The First World War the course of hostilities briefly. Causes, nature and main stages of the First World War
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 tension was intensified 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 stop 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 a 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 captured part of East Prussia and Galicia (the 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 connected with the entry into the war of Italy, the failure 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 connected with the US entry into the war, Russia's revolutionary withdrawal 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 eliminated 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. On September 29, 1918, Bulgaria signed a truce with the Allies, on October 30, 1918 - Turkey, on November 3, 1918 - Austria-Hungary, on November 11, 1918 - Germany.
June 28, 1919 signed at the Paris Peace Conference 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 world's population lived. 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 armed forces, which began to be subdivided into reconnaissance, fighter and bomber. There were tank troops, 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
The First World War, which began because of the crisis of capitalism, became the largest military conflict at the time of its completion. The war was aggressive in nature, and the main confrontation was between Great Britain and Germany. As in any long-term conflict, the stages of a world war can be distinguished. A brief description of them follows below.
The first stage was not successful for all participants in the war. Germany occupied a small part of France but failed to capture the key cities. Russian troops captured part of Prussia, at the same time the Ottoman Empire struck from the Caucasus. Japan began to seize the German colonies.
The second stage can be characterized as a period of protracted war, which lasted from 1915 to 1916. The quadruple alliance was weakened, the advantage in hand weapons (machine guns) was suppressed by the advantage in technology (the first British tanks). At the same time, Russian troops were driven out of present-day western Ukraine and eastern Poland, after which trench warfare began here as well. However, on the Caucasian front, the Turks were traditionally forced to retreat, Russian troops fought in Mesopotamia, and the English fleet tried to storm the Dardanelles. The Serbian army was forced to retreat by sea from their own country. This period ended with a complete blockade of the sea coasts of Germany, the death of the German surface fleet - only submarines caused some damage to the ships of the Entente.
A new stage began in 1917 when the economies of all participating countries faltered. Germany was forced to strike on the defensive, and soon the Entente began to overcome due to the advantage in resources and military strength. However, due to the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, lavishly financed by the Germans, and the general inconsistency of the Allies, all offensives against Germany that year failed.
Only in 1918 did the final stage of the war begin. Germany was forced to capitulate due to a lack of resources and military strength. So did her allies.
32.I World War: background, course, results.
Causes and nature of World War I, its impact on the internal situation in
Prerequisites
1. Germany from a backward, fragmented state becomes strong
power.
2. Two blocks of countries have been formed:
1) England, France and Russia;
2) Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy (new capitalist countries;
General features: high economy. pace of development, the almost complete absence
colonies.).
3. 80s: treaties between Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary (first
economic, then political, and then military.) "Triple Alliance" - 1st
military alliance.
4. "Triple Alliance" - colonies are needed (for trade and extraction of raw materials), i.e.
they are for the redistribution of the already "divided" world.
5. 90s: "Entente" - 2nd military unit (England, France, Russia) General.
signs: low rates of economy. development; had colonies. they wanted
At the beginning of the 20th century, Anglo-German, Franco-German, Russian-German,
Russian-Austrian relations.
1. Anglo-German. relations: England is trying to weaken Germany by directing her to
2. Franco-German. relations: France wants revenge, Germany wants to stay
in 1st place.
3. Russian-German, Russian-Austrian: due to Russian influence in the Balkans:
Avto-Hungarian. req. ending aid to the Balkans.
State goals.
1. Germany: colonies, leadership in most of Europe., control over
Middle East: i.e. practically world domination.
2. Austria-Hungary: control over the Balkans => control over the movement of ships
in the Adriatic Sea.
3.England: weaken Germany => capture a German colony in the Middle
East; weaken Turkey => division of Turkey and the capture of its colonies.
4. France: weaken Germany, return Alsace and Lorraine (lands);
seize the Saar coal basin, claims to be the hegemon in Europe.
5. Russia: increasing influence in the Balkans (by weakening the influence
Germany to Turkey).
6. Turkey: leave the Balkans under its influence, seize the Crimea and Iran (
resource base).
7. Italy: dominance in the Mediterranean and Southern Europe.
Causes of the First World War. 1. Weak peace forces (weak.
labor movement). 2. Rev. movement in the period of recession (except for Russia).
3. Desire to stifle the roar. movement (Russia). 4. The desire to divide the world.
The nature of the war. For everyone it is predatory, for Serbia it is fair, because.
was just a pretext for starting hostilities.
countries of the world. In total, 74 million people will be put under arms.
Causes of the war
The First World War began on August 1, 1914, ended in November 1918 with the defeat of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Russia withdrew from the war in March 1918, in connection with the conclusion of a separate Brest peace.
The First World War engulfed 38 states of Europe, Asia and Africa. It was conducted on a vast territory, which amounted to 4 million km 2 and involved more than 1.5 billion people, i.e. more than 3/4 of the world's population.
The reason for the war was the tragic shot in Sarajevo, but its true causes were rooted in complex contradictions between the participating countries.
Reasons for the war: a) the struggle for the redivision of the world, markets and colonies; b) intensification of the confrontation between the great powers, primarily England and Germany; c) the growing contradictions between the Entente and the Triple Alliance; d) the desire of governments to divert the attention of their peoples from social problems and internal conflicts.
International contradictions were primarily determined by the difference in the interests of the "old" and "new" powers. There was a struggle for colonies, for spheres of influence, for military predominance on land and at sea. In foreign policy, power politics was combined with secret diplomacy.
Side plans. The leaders of Germany considered the summer of 1914 the most suitable time to start the war, since the Entente countries, especially Russia, were not fully prepared for war. The German General Staff planned to quickly defeat France and, together with Austria-Hungary, throw all their forces into the fight against Russia. Russia expected, after the completion of mobilization, to launch an offensive in the northwest to
Berlin and in the southwest to Vienna. Both sides assumed victory in the war within 3-4 months.
On June 15, 1914, in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, was assassinated by a young Serb, Gabriel Princip. Austria, accusing the Serbian nationalist organization and supported by Germany of the murder of the heir, on July 15 began shelling the capital of Serbia - Belgrade. Russia announced a general mobilization. Germany, in an ultimatum form, demanded an end to the mobilization and, having received no answer, on July 19 (August 1, according to a new style), 1914, declared war on Russia. Soon the war engulfed all of Europe.
The course of hostilities in 1914-1916. and the role of the Eastern Front
The Eastern Front played an important role in the war. After the defeat of the Franco-British troops on the border of France and the rapid advance of the German troops to Paris, Russia, even before the completion of the mobilization, launched an offensive in East Prussia and Galicia at the request of France. In East Prussia, advancing from the east - the 1st (Rennenkampf) and from the south - the 2nd (Samsonov) Russian armies inflicted a number of defeats on the German grouping at the end of August. After the transfer of 2 corps from France and the involvement of reserve units, Germany, using the inconsistency in the actions of the Russian troops, surrounded and defeated the 2nd Army. General Samsonov committed suicide. In the south, during the Battle of Galicia, the Austro-Hungarian troops were defeated by the Russian army.
In the first months of the war, all sectors of society supported the government. Thousands of people demonstrated in support of the war in front of the Winter Palace. St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd. Workers' strikes have practically ceased. The political parties supported the war to a victorious end and voted in the Duma for the provision of war credits. However, already in 1915 the socio-political situation changed. Defeats at the front caused dissatisfaction with the government. The strike movement resumed, peasant unrest began.
After some Russian successes in January-March 1915 (taking Przemysl, reaching the Carpathian Range, repelling the German offensive from East Prussia), the situation changed in April-May. The Austro-German troops, using massive artillery shelling, forced the Russian troops to retreat, who were forced to leave Poland, part of the Baltic states, Western Ukraine and Western Belarus. But the front in the southwest was not broken through. During the fighting in 1915, almost the entire composition of the pre-war trained cadre army went out of order.
In 1916, the German command transferred the main military efforts to the Western Front. The battle began for the fortress of Verdun, which protected the path to Paris. Saving France, the Russian command, which planned to launch an offensive by the forces of the Western Front in Lithuania and Belarus in the summer with the support of the Southwestern and Northern Fronts, was forced to change the timing and direction of the main attack. In May, the 8th Army General AL Brusilova carried out a breakthrough of the Austrian positions, throwing the enemy back 120 km. In the Caucasus, units of the Russian army occupied the cities of Erzerum, Trebizond, Ruvanduz, Mush, and Bitlis. England won in the North Sea in the largest naval battle of the First World War (Battle of Jutland). In general, the successes of the Entente provided a turning point in the course of hostilities.
But Russia was already "sick with the war." And although in 1916 the army began to be better supplied (the efforts of the rear, the more skillful activity of the government affected), the fear of a possible famine, the bitterness of huge losses, the feeling that "there is no end in sight to the war" - all this caused growing irritation against the authorities in many. On the front line, desertion increased, discipline weakened, it came to the fraternization of Russian and German soldiers. The war tore millions of people out of their usual world existence, accustomed them to blood and death. Human life became more and more depreciated. Less and less consideration was given to power. The socio-economic, political and moral crisis was growing in the country.
Military operations in 1917-1918 and the end of the war
Throughout 1917, military operations on the Western Front continued. In the spring, the French launched a major offensive using artillery, tanks and aircraft. However, it was not possible to break through the German front. In general, the offensive ended in failure and led to numerous casualties. In the autumn of the same year, the British for the first time used a massive tank attack with the participation of almost 400 tanks.
In 1918, a single allied command of the Entente countries was created. Despite the absence of a Russian front, the Germans and Austrians still kept up to 75 divisions in Russia, leading difficult game under the prevailing conditions after the October Revolution.
By the middle of 1918, the Entente's superiority had become overwhelming, especially after the United States came out on its side. In September, the Allied offensive began. The German front was broken.
On October 5, 1918, the German government turned to US President Woodrow Wilson with a request to conclude a truce. In November, a revolution broke out in Germany and a republic was proclaimed. Emperor Wilhelm II fled the country.
On November 11, 1918, in Compiègne, in the staff car of the French Marshal Foch, representatives of Germany signed an act of surrender. According to the Treaty of Versailles, the territory of Germany was reduced by 70 thousand km 2, it lost all the few colonies; military articles obligated Germany not to introduce military service, to dissolve all military organizations, not to have modern types of weapons, to pay reparations. The map of Europe was fundamentally redrawn.
Results of the war. The First World War demonstrated the crisis state of modern civilization. Democracy was curtailed in all the warring countries, the sphere of market relations was shrinking, giving way to strict state regulation. The crisis was witnessed by political changes in a number of countries: the October Revolution
in Russia, socialist revolutions in Finland, Germany, Hungary.
World War I was the catalyst for industrial development. The military orientation of industrial progress became obvious, the next step was the creation of equipment and technologies for the mass destruction of people. The consequences of the war were catastrophic for the economies of most countries. They resulted in long economic crises, which were based on serious economic disproportions that arose during the war years.
The 19th century ended "without universal vanities", but the 20th century began with a worldwide battle. The First World War became an example of a special globalization - through force and the desire to impose its opinion on everyone.
There are no innocents
A characteristic feature of World War I is the absence of a clear division into aggressors and their victims. It was based on the opposition of two blocs: the Entente (England + France + Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Germany + Austria-Hungary + Italy), to which the other participants adjoined. And both blocs wanted war, sought to bring it closer and had predatory ambitions in it. The main reasons for the participation of countries in the First World War were:
- England needed to get rid of the economic competition of Germany and protect its colonial empire.
- France needed compensation for the defeat in the Franco-Prussian war, the return of the then lost territories and the resources of the Ruhr basin.
- Russia intended to take away western Ukraine and part of Polish lands from Austria-Hungary, to ensure its control in the Balkans and in the Black Sea straits.
- Germany had almost no colonies - she needed them. She also needed access to the oil of the Caucasus and the Middle East.
- Austria-Hungary intended to prevent the transformation of Russia into a unifier of the Slavs and "get hold of" its territories (ideally, including access to the Black Sea).
- Italy was not opposed to becoming a great power at the expense of others.
Only Serbia, the first direct victim of hostilities, can be considered conditionally innocent. But there is an opinion that the Mlada Bosna organization, to which the terrorist Princip belonged (he killed the heir to the Austrian throne and created a pretext for war) worked under the leadership of Serbian intelligence and had the task of unleashing a war in order to draw Russia into it.
tug of war
The logic of combat operations during the war was somewhat reminiscent of this occupation. The Triple Alliance was forced to fight on 2 fronts (for geographical reasons), and events in the East and West alternately became the most important.
Officially, the war lasted from July 28, 1914 (Austria declared war on Serbia) until November 11, 1918 (Compiegne truce). It can be conditionally divided into 4 stages, and this cannot be done only on the basis of the events of Russian history.
- 1914 Disruption of the German, providing for the exclusion of war on 2 fronts. The immediate defeat of France failed thanks to the "Russian plaster attached to the back" of the Triple Alliance in East Prussia and Galicia. Belgium and a significant part of France were occupied, Russia lost insignificant territories in Poland. But France remained combat-ready, and Russia made up for it by capturing Galicia.
- 1915 The main events took place on the Eastern Front. The year was unfortunate for Russia - she lost gains in Galicia, part of the Right-Bank Ukraine, lands in Poland and East Prussia. There was a supply crisis. Several major battles took place in France and Flanders (including the battle of Ypres, famous for the chemical attack), but their result was meager. In the same year, Italy withdrew from the Triple Alliance and joined the Entente. But the union became Quadruple: it included Turkey and Bulgaria.
- 1916 He became a harbinger of the coming collapse of the Quadruple Alliance. The Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme (France), which led to huge losses of German troops, and the Brusilov breakthrough (Eastern Front), which disabled up to 1.5 million Austrians, marked a significant success for the Entente states.
- 1917-1918 years. They are characterized by a decrease in the role of Russia (after the February Revolution, its combat capability became very limited, and in March 1918, Soviet Russia already concluded the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany) and the entry of the United States into the war on the side of the Entente (1917, as always, to the cap analysis). The exhaustion of the forces of the countries of the Quadruple Alliance and the revolution led to the defeat of the bloc.
Repartition of the world
characterized the cause of the war as "the redistribution of the already divided world." The redistribution was a success, although not as planned. The main results of the First World War:
- The Russian Empire and Austria-Hungary disappeared from the map.
- Three monarchies fell: the Romanovs, the Habsburgs, the Hohenzollerns. The war became the reason for the establishment of a republic in Turkey.
- New states appeared: Soviet Russia, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Finland, the Baltic countries.
- The military power of Germany was undermined for a long time.
- The borders of other European states have changed.
- The Soviet system was born - unlike other forms of government.
- New methods of warfare and military equipment appeared - tanks, chemical weapons, flamethrowers, submarine fleet.
- Human losses are estimated at 7-12 million military people and about the same number of civilians (this ratio was observed for the first time).
And the First World War involuntarily gave rise to the Second - defeated and humiliated Germany longed for revenge ...
33. The First World War (1914-1918): causes, results.
The reason for the outbreak of hostilities in 1914 was the assassination in Sarajevo of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian nationalist, a member of the Young Bosnia organization, Gavrilo Princip. However, from the very beginning of the First World War, historians have been concerned about a more significant question: what were the reasons for its start?
The reasons for the outbreak of the First World War are likely to be many. But most historians are inclined to regard the main of them as the competing interests of the largest European powers. What were these interests from the point of view of historians?
Great Britain (as part of the Entente)
Fearing a potential German threat, she abandoned the country's traditional policy of "isolation" and switched to the policy of forming an anti-German bloc of states.
She did not want to put up with the penetration of Germany into areas that she considered "her own": East and South-West Africa. And she also wanted to take revenge on Germany for supporting the Boers in the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902. In this connection, she was already waging an undeclared economic and trade war against Germany and was actively preparing in case of aggressive actions from Germany.
France (as part of the Entente)
She wanted to recoup the defeat inflicted on her by Germany in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.
She wanted to return Alsace and Lorraine, separated from France in 1871.
She could not come to terms with her losses in traditional markets due to competition with German goods.
Feared a new German aggression. She tried to preserve her colonies, in particular North Africa.
Russia (as part of the Entente)
She demanded a revision in her favor of the regime of control over the Dardanelles, because she wanted to have free passage for her fleet in the Mediterranean Sea.
She assessed the construction of the Berlin-Baghdad railway (1898) as an act unfriendly to Germany. Russia saw this construction as an infringement on its rights in Asia. Although, as historians note, in 1911 these differences with Germany were settled by the Potsdam Agreement.
She did not want to put up with the Austrian penetration into the Balkans and the fact that Germany was gaining strength and began to dictate its terms in Europe.
She wanted to dominate all the Slavic peoples, so she supported anti-Austrian and anti-Turkish sentiments among the Serbs and Bulgarians in the Balkans.
Serbia (as part of the Entente)
Having gained full independence only in 1878, she sought to establish herself in the Balkans as the leader of the Slavic peoples of the peninsula.
She wanted to form Yugoslavia, including all the Slavs living in the south of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Unofficially supported the nationalist organizations that fought against Austria-Hungary and Turkey.
German Empire (Triple Alliance)
As an economically developed country, it aspired to military, economic and political dominance on the European continent.
Since Germany needed markets, and entered the struggle for colonies only after 1871, joining the struggle for colonies only after 1871, she longed to gain equal rights in the colonial possessions of England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal.
In the Entente, she saw an alliance against herself in order to undermine her power.
Austria-Hungary (Triple Alliance)
Due to its multinationality, it played the role of a permanent hotbed of instability in Europe.
She fought to keep Bosnia and Herzegovina captured by her in 1908.
Opposed to Russia, because Russia took on the role of defender of all Slavs in the Balkans, and Serbia.
USA (supported the Entente)
Here historians do not express themselves specifically, citing only the fact that before the First World War the United States was the world's largest debtor, and after the war became the sole world creditor.
♦ Aggravation of contradictions between industrial powers due to sales markets, sources of raw materials, spheres of influence
After the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, events unfolded as follows:
15 (28) 07/1914 Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.
July 19 (01.08) Germany declared war on Russia.
July 21 (August 3) Germany declared war on France.
July 22 (August 4) Great Britain declared war on Germany.
As a result of the war, four empires ceased to exist: Russian, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and German
Six months later, Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles (June 28, 1919), drawn up by the victorious states at the Paris Peace Conference, which officially ended the First World War.
Peace treaties with
Germany (Treaty of Versailles)
Austria (Treaty of Saint Germain)
Bulgaria (Treaty of Neuilly)
Hungary (Trianon Treaty)
Turkey (Sevres Peace Treaty).
The results of the First World War were the February and October revolutions in Russia and the November revolution in Germany, the liquidation of four empires: the Russian, German, Ottoman empires and Austria-Hungary, the latter two being divided.
Germany, having ceased to be a monarchy, was cut down territorially and weakened economically. The difficult conditions for Germany of the Treaty of Versailles (payment of reparations, etc.) and the national humiliation suffered by it gave rise to revanchist sentiments, which became one of the prerequisites for the Nazis to come to power and unleash the Second World War.
The First World War accelerated the development of new weapons and means of combat. For the first time, tanks, chemical weapons, a gas mask, anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, and a flamethrower were used. Airplanes, machine guns, mortars, submarines, and torpedo boats were widely used. The firepower of the troops increased sharply. New types of artillery appeared: anti-aircraft, anti-tank, infantry escorts. Aviation became an independent branch of the armed forces, which began to be subdivided into reconnaissance, fighter and bomber. There were tank troops, chemical troops, air defense troops, naval aviation. The role of the engineering troops increased and the role of the cavalry decreased. Also appeared "trench tactics" of warfare in order to exhaust the enemy and deplete his economy, working on military orders.
The grandiose scale and protracted nature of the First World War led to an unprecedented militarization of the economy for industrialized states. This had an impact on the course of economic development of all major industrial states in the period between the two world wars: strengthening state regulation and economic planning, the formation of military-industrial complexes, accelerating the development of nationwide economic infrastructures (energy systems, a network of paved roads, etc.) , growth in the share of production of defense products and dual-use products.
34 .Political parties in Russia during the First World War.
Classes and parties. The bourgeoisie, the bourgeoisie landowners, a significant part of the wealthy intelligentsia (about 4 million people) relied on economic power, education, experience in participating in political life and managing state institutions. They sought to prevent the further development of the revolution, stabilize the socio-political situation and strengthen their property.
The working class (18 million people) consisted of urban and rural proletarians. They managed to feel their political strength, were predisposed to revolutionary agitation and were ready to defend their rights with weapons. They fought for the introduction of an 8-hour day, job security, wage increases. Factory committees (factory committees) spontaneously arose in the cities to establish workers' control over production and resolve disputes with entrepreneurs.
The peasantry (130 million people) demanded the destruction of large privately owned landed property and the transfer of land to those who cultivate it. Local land committees and village assemblies were created in the village, which made decisions on the redistribution of land. Relations between peasants and landlords were extremely tense.
The army (15 million people) became a special political force. The soldiers advocated the end of the war and the broad democratization of all military institutions. They actively supported the basic demands of the workers and peasants and were the main armed force of the revolution.
The extreme right (monarchists, Black Hundreds) suffered a complete collapse after the February Revolution. The Octobrists had no historical perspective, unconditionally supporting the industrialists in the labor issue and advocating the preservation of landownership. All of them focused on the suppression of the revolution, served as a support for counter-revolutionary conspiracies.
Cadets from the opposition party became the ruling party, initially taking key positions in the Provisional Government. They stood for the transformation of Russia into a parliamentary republic. In the agrarian question, they still advocated the redemption of the landed estates by the state and the peasants. The Cadets put forward the slogan of remaining loyal to the allies and waging the war "to a victorious end."
The Socialist-Revolutionaries, the most massive party after the revolution, proposed turning Russia into a federal republic of free nations, liquidating landownership and distributing land among the peasants "according to an equalizing norm." They sought to end the war by concluding a democratic peace without annexations or indemnities, but at the same time they considered it necessary to defend the revolution against German militarism. In the summer of 1917, a left wing emerged in the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, which protested against cooperation with the Provisional Government and insisted on an immediate solution to the agrarian question. In autumn, the Left SRs took shape in an independent political organization.
The Mensheviks, the second largest and most influential party, advocated the creation of a democratic republic, the right of nations to self-determination, the confiscation of landowners' lands and their transfer to the disposal of local governments. In foreign policy, they, like the Socialist-Revolutionaries, took the position of "revolutionary defencism."
The Cadets, Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks postponed the implementation of their program provisions until the end of the war and the convocation of the Constituent Assembly. Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, acting in a single political bloc, enjoyed great prestige in the Soviets, trade unions, agrarian committees and other public organizations.
The Bolsheviks took extreme left positions. In March, the party leadership was ready to cooperate with other socialist forces, to provide conditional support to the Provisional Government. It adopted the idea of "revolutionary defencism".
However, after the return of V. I. Lenin from exile, his program (“April Theses”) was adopted. It provided for the transition from the bourgeois-democratic revolution to the socialist one. The political core of the program was the idea of establishing a republic of Soviets of Workers and Poor Peasants and, in connection with this, the refusal to support the Provisional Government. In the economic sphere, it was proposed the confiscation of the landed estates and the nationalization of all land; transition to Soviet control over the production and distribution of products; nationalization of the banking system. The Bolsheviks advocated the immediate withdrawal of Russia from the imperialist war. Their program ruled out cooperation with "moderate" socialists and, in principle, was priced at seizing political power.
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