Prehistory and initial stage of the First World War. Main stages of the First World War

Until the beginning of the 20th century, humanity experienced a series of wars in which many states took part and large territories were covered. But only this war was called the First World War. It was dictated by the fact that this military conflict became a war on a global scale. Thirty-eight of the fifty-nine independent states that existed at that time were involved in it to one degree or another.

Causes and beginning of the war

At the beginning of the 20th century, contradictions intensified between two European coalitions of European states - the Entente (Russia, England, France) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy). They were caused by the intensification of the struggle for the redistribution of already divided colonies, spheres of influence and markets. Having begun in Europe, the war gradually acquired a global character, covering the Far and Middle East, Africa, and the waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic and Indian oceans.

The reason for the outbreak of war was the terrorist attack committed in June 1914 in the city of Sarajevo. Then a member of the Mlada Bosna organization (a Serbian-Bosnian revolutionary organization that fought for the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Greater Serbia), Gavrilo Princip, killed the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

Austria-Hungary presented Serbia with unacceptable terms of the ultimatum, which were rejected. As a result, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Russia stood up for Serbia, true to its obligations. France promised to support Russia.

Germany demanded that Russia stop mobilization actions, which were continued, and as a result, on August 1, it declared war on Russia. On August 3, Germany declares war on France, and on August 4, on Belgium. Great Britain declares war on Germany and sends troops to help France. August 6 - Austria-Hungary vs. Russia.

In August 1914, Japan declared war on Germany, in November Turkey entered the war on the side of the Germany-Austria-Hungary bloc, and in October 1915, Bulgaria.

Italy, which initially occupied a position of neutrality, declared war on Austria-Hungary in May 1915, under diplomatic pressure from Great Britain, and on August 28, 1916, on Germany.

Main events

1914

1915

1916

1917

1918

1919

Results of the war

The main result of the First World War was the enormous loss of life. In total, more than 10 million people died, with a significant proportion of the casualties being civilians. As a result, hundreds of cities were destroyed and the economies of the participating countries were undermined.

The result of the war was the collapse of four empires - Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, German and Russian. Only the British Empire survived.

Literally everything in the world has changed - not only relations between states, but also their internal life. Human life, clothing style, fashion, women's hairstyles, musical tastes, norms of behavior, morality, social psychology, and the relationship between the state and society have changed. The First World War led to an unprecedented devaluation of human life and the emergence of a whole class of people ready to solve their own and social problems at the cost of violence. Thus the period of new history ended, and humanity entered another historical era.

1870, sought political and economic dominance on the European continent. Having joined the struggle for colonies only after 1871, Germany wanted the redistribution of the colonial possessions of England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal in its favor. Russia, France and Great Britain sought to counteract the hegemonic aspirations of Germany. Why was the Entente formed?

Austria-Hungary, being a multinational empire, was a constant source of instability in Europe due to internal ethnic contradictions. She sought to retain Bosnia and Herzegovina, which she captured in 1908 (see: Bosnian crisis). It opposed Russia, which took on the role of protector of all Slavs in the Balkans, and Serbia.

In the Middle East, the interests of almost all powers collided, striving to achieve the division of the collapsing Ottoman Empire (Turkey). According to the agreements reached between the members of the Entente, at the end of the war, all the straits between the Black and Aegean seas would go to Russia, thus Russia would gain complete control over the Black Sea and Constantinople.

- Germany;

- Austria-Hungary;

- Italy.

Italy, however, entered the war in 1915 on the side of the Entente - but Turkey and Bulgaria joined Germany and Austria-Hungary during the war, forming the Quadruple Alliance (or bloc of the Central Powers).

Major events.

Campaign of 1914.

The war unfolded in two main theaters of military operations - in Western and Eastern Europe, as well as in the Balkans, Northern Italy (from May 1915), in the Caucasus and the Middle East (from November 1914), in the colonies of European states - in Africa, in China, in Oceania.

Beginning of the war

On August 1, Germany declared war on Russia, and on the same day the Germans invaded Luxembourg without any declaration of war.

On August 2, German troops finally occupied Luxembourg, and Belgium was given an ultimatum to allow German armies to enter the border with France. Only 12 hours were given for reflection.

On August 3, Germany declared war on France, accusing it of “organized attacks and aerial bombardments of Germany” and “violating Belgian neutrality.”
On August 3, Belgium refused Germany's ultimatum. Germany declares war on Belgium.

On August 4, German troops poured across the Belgian border. King Albert of Belgium turned for help to the guarantor countries of Belgian neutrality. London, contrary to its previous statements, sent an ultimatum to Berlin: stop the invasion of Belgium or England will declare war on Germany, to which Berlin declared “betrayal.” After the ultimatum expired, Great Britain declared war on Germany and sent 5.5 divisions to help France.

The First World War has begun.

1915 Campaign

In 1915, Germany decided to make the main attack on the Eastern Front in an attempt to take Russia out of the war.

During the August operation, German troops managed to knock out the 10th Russian Army from East Prussia and encircle the 20th Corps of this army. The Germans were unable to break through the Russian front. The subsequent German offensive in the Prasnysh area suffered a serious setback - in the battle, German troops were defeated and driven back to East Prussia.
In the winter of 1914-1915 there was a battle between the Russians and the Austrians for the passes in the Carpathians. On March 10 (23), the Siege of Przemysl ended - an important Austrian fortress with a garrison of 115 thousand people capitulated.

At the end of April, the Germans struck another powerful blow in East Prussia and at the beginning of May 1915 they broke through the Russian front in the Memel-Libau region. In May, German-Austrian troops, having concentrated superior forces in the Gorlice area, managed to break through the Russian front in Galicia. After this, in order to avoid encirclement, a general strategic retreat of the Russian army from Galicia and Poland began.

1916 Campaign

On February 21, 1916, German troops launched an offensive operation in the area of ​​the Verdun fortress, called the Battle of Verdun.

On June 4, 1916, a major offensive operation of the Russian army began, called the Brusilov breakthrough after the front commander A. A. Brusilov. As a result of the offensive operation, the Southwestern Front inflicted a heavy defeat on German and Austro-Hungarian troops in Galicia and Bukovina.

On August 17, 1916, an agreement was concluded between Romania and the four Entente powers.
The military campaign of 1916 was marked by an important event. On May 31 - June 1, the largest naval battle of Jutland took place in the entire war.

1917 campaign

On the Eastern Front, the German army limited itself to only private operations that did not in any way affect the strategic position of Germany: as a result of Operation Albion, German troops captured the islands of Dago and Ezel and forced the Russian fleet to leave the Gulf of Riga.

1918 Campaign

4 October 1918 began the general offensive of the Entente troops on the Western Front. By October 20, German troops were completely driven out to the positions of Hermann, Gunding, Brunhilda, Kriemgilda. The impending catastrophe was foreseen in Germany itself, so on September 29, Hindenburg and Ludendorff announced the need to form a new government. On October 1, the government of the German Empire received its resignation, and on October 3, a cabinet was formed headed by Prince Max of Baden, who had a reputation as a liberal and pacifist among the German bourgeoisie and the Junkers. On October 4, the German government approached the US government with a proposal to begin peace negotiations, based on the “Fourteen Points” set out by Woodrow Wilson in his message to Congress on January 8, 1918. By doing this, the Germans hoped to increase mistrust in the Allied camp.

Results of the war

According to the Treaty of Versailles, the territory of Germany was reduced by 70 thousand square meters. km, it lost all its few colonies; the military articles obliged Germany not to introduce conscription, to dissolve all military organizations, not to have modern types of weapons, and to pay reparations. The map of Europe was completely redrawn. With the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian dualist monarchy, the statehood of Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia was formalized, and the independence and borders of Albania, Bulgaria, and Romania were confirmed. Belgium, Denmark, Poland, France and Czechoslovakia regained the lands seized by Germany, receiving part of the original German territories under their control. Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Palestine were separated from Turkey and transferred as mandated territories to England and France. The new western border of Soviet Russia was also determined at the Paris Peace Conference (Curzon Line), while the statehood of parts of the former empire was consolidated: Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland and Estonia.

Revolution in Russia in 1917: from February to October

Causes:

1) defeats on the fronts of the First World War, the death of millions of Russians;

2) a sharp deterioration in the situation of the people, famine caused by the war;

3) mass discontent, anti-war sentiment, activation of the most radical forces that advocated ending the war;

4) the confrontation between the State Duma and the government intensified.

In the second half of February The capital's food supply has significantly deteriorated due to transport disruptions.

February 23, 1917 riots began. Long lines for bread stretched along the streets of Petrograd (since 1914 this was the name of St. Petersburg). The situation in the city became increasingly tense.

18th of Febuary A strike began at the largest Putilov plant, and was supported by other enterprises.

25 February The strike in Petrograd became general. The government failed to organize a timely suppression of popular unrest.

The turning point was the day of February 26th, when the troops refused to shoot at the rebels and began to go over to their side. The Petrograd garrison went over to the side of the rebels. The transition of the soldiers to the side of the workers participating in the strike, their seizure of the arsenal and the Peter and Paul Fortress meant the victory of the revolution.

March 1 An agreement was concluded between Duma leaders and Soviet leaders on the formation of the Provisional Government. A “dual power” has emerged during the revolution in the country arose two sources of all-Russian power:

1) The Temporary Committee of the State Duma, which consisted of representatives of bourgeois parties and organizations;

2) the body of the insurgent people - the Petrograd Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, which included moderate socialists who stood for cooperation with liberal-bourgeois circles.

March 2, 1917 Nicholas II signed his abdication for himself and for his son Alexei in favor of his brother Mikhail. But Michael also did not dare to become emperor. Thus, the autocracy in Russia fell. In April 1917, Miliukov announced the continuation of the war, but people were not happy with this statement (April crisis) (September 1, 1917, the Provisional Government declared Russia a republic). The Provisional Government declared itself as the highest body of executive and legislative power.

The Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies had power that was not inferior in scope and capabilities to the power of the Provisional Government.

From March to October, the government experienced four crises.

April crisis was provoked by a note from the Minister of Foreign Affairs P.N. Miliukov about Russia's determination to continue the war.

June crisis a demonstration designed to support the policy of the Soviet leadership towards the Provisional Government.

July crisis. Attempted military coup, banning the activities of the Bolsheviks.
In August a new crisis occurred. An attempt to establish a general dictatorship (Kornilovism)

October 24 revolutionary workers and soldiers captured vital facilities in Petrograd. On October 25, in the morning, the Pre-Parliament was dispersed, Kerensky fled from Petrograd. The Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, which opened on the evening of October 25, adopted Lenin's “Appeal to all Citizens of Russia,” which proclaimed the establishment of Soviet power. From 6 o'clock in the evening the Winter Palace, in which the Provisional Government worked, was surrounded, and at about 2 o'clock in the morning it was taken. The October Revolution in Petrograd was almost bloodless. The Bolsheviks' rise to power in Moscow turned out to be much bloodier. The Second Congress of Soviets approved the actions of the Bolsheviks. The Bolshevik L.B. became the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Soviets. Kamenev, soon replaced by Ya.M. Sverdlov. The government (Council of People's Commissars) was headed by the Bolshevik leader V.I. Lenin. The Congress warmly supported two Bolshevik decrees: on land and peace.

WORLD WAR I
(July 28, 1914 - November 11, 1918), the first military conflict on a global scale, in which 38 of the 59 independent states that existed at that time were involved. About 73.5 million people were mobilized; of these, 9.5 million were killed or died from wounds, more than 20 million were wounded, 3.5 million were left crippled.
Main reasons. The search for the causes of the war leads to 1871, when the process of German unification was completed and Prussian hegemony was consolidated in the German Empire. Under Chancellor O. von Bismarck, who sought to revive the system of unions, the foreign policy of the German government was determined by the desire to achieve a dominant position for Germany in Europe. To deprive France of the opportunity to avenge defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, Bismarck tried to bind Russia and Austria-Hungary to Germany with secret agreements (1873). However, Russia came out in support of France, and the Alliance of the Three Emperors disintegrated. In 1882, Bismarck strengthened Germany's position by creating the Triple Alliance, which united Austria-Hungary, Italy and Germany. By 1890, Germany took the leading role in European diplomacy. France emerged from diplomatic isolation in 1891-1893. Taking advantage of the cooling of relations between Russia and Germany, as well as Russia's need for new capital, it concluded a military convention and an alliance treaty with Russia. The Russian-French alliance was supposed to serve as a counterweight to the Triple Alliance. Great Britain has so far stood aloof from competition on the continent, but the pressure of political and economic circumstances eventually forced it to make its choice. The British could not help but be concerned about the nationalist sentiments that reigned in Germany, its aggressive colonial policy, rapid industrial expansion and, mainly, the increase in the power of the navy. A series of relatively quick diplomatic maneuvers led to the elimination of differences in the positions of France and Great Britain and the conclusion in 1904 of the so-called. "cordial agreement" (Entente Cordiale). Obstacles to Anglo-Russian cooperation were overcome, and in 1907 an Anglo-Russian agreement was concluded. Russia became a member of the Entente. Great Britain, France and Russia formed the Triple Entente as a counterbalance to the Triple Alliance. Thus, the division of Europe into two armed camps took shape. One of the reasons for the war was the widespread strengthening of nationalist sentiments. In formulating their interests, the ruling circles of each European country sought to present them as popular aspirations. France hatched plans to return the lost territories of Alsace and Lorraine. Italy, even being in an alliance with Austria-Hungary, dreamed of returning its lands to Trentino, Trieste and Fiume. The Poles saw in the war an opportunity to recreate the state destroyed by the partitions of the 18th century. Many peoples inhabiting Austria-Hungary sought 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 they believed that the people of Great Britain would live in peace only by crushing their main enemy - Germany. Tensions in international relations were heightened by a series of diplomatic crises - the Franco-German clash in Morocco in 1905-1906; annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Austrians in 1908-1909; finally, the Balkan wars of 1912-1913. Great Britain and France supported Italy's interests in North Africa and thereby weakened its commitment to the Triple Alliance so much that Germany could practically no longer count on Italy as an ally in a future war.
The July crisis and the beginning of the war. After the Balkan Wars, active nationalist propaganda was launched against the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. A group of Serbs, members of the Young Bosnia secret organization, decided to kill the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The opportunity for this presented itself when he and his wife went to Bosnia for training exercises with the Austro-Hungarian troops. Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in the city of Sarajevo by high school student Gavrilo Princip on June 28, 1914. Intending to start a war against Serbia, Austria-Hungary enlisted the support of Germany. The latter believed that the war would become local if Russia did not defend Serbia. But if it provides assistance to Serbia, then Germany will be ready to fulfill its treaty obligations and support Austria-Hungary. In an ultimatum presented to Serbia on July 23, Austria-Hungary demanded that its military units be allowed into Serbia in order to, together with Serbian forces, suppress hostile actions. The answer to the ultimatum was given within the agreed 48-hour period, but it did not satisfy Austria-Hungary, and on July 28 it declared war on Serbia. S.D. Sazonov, Russian Foreign Minister, openly opposed Austria-Hungary, receiving assurances of support from French President R. Poincaré. On July 30, Russia announced general mobilization; Germany used this occasion to declare war on Russia on August 1, and on France on August 3. Britain's position remained uncertain due to its treaty obligations to protect Belgium's neutrality. In 1839, and then during the Franco-Prussian War, Great Britain, Prussia and France provided this country with collective guarantees of neutrality. Following the German invasion of Belgium on 4 August, Great Britain declared war on Germany. Now all the great powers of Europe were drawn into the war. Together with them, their dominions and colonies were involved in the war. The war can be divided into three periods. During the first period (1914-1916), the Central Powers achieved superiority on land, while the Allies dominated the sea. The situation seemed stalemate. This period ended with negotiations for a mutually acceptable peace, but each side still hoped for victory. In the next period (1917), two events occurred that led to an imbalance of power: the first was the entry of the United States into the war on the side of the Entente, the second was the revolution in Russia and its exit from the war. The third period (1918) began with the last major offensive of the Central Powers in the west. The failure of this offensive was followed by revolutions in Austria-Hungary and Germany and the capitulation of the Central Powers.
First period. The Allied forces initially included Russia, France, Great Britain, Serbia, Montenegro and Belgium and enjoyed overwhelming naval superiority. The Entente had 316 cruisers, while the Germans and Austrians had 62. But the latter found a powerful countermeasure - submarines. By the beginning of the war, the armies of the Central Powers numbered 6.1 million people; Entente army - 10.1 million people. The Central Powers had an advantage in internal communications, which allowed them to quickly transfer troops and equipment from one front to another. In the long term, the Entente countries had superior resources of raw materials and food, especially since the British fleet paralyzed Germany’s ties with overseas countries, from where copper, tin and nickel were supplied to German enterprises before the war. Thus, in the event of a protracted war, the Entente could count on victory. Germany, knowing this, relied on a lightning war - "blitzkrieg". The Germans put into effect the Schlieffen plan, which proposed to ensure rapid success in the West by attacking France with large forces through Belgium. After the defeat of France, Germany hoped, together with Austria-Hungary, by transferring the liberated troops, to deliver a decisive blow in the East. But this plan was not implemented. One of the main reasons for his failure was the sending of part of the German divisions to Lorraine in order to block the enemy invasion of southern Germany. On the night of August 4, the Germans invaded Belgium. It took them several days to break the resistance of the defenders of the fortified areas of Namur and Liege, which blocked the route to Brussels, but thanks to this delay, the British transported an almost 90,000-strong expeditionary force across the English Channel to France (August 9-17). The French gained time to form 5 armies that held back the German advance. Nevertheless, on August 20, the German army occupied Brussels, then forced the British to leave Mons (August 23), and on September 3, the army of General A. von Kluck found itself 40 km from Paris. Continuing the offensive, the Germans crossed the Marne River and stopped along the Paris-Verdun line on September 5. The commander of the French forces, General J. Joffre, having formed two new armies from the reserves, decided to launch a counteroffensive. The First Battle of the Marne began on September 5 and ended on September 12. 6 Anglo-French and 5 German armies took part in it. The Germans were defeated. One of the reasons for their defeat was the absence of several divisions on the right flank, which had to be transferred to the eastern front. The French offensive on the weakened right flank made the withdrawal of the German armies to the north, to the line of the Aisne River, inevitable. The battles in Flanders on the Yser and Ypres rivers from October 15 to November 20 were also unsuccessful for the Germans. As a result, the main ports on the English Channel remained in Allied hands, ensuring communication between France and England. Paris was saved, and the Entente countries had time to mobilize resources. The war in the West took on a positional character; Germany’s hope of defeating and withdrawing France from the war turned out to be untenable. The confrontation followed a line running south from Newport and Ypres in Belgium, to Compiegne and Soissons, then east around Verdun and south to the salient near Saint-Mihiel, and then southeast to the Swiss border. Along this line of trenches and wire fences, the length is approx. Trench warfare was fought for 970 km for four years. Until March 1918, any, even minor changes in the front line were achieved at the cost of huge losses on both sides. There remained hopes that on the Eastern Front the Russians would be able to crush the armies of the Central Powers bloc. On August 17, Russian troops entered East Prussia and began to push the Germans towards Konigsberg. The German generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff were entrusted with leading the counteroffensive. Taking advantage of the mistakes of the Russian command, the Germans managed to drive a “wedge” between the two Russian armies, defeat them on August 26-30 near Tannenberg and drive them out of East Prussia. Austria-Hungary did not act so successfully, abandoning the intention to quickly defeat Serbia and concentrating large forces between the Vistula and the Dniester. But the Russians launched an offensive in a southern direction, broke through the defenses of the Austro-Hungarian troops and, taking several thousand people prisoner, occupied the Austrian province of Galicia and part of Poland. The advance of Russian troops created a threat to Silesia and Poznan, important industrial areas for Germany. Germany was forced to transfer additional forces from France. But an acute shortage of ammunition and food stopped the advance of Russian troops. The offensive cost Russia enormous casualties, but undermined the power of Austria-Hungary and forced Germany to maintain significant forces on the Eastern Front. Back in August 1914, Japan declared war on Germany. In October 1914, Türkiye entered the war on the side of the Central Powers bloc. At the outbreak of war, Italy, a member of the Triple Alliance, declared its neutrality on the grounds that neither Germany nor Austria-Hungary had been attacked. But at secret London negotiations in March-May 1915, the Entente countries promised to satisfy Italy's territorial claims during the post-war peace settlement if Italy came on their side. On May 23, 1915, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary, and on August 28, 1916 on Germany. On the western front, the British were defeated at the Second Battle of Ypres. Here, during battles that lasted for a month (April 22 - May 25, 1915), chemical weapons were used for the first time. After this, poisonous gases (chlorine, phosgene, and later mustard gas) began to be used by both warring sides. The large-scale Dardanelles landing operation, a naval expedition that the Entente countries equipped at the beginning of 1915 with the goal of taking Constantinople, opening the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits for communication with Russia through the Black Sea, bringing Turkey out of the war and winning the Balkan states to the side of the allies, also ended in defeat. On the Eastern Front, by the end of 1915, German and Austro-Hungarian troops ousted the Russians from almost all of Galicia and from most of the territory of Russian Poland. But it was never possible to force Russia to a separate peace. In October 1915, Bulgaria declared war on Serbia, after which the Central Powers, together with their new Balkan ally, crossed the borders of Serbia, Montenegro and Albania. Having captured Romania and covered the Balkan flank, they turned against Italy.

War at sea. Control of the sea allowed the British to freely move troops and equipment from all parts of their empire to France. They kept sea lines of communication open for US merchant ships. German colonies were captured, and German trade through sea routes was suppressed. In general, the German fleet - except for the submarine one - was blocked in its ports. Only occasionally did small flotillas emerge to strike British seaside towns and attack Allied merchant ships. During the entire war, only one major naval battle took place - when the German fleet entered the North Sea and unexpectedly met with the British one off the Danish coast of Jutland. The Battle of Jutland May 31 - June 1, 1916 led to heavy losses on both sides: the British lost 14 ships, approx. 6800 people killed, captured and wounded; the Germans, who considered themselves victors, - 11 ships and approx. 3100 people killed and wounded. Nevertheless, the British forced the German fleet to retreat to Kiel, where it was effectively blocked. The German fleet no longer appeared on the high seas, and Great Britain remained the mistress of the seas. Having taken a dominant position at sea, the Allies gradually cut off the Central Powers from overseas sources of raw materials and food. Under international law, neutral countries, such as the United States, could sell goods that were not considered “war contraband” to other neutral countries, such as the Netherlands or Denmark, from where these goods could also be delivered to Germany. However, warring countries usually did not bind themselves to adherence to international law, and Great Britain had so expanded the list of goods considered smuggled that virtually nothing was allowed through its barriers in the North Sea. The naval blockade forced Germany to resort to drastic measures. Its only effective means at sea remained the submarine fleet, capable of easily bypassing surface barriers and sinking merchant ships of neutral countries that supplied the allies. It was the turn of the Entente countries to accuse the Germans of violating international law, which obliged them to rescue the crews and passengers of torpedoed ships. On February 18, 1915, the German government declared the waters around the British Isles a military zone and warned of the danger of ships from neutral countries entering them. On May 7, 1915, a German submarine torpedoed and sank the ocean-going steamer Lusitania with hundreds of passengers on board, including 115 US citizens. President William Wilson protested, and the United States and Germany exchanged harsh diplomatic notes.
Verdun and Somme. Germany was ready to make some concessions at sea and look for a way out of the impasse in actions on land. In April 1916, British troops had already suffered a serious defeat at Kut el-Amar in Mesopotamia, where 13,000 people surrendered to the Turks. On the continent, Germany was preparing to launch a large-scale offensive operation on the Western Front that would turn the tide of the war and force France to sue for peace. The ancient fortress of Verdun served as a key point of French defense. After an unprecedented artillery bombardment, 12 German divisions went on the offensive on February 21, 1916. The Germans advanced slowly until the beginning of July, but did not achieve their intended goals. The Verdun “meat grinder” clearly did not live up to the expectations of the German command. During the spring and summer of 1916, operations on the Eastern and Southwestern Fronts were of great importance. In March, Russian troops, at the request of the allies, carried out an operation near Lake Naroch, which significantly influenced the course of hostilities in France. The German command was forced to stop attacks on Verdun for some time and, keeping 0.5 million people on the Eastern Front, transfer an additional part of the reserves here. At the end of May 1916, the Russian High Command launched an offensive on the Southwestern Front. During the fighting, under the command of A.A. Brusilov, it was possible to achieve a breakthrough of the Austro-German troops to a depth of 80-120 km. Brusilov's troops occupied part of Galicia and Bukovina and entered the Carpathians. For the first time in the entire previous period of trench warfare, the front was broken through. If this offensive had been supported by other fronts, it would have ended in disaster for the Central Powers. To ease the pressure on Verdun, on July 1, 1916, the Allies launched a counterattack on the Somme River, near Bapaume. For four months - until November - there were continuous attacks. Anglo-French troops, having lost approx. 800 thousand people were never able to break through the German front. Finally, in December, the German command decided to stop the offensive, which cost the lives of 300,000 German soldiers. The 1916 campaign claimed more than 1 million lives, but did not bring tangible results to either side.
Foundations for peace negotiations. At the beginning of the 20th century. The methods of warfare have completely changed. The length of fronts increased significantly, armies fought on fortified lines and launched attacks from trenches, and machine guns and artillery began to play a huge role in offensive battles. New types of weapons were used: tanks, fighters and bombers, submarines, asphyxiating gases, hand grenades. Every tenth resident of the warring country was mobilized, and 10% of the population was engaged in supplying the army. In the warring countries there was almost no place left for ordinary civilian life: everything was subordinated to titanic efforts aimed at maintaining the military machine. The total cost of the war, including property losses, was variously estimated to range from $208 billion to $359 billion. By the end of 1916, both sides were tired of the war, and it seemed that the time had come to begin peace negotiations.
Second period.
On December 12, 1916, the Central Powers turned to the United States with a request to transmit a note to the allies with a proposal to begin peace negotiations. The Entente rejected this proposal, suspecting that it was made with the aim of breaking up the coalition. Moreover, she did not want to talk about a peace that did not include the payment of reparations and recognition of the right of nations to self-determination. President Wilson decided to initiate peace negotiations and on December 18, 1916, asked the warring countries to determine mutually acceptable peace terms. On December 12, 1916, Germany proposed convening a peace conference. The German civil authorities clearly sought peace, but they were opposed by the generals, especially General Ludendorff, who was confident of victory. The Allies specified their conditions: the restoration of Belgium, Serbia and Montenegro; withdrawal of troops from France, Russia and Romania; reparations; the return of Alsace and Lorraine to France; liberation of subject peoples, including Italians, Poles, Czechs, elimination of the Turkish presence in Europe. The Allies did not trust Germany and therefore did not take the idea of ​​peace negotiations seriously. Germany intended to take part in the peace conference in December 1916, relying on the benefits of its military position. It ended with the Allies signing secret agreements designed to defeat the Central Powers. Under these agreements, Great Britain claimed the German colonies and part of Persia; France was to gain Alsace and Lorraine, as well as establish control on the left bank of the Rhine; Russia acquired Constantinople; Italy - Trieste, Austrian Tyrol, most of Albania; Turkey's possessions were to be divided among all allies.
US entry into the war. At the beginning of the war, public opinion in the United States was divided: some openly sided with the Allies; others - such as Irish Americans who were hostile to England and German Americans - supported Germany. Over time, government officials and ordinary citizens became increasingly inclined to side with the Entente. This was facilitated by several factors, most notably the propaganda of the Entente countries and the submarine war of Germany. On January 22, 1917, President Wilson outlined peace terms acceptable to the United States in the Senate. The main one boiled down to the demand for “peace without victory,” i.e. without annexations and indemnities; others included the principles of equality of peoples, the right of nations to self-determination and representation, freedom of the seas and trade, the reduction of armaments, and the rejection of the system of rival alliances. If peace were made on the basis of these principles, Wilson argued, a world organization of states could be created that would guarantee security for all peoples. On January 31, 1917, the German government announced the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare with the aim of disrupting enemy communications. The submarines blocked the Entente's supply lines and put the Allies in an extremely difficult position. There was growing hostility toward Germany among Americans, since the blockade of Europe from the West foreshadowed troubles for the United States as well. In case of victory, Germany could establish control over the entire Atlantic Ocean. Along with the above-mentioned circumstances, other motives also pushed the United States to war on the side of its allies. US economic interests were directly linked to the Entente countries, as military orders led to the rapid growth of American industry. In 1916, the warlike spirit was spurred by plans to develop combat training programs. Anti-German sentiment among North Americans increased even more after the publication on March 1, 1917 of Zimmermann's secret dispatch of January 16, 1917, intercepted by British intelligence and transferred to Wilson. German Foreign Minister A. Zimmermann offered Mexico the states of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona if it supported Germany's actions in response to the US entry into the war on the side of the Entente. By early April, anti-German sentiment in the United States had reached such intensity that Congress voted on April 6, 1917 to declare war on Germany.
Russia's exit from the war. In February 1917, a revolution occurred in Russia. Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate the throne. The Provisional Government (March - November 1917) could no longer conduct active military operations on the fronts, since the population was extremely tired of the war. On December 15, 1917, the Bolsheviks, who took power in November 1917, signed an armistice agreement with the Central Powers at the cost of huge concessions. Three months later, on March 3, 1918, the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty was concluded. Russia renounced its rights to Poland, Estonia, Ukraine, part of Belarus, Latvia, Transcaucasia and Finland. Ardahan, Kars and Batum went to Turkey; huge concessions were made to Germany and Austria. In total, Russia lost approx. 1 million sq. km. She was also obliged to pay Germany an indemnity in the amount of 6 billion marks.
Third period.
The Germans had ample reason to be optimistic. The German leadership used the weakening of Russia, and then its withdrawal from the war, to replenish resources. Now it could transfer the eastern army to the west and concentrate troops on the main directions of attack. The Allies, not knowing where the attack would come from, were forced to strengthen positions along the entire front. American aid was late. In France and Great Britain, defeatist sentiments grew with alarming force. On October 24, 1917, Austro-Hungarian troops broke through the Italian front near Caporetto and defeated the Italian army.
German offensive 1918. On the foggy morning of March 21, 1918, the Germans launched a massive attack on British positions near Saint-Quentin. The British were forced to retreat almost to Amiens, and its loss threatened to break the Anglo-French united front. The fate of Calais and Boulogne hung in the balance. On May 27, the Germans launched a powerful offensive against the French in the south, pushing them back to Chateau-Thierry. The situation of 1914 repeated itself: the Germans reached the Marne River just 60 km from Paris. However, the offensive cost Germany major losses - both human and material. The German troops were exhausted, their supply system was shaken. The Allies managed to neutralize German submarines by creating convoy and anti-submarine defense systems. At the same time, the blockade of the Central Powers was carried out so effectively that food shortages began to be felt in Austria and Germany. Soon the long-awaited American aid began to arrive in France. The ports from Bordeaux to Brest were filled with American troops. By the beginning of the summer of 1918, about 1 million American soldiers had landed in France. On July 15, 1918, the Germans made their last attempt to break through at Chateau-Thierry. The second decisive battle of the Marne unfolded. In the event of a breakthrough, the French would have to abandon Reims, which, in turn, could lead to an Allied retreat along the entire front. In the first hours of the offensive, German troops advanced, but not as quickly as expected.
The last Allied offensive. On July 18, 1918, a counterattack by American and French troops began in order to relieve pressure on Chateau-Thierry. At first they advanced with difficulty, but on August 2 they took Soissons. At the Battle of Amiens on August 8, German troops suffered a heavy defeat, and this undermined their morale. Previously, German Chancellor Prince von Hertling believed that by September the Allies would sue for peace. “We hoped to take Paris by the end of July,” he recalled. “That’s what we thought on the fifteenth of July. And on the eighteenth, even the greatest optimists among us realized that everything was lost.” Some military personnel convinced Kaiser Wilhelm II that the war was lost, but Ludendorff refused to admit defeat. The Allied offensive began on other fronts as well. On June 20-26, the Austro-Hungarian troops were thrown back across the Piave River, their losses amounted to 150 thousand people. Ethnic unrest flared up in Austria-Hungary - not without the influence of the Allies, who encouraged the desertion of Poles, Czechs and South Slavs. The Central Powers mustered their remaining forces to hold off the expected invasion of Hungary. The path to Germany was open. Tanks and massive artillery shelling were important factors in the offensive. At the beginning of August 1918, attacks on key German positions intensified. In his Memoirs, Ludendorff called August 8 - the beginning of the Battle of Amiens - "a black day for the German army." The German front was torn apart: entire divisions surrendered into captivity almost without a fight. By the end of September even Ludendorff was ready to capitulate. After the September offensive of the Entente on the Soloniki front, Bulgaria signed an armistice on September 29. A month later, Türkiye capitulated, and on November 3, Austria-Hungary. To negotiate peace in Germany, a moderate government was formed headed by Prince Max of Baden, who already on October 5, 1918 invited President Wilson to begin the negotiation process. In the last week of October, the Italian army launched a general offensive against Austria-Hungary. By October 30, the resistance of the Austrian troops was broken. Italian cavalry and armored vehicles made a swift raid behind enemy lines and captured the Austrian headquarters in Vittorio Veneto, the city that gave the entire battle its name. On October 27, Emperor Charles I made an appeal for a truce, and on October 29, 1918 he agreed to conclude peace on any terms.
Revolution in Germany. On October 29, the Kaiser secretly left Berlin and went to the general headquarters, feeling safe only under the protection of the army. On the same day, in the port of Kiel, the crew of two warships disobeyed and refused to go to sea on a combat mission. By November 4, Kiel came under the control of the rebel sailors. 40,000 armed men intended to establish councils of soldiers' and sailors' deputies in northern Germany on the Russian model. By November 6, the rebels took power in Lübeck, Hamburg and Bremen. Meanwhile, the Supreme Allied Commander, General Foch, said that he was ready to receive representatives of the German government and discuss the terms of the armistice with them. The Kaiser was informed that the army was no longer under his command. On November 9, he abdicated the throne and a republic was proclaimed. The next day, the German Emperor fled to the Netherlands, where he lived in exile until his death (d. 1941). On November 11, at the Retonde station in the Compiegne Forest (France), the German delegation signed the Compiegne Armistice. The Germans were ordered to liberate the occupied territories within two weeks, including Alsace and Lorraine, the left bank of the Rhine and the bridgeheads in Mainz, Koblenz and Cologne; establish a neutral zone on the right bank of the Rhine; transfer to the Allies 5,000 heavy and field guns, 25,000 machine guns, 1,700 aircraft, 5,000 steam locomotives, 150,000 railway cars, 5,000 automobiles; release all prisoners immediately. The Navy was required to surrender all submarines and almost all surface fleet and return all Allied merchant ships captured by Germany. The political provisions of the treaty provided for the denunciation of the Brest-Litovsk and Bucharest peace treaties; financial - payment of reparations for destruction and return of valuables. The Germans tried to negotiate an armistice based on Wilson's Fourteen Points, which they believed could serve as a preliminary basis for a "peace without victory." The terms of the truce required almost unconditional surrender. The Allies dictated their terms to a bloodless Germany.
Conclusion of peace. The peace conference took place in 1919 in Paris; During the sessions, agreements regarding five peace treaties were determined. After its completion, the following were signed: 1) the Treaty of Versailles with Germany on June 28, 1919; 2) Saint-Germain Peace Treaty with Austria on September 10, 1919; 3) Neuilly Peace Treaty with Bulgaria November 27, 1919; 4) Trianon Peace Treaty with Hungary on June 4, 1920; 5) Peace Treaty of Sevres with Turkey on August 20, 1920. Subsequently, according to the Treaty of Lausanne on July 24, 1923, changes were made to the Treaty of Sevres. Thirty-two states were represented at the peace conference in Paris. Each delegation had its own staff of specialists who provided information regarding the geographical, historical and economic situation of the countries on which decisions were made. After Orlando left the internal council, not satisfied with the solution to the problem of territories in the Adriatic, the main architect of the post-war world became the “Big Three” - Wilson, Clemenceau and Lloyd George. Wilson compromised on several important points in order to achieve the main goal of creating the League of Nations. He agreed to the disarmament of only the Central Powers, although he initially insisted on general disarmament. The size of the German army was limited and was supposed to be no more than 115,000 people; universal conscription was abolished; The German armed forces were to be staffed by volunteers with a service life of 12 years for soldiers and up to 45 years for officers. Germany was prohibited from having combat aircraft and submarines. Similar conditions were contained in peace treaties signed with Austria, Hungary and Bulgaria. A fierce debate ensued between Clemenceau and Wilson over the status of the left bank of the Rhine. The French, for security reasons, intended to annex the area with its powerful coal mines and industry and create an autonomous Rhineland state. France's plan contradicted the proposals of Wilson, who opposed annexations and favored self-determination of nations. A compromise was reached after Wilson agreed to sign loose war treaties with France and Great Britain, under which the United States and Great Britain pledged to support France in the event of a German attack. The following decision was made: the left bank of the Rhine and a 50-kilometer strip on the right bank are demilitarized, but remain part of Germany and under its sovereignty. The Allies occupied a number of points in this zone for a period of 15 years. The coal deposits known as the Saar Basin also became the property of France for 15 years; the Saar region itself came under the control of the League of Nations commission. After the expiration of the 15-year period, a plebiscite was envisaged on the issue of statehood of this territory. Italy got Trentino, Trieste and most of Istria, but not the island of Fiume. Nevertheless, Italian extremists captured Fiume. Italy and the newly created state of Yugoslavia were given the right to resolve the issue of the disputed territories themselves. According to the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was deprived of its colonial possessions. Great Britain acquired German East Africa and the western part of German Cameroon and Togo; South-West Africa, the north-eastern regions of New Guinea with the adjacent archipelago and the Samoan islands were transferred to the British dominions - the Union of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. France received most of German Togo and eastern Cameroon. Japan received the German-owned Marshall, Mariana and Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean and the port of Qingdao in China. Secret treaties among the victorious powers also envisaged the division of the Ottoman Empire, but after the uprising of the Turks led by Mustafa Kemal, the allies agreed to revise their demands. The new Treaty of Lausanne repealed the Treaty of Sèvres and allowed Turkey to retain Eastern Thrace. Türkiye regained Armenia. Syria went to France; Great Britain received Mesopotamia, Transjordan and Palestine; the Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea were given to Italy; the Arab territory of Hejaz on the Red Sea coast was to gain independence. Violations of the principle of self-determination of nations caused Wilson's disagreement; in particular, he sharply protested against the transfer of the Chinese port of Qingdao to Japan. Japan agreed to return this territory to China in the future and fulfilled its promise. Wilson's advisers proposed that instead of actually transferring the colonies to new owners, they should be allowed to govern as trustees of the League of Nations. Such territories were called “mandatory”. Although Lloyd George and Wilson opposed punitive measures for damages caused, the fight on this issue ended in victory for the French side. Reparations were imposed on Germany; The question of what should be included in the list of destruction presented for payment was also subject to lengthy discussion. At first, the exact amount was not mentioned, only in 1921 its size was determined - 152 billion marks (33 billion dollars); this amount was subsequently reduced. The principle of self-determination of nations became key for many peoples represented at the peace conference. Poland was restored. The task of determining its boundaries was not easy; Of particular importance was the transfer to her of the so-called. the "Polish corridor", which gave the country access to the Baltic Sea, separating East Prussia from the rest of Germany. New independent states emerged in the Baltic region: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. By the time the conference was convened, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy had already ceased to exist, and Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia and Romania arose in its place; the borders between these states were controversial. The problem turned out to be complex due to the mixed settlement of different peoples. When establishing the borders of the Czech state, the interests of the Slovaks were affected. Romania doubled its territory at the expense of Transylvania, Bulgarian and Hungarian lands. Yugoslavia was created from the old kingdoms of Serbia and Montenegro, parts of Bulgaria and Croatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina and Banat as part of Timisoara. Austria remained a small state with a population of 6.5 million Austrian Germans, a third of whom lived in impoverished Vienna. The population of Hungary had decreased greatly and was now approx. 8 million people. At the Paris Conference, an exceptionally stubborn struggle was waged around the idea of ​​​​creating a League of Nations. According to the plans of Wilson, General J. Smuts, Lord R. Cecil and their other like-minded people, the League of Nations was supposed to become a guarantee of security for all peoples. Finally, the League's charter was adopted and, after much debate, four working groups were formed: the Assembly, the Council of the League of Nations, the Secretariat and the Permanent Court of International Justice. The League of Nations established mechanisms that could be used by its member states to prevent war. Within its framework, various commissions were also formed to solve other problems.
See also LEAGUE OF NATIONS. The League of Nations agreement represented that part of the Treaty of Versailles that Germany was also offered to sign. But the German delegation refused to sign it on the grounds that the agreement did not comply with Wilson's Fourteen Points. Ultimately, the German National Assembly recognized the treaty on June 23, 1919. The dramatic signing took place five days later at the Palace of Versailles, where in 1871 Bismarck, ecstatic with victory in the Franco-Prussian War, proclaimed the creation of the German Empire.
LITERATURE
History of the First World War, in 2 vols. M., 1975 Ignatiev A.V. Russia in the imperialist wars of the early 20th century. Russia, the USSR and international conflicts of the first half of the 20th century. M., 1989 To the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War. M., 1990 Pisarev Yu.A. Secrets of the First World War. Russia and Serbia in 1914-1915. M., 1990 Kudrina Yu.V. Turning to the origins of the First World War. Paths to safety. M., 1994 World War I: debatable problems of history. M., 1994 World War I: pages of history. Chernivtsi, 1994 Bobyshev S.V., Seregin S.V. The First World War and prospects for social development in Russia. Komsomolsk-on-Amur, 1995 World War I: Prologue of the 20th century. M., 1998
Wikipedia

The First World War in world history is conventionally divided into three periods, or stages:

1. Maneuverable - summer 1914 - summer 1915;
2. Positional – 1916 – 1917;
3. Final – 1917 – November 1918.

The maneuver period of the First World War was named this way for a reason, since the fighting that began in the summer of 1914 could not be called either retreat or offensive; the warring parties carried out a number of maneuvers that helped them gain a foothold in their positions, leaving the enemy with the most unsuccessful ones from the point of view of strategy and battleground tactics.

The maneuvers undertaken did not involve active combat operations, but they still existed, since on the Eastern front the Austrian forces very actively tried to resist the Russians, and in the west the Germans opposed the British and French, while two Russian armies of generals Samsonov marched across the territory of East Prussia and Rehnenkampf. Fearing that they would be encircled during this maneuver, the German command, in turn, undertook a retaliatory maneuver - transferring part of the troops from near the Marne to the eastern front.

The support received made it possible to stop the Russians, but the British and French, having learned about it, intensified their offensive in the direction of the Marne and broke through the front, trying to encircle the German army. In principle, both maneuvers had very good chances of success, but due to the complete incompetence of the command and the lack of speed of action necessary in this case, both of them did not end quite as the Entente allies expected. At the same time, the Battle of Galicia, which began in the fall of 1914, ended in the complete defeat of the German army, again due to the fact that the Russians undertook a completely unexpected maneuver for the Germans, approaching the enemy where he least expected it. Only towards the end of autumn did the Germans manage to stop the breakthrough of Russian troops in Poland and prevent the transfer of hostilities to German territory. As a result of a very successful maneuver by the enemy, the front was held by Russian soldiers only due to personal courage and bravery, which also had to be demonstrated in the battles with the Turks in the Caucasus that followed in December of the same year.

Having considered all possible scenarios for the development of events, the German command decided in the spring of 1915 to pay more attention to the Eastern Front, transferring most of the troops in reserve to suppress the military power of Russia, knowing full well that without the support of the latter, neither England nor France would be able to fight for long . in April, the German armies began to actively prepare for an offensive, during which the Germans regained Galicia and Poland, and the Russian troops were forced to retreat; the enemy entered Russian territory. Almost all the lands conquered during the summer-autumn maneuvers of 1914 were lost. A new positional stage has begun in the war.

Position period

By the beginning of this stage, the front was an elongated line between the Baltic and Black Seas. Courland and Finland were completely occupied by German troops, the front line approached Riga, advancing along the Western Dvina, right up to the Dvinsk fortress, some Russian provinces, including Minsk, were occupied by Germany. In some places, the border that ran through Bessarabia extended all the way to Romania, which was still maintaining a neutral position. Since the front line had no irregularities, the armies opposing each other filled it almost completely, in some places even mixing with each other, there was no way to advance further and the armies began to strengthen their own positions, actually moving on to the so-called positional war. At the same time, the obvious failed victory in the east did not please the German command much, so it decided in the following 1916 to send most of its forces to suppress the resistance of the French troops, but in the famous battle of Verdun and in the no less famous Jutland naval battle, the Germans were unable to achieve All the tasks set for themselves, the Entente allies clearly won, losing thousands of soldiers, but not retreating a step back. In the winter of 1916, Germany asked for peace, but this request was rejected, since the peace conditions did not satisfy British, French and even Russian ambitions. The war continued, which meant the quick and complete defeat of exhausted Germany and its weakened allies - Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria and the victory of the Entente, which by this time was receiving significant support from America, which actually ends the positional stage in the war, Germany moves on to a clear retreat .

Final period

At the final stage of hostilities, one important political event occurred that had a direct impact on the plans of the Allies - the Revolution in Russia and the latter’s premature withdrawal from hostilities by concluding a separate peace with Germany. Neither England nor France expected such actions from Russia and were absolutely unprepared for them, considering them illegal and unlawful, leading to negative consequences for these countries - emboldened Germany tried to gain time and recapture part of the lands captured by the Allies, from which Russian troops were leaving.

A few months before the events mentioned above, in November 1917, the Austro-Hungarian army defeated the Italian allies of the Entente and stood on the approaches to Venice, stopped by the forces of the British and French gathered there. But at the same time, Germany and its allies suffered defeat on all fronts, including the African one, being pressed by an ever-increasing enemy. In March 1918, peace was finally concluded between Germany and Russia, which went down in history as the Brest-Litovsk peace, but this did not save the situation; Germany, in turn, already in the summer asked for peace from its former Entente allies, agreeing to fulfill the conditions they proposed. As a result, on June 28, 1919, Germany and its allies signed the Treaty of Versailles, which ended not only the third period of the First World War, but also its entirety.

Main reasons for the war:

1. the struggle of capitalist monopolies for markets, sources of raw materials - that is, the struggle for colonies. At the end of the nineteenth century. Germany and the USA developed rapidly, almost all the colonies belonged to England and France and did not want to share with anyone

Interstate contradictions between: A. England and Germany for dominance on the seas; B. Austria-Hungary and Russia for influence on the Balkan Peninsula and Serbia

3. distrust of European governments towards each other

Periodization of war

1. first period (maneuverable) - 1914 - 1915. - characterized by the conduct of large-scale maneuver operations on the eastern and western fronts, which did not lead to decisive results, ending with the transition to positional methods of struggle on all fronts at the end of 1915;

2. in the second (positional) period, 1916 - 1917. – the warring parties are trying to overcome the positional deadlock; military operations of this period are limited and indecisive;

3. in the third (final) period, including the 1918 campaign, the military-political situation associated with the revolution in Russia and the entry of the United States into the war changes dramatically.

1. Political: 4 empires collapsed, revolutions, the establishment of new types of regimes.

2. International legal: a new system of relations, territorial changes, the League of Nations, the US entry onto the world stage.

3. Economic: losses and income.

4. Socio-demographic: new social systems, losses, sexual revolution.

5. Cultural: development of science.

The Treaty of Versailles (June 28, 1919) ended the First World War. ü Germany returned Alsace-Lorraine to France); Belgium - the districts of Malmedy and Eupen, as well as the so-called neutral and Prussian parts of the Morenet; Poland - Posen (Poznan), parts of Pomerania (Pomerania) and other territories of West Prussia; The city of Danzig (Gdansk) and its district was declared a “free city”; The Memel (Klaipeda) region (Memelland) was transferred to the control of the victorious powers - a total of 67 thousand square meters. km and more than 5.5 million people.

The German army was limited to 100 thousand people.

Germany's entire navy was confiscated.

Germany is prohibited from creating and producing new types of weapons.

Germany had to pay reparations in the amount of 132 billion gold marks to the victorious countries.

Brief conclusions: The terms of the peace treaties, which consolidated the dominance of Western democracies (England and the USA) in the post-war world, could not but cause a deep crisis and the growth of revanchist sentiments in the defeated countries. This contributed to the rise to power in Germany of radical political forces (National Socialists). Territorial changes in Europe (especially for Germany) provoked territorial disputes and a desire to revise borders, which in many ways provoked the start of a new major war in Europe, which swept the whole world.

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