Causes of the 1st World War. Causes of the First World War

First World War became the first major global conflict in the context of the technical and scientific revolution that took place. This war has become completely new, unlike all previous conflicts and fighting. Almost all states of the world were involved in this conflict; hundreds of thousands of soldiers did not return home. The war became a prerequisite for the fall of four empires and a new turning point in the history of the development of human civilization. The prerequisites and causes of the First World War will be discussed in this lesson.

The First World War: background and causes

Background

Since the beginning of the 20th century, international tension in Europe has steadily increased (see lesson). The main prerequisites for the start of the war were:
. the desire of young united Italy and Germany to redistribute spheres of influence in Europe and colonial expansion; the militaristic basis for the emergence of these states (especially Germany), which in the eyes of the rulers and many of their subjects made war an adequate way further development;
. on the part of the old colonial powers - of course, the need to maintain their positions and prevent the loss of colonies;
. on the part of the Balkan peoples - the desire for independence; in the case of already independent Serbia and Bulgaria - the desire to unite other Slavic peoples around themselves;
. on the part of Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire - the desire to establish control over the Balkans.

At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, two military-political blocs were formed: Triple Alliance(Austria-Hungary, Germany, Italy) and the Entente (Great Britain, Russia, France).

Events

June 28, 1914- the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were killed in Sarajevo by the Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip (Sarajevo Murder); this event became a kind of trigger, ultimately leading to the start of the war.

July 23, 1914- Austria-Hungary presented an ultimatum to Serbia (Austro-Hungarian Note dated July 23, 1914), which actually called into question the country’s sovereignty. The ultimatum was partially accepted, one of the points was rejected, in response to which Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Over the next week, all members of the Entente and the Triple Alliance (except Italy) carried out military mobilization and declared war on each other. The First World War has begun.

1914- success generally accompanies the Triple Alliance (while Italy does not enter the war and remains neutral). Germany is successfully waging a war on two fronts: against Russia in the east and France in the west, but lack of strength did not allow it to take Paris and take France out of the war.

1915- Italy joins the Entente. Germany and Austria-Hungary are joined by Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire, creating the Quadruple Alliance.

1915- the parties are waging a positional war. In Turkey, which fought on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary, the Armenian genocide (Armenian Genocide) occurs, classified by the Entente as a crime against humanity (for the first time in history).

Positional war is a war in which armed struggle is waged mainly on continuous, relatively stable fronts with well-fortified defenses. Usually characterized by a high density of troops and developed engineering support for positions. The offensive operations undertaken, as a rule, do not develop, often remain incomplete and end with limited results.

1916- The Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme. Both German and Anglo-French troops attempt to go on the offensive, in both cases this leads to protracted bloody positional battles with hundreds of thousands of dead. Tanks were used for the first time in history at the Battle of the Somme.

1916- Brusilovsky breakthrough. Successful offensive of Russian troops against Austria-Hungary in Galicia (see lesson ").

February 1917- in Russia, as a result of the February Revolution, the monarchy fell, internal instability negatively affects the activity of Russian troops.

April 1917- The United States declares war on Germany, starting active hostilities on the side of the Entente in the fall of 1917.

April - May 1917- “Nivelle massacre”, an unsuccessful attempt to defeat German forces by Entente troops, hundreds of thousands of dead and wounded.

October - December 1917- Battle of Caporetto. Italy, which previously held the initiative on the Italian front, suffers a crushing defeat from the troops of Germany and Austria-Hungary.

March 3, 1918- Russia, in which the Bolsheviks came to power, leaves the war by signing the Brest-Litovsk Treaty with Germany and its allies, according to which Russia lost significant territories in the west of the country (see lesson ").

1918- Germany, having made peace with Russia and thereby securing the eastern front, attempts an offensive on the western, but in the summer the Entente and the allies finally take the initiative into their own hands and carry out a successful offensive on all fronts, the war is moving towards completion.

November 1918- all countries participating in the Quadruple Alliance, one after another, conclude a truce with the Entente; in the case of Germany and Austria-Hungary, this was largely due to the revolutions that took place there. The First World War ends.

Conclusion

Consequences of the First World War
. The war became a catalyst for social change and upheaval in many participating countries. During the war or in the first years after its end, the monarchies in Austria-Hungary, Germany, the Ottoman Empire, and Russia fell.
. The result of the war was the collapse of empires and the acquisition of national independence by many peoples. On political map In Europe, independent Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Finland, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and other states appeared.
. The first war was unprecedented in terms of the number of casualties; it used weapons that were new for that time: aircraft, tanks, machine guns, flamethrowers, chemical weapons, etc. It was characterized by trench warfare, when millions of casualties did not lead to a significant change in the balance of power. The First World War demonstrated how little value can be human life. The massive participation in the war gave rise to the formation of the so-called lost generation - many young people who returned from the war and were unable to adapt to peaceful life, largely suffering from psychological trauma.
. In the 20s - 30s. Totalitarian movements - Italian fascists, German National Socialists - speculated on the heroism of the First World War. The First World War, without solving the most important international issues, paved the way for an even more ambitious Second World War.

Abstract

International relations at the turn of the century were a confusing and contradictory tangle of world politics. At the end of the 19th century, the colonial redistribution of the world ended. The leading colonial powers in Europe were Great Britain and France, whose colonies lay over vast areas of Asia and Africa. The United States considered the Western Hemisphere of the Earth its fiefdom, both political and economic. Separate from the colonial world stood Russian empire, which has reached its natural limits (with the exception of Austrian Galicia) in Europe, in the south (in Transcaucasia and Central Asia) and in the north (Arctic Ocean) (see Fig. 1).

Rice. 1. The world by 1914 ()

"Young" countries - Germany, Italy and Japan, which were late to the redistribution of the world, but, starting from the last quarter of the 19th century, began to develop at an incredible pace, in many ways taking over territories “that were in bad shape.” The booming economies of Germany and Japan needed new spaces to market their products and compete with other powers.

Growing international tensions at the end of the 19th century led to the convening of 1899 Hague Peace Conference(see Fig. 2), where the participating countries agreed on the peaceful settlement of territorial and other conflicts, on not using asphyxiating gases in future military conflicts and generally limiting the brutal manifestations of warfare, on the fate of prisoners and the activities of the International Red Cross. But, despite all these agreements, military-political blocs that were in acute confrontation continued to take shape in Europe. On the one hand, such a block was Triple Alliance (Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary), and on the other - Entente - "Cordial Consent" (Great Britain, France and Russia).

Rice. 2. The Hague Conference ()

The main prerequisite for the First World War was the desire for a new redistribution of the world on the part of “young” developing countries.

From 1899 to 1913 Europe and the world, one way or another, took part in military conflicts. Fashoda Crisis, Anglo-Boer War South Africa, the Japanese occupation of Korea, the Bosnian crisis, the two Balkan wars were a kind of rehearsals for the First World War.

The formal reason for the start of hostilities was the so-called "shot in Sarajevo." June 28, 1914 nineteen-year-old Bosnian Serb - (Fig. 3), a member of the terrorist organization Mlada Bosna, shot and killed the heir to the Austrian throne Franz Ferdinand and his wife, during their visit to the Bosnian city of Sarajevo, which had recently been annexed to Austria.

Rice. 3. Gavrilo Princip ()

It was this shot that marked the beginning of a large-scale world conflict and was the reason for the outbreak of hostilities.

1. Aleksashkina L.N. General history. XX - early XXI centuries. - M.: Mnemosyne, 2011.

2. Zagladin N.V. General history. XX century Textbook for 11th grade. - M.: Russian word, 2009.

1. Read chapter 5, pp. 46-48 of the textbook by L.N. Aleksashkina. General history. XX - early XXI centuries and give an answer to question 1 on p. 56.

2. Why did the countries that signed the agreements in The Hague never implement them?

3. Could the First World War have been avoided? Explain your answer.

Detailed solution to paragraph 5 on history for 9th grade students, authors L.N. Aleksashkina 2011

Questions and tasks:

1. Describe the features of international relations at the beginning of the 20th century. compared to the previous period. What was new about them? What was the explanation for this?

Features of international relations at the beginning of the twentieth century. became:

The desire of the powers that already had colonial possessions to expand them in every possible way;

The clash of interests of individual European powers led to armed confrontation (for example, British and French colonialists competed in Central Africa. Great Britain also tried to strengthen its position in South Africa - in the Transvaal and the Orange Republic, which led to Anglo-Boer War 1899 – 1902 and etc.);

The USA, Germany, Italy, Japan are actively involved in the struggle for spheres of economic and political influence in the world. In some cases, they seized colonial territories from their owners by military means.

What's new at this stage is:

Holding the first conferences and adopting the first conventions on the peaceful settlement of international disputes, limiting brutal forms of warfare (prohibition of the use of explosive bullets, toxic substances, etc.), reducing military spending and armed forces, humane treatment of prisoners, and also determined the rights and obligations of neutral states;

Creation of international blocs (Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy) and Triple Entente (Entente) - France, Russia, Great Britain.

The creation of international blocs was due to the fact that it was becoming increasingly difficult for Western countries to achieve their foreign policy goals, so each country was looking for allies.

2. How do you answer the question: who started the First World War? Give reasons for your point of view.

The First World War was unleashed by all colonial countries at the same time, since the reason for it was not the protection of the interests of weak peoples and themselves, but the desire to expand their territories or colonial possessions, to increase influence in Europe and on other continents.

Thus, Austria-Hungary wanted to subjugate the growing Serbia and weaken Russia’s position in the Balkans. Germany sought to annex the border territories of France and Belgium, the Baltic states and other lands in Europe, as well as expand its colonial possessions at the expense of the English, French, and Belgian colonies. France resisted the onslaught of Germany and at least wanted to return Alsace and Lorraine captured from it in 1871. Britain fought to preserve its colonial empire and wanted to weaken Germany, which had gained strength. Russia defended its interests in the Balkans and the Black Sea and at the same time was not averse to annexing Galicia, which was part of Austria-Hungary.

3. Explain the meaning of the concepts “causes of war” and “reason for war”, reveal their meaning using the example of the First World War.

The “reason for war” is the deep basis for the war, and the “cause for war” is the clue, the impetus for it.

In the First World War, the reason was the desire of developed Western countries to expand their territories or colonial possessions, to increase influence in Europe and on other continents. And the reason for the war was the murder in Sarajevo of the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, by a member of the Serbian terrorist organization Gavrilo Princip.

4. War 1914 – 1918 started in Europe. Why did it become global?

Because along with the European countries, their colonies, which were located in all parts of the world, also entered the war. In addition, military operations were carried out not only in Europe, but also on other continents (Asia, Africa). As a result of the war, the participating countries lost more than 10 million soldiers and about 12 million civilians, about 55 million people were wounded.

5. *Imagine that you live in one of the European countries in 1914 (select your country, your occupation, etc., using material from the previous paragraphs). How would you greet the news of the outbreak of war? What would guide you in doing so?

A look at the beginning of the war from the side of a French peasant.

The French peasant would have met the war extremely negatively, because war is always ruin. Firstly, the French government itself mobilizes strong men into the army, i.e. there will be no one to cultivate the land. Secondly, the French government will also significantly increase taxes for those villagers who do not participate in the war, since war requires large expenses. But the worst thing is that if military operations are carried out on French territory, then the lands may become unsuitable for agriculture, which means ruin and famine.

These are the thoughts that a peasant would be guided by, and not the patriotic ideas that were propagated “from above.”

6. What were the main reasons for the failure of the German “blitzkrieg” plan in the West?

The first blow to the “blitzkrieg” plan was made by the Belgians, who put up fierce resistance to the German troops, and thus delayed their attack on France. But the main reason for the failure of the German “blitzkrieg” plan was the opening of the eastern front. In August 1914, despite incomplete equipment, two Russian armies under the command of generals P.K. Rennenkampf and A.V. Samsonov were thrown on the offensive in East Prussia(here they soon failed), and troops under the command of General N.I. Ivanov in September - in Galicia (where they dealt a serious blow to the Austrian army). The offensive cost Russian troops heavy losses. But to stop him, Germany transferred several corps from France to the Eastern Front. This allowed the French command to gather forces and repel the onslaught of the Germans in a difficult battle on the Marne River in September 1914 (over 1.5 million people took part in the battle, losses on both sides amounted to almost 600 thousand killed and wounded).

Thus, the plan to quickly defeat France failed.

7. Describe the role of the Eastern Front during the war in Europe. *Do you agree with the opinion of some historians that he played a supporting role in relation to the Western Front?

The role of the Eastern Front was extremely significant in the First World War. The performance of Russian troops pulled part of the forces of the German and Austrian armies away from France and forced the countries of the Triple Alliance to fight on 2 fronts. Further Russian troops repeatedly “saved” and helped the Western Front (for example, the Brusilov breakthrough in 1916, when France and England launched a massive offensive).

I do not agree with the opinion of historians about the auxiliary role of the Eastern Front in relation to the Western Front. Serious military operations took place in both the East and the West, and the importance of both directions was the same for the countries of the Triple Alliance.

During the hostilities on Eastern Front Four campaigns stand out.

Campaign of 1914 Russia launched a successful offensive in East Prussia. Germany was forced to transfer some troops from the Western Front, which allowed our allies to win the Battle of the Marne River and prevent the fall of Paris. Reinforced German units inflicted a heavy defeat on the 1st and 2nd Russian armies in East Prussia. On the Southwestern Front, the Russian army defeated the Austro-Hungarian troops and occupied all of Galicia.

Campaign of 1915 There was a positional struggle on the Western Front. Germany's spring-summer offensive on the Eastern Front ended in Russia's defeat. She lost Poland, part of the Baltic states, Western Belarus and Ukraine. However, Germany failed to bring Russia out of the war.

Campaign of 1916 Germany again directed the main blow against France. In February 1916 there were fierce battles near the Verdun fortress. To assist the allies, Russia launched an offensive on the Southwestern Front. Army of General A.A. Brusilova broke through the front and defeated the Austro-Hungarian troops. Once again, Germany was forced to transfer its units from the Western Front to save Austria-Hungary. The Russian offensive helped the defenders of Verdun. In 1916, Germany lost the strategic initiative.

Campaign of 1917 The February Revolution did not lead to Russia's withdrawal from the war. Two military operations in Galicia and Belarus ended in failure. German troops captured the city of Riga. The Russian army was demoralized. The country demanded an end to the war. In October the Bolsheviks came to power. Soviet Russia emerged from the First World War by concluding the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany and its allies in March 1918

8. Compare the situation in the rear of the warring countries at the beginning and at the final stage of the war. What were the changes? What consequences did they lead to?

At the beginning of the war, a significant part of the population of the countries that entered the war was captured by nationalist sentiments. Young people gladly mobilized into the army, and civilians took part in numerous demonstrations in support of the war. The leaders of the labor and socialist movements in Germany, Austria-Hungary, and France put forward slogans of “civil peace” in their countries and voted for war loans.

But the longer the war went on, the more the warring countries were required to mobilize human and material resources. The life of people in the rear was built according to the laws of war. Working hours at enterprises were increased. Restrictions were introduced on meetings, rallies, and strikes. There was censorship in the newspapers. The state strengthened not only political control over society. During the war years, its regulatory role in the economy grew noticeably. Government bodies distributed military orders and raw materials, and managed manufactured military products. Their alliance with the largest industrial and financial monopolies was taking shape.

Changed and everyday life of people. The work of the young, strong men who left to fight fell on the shoulders of the elderly, women and teenagers. They worked in military factories in immeasurably more difficult conditions than before.

In most of the countries at war, a system of strictly rationed distribution of food and essential goods on food cards was introduced. At the same time, standards were cut two to three times compared to the pre-war level of consumption. It was possible to purchase products in excess of the norm only on the “black market” for fabulous money. Only industrialists and speculators who got rich from military supplies could afford this. Most of the population was starving. People also suffered from a lack of fuel. In Paris, there were cases of people dying from the cold. The prolongation of the war led to an ever greater deterioration of the situation in the rear.

9. Describe the forms and methods of warfare in 1914 – 1918. Express and justify your attitude towards them.

What was new in the conduct of the war of 1914–1918 was:

1. participation in the war of massive armies equipped with a variety of military equipment, which contributed to the development and improvement of methods of preparing and conducting combat and operations; military operations began to unfold over a large area and during the course of the war broke up into a number of separate battles, battles and maneuvers, united by a unity of plan and purpose.

2. The emergence of new technology caused changes in tactics, primarily in the forms of combat formations. Dense shooting targets were replaced by group formations of troops. The density of artillery increased sharply. She began to support the infantry attack with a fiery shaft. Aircraft and chemical warfare agents were widely used to suppress defenses. The main problem of offensive combat tactics was the need to ensure close interaction of all forces and means participating in the battle.

3. Improving the defense was expressed in increasing its depth by creating a system of positions and defensive lines. Resistance units and cut-off positions began to appear inside the strips, and reinforced concrete and metal defensive structures appeared.

4. During the war, new types of artillery equipment, mainly heavy guns, were developed and put into service. The use of aviation and tanks led to the creation of anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery. One of the main means of combat that appeared during the World War was tanks. They combined armor protection, firepower and relatively high mobility. During the war, the number of tanks increased sharply, and their combat capabilities increased.

5. The use of chemical agents, as well as tanks, was one of the attempts to find a means to facilitate the breakthrough of the positional front. During the war, the chemical agents themselves and the methods of their combat use were improved - from primitive gas release from cylinders to shelling from special gas launchers, mortars and artillery.

Thus, during the First World War, significant changes occurred in the forms and methods of warfare. They became more cruel and inhumane, aimed at mass destruction of people.

10. What do you think was the relationship between events at the front and in the rear? Give examples.

There was a direct relationship between events at the front and in the rear. The longer the war went on, the more the displeasure of the civilian population grew. In the occupied territories, the civilian population was subjected to looting and violence. In the rear, both people and machines worked to their limits. The material and spiritual strength of the peoples was exhausted.

With new defeats on the fronts, unrest and discontent arose among the civilian population of the countries. For example, as the war became more protracted, the strike struggle of workers intensified from 1915 onwards. Anti-war slogans began to be heard more and more often. The ideas of the struggle against the imperialist war were put forward by revolutionary social democrats in Russia and Germany. On May 1, 1916, during a demonstration in Berlin, the leader of the left Social Democrats, Karl Liebknecht, made calls: “Down with the war!”, “Down with the government!” In Russia, as a result of the offensive of German troops in 1917, an explosive situation developed. Here the matter was not limited to the growth of strikes. The February Revolution of 1917 overthrew the autocracy. The Provisional Government intended to continue the war “until the victorious end.”

11. Explain what consequences Russia’s withdrawal from the World War had.

Russia withdrew from World War I after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk between the Soviet government and Germany. As a result, vast territories in the Baltic states, Belarus, Ukraine and the Caucasus remained under the control of German troops. In addition, the Entente countries called the Brest Peace Treaty separate and considered Russia a traitor, since virtually all actions began to be carried out only on the Western Front.

12. How do you answer the question: who won the First World War and why?

Formally, during the war, the Entente countries won, and the countries of the Triple Alliance lost. But it seems to me that the actual winner of the war was the United States. The United States, following the Monroe Doctrine, which implied non-interference in the affairs of continental Europe, nevertheless decided to participate in the First World War in 1917. It was the intervention of the United States and the “fourteen points” of US President Woodrow Wilson that became the “last nail” in the “coffin” of Germany’s hopes for a positive outcome of the global confrontation. And the reason for this was the military power of the United States, untapped resources, as well as a timed strike that allowed the United States to stand on a par with countries that had been at war since 1914.

It should also be noted that during the war, the United States repeatedly issued loans to the Entente countries, as a result of which France and England became debtors to the United States.

At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. The redistribution of the world between the leading capitalist countries was completed. Germany, USA, Japan were rapidly developing countries. They demanded their share.

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. In Europe, preparations began for a war for a new redivision of the world. The main opponents in the upcoming war: Germany and England. Controversies between them arose first in the field of industrial competition, and then because of the colonies. They began to recruit allies. Thus, two hostile blocs, two coalitions of states were formed: Entente (England, France, Russia) And Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy).

By 1914, a complex and tangled knot of imperialist contradictions had formed, which war was called upon to cut through.

World War I (August 1, 1914 – November 11, 1918)

Causes of the war:

1) the struggle for the redivision of the world.

2) suppress the growing revolutionary movement in their countries.

This war covered the territory of Europe, Asia and Africa. The population of the states involved in the war accounted for 3/4 of the world's population. 38 countries took part. For the working masses, the war turned into streams of blood and innumerable disasters. In this war, 10 million people were killed or died from wounds. 20 million were maimed, and millions more died from hunger and disease. The armed struggle on land was supplemented by air and submarine combat and chemical weapons. The birth rate fell by 21 million people.

Character First World War - an unjust, predatory war of aggression for all states taking part in it. The goal is to conquer foreign territories.

The Russian government finally wanted to resolve the “eastern” issue, to prevent the strengthening of German influence in Turkey, the Balkans and, to capture the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, Galicia, which belonged to Austria-Hungary.

Reason for war was the assassination of the heir to the Austrian and Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Austria-Hungary presented an ultimatum to Serbia. Serbia was unable to fulfill all its points and on July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Russia could not stand aside, since giving Serbia to Austria-Hungary meant allowing the Austro-German bloc to establish dominance over the entire Balkan Peninsula. On July 31, mobilization to help Serbia began in Russia. Germany demanded that Russia stop mobilizing troops. Russia did not do this, and then Germany, as an ally of Austria-Hungary, declared war on Russia on August 1. So on August 1, 1914, the First World War began. The city of St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd during the war.

Our army and country were not ready for war. In the summer of 1914, we had just developed a large program to strengthen the army. The Russian army had good small arms, but in terms of the number of artillery it was inferior to Germany and Austria-Hungary. The telephone and radio were just beginning to be introduced. In general, Russia was sharply inferior to the enemy in military-economic terms. There were few military factories. Many types of weapons were not produced.

During the first months of the war, the Russian army achieved success. The war became protracted.

At the end of 1914, the first signs of an economic crisis were already visible.

The work of railway transport was disrupted. There were not enough locomotives, wagons, and rails. Almost all of the metal was used for the production of weapons.

Fuel crisis. With the outbreak of the war, the supply of English and German coal, on which the industry of Petrograd and the Baltic states operated, ceased. Then Polish coal was lost. The only source is the Donetsk coal basin. But there were not enough wagons to transport coal.

A crisis began in the metallurgical industry. Due to the lack of coal in the Southern metallurgical region, blast furnaces began to shut down.

The collapse of transport brought the Russian economy to a state of complete ruin. The locomotives and carriages purchased in England arrived in Russia late and did not completely cover the country's needs.

While people in the center of Russia were literally starving, significant food reserves accumulated in the Don, Urals, and Siberia. Donbass was filled with unexported coal, and Petrograd and Moscow were freezing due to lack of fuel. Due to the lack of wagons, the supply of ammunition and food to the army was disrupted.

In connection with the German offensive, in the spring of 1915, the evacuation of industrial enterprises from the western provinces began. However, this matter was poorly organized. The government entrusted the evacuation to the entrepreneurs themselves, who received special funds for this. But due to the lack of control, some companies associated with the Germans did not think about moving their enterprises. And the evacuated enterprises were installed in new places very slowly.

The state tried to intervene in the affairs of private industry and establish a centralized distribution of all raw materials and fuel and energy resources between Russian enterprises. For this purpose, the government created “Special Meetings” to regulate the distribution of fuel, food, and transportation issues. But all these “Special Meetings” were not able to implement any real regulation in the conditions of the feudal-bureaucratic state system and the economic backwardness of the country.

On the initiative of the leaders of the big bourgeoisie, military-industrial committees were created in the country to assist the government in developing military production. They took orders that did not correspond to the capacity and profile of their enterprises. These orders were not fulfilled either in terms of volume or terms. In general, the restructuring of industry on a war footing did not satisfy the demands of the war. In 1916, weapons production increased, but it was not enough.

The mobilization of millions of men to the front caused an acute shortage of labor. Almost half of the village’s working population was in the army. The war also consumed many horses - the main draft force of peasant farms. The undermining of the productive forces of the village led to a reduction in sown areas and yields. Agriculture came into complete decline.

In industry, the number of enterprises producing civilian products (glass, soap, matches, textiles) decreased. There is an acute shortage of basic necessities in the country. Prices have increased. Speculation began.

For the working class, the war brought only hunger, increased working hours, and forced overtime.

The war completely paralyzed the country's financial system. Inflation has begun. 1 ruble = 27 pre-war kopecks. To finance the war, the tsarist government resorted to internal and external loans. The government's debt amounted to 80 billion rubles, which = 2/3 of the country's national wealth. Russia's dependence on Western countries has increased.

There were large casualties in the army.

In the fall of 1915, the Triple Alliance turned into the Quadruple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria), and Italy went over to the Entente and the Quadruple Entente arose (England, France, Russia, Italy).

In the spring of 1916, the German army directed the main attack on the French city of Verdun, however, it was not successful. During the 8 months of the siege, losses amounted to 950 thousand people (“Verdun meat grinder”). Russian troops provided assistance to the allies. The Brusilovsky breakthrough was carried out (May 22 - July 31, 1916). The commander of the Southwestern Front, Brusilov, using the “wave” attack tactics, made significant progress, liberated a large territory, forcing the enemy to transfer large reserves from France to our front.

Continuing to participate in the war took a toll on Russia February revolution, during which the main slogans were: “Down with war!” "Of bread!"

The provisional government that replaced the autocracy did not take Russia out of the war. On the contrary, the Provisional Government launched a new offensive on the Southwestern Front, which ended in defeat and the death of 60 thousand people.

The Soviet government brought Russia out of the First World War. On March 3, 1918, the separate Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed. Our allies really didn't like that we left the war. After Russia left the war, this war did not last long. After all, previously the main front was the Russian-German front. The First World War ended in November 1918.

The First World War, the reason, causes and beginning of the war.

Military campaigns (course) of the war of 1914-1918.

Results of the war.

Basic terms and concepts: Triple Alliance, Cordial Concord - Entente, imperialist war, Sarajevo assassination, Gavrilo Princip, spheres of influence, contradiction, Battle of the Marne River, flamethrower, Ottoman Empire, jihad, "Verdun Meat Grinder", Lafayette Squadron, "Brusilov's Breakthrough".

Reason, reasons and beginning of the First World War

At the beginning of the 20th century. In Europe, the process of forming two opposing groups - the Triple Alliance, which included Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy - was completed. And an alliance consisting of Russia and France. Only one of the great powers, England, remained relatively neutral. In 1904, an agreement was concluded between France and England - a cordial agreement on the first French word- Entente. In 1907 after long negotiations in St. Petersburg, a similar agreement was signed between England and Russia.

The First World War is one of the largest military conflicts in human history. The name of the war was established in historiography only after the outbreak of World War II in 1939. The War of 1914 was called: Great War, informally (both before the revolution and after) - German; then in the USSR the Bolsheviks called it the imperialist war.

These agreements were of a fundamental nature, since they actually created a bloc of three great powers, which received the common name - the Entente, France and Russia began to conduct their foreign policy counting on the support of a new ally.

Thus, all the great powers of Europe dispersed to their “battle positions”, essentially completing diplomatic preparations for war. It is no coincidence that since 1908, constant conflicts have begun between the opposing sides, from which it has become increasingly difficult to resolve peacefully. One of these conflicts was the issue of influence in the Balkans. In 1912, Russian diplomacy, it would seem, managed to take revenge in the struggle for influence in the Balkans: thanks to its efforts, a military alliance was concluded between Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece, directed against Turkey. As a result, a complex knot of territorial and national contradictions was tied up on the Balkan Peninsula. No wonder contemporaries called this region the “powder keg” of Europe.

The immediate cause of the war was the Sarajevo assassination on June 28, 1914 of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife by nineteen-year-old Serbian student Gavrilo Princip, who was a member of the secret organization “Mlada Bosna”, fighting for the unification of all South Slavic peoples in one state. Austria-Hungary presented an ultimatum to Serbia. Russia recommended that allied Serbia make concessions, but the Triple Alliance did not want to miss a convenient pretext for starting a war. On July 28, 1914, Austria, supported by Germany, declared war on Serbia. Russia began mobilizing and putting its armed forces on alert. Germany, having received Russia’s refusal to stop mobilization, declared war on Russia on August 1, 1914. Thus began the world war.

The main reason for the First World War was the aggravation of contradictions between two large military-political blocs, the Entente (England, France and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy) over spheres of influence, markets and colonies. 38 states with a population of 1.5 billion people were involved in the war. Participants in the war: Central powers - Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria, Italy (since 1915, participated in the war on the side of the Entente, despite the fact that it was a member of the Triple Alliance).

Allies (Entente) - France, Great Britain, Russia, Japan, Serbia, USA. Friends of the Entente (supported the Entente in the war): Montenegro, Belgium, Greece, Brazil, China, Afghanistan, Cuba, Nicaragua, Siam, Haiti, Liberia, Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica. The war was aggressive in nature on the part of all its participants (except Serbia).

The second reason is the desire of governments to stabilize the internal situation in their countries, to distract people from social problems and conflicts.

Military campaigns (course) of the war of 1914-1918.

1914 campaign

The war unfolded in two main directions - in Western and Eastern Europe, as well as in the Balkans and Northern Italy, in the colonies - in Africa, China, and Oceania. In 1914, all participants in the war intended to win quickly, but the war became protracted. Germany sent the main forces to western front, hoping to defeat France with a quick blow and then deal with Russia. On August 4, German troops invaded Belgium and Luxembourg, on August 13 the fortress of Liege was taken, on August 20 - Brussels, and on August 24 - the fortress of Namur. August 14-24 - border battle on the French border in the Ardennes. In it, the French-English troops suffered a major defeat, and the Germans continued their invasion of France, approaching a distance of 50 kilometers to Paris.

Have a good day everyone! The First World War 1914 - 1918, the reasons for this bloody massacre are extremely important to imagine. Without a reason it's impossible to remember historical events, without understanding them it is impossible to solve tests and other examination tasks. And this event is important and exam assignments flashes constantly. Therefore, I strongly recommend that now, briefly, together with us, we understand this difficult topic.

Causes

The causes of the First World War can be divided into general and specific. The general ones will relate to the general situation in the world in 1914, and the specific ones will concern specific participating countries.

Are common

These include:

• The colonial nature of the economies of developed countries at that time, colonial contradictions. The world was divided into spheres of influence, each state wanted to expand this sphere at the expense of the colonies of another, neighboring state. Only Russia did not particularly have colonial interests, since its colonies were the Urals, Siberia, Far East- they belonged to her.
• Imperialism is the highest stage of development of capitalism, when a country is looking for markets. It is from imperialism that colonialism stems.
• The long-standing nature of territorial contradictions: between France and Germany, for example; between Austria-Hungary and the Balkan states on the one hand, and Russia on the other.

In general, how did this war begin?

Private, special

These reasons reveal with whom or between whom this war took place

England (Entente) - from the end of the 19th century, realized that its main rival in the struggle for colonies and spheres of influence was Germany. There were tensions between these countries over East and South-West Africa. Before World War I, England consistently adhered to the policy of economic war against Germany.

France (the Entente) had long wanted to take revenge because of the lost Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, when Germany separated Alsace and Lorraine from it. France has long considered these territories, rich in mineral resources, their own. There were also colonial contradictions between the countries over North Africa.

Russia (the Entente) was interested in resolving the Eastern Question and providing it with a regime for the passage of merchant ships through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits to the Mediterranean Sea. However, Germany has long opposed this. Russia reacted extremely unfriendly to the construction railway Berlin-Baghdad in 1899. In addition, Russia fought with Austria-Hungary for influence on the Balkan states, trying to act as a protector of these Slavic states (Serbia, Bulgaria, etc.).

Germany (Triple Alliance). Germany was late to divide the world into colonies, so it actively began to fight for a “place in the sun” under Otto von Bismarck, who managed to unite this Germany into one state. This country sought dominance in Europe in all areas and increased its military capabilities. German militarism played no small role in the outbreak of the First World War.

Austria-Hungary (Triple Alliance). As already mentioned, this country was fighting for influence in the Balkans, and there was only one option that suited it: annexing the territories of the states there.

About the results of this war; details about the stages and military operations - .

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Best regards, Andrey Puchkov