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Western Front of World War I
Liege Border Great Retreat Marne (1) Antwerp Running to the sea Flanders Neuve Chapelle Ypres Artois (2) Artois (3) Verdun Somme Arras Vimy Ridge Ena (2) Messina Passchendaele Cambrai Spring Offensive Marne (2) Hundred Day Offensive

Western Front- one of the fronts of the First World War.

This front covered the territory of Belgium, Luxembourg, Alsace, Lorraine, the Rhineland provinces of Germany, as well as northeastern France. The length of the front from the Scheldt River to the Swiss border was 480 km, in depth - 500 km, from the Rhine to Calais. The western part of the theater of military operations was a plain with an extensive road network, convenient for the operations of large military formations; the eastern part is predominantly mountainous (Ardennes, Argonne, Vosges) limited the freedom of maneuver of troops. A special feature of the Western Front was its industrial importance (coal mines, iron ore, developed manufacturing industry).

The German command took the French fortifications on the Franco-German border very seriously; back in 1905, Schlieffen wrote:

France should be considered as a great fortress. In the outer belt of fortifications, the Belfort - Verdun section is almost impregnable...

Belgian fortresses were also of great strategic importance: Liege, Namur, Antwerp.

With the beginning of mobilization, the parties began to transfer troops to deployment areas. The German command deployed 7 armies and 4 cavalry corps, up to 5,000 guns, against France; in total, the group of German troops numbered 1,600,000 people. The German command planned to deliver a crushing blow to France through Belgian territory. However, despite the fact that the main attention of the German command was focused on the invasion of Belgium, the Germans took all measures to prevent the French army advancing in Alsace-Lorraine from capturing this region.

German troops were opposed by French, Belgian and British troops. The French army was deployed in five armies and one cavalry corps, with 4,000 guns. The number of French troops was 1,300,000 people. In connection with the advance of the German army through Belgium to Paris, the French command had to abandon the “Plan No. 17” envisaged before the war, which involved the capture of Alsace and Lorraine. In this regard, the final locations of the French armies and their composition at the end of August differed significantly from those planned by mobilization “Plan No. 17”.

The Belgian army was deployed in six infantry and one cavalry divisions, with 312 guns. The number of Belgian troops was 117 thousand people.

British troops landed at French ports consisting of two infantry corps and one cavalry division. Only by August 20 did British troops numbering 87 thousand people, with 328 guns, concentrate in the Maubeuge, Le Cateau area. It is worth noting that the allied forces did not have a single command, which had the most negative impact on the actions of the Entente troops.

By the end of the deployment, the forces of the sides were approximately equal in number (1,600,000 German troops versus 1,562,000 Allied troops). However, the strategic initiative was on the side of the Germans. Their deployed troops represented an almost closed concentrated force. The Allied troops had an unfortunate location. The front line of the French troops curved from Verdun to the northwest along the French-Belgian border and ended at Irson. British troops were deployed in the Maubeuge area, the Belgian army had its own deployment area.

Balance of forces before the start of the war

Allied armies:

1914 Campaign: German invasion of Belgium and France

Map of the 1914 campaign

In August 1914, the implementation of the adjusted Schlieffen plan began, which envisaged a quick attack on France through Belgian territory, bypassing the French army from the north and encircling it near the border with Germany. On August 2, Luxembourg was occupied without resistance. On August 4, German generals Alexander von Kluck and Karl von Bülow launched an invasion of Belgium, which rejected the demand for German troops to pass through its territory.

The pre-war French "Plan No. 17" called for the capture of Alsace and Lorraine. On August 7, the 1st and 2nd Armies began attacking Saarburg in Lorraine and Mulhouse in Alsace, but on August 14 the troops retreated due to the German advance through Belgium.

Border battle

After the capture of Belgium and Luxembourg, German troops (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th armies) entered French territory in the second decade of August, where they met the French (3rd, 4th and 5th) and the British army.

In the Ardennes operation, the 3rd and 4th armies were defeated by the 5th and 4th German armies, in the Sambro-Meuse operation, the 5th French army was defeated by the 2nd and 3rd German armies, in the operation at Mons 1 -The German army drove back the British army. On August 20-22, the 1st and 2nd French armies, which launched an offensive in Lorraine on August 14, were defeated by the 6th and 7th German armies.

German troops continued their attack on Paris, winning victories at Le Cateau (August 26), Nelles and Prouillard (August -29), Saint-Quentin and Giza (August 29-30), and reached the Marne River by September 5. Meanwhile, the French formed the 6th and 9th armies, strengthening their troops in this direction, and the Germans in August transferred two corps to East Prussia against the strengthened and mobilized Russian army.

Battle of the Marne

"Running to the Sea"

A positional front was formed from the Swiss border to the Oise River, but in the west there remained free territory to the North Sea. On September 16, three operations of the Anglo-French and German troops began, called “Run to the Sea”: -September 28, an attempt by the 2nd French Army between the Oise and Somme rivers; September 29 - October 9 attempt by the French 10th Army on the Scarpe River; -15 October attempt by the British army on the River Lys. During the operations, both sides tried to bypass the enemy's flanks, but after stubborn battles they went on the defensive.

In February-March, the French organized an attack in Champagne, but advanced only 460 meters, losing 50 thousand people.

Air battles

Main article: Aviation in the First World War

Aircraft production grew at a high rate: if at the beginning of the war England and France had 186 aircraft, Germany and Austria-Hungary - 297, then by the end of the war the parties had, respectively, 5079 and 3352 aircraft (27 and 11 times more).

Further military actions

Ruins of Carenci after being taken by the French

Masking the machine gun position. 1915

The last Allied attack in the spring of 1915 was the Battle of Artois to capture the Vimy Ridge. The French 10th Army, after a six-day bombardment, launched an offensive on May 9 and advanced 5 km. However, the troops retreated after the Germans used artillery. By May 15, the offensive was stopped.

In September, the Allies launched a major offensive (Third Battle of Artois): French troops in Champagne and British troops in Los. The French spent the summer preparing for a future offensive. On September 22, the bombing of targets began, the location of which was determined using aerial photography. The main offensive began on September 25 and developed successfully, despite the presence of wire obstacles and machine gun points. However, the Germans, anticipating this attack, strengthened their defense lines and were able to repel the attack, which lasted until November.

1916 Campaign: Bleeding the Troops

According to the plan of the Chief of the General Staff, Erich von Falkenhayn, Germany was to conduct the main military operations in 1916 with France, forcing it to capitulate.

Two strategies were adopted. The first provided for the unlimited use of the submarine fleet to cut off foreign supplies. The goal of the second strategy was to launch a targeted strike against enemy ground forces instead of a large-scale breakthrough of the front. To inflict maximum losses, it was planned to organize an attack on important strategic positions. The target of the main attack was the Verdun ledge, which was the support of the French front, located near the border with Germany and threatened German communications. The operation was planned with the expectation that the French, out of a sense of patriotism, would defend the city to the last soldier.

Battle of Verdun

To carry out the operation, Germany concentrated 6.5 divisions on a 15-kilometer section of the front against 2 French divisions. The operation began on February 21. During the offensive, the French lost almost all of their forts by February 25, but there was no breakthrough of the front. The Naroch operation of Russian troops on the Eastern Front eased the position of the French troops; the “sacred road” Bar-le-Duc - Verdun was organized to supply the troops.

Since March, the German troops transferred the main blow to the left bank of the river, but by May they had advanced only 6-7 km. A counterattack by French forces in May was unsuccessful.

The actions of Russian troops in the east and the Allied operation on the Somme River allowed French troops to launch an offensive in October, and by the end of December the situation had been largely restored. Both sides suffered huge losses in the Battle of Verdun (about 300 thousand people each), the German command’s plan to break through the French front was not realized.

Battle of the Somme

In the spring of 1916, heavy losses of French troops began to cause concern among the Allies, and therefore the original plan for the Somme operation was changed: British troops were to play the main role in the operation. The operation was supposed to help French and Russian troops.

Having analyzed the air battles over Verdun, the Allies in the battles on the Somme began to adhere to new tactics, the goal of which was complete air superiority over the enemy. The skies over the Somme were cleared of German air power, and the Allied success led to a reorganization of German air power, with both sides using large air force units instead of individual pilots.

British infantry advance near Zhenshi

The battle continued through July and August with some success for the British, despite the strengthening of the German defense line. By August, the British command had decided to move from front-breaking tactics to a series of operations carried out by small military units to straighten the front line in preparation for a massive bombardment.

"Unlimited Submarine Warfare"

Back in 1915, Germany began “unlimited submarine warfare,” but after the sinking of the Lusitania and Arabic ships, there was a danger of the United States entering the war, and submarine warfare began to be waged only against warships. In 1917, according to the plans of the German command, the ground forces were to go on the defensive, and at sea it was decided to start an “unlimited war” again (announced on February 1). Its goal was an economic blockade of Great Britain and, as a consequence, its exit from the war within six months, while US troops could play a significant role on the Western Front only after a year.

By mid-1917, the actions of German submarines caused serious economic damage to Great Britain, but the creation of an anti-submarine defense system reduced the losses of the merchant fleet, and the “unrestricted war” did not bring the desired result.

Nivelle's offensive

By April, the Allies had concentrated significant military resources to carry out the offensive operation: 110 divisions, over 11 thousand guns, 200 tanks, about 1 thousand aircraft. The total number of Allied troops on the Western Front was about 3.9 million against 2.5 million German troops.

Despite the German withdrawal beyond the Hindenburg Line, a large-scale Allied offensive began in April according to Nivelle’s plan. On April 9, British troops went on the offensive in the Arras area (see: Battle of Arras (1917)), on April 12 - near Saint-Quentin, on April 16 - French troops in the Reims area, the offensive continued until the end of April - beginning of May. After taking two lines of defense, the offensive was stopped, the Allied losses amounted to over 200 thousand people, of which 120 thousand were in French troops. The unsuccessful offensive undermined the morale of the French troops, in which mutinies began, involving 54 divisions, and 20 thousand people deserted. The soldiers heeded calls for patriotism and a sense of civic duty and returned to defensive positions, but they refused to go on the attack. In France itself, a wave of public indignation arose, and on May 15, Nivelle was replaced as commander-in-chief by Henri Pétain.

In the winter of 1916-1917, Germany's tactics for conducting air battles changed significantly, a training school was opened in Valenciennes, and new aircraft models entered the troops. The result was German superiority over the Allies in air combat, especially against the poorly trained British, who used outdated aircraft. During an air battle over Arras, the British fought in a month that would go down in history as “Bloody April.” "Bloody April"), lost 245 aircraft and 316 pilots, the Germans lost 66 aircraft and 114 pilots.

Further hostilities

However, as a result of the rapid attack, the infantry fell behind, and the tanks advanced far ahead, suffering serious losses. On November 30, the 2nd German Army launched a surprise counterattack, pushing the Allied forces back to their original lines. Despite repelling the attack, tanks proved their effectiveness in battle, and the battle itself marked the beginning of the widespread use of tanks and the development of anti-tank defense.

Although the Allies did not achieve a breakthrough at the front, the result of the 1917 campaign was the collapse of the German command’s plans to achieve victory through “unlimited submarine warfare” and its transition to strategic defense. The Allied troops took the offensive initiative.

1918 Campaign: Defeat of Germany

Map of the 1918 campaign

German offensive

The first German offensive began on March 21. Superiority in forces (62 divisions, 6824 guns and about 1000 aircraft against 32 divisions, about 3000 guns and about 500 aircraft from the British) allowed the German troops to advance 60 km in the first 8 days of fighting. In response, the Allies brought reserve troops into battle and by April 4 drove back the German troops, inflicting 230 thousand casualties on them.

On April 14, Ferdinand Foch was appointed Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, which allowed for better coordination of the actions of the British and French armies.

German troops also carried out offensives in the area of ​​the Lys River (April 9 - May 1), the Aisne River (May 27 - June 13), between Montdidier and Noyon (June -13). Each time, the initially successful development of attacks by German troops ended in failure: having advanced several tens of kilometers, they could not overcome the Allied defenses.

On July 15, the last great offensive of German troops began on the Marne River (see: Battle of the Marne (1918)). The troops of the 1st and 3rd armies crossed the river, but were able to advance only 6 km. At the same time, troops of the 7th Army unsuccessfully attacked the 6th French Army at Reims. On July 17, the Allied forces stopped the advance of the German armies and on July 18 launched a counteroffensive, pushing the Germans back to their original positions by August 4.

Allied counter-offensive

Belgian machine gunner on the front line in 1918

-On August 13, the Allies, with the forces of the 4th British, 1st and 3rd French armies, carried out the Amiens operation, during which the Amiens salient, occupied by the 2nd and 18th German armies, was eliminated.

The operation began suddenly, without artillery preparation; With the support of artillery, Allied infantry and tanks advanced 11 km during the first day of the offensive. Ludendorff called August 8 “the black day of the German army.” Over the next five days of the operation, the front line was moved back another 8-9 km.

-September 15, American troops successfully carried out their first major operation - an attack on the Saint-Mihiel salient. In the summer of 1918, 300 thousand American soldiers arrived in Europe every month. By September, their number reached 1.2 million people, and by the end of the war - 2.1 million, which made it possible to eliminate Germany's advantage in manpower, which transferred additional formations from the east.

On September 26, having an advantage over German troops (202 divisions versus 187), the Allies launched a general offensive along the entire front from Verdun to the North Sea. Exhausted by the four-year war, German troops began to surrender. Ludendorff was replaced in October

First World War (1914 - 1918)

The Russian Empire collapsed. One of the goals of the war has been achieved.

Chamberlain

The First World War lasted from August 1, 1914 to November 11, 1918. 38 states with a population of 62% of the world took part in it. This war was quite controversial and extremely contradictory in modern history. I specifically quoted Chamberlain’s words in the epigraph in order to once again emphasize this inconsistency. A prominent politician in England (Russia's war ally) says that by overthrowing the autocracy in Russia one of the goals of the war has been achieved!

The Balkan countries played a major role in the beginning of the war. They were not independent. Their policies (both foreign and domestic) were greatly influenced by England. Germany had by that time lost its influence in this region, although it controlled Bulgaria for a long time.

• Entente. Russian Empire, France, Great Britain. The allies were the USA, Italy, Romania, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
• Triple Alliance. Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire. Later they were joined by the Bulgarian kingdom, and the coalition became known as the “Quadruple Alliance”.

The following large countries took part in the war: Austria-Hungary (July 27, 1914 - November 3, 1918), Germany (August 1, 1914 - November 11, 1918), Turkey (October 29, 1914 - October 30, 1918), Bulgaria (October 14, 1915 - 29 September 1918). Entente countries and allies: Russia (August 1, 1914 - March 3, 1918), France (August 3, 1914), Belgium (August 3, 1914), Great Britain (August 4, 1914), Italy (May 23, 1915), Romania (August 27, 1916) .

One more important point. Initially, Italy was a member of the Triple Alliance. But after the outbreak of World War I, the Italians declared neutrality.

Causes of the First World War

The main reason for the outbreak of the First World War was the desire of the leading powers, primarily England, France and Austria-Hungary, to redistribute the world. The fact is that the colonial system collapsed by the beginning of the 20th century. The leading European countries, which had prospered for years through the exploitation of their colonies, could no longer simply obtain resources by taking them away from Indians, Africans and South Americans. Now resources could only be won from each other. Therefore, contradictions grew:

• Between England and Germany. England sought to prevent Germany from increasing its influence in the Balkans. Germany sought to strengthen itself in the Balkans and the Middle East, and also sought to deprive England of maritime dominance.
• Between Germany and France. France dreamed of regaining the lands of Alsace and Lorraine, which it had lost in the war of 1870-71. France also sought to seize the German Saar coal basin.
• Between Germany and Russia. Germany sought to take Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic states from Russia.
• Between Russia and Austria-Hungary. Controversies arose due to the desire of both countries to influence the Balkans, as well as Russia's desire to subjugate the Bosporus and Dardanelles.

The reason for the start of the war

The reason for the outbreak of the First World War was the events in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina). On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Black Hand of the Young Bosnia movement, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Ferdinand was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, so the resonance of the murder was enormous. This was the pretext for Austria-Hungary to attack Serbia.

The behavior of England is very important here, since Austria-Hungary could not start a war on its own, because this practically guaranteed war throughout Europe. The British at the embassy level convinced Nicholas 2 that Russia should not leave Serbia without help in the event of aggression. But then the entire (I emphasize this) English press wrote that the Serbs were barbarians and Austria-Hungary should not leave the murder of the Archduke unpunished. That is, England did everything to ensure that Austria-Hungary, Germany and Russia did not shy away from war.

Important nuances of the casus belli

In all textbooks we are told that the main and only reason for the outbreak of the First World War was the assassination of the Austrian Archduke. At the same time, they forget to say that the next day, June 29, another significant murder took place. The French politician Jean Jaurès, who actively opposed the war and had great influence in France, was killed. A few weeks before the assassination of the Archduke, there was an attempt on the life of Rasputin, who, like Zhores, was an opponent of the war and had great influence on Nicholas 2. I would also like to note some facts from the fate of the main characters of those days:

• Gavrilo Principin. Died in prison in 1918 from tuberculosis.
• The Russian Ambassador to Serbia is Hartley. In 1914 he died at the Austrian embassy in Serbia, where he came for a reception.
• Colonel Apis, leader of the Black Hand. Shot in 1917.
• In 1917, Hartley’s correspondence with Sozonov (the next Russian ambassador to Serbia) disappeared.

This all indicates that in the events of the day there were a lot of black spots that have not yet been revealed. And this is very important to understand.

England's role in starting the war

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were 2 great powers in continental Europe: Germany and Russia. They did not want to openly fight against each other, since their forces were approximately equal. Therefore, in the “July crisis” of 1914, both sides took a wait-and-see approach. British diplomacy came to the fore. She conveyed her position to Germany through the press and secret diplomacy - in the event of war, England would remain neutral or take Germany's side. Through open diplomacy, Nicholas 2 received the opposite idea that if war broke out, England would take the side of Russia.

It must be clearly understood that one open statement from England that it would not allow war in Europe would be enough for neither Germany nor Russia to even think about anything like that. Naturally, under such conditions, Austria-Hungary would not have dared to attack Serbia. But England, with all its diplomacy, pushed European countries towards war.

Russia before the war

Before the First World War, Russia carried out army reform. In 1907, a reform of the fleet was carried out, and in 1910, a reform of the ground forces. The country increased military spending many times over, and the total peacetime army size was now 2 million. In 1912, Russia adopted a new Field Service Charter. Today it is rightly called the most perfect Charter of its time, since it motivated soldiers and commanders to show personal initiative. Important point! The doctrine of the army of the Russian Empire was offensive.

Despite the fact that there were many positive changes, there were also very serious miscalculations. The main one is the underestimation of the role of artillery in war. As the course of events of the First World War showed, this was a terrible mistake, which clearly showed that at the beginning of the 20th century, Russian generals were seriously behind the times. They lived in the past, when the role of cavalry was important. As a result, 75% of all losses in the First World War were caused by artillery! This is a verdict on the imperial generals.

It is important to note that Russia never completed preparations for war (at the proper level), while Germany completed it in 1914.

The balance of forces and means before and after the war

Artillery

	Number of guns	Of these, heavy guns
Austria-Hungary
Germany

According to the data from the table, it is clear that Germany and Austria-Hungary were many times superior to Russia and France in heavy weapons. Therefore, the balance of power was in favor of the first two countries. Moreover, the Germans, as usual, created an excellent military industry before the war, which produced 250,000 shells daily. By comparison, Britain produced 10,000 shells per month! As they say, feel the difference...

Another example showing the importance of artillery is the battles on the Dunajec Gorlice line (May 1915). In 4 hours, the German army fired 700,000 shells. For comparison, during the entire Franco-Prussian War (1870-71), Germany fired just over 800,000 shells. That is, in 4 hours a little less than during the entire war. The Germans clearly understood that heavy artillery would play a decisive role in the war.

Weapons and military equipment

Production of weapons and equipment during the First World War (thousands of units).

	Strelkovoe	Artillery
Great Britain
TRIPLE ALLIANCE
Germany
Austria-Hungary

This table clearly shows the weakness of the Russian Empire in terms of equipping the army. In all main indicators, Russia is much inferior to Germany, but also inferior to France and Great Britain. Largely because of this, the war turned out to be so difficult for our country.

Number of people (infantry)

Number of fighting infantry (millions of people).

	At the beginning of the war	By the end of the war	Casualties
Great Britain
TRIPLE ALLIANCE
Germany
Austria-Hungary

The table shows that Great Britain made the smallest contribution to the war, both in terms of combatants and deaths. This is logical, since the British did not really participate in major battles. Another example from this table is instructive. All textbooks tell us that Austria-Hungary, due to large losses, could not fight on its own, and it always needed help from Germany. But notice Austria-Hungary and France in the table. The numbers are identical! Just as Germany had to fight for Austria-Hungary, so Russia had to fight for France (it is no coincidence that the Russian army saved Paris from capitulation three times during the First World War).

The table also shows that in fact the war was between Russia and Germany. Both countries lost 4.3 million killed, while Britain, France and Austria-Hungary together lost 3.5 million. The numbers are eloquent. But it turned out that the countries that fought the most and made the most effort in the war ended up with nothing. First, Russia signed the shameful Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, losing many lands. Then Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles, essentially losing its independence.

Progress of the war

Military events of 1914

July 28 Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. This entailed the involvement of the countries of the Triple Alliance, on the one hand, and the Entente, on the other hand, into the war.

Russia entered World War I on August 1, 1914. Nikolai Nikolaevich Romanov (Uncle of Nicholas 2) was appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

In the first days of the war, St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd. Since the war with Germany began, the capital could not have a name of German origin - “burg”.

Historical reference

German "Schlieffen Plan"

Germany found itself under the threat of war on two fronts: Eastern - with Russia, Western - with France. Then the German command developed the “Schlieffen Plan”, according to which Germany should defeat France in 40 days and then fight with Russia. Why 40 days? The Germans believed that this was exactly what Russia would need to mobilize. Therefore, when Russia mobilizes, France will already be out of the game.

On August 2, 1914, Germany captured Luxembourg, on August 4 they invaded Belgium (a neutral country at that time), and by August 20 Germany reached the borders of France. The implementation of the Schlieffen Plan began. Germany advanced deep into France, but on September 5 it was stopped at the Marne River, where a battle took place in which about 2 million people took part on both sides.

Northwestern Front of Russia in 1914

At the beginning of the war, Russia did something stupid that Germany could not calculate. Nicholas 2 decided to enter the war without fully mobilizing the army. On August 4, Russian troops, under the command of Rennenkampf, launched an offensive in East Prussia (modern Kaliningrad). Samsonov's army was equipped to help her. Initially, the troops acted successfully, and Germany was forced to retreat. As a result, part of the forces of the Western Front was transferred to the Eastern Front. The result - Germany repelled the Russian offensive in East Prussia (the troops acted disorganized and lacked resources), but as a result the Schlieffen plan failed, and France could not be captured. So, Russia saved Paris, albeit by defeating its 1st and 2nd armies. After this, trench warfare began.

Southwestern Front of Russia

On the southwestern front, in August-September, Russia launched an offensive operation against Galicia, which was occupied by troops of Austria-Hungary. The Galician operation was more successful than the offensive in East Prussia. In this battle, Austria-Hungary suffered a catastrophic defeat. 400 thousand people killed, 100 thousand captured. For comparison, the Russian army lost 150 thousand people killed. After this, Austria-Hungary actually withdrew from the war, since it lost the ability to conduct independent actions. Austria was saved from complete defeat only by the help of Germany, which was forced to transfer additional divisions to Galicia.

The main results of the military campaign of 1914

• Germany failed to implement the Schlieffen plan for lightning war.
• No one managed to gain a decisive advantage. The war turned into a positional one.

Map of military events of 1914-15

Military events of 1915

In 1915, Germany decided to shift the main blow to the eastern front, directing all its forces to the war with Russia, which was the weakest country of the Entente, according to the Germans. It was a strategic plan developed by the commander of the Eastern Front, General von Hindenburg. Russia managed to thwart this plan only at the cost of colossal losses, but at the same time, 1915 turned out to be simply terrible for the empire of Nicholas 2.

Situation on the northwestern front

From January to October, Germany waged an active offensive, as a result of which Russia lost Poland, western Ukraine, part of the Baltic states, and western Belarus. Russia went on the defensive. Russian losses were gigantic:

• Killed and wounded - 850 thousand people
• Captured - 900 thousand people

Russia did not capitulate, but the countries of the Triple Alliance were convinced that Russia would no longer be able to recover from the losses it had suffered.

Germany's successes on this sector of the front led to the fact that on October 14, 1915, Bulgaria entered the First World War (on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary).

Situation on the southwestern front

The Germans, together with Austria-Hungary, organized the Gorlitsky breakthrough in the spring of 1915, forcing the entire southwestern front of Russia to retreat. Galicia, which was captured in 1914, was completely lost. Germany was able to achieve this advantage thanks to the terrible mistakes of the Russian command, as well as a significant technical advantage. German superiority in technology reached:

• 2.5 times in machine guns.
• 4.5 times in light artillery.
• 40 times in heavy artillery.

It was not possible to withdraw Russia from the war, but the losses on this section of the front were gigantic: 150 thousand killed, 700 thousand wounded, 900 thousand prisoners and 4 million refugees.

Situation on the Western Front

"Everything is calm on the Western Front." This phrase can describe how the war between Germany and France proceeded in 1915. There were sluggish military operations in which no one sought the initiative. Germany was implementing plans in eastern Europe, and England and France were calmly mobilizing their economy and army, preparing for further war. No one provided any assistance to Russia, although Nicholas 2 repeatedly turned to France, first of all, so that it would take active action on the Western Front. As usual, no one heard him... By the way, this sluggish war on Germany’s western front was perfectly described by Hemingway in the novel “A Farewell to Arms.”

The main result of 1915 was that Germany was unable to bring Russia out of the war, although all efforts were devoted to this. It became obvious that the First World War would drag on for a long time, since during the 1.5 years of the war no one was able to gain an advantage or strategic initiative.

Military events of 1916

"Verdun Meat Grinder"

In February 1916, Germany launched a general offensive against France with the goal of capturing Paris. For this purpose, a campaign was carried out on Verdun, which covered the approaches to the French capital. The battle lasted until the end of 1916. During this time, 2 million people died, for which the battle was called the “Verdun Meat Grinder”. France survived, but again thanks to the fact that Russia came to its rescue, which became more active on the southwestern front.

Events on the southwestern front in 1916

In May 1916, Russian troops went on the offensive, which lasted 2 months. This offensive went down in history under the name “Brusilovsky breakthrough”. This name is due to the fact that the Russian army was commanded by General Brusilov. The breakthrough of the defense in Bukovina (from Lutsk to Chernivtsi) happened on June 5. The Russian army managed not only to break through the defenses, but also to advance into its depths in some places up to 120 kilometers. The losses of the Germans and Austro-Hungarians were catastrophic. 1.5 million dead, wounded and prisoners. The offensive was stopped only by additional German divisions, which were hastily transferred here from Verdun (France) and from Italy.

This offensive of the Russian army was not without a fly in the ointment. As usual, the allies dropped her off. On August 27, 1916, Romania entered the First World War on the side of the Entente. Germany defeated her very quickly. As a result, Romania lost its army, and Russia received an additional 2 thousand kilometers of front.

Events on the Caucasian and Northwestern fronts

Positional battles continued on the Northwestern Front during the spring-autumn period. As for the Caucasian Front, the main events here lasted from the beginning of 1916 to April. During this time, 2 operations were carried out: Erzurmur and Trebizond. According to their results, Erzurum and Trebizond were conquered, respectively.

The result of 1916 in the First World War

• The strategic initiative passed to the side of the Entente.
• The French fortress of Verdun survived thanks to the offensive of the Russian army.
• Romania entered the war on the side of the Entente.
• Russia carried out a powerful offensive - the Brusilov breakthrough.

Military and political events 1917

The year 1917 in the First World War was marked by the fact that the war continued against the background of the revolutionary situation in Russia and Germany, as well as the deterioration of the economic situation of the countries. Let me give you the example of Russia. During the 3 years of the war, prices for basic products increased on average by 4-4.5 times. Naturally, this caused discontent among the people. Add to this heavy losses and a grueling war - it turns out to be excellent soil for revolutionaries. The situation is similar in Germany.

In 1917, the United States entered the First World War. The position of the Triple Alliance is deteriorating. Germany and its allies cannot effectively fight on 2 fronts, as a result of which it goes on the defensive.

The end of the war for Russia

In the spring of 1917, Germany launched another offensive on the Western Front. Despite the events in Russia, Western countries demanded that the Provisional Government implement the agreements signed by the Empire and send troops on the offensive. As a result, on June 16, the Russian army went on the offensive in the Lvov area. Again, we saved the allies from major battles, but we ourselves were completely exposed.

The Russian army, exhausted by the war and losses, did not want to fight. The issues of provisions, uniforms and supplies during the war years were never resolved. The army fought reluctantly, but moved forward. The Germans were forced to transfer troops here again, and Russia's Entente allies again isolated themselves, watching what would happen next. On July 6, Germany launched a counteroffensive. As a result, 150,000 Russian soldiers died. The army virtually ceased to exist. The front fell apart. Russia could no longer fight, and this catastrophe was inevitable.

People demanded Russia's withdrawal from the war. And this was one of their main demands from the Bolsheviks, who seized power in October 1917. Initially, at the 2nd Party Congress, the Bolsheviks signed the decree “On Peace,” essentially proclaiming Russia’s exit from the war, and on March 3, 1918, they signed the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty. The conditions of this world were as follows:

• Russia makes peace with Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey.
• Russia is losing Poland, Ukraine, Finland, part of Belarus and the Baltic states.
• Russia cedes Batum, Kars and Ardagan to Turkey.

As a result of its participation in the First World War, Russia lost: about 1 million square meters of territory, approximately 1/4 of the population, 1/4 of arable land and 3/4 of the coal and metallurgical industries were lost.

Historical reference

Events in the war in 1918

Germany got rid of the Eastern Front and the need to wage war on two fronts. As a result, in the spring and summer of 1918, she attempted an offensive on the Western Front, but this offensive had no success. Moreover, as it progressed, it became obvious that Germany was getting the most out of itself, and that it needed a break in the war.

Autumn 1918

The decisive events in the First World War took place in the fall. The Entente countries, together with the United States, went on the offensive. The German army was completely driven out of France and Belgium. In October, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria concluded a truce with the Entente, and Germany was left to fight alone. Her situation was hopeless after the German allies in the Triple Alliance essentially capitulated. This resulted in the same thing that happened in Russia - a revolution. On November 9, 1918, Emperor Wilhelm II was overthrown.

End of the First World War

On November 11, 1918, the First World War of 1914-1918 ended. Germany signed a complete surrender. It happened near Paris, in the Compiègne forest, at the Retonde station. The surrender was accepted by the French Marshal Foch. The terms of the signed peace were as follows:

• Germany admits complete defeat in the war.
• The return of the province of Alsace and Lorraine to France to the borders of 1870, as well as the transfer of the Saar coal basin.
• Germany lost all its colonial possessions, and was also obliged to transfer 1/8 of its territory to its geographical neighbors.
• For 15 years, Entente troops were on the left bank of the Rhine.
• By May 1, 1921, Germany had to pay members of the Entente (Russia was not entitled to anything) 20 billion marks in gold, goods, securities, etc.
• Germany must pay reparations for 30 years, and the amount of these reparations is determined by the winners themselves and can be increased at any time during these 30 years.
• Germany was prohibited from having an army of more than 100 thousand people, and the army had to be exclusively voluntary.

The terms of the “peace” were so humiliating for Germany that the country actually became a puppet. Therefore, many people of that time said that although the First World War ended, it did not end in peace, but in a truce for 30 years. That’s how it ultimately turned out...

Results of the First World War

The First World War was fought on the territory of 14 states. Countries with a total population of over 1 billion people took part in it (this is approximately 62% of the entire world population at that time). In total, 74 million people were mobilized by the participating countries, of whom 10 million died and another 20 million were injured.

As a result of the war, the political map of Europe changed significantly. Such independent states as Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, and Albania appeared. Austro-Hungary split into Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Romania, Greece, France, and Italy have increased their borders. There were 5 countries that lost and lost territory: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey and Russia.

Map of the First World War 1914-1918

Battles of 1914-1916 on the Marne, Ypres, Verdun and the Somme

Having captured Luxembourg and Belgium, German formations with their right wing invaded the depths of France.
Danger looms over Paris. At the request of the French government, the Russian armies of Generals Samsonov and U.K. Rennenkampf invaded East Prussia on August 17-18, 1914. By actually sacrificing themselves, they forced the Germans to remove two corps and a cavalry division from the Western Front and transfer them to the East. Germany did not have enough strength to bypass Paris. About 2 million people fought in the battle, which took place east of Paris on the Marne River from September 3 to 10, 1914. French and British troops stopped the advance of the Germans, who were forced to retreat. On the Eastern Front, troops of the Russian Southwestern Front in August - September 1914 in Galicia defeated the Austro-Hungarian army, which lost about 400 thousand people, including 100 thousand prisoners - about half of the personnel. The military plans of the German and Austro-Hungarian general staffs were thwarted. Protracted positional battles began.
1915 did not bring a turning point on the Western Front. Opponents improved their defensive structures. Instead of one, as was the case in 1914, several positions were created, each of which consisted of 2-3 lines of trenches, fortified with concrete structures and wire fences. The establishment of a positional front forced the warring parties to look for effective means of breaking through it. One of these methods was the use of chemical weapons prohibited by the Hague Convention. On April 22, 1915, in the battle of Ypres (Belgium), the German army used a massive gas attack for the first time. Chlorine cylinders were installed along a 6-kilometer stretch. In just 5 minutes, 180 tons of gas formed a yellowish-green cloud as tall as a man, moving towards the British positions. A participant in the events recalled: “First surprise, then horror and, finally, panic gripped the troops when the first clouds of smoke enveloped the entire area and forced people to struggle in agony, gasping for breath. Those who could move fled, trying, mostly in vain, to outrun the cloud of chlorine that relentlessly pursued them." 15 thousand people were injured, 5 thousand of them died. The first gas attack in history did not bring much success. The Germans achieved limited tactical results, but the beginning of chemical warfare was begun, waged by both sides. Since the distribution of gas released from cylinders was highly dependent on the direction and speed of the wind, without completely abandoning gas cylinder attacks, artillery chemical shells began to be used more and more often. Their consumption reached 30% of all shells fired during artillery preparation.
From the beginning of January 1916, the German command was preparing an attack on Verdun. Mastering it created the threat of a breakthrough to the rear of the French army and access to Paris. The battle lasted for almost 10 months—from February 21 to December 18, 1916. It was called the Verdun Meat Grinder. Enemy losses amounted to almost 1 million people. The Germans were not successful. The success of the French army at Verdun was greatly facilitated by the offensive operation of the Russian Southwestern Front under the command of General AL. Brusilov in Galicia and Bukovina, during which in June - September 1916 the Austro-Hungarian troops lost up to 1.5 million killed, wounded and prisoners. To eliminate the breakthrough, the command of the Central Powers transferred several divisions from the Western and Italian fronts. A consequence of Brusilov's successful offensive was also Romania's declaration of war against Austria-Hungary in August 1916.
The major operation of the 1916 campaign was the Anglo-French offensive on the Somme River. The battle began on June 24 with artillery preparation, which lasted 7 days. For every meter of the German front, there were a ton of artillery shells fired. The attack that then began was supported by aircraft bombing and machine gun fire. In this battle, on September 15, the British first used new military equipment - tanks. Only 18 of the planned 50 tanks took part in the attack. The rest were either stuck in the mud or stopped due to mechanical failure. But even those that reached the German positions were enough to produce a stunning effect: the soldiers abandoned trenches, ran away, hid in shelters or surrendered. With the help of tanks on a front of 10 km, in 5 hours, British troops advanced 4-5 km and captured several strong points, which they had previously tried unsuccessfully to take for 35 days. In previous battles of trench warfare, thousands of tons of shells and tens of thousands of human lives were spent to achieve such a result. The battle ended on November 18. As a result of five months of fighting, the Allies advanced only 10 km, losing 794 thousand people. The Germans lost 538 thousand. The overall result of the battles at Verdun and the Somme was the transfer of strategic initiative to the armies of the Entente.

Turkey's entry into World War I

Türkiye began military operations against Russia without declaring war.
On October 29, 1914, the German cruisers Goeben and Breslau, which entered the Black Sea with the permission of the Turkish government, fired at Sevastopol, Feodosia and Novorossiysk. Russia's response was to declare war, followed by England and France. On the Caucasian front, after a series of oncoming battles, the Turkish army during December 1914 - January 1915. attempted to encircle Russian troops in the area of ​​the village of Sarykamysh, the capture of which opened the road to Kara and Tiflis, but was defeated. The remnants of one of the three corps participating in the battles were captured along with the command. After this success, hostilities moved to Turkish territory. In 1916 - 1917 The Caucasian Front not only absorbed most of the Turkish forces, but also conducted successful offensive operations. At the beginning of 1916, Russian troops took the Erzurum fortress, the main base of the Turkish army in the Caucasian direction, the port of Trebizond, which provided the shortest connection by sea with Constantinople, and a number of other cities.
The fighting in the Middle Eastern theater unfolded with varying degrees of success. For almost the entire 1915, Anglo-French troops fought on the Gallipoli Peninsula in order to establish control over the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, but were defeated and were forced to leave in February 1916. The British were more effective in Mesopotamia. By the end of 1914, the British expeditionary force captured Basra and fortified itself in Lower Mesopotamia. An attempt to capture Baghdad in April 1916 failed. Only in March 1917 The British captured Baghdad and continued their advance up the Tigris River. On the Palestine-Syrian front in October - December 1917. The English offensive led to the capture of Jaffa and Jerusalem. In the 1918 campaign, Entente troops captured most of Mesopotamia, all of Palestine and almost all of Syria. Military operations on these fronts ended with the signing of an armistice with Turkey on October 30, 1918.

Military operations in the Balkans

On October 11, 1915, Bulgaria took the side of the Central Powers,
joining the Austro-German offensive against Serbia that had already begun. Weak, without a unified command, the Serbian and Montenegrin armies, forced to fight on two fronts, retreated through Albania to the shores of the Adriatic Sea. Their remnants were evacuated to the island of Corfu and Bizerte in January 1916. To stabilize the situation, England and France, back in October 1915, with the consent of the Greek government, landed an expeditionary force in Greece and formed the Thessaloniki Front in the Balkans. It included English, French, Serbian, Italian, Russian and Greek troops. Thessaloniki Front in 1916-1917. did not play a significant role. On September 14, 1918, the Allied forces launched an offensive, the front was broken, and Bulgaria capitulated on September 29.

Italian participation in the war

With the outbreak of the war, the Italian government alternately, depending on the situation at the front, bargained with the countries of the Entente and the Quadruple Alliance for the most favorable conditions for switching to one of the warring sides. The probe ended with the signing of a secret treaty with Russia, England and France on April 26, 1915 in London, according to which Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary on May 23, 1915. However, the Italian army was not successful. Austro-Hungarian troops broke through the Italian front line in Trentino in May 1916. Only the offensive of the Russian Southwestern Front under the command of Brusilov, which forced the Austro-Hungarian command to transfer 6 divisions to Galicia, saved the Italians from complete defeat. In October-November 1917, the Italian army suffered a crushing defeat in the largest battle of Caporetto, in which over 2.5 million people took part on both sides. Only the transfer of 12 French and British divisions stabilized the front. This disaster protected Austria-Hungary from Italy. The Allies were forced to centralize leadership with the creation of the Supreme Military Council. It included heads of government, representatives of the general staffs of France, England, Italy and the United States.

Romania at war

At the end of August 1916, Romania came out on the side of the Entente. The poorly trained and poorly equipped army was unable to resist the groups of Bulgarian, Austrian and German troops and, defeated in previous battles, surrendered Bucharest on December 4, 1916 without a fight. Most of the country was occupied. The remnants of the Romanian army retreated to Moldova. They managed to gain a foothold here only with the help of Russian troops. Military operations on this front until the end of the war took on a positional character.

War at sea

On May 31 - June 1, 1916, the main forces of the English and German fleets met in the North Sea near the Jutland Peninsula. This was the only battle during the First World War based on single combat between British and German dreadnoughts and battlecruisers. English “Grand Fligt lost 14 ships, the German High Seas Fleet lost 11. No one was able to win a decisive victory. The British still retained their numerical superiority in warships, and therefore Germany increased its submarine activity. By order of Wilhelm II, on February 1, 1917, Germany began unrestricted submarine warfare. In just 11 months of its implementation, England, its allies and neutral countries lost 2,773 ships in the Atlantic Ocean, North and Mediterranean Seas. The fight against German submarines required the use of a large number of combat forces and means: the construction of anti-submarine ships, laying minefields and net barriers, organizing convoys, arming merchant ships, attracting aviation, etc. At the same time, the intensified naval blockade of Germany almost completely deprived it of the supply of strategic raw materials from neutral countries.

Western Front in 1917

In the battles of 1917, the German command did not plan offensive actions and switched to strategic defense. The German army began to use special artillery in battles with tanks, and against infantry on July 13, 1917, near Ypres, it used a new toxic substance - mustard gas, a liquid that caused serious harm to the skin, eyes, and lungs. Allied losses from the new chemical agent were 8 times greater than those caused by all other chemical agents. In general, according to various sources, from 500 thousand to 1 million soldiers and officers of the British, French, American and German armies became victims of chemical weapons.
The Entente armies in the spring of this year tried to complete the defeat of Germany and in April - May they struck between Reims and Soissons. In the “Nivelle massacre,” named after the French commander-in-chief, the Allies lost 340 thousand people killed and wounded, but did not achieve success. The Germans defended their positions, losing 163 thousand, including 29 thousand prisoners. In other battles, limited goals were set, which were also achieved at the cost of thousands of casualties. The result of the operation near Ypres, carried out from July 31 to November 10, was the advance of the Allies by 6 km. The losses of the British and French amounted to almost 300 thousand people, of German troops - 270 thousand.
The operation at Cambrai (November - December 1917) did not have a noticeable impact on the course of the war. It became the first experience of the massive use of 476 tanks. Improved M-5 tanks and a new medium infantry escort tank, the Whippett, with three machine guns, took part in the Battles of Amiens (August 1918). Tanks marked the transition to new methods and forms of combat based on their interaction with infantry, artillery and aviation. The Entente countries were the first to realize the importance of the new type of troops and better than the warring side. From its creation until 1918, England produced 2.8 thousand tanks, France - 5.3 thousand. The German command miscalculated and only in 1918. For the first time, it sent 15 tanks to the front, and even then they needed improvement.

38 states took part in the First World War, more than one and a half billion people were involved in it, i.e. more than ¾ of the world's population.

The reason for the outbreak of the international conflict was the murder of the heir to the Austrian throne, Franz Ferdinand, by Serbian conspirators in the Bosnian city of Sarajevo in June 1914. On July 15, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. In response, Russia, as the guarantor of Serbian independence, began mobilization. Germany demanded an ultimatum to stop it and, having received a refusal, declared war on Russia on July 19. France, an ally of Russia, entered the war on July 21, England the next day, and on July 26 a state of war was declared between Russia and Austria-Hungary.
Two fronts emerged in Europe: Western (in France and Belgium) and Eastern (against Russia).

At the heart of the war 1914 — 1918 gg. there were contradictions growing over many decades between groups of capitalist states, the struggle for spheres of influence, markets, which led to the redivision of the world. On the one hand, these were Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, which formed into Triple Alliance. On the other hand, England, France and Russia ( Entente).

Progress of military operations on the Eastern Front

Main battles in Russian ( Eastern) theater of military operations at the beginning of the war turned to northwestern (against Germany) and southwestern (against Austria-Hungary) directions. The war for Russia began with the offensive of Russian armies in East Prussia and Galicia.

Russia during the First World War 1914-1918. The development of a bourgeois-democratic revolution into a socialist one

East Prussian operation

The East Prussian operation (August 4 - September 2, 1914) ended in serious failure for the Russian army, but had a great influence on the course of operations on the Western Front: the German command was forced to transfer large forces to the east. This was one of the reasons for the failure of the German offensive on Paris and the success of the Anglo-French troops in the Battle of the Marne River.

Battle of Galicia

The Battle of Galicia (August 10 - September 11, 1914) led to a significant military-strategic victory for Russia: the Russian army advanced 280 - 300 km, occupying Galicia and its ancient capital Lviv.

During the subsequent battles in Poland(October - November 1914) the German army repelled attempts by Russian troops to advance into its territory, but it failed to defeat the Russian armies.

Russian soldiers and officers had to fight in extremely difficult conditions. Russia's unpreparedness for war was especially acute in the poor supply of ammunition to the army. Member of the State Duma V. Shulgin, who visited the front shortly after the outbreak of hostilities, recalled: “The Germans covered our positions with hurricane fire, and we were silent in response. For example, in the artillery unit where I worked, it was ordered to spend no more than seven shells per day on one field... gun.” In such a situation, the front was held largely due to the courage and skill of the soldiers and officers.

The difficult situation on the Eastern Front forced Germany to take a number of steps to curb Russian activity. In October 1914, she managed to drag Turkey into the war with Russia. But the first major operation of the Russian army on Caucasian Front in December 1914 led to the defeat of the Turkish army.

The active actions of the Russian army forced the German command in 1915 to radically reconsider their original plans; Instead of defending in the east and attacking in the west, a different plan of action was adopted. Center of gravity moved to Eastern front and specifically against Russia. The offensive began in April 1915 with a breakthrough in the defense of Russian troops in Galicia. By autumn, the German army occupied most of Galicia, Poland, part of the Baltic states and Belarus. However, their main task - the complete defeat of the Russian armed forces and the withdrawal of Russia from the war - was not solved by the German command.

By the end of 1915, the war on all fronts had become positional character, which was extremely disadvantageous for Germany. In an effort to achieve victory as quickly as possible and not being able to carry out a wide offensive on the Russian front, the German command again decided to transfer its efforts to the Western Front, making a breakthrough in the area of ​​the French fortress Verdun.

And again, as in 1914, the Allies turned to Russia, insisting on an offensive in the East, i.e. on the Russian front. Summer 1916 g. troops Southwestern Front under the command of General A.A. Brusilov went on the offensive, as a result of which Russian troops captured Bukovina and Southern Galicia.

As a result, “ Brusilov's breakthrough“The Germans were forced to withdraw 11 divisions from the western front and send them to help the Austrian troops. At the same time, a number of victories were won in Caucasian Front, where the Russian army penetrated 250 - 300 km into Turkish territory.

Thus, in 1914 - 1916. The Russian army had to take on powerful blows from enemy forces. At the same time, deficiencies in weapons and equipment reduced the combat effectiveness of the army and significantly increased its casualties.

The entire period 1916 - early 1917. In Russian political circles there was a stubborn struggle between supporters of a separate peace with Germany and supporters of Russia's participation in the war on the side of the Entente. After the February Revolution of 1917, the Provisional Government declared Russia's loyalty to its obligations to the Entente countries and in June 1917 launched an offensive at the front, which turned out to be unsuccessful.

Russia's participation in the First World War ended with the signing in March 1918 the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk between Germany and Soviet Russia.

On the Western Front, hostilities continued until the fall of 1918, when November 11, 1918 in the Compiègne forest(France) an armistice was signed between the victors (the Entente countries) and the defeated Germany.

One of the main areas where the most significant and bloody battles of the First World War took place, in short, was the Western Front. Stretching from the Scheldt to the Swiss border in length and from the Rhine to Calais in depth, it passed through the Belgian, Luxenburg, Alsatian, Lorraine territories, covering several German provinces located along the banks of the Rhine, and northeastern French lands.

Start of hostilities

The offensive of the German army in this direction began with an invasion of the territories of Belgium and Luxembourg. After this, the German command intended, through quick and rapid maneuvers, to defeat the French army in a short time and force France to capitulate, accepting all the conditions of Germany. In their plan, the attackers focused on capturing the enemy's most important industrial regions. The Germans were opposed on this front by the French, Belgians and British.
Having captured Belgian and Luxembourg fortresses and territories without much difficulty, the Germans approached the borders of France.
As a result of several military operations and a series of battles, German troops gradually began to advance towards Paris.
One of the largest battles of the first war year on this front was the Marne.
The result of this seven-day battle was the final failure of the German command's plans to quickly capture France. Both opposing armies practically stopped maneuvers and consolidated their positions.

Trench warfare

The events of the second war year on the Western Front of the First World War, in short, boiled down to small defensive clashes. There were no major battles in this direction during this period, as the main forces of the German army were concentrated on the Eastern Front against the Russian army.
However, it was during this period that the famous Battle of Ypres took place, during which German troops used poison gases on a large scale in battle for the first time in history.
The gas attack was carried out on April 22. As a result, several thousand people died. Two days later, the Germans decided to carry out another similar operation. However, the second time the damage was not so significant, since the opponents used personal protective equipment (including gas masks).
Also in this year, the French pilot used a machine gun for the first time for an air attack, placing it behind the leading propeller of his aircraft.

Battle of Verdun and troop attrition

The year 1916 went down in the history of the Western Front as the bloodiest and most difficult year. The largest military operation of this period was the Battle of Verdun, also called the “Verdun Meat Grinder”. It lasted 11 months and killed more than half a million people. Huge losses with rather modest successes of both armies did not bring any significant results other than the weakening of the troops.
Another significant battle was the Battle of the Somme, in which tanks were used for the first time by the British military.

Entente offensive, defeat of Germany

According to a carefully developed plan, in 1917 allied Franco-British troops, with the support of American soldiers who arrived at the front after the US entered the war, began an offensive operation. Swift attacks, followed by equally fast and massive counterattacks, led to the fact that by the end of the year the opponents remained in almost the same positions.
However, Germany, which initially did not count on a protracted war, found itself in a rather difficult situation.
As a result of the withdrawal of the Russian side from hostilities and the cessation of fighting on the Eastern Front, the German command, having transferred all its forces to the West, decided to once again try to seize the initiative into its own hands.
In March 1918, Germany launched an offensive again, but was quickly defeated. After this, several more attempts were made, but each time they ended very unsuccessfully for the German army.
Since August, the Allied forces of the Entente went on the offensive, and their operations were successful. Briefly describing the events of those days, it can be noted that the last major battle on the Western Front of the First World War was the Battle of the Marne River, as a result of which German troops finally lost all their positions and began to retreat.