The First Battle of World War I: results

One of the most bloody and large-scale was the First World War. It lasted from July 28, 1914 to November 11, 1918. The first battle of the First World War was the reason for countries that were neutral, to get involved in confrontation. Thirty-eight countries were involved in this conflict, from two sides representing the interests of large coalitions: the Entente and the Quadruple Alliance. The first bloc included such states as France, Russia, England and others. The second side of the conflict was represented by Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria, Germany.

Occasion

The first battle of World War I was caused by provocation: they killed Franz-Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria, along with his wife. This was the reason for the conflict between the affected country and Serbia. The side of Austria was accepted by Germany, speaking for it. The first battle of World War I is dated July 28. Taking advantage of the incident, on August 1 Germany dragged Russia into the war, and two days later declared war on France and its ally.

Where did the First World War begin?

The first battle of World War I in 1914 took place on French territory. Later it was called "Running to the Sea". Each opposing side sought to encircle the enemy's troops and moved along the front line towards the coast. As a result, France managed to maintain control over its port cities. In the intention to quickly seize France, Germany's command was miscalculated. The Battle of World War I on the Western Front quickly took on a positional character, since forces on both sides were quickly exhausted.

The successful offensive of Russia

On August 17, the main course of military operations was transferred to the Eastern Front. The Russian army launched an offensive towards East Prussia. The battles of the First World on this front were initially successful. The main role here was played by the victory in the Galicia battle, which ended on August 18. The society took this news with incredible enthusiasm. After this defeat Austria until the end of 1914 tried not to get involved in serious conflicts with Russia.

New Allies and Opponents

In the same year, Japan entered the war against Germany. She began to deploy a campaign in the island colonies of Germany. It was here that naval battles took place . The First World War ended in 1914 with unsuccessful attempts of both sides of the conflict to achieve success in their intentions. Attempts by Russia to establish a sea link with the allied countries also failed. The Ottoman Empire, which came out on the side of Germany, opened the Caucasian front off the Black Sea, thereby breaking the water ties of Russia.

The main battles of the First World War began in 1915. From that moment the second campaign began. Brutal fighting took place on the Western Front. Desperate, Germany and France made unsuccessful attempts to reverse the course of events in their favor. However, all this did not lead to the desired results.

In fact, the front line did not change by the end of 1915. Neither the spring offensive of the French in Artois, nor the operations conducted in Champagne in the autumn, did not affect the situation.

Deteriorating position of Russia

On the line of the Russian front, the situation became hot and changed not for the better. The winter unsuccessful offensive attempt failed. First of all, this was due to the poor preparation of the Russian army. In turn, the Germans switched to the summer counter-offensive. As a result, they managed to win back from Russia, Galicia and Poland. There is an opinion that the defeat of the Russian army in these battles was caused by supply problems.

The situation was stabilized only by the autumn. However, the location of Russian and French troops was a prerequisite for the beginning of a positional war.

In 1915, declaring war on Austria-Hungary, Italy enters the conflict. During the same period, the Entente declared war on Bulgaria. All this leads to a complication of the situation in Serbia.

Verdun battle

1916 was marked by a period during which a major battle took place the First World War. Photos of these battles are still kept in some large museums. The battle of Verdun has claimed more than a thousand human lives. It began with the desire of Germany to suppress the resisting France. Near the Verdunsky protrusion, the main German forces were located. This was done in the hope of destroying the defense of France and England. During this battle for the first time used a flamethrower - a new weapon for those times. At the time of the German attack on France, the Russian command launched an offensive operation, which was conducted on the Western Front. The German troops had no choice but to relocate the main forces to the site of the Russian offensive. This greatly facilitated the situation of France and England in the war. During this period, active clashes between major powers were conducted both on land and at sea. The Jutland battle was the biggest confrontation on the water.

1917 and 1918 were marked by victories of the Entente. However, by this time all the countries-participants of the conflict suffered from a significant weakening of the economy, as well as an increase in internal tension. In this regard, the military activity of the countries has decreased. Nevertheless, the German troops do not abandon attempts to defeat England by manipulating the submarine fleet. It became obvious that the Entente was on its way to victory, so the United States of America joined it. At the same time, Russia is experiencing internal political problems. The point of heat was the October events, after which it comes out of the war. This gave Germany a reason to liquidate the Eastern Front and conclude a peace treaty with countries such as Ukraine, Russia and Romania. The Brest Peace Treaty presupposed the fulfillment of difficult conditions for Russia, nevertheless, it was signed by both sides. After some time, the contract was terminated.

Capitulation of the aggressor

Germany continued the offensive. Soon she managed to occupy such countries as Poland, Belarus. The Baltic was also captured. After a series of victories, Germany decided to transfer its forces to the Western Front. However, the allies of the Entente bloc had obvious technical superiority, in connection with which the German troops were defeated. By the end of 1918 Germany signed an act of unconditional surrender.

At the end of the war, the economies of the participating countries were in a terrible situation. The pace of work of the national economy has decreased, and the living standards of the population have decreased. The only ones to whom the war played into the hands were military corporations and monopolies.

For Russia, the war was the catalyst that had a huge impact on the rapid development of the revolution, as well as the emergence of civil war.