Who attacked in the first world war. Beginning of the First World War

Allies (Entente): France, Great Britain, Russia, Japan, Serbia, USA, Italy (participated in the war on the side of the Entente since 1915).

Friends of the Entente (supported the Entente in the war): Montenegro, Belgium, Greece, Brazil, China, Afghanistan, Cuba, Nicaragua, Siam, Haiti, Liberia, Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica.

Question about the causes of the First World War is one of the most discussed in world historiography since the outbreak of the war in August 1914.

The outbreak of the war was facilitated by the widespread strengthening of nationalist sentiments. 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.

In addition, international tension was heightened by a series of diplomatic crises - the Franco-German clash in Morocco in 1905-1906; the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Austrians in 1908-1909; Balkan wars in 1912-1913.

The immediate cause of the war was the Sarajevo Murder. June 28, 1914 Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by nineteen-year-old Serbian student Gavrilo Princip, who was a member of the secret organization "Young Bosnia", fighting for the unification of all South Slavic peoples in one state.

July 23, 1914 Austria-Hungary, having secured the support of Germany, presented Serbia with an ultimatum and demanded that its military units be allowed into Serbian territory in order to, together with Serbian forces, suppress hostile actions.

Serbia's response to the ultimatum did not satisfy Austria-Hungary, and July 28, 1914 she declared war on Serbia. Russia, having received assurances of support from France, openly opposed Austria-Hungary and July 30, 1914 announced a general mobilization. Germany, taking advantage of this opportunity, announced August 1, 1914 war against Russia, and August 3, 1914- France. After the German invasion August 4, 1914 Great Britain declared war on Germany in Belgium.

The First World War consisted of five campaigns. During first campaign in 1914 Germany invaded Belgium and northern France, but was defeated at the Battle of the Marne. Russia captured parts of East Prussia and Galicia (East Prussian Operation and Battle of Galicia), but was then defeated as a result of the German and Austro-Hungarian counteroffensive.

1915 Campaign associated with Italy’s entry into the war, the disruption of the German plan to withdraw Russia from the war, and bloody, inconclusive battles on the Western Front.

1916 campaign associated with the entry of Romania into the war and the waging of a grueling positional war on all fronts.

1917 campaign associated with the entry of the United States into the war, Russia's revolutionary exit from the war and a series of successive offensive operations on the Western Front (Nivelle's operation, operations in the Messines area, Ypres, near Verdun, and Cambrai).

1918 Campaign was characterized by a transition from positional defense to a general offensive of the Entente armed forces. From the second half of 1918, the Allies prepared and launched retaliatory offensive operations (Amiens, Saint-Miel, Marne), during which they eliminated the results of the German offensive, and in September 1918 they launched a general offensive. By November 1, 1918, the Allies liberated the territory of Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, entered the territory of Bulgaria after the armistice and invaded the territory of Austria-Hungary. On September 29, 1918, a truce with the allies was concluded by Bulgaria, October 30, 1918 - Turkey, November 3, 1918 - Austria-Hungary, November 11, 1918 - Germany.

June 28, 1919 was signed at the Paris Peace Conference Treaty of Versailles with Germany, officially ending the First World War of 1914-1918.

On September 10, 1919, the Saint-Germain Peace Treaty with Austria was signed; November 27, 1919 - Treaty of Neuilly with Bulgaria; June 4, 1920 - Treaty of Trianon with Hungary; August 20, 1920 - Treaty of Sèvres with Turkey.

In total, the First World War lasted 1,568 days. It was attended by 38 states, in which 70% of the world's population lived. The armed struggle was carried out on fronts with a total length of 2500–4000 km. The total losses of all countries at war amounted to about 9.5 million people killed and 20 million people wounded. At the same time, the losses of the Entente amounted to about 6 million people killed, the losses of the Central Powers amounted to about 4 million people killed.

During the First World War, for the first time in history, tanks, airplanes, submarines, anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, mortars, grenade launchers, bomb throwers, flamethrowers, super-heavy artillery, hand grenades, chemical and smoke shells, and toxic substances were used. New types of artillery appeared: anti-aircraft, anti-tank, infantry escort. Aviation became an independent branch of the military, which began to be divided into reconnaissance, fighter and bomber. Tank troops, chemical troops, air defense troops, and naval aviation emerged. The role of engineering troops increased and the role of cavalry decreased.

The results of the First World War were the liquidation of four empires: German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman, the latter two being divided, and Germany and Russia being reduced territorially. As a result, new independent states appeared on the map of Europe: Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, Finland.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

The First World War was the first military conflict on a global scale, in which 38 of the 59 independent states that existed at that time were involved.

The main cause of the war was the contradictions between two coalitions of European powers - the Entente (Russia, England and France) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy), caused by the intensification of the struggle for the redistribution of already divided colonies, spheres of influence and sales markets. Starting in Europe, where the main events took place, it gradually acquired a global character, also covering the Far and Middle East, Africa, and the waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic and Indian oceans.

The reason for the start of the armed conflict was the terrorist attack by a member of the Mlada Bosna organization, high school student Gavrilo Princip, during which on June 28 (all dates are given in the new style) 1914 in Sarajevo by Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

On July 23, under pressure from Germany, Austria-Hungary presented Serbia with obviously unacceptable conditions for resolving the conflict that arose. In her ultimatum, she demanded that her military formations be allowed into the territory of Serbia in order to, together with Serbian forces, suppress hostile actions. After the ultimatum was rejected by the Serbian government, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28.

Fulfilling its allied obligations to Serbia, Russia, having received assurances of support from France, announced general mobilization on July 30. The next day, Germany, in the form of an ultimatum, demanded that Russia stop mobilization. Having received no answer, on August 1 she declared war on Russia, and on August 3 on France, as well as neutral Belgium, which refused to allow German troops through its territory. On August 4, Great Britain and its dominions declared war on Germany, and on August 6, Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia.

In August 1914, Japan declared war on Germany, in October, 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.

The main land fronts were the Western (French) and Eastern (Russian), the main naval theaters of military operations were the North, Mediterranean and Baltic seas.

Military operations began on the Western Front - German troops acted according to the Schlieffen plan, which envisaged an attack by large forces on France through Belgium. However, Germany's hope for a quick defeat of France turned out to be untenable; by mid-November 1914, the war on the Western Front assumed a positional character.

The confrontation took place along a line of trenches stretching about 970 kilometers along the German border with Belgium and France. Until March 1918, any, even minor changes in the front line were achieved here at the cost of huge losses on both sides.

During the maneuverable period of the war, the Eastern Front was located on a strip along the Russian border with Germany and Austria-Hungary, then mainly on the western border strip of Russia.

The beginning of the 1914 campaign on the Eastern Front was marked by the desire of Russian troops to fulfill their obligations to the French and draw back German forces from the Western Front. During this period, two major battles took place - the East Prussian operation and the Battle of Galicia. During these battles, the Russian army defeated the Austro-Hungarian troops, occupied Lviv and pushed the enemy back to the Carpathians, blocking the large Austrian fortress of Przemysl.

However, the losses of soldiers and equipment were colossal; due to the underdevelopment of transport routes, reinforcements and ammunition did not arrive in time, so the Russian troops were unable to develop their success.

Overall, the 1914 campaign ended in favor of the Entente.

The 1914 campaign was marked by the first aerial bombing in the world. On October 8, 1914, British planes armed with 20-pound bombs attacked German airship workshops in Friedrichshafen. After this raid, a new class of aircraft began to be created - bombers.

In the 1915 campaign, Germany shifted its main efforts to the Eastern Front, intending to defeat the Russian army and take Russia out of the war. As a result of the Gorlitsky breakthrough in May 1915, the Germans inflicted a heavy defeat on Russian troops, who were forced to leave Poland, Galicia and part of the Baltic states in the summer. However, in the fall, having repelled the enemy’s offensive in the Vilna region, they forced the German army to switch to positional defense on the Eastern Front (October 1915).

On the Western Front, the parties continued to maintain a strategic defense. On April 22, 1915, during the battles near Ypres (Belgium), Germany used chemical weapons (chlorine) for the first time. After this, poisonous gases (chlorine, phosgene, and later mustard gas) began to be used regularly by both warring parties.

The large-scale Dardanelles landing operation (1915-1916) ended in defeat - 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, withdrawing Turkey from the war and winning over the allies. Balkan states.

On the Eastern Front, by the end of 1915, German and Austro-Hungarian troops had driven the Russians out of almost all of Galicia and most of Russian Poland.

In the 1916 campaign, Germany again shifted its main efforts to the west with the goal of withdrawing France from the war, but a powerful blow to France during the Verdun operation ended in failure. This was largely facilitated by the Russian Southwestern Front, which carried out a breakthrough of the Austro-Hungarian front in Galicia and Volhynia. Anglo-French troops launched a decisive offensive on the Somme River, but, despite all efforts and the attraction of enormous forces and resources, they were unable to break through the German defenses. During this operation, the British used tanks for the first time. The largest battle of the war, the Battle of Jutland, took place at sea, in which the German fleet failed. As a result of the military campaign of 1916, the Entente seized the strategic initiative.

At the end of 1916, Germany and its allies first began to talk about the possibility of a peace agreement. The Entente rejected this proposal. During this period, the armies of the states actively participating in the war numbered 756 divisions, twice as many as at the beginning of the war, but they lost the most qualified military personnel. The bulk of the soldiers were elderly reserves and young people conscripted early, poorly prepared in military-technical terms and insufficiently trained physically.

In 1917, two major events radically affected the balance of power of the opponents.

On April 6, 1917, the United States, which had long maintained neutrality in the war, decided to declare war on Germany. One of the reasons was an incident off the southeast coast of Ireland, when a German submarine sank the British liner Lusitania, sailing from the United States to England, which was carrying a large group of Americans, killing 128 of them.

Following the United States in 1917, China, Greece, Brazil, Cuba, Panama, Liberia and Siam also entered the war on the side of the Entente.

The second major change in the confrontation of forces was caused by Russia's withdrawal from the war. On December 15, 1917, the Bolsheviks who came to power signed an armistice agreement. On March 3, 1918, the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty was concluded, according to which Russia renounced its rights to Poland, Estonia, Ukraine, part of Belarus, Latvia, Transcaucasia and Finland. Ardahan, Kars and Batum went to Turkey. In total, Russia lost about one million square kilometers. In addition, she was obliged to pay Germany an indemnity in the amount of six billion marks.

The major battles of the 1917 campaign, Operation Nivelle and Operation Cambrai, demonstrated the value of using tanks in battle and laid the foundation for tactics based on the interaction of infantry, artillery, tanks and aircraft on the battlefield.

In 1918, Germany, concentrating its main efforts on the Western Front, launched the March offensive in Picardy, and then offensive operations in Flanders, on the Aisne and Marne rivers, but due to the lack of sufficient strategic reserves, it was unable to develop the initial success achieved. The Allies, having repelled the attacks of German troops, on August 8, 1918, in the Battle of Amiens, tore apart the German front: entire divisions surrendered almost without a fight - this battle became the last major battle of the war.

On September 29, 1918, after the Entente offensive on the Thessaloniki Front, Bulgaria signed an armistice, Turkey capitulated in October, and Austria-Hungary capitulated on November 3.

Popular unrest began in Germany: on October 29, 1918, in the port of Kiel, the crew of two warships disobeyed and refused to go to sea on a combat mission. Mass revolts began: the soldiers intended to establish councils of soldiers' and sailors' deputies in northern Germany on the Russian model. On November 9, Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated the throne and a republic was proclaimed.

On November 11, 1918, 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 and establish a neutral zone on the right bank of the Rhine; hand over guns and vehicles to the allies and release all prisoners. The political provisions of the treaty provided for the abolition of the Brest-Litovsk and Bucharest peace treaties, and the financial provisions provided for the payment of reparations for destruction and the return of valuables. The final terms of the peace treaty with Germany were determined at the Paris Peace Conference at the Palace of Versailles on June 28, 1919.

The First World War, which for the first time in human history covered the territories of two continents (Eurasia and Africa) and vast sea areas, radically redrew the political map of the world and became one of the largest and bloodiest. During the war, 70 million people were mobilized into the ranks of the armies; of these, 9.5 million were killed or died from their wounds, more than 20 million were wounded, and 3.5 million were left crippled. The greatest losses were suffered by Germany, Russia, France and Austria-Hungary (66.6% of all losses). The total cost of the war, including property losses, was variously estimated to range from $208 billion to $359 billion.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

In what year did the First World War begin? This question is quite important in view of the fact that the world has really changed before and after. Before this war, the world did not know such a massive death of people who died literally on every inch of the front.

After World War I, Oswald Spengler would write the famous book “The Decline of Europe,” in which he predicted the decline of Western European civilization. After all, the First World War, in which Russia was involved and will be unleashed between Europeans.

This event will also mark the true beginning of the 20th century. It’s not for nothing that historians say that the 20th century was the shortest historical century: from 1914 to 1991.

Start

The First World War began on July 28, 1914, one month after the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife.

How did it all start?

On June 28, 1914, in the town of Sarajevo, Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by the Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip.

Austria-Hungary tended to initially view this situation as an opportunity to establish its influence in the Balkans. She demanded that Serbia not fulfill a number of demands that infringed on the independence of this small Slavic country. The most painful thing was that Serbia had to agree to have the Austrian police investigate the case. All these demands were formalized in the so-called July ultimatum, which Austria-Hungary sent to Serbia July 23, 1914.

Serbia agreed to all the demands (to clear the state apparatus of nationalists or anyone else), except for the point of allowing the Austrian police into its territory. Realizing that this was actually a threat of war, Serbia began mobilizing the army.

For those who don’t know, all states switched to a conscription structure for army recruitment after the Franco-Prussian War of the early 1870s, when the Prussian army defeated the French in a couple of weeks.

26 July Austria-Hungary began mobilization in response. Austrian troops began to concentrate on the border between Russia and Serbia. Why Russia? Because Russia has long positioned itself as the defender of the Balkan peoples.

July 28th Due to failure to comply with the terms of the ultimatum, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Russia has stated that it will not allow a military invasion of Serbia. But the actual declaration of war is considered the beginning of the First World War.

July 29 Nicholas II suggested that Austria resolve the issue peacefully by transferring it to the Hague International Court. But Austria could not allow the Russian emperor to dictate his terms to the Austrian empire.

July 30 and 31 mobilizations were carried out in France and Russia. To the question of who fought with whom and what does France have to do with it, you ask? Despite the fact that Russia and France concluded a number of military alliances back in the 19th century, and since 1907 England joined them, as a result of which the Entente was formed - a military bloc opposing the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy)

August 1, 1914 Germany declared war on Russia. On the same date the inglorious military operations began. By the way, you can talk about them. In what year did it end: 1918. Everything is written in more detail in the article on the link.

In total, 38 states were involved in this war.

Best regards, Andrey Puchkov

How the 1st World War began. Part 1.

Sarajevo murder

On August 1, 1914, the First World War began. There were many reasons for it, and all it needed was a reason to start it. This reason was the event that occurred a month earlier - June 28, 1914.

Heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne Franz Ferdinand Karl Ludwig Joseph von Habsburg was the eldest son of Archduke Karl Ludwig, brother of Emperor Franz Joseph.

Archduke Karl Ludwig

Emperor Franz Joseph

The elderly emperor had already ruled for 66 years by that time, having outlived all the other heirs. The only son and heir of Franz Joseph, Crown Prince Rudolf, according to one version, shot himself in 1889 at Mayerling Castle, having previously killed his beloved Baroness Maria Vechera, and according to another version, he became the victim of a carefully planned political murder that imitated the suicide of the only direct heir to the throne. In 1896, Franz Joseph's brother Karl Ludwig died after drinking water from the Jordan River. After this, Karl Ludwig's son Franz Ferdinand became the heir to the throne.

Franz Ferdinand

Franz Ferdinand was the main hope of the decaying monarchy. In 1906, the Archduke drew up a plan for the transformation of Austria-Hungary, which, if implemented, could prolong the life of the Habsburg Empire by reducing the degree of interethnic contradictions. According to this plan, the Patchwork Empire would turn into the federal state of the United States of Greater Austria, in which 12 national autonomies would be formed for each of the large nationalities living in Austria-Hungary. However, this plan was opposed by the Hungarian Prime Minister Count István Tisza, since such a transformation of the country would put an end to the privileged position of the Hungarians.

Istvan Tisa

He resisted so much that he was ready to kill the hated heir. He spoke about this so openly that there was even a version that it was he who ordered the murder of the Archduke.

On June 28, 1914, Franz Ferdinand, at the invitation of the governor in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Feldzeichmeister (that is, artillery general) Oskar Potiorek, came to Sarajevo for maneuvers.

General Oskar Potiorek

Sarajevo was the main city of Bosnia. Before the Russian-Turkish war, Bosnia belonged to the Turks, and as a result it was supposed to go to Serbia. However, Austro-Hungarian troops were introduced into Bosnia, and in 1908, Austria-Hungary officially annexed Bosnia to its possessions. Neither the Serbs, nor the Turks, nor the Russians were happy with this situation, and then, in 1908-09, a war almost broke out because of this annexation, but the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alexander Petrovich Izvolsky, warned the tsar against rash actions, and the war took place a little later.

Alexander Petrovich Izvolsky

In 1912, the Mlada Bosna organization was created in Bosnia to liberate Bosnia and Herzegovina from occupation and unify with Serbia. The arrival of the heir was very opportune for the Young Bosnians, and they decided to kill the Archduke. Six Young Bosnians suffering from tuberculosis were dispatched for the assassination attempt. They had nothing to lose: death awaited them anyway in the coming months.

Trifko Grabecki, Nedeljko Chabrinovic, Gavrilo Princip

Franz Ferdinand and his morganatic wife Sophia Maria Josephine Albina Chotek von Chotkow und Wognin arrived in Sarajevo early in the morning.

Sophia-Maria-Josefina-Albina Chotek von Chotkow und Wognin

Franz Ferdinand and Duchess Sophie of Hohenberg

On the way to the town hall, the couple suffered their first assassination attempt: one of the six, Nedeljko Čabrinović, threw a bomb on the route of the motorcade, but the fuse was too long, and the bomb exploded only under the third car. The bomb killed the driver of this car and wounded its passengers, the most significant person of whom was Piotrek's adjutant Erich von Meritze, as well as a policeman and passers-by from the crowd. Čabrinović tried to poison himself with potassium cyanide and drown himself in the Miljacka River, but neither had any effect. He was arrested and sentenced to 20 years, but he died a year and a half later from that same tuberculosis.

Upon arrival at the town hall, the Archduke made a prepared speech and decided to go to the hospital to visit the wounded.

Franz Ferdinand was dressed in a blue uniform, black trousers with red stripes, and a high cap with green parrot feathers. Sofia was wearing a white dress and a wide hat with an ostrich feather. Instead of the driver Archduke Franz Urban, the owner of the car, Count Harrach, sat behind the wheel, and Potiorek sat to his left to show the way. The Gräf & Stift car raced along the Appel embankment.

Murder scene map

At the intersection near the Latin Bridge, the car slowed down slightly, switching to a lower gear, and the driver began to turn right. At this time, having just drunk coffee in Stiller’s store, one of those same tuberculous six, 19-year-old high school student Gavrilo Princip, came out into the street.

Gavrilo Princip

He was just walking across the Latin Bridge and saw the Gräf & Stift turning, quite by accident. Without hesitation for a second, Princip grabbed the Browning and with the first shot made a hole in the Archduke's stomach. The second bullet went to Sofia. The third Princip wanted to spend on Potiorek, but did not have time - the people who came running disarmed the young man and began to beat him. Only police intervention saved Gavrile's life.

“Browning” Gavrilo Princip

Arrest of Gavrilo Princip

As a minor, instead of the death penalty, he was sentenced to the same 20 years, and during his imprisonment they even began to treat him for tuberculosis, extending his life right up to April 28, 1918.

The place where the Archduke was killed, today. View from the Latin Bridge.

For some reason, the wounded Archduke and his wife were taken not to the hospital, which was already a couple of blocks away, but to Potiorek’s residence, where, amid the howls and lamentations of their retinue, both died from blood loss without receiving medical care.

The rest is known to everyone: since the terrorists were Serbs, Austria presented an ultimatum to Serbia. Russia stood up for Serbia, threatening Austria, and Germany stood up for Austria. As a result, a month later the world war began.

Franz Joseph outlived this heir, and after his death, 27-year-old Karl, the son of the imperial nephew Otto, who died in 1906, became emperor.

Karl Franz Joseph

He had to rule for a little less than two years. The collapse of the empire found him in Budapest. In 1921, Charles tried to become king of Hungary. Having organized a rebellion, he and troops loyal to him reached almost all the way to Budapest, but was arrested and on November 19 of the same year was taken to the Portuguese island of Madeira, designated for him as a place of exile. A few months later he died suddenly, allegedly from pneumonia.

The same Gräf & Stift. The car had a four-cylinder 32-horsepower engine, which allowed it to reach a speed of 70 kilometers. The engine displacement was 5.88 liters. The car did not have a starter and was started by a crank. It is located in the Vienna War Museum. It even retains a license plate with the number “A III118”. Subsequently, one of the paranoids deciphered this number as the date of the end of the First World War. According to this decoding, a means “Armistice”, that is, truce, and for some reason in English. The first two Roman units mean “11”, the third Roman and first Arabic units mean “November”, and the last one and eight represent the year 1918 - it was on November 11, 1918 that the Compiegne Truce took place, ending the First World War.

World War I could have been avoided

After Gavrila Princip assassinated the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, the opportunity to prevent war remained, and neither Austria nor Germany considered this war inevitable.

Three weeks passed between the day the Archduke was assassinated and the day Austria-Hungary announced an ultimatum to Serbia. The alarm that arose after this event soon subsided, and the Austrian government and Emperor Franz Joseph personally hastened to assure St. Petersburg that they did not intend to take any military action. The fact that Germany was not even thinking about fighting at the beginning of July is evidenced by the fact that a week after the assassination of the Archduke, Kaiser Wilhelm II went on a summer vacation to the Norwegian fiords

Wilhelm II

There was a political lull, usual for the summer season. Ministers, members of parliament, and high-ranking government and military officials went on vacation. The tragedy in Sarajevo did not particularly alarm anyone in Russia either: most political figures were immersed in the problems of their internal life.

Everything was ruined by an event that happened in mid-July. In those days, taking advantage of the parliamentary recess, the President of the French Republic Raymond Poincaré and the Prime Minister and, at the same time, Minister of Foreign Affairs Rene Viviani paid an official visit to Nicholas II, arriving in Russia on board a French battleship.

French battleship

The meeting took place on July 7-10 (20-23) at the Tsar’s summer residence in Peterhof. Early in the morning of July 7 (20), the French guests moved from the battleship anchored in Kronstadt to the royal yacht, which took them to Peterhof.

Raymond Poincaré and Nicholas II

After three days of negotiations, banquets and receptions, interspersed with visits to the traditional summer maneuvers of the guards regiments and units of the St. Petersburg Military District, the French visitors returned to their battleship and departed for Scandinavia. However, despite the political calm, this meeting did not go unnoticed by the intelligence services of the Central Powers. Such a visit clearly indicated: Russia and France are preparing something, and it is something being prepared against them.

It must be frankly admitted that Nikolai did not want war and tried in every possible way to prevent it from starting. In contrast, the highest diplomatic and military officials were in favor of military action and tried to put extreme pressure on Nicholas. As soon as a telegram arrived from Belgrade on July 24 (11), 1914, that Austria-Hungary had presented an ultimatum to Serbia, Sazonov joyfully exclaimed: “Yes, this is a European war.” That same day, at breakfast with the French ambassador, which was also attended by the English ambassador, Sazonov called on the allies to take decisive action. And at three o'clock in the afternoon he demanded to convene a meeting of the Council of Ministers, at which he raised the issue of demonstrative military preparations. At this meeting, it was decided to mobilize four districts against Austria: Odessa, Kyiv, Moscow and Kazan, as well as the Black Sea, and, strangely, the Baltic Fleet. The latter was already a threat not so much to Austria-Hungary, which had access only to the Adriatic, but rather against Germany, the sea border with which was precisely along the Baltic. In addition, the Council of Ministers proposed introducing a “regulation on the preparatory period for war” throughout the country from July 26 (13).

Vladimir Aleksandrovich Sukhomlinov

On July 25 (12), Austria-Hungary announced that it refused to extend the deadline for Serbia's response. The latter, in its response on the advice of Russia, expressed its readiness to satisfy Austrian demands by 90%. Only the demand for officials and military personnel to enter the country was rejected. Serbia was also ready to transfer the case to the Hague International Tribunal or to the consideration of the great powers. However, at 18:30 that day, the Austrian envoy in Belgrade notified the Serbian government that its response to the ultimatum was unsatisfactory, and he, along with the entire mission, was leaving Belgrade. But even at this stage, the possibilities for a peaceful settlement were not exhausted.

Sergey Dmitrievich Sazonov

However, through the efforts of Sazonov, Berlin (and for some reason not Vienna) was informed that on July 29 (16) the mobilization of four military districts would be announced. Sazonov did everything possible to offend Germany, which was bound to Austria by allied obligations, as strongly as possible. What were the alternatives? - some will ask. After all, it was impossible to leave the Serbs in trouble. That's right, you can't. But the steps that Sazonov took led precisely to the fact that Serbia, which had neither sea nor land connections with Russia, found itself face to face with the enraged Austria-Hungary. The mobilization of four districts could not help Serbia. Moreover, the notification of its beginning made Austria's steps even more decisive. It seems that Sazonov wanted Austria to declare war on Serbia more than the Austrians themselves. On the contrary, in their diplomatic moves, Austria-Hungary and Germany maintained that Austria was not seeking territorial gains in Serbia and was not threatening its integrity. Its only goal is to ensure its own peace of mind and public safety.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire (1910-1916) Sergei Dmitrievich Sazonov and German Ambassador to Russia (1907-1914) Count Friedrich von Pourtales

The German ambassador, trying to somehow level the situation, visited Sazonov and asked whether Russia would be satisfied with Austria’s promise not to violate the integrity of Serbia. Sazonov gave the following written response: “If Austria, realizing that the Austro-Serbian conflict has acquired a European character, declares its readiness to exclude from its ultimatum items that violate the sovereign rights of Serbia, Russia undertakes to cease its military preparations.” This response was tougher than the position of England and Italy, which provided for the possibility of accepting these points. This circumstance indicates that the Russian ministers at that time decided on war, completely disregarding the opinion of the emperor.

The generals hastened to mobilize with the greatest noise. On the morning of July 31 (18), advertisements printed on red paper appeared in St. Petersburg calling for mobilization. The agitated German ambassador tried to obtain explanations and concessions from Sazonov. At 12 o'clock at night, Pourtales visited Sazonov and gave him, on behalf of his government, a statement that if Russia did not begin demobilization at 12 o'clock in the afternoon, the German government would issue an order for mobilization.

If mobilization had been canceled, the war would not have started.

However, instead of declaring mobilization after the deadline, as Germany would have done if it really wanted war, the German Foreign Ministry several times demanded that Pourtales seek a meeting with Sazonov. Sazonov deliberately delayed the meeting with the German ambassador in order to force Germany to be the first to take a hostile step. Finally, at seven o'clock, the Minister of Foreign Affairs arrived at the ministry building. Soon the German ambassador was already entering his office. In great excitement, he asked whether the Russian government agreed to respond to yesterday's German note in a favorable tone. At this moment it depended only on Sazonov whether there would be a war or not.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire (1910-1916) Sergei Dmitrievich Sazonov

Sazonov could not have been unaware of the consequences of his answer. He knew that there were still three years left before our military program was fully completed, while Germany completed its program in January. He knew that the war would hit foreign trade, cutting off our export routes. He also could not help but know that the majority of Russian producers are against the war, and that the sovereign himself and the imperial family are against the war. If he had said yes, peace would have continued on the planet. Russian volunteers would reach Serbia through Bulgaria and Greece. Russia would help her with weapons. And at this time, conferences would be convened that, in the end, would be able to extinguish the Austro-Serbian conflict, and Serbia would not be occupied for three years. But Sazonov said “no”. But this was not the end. Pourtales again asked whether Russia could give Germany a favorable answer. Sazonov again firmly refused. But then it was not difficult to guess what was in the pocket of the German ambassador. If he asks the same question for the second time, it is clear that if the answer is negative, something terrible will happen. But Pourtales asked this question a third time, giving Sazonov one last chance. Who is this Sazonov to make such a decision for the people, for the Duma, for the Tsar and for the government? If history confronted him with the need to give an immediate answer, he had to remember the interests of Russia, whether it wanted to fight in order to work off the Anglo-French loans with the blood of Russian soldiers. And yet Sazonov repeated his “no” for the third time. After the third refusal, Pourtales took from his pocket a note from the German embassy, ​​which contained a declaration of war.

Friedrich von Pourtales

It seems that individual Russian officials did everything possible to ensure that the war began as soon as possible, and if they had not done this, then the First World War could have been, if not avoided, then at least postponed until a more convenient time.

As a sign of mutual love and eternal friendship, shortly before the war, the “brothers” exchanged dress uniforms.

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