1 world history. Important dates and events of the First World War
With the death of Bogdan Khmelnytsky, Ukraine faced one of the most tragic moments in its history, when hostilities were conducted throughout its territory, and the Cossack troops and political elite were fragmented into several groups. The ruin was born, both as a result of objective processes, and to a greater extent due to the short-sighted policy of most of the Cossack elders, unable to choose a leader worthy of the spirit of the deceased Bogdan Khmelnitsky. One of those who could become the new head of Ukraine was Ivan Vygovsky, whose military talent manifested itself in one of the largest military clashes on the territory of Ukraine - the Konotop (Sosnovskaya) battle.
Sides of the Battle of Konotop
The Battle of Konotop in 1659 took place in the summer, in the steppes between the villages of Shapovalovka and Sosnovka. Its sides were: one hundred and fifty thousandth army led by Prince Trubetskoy, which enlisted the support of the regiment of Prince Romodovsky, on the one hand, and the Ukrainian Cossack army, led by Hetman Ivan Vyhovsky. As a result of the fighting, the total losses of the two armies amounted to about 45,000 killed: 30,000 from Trubetskoy, and 15,000 from Vygovsky.
Reflection of the battle in history
The battle of Konotop through the eyes of Russian historians is presented as the most catastrophic defeat of the Moscow troops. There is very little information about this battle, since its study was carried out at a minimal level. In most historical books and textbooks, this battle is not mentioned at all. Therefore, there is conflicting information about how the Battle of Konotop took place and how it ended. Myths and facts have mixed with each other, and it is almost impossible to find the truth regarding this or that moment or small event. In the Soviet Union, there were restrictions on public discussion of the division of the Ukrainian people of the seventeenth century into pro-Moscow and anti-Moscow currents.
Vyhovsky's election as hetman
Officially came to power in Ukraine in mid-August 1657. The clerk general Ivan Vyhovsky accepted the title of hetman at the foremen's Rada, in the city of Chigirin. The other candidate was who was younger son Bohdan Khmelnytsky. However, in addition to being related to the great hetman, Yuri had no other supernatural qualities necessary to rule the country. The young age of Khmelnitsky Jr. did not speak in favor of his candidacy.
Geopolitical views of Vyhovsky
The new hetman at first was not perceived by ordinary Cossacks. One of the reasons is the origin of Vyhovsky and his past. Ivan comes from a family of Volyn gentry. Initially, he was in the rank of clerk with the Polish commissar, who opposed the Cossacks in Ukraine. The Vyhovsky family also had the roots of the Polish gentry. Also, the Cossacks, who fought for an independent Ukrainian state, were worried about the desire of the new Hetman to give Little Russia under the protectorate of the Commonwealth. According to one of the unverified versions, Vyhovsky announced his decision during the funeral of Bohdan Khmelnitsky. He shared the ideas of separating Little Russia from Moscow and joining Ukrainian lands to Poland with the ambassador of the Commonwealth, Kazimir Benevsky. This fact became known to the Moscow Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. However, the king questioned the authenticity of the fact of this conversation and ignored it. On the contrary, he sent a message addressed to Martin Pushkar, a Poltava colonel, and also to Yakov Barabash, the ataman of the Cossack army. In a dispatch, Alexei Mikhailovich ordered to fully obey the orders of the new hetman and avoid riots.
Pereyaslav Rada and Vyhovsky's Army
Vyhovsky also did not show his intentions regarding the Polish vector. On the contrary, at the new Pereyaslav Rada, in the presence of the Russian ambassador Bogdan Khitrov, who arrived, Hetman Vyhovsky swore allegiance to the tsar. It is believed that with this diplomatic gesture, he deliberately reassured the king. With the easing of control from Moscow, Ivan established positive diplomatic relations with the Crimea and secured the loyalty of the khan's army. He also began to strengthen the army. Part of the Cossack treasury, inherited from Bohdan Khmelnitsky, he spent on the creation of a mercenary army. About a million rubles were spent on recruiting soldiers of German and Polish origin.
At the same time, internal protests in Ukraine began to grow. In the first year of Hetmanate Vyhovsky, as a result civil war, about 50,000 civilians were killed. The battles took place in such cities as Gadyach, Lubny, Mirgorod and others. settlements
The sovereign, having familiarized himself with such a course of affairs, sent the governor Grigory Romadovsky to Ukraine, led by a significant Russian army. The Moscow presence in Kyiv was strengthened, as prescribed by the Pereyaslav agreements. A detachment of Vasily Shemetev was stationed in Kyiv.
Hadiatsky treaty with Poland and the beginning of the first clashes
An open confrontation against Moscow began in the early autumn of 1858, when a Peace Treaty was concluded with the Poles in the city of Gadyach (the so-called Gadyach Peace Treaty). The agreement concluded assumed the transition of Little Russia to the power of the Commonwealth, and Vyhovsky began to prepare for a war against Russia. The chronicler Samoilo Velichko speaks about the betrayal of Vyhovsky. He directly calls the hetman the culprit of the ruin and the long war in Ukraine.
The first thing it was decided to do was from the Sheremet garrison. However, Vygovsky's brother Danil, who was sent to carry out this task, failed the task. Ivan Vyhovsky, who came to the rescue, was himself captured. Under pressure, in captivity, he again assured everyone of loyalty to Moscow, while promising to disband the army of mercenaries and Tatars. Believing this statement, the tsar pardoned Vyhovsky and released him.
Very soon, Ivan launched an offensive against Romodanovsky's army. Having learned about these plans, it was decided to send fifty thousand reinforcements to help Romodanovsky, led by Prince Trubetskoy. Trubetskoy's army marched towards the Konotop fortress, capturing Serebryanoye along the way.
Siege of Konotop
Trubetskoy united with the regiments of Romodanovsky and Bespaly in February 1659. In mid-April, the Moscow army approached Konotop, and on April 21, its shelling and siege began. The battle of Konotop in 1659 was described by contemporaries as a fratricidal battle. Moreover, the armies that fought on both sides consisted mainly of Ukrainians and Russians, in approximately equal proportions.
An old map of the Battle of Konotop gives an idea of the battlefield. Konotop itself at that time was a fortress with four entrance gates. It was surrounded by a moat on both sides. There was also another fortification nearby, surrounded on three sides by a rampart and a moat, and on the fourth side protected by the Konotop River. The garrison of the fortress consisted of four thousand Cossacks of several regiments.
Battle of Konotop
June 27, 1659, near the village of Shapovalovka, the first clashes began between the army of Vyhovsky and the Moscow army. In these clashes, the Moscow forces suffered serious losses. However, this information is contradictory and refuted by other contemporaries. It is believed that after the battle, the Moscow army rushed after Vygovsky's cavalry and on June 29 in the morning, near the villages of Sosnovka and Shepetovka, a battle began that went down in history as the Battle of Konotop in 1659.
Detachments led by Pozharsky were driven into a trap between two rivers. This area is characterized by a large number of swamps. Therefore, the patency of the troops was difficult. Fatal for Pozharsky was the blow of the troops of the Crimean Khan from the rear. As a result of this attack, according to various estimates, the Russian cavalry lost from five to thirty thousand people killed. Pozharsky's arrogance played a cruel joke on him. The start of the attack was not prepared. Pozharsky did not even bother to conduct reconnaissance of the area. As a result of illiterate leadership, he was captured by the Khan and was executed.
Withdrawal of the Moscow troops
The Moscow army under the leadership of Trubetskoy carried out an organized retreat to Putivl. The defeat near Konotop was unexpected for Moscow. It was expected that the troops of the Crimean Khan after such a victory would go to her. However, the Tatars quarreled with Vyhovsky and began to plunder the cities of Little Russia. Thus ended the Battle of Konotop. Who won this battle? The victory was won by the army of Hetman Vyhovsky, however, the consequences of this victory led to the plunder of the country by the Tatars.
It was believed that after such a defeat, Alexei Mikhailovich would not be able to assemble a strong army, but this turned out not to be the case. On July 28, 1659, the Crimean Khan was expelled from Ukraine by the efforts of the Don Cossacks Yakovlev, the troops of Ataman Sirk and former associates of Bogdan Khmelnitsky. It is worth noting that the consequences of the "management" of the Crimean Khan significantly weakened Ukraine. This is also the fault of Hetman Vyhovsky.
Battle of Konotop The history of the Cossacks and the next hetman
Already in mid-October, a new Yuri Khmelnitsky was elected instead of Ivan, who was brought in by Alexei Trubetskoy. Vyhovsky, five years after the end of the battle, was accused by the Poles of treason and shot.
On July 8, 1659, the Battle of Konotop began - one of the most controversial episodes in history. In Ukraine, it is called the victory of the Ukrainian army over the Russian. For Russian historians this battle is only an episode of the Russian-Polish war, overshadowed by the internecine strife of the Cossacks.
Split
Trouble and discord in the Hetmanate appeared even under Bohdan Khmelnytsky. In particular, discord emerged after the union treaty with Charles X, which the hetman concluded in 1656. According to the agreement, Khmelnitsky undertook to send 12,000 Cossacks to help the Swedish king for the war with Poland, with which shortly before this the Moscow Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich made peace. The hetman himself supported this peace.
Ivan Vyhovsky, who received hetmanship after the death of Khmelnytsky, turned out to be a much more controversial figure. If he still found support among the right-bank Cossacks, then he was clearly unpopular among the left-bank Cossacks. The split, which was geographically marked by the line of the Dnieper, determined two vectors: the first one, with Hetman Vyhovsky, was oriented towards Poland, and the second, with Hetman Bespaly, towards the Muscovite state.
Invasion or appeasement?
Against the background of the struggle for power in the Hetmanate, as well as the raids of the Cossacks of Vyhovsky and the Crimean Tatars on the border Russian fortresses, Alexei Mikhailovich intended to persuade the hetman to peace. But after unsuccessful attempts to negotiate, the Moscow tsar decides to send an army under the voivodeship of Alexei Trubetskoy to establish order in the troubled lands.
This is where cardinal disagreements with Ukrainian historiography begin, which calls the campaign of the Russian army nothing more than an invasion of Ukraine and interference in the internal political affairs of another state.
Were there grounds for a military campaign? According to the "Chronology of the highly glorious clairvoyant hetmans": "This Vyhovsky, in his lust for power, Russian state changed and many cities, towns, villages and villages of the Little Russian Horde for plunder gave.
What for Moscow was a threat to the security of the southern borders, in the eyes of Ukrainian historians, is only a manifestation of the desire for national self-determination.
Tatyana Tairova-Yakovleva, director of the St. Petersburg Center for the Study of the History of Ukraine, takes a rather balanced approach to assessing the confrontation: “The essence of the conflict was in the degree of autonomy of the Ukrainian hetmanate and in the desire of Russian governors to expand their powers there.”
son against father
Vyhovsky twice swore allegiance to the Russian Tsar, and twice cheated on him. Ultimately, in September 1658, the hetman signed the Gadyach peace treaty with Poland, according to which Little Russia was to become part of the Commonwealth again. At the same time, an alliance is concluded with the Crimean Khan Mehmed Giray. Now, in the person of strong neighbors, Vyhovsky had good help to resist Moscow.
The chronicler Samoilo Velichko then wrote: “Vyhovsky leaned back to the Poles, bringing a great conclusion to Ukraine Little Russia, many rebellions, bloodshed and extreme ruin.” According to some estimates, in the first year of the new hetman's rule, Ukraine lost about 50,000 inhabitants.
Even in the camp of his associates, the detachment of Ivan Gulyanitsky, who defended Konotop from Trubetskoy's troops, they were dissatisfied with Vyhovsky's policy. And the Little Russian Cossacks with Hetman Bespaly sided with the Russian Tsar. “A terrible Babylonian pandemonium… One place is fighting against another, a son against a father, a father against a son,” wrote an eyewitness of what was happening.
In the battle with the Moscow army, Vyhovsky used "coalition forces", which included Poles, Lithuanians, Germans, Crimean Tatars and his own regiments. To prepare for the battle, Vyhovsky spent a million rubles inherited from Khmelnitsky.
Adventure or trap?
The key episode of the Konotop battle was the defeat of the cavalry led by Pozharsky and Lvov near the Sosnovka River. The Russian cavalry, carried away by the pursuit of Cossack detachments and German dragoons, was surrounded by the many thousands of Tatar troops of Mehmed Giray and almost completely destroyed.
However, it is not known for certain whether this was an unforgivable adventure on the part of the Russian commanders, which allowed the detachment to go deep behind enemy lines and get bogged down in soft river sand, or whether it was a trick by Vygovsky, who lured Russian army into a death trap. Few managed to break out of the encirclement.
Side forces
Ukrainian and Russian data on the number of troops on both sides differ greatly. The former claim that a 100,000, and according to some sources, a 150,000 army of Muscovites invaded Ukrainian lands. In particular, these data are taken from the works of the Russian historian Sergei Solovyov, who cited similar figures.
According to Solovyov, the losses of the Russian troops were tangible - about 30 thousand. But the Ukrainian historian Yuriy Mytsyk determines an even greater number of deaths. In his opinion, "then 50 thousand of the colors of the Moscow cavalry lay down on the battlefield as corpses."
True, in the calculations of Ukrainian researchers, obvious inconsistencies periodically slip through. So, Igor Syundyukov writes that the Tatars came from the rear and were able to "surround the royal army, divide it into separate detachments and completely destroy.
At the same time, the author counts at least 70 thousand people in the Russian army, and according to his data, Vygovsky had “16 thousand soldiers plus 30-35 thousand Tatar cavalry” at his disposal. It is hard to imagine that a 70,000-strong army was surrounded and completely defeated by detachments whose number barely exceeded 50,000.
Russian historians, in particular N.V. Smirnov, notice that Moscow could not muster an army of 100-150 thousand people, otherwise Russian state should have sent to Ukraine all his army and even more. According to the Discharge Order, total number military people for 1651 was 133,210 people.
The following data appear in Russian historiography: the Moscow army with the Cossacks of Hetman Bespaly did not exceed 35 thousand people, and from the "coalition forces" there were approximately 55-60 thousand. The losses of the Russian army amounted to 4769 warriors (mainly the cavalry of Pozharsky and Lvov) and 2000 Cossacks. The enemy, according to Russian historians, lost from 3,000 to 6,000 Tatars and 4,000 Cossacks.
Historical metamorphoses
In March 2008, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko signed a decree to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the Battle of Konotop. In particular, he instructed the Cabinet of Ministers to consider renaming streets, avenues and squares in honor of the heroes of the Battle of Konotop. The same instruction was given to the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Crimea and the Sevastopol City Administration.
Yushchenko called the Battle of Konotop "one of the biggest and most glorious victories of Ukrainian weapons." However, the comments of high-ranking officials do not explain who was defeated, and what they mean by "Ukrainian weapons."
The decree caused quite a strong public outcry, both in Ukraine itself and in Russia. To “bewilderment and regret” from Moscow, Kyiv replied that the celebration of historical dates is an internal issue of Ukraine.
Historian Dmitry Kornilov sees this as an attempt by Ukrainian politicians to again"kick Russia", and the assessment of the role of the Russian state in that tragic conflict is of secondary importance.
“Practically none of the historians wants to admit an absolutely indisputable fact: Ukrainian people I just didn’t want to betray Moscow, the people were faithful to the decisions of the Pereyaslav Rada,” the researcher notes. The unpleasant fact of the division of Ukrainian society into "anti-Moscow" and "pro-Moscow" parties, historians and politicians of Ukraine continue to bypass.
Allies (Entente): France, Great Britain, Russia, Japan, Serbia, USA, Italy (participated in the war on the side of the Entente since 1915).
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.
Question about the causes of the First World War has been one of the most discussed in world historiography since the outbreak of the war in August 1914.
The beginning of the war was facilitated by the widespread strengthening of nationalist sentiments. France hatched plans for the return of the lost territories of Alsace and Lorraine. Italy, even being in alliance with Austria-Hungary, dreamed of returning her lands to Trentino, Trieste and Fiume. The Poles saw in the war an opportunity to recreate a state destroyed by the divisions of the 18th century. Many peoples who inhabited Austria-Hungary aspired to national independence. Russia was convinced that it could not develop without limiting German competition, protecting the Slavs from Austria-Hungary, and expanding influence in the Balkans. In Berlin, the future was associated with the defeat of France and Great Britain and the unification of the countries of Central Europe under the leadership of Germany. In London, it was believed that the people of Great Britain would live in peace only by crushing the main enemy - Germany.
In addition, international tensions were exacerbated by a series of diplomatic crises - the Franco-German clash in Morocco in 1905-1906; the Austrian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908-1909; Balkan wars in 1912-1913.
The immediate cause for the war was the Sarajevo massacre. June 28, 1914 Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, nineteen-year-old Serbian student Gavrilo Princip, who was a member of the secret organization "Young Bosnia", fighting to unite all South Slavic peoples in one state.
July 23, 1914 Austria-Hungary, enlisting the support of Germany, presented an ultimatum to Serbia and demanded that its military formations be allowed into the territory of Serbia in order to prevent hostile actions together with the Serbian forces.
Serbia's response to the ultimatum did not satisfy Austria-Hungary, and July 28, 1914 she declared war on Serbia. Russia, having received assurances of support from France, openly opposed Austria-Hungary and July 30, 1914 announced general mobilization. Germany, taking advantage of this occasion, announced August 1, 1914 Russian war, and August 3, 1914- France. After the German invasion August 4, 1914 Britain declared war on Germany in Belgium.
First World War consisted of five campaigns. During first campaign in 1914 Germany invaded Belgium and northern France, but was defeated at the Battle of the Marne. Russia took part East Prussia and Galicia (East Prussian operation and the Battle of Galicia), but then was defeated as a result of the German and Austro-Hungarian counter-offensive.
Campaign of 1915 associated with the entry into the war of Italy, the disruption of the German plan to withdraw Russia from the war and the bloody inconclusive battles on the Western Front.
Campaign of 1916 associated with the entry into the war of Romania and the conduct of an exhausting positional war on all fronts.
Campaign of 1917 associated with the US entry into the war, Russia's revolutionary exit from the war, and a number of successive offensive operations on the Western Front (Operation Nivelle, operations in the Messines region, on Ypres, near Verdun, near Cambrai).
Campaign of 1918 characterized by a transition from positional defense to a general offensive of the Entente armed forces. From the second half of 1918, the Allies prepared and launched retaliatory offensive operations (Amiens, Saint-Miyel, Marne), during which they liquidated the results of the German offensive, and in September 1918 they switched to a general offensive. By November 1, 1918, the allies liberated the territory of Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, entered the territory of Bulgaria after the armistice and invaded the territory of Austria-Hungary. Bulgaria signed an armistice with the Allies on September 29, 1918, Turkey on October 30, 1918, Austria-Hungary on November 3, 1918, and Germany on November 11, 1918.
June 28, 1919 on the Parisian peace conference was signed Treaty of Versailles with Germany, officially ending the First World War of 1914-1918.
On September 10, 1919, the Treaty of Saint-Germain was signed with Austria; November 27, 1919 - Treaty of Neuilly with Bulgaria; June 4, 1920 - Treaty of Trianon with Hungary; August 20, 1920 - Treaty of Sevres with Turkey.
In total, the First World War lasted 1568 days. 38 states participated in it, in which 70% of the population lived the globe. The armed struggle was carried out on the fronts with a total length of 2500-4000 km. The total losses of all warring countries amounted to about 9.5 million people killed and 20 million people wounded. At the same time, the losses of the Entente amounted to about 6 million people killed, the losses of the Central Powers were about 4 million people killed.
During the First World War, for the first time in history, tanks, aircraft, submarines, anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, mortars, grenade launchers, bomb throwers, flamethrowers, super-heavy artillery, hand grenades, chemical and smoke shells, poisonous substances were used. New types of artillery appeared: anti-aircraft, anti-tank, infantry escorts. Aviation became an independent branch of the military, which began to be subdivided into reconnaissance, fighter and bomber. arose tank forces, chemical troops, air defense troops, naval aviation. The role of the engineering troops increased and the role of the cavalry decreased.
The results of the First World War were the liquidation of four empires: German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman, the latter two being divided, and Germany and Russia were cut down territorially. As a result, new independent states appeared on the map of Europe: Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, and Finland.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources
World War I 1914 - 1918 became one of the most bloody and large-scale conflicts in human history. It began on July 28, 1914 and ended on November 11, 1918. 38 states participated in this conflict. If we talk briefly about the causes of the First World War, then we can say with confidence that this conflict was provoked by serious economic contradictions of the unions of world powers that formed at the beginning of the century. It is also worth noting that, probably, there was a possibility of a peaceful settlement of these contradictions. However, feeling the increased power, Germany and Austria-Hungary moved to more decisive action.
Participants of the First World War were:
- on the one hand, the Quadruple Alliance, which included Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey ( Ottoman Empire);
- on the other block, the Entente, which was made up of Russia, France, England and allied countries (Italy, Romania and many others).
The outbreak of World War I was provoked by the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife by a member of a Serbian nationalist terrorist organization. The murder committed by Gavrilo Princip provoked a conflict between Austria and Serbia. Germany supported Austria and entered the war.
The course of the First World War is divided by historians into five separate military campaigns.
The beginning of the military campaign of 1914 is dated July 28. On August 1, Germany, which entered the war, declares war on Russia, and on August 3 on France. German troops invade Luxembourg and later Belgium. In 1914 major events The First World War unfolded in France and today is known as the "Run to the Sea". In an effort to surround the enemy troops, both armies moved to the coast, where the front line eventually closed. France retained control of the port cities. Gradually the front line stabilized. The calculation of the German command for a quick capture of France did not materialize. Since the forces of both sides were exhausted, the war took on a positional character. Such are the events on the Western Front.
Military operations on the Eastern Front began on August 17. The Russian army launched an attack on the eastern part of Prussia and initially it turned out to be quite successful. Victory in the Battle of Galicia (August 18) was accepted for the most part society with joy. After this battle, Austrian troops no longer entered into serious battles with Russia in 1914.
Events in the Balkans did not develop too well either. Belgrade, captured earlier by Austria, was recaptured by the Serbs. There were no active battles in Serbia this year. In the same year, 1914, Japan also came out against Germany, which allowed Russia to secure the Asian borders. Japan began to take action to seize the island colonies of Germany. However, the Ottoman Empire entered the war on the side of Germany, opening the Caucasian front and depriving Russia of convenient communication with the allied countries. According to the results at the end of 1914, none of the countries participating in the conflict was able to achieve their goals.
The second campaign in the chronology of the First World War dates from 1915. On the Western Front there were fierce military clashes. Both France and Germany made desperate attempts to turn the tide in their favor. However, huge losses suffered by both parties, and did not lead to serious results. In fact, the front line by the end of 1915 had not changed. Neither the spring offensive of the French in Artois, nor the operations transported to Champagne and Artois in the autumn changed the situation.
The situation on the Russian front has changed for the worse. The winter offensive of the poorly prepared Russian army soon turned into the August counteroffensive of the Germans. And as a result of the Gorlitsky breakthrough of the German troops, Russia lost Galicia and, later, Poland. Historians note that in many ways the Great Retreat of the Russian army was provoked by a supply crisis. The front stabilized only by autumn. The German troops occupied the west of the Volyn province and partially repeated the pre-war borders with Austria-Hungary. The position of the troops, just as in France, contributed to the beginning of a positional war.
1915 was marked by Italy's entry into the war (May 23). Despite the fact that the country was a member of the Quadruple Alliance, it announced the start of the war against Austria-Hungary. But on October 14, Bulgaria declared war on the Entente alliance, which led to the complication of the situation in Serbia and its imminent fall.
During the military campaign of 1916, one of the most famous battles of the First World War, Verdun, took place. In an effort to suppress the resistance of France, the German command concentrated huge forces in the area of the Verdun ledge, hoping to overcome the Anglo-French defenses. During this operation, from February 21 to December 18, up to 750 thousand soldiers of England and France and up to 450 thousand German soldiers died. The battle of Verdun is also known for the fact that for the first time a new type of weapon was used - a flamethrower. However, the greatest effect of this weapon was psychological. To assist the allies, on the Western Russian front was undertaken offensive, called the Brusilovsky breakthrough. This forced Germany to transfer serious forces to the Russian front and somewhat eased the position of the allies.
It should be noted that hostilities developed not only on land. Between the blocks of the strongest world powers there was a fierce confrontation on the water. It was in the spring of 1916 that one of the main battles of the First World War took place on the Jutland Sea. In general, at the end of the year, the Entente bloc became dominant. The proposal of the Quadruple Alliance for peace was rejected.
During the military campaign of 1917, the preponderance of forces in the direction of the Entente increased even more and the United States joined the obvious winners. But the weakening of the economies of all countries participating in the conflict, as well as the growth of revolutionary tension, led to a decrease in military activity. The German command decides on strategic defense on the land fronts, while at the same time focusing on attempts to withdraw England from the war using submarine fleet. In the winter of 1916-17 there were no active hostilities in the Caucasus either. The situation in Russia has deteriorated to the maximum. In fact, after the October events, the country withdrew from the war.
1918 brought the most important victories to the Entente, which led to the end of the First World War.
After the actual withdrawal from the war of Russia, Germany managed to eliminate the eastern front. She made peace with Romania, Ukraine, Russia. The terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, concluded between Russia and Germany in March 1918, turned out to be the most difficult for the country, but this agreement was soon canceled.
Subsequently, Germany occupied the Baltic states, Poland and partly Belarus, after which it threw all its forces into Western Front. But, thanks to the technical superiority of the Entente, the German troops were defeated. After Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria made peace with the Entente countries, Germany was on the brink of disaster. Due to revolutionary events, Emperor Wilhelm leaves his country. November 11, 1918 Germany signs the act of surrender.
According to modern data, the losses in the First World War amounted to 10 million soldiers. Accurate data on casualties among the civilian population does not exist. Presumably, due to difficult living conditions, epidemics and famine, twice as many people died.
Following the results of the First World War, Germany had to pay reparations to the allies for 30 years. She lost 1/8 of her territory, and the colonies went to the victorious countries. The banks of the Rhine were occupied by the Allied forces for 15 years. Also, Germany was forbidden to have an army of more than 100 thousand people. Strict restrictions were imposed on all types of weapons.
But, the consequences of the First World War also affected the situation in the victorious countries. Their economies, with the possible exception of the United States, were in a difficult state. The standard of living of the population dropped sharply, the national economy fell into decay. At the same time, the military monopolies enriched themselves. For Russia, the First World War became a serious destabilizing factor that largely influenced the development of the revolutionary situation in the country and caused the subsequent civil war.