The next day, the First World War began. End of the first world war

To thoroughly understand how the First World War (1914-1918) began, you first need to familiarize yourself with the political situation that developed in Europe by the beginning of the 20th century. The prehistory of the global military conflict was the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). It ended with the complete defeat of France, and the confederal union of German states was transformed into the German Empire. Wilhelm I became its head on January 18, 1871. Thus, a powerful power with a population of 41 million people and an army of almost 1 million soldiers appeared in Europe.

The political situation in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century

At first, the German Empire did not strive for political dominance in Europe, as it was economically weak. But over 15 years the country has gained strength and began to claim a more worthy place in the Old World. Here it must be said that politics is always determined by the economy, and German capital had very few sales markets. This can be explained by the fact that Germany in its colonial expansion hopelessly lagged behind Great Britain, Spain, Belgium, France, Russia.

Map of Europe by 1914. Germany and its allies are shown in brown. Entente countries are shown in green

It is also necessary to take into account the small areas of the state, whose population was growing rapidly. It demanded food, but it was not enough. In a word, Germany gained strength, and the world was already divided, and no one was going to voluntarily give up the promised lands. There was only one way out - to take away the tidbits by force and provide your capital and people with a decent, prosperous life.

The German Empire did not hide its ambitious claims, but it could not stand alone against England, France and Russia. Therefore, in 1882 Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy formed a military-political bloc (Triple Alliance). Its consequences were the Moroccan crises (1905-1906, 1911) and the Italo-Turkish war (1911-1912). It was a test of strength, a rehearsal for a more serious and large-scale military conflict.

In response to the growing German aggression in 1904-1907, a military-political bloc of Warmongering (Entente) was formed, which included England, France and Russia. Thus, at the beginning of the 20th century, two powerful military forces were formed on the territory of Europe. One of them, led by Germany, sought to expand its living space, while the other force tried to oppose these plans in order to protect their economic interests.

Germany's ally Austria-Hungary was a hotbed of instability in Europe. She was a multinational country, which constantly provoked interethnic conflicts... In October 1908, Austria-Hungary annexed Herzegovina and Bosnia. This caused a sharp discontent with Russia, which had the status of the defender of the Slavs in the Balkans. Russia was supported by Serbia, which considered itself the unifying center of the South Slavs.

The tense political situation was observed in the Middle East. The once dominant Ottoman Empire here at the beginning of the 20th century began to be called "the sick man of Europe." And therefore, stronger countries began to claim on its territory, which provoked political disagreements and local wars. All of the above information gave a general idea of ​​the prerequisites for a global military conflict, and now it's time to find out how the First World War began.

Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife

The political situation in Europe was heating up every day and by 1914 reached its peak. All that was needed was a small impetus, a pretext to unleash a global military conflict. And soon such an occasion presented itself. It went down in history as the Sarajevo murder, and it happened on June 28, 1914.

Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife Sophia

On that ill-fated day, a member of the nationalist organization Mlada Bosna (Young Bosnia) Gavrilo Princip (1894-1918) killed the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand (1863-1914) and his wife Countess Sofia Chotek (1868-1914). "Mlada Bosna" advocated the liberation of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the rule of Austria-Hungary and was ready to use any methods for this, including terrorist ones.

The Archduke and his wife arrived in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, at the invitation of the Austro-Hungarian governor General Oskar Potiorek (1853-1933). Everyone knew about the arrival of the crowned couple in advance, and the members of Mlada Bosna decided to kill Ferdinand. For this purpose, a combat group of 6 people was created. It consisted of young people, natives of Bosnia.

Early on Sunday morning, June 28, 1914, the royal couple arrived in Sarajevo by train. On the platform she was greeted by Oscar Potiorek, journalists and an enthusiastic crowd of loyal associates. The arrivals and high-ranking greeters sat in 6 cars, while the Archduke and his wife ended up in the third car with the top folded down. The cortege jerked off and rushed towards the military barracks.

By 10 o'clock, the inspection of the barracks was completed, and all 6 cars drove along the Appel embankment to the city hall. This time the car with the crowned pair was moving second in the motorcade. At 10 hours 10 minutes driving cars caught up with one of the terrorists by the name of Nedelko Chabrinovich. This young man threw a grenade, aiming at the car with the Archduke. But the grenade hit the convertible top, flew under the third car and exploded.

Detention of Gavrilo Princip, who killed Archduke Ferdinand and his wife

The shrapnel killed the driver of the car, injured the passengers, as well as the people who were at that moment near the car. A total of 20 people were injured. The terrorist himself swallowed potassium cyanide. However, it did not give the desired effect. The man vomited, and he, fleeing the crowd, jumped into the river. But the river in that place turned out to be very shallow. The terrorist was dragged ashore and brutally beaten by angry people. After this, the crippled conspirator was handed over to the police.

After the explosion, the motorcade increased speed and raced to the city hall without incident. There, a magnificent reception awaited the crowned couple, and, despite the attempt, the solemn part took place. At the end of the celebration, it was decided to curtail the further program due to the emergency. It was only decided to go to the hospital to visit the wounded there. At 10 hours 45 minutes, the cars started again and drove along Franz Josef Street.

The moving cortege was waiting for another terrorist - Gavrilo Principle. He stood outside the Moritz Schiller Delicatessen shop next to the Latin Bridge. Seeing the crowned couple sitting in the convertible, the conspirator stepped forward, caught up with the car and was just a meter and a half away from it. He fired twice. The first bullet hit Sophia in the stomach, and the second in Ferdinand's neck.

After the execution of the people, the conspirator tried to poison himself, but he, like the first terrorist, only vomited. Then Princip made an attempt to shoot himself, but people ran up, took away the pistol and began to beat the 19-year-old man. He was so beaten that in the prison hospital the killer was forced to amputate his arm. Subsequently, the court sentenced Gavrilo Princip to 20 years in hard labor, since under the laws of Austria-Hungary he was a minor at the time of the crime. In prison, the young man was held in difficult conditions and died of tuberculosis on April 28, 1918.

Ferdinand and Sofia, wounded by the conspirator, remained in the car, which rushed to the governor's residence. There, the victims were going to provide medical assistance... But the couple died on the way. First, Sophia died, and after 10 minutes Ferdinand gave his soul to God. So the Sarajevo murder ended, which became the reason for the outbreak of the First World War.

July crisis

The July crisis is a series of diplomatic clashes between the leading powers of Europe in the summer of 1914, provoked by the Sarajevo assassination. Of course, this political conflict could have been resolved peacefully, but the strong of the world this very much wanted war. And such a desire was based on the confidence that the war would be very short and effective. But it took on a protracted nature and claimed more than 20 million human lives.

Funeral of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife Countess Sophia

After the assassination of Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary announced that there were state structures Serbia. At the same time, Germany publicly announced to the whole world that in the event of a military conflict in the Balkans, it would support Austria-Hungary. This statement was made on July 5, 1914, and on July 23, Austria-Hungary issued a tough ultimatum to Serbia. In particular, in it the Austrians demanded that their police officers be allowed into Serbia for investigative actions and punishment of terrorist groups.

The Serbs could not agree to this and announced mobilization in the country. Literally two days later, on July 26, the Austrians also announced mobilization and began to pull troops to the borders of Serbia and Russia. The finishing touch to this local conflict was July 28. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and began shelling Belgrade. After artillery barrage, Austrian troops crossed the Serbian border.

The Russian Emperor Nicholas II on July 29 proposed to Germany to resolve the Austro-Serbian conflict at the Hague Conference by peaceful means. But Germany did not reply to this. Then on July 31, a general mobilization was announced in the Russian Empire. In response, Germany declared war on Russia on August 1 and war on France on August 3. Already 4 August german troops entered Belgium, and its king Albert appealed to the European countries, guarantors of its neutrality.

After that, Great Britain sent a note of protest to Berlin and demanded an immediate end to the invasion of Belgium. The German government ignored the note, and Great Britain declared war on Germany. And the final touch of this general madness was August 6. On this day, Austria-Hungary declared war on the Russian Empire. This is how the First World War began.

Soldiers in World War I

It officially lasted from July 28, 1914 to November 11, 1918. Military operations were conducted in Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the Caucasus, the Middle East, Africa, China, Oceania. Human civilization did not know anything of the kind before. It was the largest military conflict that shook state foundations leading countries of the planet. After the war, the world changed, but humanity did not grow wiser and by the middle of the 20th century unleashed an even larger massacre that claimed many more lives.

The horrors of the planetary massacre of 1939-1945 made people think of the previous, First World War as a relatively small conflict. Indeed, the losses among the armies of the belligerent countries and their civilians were then several times less, although they were calculated in multimillion-dollar figures. However, it should be remembered that the opposing sides actively used combat and participation in combat operations underwater, surface and air fleets, as well as tanks indicates that the nature of the First World War is as close as possible to modern concepts of strategy and tactics.

On June 28, 1914, a terrorist attack took place in the Bosnian city of Sarajevo, as a result of which members of the august Austro-Hungarian family, Archduke Ferdinand and Sophia, his wife, were killed. The perpetrators were subjects of the empire, but their nationality gave rise to accuse the Serbian government of supporting terrorists, and at the same time to blame this country for fanning separatism.

When it began, even those who started it did not expect that it would drag on for four years, covering vast areas from the Arctic to South America and will lead to such massive losses. Serbia, experiencing internal and weakened by two in a row, was an almost defenseless victim, and victory over it was not a problem. The question was which countries would react to this attack and how.

Despite the fact that the Serbian government accepted almost all the conditions of the ultimatum presented to it, this was no longer taken into account. When the First World War began, the government of Austria-Hungary announced mobilization, enlisting the support of Germany and assessing the combat readiness of possible opponents, as well as the degree of their interest in the territorial redistribution. As subsequent events showed, not all factors were taken into account.

Exactly one month after Sarajevo murder hostilities began. At the same time, the German Empire informed France and Russia of its intentions to support Vienna.

In the days when the First World War began, the population of both Austria-Hungary and Germany was seized by a single patriotic impulse. The subjects of the enemy countries did not lag behind in their desire to "teach" the enemy a lesson. The mobilized soldiers were heaped with flowers and food on both sides of the border, which soon became the front line.

When the First World War began, the general staffs made plans for rapid offensives, seizures and encirclement of enemy army groupings, but soon the hostilities acquired a pronounced positional character. For all the time, there was only one breakthrough of the echeloned defense, it was named after General Brusilov, who commanded this operation. The winners in such conditions were determined not so much by the quality of technology or the talents of the command staff, as by the economic potential of the belligerent countries.

The Austro-Hungarian and German empires were weaker. Exhausted by a four-year confrontation, despite being favorable for them with Russia, they suffered defeat, the result of which was the Heroes of the First World War in Russia, engulfed in the flames of revolution, and in Germany and Austria, they turned out to be unnecessary human material, rejected by society.

World War I was the result of the exacerbation of the contradictions of imperialism, the uneven, abrupt development of the capitalist countries. The most acute contradictions existed between Great Britain - the oldest capitalist power and economically stronger Germany, whose interests collided in many regions the globe especially in Africa, Asia, the Middle East. Their rivalry turned into a fierce struggle for dominance in the world market, for the seizure of foreign territories, for the economic enslavement of other peoples. Germany set itself the goal of crushing the armed forces of England, depriving her of colonial and naval primacy, subjecting her to influence Balkan countries, create a semi-colonial empire in the Middle East. England, in turn, intended to prevent Germany from establishing itself in the Balkan Peninsula and the Middle East, to destroy its armed forces, and to expand its colonial possessions. In addition, she hoped to seize Mesopotamia, to establish her rule in Palestine and Egypt. Sharp contradictions also existed between Germany and France. France sought to return the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, captured as a result of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871, as well as to take the Saar basin from Germany, to preserve and expand its colonial possessions (see Colonialism).

Bavarian troops are sent by rail towards the front. August 1914



The territorial division of the world on the eve of the First World War (by 1914)



Arrival of Poincaré to St. Petersburg, 1914 Raymond Poincaré (1860-1934) - President of France in 1913-1920. He pursued a reactionary militaristic policy, for which he received the nickname "Poincaré-war". "



Partition of the Ottoman Empire (1920-1923)



American infantryman injured by phosgene exposure.



Territorial changes in Europe in 1918-1923



General von Kluck (in a car) and his headquarters on large maneuvers, 1910



Territorial changes after World War I in 1918-1923

The interests of Germany and Russia collided mainly in the Middle East and the Balkans. Kaiser's Germany also sought to sever Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states from Russia. Contradictions also existed between Russia and Austria-Hungary due to the desire of both sides to establish their dominance in the Balkans. Tsarist Russia intended to seize the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, Western Ukrainian and Polish lands, which were under the rule of the Habsburgs.

The contradictions between the imperialist powers had a significant impact on the alignment of political forces in the international arena, the formation of opposing military-political alliances. In Europe at the end of the 19th century. - the beginning of the 20th century. two largest blocs were formed - the Triple Alliance, which included Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy; and the Entente, consisting of England, France and Russia. The bourgeoisie of each country pursued its own selfish goals, which sometimes contradicted the goals of the coalition allies. However, all of them were relegated to the background against the background of the main contradictions between the two groupings of states: on the one hand, between England and her allies, and Germany and her allies, on the other.

The ruling circles of all countries were to blame for the outbreak of the First World War, but the initiative in unleashing it belonged to German imperialism.

Not the least role in the outbreak of the First World War was played by the desire of the bourgeoisie to weaken the growing class struggle of the proletariat and the national liberation movement in the colonies in their countries, to distract the working class from the struggle for its social liberation by war, and to decapitate its vanguard by means of repressive wartime measures.

The governments of both hostile groups carefully concealed from their peoples the real goals of the war, tried to instill in them a false idea about the defensive nature of military preparations, and then the conduct of the war itself. Bourgeois and petty-bourgeois parties of all countries supported their governments and, playing on the patriotic feelings of the masses, came out with the slogan "defending the fatherland" from external enemies.

The peace-loving forces of that time could not prevent the outbreak of a world war. The real force capable of largely blocking its path was the international working class, numbering over 150 million on the eve of the war. However, the lack of unity in the international socialist movement thwarted the formation of a united anti-imperialist front. The opportunist leadership of the Western European Social Democratic parties did nothing to implement the anti-war decisions taken at the pre-war congresses of the Second International. A significant role in this was played by a misconception about the sources and nature of the war. Right-wing socialists, finding themselves in warring camps, agreed that "their" own government had nothing to do with its emergence. They even continued to condemn the war, but only as an evil approaching the country from the outside.

The First World War lasted over four years (from August 1, 1914 to November 11, 1918). It was attended by 38 states, over 70 million people fought on its fields, of which 10 million people were killed and 20 million maimed. The immediate reason for the war was the murder by members of the Serbian conspiratorial organization Young Bosnia on June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo (Bosnia), the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Franz Ferdinand. Encouraged by Germany, Austria-Hungary presented a deliberately impossible ultimatum to Serbia and declared war on it on July 28. In connection with the opening of hostilities by Austria-Hungary in Russia on July 31, a general mobilization began. In response, the German government warned Russia that if the mobilization was not stopped within 12 hours, then a mobilization would also be announced in Germany. The armed forces of Germany by this time were already fully prepared for war. The tsarist government did not respond to the German ultimatum. On August 1, Germany declared war on Russia, on August 3 - on France and Belgium, on August 4, Great Britain declared war on Germany. Later, most of the countries of the world were involved in the war (on the side of the Entente - 34 states, on the side of the Austro-German bloc - 4).

Both warring sides began the war with multi-million dollar armies. Military operations took place in Europe, Asia and Africa. The main land fronts in Europe are Western (in Belgium and France) and Eastern (in Russia). By the nature of the tasks to be solved and the military-political results achieved, the events of the First World War can be divided into five campaigns, each of which included several operations.

In 1914, in the very first months of the war, the military plans developed by the general staffs of both coalitions long before the war and designed for its short duration collapsed. Fighting on the Western Front began in early August. On 2 August, the German army occupied Luxembourg, and on 4 August invaded Belgium, violating its neutrality. The small Belgian army was unable to offer serious resistance and began to retreat to the north. On August 20, German troops occupied Brussels and were able to move unhindered to the borders of France. Three French and one British armies were brought forward to meet them. On August 21-25, in a border battle, the German armies threw back the Anglo-French troops, invaded northern France and, continuing the offensive, by the beginning of September reached the Marne River between Paris and Verdun. The French command, having formed two new armies from reserves, decided to go over to a counteroffensive. The Battle of the Marne began on 5 September. It was attended by 6 Anglo-French and 5 German armies(about 2 million people). The Germans were defeated. On September 16, oncoming battles unfolded, which received the name "Run to the Sea" (they ended when the front reached sea ​​coast). In October and November, bloody battles in Flanders depleted and balanced the forces of the parties. From the Swiss border to North Sea a continuous front line stretched. The war in the West took on a positional character. Thus, Germany's calculation of the defeat and withdrawal of France from the war failed.

The Russian command, yielding to the insistent demands of the French government, decided to proceed to active operations even before the end of the mobilization and concentration of its armies. The purpose of the operation was to defeat the 8th German Army and capture East Prussia. On August 4, the 1st Russian army under the command of General P.K. Rennenkampf crossed the state border and entered the territory of East Prussia. In the course of fierce fighting, German troops began to retreat to the West. Soon the 2nd Russian army of General A.V. Samsonov crossed the border of East Prussia. The German headquarters had already decided to withdraw the troops beyond the Vistula, but, taking advantage of the lack of interaction between the 1st and 2nd armies, the mistakes of the Russian high command, the German troops managed to inflict a heavy defeat at the beginning of the 2nd army, and then push back the 1st army to its starting positions.

Despite the failure of the operation, the Russian army's invasion of East Prussia had important results. It forced the Germans to transfer from France to the Russian front two army corps and one cavalry division, which seriously weakened their strike force in the West and was one of the reasons for its defeat at the Battle of the Marne. At the same time, with their actions in East Prussia, the Russian armies fettered the German troops and kept them from assisting the allied Austro-Hungarian troops. This made it possible for the Russians to inflict a major defeat on Austria-Hungary in the Galician direction. During the operation, the threat of invasion of Hungary and Silesia was created; significantly undermined military power Austria-Hungary (Austro-Hungarian troops lost about 400 thousand people, of which more than 100 thousand were captured). Until the end of the war, the Austro-Hungarian army lost the ability to conduct operations independently, without the support of German troops. Germany was again forced to withdraw part of its forces from the Western Front and transfer them to Eastern front.

As a result of the 1914 campaign, neither side achieved its goals. The plans of waging a short-term war and winning it at the cost of one general battle collapsed. On the Western Front, the period of mobile warfare is over. A trench warfare began. On August 23, 1914, Japan declared war on Germany; in October, Turkey entered the war on the side of the German bloc. New fronts were formed in Transcaucasia, Mesopotamia, Syria and the Dardanelles.

In the 1915 campaign, the center of gravity of hostilities shifted to the Eastern Front. Defense was planned on the Western Front. Operations on the Russian front began in January and continued with short interruptions until late autumn. In the summer, the German command carried out a breakthrough of the Russian front near Gorlitsa. Soon it launched an offensive in the Baltic, and Russian troops were forced to leave Galicia, Poland, part of Latvia and Belarus. However, the Russian command, having switched to strategic defense, managed to withdraw its armies from enemy attacks and halt its advance. The bloodless and exhausted Austro-German and Russian armies in October went over to the defensive along the entire front. Germany was faced with the need to continue a long war on two fronts. The main burden of the struggle was borne by Russia, which provided France and England with a respite to mobilize the economy for the needs of the war. Only in the fall did the Anglo-French command conduct an offensive operation in Artois and Champagne, which did not significantly change the situation. In the spring of 1915, the German command first used on the Western Front, near Yprom, chemical weapon(chlorine), as a result of which 15 thousand people were poisoned. After that, the gases began to be used by both belligerents.

In the summer, Italy entered the war on the side of the Entente; in October Bulgaria joined the Austro-German bloc. The large-scale Dardanelles landing operation of the Anglo-French fleet was aimed at capturing the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits, breaking through to Constantinople and withdrawing Turkey from the war. It ended in failure, and the Allies at the end of 1915 ceased hostilities and evacuated troops to Greece.

In the 1916 campaign, the Germans again shifted their main efforts to the West. For their main attack, they chose a narrow sector of the front in the Verdun area, since a breakthrough here posed a threat to the entire northern wing of the Allied armies. Fighting at Verdun began on 21 February and continued until December. This operation, called the "Verdun meat grinder", was reduced to grueling and bloody battles, where both sides lost about 1 million people. The offensive operations of the Anglo-French troops on the Somme River, which began on July 1 and continued until November, were also unsuccessful. Anglo-French troops, having lost about 800 thousand people, were never able to break through the enemy's defenses.

Operations on the Eastern Front were of great importance in the 1916 campaign. In March, at the request of the allies, Russian troops conducted an offensive operation near Lake Naroch, which significantly influenced the course of hostilities in France. She not only pinned down about 0.5 million German troops on the Eastern Front, but also forced the German command to stop attacks on Verdun for a while and transfer part of the reserves to the Eastern Front. In connection with the heavy defeat of the Italian army in Trentino in May, the Russian high command launched an offensive on May 22, two weeks ahead of schedule. In the course of hostilities, Russian troops on the Southwestern Front under the command of A. A. Brusilov managed to break through the strong positional defense of the Austro-German forces to a depth of 80-120 km. The enemy suffered heavy losses - about 1.5 million people killed, wounded and captured. The Austro-German command was forced to transfer large forces to the Russian front, which facilitated the position of the allied armies on other fronts. Russian offensive saved from defeat the italian army, eased the position of the French at Verdun, accelerated the action of Romania on the side of the Entente. The success of the Russian troops was ensured by the use of General A.A. Brusilov new form breakthrough of the front by simultaneous strikes in several sectors. As a result, the enemy lost the ability to determine the direction of the main attack. Along with the Battle of the Somme, the offensive on the Southwestern Front marked the beginning of a turning point in the First World War. The strategic initiative completely passed into the hands of the Entente.

May 31 - June 1 off the Jutland Peninsula in the North Sea, the largest naval battle throughout the First World War. The British lost 14 ships in it, about 6800 people killed, wounded and captured; the Germans lost 11 ships, about 3,100 people killed and wounded.

In 1916 the German-Austrian bloc suffered huge losses and lost its strategic initiative. Bloody battles depleted the resources of all the belligerent powers. The situation of the working people has deteriorated sharply. The hardships of the war, their awareness of its anti-popular character, aroused deep discontent among the masses. In all countries, revolutionary sentiments grew in the rear and at the front. A particularly stormy rise of the revolutionary movement was observed in Russia, where the war exposed the corruption of the ruling elite.

Military operations in 1917 took place in conditions of a significant growth of the revolutionary movement in all the belligerent countries, and an increase in anti-war sentiments in the rear and at the front. The war significantly weakened the economies of the warring factions.

The preponderance of the Entente became even more significant after the United States entered the war on its side. The state of the armies of the German coalition was such that they could not take active action either in the West or in the East. The German command decided in 1917 to go over to strategic defense on all land fronts and focused its main attention on waging unlimited submarine warfare, hoping in this way to disrupt the economic life of England and withdraw it from the war. But, despite some success, the submarine war did not give the desired result. The military command of the Entente went over to coordinated strikes on the Western and Eastern fronts in order to inflict the final defeat of Germany and Austria-Hungary.

However, the offensive of the Anglo-French forces, undertaken in April, failed. On February 27 (March 12), a bourgeois-democratic revolution took place in Russia. The Provisional Government that came to power, taking a course to continue the war, organized, with the support of the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, a large offensive of the Russian armies. It began on June 16 on the Southwestern Front in the general direction of Lvov, but after some tactical success due to the lack of reliable reserves, the increased resistance of the enemy drowned. The inaction of the allies on the Western Front allowed the German command to quickly transfer troops to the Eastern Front, create a powerful grouping there and launch a counteroffensive on July 6. Russian units, unable to withstand the onslaught, began to retreat. The offensive operations of the Russian armies on the Northern, Western and Romanian fronts also ended unsuccessfully. The total number of casualties on all fronts exceeded 150 thousand people killed, wounded and missing.

The artificially created offensive impulse of the soldier masses was replaced by the realization of the senselessness of the offensive, the unwillingness to continue the aggressive war, to fight for interests alien to them.

Sarajevo murder

On June 28, 1914, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated.

On August 1, 1914, the First World War began. There were many reasons for it, and all that was needed was an excuse to start it. This was the reason for the event that happened a month before that - June 28, 1914.

Heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne Franz Ferdinand Karl Ludwig Josef von Habsburg was the eldest son of Archduke Karl Ludwig, brother of the Emperor Franz Joseph.

Archduke Karl Ludwig

Emperor Franz Joseph

The aged emperor had ruled for the 66th year by that time, having outlived all the other heirs. The only son and heir Franz Joseph Crown Prince Rudolph, according to one version, shot himself in 1889 in Mayerling Castle, having killed his beloved Baroness Maria Vechera before that, and according to another version, he became the victim of a carefully planned political assassination that imitated the suicide of the only direct heir to the throne. Brother died in 1896 Franz Joseph Karl Ludwig drinking water from the Jordan River. After that, the son of Karl Ludwig became the heir to the throne. Franz Ferdinand.

Franz Ferdinand

Franz Ferdinand was the main hope of the decaying monarchy. In 1906, the Archduke drew up a plan for the transformation of Austria-Hungary, which, if implemented, could prolong the life of the Habsburg Empire, reducing the degree of interethnic contradictions. According to this plan, the Patchwork Empire would turn into federal state The United States of Great Austria, in which 12 national autonomies were formed for each of the major nationalities living in Austria-Hungary. However, this plan was opposed by the Prime Minister of Hungary, Count Istvan Tisza, since such a transformation of the country would put an end to the privileged position of the Hungarians.

Istvan Tisza

He resisted so much that he was ready to kill the hated heir. He spoke about this so frankly that even a version appeared that it was he who ordered the assassination of the Archduke.
June 28, 1914 Franz Ferdinand at the invitation of the governor in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Feldzheichmeister (that is, the general of artillery) Oskar Potiorek came to Sarajevo for maneuvers.

Sarajevo was the main city of Bosnia. Before Russian-Turkish war Bosnia belonged to the Turks, and as a result, it was supposed to go to Serbia. However, Austro-Hungarian troops were introduced to Bosnia, and in 1908 Austria-Hungary officially annexed Bosnia to its possessions. Neither the Serbs, nor the Turks, nor the Russians were happy with this situation, and then, in 1908-09, because of this annexation, a war almost broke out, but the then Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Petrovich Izvolsky warned the tsar against rash actions, and the war took place somewhat later.

Alexander Petrovich Izvolsky

In 1912, the organization "Mlada Bosna" was created in Bosnia to liberate Bosnia and Herzegovina from occupation and unification with Serbia. The arrival of the heir was very welcome for the Young Bosnians, and they decided to kill the Archduke. Six Young Bosnians, suffering from tuberculosis, were dispatched for the assassination attempt. They had nothing to lose: in the coming months, death was waiting for them.

Trifko Grabetsky, Nedelko Chabrinovich, Gavrilo Principle

Franz Ferdinand and his morganatic wife Sophia-Maria-Josefina-Albina Hotek von Hotkov und Wognin arrived in Sarajevo early in the morning.

Sofia-Maria von Hotkov

On the way to the town hall, the couple underwent the first assassination attempt: one of these six, Nedelko Chabrinovich, threw a bomb on the route of the motorcade, but the fuse was too long, and the bomb exploded only under the third car. The bomb killed the driver of this car and wounded its passengers, the most significant of whom was Piotrek's adjutant Erich von Merizze, as well as a police officer and passers-by from the crowd. Chabrinovich tried to poison himself with potassium cyanide and drown himself in the Milyatska River, but neither one nor the other worked. He was arrested and sentenced to 20 years, but he died a year and a half later from the same tuberculosis.
Upon arrival at the town hall, the Archduke made a prepared speech and decided to go to the hospital to visit the wounded.

Franz Ferdinand was dressed in a blue uniform, black trousers with red stripes, a high cap with green parrot feathers. Sofia wore a white dress and a wide hat with an ostrich feather. Instead of the chauffeur, Archduke Franz Urban, the owner of the car, Count Harrach, sat behind the wheel, and Potiorek sat to his left to show the way. Machine brand Gräf & Stift rushed along the Appel embankment.

At the intersection at the Latin Bridge, the car slowed down slightly, downshifting, and the driver began to turn right. At this time, having just drunk coffee in Stiller's store, one of the same tuberculosis six came out into the street, a 19-year-old schoolboy Gavrilo Principle.

Gavrilo Principle

He was just walking along the Latin Bridge and saw a turning Gräf & Stift by chance. Without hesitation for a second, Principle grabbed Browning and with the first shot pierced the Archduke's stomach. The second bullet went to Sophia. I wanted to spend the third Principle on Potiorek, but did not have time - the people who ran away disarmed the young man and began to beat him. Only the intervention of the police saved Gavrila's life.

“Browning“ Gavrilo Principa

arrest of Gavrilo Princip

As a minor, he was sentenced to the same 20 years instead of the death penalty, and during his imprisonment they even began to treat him for tuberculosis, extending his life right up to April 28, 1918.

The place where the Archduke was killed is today. View from the Latin Bridge.

For some reason, the wounded archduke and his wife were taken not to the hospital, which was already a couple of blocks away, but to Potiorek's residence, where, amid the howling and lamentations of the retinue, both died of blood loss without receiving medical assistance.
Further, everyone knows: since the terrorists were Serbs, Austria presented an ultimatum to Serbia. Russia stood up for Serbia, threatening Austria, and Germany stood up for Austria. As a result, World War broke out a month later.
Franz Joseph outlived this heir, and after his death, 27-year-old Karl, the son of the imperial nephew Otto, who died in 1906, became emperor.

Karl Franz Joseph

He had to rule for a little less than two years. The collapse of the empire found him in Budapest. In 1921, Charles attempted to become king of Hungary. Having organized a rebellion, he, with troops loyal to him, reached almost as far as Budapest, but was arrested and on November 19 of the same year was taken to the Portuguese island of Madeira, designated to him as a place of exile. A few months later, he died suddenly, allegedly from pneumonia.

The very same Gräf & Stift. The car had a four-cylinder 32-horsepower engine, which made it possible to develop a 70-kilometer speed. The engine displacement was 5.88 liters. The car did not have a starter and was started with a crank. It is located in the Vienna War Museum. It even has a number plate with the number "A III118". Subsequently, some of the paranoid deciphered this number as the date of the end of the First World War. In accordance with this decoding, it means "Armistice", that is, a truce, and for some reason in English. The first two Roman units mean "11", the third Roman and the first Arabic units mean "November", and the last unit and the eight mean 1918 - it was November 11, 1918 that the Compiegne Armistice took place, which ended the First World War.

World War I could have been avoided

After Gavrila Principle June 28, 1914 made in Sarajevo assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand , the possibility of preventing the war remained, and neither Austria nor Germany considered this war inevitable.

Three weeks elapsed between the day the Archduke was assassinated and the day Austria-Hungary announced an ultimatum to Serbia. The alarm that arose after this event soon subsided, and the Austrian government and personally the emperor Franz Joseph hastened to assure St. Petersburg that it did not intend to undertake any military actions. The fact that Germany did not even think about fighting at the beginning of July is evidenced by the fact that a week after the assassination of the Archduke, Kaiser Wilhelm II went to summer rest to the Norwegian fiords.

Wilhelm II

There was a political calm, which is typical for the summer season. Ministers, members of parliament, high-ranking government and military officials went on vacation. The tragedy in Sarajevo did not particularly alarm anyone in Russia either: the majority politicians plunged into the problems of inner life.

Everything was spoiled by an event that happened in mid-July. In those days, taking advantage of the parliamentary vacation, the President French Republic Raymond Poincaré and Prime Minister and, at the same time, Foreign Minister Rene Viviani paid an official visit to Nicholas II, arriving in Russia aboard a French battleship.

french battleship

The meeting took place on July 7-10 (20-23) at the Tsar's summer residence in Peterhof. In the early morning of July 7 (20), the French guests moved from the battleship, anchored in Kronstadt, to the royal yacht, which brought them to Peterhof.

Raymond Poincaré and Nicholas II

After three days of negotiations, banquets and receptions, interspersed with visits to the traditional summer maneuvers of the guards regiments and units of the St. Petersburg military district, the French visitors returned to their battleship and departed for Scandinavia. However, despite the political lull, this meeting did not go unnoticed by the intelligence services of the Central Powers. Such a visit clearly testified: Russia and France are preparing something, and this is something being prepared against them.

It must be admitted frankly that Nikolai did not want war and did his best to prevent its beginning. In contrast, the highest diplomatic and military officials were in favor of military action and tried to exert strong pressure on Nicholas. As soon as a telegram arrived from Belgrade on July 24 (11), 1914 stating that Austria-Hungary had presented an ultimatum to Serbia, Sazonov joyfully exclaimed: “This is European war". On the same day, at breakfast at the French ambassador, at which the British ambassador was also present, Sazonov called on the allies to take decisive action. And at three o'clock in the afternoon, he demanded to convene a meeting of the Council of Ministers, at which he raised the issue of demonstrative military preparations. At this meeting, it was decided to mobilize four districts against Austria: Odessa, Kiev, Moscow and Kazan, as well as the Black Sea, and, strangely, the Baltic fleet. The latter was already a threat not so much to Austria-Hungary, which has access only to the Adriatic, as against Germany, with which the sea border passed through the Baltic. In addition, the Council of Ministers proposed to introduce from July 26 (13) on the entire territory of the country "a provision on the preparatory period for the war."

Vladimir Alexandrovich Sukhomlinov

On July 25 (12), Austria-Hungary announced that it refused to extend the deadline for Serbia's response. The latter, in her reply, on the advice of Russia, expressed her readiness to satisfy the Austrian requirements by 90%. Only the requirement for officials and military personnel to enter the country was rejected. Serbia was also ready to transfer the case to the Hague international tribunal or to the consideration of the great powers. However, at 6:30 pm that day, the Austrian envoy in Belgrade notified the Serbian government that its response to the ultimatum was unsatisfactory, and he, along with the entire staff of the mission, was leaving Belgrade. But even at this stage, the possibilities for a peaceful settlement were not exhausted.

Sergei Dmitrievich Sazonov

However, through Sazonov's efforts to Berlin (and for some reason not to Vienna), it was reported that on July 29 (16), the mobilization of four military districts would be announced. Sazonov did everything possible to hurt Germany as much as possible, which was bound by allied obligations to Austria. What were the alternatives? - some will ask. After all, it was impossible to leave the Serbs in trouble. That's right, you can't. But the steps taken by Sazonov led precisely to the fact that Serbia, which has no sea or land connection with Russia, found itself face to face with the enraged Austria-Hungary. The mobilization of the four districts could not help Serbia in any way. Moreover, the notification of its beginning made Austria's steps even more decisive. It seems that Sazonov wanted more than the Austrians themselves to declare war on Serbia by Austria. On the contrary, in their diplomatic steps, Austria-Hungary and Germany argued that Austria is not looking for territorial acquisitions in Serbia and does not threaten its integrity. Its sole purpose is to ensure its own peace of mind and public safety.

The German ambassador, trying to somehow level the situation, visited Sazonov and asked if Russia would be satisfied with Austria's promise not to violate the integrity of Serbia. Sazonov gave the following written answer: "If Austria, realizing that the Austro-Serbian conflict has acquired a European character, declares its readiness to exclude from its ultimatum items that violate the sovereign rights of Serbia, Russia undertakes to stop its military preparations." This answer was tougher than the position of England and Italy, which provided for the possibility of adopting these points. This circumstance indicates that the Russian ministers at that time decided to go to war, completely disregarding the opinion of the emperor.

The generals hastened to mobilize with the greatest noise. On the morning of July 31 (18), advertisements printed on red paper appeared in St. Petersburg, calling for mobilization. The agitated German ambassador tried to get explanations and concessions from Sazonov. At 12 o'clock in the night, Pourtales visited Sazonov and conveyed to him, on behalf of his government, a statement that if Russia did not begin demobilization at 12 noon, the German government would issue an order for mobilization.

As soon as the mobilization was canceled, the war would not have started.

However, instead of announcing mobilization after the expiration of the term, as Germany would have done if it really wanted war, the German Foreign Ministry several times demanded that Pourtales seek a meeting with Sazonov. Sazonov, on the other hand, deliberately delayed the meeting with the German ambassador in order to force Germany to take a hostile step first. Finally, at seven o'clock, the Foreign Minister arrived at the ministry building. Soon the German ambassador was already entering his office. In great excitement, he asked if the Russian government would agree to respond favorably to yesterday's German note. At that moment, it depended only on Sazonov whether or not there should be a war. Sazonov could not help but know the consequences of his answer. He knew that there were still three years left before the full implementation of our military program, while Germany completed its program in January. He knew that the war would hit foreign trade, blocking our export routes. He also could not help but know that he is against the war. most of Russian producers, and that the sovereign himself and the imperial family are against the war. If he had said yes, the planet would have continued peace. Russian volunteers through Bulgaria and Greece would have ended up in Serbia. Russia would help her with weapons. And at this time, conferences would be convened, which, in the end, could extinguish the Austro-Serbian conflict, and Serbia would not be occupied for three years. But Sazonov said his "no". But it wasn't over yet. Pourtales asked again if Russia could give Germany a favorable response. Sazonov again firmly refused. But then it was not difficult to guess what was in the pocket of the German ambassador. If he asks the same question a second time, it is clear that if the answer is negative, there will be something terrible. But Pourtales asked this question for the third time, giving Sazonov last chance... Who is he this Sazonov, so that for the people, for the thought, for the tsar and for the government to make such a decision? If history put him before the need to give an immediate answer, he should have remembered the interests of Russia, whether she wants to fight in order to work off Anglo-French loans with the blood of Russian soldiers. And all the same, Sazonov repeated his "no" for the third time. After the third refusal, Pourtales took from his pocket a note from the German embassy, ​​which contained a declaration of war.

Friedrich von Pourtales

One gets the impression that some Russian officials did everything possible to make the war start as soon as possible, and if they did not, then first world war it could have been, if not avoided, then at least postponed until a more convenient time.

As a sign of mutual love and eternal friendship, shortly before the war, the “brothers” changed their ceremonial uniforms.

The First World War began from August 1, 1914 to November 11, 1918.The First World War, involving 38 countries, was unjust and aggressive.The main goal of the First World War was precisely the redivision of the world. The initiators of the outbreak of the First World War were Germany and Austria-Hungary. With the development of capitalism, the contradictions between the major powers and the military-political blocs intensified;

• weaken England.
• struggle for the repartition of the world.
• crush France and seize its main metallurgical bases.
• capture Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, the Baltic countries and thereby weaken Russia.
• cut off Russia from the Baltic Sea.

The main goal of Austria-Hungary was:

• capture Serbia and Montenegro;
• gain a foothold in the Balkans;
• tear off Podillia and Volhynia from Russia.

Italy's goal was to gain a foothold in the Balkans. Engaging in World War I, England wanted to weaken Germany and divide the Ottoman Empire.

Objectives of Russia in the First World War:

• prevent the strengthening of German influence on Turkey and the Middle East;
• to gain a foothold in the Balkans and in the Black Sea straits;
• take possession of the lands of Turkey;
• capture Galicia, which is subordinate to Austria-Hungary.

The Russian bourgeoisie intended to enrich itself at the expense of the First World War. The murder in Bosnia by the Serbian nationalist Gavrila Princip of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914 was used as a pretext for war.
On July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Russia announced mobilization to help Serbia. Therefore, on August 1, Germany declared war on Russia. On August 3, Germany declared war on France, and on August 4, attacked Belgium. Thus, the treaty on the neutrality of Belgium, signed by Prussia, was declared "just a piece of paper." On August 4, England stood up for Belgium and declared war on Germany.
On August 23, 1914, Japan declared war on Germany, but did not send troops to Europe. She began to seize German lands on Far East and subjugate China.
In October 1914 Turkey entered the First World War on the side of the "Triple Alliance". In response, on October 2, Russia, on the 5th - England and on the 6th - France declared war on Turkey.

World War I 1914
At the beginning of the First World War, three fronts were formed in Europe: Western, Eastern (Russian) and Balkan. A little later, the fourth was formed - the Caucasian Front, on which Russia and Turkey fought. The "Blitzkrieg" ("Blitzkrieg") plan prepared by Schlieffen came true: on August 2, the Germans took Luxembourg, on the 4th - Belgium, and from there entered Northern France. The French government temporarily left Paris.
Russia, wishing to help the allies, on August 7, 1914, brought two armies into East Prussia. Germany withdrew two infantry corps and a cavalry division from the French front and sent them to the Eastern Front. Due to the inconsistency in the actions of the Russian command, the first Russian army died at the Mazurian lakes. The German command was able to concentrate its forces on the second Russian army. Two Russian corps were surrounded and destroyed. But the Russian army in Galicia (Western Ukraine) defeated Austria-Hungary and moved into East Prussia.
To stop the advance of the Russians, Germany had to withdraw 6 more corps from the French direction. So France got rid of the danger of defeat. On the seas, Germany waged a cruising war with Britain. On September 6-12, 1914, on the banks of the Marne River, Anglo-French troops repulsed the German attack and launched a counteroffensive. The Germans managed to stop the allies only on the Aisne River. Thus, as a result of the Battle of the Marne, the German plan for "War of Lightning" collapsed. Germany was forced to wage a war on two fronts. The maneuver war turned into a positional war.

World War I war - military actions in 1915-1916
In the spring of 1915, the Eastern Front became the main front of the First World War. In 1915, the "Triple Alliance" focused on the withdrawal of Russia from the war. In May 1915, the Russians were defeated at Gorlitsa and retreated. The Germans took Poland and part of the Baltic lands from Russia, but they failed to withdraw Russia from the war and conclude a separate peace with it.
In 1915, there were no major changes on the Western Front. Germany first applied submarines against England.
Germany's unannounced attacks on civilian ships have outraged neutral countries. On April 22, 1915, Germany for the first time used chlorine poison gas on the territory of Belgium.
To divert the attention of the Turkish army from the Caucasian front, the Anglo-French fleet fired at the fortifications in the Dardanelles, but the allies suffered damage and retreated. Under a secret agreement, in case of victory in the war, the "Entente" Istanbul was handed over to Russia.
"Entente", having promised Italy a number of territorial acquisitions, pulled it over to its side. In April 1915, England, France, Russia and Italy entered into a secret agreement in London. Italy joined the Entente.
And in September 1915, the "Quadruple Alliance" was formed as part of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria.
In October 1915, the Bulgarian army captured Serbia, and Austria-Hungary captured Montenegro and Albania.
In the summer of 1915, on the Caucasian front, the Turkish army's offensive on Apashkert ended in vain. At the same time, Britain's attempt to seize Iraq ended in failure. The Turks defeated the British at Baghdad.
In 1916, the Germans became convinced that it was impossible to withdraw Russia from the war and again concentrated their efforts on France.
On February 21, 1916, the Battle of Verdun began. This battle went down in history under the name "Verdun meat grinder". The belligerents lost up to a million soldiers at Verdun. In six months of fighting, the Germans conquered a piece of land. A counterattack by the Anglo-French forces also did not work. After the Battle of the Somme in July 1916, the parties returned to trench warfare. In the Battle of the Somme, the British used tanks for the first time.
And on the Caucasian front in 1916, the Russians captured Erzurum and Trabzon.
In August 1916, Romania also entered the First World War, but was immediately defeated by the Austro-German-Bulgarian troops.

On June 1, 1916, in the Battle of Jutland, neither the English nor the German fleets achieved an advantage.

In 1917, active demonstrations began in the belligerent countries. In Russia in February 1917, a bourgeois-democratic revolution took place, the monarchy fell. And in October, the Bolsheviks staged a coup d'etat and seized power. On March 3, 1918, the Bolsheviks in Brest-Litovsk concluded a separate peace with Germany and its allies. Russia withdrew from the war. Under the terms of the Brest-Litovsk Peace:

• Russia has lost all territory up to the front line;
• Kars, Ardahan, Batum were returned to Turkey;
• Russia recognized the independence of Ukraine.

Russia's withdrawal from the war eased the position of Germany.
The United States, which had given large loans to European countries and wished for an Entente victory, became worried. In April 1917, the United States declared war on Germany. But France and England did not want to share the fruits of victory with America. They wanted to end the war before US troops arrived. Germany wanted to defeat the Entente before the arrival of US troops.
In October 1917, at Caporetto, the troops of Germany and Austria-Hungary defeated a significant part of the Italian army.
In May 1918, Romania signed a peace treaty with the Quadruple Alliance and withdrew from the war. In order to help the "Entente", which lost after Russia and Romania, the United States sent 300 thousand soldiers to Europe. With the help of the Americans, the German breakthrough to Paris was stopped on the banks of the Marne. In August 1918, the American-Anglo-French forces laid siege to the Germans. And in Macedonia, Bulgarians and Turks were defeated. Bulgaria withdrew from the war.

On October 30, 1918, Turkey signed the Mudros armistice, and on November 3, Austria-Hungary surrendered. Germany, on the other hand, adopted the "14 points" program put forward by W. Wilson.
On November 3, 1918, a revolution began in Germany, on November 9, the monarchy was overthrown and a republic was proclaimed.
On November 11, 1918, the French Marshal Foch accepted the surrender of Germany in a staff carriage in the Compiegne Forest. The First World War is over. Germany pledged to withdraw its troops from France, Belgium, Luxembourg and other occupied territories in 15 days.
Thus, the war ended with the defeat of the "Quadruple Alliance". The Entente's superiority in manpower and equipment decided the fate of the First World War.
Germanic, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and Russian empire fell apart. In place of the former empires, new independent states arose.
The First World War claimed millions of lives. Only the United States enriched itself in this war, becoming a world creditor to whom Britain, France, Russia, Italy and other European countries owed them.
Japan also successfully pulled out of the First World War. She seized the German colonies in the Pacific Ocean and strengthened her influence in China. The First World War marked the beginning of the crisis of the world colonial system.