Eastern front of the First World War. Russia in the First World War

What is known about that terrible catastrophe that affected many countries, the modern man? The year of the beginning was 1914. The First World War ended in 1918. Russia participated in it, but did not become a victorious country. Many people were killed. This Soviet historian called the war imperialistic and unjust. Why is that? Because the massacre occurred because of the contradictions of the capitalist countries. Somehow the question of who attacked whom was overlooked. The chances of a victory were not considered, and Russia had them, and hundred percent. The enemy was forced to capitulate without the participation of our country, he did not have the resources for further struggle. If the Eastern Front of the First World War had not been virtually destroyed by revolutionary events and anti-war propaganda, it would have happened earlier. If…

German militancy

There is a stable stereotype about disciplined Germans, born soldiers who are capable of creating a powerful and trouble-free operating military machine. However, there are well-known facts, which do not support such an idea of natural German militarism.

In the twentieth century, two world wars took place. Both of them were started by Germany, and in both of them it suffered a crushing defeat. Did not help the inherent discipline. It turned out powerless praised German technique. The famous German generals showed insufficient competence. The most punctual soldiers in the world surrendered themselves to whole armies, led by commanders. Maybe it's in a special situation of the 20th century, but earlier the Nordic spirit was stronger and more invincible? No, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the German soldiers also did not have the opportunity to cover themselves with the laurels of unfading glory. Did not shine ...

The events of the First World War today, despite the chronological remoteness, are of interest not only because of the centennial anniversary. History is characterized by repetition, albeit not literal, but a certain similarity is sometimes seen. It is also curious to compare the two world catastrophes, especially in the aspect of participation in them of Russia and the USSR. Historians and politicians would be harmless to think about the lessons of the past, so as not to repeat the disastrous mistakes.

Between the First and Second, as folk wisdom says, a break ... Twenty-three years is not much, this term does not even fall within the definition of a generation. In two decades, people can not bear children, raise them and create conditions for the next generation generation cycle, it is estimated that it takes 30 years. But the man manages to live up to the draft age .

What they were preparing to fight

The weapons of the First World War were imperfect, but by 1914 three main types of troops had already formed: the army, the navy and aviation. Airplanes and airships were then used for aerial reconnaissance and bombardment. Submarines appeared, causing unexpected strikes on warships and merchant ships from the depths of the waters. Marine mines acquired quite modern "horned" outlines. Of course, in many respects differed from later and modern armed conflicts the First World War. The photos taken on her fronts surprise the present man with an abundance of cavalry. Cavalry was still the main maneuverable strike force, but armored vehicles and tanks, which were initially heavy and slow, gradually took their place in the theater of operations. Artillery developed so rapidly that many of its samples of the 10th years served for decades. Small arms became quick-firing, machine guns Maxim, Colt and Gochkis could mow enemy infantry more efficient than conventional rifles.

And, of course, the most terrible weapon of the First World War - poison gas. Hitler did not dare to use them even in the conditions of the complete collapse of the Third Reich.

Not all this arsenal was at the disposal of hostile parties to the beginning of hostilities in 1914, some were being finalized and created "along the way", but judging by the speed of the rearmament process, the defenses already existed at the level of projects and prototypes. The impetus for the activation of the defense industry was given by the First World War. The table, which shows the volume of production of military equipment and equipment in Russia for four years, illustrates the colossal rise of the domestic industry:

Even today these figures seem quite significant.

Maybe this weapon was bad? No, it was quite in line with the standards of that time, and some samples were quite suitable for use in the years of the Great Patriotic War. Were the Russian soldiers badly equipped? No, both the form and the ammunition were quite suitable for our climatic conditions, at least better than the Austrian one. About food supply, too, no one remembered anything bad. The First World War, whose participants were deprived in all countries, did not cause a food crisis in Russia. There was a "dry law", and no one protested against it. The same goes for technical support. Samples of weapons, the production of which had not yet been mastered by domestic enterprises, was received by the Russian army from Britain and France. The planes "Farman" and "Newport" were built in our factories using allied documentation, and literate engineers and workers were enough. The myth of the backward "lapotnaya" Russia, which suddenly collapsed in 1914, the First World War, it's time to dispel.

Occasion

In 1914, of course, there was no television, let alone the Internet, so the information war was fought only by newspapers that delayed one day and reported on June 16 the terrible news of the murder of the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary and his wife. There was a crime in the Serbian city of Sarajevo, and it was the reason that the First World War of 1914-1918 began, which brought misfortunes to many peoples. The government of the affected country demanded the fulfillment of two conditions for the peaceful settlement of the incident: admission of the Austrian police group to the site of the murder and the introduction of troops. The Serbs agreed to jointly conduct the investigation, but the intervention resisted. Then Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. In Russia, mobilization began, accompanied by warnings about the possibility of using force to protect the fraternal Orthodox people. Germany, without waiting for the outbreak of hostilities, declared war. At this time, not Serbia, but Russia.

Prerequisites

Was the First World War inevitable? The history of the subjunctive mood is not tolerated, which was, that does not change. But still, people like to fantasize, and from time to time there are versions of what would happen if the student Gavrila took and missed? Or in general would not shoot, suddenly gripped by the Orthodox Christian aversion to murder?

It turns out that in this case, perhaps on another day or year, but the First World War would begin. Its participants were in a state of permanent rivalry in the vastness of the entire globe. Germany wanted colonies, but neither France nor England were in a hurry to share African, Asian and other overseas territories with it. Russia did not want to part with the Baltic states and Poland, moreover, the country was gaining such economic turnovers that according to Bismarck's forecasts, by the 1950s, it was simply doomed to the role of a regional, and possibly a world leader. There was a big fight for "a place in the sun".

Calculations of the German General Staff

The Eastern Front of World War I was for a long time the main battleground, but in order to assess Russia's military potential, the Austro-German command took some time. Like Hitler 23 years later, von Moltke, the commander of the Austro-Hungarian-German General Staff, believed that victories could be achieved by a swift attack, unleashing his own hands to fight one opponent. Ignoring the predominantly positional nature of the upcoming battle, the leadership of the Triple Alliance did not take into account the colossal economic potential of the Russian Empire, its food independence and huge human reserves, so the fronts of the First World War were unevenly organized. The East Austrians sent only a tenth of their army, the rest was concentrated on the border of Luxembourg and Belgium. From August 2 to 5, in just three days, they captured both countries and invaded France practically without any battles. By August 25, having defeated the enemy on the river Marne, the Austro-Hungarians and the Germans went to Paris. It seemed that victory was close. But…

Meanwhile in Russia

The growth of patriotic sentiments occurs at the initial stage of any war. After its announcement to the people, it usually seems that the army in two accounts will beat the adversary. This is facilitated by visual propaganda in the form of posters, newspapers, and today more effective media. According to the views of many historians, Russia has not rearmed, had not had time, but Austria-Hungary had enough time for this. However, the prewar state of the Soviet armed forces in 1941 is estimated in approximately the same way. The result, however, turned out to be different for these two unavailability. The Eastern Front of World War I did not advance further into the Russian territory further than the Carpathians, which indicates that our army was not so poorly armed and manned. The same applies to supply issues. The military industry quickly gained momentum, produced weapons and ammunition was sufficient not only until the end of hostilities. After the First World War (1914-1918) ended, Russia was dragged into a long fratricidal carnage, which lasted four more years. All this time, factories and factories were practically inactive, while cartridges, shells, cannons, howitzers, rifles, machine guns and ammunition from the warring sides ("reds" and "whites") were not transferred, all this was taken from warehouses. Food cards were introduced later than in France, England, Germany and Austria-Hungary, and the lack of food was not felt until the Bolsheviks came to power.

It is almost impossible to fight against a country with such a vast territory and such a powerful industrial and agricultural potential. To carry out a rapid offensive with guaranteed victorious completion, the countries of the Triple Alliance had not enough forces, and the positional warfare for attrition could only lead to a deplorable result. The Kaiser's leadership had to hope for a phantom possibility of getting Russia out of the war by imposing impressive defeats or some other clever tricks.

The subsequent events of the First World War showed that these plans were partially realized, but they did not lead to the victory of Austria-Hungary.

First stage

Russia has always tried to help its allies in difficult times for them. The First World War was no exception. The history of the beginning of the active operations of the Russian Imperial Army is full of drama. After the defeat on the Marne in August 1914, a rapid planning of front operations was carried out, which could be prepared and better. Two armies (under the command of generals AV Samsonov and PK Rennenkampf) rushed to attack East Prussia and defeated the Austrian 8th Army, M. Prittwitz. The German Kaiser was dejected by defeat, but in spite of this, he accepted the only solution, correct from the point of view of leadership. He suspended the offensive on Paris and sent considerable forces to the east. The pendulum swung to the other side, the Russian supreme command made a strategic mistake. The blows of the armies were applied along divergent lines, to Berlin and Koenigsberg. Such a duality extended the Eastern Front of the First World War, it led to a decrease in operational concentration, than did not fail to take advantage of the German General Staff. The Russian armies suffered serious damage, after which, it seemed, there was nothing to think about the offensive. Actions took on a positional character, which, generally speaking, was in favor of the Entente. The Austrian troops were constrained, unable to maneuver, and time worked against them.

Losses

The fronts of the First World War had unprecedented length in history. Russia was forced to conduct military operations against Turkey and joined the Triple Alliance of Bulgaria. 38 countries were dragged into the expanding funnel of a bloody conflict. The Party of the Entente was accepted by Egypt and even by the recent enemy of Russia - Japan. Italy did not show adherence to principles, preferring national interests to allied debts. Having started the war on the side of the Triple Alliance, in her course she changed the direction of the bayonets of her soldiers.

Other countries became combatants. The First World War, its four years, was enough to cripple two dozen million and kill ten million people. It is necessary to stop the special attention to the ratio of the casualties of the armies of the belligerent states. Characteristically, with a rather large number of dead soldiers (Russia did not count nearly 1.7 million soldiers), this figure is less than that of the countries of the Triple Alliance. Who was the most victims of the First World War? The table of human losses looks like this:

The Russian army, despite the miscalculations of the command (they have always been and will be with any belligerent side), has demonstrated rather high efficiency. She prevented the penetration of enemy troops deep into her territory and in many cases beat the enemy not by number, but by skill. And yet, during all the years of the First World War, not a single case of the transition of Russian soldiers to the enemy's side, let alone the recruitment of regiments, divisions or armies from defectors. This simply could not be. Generosity and generosity towards prisoners of war manifested in most cases all aspects of this armed international conflict.

Positional and ready for attack

The eastern front of the First World War, like the Western one, stabilized after 1915. The troops took up positions and engaged in their strengthening, digging trenches and building fortified areas. At times there have been attempts to break through, but neither the powerful artillery preparation, nor the use of tanks, nor even the poisonous chlorine, helped to achieve success and enter the operational space. It was possible to do this only once during all the years of the First World War. The author of this victory was General Brusilov, who in the spring and early summer of 1916 planned and brilliantly carried out the breakthrough of the echeloned defense of the Austro-German troops on the South-Western Front. Success was contributed by the low morale of the enemy, skilful management and successful concentration of Russian units. The miscalculations, too, were, in particular, insufficient reserves, which prevented the results of the strategic operation from being fully utilized.

The sequence of military operations in 1914-1918

Each year of the terrible war was characterized by a certain character of the strategic situation. In 1914, there was a definite dependence of the actions of the Russian Army and the armed forces of the Entente. Distracting part of the German and Austrian forces, they launched a successful offensive against Galicia.

1915 became positional, but the Germans nevertheless showed a definite initiative, they managed to seize Poland, part of Western Ukraine, the Baltic states and Byelorussia.

In 1916, there was a shaky balance, which was characterized at the final stage of the entire First World War. The main direction of the German attack was on France, in the area of Verdun. Brusilovsky breakthrough again violated the plans of the countries of the Triple Alliance, they had to hastily transfer troops to the east in order to avoid a military catastrophe.

In 1917, Russia withdrew from the war, concluding subsequently (1918) with Germany and Austria-Hungary a separate peace.

Ending?

All the troubles and catastrophes once end. The First World War ended. 1918 was the date when the guns fell silent. The Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed. The winners triumphed, they sought to take advantage of the situation in order to compensate for the material costs incurred in the course of hostilities, to punish Germany, to impose indemnities on it, to annex part of its territory. Russia did not participate in this process. The February Revolution of 1917, and then the October Revolution, demoralized the army, undermined the economy, and political considerations prompted the Bolshevik leadership to abandon certain regions of the Russian Empire in favor of other states or grant them sovereignty. The First World War, the participants of which signed a peace agreement, and after its completion left many unresolved problems. Germany, the main enemy of the Entente, was defeated, humiliated and plundered, but the German people left a feeling of injustice and resentment. A decade and a half later, there was a leader who was able to take advantage of these emotions, compressed like a spring. The Versailles agreements were annulled, and it was not long before the French leadership surrendered in the very spot where the First World War ended. The photo of the railway car from Kempien, in which the world was disgraced for Germany, will bypass all the newspapers of the world.

But this is another story ...