loss of a sense of the intrinsic value of human life has been multiplied by the world war. The slogan of the defeat of his government became the apogee of the moral decay of the Russian people. And the disintegration of traditional moral foundations inevitably had to entail the disintegration of the state. It was accelerated by the revolution.

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

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

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

By March 1917, the total expenditures on the war had already exceeded 30 billion rubles. Money spent on war is not returned in the form of goods or profits, which leads to an increase in the total amount of money in the country. Their depreciation sets in. So, by February 1917, the ruble fell to 27 kopecks. Food prices have increased by 300%. Silver coins began to disappear from circulation; instead, a large amount of paper money was issued.

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

The role of banks has grown significantly. In 1917, the largest Russian banks dominated railway companies, machine building, controlled 60% of share capital in ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy, oil, timber and other industries. Russia lost its traditional trading partner, Germany. The system of free market relations was supplanted. By the ordering system, the redistribution of funds for the needs of the military industry caused a commodity shortage in the country of free competition.

Rebuilding the economy for military needs:

By this time, it became clear that victory was determined not so much by actions at the front as by the position in the rear. The command of all the belligerent countries counted on the short duration of hostilities. Large stocks of equipment and ammunition were not made. Already in 1915, everyone faced difficulties in supplying the army. It became clear that a drastic expansion of the scale of military production was required. The restructuring of the economy began. In all countries, it primarily meant the introduction of strict state regulation. The state determined the volume of required production, placed orders, provided raw materials and labor. Labor service was introduced, which made it possible to reduce the shortage of workers caused by the conscription of men into the army. As war production grew at the expense of peaceful production, there was a shortage of consumer goods. This forced the introduction of price regulation and consumption rationing.

The mobilization of men and the requisition of horses wreaked havoc on agriculture. In all the belligerent countries, except England, food production declined, and this led to the introduction of a rationing system for distributing food. In Germany, which traditionally imported food, a particularly deplorable situation has developed due to the blockade. The government was forced to prohibit feeding cattle with grain and potatoes, to introduce all kinds of low-nutritional substitutes for food products - ersatz. At the time of the October uprising and in the first time after it, the Bolsheviks did not have a clear and detailed plan for transformations - including in the economic sphere. They hoped that after the victory of the revolution in Germany, the "German proletariat, being more organized and more advanced," would take on the task of developing a socialist course, while the Russian one would only have to support this course. At that time, Lenin sounded characteristic phrases such as "We do not know how to build socialism" or "We dragged socialism into everyday life and here we have to figure it out."

The reference point for the economic policy of the Bolsheviks was the model of the economic structure described in the works of the classics of Marxism. According to this model, the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat was supposed to become a monopoly of all property, all citizens became hired employees of the state, equalization should dominate in society, i.e. a course was taken to replace commodity-money relations with a centralized distribution of products and administrative management of the national economy. Lenin described the socio-economic model he presented as follows: “The whole society will be one office and one factory s. equality of labor and equality of pay ”. In practice, these ideas were realized in the liquidation of industrial, banking and commercial capital. All private banks were nationalized, all external government loans were canceled, foreign trade was monopolized - the financial system was completely centralized.

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

The strictest centralization of the management of the national economy was introduced. In December 1917, the Supreme Council of the National Economy was created, in whose hands all economic management and planning were concentrated. The requirement of military discipline in production was declared, and universal labor service was introduced for persons from 16 to 50 years old. Evasion of compulsory labor was subject to severe penalties. The idea of ​​creating the labor of armies was nurtured and actively put into practice by Trotsky. Lenin declared the need to move “from labor service as applied to the rich” to general labor service. Trade was replaced by the distribution of products by cards. Those who were not engaged in socially useful work did not receive cards.

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

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

The Bolshevik leaders insistently called the rationing system a sign of socialism, and trade as the main attribute of capitalism. The organization of labor took militarized forms, the extreme centralization of production and product exchange was designed to oust money from economic life.

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

On the whole, however, the economic policy of the Bolsheviks caused dissatisfaction. She focused not on the development of production, but on the control over distribution and consumption. Money was artificially devalued. The peasants did not want to work in conditions of a decrease in sowing. The grain harvest has decreased by 40%, the sown area of ​​industrial crops has decreased 12-16 times in comparison with the pre-war period. The number of livestock has decreased significantly. Workers were transferred from piecework to tariffs, which also lowered their interest in productive labor. Money lost its productive and stimulating function. Under the conditions of natural exchange of products, the role of money as a universal equivalent was gradually eroded, without which it was impossible to establish normal production. The economy quickly degraded. The pre-revolutionary production assets were consumed, there was no new construction, and there was no expansion of them. The life of the people was getting harder and harder.

New technique used by the Russians during the First World War:

At the beginning of the century, the development of automatic weapons began in Russia. Its sample was created by a soldier - a blacksmith J. Rocepei. Despite being awarded a large silver medal, weapons were not produced until the very First World War.

In 1906 V. Fedotov designed an automatic rifle. In 1911, its first sample was released. The following year, 150 pieces were manufactured. However, the tsar spoke out against further release, since, they say, there will not be enough cartridges for it. war perestroika political crisis

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

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

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

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

Industry

The war made its demands on industry as well. In order to mobilize it for the needs of the front, the government decided to set up meetings and committees. In March 1915, a committee for the distribution of fuel was created, in May of the same year - the main food committee, etc. Almost simultaneously with these actions of the government, military-industrial committees began to form. In them, the leading role belonged to the bourgeoisie, and it created 226 committees. The Russian bourgeoisie was able to attract 1,200 private enterprises to the production of weapons. The measures taken made it possible to significantly improve the supply of the army. Paying tribute to them, we emphasize that the reserves produced were enough for the civil war.

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

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

Agriculture was also in a difficult position. During the war years, 48% of the male population was mobilized from the village to the army. The lack of labor led to a reduction in acreage, an increase in prices for processing agricultural products, and, ultimately, to an increase in retail prices. Livestock breeding suffered enormous damage. The total number of livestock and, especially, the main draft force - horses - has sharply decreased.

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

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

3. Power, society and peoplecentury during the First World War

Power during the First World War.

In August 1915, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, suspected of sympathizing with the program of the progressive bloc, was removed from the post of commander-in-chief, and the State Duma was dissolved on September 3 by a decree of the monarch. These actions were supported by the change of ministers. During the war years, Nicholas II replaced 4 people as chairman of the council of ministers (I.L. Goremykin, B.V. Sturmer, A.F. Trepov, N.D. Golitsyn), ministers of the interior - 6, ministers of war - 4, foreign ministers - 4, etc. All this indicated the growing crisis of the upper echelons of power, their inability to find effective measures adequate to the current situation.

By the beginning of 1916, dissatisfaction with the internal policy of the monarchy also manifested itself on the part of the ambassadors of the allied states.

The labor movement intensified. In 1916, over 1 million people went on strike in the country. The landowners' estates flared up again in the village. Both in the countryside and in the city, the demonstrations took on an increasingly anti-war character. Oppositional sentiments gripped the intelligentsia, the army, and the national borderlands. Against the background of general dissatisfaction with the war, the monarchy, the ideas and actions of the left-wing radical forces found fertile ground and support of the people.

The development of internal processes at a catastrophic speed narrowed the scope for political maneuver. Beginning in January 1917, the workers' strike struggle intensified in the capital. In the second half of February, there were serious difficulties with the delivery of bread and food. This circumstance triggered a new wave of strikes that began on 23 February. The authorities did not attach any importance to them. In the following days, 24 and 25 February, street demonstrations and clashes with the police broke out. The demonstrations, which began under the slogan "Bread!", Began to take on a clearly revolutionary character: "Down with the war!", "Down with the autocracy."

On February 26 and 27, the unrest of the workers continued, but now parts of the capital's garrison began to go over to the side of the rebels. The uprising developed into a change of political regimes. On February 27, the insurgent people created the Soviet of Workers' Deputies. Menshevik U.V. Chkheidze. On the same day, members of the State Duma at their private meeting formed a Provisional Committee. The Provisional Committee formed a Provisional Government headed by Prince G.Y. Lvov. On March 1, the Soviet issued Order No. 1, according to which the troops of the Petrograd garrison were subordinated to the Soviet and could not be withdrawn from the capital without its consent. Attempts to suppress the uprising in the capital with the forces of military units withdrawn from the front were unsuccessful. On March 2, 1917, in Pskov, Nicholas II signed an act of abdication in favor of his brother Mikhail Alexandrovich. The latter did not accept the throne, leaving the decision of the question of the state structure of Russia to the future Constituent Assembly, the convocation of which was to be ensured by the Provisional Government.

The year 1917 is the change of political regimes.

The change of political regime was a spontaneous explosion of widespread discontent among the masses. The majority of the people believed in a speedy deliverance from the hardships of war, in the triumph of democracy and social justice. It was an illusion: the country faced the hardest trials that still had to go through.

In modern historical literature, there are various approaches to the analysis and assessment of events from February to October 1917. With all the diversity, the range of opinions and judgments, they can be reduced to two fundamentally opposite positions. According to V.I. Lenin, the revolution is the "locomotive of history", the living creativity of the masses. Our other compatriot N.A. Berdyaev saw in it a complete irrationalism, a regression in the progressive development of society.

The causes of any revolution arise in the thickness of the economic, political and social life of society. Their acuteness is manifested and realized when the contradictions come out. By this time, the traditional approaches to resolving the contradictions that have arisen become insufficient.

As already noted, the revolution led to the formation of a dual power in the person of the Soviets and the Provisional Government. The Petrograd Soviet, which arose in the course of the revolution, had the opportunity to concentrate in its hands the entirety of state power with the support of the rapidly forming local Soviets, but this did not happen. Like the socialists of that time, the leaders of the Soviets (Mensheviks, Socialist-Revolutionaries, Cadets, etc.) believed that an ordinary bourgeois revolution had taken place in Russia. In this premise, it was difficult to find a reason to reject the Provisional Government or to demand the full power of the Soviets. V. Lenin and the Bolsheviks had a special opinion on the current situation in the country. Namely: the Soviets, as organs of power, rely on factory committees, soldiers 'and peasants' committees. Through them, the people exert a significant influence on the Soviets. In the aggregate, according to V. Lenin, this testified to the fact that the process of the formation of a fundamentally new form of state power through the broad representation of the masses in it was taking place. This understanding of the circumstances allowed V.I. Lenin and the Bolsheviks to put forward the slogans "All power to the Soviets!"

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abstract, added 02/15/2011


England on the eve of the First World War, the state of the economy and society. Adaptation of the British economy to the conditions of war: the dynamics of industrial development, state regulation in the light of socio-psychological aspects, domestic politics.

thesis, added 06/17/2011


The main stages of the collapse of the Russian army before the February Revolution, its connection with the collapse of the autocracy. The relationship between the army and Russian society during the First World War. Fraternization as a kind of protest against the war by the fighting soldiers, its place in the First World War.

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Large-scale war of new weapons

The First World War differed from all previous military conflicts in scale - hostilities were fought over vast areas of Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, and in all oceans.
It involved 38 states to one degree or another (and then there were less than 60 countries in the world), 74 million people were mobilized into the warring armies (with the entire population of the Earth - 1.8 billion).
Also a distinctive feature of this war was the large-scale use of military equipment, and some types were used for the first time in world history or for the first time on such a large scale.
Thus, the use of artillery was unprecedented in scale. True, there were almost no fundamentally new types of these weapons - perhaps mortars and ultra-long-range artillery.
However, the number of artillery barrels in relation to the number of troops increased many times over.

Strength and mobility

Tanks became one of the main innovations in the field of military technology. They were created as a means of breaking through heavily fortified enemy positions - combining the power of artillery and machine-gun fire with mobility and armor.
The tanks were first used by the British on September 15, 1916, on the French front. Then 18 tanks, with the support of infantry, broke through the line of German fortifications to a depth of 5 kilometers, which was considered a great success in trench warfare.
By the end of the war, the active French army had about 3 thousand tanks, the British army - 1.6 thousand. Germany managed to produce only 20 of its tanks (and used several dozen captured).
Russia in the First World War did not use tanks, although projects for their creation were even before the start of the war.

125 thousand tons of gases

Poison gases were another innovation pioneered in military affairs. The Germans were the first to use them - on April 22, 1915, in the valley of the Ypres River. It was chlorine, 180 tons of which affected 15,000 people. A third of the victims died.
Then other gases were used - phosgene, which was used not only by Germany, but also by France and Britain, chloropicrin, cyanogen bromide, cyanogen chloride. The most terrible gas in terms of impact force - mustard gas (by the name of the same Ypres River) was first used by the Germans on July 13, 1917.
In total, during the First World War, 125 thousand tons of gases were used. According to some estimates, they killed 1.3 million people, and another 4 million became disabled.
In 1925, the Geneva Protocol was signed banning the use of chemical weapons.

Arrows from planes

In the First World War, aviation was also widely used. First - for reconnaissance and adjusting artillery fire. Then - and for bombing.
At first, ordinary hand grenades and artillery shells, and even iron arrows were dropped from planes; by the end of the war, special aerial bombs were developed.
During this war, a new type of warship appeared - aircraft carriers. The first take off from the deck of the ship took place on November 3, 1915, and the first landing on the ship took place on August 2, 1917.
By the beginning of World War I, there were only hundreds or even dozens of aircraft in the armies of the main belligerent powers: in the German - 232, in the Russian - 216, in the French - 140, in the British - 113, in the Austro-Hungarian - 36.
However, during the war years, Britain produced 55 thousand aircraft, France 51 thousand, Russia 3 thousand.