The main battle of the First World War. Major battles of the First World War

By and large, the whole history of mankind is a series of battles and armistice, sometimes short-lived, sometimes long. Some battles are lost in the memory of centuries, others remain on hearing, however, over time, everything is rubbed down, forgotten. The war, which killed at least 20 million people, and crippled incomparably more, the battle for which fought not only in Europe, but also in the territory of Africa and the Middle East, is slowly receding into the past. And the new generation not only does not know the main battles of the First World War, but can not even recall the chronological scope of this page in history, flooded with blood and powdered houses of burnt houses.

The participants

The opposing sides were combined into two blocs - Entente and Quarter (Triple Alliance). The first included the Russian and British empires, France (as well as several dozen allied countries, including the US and Japan). The tripartite union was concluded by Italy, Germany and Austria-Hungary. However, later Italy moved to the side of the Entente, and the Ottoman Empire and its controlled Bulgaria became allies. This association received the name of the Quaternary Union. The causes of the conflict, which entailed major battles of the First World War, are called different, but the most likely still remains a complex of several factors, including economic and territorial ones. The boiling point in the world was achieved when the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo, the hope of the entire vast Austro-Hungarian Empire. Thus, since July 28, the counting of wartime has begun.

Marne battle

This is almost the main battle of the First World War at its very beginning, in September 1914. The fighting arena, which unfolded in the north of France, took about 180 km, and the participation took 5 armies of Germany and 6 of England and France. As a result, the Entente managed to hinder the plans for the rapid rout of France, thereby radically changing the course of the war.

The Galician Battle

This operation of the troops of the Russian Empire was noted as the main battle of the First World War, which engulfed the Eastern Front in the beginning of the military conflict. The confrontation lasted almost a month, from August to September 1914, and approximately 2 million people took part. Austria-Hungary eventually lost more than 325,000 soldiers (with prisoners inclusive), and Russia - 230,000.

Jutland Battle

This is the main battle of the First World War, the arena of which was the North Sea (near the Jutland peninsula). Confrontation flared between the fleets of Germany and the British Empire on May 31 and June 1, 1916, the balance of forces was 99 to 148 ships (superiority on the part of the British). Losses of both sides were very noticeable (11 ships and more than 3 thousand people from the German side and 14 ships and almost 7 thousand fighters from the British side, respectively). But the rivals shared the victory - even though Germany failed to reach the goal and break through the blockade, but the enemy's losses were much more significant.

Verdun battle

This is one of the most bloody pages, including the major battles of the First World War, lasting almost throughout 1916 (from February to December) in the north-east of France. As a result of the fighting, about a million people died. In addition, the "Verdun meat grinder" became a harbinger of the defeat of the Triple Alliance and the strengthening of the Entente.

Brusilovsky breakthrough

This battle of the First World War with the participation of Russia on the South-Western Front became one of the most large-scale military operations organized directly by the Russian command. The offensive of the troops entrusted to General Brusilov started in June 1916 on the Austrian sector. Bloody battles with varying success continued throughout the summer and early autumn, but still withdraw from the war, Austria-Hungary failed, but the huge losses of the Russian Empire became one of the catalysts that led to the February Revolution.

Operation Nivel

Complex offensive operations designed to reverse the course of battles on the Western Front were organized jointly by Britain and France and lasted from April to May 1917, and the forces they exposed were far superior to those of Germany. However, a brilliant breakthrough failed, but the number of victims is impressive - the Entente lost about 340 thousand people, while the defending Germans - 163 thousand.

The main tank battles of the First World War

At the time of World War I, the time for the widespread use of tanks was not yet arrived, but they managed to note it. September 15, 1916 for the first time on the battlefield came English Mk.I, and although of 49 cars only 18 were able to take part (17 proved to be defective even before the battle, and 14 irreparably bogged down the road or out of order due to breakdowns) , Yet their very appearance caused confusion in the ranks of the enemy and penetrated the Germans' lines to a depth of 5 km.

The first battles directly between the machines took place already towards the end of the war, when three Mk.IV (England) and three A7V (Germany) unexpectedly encountered Ville-Breton in April 1918, as a result, one tank on each side received serious damage, However, the general outcome is difficult to interpret in favor of one of the parties. On the same day, "no luck" with the English Mk.A, who suffered from surviving in the first meeting of the A7V. Although the ratio was 1: 7, but the advantage remained on the side of the cannon "German", additionally supported and artillery.

An interesting clash occurred on October 8, 1918, when four British Mk.IV and the same number of German tanks (trophy) collided, both sides suffered losses. However, the main battle of World War I was left without the support of new dangerous armored vehicles.

The first world war caused the collapse of four huge empires: the British, the Ottoman, the Austro-Hungarian and the Russian, and both the Entente victors and the vanquished in the face of Germany and Austria-Hungary suffered, and for a long time the Germans were formally deprived of the opportunity Build a militarized state.

More than 12 million civilians and 10 million soldiers became victims of hostilities, a very difficult time for survival and recovery has come across the world. On the other hand, it was during 1914-1919 that a noticeable development of weapons took place, light machine guns, grenade launchers were first used, war and tanks were noted on the roads, and in the sky - aircraft that began to support the troops from the air. However, the great battles of the First World War were only harbingers of those military operations that unfolded after two decades.