Preparing France for the First World War. World War I

1) "The French army went to war in red pants for the profits of domestic paint manufacturers."
- The last French manufacturer of red paint "garance" went bankrupt at the end of the 19th century and the army was forced to buy chemical dye in ... Germany.
In 1909-1911, the French army carried out extensive work on the development of khaki uniforms ("Boer" uniform, "Reseda" uniform, "Detail" uniform).
Its first and most violent opponents were ... journalists and experts of the then media, who quickly turned the public against the "degrading to human dignity and the French spirit" protective uniform.

Then populist parliamentarians, eternally economical financiers and army conservatives joined in - and the initiative was buried until 1914, when Detai's gray-blue overcoats had to be urgently removed from warehouses, which, fortunately, had not yet been decommissioned, unlike their khaki predecessors and resedas.

2) "The theory of "offensive to the limit" developed by the General Staff intellectuals has put France on the brink of disaster."
- Absolutely all sides of the initial period of WWI adhered to an exclusively offensive image of the war. The theoretical calculations of the French General Staff officers - by the way, less mechanistic than those of the Germans and paid great attention to the psychological aspect of the conduct of hostilities, did not stand out in anything special against this background.
The real reason for the August hecatombs was the failure in the officers of the corps and divisional level, which was distinguished by a high average age and low quality.
In the regular military, due to the low standard of living, there were people who were not capable of anything else, and the reservists en masses had no idea about modern methods waging war.

3) "Merciless hand-to-hand fights in trenches".
- The statistics of physicians in this regard is merciless. The share of the cold accounted for 1% of fatal wounds in 1915 and 0.2% - in 1918. The main weapon of the trenches was a grenade (69%) and firearms (15%).
This also correlates with the distribution of injuries throughout the body: 28.3% - head, 27.6% - upper limbs, 33.5% - legs, 6.6% - chest, 2.6% - abdomen, 0.5% - neck.

4) "Deadly Gas"
- 17,000 killed and 480,000 wounded on the Western Front. That is, 3% of the total losses and 0.5% of the dead. This gives us a ratio of killed to wounded of 1:28 against an average of 1:1.7-2.5 along the front.
That is, no matter how cynical it sounds, much more soldiers survived after the gas, who could tell everyone about their suffering - despite the fact that only 2% of the wounded became disabled for life, and 70% of the poisoned returned to service in less than 6 weeks.

5) "France bled to death in the trenches of Verdun."
- Near Verdun, France lost about the same number of soldiers as in the mobile war of 1918 and almost half as many as in the more than mobile border battles and on the Marne.

6) "The officers hid behind the backs of the soldiers."
- The proportion of dead and missing from those drafted into the army, officers / soldiers: infantry - 29% / 22.9%, cavalry - 10.3% / 7.6%, artillery - 9.2% / 6%, sappers - 9, 3%/6.4%, aviation - 21.6%/3.5%. At the same time, so as not to talk again - this is the question of the cavalry destroyed by machine guns.

7) "The generals shot the rebellious soldiers."
- The number of soldiers sentenced to death by courts-martial (including those who committed criminal offenses) is 740. This is 0.05% of all French infantrymen who died.

As you know, by the beginning of the First World War, the armies of Russia, Germany and Great Britain were equipped with machine guns of the same design (Khairem Maxima), which differed only in ammunition and machines - the Sokolov wheeled machine in Russia, the tripod in Britain (these are the machines used all over the world in our time ) and an unusual sled machine in Germany. It was the latter that became the reason for the legend.
The fact is that a machine gun with such a machine was supposed to be carried either as a stretcher, or dragged like a sled, and to facilitate this work, belts with carbines were attached to the machine gun.
At the front, while carrying, machine gunners sometimes died, and their corpses, fastened with belts to a machine gun, just gave rise to a legend, and then rumor and the media replaced the belts with chains, for greater effect.

The French went even further, and talked about suicide bombers locked outside inside "Schumann's armored carriages." The legend became very widespread, and as Hemingway later wrote in one of his post-war stories, "... his acquaintances, who heard detailed stories about German women, chained to machine guns in the Ardennes forest, as patriots were not interested in unchained German machine gunners and were indifferent to his stories.
A little later, these rumors were also mentioned by Richard Aldington in the novel Death of a Hero (1929), where a purely civilian man teaches a soldier who came from the front on vacation:
"- Oh, but our soldiers are so good, so good, you know, not like the Germans. You must have already convinced yourself that the Germans are a cowardly people? You know, they have to be chained to machine guns.
- I didn't notice anything. I must say, they fight with amazing courage and perseverance. Don't you think that to suggest otherwise is not very flattering for our soldiers? After all, we have not yet been able to really push the Germans."

By the beginning of the Great War, the German command and officers did not hide their disdain for the French army, associating it with the "Gallic rooster" - it was assumed that it was also quick-tempered and noisy, but in fact weak and shy.
But already in the first battles, the French soldiers confirmed their long-standing reputation as staunch and brave fighters, sincerely ready for self-sacrifice in the name of their homeland.
Their high fighting qualities turned out to be all the more valuable because this time they had to fight with practically the worst weapons from everything available in the arsenals of both allies and opponents.

The main weapon of the French soldier - the 8-mm rifle "Lebel-Berthier" - could not be compared with the German "Mauser M.98", in many respects inferior to the Russian "three-line", and the Japanese "Arisaka Type 38" and the American " Springfield M.1903", and the Shosha light machine gun was generally classified by many as weapon curiosities.
Nevertheless, since the French infantrymen were doomed to use it (although they tried to replace it with a captured or allied one at the first opportunity), it was it that eventually became the "weapon of victory" of the Great War, in which the French army, of course, played decisive role.

The Shosha machine gun also began to be developed spontaneously, as a reaction to the global trend to create automatic weapons systems.
The basis of the future automatic rifle (and the French created it) was taken nowhere else unclaimed and potentially unsuccessful machine gun system of the Austro-Hungarian designer Rudolf Frommer, based on the recoil energy of the barrel with a long stroke.
For rapid-fire weapons, this scheme is the most undesirable, since it leads to increased vibration. However, the French chose her.
Tactical and technical characteristics new weapons were at the level of "below the lowest". Perhaps the only positive quality of the "Shosh" was its light weight - no more than 9.5 kg with an equipped box magazine for 20 rounds and a bipod.
Although even here he did not become a champion: the Danish Madsen light machine gun, which had excellent combat and reliable automation, weighed no more than 8.95 kg.

Despite all its shortcomings, the Shosha machine gun was a commercial success, albeit a scandalous one. It remained in service with the French army until 1924, and by that time the total production of the machine gun had amounted to a considerable 225 thousand pieces.
The French managed to get the main income from the sales of their outsider machine gun from the US military department, which had a very saturated market for automatic weapons.
In the spring of 1917, shortly after America's entry into the war, General William Crozey, Director of the US Army Ordnance Department, signed a contract for nearly 16,000 Shosha machine guns.
It is noteworthy that a few years earlier, the same official categorically rejected the idea of \u200b\u200bproducing an excellent Lewis machine gun in the United States, but argued the need to purchase an obviously unsuccessful French model "by the obvious lack of firepower of American formations."

The result of its use in the US Army is not difficult to predict: the French machine gun received the same unflattering ratings. Nevertheless, General Crozi continued to buy these weapons in bulk.
On August 17, 1917, the French Arms Commission received an order for another 25 thousand C. S. R. G. machine guns, only under the main American cartridge 30-06 Springfield (7.62 × 63 mm).
The fate of this contract was very remarkable. Machine guns fired under the heading Automatic Rifle Model 1918 (Chauchat) began to shoot even worse than those made under the "native" 8 mm cartridge.
The more powerful 30-06 ammunition not only often jammed, but it also broke the reloading mechanism very quickly. It is not surprising that, having received a little more than 19 thousand machine guns under the new contract, the Americans categorically refused further deliveries.
Several deputies of the French Parliament then tried to initiate an investigation into where the profits from the sale of obviously unusable machine guns to the Americans went, but it was quickly closed - too many high-ranking military and diplomats were involved in the deal on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

World War I (1914 - 1918)

The Russian Empire collapsed. One of the goals of the war is solved.
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 rather ambiguous and extremely contradictory described in modern history. I specifically cited Chamberlain's words in the epigraph to once again emphasize this inconsistency. A prominent politician in England (Russia's ally in the war) says that one of the goals of the war has been achieved by overthrowing the autocracy in Russia!

The Balkan countries played an important role in the beginning of the war. They were not independent. Their policy (both foreign and domestic) was greatly influenced by England. Germany by that time had 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, New Zealand.
Triple Alliance. Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire. Later, the Bulgarian kingdom joined them, and the coalition became known as the Quadruple Union.

The following major 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) .

Another important point. Initially, a member of the "Triple Alliance" was Italy. But after the outbreak of the First World War, the Italians declared neutrality.

Causes of World War I

The main reason for the outbreak of the First World War is 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 by exploiting the colonies, were no longer allowed to obtain resources simply by taking them away from the Indians, Africans and South Americans. Now resources could only be won back from each other. Therefore, contradictions arose:

Between England and Germany. England sought to prevent the strengthening of German influence in the Balkans. Germany sought to gain a foothold in the Balkans and the Middle East, and also sought to deprive England of naval dominance.
Between Germany and France. France dreamed of regaining the lands of Alsace and Lorraine, which she 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. Contradictions arose because of the desire of both countries to influence the Balkans, as well as the desire of Russia to subjugate the Bosporus and the Dardanelles.

Cause to start a war

The events in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) served as the reason for the start of the First World War. On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Black Hand organization of the Young Bosnia movement, assassinated Archduke Frans Ferdinand. Ferdinand was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, so the resonance of the murder was enormous. This was the reason 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 a war throughout Europe. The British, at the level of the embassy, convinced Nicholas 2 that Russia, in the event of aggression, should not leave Serbia without help. But then all (I emphasize this) the 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 so that Austria-Hungary, Germany and Russia did not shy away from war.

Important nuances of the reason for war

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 Jaures, 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 Rasputin, who, like Zhores, was an opponent of the war and had a great influence on Nicholas 2. I also want to note some facts from the fate of the main characters of those days:

Gavrilo Principin. He died in prison in 1918 from tuberculosis.
Russian Ambassador to Serbia - 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 disappeared ( next ambassador Russia in Serbia).

All this indicates that there were a lot of black spots in the events of the days, which have not yet been revealed. And this is very important to understand.

The role of England 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 the forces were approximately equal. Therefore, in the "July crisis" of 1914, both sides took a wait-and-see attitude. English diplomacy came to the fore. By means of the press and secret diplomacy, she conveyed to Germany the position - in the event of war, England would remain neutral or take the side of Germany. By open diplomacy, Nicholas 2 heard the opposite idea that in the event of a war, England would take the side of Russia.

It must be clearly understood that one open statement by England that she will not allow war in Europe would be enough for neither Germany nor Russia to even think about anything of the kind. Naturally, under such conditions, Austria-Hungary would not have dared to attack Serbia. But England, with all her diplomacy, pushed the European countries to war.

Russia before the war

Before the First World War, Russia reformed the army. In 1907, a fleet reform was carried out, and in 1910 a reform ground forces. The country has increased military spending many times over, and the total size of the army in Peaceful time was now 2 million. In 1912, Russia adopts a new Field Service Charter. Today it is rightfully called the most perfect Charter of its time, since it motivated soldiers and commanders to take 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 the 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 the cavalry was important. As a result, 75% of all the losses of the First World War were caused by artillery! This is a sentence to the imperial generals.

It is important to note that Russia never finished preparing for the 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 weapons


Austria-Hungary
Germany

According to the data from the table, it can be seen that Germany and Austria-Hungary were many times superior to Russia and France in terms of heavy guns. Therefore, the balance of power was in favor of the first two countries. Moreover, the Germans, as usual, before the war created an excellent military industry, which produced 250,000 shells daily. For comparison, Britain produced 10,000 shells a 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 in the entire war. The Germans clearly understood that heavy artillery would play a decisive role in the war.

Armament and military equipment

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

	Shooting	Artillery



United Kingdom
TRIPLE ALLIANCE
Germany
Austria-Hungary

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

Number of people (infantry)

The number of fighting infantry (millions of people).

	At the beginning of the war	By the end of the war	Losses killed



United Kingdom
TRIPLE ALLIANCE
Germany
Austria-Hungary

The table shows that the smallest contribution, both in terms of combatants and in terms of deaths, was made by Great Britain to the war. This is logical, since the British did not really participate in major battles. Another example from this table is illustrative. We are told in all textbooks that Austria-Hungary, due to heavy losses, could not fight on its own, and it always needed Germany's help. But pay attention to 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 telling. But it turned out that the countries that fought the most and made the most efforts in the war ended up with nothing. First, Russia signed a disgraceful Brest Peace losing a lot of land. Then Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles, in fact, having lost its independence.

The course of the war

Military events of 1914

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

Russia entered World War I on August 1, 1914. Nikolai Nikolaevich Romanov (uncle of Nicholas 2) was appointed supreme commander.

In the first days of the beginning of the war, Petersburg was renamed Petrograd. Since the war with Germany began, and the capital could not have a name of German origin - "burg".
History reference

German "Schlieffen Plan"

Germany was under the threat of a war on two fronts: East - with Russia, West - 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 is how much 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 had reached the borders of France. The implementation of the Schlieffen plan began. Germany advanced deep into France, but on September 5 was stopped at the Marne River, where a battle took place, in which about 2 million people participated on both sides.

Northwestern front of Russia in 1914

Russia at the beginning of the war made a stupid thing that Germany could not calculate in any way. 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 were successful, and Germany was forced to retreat. As a result, part of the forces of the Western Front was transferred to the Eastern. The result - Germany repulsed 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, though by defeating its 1st and 2nd armies. After that, a positional war began.

Southwestern Front of Russia

On the southwestern front in August-September, Russia undertook offensive operation to Galicia, which was occupied by the 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 were killed, 100 thousand captured. For comparison, the Russian army lost 150 thousand people killed. After that, Austria-Hungary actually withdrew from the war, as it lost the ability to conduct independent operations. 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 blitzkrieg.
No one managed to win a decisive advantage. The war turned into a positional one.

Map of military events in 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.

The 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 into deep defense. 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 not be able to recover from the losses it had received.

Germany's successes in 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).

The 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 sector of the front were gigantic: 150,000 killed, 700,000 wounded, 900,000 prisoners and 4 million refugees.

The situation on the western front

All is calm on the Western Front. This phrase can describe how the war between Germany and France in 1915 proceeded. There were sluggish hostilities in which no one sought the initiative. Germany implemented plans in Eastern Europe, and England and France calmly mobilized the economy and the army, preparing for further war. No one provided any assistance to Russia, although Nicholas 2 repeatedly appealed to France, first of all, so that she would switch to active operations on the Western Front. As usual, no one heard him ... By the way, this sluggish war on the western front for Germany is perfectly described by Hemingway in the novel “Farewell to Arms”.

The main result of 1915 was that Germany was unable to withdraw Russia from the war, although all forces were thrown at it. It became obvious that the First World War would drag on for a long time, since in 1.5 years of the war no one was able to gain an advantage or a strategic initiative.

Military events of 1916

"Verdun meat grinder"

In February 1916, Germany launched a general offensive against France, with the aim of capturing Paris. For this, 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 defense in Bukovina (from Lutsk to Chernivtsi) happened on June 5th. The Russian army managed not only to break through the defense, but also to advance into its depths in places up to 120 kilometers. German and Austro-Hungarian losses were catastrophic. 1.5 million dead, wounded and captured. 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. They threw it, as usual, the allies. On August 27, 1916, Romania enters the First World War on the side of the Entente. Germany very quickly inflicted a defeat on her. As a result, Romania lost its army, and Russia received an additional 2,000 kilometers of front.

Events on the Caucasian and Northwestern fronts

On the Northwestern Front positional battles continued in the spring-autumn period. Concerning Caucasian Front, here the main events lasted from the beginning of 1916 to the month of April. During this time, 2 operations were carried out: Erzumur and Trebizond. According to their results, Erzurum and Trebizond were conquered, respectively.

Outcome of 1916 in World War I

The strategic initiative went over to the side of the Entente.
The French fortress of Verdun survived thanks to the advance of the Russian army.
Romania entered the war on the side of the Entente.
Russia launched a powerful offensive - the Brusilovsky breakthrough.

Military and political events of 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. I will give an example of Russia. During the 3 years of the war, prices for basic products increased by an average of 4-4.5 times. Naturally, this caused discontent among the people. Adding to this big losses and exhausting war - it turns out excellent ground for revolutionaries. The situation is similar in Germany.

In 1917, the United States enters World War I. The positions of the "Triple Alliance" are deteriorating. Germany with allies cannot effectively fight on 2 fronts, as a result of which it goes on the defensive.

End of the war for Russia

In the spring of 1917, Germany launched another offensive on the Western Front. Despite the events in Russia, the 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 region. Again, we saved the allies from major battles, but we set ourselves up completely.

The Russian army, exhausted by the war and losses, did not want to fight. Issues of provisions, uniforms and supplies during the war years have not been resolved. The army fought reluctantly, but moved forward. The Germans were forced to re-deploy troops here, 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 actually ceased to exist. The front has collapsed. Russia could no longer fight, and this catastrophe was inevitable.

People demanded that Russia withdraw from the war. And this was one of their main demands on the Bolsheviks, who seized power in October 1917. Initially, at the 2nd Party Congress, the Bolsheviks signed the Decree "On Peace", in fact declaring Russia's withdrawal from the war, and on March 3, 1918, they signed the Brest Peace. 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, about 1/4 of the population, 1/4 of arable land and 3/4 of the coal and metallurgical industry were lost.
History reference

Events in the war in 1918

Germany got rid of the Eastern Front and the need to wage war in 2 directions. 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, in its course it became obvious that Germany was squeezing the maximum out of herself, and that she needed a break in the war.

Autumn 1918

The decisive events in the First World War took place in the autumn. The Entente countries, together with the United States, went on the offensive. The German army was completely ousted from France and Belgium. In October, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria signed a truce with the Entente, and Germany was left to fight alone. Her position 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 deposed.

End of World War I

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

Germany recognizes complete defeat in the war.
The return of France to the province of Alsace and Lorraine to the borders of 1870, as well as the transfer of the Saar coal basin.
Germany lost all its colonial possessions, and also pledged to transfer 1/8 of its territory to its geographical neighbors.
For 15 years, the Entente troops are located on the left bank of the Rhine.
By May 1, 1921, Germany had to pay the members of the Entente (Russia was not supposed to do anything) 20 billion marks in gold, goods, securities, etc.
For 30 years, Germany must pay reparations, and the amount of these reparations is set by the victors themselves and can increase them at any time during these 30 years.
Germany was forbidden to have an army of more than 100 thousand people, and the army was obliged to be exclusively voluntary.

The terms of "peace" were so humiliating for Germany that the country actually became a puppet. Therefore, many people of that time said that the First World War, although it ended, did not end with peace, but with a truce for 30 years. And so it eventually happened ...

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 total world population at that time). In total, 74 million people were mobilized by the participating countries, of which 10 million died and another 20 million were injured.

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

Map of the First World War 1914-1918

France in World War I

On the eve of the war. The socio-political life of France in the pre-war years was distinguished by the growth of militaristic sentiments and the desire for revenge for the defeat in Franco-Prussian War. The country was intensively building up its military potential. Following an increase in naval forces and the formation of additional artillery corps, a decision is made to create military aviation. The famous French political scientist André Siegfried, born in late XIX century, wrote: “We grew up in the hope of revenge, in the cult of the banner, in an atmosphere of adoration for the army ... It was the time of school battalions and as a common sight one could see teachers leading their troops of students in military formation.” French literature was permeated with the spirit of nationalism and patriotism. The writer Maurice Barres and the poet Charles Peguy recreated the heroic pages of the history of the French nation in their works and glorified the defenders of the fatherland.

The political circles of the country were preparing for war. France strengthened its ties with the Entente allies. Since 1913, military cooperation with Great Britain has become permanent. The parties held joint maneuvers and consultations of the general staffs. Close contacts were also maintained with Russia. Representative of the right-wing Democratic Alliance Raymond Poincare in 1912-1914. visited St. Petersburg three times, first as chairman of the council of ministers, and then as president of the republic.

Only a part of the socialists opposed revanchism in France. The leader of the SFIO, Jean Jaurès, accused of being anti-patriotic, was assassinated in July 1914 by the nationalist Raoul Villein.

The beginning of the war and its goals.

Incited by Germany, Austria-Hungary, using the assassination in the city of Sarajevo (Bosnia) of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Ferdinand, presented an ultimatum to Serbia and on July 28, 1914, began hostilities against it. On August 1, Germany declared war on Russia, which took a sympathetic position towards Serbia, on August 3 - on France, and on August 4 invaded Belgium. On the same day, England declared war on Germany.

38 states of Europe, Asia, Africa and America took part in the First World War. Only Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria fought on the side of Germany. Serbia, Belgium and Montenegro (1914), Italy (1915), Portugal and Romania (1916), Greece (1917) joined the Entente (England, France and Russia) in Europe. Military operations took place in Europe, Asia and Africa, on all oceans and in many seas. The main ground operations were deployed on five fronts: Western European (Western), Eastern European (Eastern), Italian, Balkan and Middle Eastern.

France, like other European countries, pursued aggressive goals. She sought to return Alsace and Lorraine, achieve separation from Germany of the lands on the left bank of the Rhine, annex the Saarland, destroy the military, economic and political power of Germany and establish hegemony in Europe. In addition, France wanted to expand its colonial empire - to capture Syria, Palestine and the colonies of Germany.

Military campaign of 1914 and 1915 The main land fronts of the First World War were the Western and Eastern. The main burden of conducting military operations against Germany on the Western Front fell on the shoulders of the French army. After the invasion of the territory of Luxembourg and Belgium on the way German army, rapidly moving towards the Franco-Belgian border, the troops of the French and British armies stood up. At the end of August, a border battle took place between the parties. In view of the threat of the enemy bypassing the left flank of the allied Franco-British troops, the French command began to withdraw the army into the interior of the country in order to gain time to regroup their forces and prepare a counteroffensive. The French armies also launched an offensive in Alsace and Lorraine, but in connection with the invasion of German troops through Belgium, it was stopped.

The main grouping of German troops continued the offensive in a southwestern direction, towards Paris, and, having won a number of partial victories over the armies of the Entente, reached the Marne River between Paris and Verdun. By this time, the French command had completed the regrouping of its troops and created superiority in forces. In September 1914, the German troops were defeated in the Battle of Marne and were forced to withdraw beyond the rivers Aisne and Oise, where they entrenched themselves and stopped the Allied offensive.

During the autumn, the Germans tried to break through the defenses of the Franco-British troops concentrated on the coast of the Pas de Calais, but were unsuccessful. Both sides, having suffered heavy losses, ceased active hostilities.

In 1915, the Anglo-French command decided to switch to strategic defense in order to gain time for the accumulation of materiel and the preparation of reserves. The German command also did not plan major operations. Both sides fought only local battles during the 1915 campaign.

Military campaign of 1916 and 1917 In 1916, the German command expected to strike the main blow on the Western Front in the Verdun area. German troops began the Verdun operation in February. Fierce fighting, in which both sides suffered heavy losses, continued until December. Germany expended enormous efforts, but could not break through the Allied defenses.

The offensive of the allied Anglo-French troops began in April 1917 and lasted two weeks. The attack planned by the French command on German positions on the Aisne River in order to break the enemy defenses and surround him in the Noyon ledge (developed by General Nivelle) ended in complete failure. The Allies lost 200 thousand people, but the goal was not achieved. The Entente's April offensive on the Western Front went down in the history of the First World War under the name of the Nivelle massacre.

Military campaign of 1918 and the end of the war. In March 1918, Germany launched a major offensive on the Western Front. She managed to break through the defenses of the French and British and made significant progress. Nevertheless, the Allies soon closed the gap. The Germans launched a new offensive, and at the end of May they reached the Marne River. They failed to advance further and overcome the resistance of the French. In mid-July, German troops again tried to defeat the allied armies. But the so-called second battle of Marne ended in failure for them.

In the second half of July, the Anglo-French troops delivered a counterattack to the enemy and drove him back across the rivers Aisne and Vel. The Allies firmly seized the strategic initiative and in August inflicted a major defeat in the Amiens operation. German troops. During the September general offensive of the Allied forces along the entire Western Front from Verdun to the sea coast, the German defenses were broken through.

After the start of the November Revolution in Germany and the overthrow of the monarchy, the country's position on the fronts became hopeless. Hostilities were terminated, and the commander-in-chief of the Entente troops on the Western Front, Marshal Foch, signed the Compiègne truce with Germany on November 11, 1918. The First World War is over.

France paid a heavy price for the victory: 1,300,000 Frenchmen died on the battlefields, 2,800,000 were wounded, and 600,000 were left disabled. The war caused enormous damage to the French economy. In the main industrial departments in the northeast of the country in 1914-1918. there were fierce battles, so plants and factories were destroyed. Agriculture also fell into decline. Huge military spending contributed to rising inflation and the fall of the national currency - the franc. During the war years, France owed its allies over 60 billion francs. From a creditor she turned into a debtor. The October Revolution in Russia dealt a severe blow to the country's foreign investment. The cancellation of France's debts by the Soviet government meant the loss of 12-13 billion francs. In general, the damage to the country suffered from the First World War was estimated at 134 billion gold francs.

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In the First World War, the Russian army fought not only on the Russian fronts. Special brigades of Russian troops were sent to the Allied fronts - to France and the Balkans.

Special brigades

In December 1915, French Senator Paul Doumer arrived in Russia on a special mission. His task was to convince the Russian government and military command to send about 400,000 Russian soldiers to help France. According to the French government, they could be more useful there than on the Russian fronts. And in general, Russia's human resources seemed inexhaustible to the allies.
According to the chief of the tsarist headquarters, General M.V. Alekseev, Dumer's demand was unfounded, impudent and shameless. In this vein, Alekseev wrote a note to Nicholas II. But the tsar judged differently, however, reduced the number of Russian troops required by France to 100 thousand people. Soon the organization of Special Russian Brigades began, intended to be sent to the allied fronts. These brigades are now often incorrectly referred to as Russian Expeditionary Force what name they did not have.
The 1st brigade was specially selected from the tallest soldiers various parts. In the ranks, she made an impressive impression, but her soldiers and officers did not have combat soldering. The following brigades began to include entire units that had combat experience. In 1916, four infantry brigades were created, and in 1917, another artillery brigade. In total, about 60 thousand people served in them in two years.
Already in January 1916, the 1st Russian Special Infantry Brigade moved in a long roundabout way - along the Trans-Siberian Railway and by steamboats around all of Asia and through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean Sea - and in April 1916 arrived in Marseille. The French gave her a solemn welcome. The brigade marched through the streets of Marseille. The demonstration of the military brotherhood of Russia and France was of great propaganda importance. After that, the 1st brigade was immediately sent to the front, where at that time a fierce battle was going on near Verdun.
In the summer of 1916, the 2nd brigade was sent from Russia. She moved on a shorter, but also dangerous route - from Arkhangelsk across the North Atlantic, where German submarines prowled. Fortunately, the voyage was without loss. The French command decided that the 2nd brigade would be more useful in the Balkans, where at the end of 1915 the allies opened a new front. The brigade was transferred by ship to Thessaloniki. During the year, the 3rd and 4th Russian special brigades arrived in France by the same route. The 3rd was left in France, and the 4th was transferred to the Balkan front.

Battle path

Various minor misunderstandings arose during the preparation of the Russian units for going to the front. So, the French Minister of War Petain believed that Russian soldiers would have to be trained in the use of French weapons for a long time, and was very surprised to learn that the Russians did not have to explain how to use the French Lebel magazine rifle (ours, however, believed that Mosin’s native rifle more reliable and hits more accurately). It turned out that the Russian soldiers are familiar with the gas mask. There was no language barrier, since all Russian officers who received orders from the French knew French.
During 1916 and early 1917, both Russian brigades took part in many battles on the Western Front. Having suffered heavy losses during the April offensive, they were withdrawn to the rear to rest and re-form.
Even more noticeable was the role of two Russian brigades on the Balkan front. This is understandable, since 160 allied divisions fought in France, and only 20 in Macedonia. In November 1916, Russian troops recaptured the city of Bitol in Macedonia from the enemy (Bulgarians) and were noted in the order of the French front commander General Sarrail.

Impact of the Revolution

In 1917, under the influence of failures at the front and news of the revolution in Russia, unrest began in the French army. It did not pass the Russian brigades either. In the summer of 1917, disobedience began in the rear camp of La Courtine, where both Russian brigades were located. The soldiers demanded to return to Russia. The French managed to skillfully separate the loyal soldiers from the rebellious ones, and then, with the help of the Russian artillery brigade that arrived in France, suppress the rebellion. Some of the participants in the rebellion were sent to hard labor in Algeria. Subsequently, both Soviet historians and white emigres tried to attribute this uprising to the influence of the Bolsheviks. In fact, there were no party Bolsheviks there.
Fermentation in the Russian brigades in the Balkans developed more slowly. Nevertheless, there began demands for the return to their homeland. Having received news of the October Revolution in Russia, the French command decided to disband the Russian brigades. Their soldiers and officers were offered a choice: to sign up as volunteers in the French army or to be hired for rear work in the French army (a kind of construction battalions), where they were given a content three times higher than that of French soldiers at the front. Those who did not agree to either one or the other were to be sent to hard labor.
Most of the military personnel of the four brigades - 17 thousand people - voluntarily chose last option, not wanting to fight or contribute to the continuation of the war. They were sent to work in North Africa, where there were already 8,000 exiled participants in the La Courtine rebellion. 13,000 signed up for the work teams. Only 750 chose to fight under the French banner.
These latter were initially distributed among different French units, and only towards the end of the war some of them were united in the "Russian Legion of Honor". Among them was the Soviet commander Rodion Malinovsky, who would become famous in the future. At the end of the war, the "Russian Legion", increased by Russian soldiers from other French units, carried out occupational service in Germany. In 1919, most of them were sent to Russia to help the White Army of Denikin, where most of the legionnaires rebelled and went over to the side of the Red Army.
The Russians who served in the workers' detachments were repatriated after the end of the civil war in Russia, with the exception of those who somehow managed to settle in a foreign land. There is no exhaustive information about the fate of our compatriots sent to French penal servitude. Some of them were, apparently, eventually repatriated to Soviet Russia, but the majority remained forever in the sands of the Sahara.

Story France in the 20th century

Third French Republic[ | ]

The elections to the Chamber of Deputies, which took place in the spring of 1902, created a radical majority in the Chamber of Deputies. The government no longer needed the support of various elements from different republican parties: the policy of the Waldeck-Rousseau cabinet was justified by the voters. Nevertheless, on May 20, Waldeck-Rousseau, quite unexpectedly both for opponents and even for supporters, announced that his cabinet was resigning, considering its duties to appease France fulfilled. The attempts of the cabinet's enemies to explain this resignation as strife in the cabinet itself turned out to be groundless. With even less right, one could look for the reason for the resignation in the outcome of the elections; in the chamber of 589 deputies there were 233 radicals and radical socialists, 62 government republicans and 43 socialists who did not refuse the cabinet their support. Thus the government majority was secured and the resignation of the Cabinet - for the first and only time in the history of the third republic - was unconditionally voluntary. In the same May, the trip of the President of the Republic, Lube, to St. Petersburg took place. At the end of May, the French colony of Martinique was struck by a terrible volcanic eruption, which was considered extinct, and a strong earthquake that destroyed almost all the settlements of the island. Up to 40 thousand people died. On June 1, the summer session of Parliament was opened. The Chamber of Deputies elected the radical Léon Bourgeois as President by a majority of 303 votes. against 267 filed for the former president, the opportunist Deschanel. The formation of a new cabinet was entrusted to the radical Kombu. He took over the portfolio of internal affairs, and from the old cabinet he retained only the Minister of War, General. André and Foreign Minister Delcasset. The remaining members of the Cabinet: Minister of Justice - Vallee, Minister of Marine - Camille Peltan, Minister of Trade - Truglio, Agriculture - Muzho, Colonies - Doumergue (all five are radicals, or radical socialists), Minister of Education - Chaumier, Public Works - Maruezhul, Minister Finance - Rouvier (the last three are Republicans). Delcasset and Rouvier represented the right wing of the Republican Party in the cabinet. The socialists, to whom Millerand and Bodin belonged in the cabinet of Waldeck-Rousseau, were not represented in the new cabinet; nevertheless, they were part of the bloc of parliamentary parties that supported Combe's cabinet and during the entire period of the cabinet's activity was a special parliamentary organization of parties, built on a federal basis, with a permanent general committee.

The ministerial declaration promised the repeal of the Falloux Act, income tax, two years of military service, insurance for workers against old age and sickness. It declared war on nationalists and clerics, but did not deal with the separation of church and state, but expressed only the intention to strictly apply the Waldeck-Rousseau law on congregations. However, the Catholic Church understood the ministry's declaration as a challenge and immediately began to mobilize its forces against the government. In turn, the government already during June announced the closure of 135 schools of various congregations. Congregations did not always submit voluntarily; sometimes they had to close their schools with the help of armed forces. Later, similar measures were taken with greater caution, but still caused opposition and discontent. Members of the congregations emigrated to Italy, Belgium and especially Spain. The government did not hesitate to dismiss officials for participating in manifestations hostile to it; at the beginning of 1903, several generals and colonels were dismissed, whose wives and daughters took a demonstrative part in charity bazaars arranged by spiritual congregations. The French ambassador to St. Petersburg, Montebello, who was clerically inclined, was recalled and replaced by Bompard, a supporter of the cabinet's policy. The debates in the House more than once took on an extremely stormy character, but as a result, the government always received approval by a majority of 70-120 votes in the House and 50-70 votes in the Senate.

In November 1902, the north of France was engulfed in a huge strike in the coal mines, but the government, through peaceful intervention, managed to persuade both sides to make concessions and thereby stop the strike. At the end of 1902, the ministry submitted to the Chamber of Deputies a draft law on teaching that repealed the Fallou law. The right to open educational institutions was granted only to persons with a higher secular education (according to Fallu's law, secondary education was enough, it doesn't matter - secular or spiritual); control over teaching was given to secular authorities, who received the right to close educational institutions. From those who open educational institution, a declaration was required that they did not belong to unauthorized congregations. By virtue of the new law, up to 10,000 schools maintained by the clergy were to be closed, with total number students: boys - 350,000 and girls - 580,000. To fill the gap thus created, the government had to attend to the immediate opening of 1921 completely new schools and the expansion of several thousand old ones. This placed a burden of 50 million francs on taxpayers. at a time and over 9 million annually, while previously the corresponding costs fell on the church and monasteries. In November 1903, Waldeck-Rousseau spoke out against the government in the Senate, arguing that it was too harsh, regardless of the circumstances, to pass the law on congregations. This speech enthralled the opponents of the cabinet, but did not have much influence; the government retained its majority in both chambers after it. In July 1904 the Teaching Act passed through both houses and came into force; Fallu's law finally fell. In January 1905 the government passed through the chambers a ban on teaching the Law of God in Breton. However, the government did not dare to cancel the concordat, finding that the religious consciousness of the people was not yet at the proper level. In September 1903, the opening of a monument to Renan in Treguier gave rise to clerical demonstrations: the troops were forced to drive away a significant crowd of people from the place of celebration. In April 1904 crucifixes and other religious emblems were removed from the courts.

Although Delcasset, an ardent supporter of the Franco-Russian alliance, remained Minister of Foreign Affairs, Franco-Russian friendship cooled somewhat during the activity of Combe's cabinet. France moved closer to England and Italy. During 1903 the kings of England and Italy visited Paris; Loubet gave them a visit in London and Rome. Loubet's trip to Rome (April 1904) was an act not only of international but also of ecclesiastical politics: he did not consider it necessary to visit the pope, and could not have done so in view of the statement of the Roman curia that the simultaneous visit of the head of the church and the head of state, depriving the pope of his rights, is possible only for an infidel sovereign. In the visit of the King of Italy, in Rome, by the President of the French Republic, the Curia saw an insult to itself and expressed its protest officially. The French government responded by recalling its ambassador from the Vatican (May 1904). However, the pope hesitated to recall his nuncio from Paris. In July 1904, the pope dismissed two French bishops without obtaining the consent of the French. government. Then the entire staff of the French embassy was recalled from Rome, and the papal nuncio was informed that his stay in Paris no longer had any purpose. Diplomatic relations between France and the Holy See were severed. A number of episcopal and priestly chairs that became vacant could not be replaced due to the impossibility of an agreement between the French. government and curia. - Political rapprochement with Italy and England was completed by agreements on peaceful arbitration of disputes between them; similar treaties were concluded with Spain, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands. Another agreement between France and England dealt with colonial issues. France pledged not to demand the evacuation of Egypt by the British; England recognized that France had the right to maintain peace and order in Morocco and to provide the Moroccan sultan with the necessary military and financial assistance; for the next 30 years, France and England must enjoy the same trading position in Egypt and Morocco; to ensure freedom of navigation through the Strait of Gibraltar in a certain part of Morocco, no seaside fortifications should be erected; in relation to fishing near Newfoundland, France renounced the privileges granted to her by the Treaty of Utrecht; in Senegambia, on the other hand, the borders between French and English possessions were corrected in favor of France, and England ceded to France a group of islands at the mouth of the Niger; in Siam, the Menam river is recognized as the boundary between the spheres of influence of England and France, and both powers pledged not to annex Siam; England refused to influence the customs legislation of Madagascar. On October 6, 1904, Spain recognized the Franco-British agreement regarding Morocco. In the agreement with England, no attention was paid to the interests of Germany, which has certain claims to Morocco. At the end of 1904, as a result, quarrels began between France and Germany, which somewhat shook Delcasset's position. Meanwhile, the latter greatly valued rapprochement with Germany: he allowed the expulsion from France of the Alsatian Delsor, who came to Paris to organize meetings and lecture on the Alsatian question. The movement of the issue of income tax was slowed down by the Minister of Finance himself, who did not deviate in any way from the financial policy of previous cabinets; ransom roads by the state, he declared untimely. In 1903 the Dreyfus affair was reopened. His additional investigation was completed only in July 1906: the court of cassation overturned the verdict of the Rennes court, recognized Esterhazy as the author of the notorious bordereau and found it unnecessary to re-trial the case, in view of which, by a special law passed through the chambers, Dreyfus and his supporter Colonel Piccard were restored to all their official rights. This outcome of the case did not cause the former irritation of passions: French nationalism, in the form in which it manifested itself in the Dreyfus affair, no longer existed by this time.

In order to overthrow the government, Combe's son, who acted as a private secretary under his father, was slanderously charged with bribery. A systematic campaign was waged against Minister of Marine Pelltan, led by one of his predecessors in the ministry, also a radical (but with a brightly nationalist tinge), Locroix. In this struggle, partly two opposing views on naval affairs were expressed: Pelltan was a supporter of small warships (destroyers and counter-torpedo boats), Locroix - armadillos and cruisers (the Russo-Japanese War irrefutably proved that Locroix was right in this dispute). Locroix argued that Pelltan was weakening the navy both by spending disproportionately on small vessels and by recruiting employees in which he considered the political opinions of the appointees more than their suitability for the job. Of the same kind was the campaign against the Minister of War Andre, who undoubtedly contributed to the development of political denunciation among the army. He was replaced by the radical socialist Berto. The former minister in the cabinet of Waldeck-Rousseau, the socialist Millerand, also took part in agitation against the cabinet, accusing the government of forgetting social politics because of ecclesiastical policy. From the combination of clerics and nationalists with socialists and radicals, a close-knit and strong opposition was formed. At the opening of the parliamentary session in January 1905, part of the radicals nominated Paul Doumer, who belonged to the radical party but participated in agitation against the cabinet, as a candidate for the presidency of the chamber. Doumer was selected 265 goals. against 240 given to the ministry candidate, Brisson. A few days later, while discussing general policy Cabinet, he received an expression of approval by a majority of 289 votes to 279. Dissatisfied with such an insignificant majority, Combe resigned (January 14, 1905), having held power for 2 years and 7 months.

On January 24, 1905, a new cabinet was formed. It was led by Rouvier, who remained finance minister. From the former cabinet, they entered the new still Chaumier, who changed the portfolio of public education to justice, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Delcasset, and the Minister of War Berto. The new ministers were: Etienne, Minister of Interior. cases; Thomson, Secretary of the Navy; Bienvenue Martin, Minister of Education and Cults; Dubief, Minister of Commerce, Posts and Telegraphs; Klumentel, Minister of the Colonies; Ryuo, Minister of Agriculture; Gauthier, Minister of Public Works. Persons with a pronounced radical coloration (Combe, Pelltan, Valle, Doumergue), all except Berto, left the office; its left side was strengthened by the socialist radicals Dubief and Bienvenue-Martin and the radicals Ryuault and Klumentel, but the most important portfolios were not in their hands. In its first declaration, the Rouvier cabinet promised to continue Combe's policy in all essentials. The ecclesiastical policy of the government has changed very little, perhaps becoming somewhat softer. The project of the separation of church and state introduced by the ministry differed only slightly from the project proposed even earlier by Briand. The essence of the law, promulgated at the end of 1905, is this: the republic does not recognize, pay for or subsidize any church. Starting from January 1, 1906, the state budget for cults is destroyed, as well as the expenses of departments and communities on them. During the year, the movable and immovable property of the church, with all the obligations that lie on them, are transferred to religious associations of believers. Property formerly owned by the state, departments or communities shall be returned to them according to their ownership, with an obligation within a certain period lend them to believers' associations. Church ministers who have served for at least 30 years and have reached the age of 60 are provided with a lifetime annual pension from state funds, in the amount of 3/4 of their previous salary; at a lower age and with a smaller number of years of service, a reduced pension is assigned. Believers are allowed to organize associations enjoying the freedom of worship. The separation of church and state provoked attacks from two sides. On the right, the clerics attacked him for taking away from the church a privileged position in the state; in ending the dependence of the church on the state, they saw a violation of freedom of conscience; clericals considered church property to be the inalienable property of the church and an encroachment on them was called robbery. On the left, from the socialist camp, the government was reproached for its lack of decisiveness and consistency; it was pointed out that the so-called church property was acquired by the church thanks to the state, and therefore, can and should be considered public property. - The law on the insurance of persons living by earnings was not carried out under the cabinet of Rouvier; the income tax bill was not introduced by this cabinet at all. The composition of the fleet was significantly increased, in view of the fact that in 1898 German Navy was only 1/4 French, by 1908 it should already be 3/4, and in 1917 - surpass it if France does not build 24 large warships. - In February 1905, he met in Paris international Court, who examined the case of the sinking of English ships by the Russian squadron (see the Gull incident). At the end of April, Paris again visited English king, in late May and early June, a Spanish man whose life was attempted by a Spanish anarchist who threw a bomb at his carriage. The Tsushima disaster (May 15, 1905), having undermined Russian power at sea, turned out to be unprofitable for supporters of the Russophile policy. On June 6, 1905, Rouvier took Delcasset's place, relinquishing the financial portfolio to Merle. Rouvier's task as min. in. cases, it was to settle the dispute with Germany. A conference convened for this purpose met in Algeciras (in Spain) and in April 1906 worked out an act recognizing the sovereignty of the Moroccan sultan, the inviolability of his possessions and the economic equality of the powers in Morocco. In reality, however, the entire internal administration of Morocco was placed under the strictest control of the European powers. The sultan must appoint as chief of police an officer recommended to him by the Swiss government. - Dissatisfaction with the measures taken by the cabinet against the formation of syndicates by officials was expressed in the resignation of Minister of War Berto. Etienne took his place; the portfolio of Minister of the Interior passed to Dubief, Minister of Commerce, who was replaced by Trullo, a moderate Republican. On February 19, 1906, Loubet's seven-year presidential term expired, and he resolutely refused a secondary candidacy. On January 17, President of the Senate Fallier was elected President of the Republic, having received 449 votes against 379 given to the right-wing candidate, President of the Chamber of Deputies Dumer. Not only all left-wing republicans and radicals (by the way, Brisson and Bourgeois, by the way), but also socialists, with Jaurès at the head, voted for Fallier.

On March 7, 1906, Rouvier retired; his place was taken by the cabinet of the radical Sarrien. From the old cabinet moved to the new Minister of War Etienne, Minister of Marine Thomson and Min. Ryuo agriculture. The color of the cabinet was given new minister internal affairs, the radical socialist Clemenceau, the famous destroyer of ministries, who for the first time accepted the ministerial portfolio, the minister of public education - the independent socialist Aristide Briand (the main fighter for the separation of church and state); the Minister of Foreign Affairs - the radical Bourgeois; Minister of Commerce - Radical Doumergue (should not be confused with Doumer). Sarrien himself, who took over the portfolio of justice, stood politically, as it were, in the center of the cabinet. On the right side, among the new members of the Cabinet, stood the Minister of Finance, Poincaré, the Minister of the Colonies, Leig, and the Minister of Public Works, Barthou. The cabinet included the most prominent people French parliament: it was often called the cabinet of chefs. The formation of this cabinet was as much a move to the left as the choice of Fallier. His main business was to pass the law on Sunday rest, which at enterprises that do not allow it, can be replaced by rest on another day of the week. This law aroused strong dissatisfaction among the bourgeoisie; nevertheless, he entered into life, although in some places he was violated. When the Russian government applied for permission to place a new loan in France, there was a disagreement in the cabinet: Clemenceau was a resolute opponent of the loan, but Poincaré and Bourgeois stood for him, and the issuance of a loan on the French money market was allowed in April 1906 May 6, 1906 Elections to the Chamber of Deputies took place, which shifted the center of parliamentary life significantly to the left. Of the 8,900,000 votes cast, 970,000 fell to the Party Socialists, 160,000 Independent Socialists, 3,100,000 Radical Socialists, and 850,000 Radicals, in total the Left received 5,080,000 votes; the right, counting the progressives, did not collect 3,600,000 of them. The united socialists received 53 seats in the chamber, the radicals and radical socialists - 360. All the leaders of the left returned to the chamber, including Jules Guesde, who was voted out in 1898 and 1902. ; only Paul Lafargue failed again (against the independent socialist Millerand). The Right and the nationalists lost many of their leaders (eg Flurans, Rocha, Piu). On 19 June the session of Parliament opened; Brisson was elected President of the Chamber of Deputies. The position of the right-wing cabinet members was becoming difficult. In October, Sarrien, unable to reconcile differences in the cabinet, resigned. New office Clemenceau was formed on October 26, 1906. Clemenceau, Thomson, Barthou, Ruo and Briand moved from the old cabinet to the new one with the same portfolios. The portfolio of justice was given to Guyot Dessen, the portfolio of foreign affairs - Pichon, finance - Callo, trade - Doumergue, colonies - Millies Lacroix (not to be confused with Ed. parliamentary life, known for his role in the Dreyfus affair. A special Ministry of Labor and Social Measures was again created, headed by Viviani. In the cabinet there were thus two independent socialists (Briand and Viviani), three radical socialists (Clemenceau, Pichon and Doumergue), five radicals (Dessen, Callot, Piccard, Lacroix, Ruault) and two republicans (Thomson and Barthou). In the declaration of the ministry read in the chambers on November 5, it was said that the government would guard peace, not forgetting, however, that peace among civilized peoples rested on military force. In domestic politics, the government will strengthen democracy; this will lead to individual cases manifestations state power take on more moderate forms. A draft reform of the military courts will be introduced: consideration of crimes against common law will be transferred to the general courts, and disciplinary proceedings will be furnished with all the necessary guarantees. The government intends to put into effect the workers' insurance law, improve the laws on trade unions, and establish a progressive income tax. In January 1907, Deputy Flandin introduced a draft law on freedom of public assembly, which abolishes the obligation to make a preliminary statement about a meeting to the police authorities; this project met with government support. The efforts of the Russian government to conclude a new loan in France were opposed by Clemenceau and Callot; the latter directly stated in the Chamber of Deputies that a Russian loan not approved by the State Duma was out of the question in France. During the strikes, the cabinet at first showed an impartiality rare in France, but in 1907 it followed the path of its predecessors in this respect. The desire to form syndicates among the officials seemed to the cabinet dangerous for the proper course of the state machine; finding that the strikes of officials could not be equated with the strikes of the workers, he began to persecute the syndicates officials especially teachers. As a result, there was a strong cooling between the cabinet and the socialists, who at the end of April 1907 went over to direct opposition to the cabinet; strong dissatisfaction was also found among the radical socialists and radicals.

France in World War I[ | ]

France was almost completely occupied with her own internal problems and paid very little attention to the threat of war. True, the Moroccan crises of 1905 and 1911 nevertheless caused alarm, and in 1913 representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the General Staff, confident that Germany was preparing for war, hardly persuaded the Chamber of Deputies to adopt a law on three-year military service. This law was opposed by the whole bloc of the left, especially the socialists, who, under the leadership of the famous Jean Jaurès, were ready to call for a general strike in order to prevent mobilization. They were sure that the German socialists would do the same (although reports from Germany did not confirm this).

Meanwhile new president The French Republic Raymond Poincaré did everything possible to strengthen the position of France, and especially insisted on an alliance with Russia. When the international situation became more complicated in the summer of 1914, he paid an official visit to Tsar Nicholas II. Despite this, for the majority of the population, the outbreak of war was a complete surprise.

France was saved from complete defeat during a massive German offensive thanks to the courage of the French troops during the retreat to the Marne and the advance of the Russian army into East Prussia. After that, both sides switched to positional forms of war. This trench warfare went on for four years. In 1917, after the entry of the United States into the war, the German army made a last desperate attempt to achieve victory with the last major offensive in France. She achieved success, but the arrival of American troops, ammunition and food in Europe stopped the German offensive and weakened the morale of the German army. The famous Marshal Ferdinand Foch, with the support of the Clemenceau government, led the troops of the Entente in a brilliant campaign that culminated in the expulsion of the Germans from French territory. In Germany, close to the exhaustion of its resources, a revolution began and it requested an armistice, which was concluded on November 11, 1918.

Bath-car of the French army WWI

Shell of the French heavy gun PMV caliber 400 mm

France between the two wars (1918-1939)[ | ]

The internal policy of France in the 1920s was largely determined by the unresolved problems that arose after the end of the war. Two main areas were related to financial and foreign policy country, led by Raymond Poincaré and Aristide Briand. High military spending was covered by France through loans, which inevitably led to inflation. Poincaré counted on German reparations to keep the franc at least at 1/10 of its pre-war value, to cover the costs of rebuilding the destroyed areas, and to pay interest on loans to Great Britain and the United States. However, the Germans did not want to fulfill their obligations. Many even doubted the possibility of Germany paying large reparations. Poincaré, who did not share these doubts, sent troops into the Ruhr region in 1923. The Germans resisted and capitulated only after the introduction of emergency measures. British and American experts put forward the Dawes plan to finance reparation payments, mainly through American loans to Germany.

In the first half of the 1920s, Poincare enjoyed the support of the nationalist-minded parliament elected in 1920. But in the next elections of 1924, despite the split of the left forces into warring communist and socialist parties (1920), the coalition of radical socialists and socialists (the union of the left) was able to get the most seats. The new chamber rejected Poincare's line, along with his firm monetary policy in France, and, in order to improve relations with Germany, brought first Édouard Herriot and then Briand to power. Briand's plans to secure peace in Europe met with an apparently favorable response from Gustav Stresemann, Reich Chancellor and German Foreign Minister. Stresemann was the initiator of the conclusion of a guarantee pact on the inviolability of state borders in the Rhine region and on the preservation of the demilitarization of the Rhine region, which was reflected in the Locarno Treaties of 1925.

From the mid-1920s until his death in 1932, Briand directed French foreign policy. He made skilful and indefatigable attempts to establish relations with Germany as a basis for maintaining peace under the auspices of the League of Nations, although he knew that Germany was rearming. Briand was convinced that France would never be able to confront Germany on her own without the support of her former allies or the League of Nations.

In the early 1930s, France was gripped by a deep economic crisis. A mass working-class movement has unfolded in the country, and at the same time the threat from Nazi Germany. Both the program of equal social security, which the working class insisted on, and the policy of effective rearmament to eliminate the threat from a remilitarized Germany, rested on the need for an effective recovery of the French economy. Moreover, in the 1930s, when production was falling all over the world, France would hardly have been able to achieve genuine international cooperation, which alone could save the country's economy from collapse.

The world crisis and its gravest consequence - unemployment - appeared in France in the middle of 1934. In the elections of 1936 People's Front won a decisive victory, partly because it seemed to be the only defense against the totalitarian right, but mainly because of the promise of economic improvement and social reform (similar to the New Deal in the United States). Socialist leader Leon Blum formed a new government.

Hitler's rise to power initially had little effect on events in France. However, his call for rearmament (1935) and the capture of the Rhineland (1936) represented a direct military threat. This radically changed the attitude of the French to foreign policy. The left could no longer support the policy of rapprochement between the two states, and the right did not believe in the possibility of military resistance. One of the few specific foreign policy measures of this period was the mutual assistance pact with the USSR, concluded by Pierre Laval in 1935. Unfortunately, such an attempt to revive the old Franco-Russian alliance to curb Germany was not successful.

After the annexation of Austria (1938), Hitler demanded that Czechoslovakia transfer the Sudetenland to Germany. At the Munich Conference, France agreed to the partition of Czechoslovakia. The French could take a decisive position at the conference, since it had non-aggression agreements with both Czechoslovakia and the USSR. However, the representative of France, Edouard Daladier, took a position similar to that of the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.

France during World War II[ | ]

In 1939 England began to rearm the army, however, when Chamberlain spoke out against the German invasion of Poland and declared war on the aggressor (September 3, 1939), Daladier followed his example. In the period from September 1939 to the German occupation of Norway in April 1940, France was inactive, so the confrontation with Germany acquired the character of the so-called. "strange war". Morally and militarily, France was completely unprepared to repel the German attack in May 1940. Within six fateful weeks, the Netherlands, Belgium and France were defeated, and British troops were expelled from mainland Europe. Despite the military power of France, the defeat of this country was so sudden and complete that it defied any rational explanation.

Vichy regime (1940-1944)[ | ]

The armistice agreement concluded on June 22, 1940, put an end to the fighting in France. Simultaneously French general Charles de Gaulle spoke on the radio from London and called on all the French to unite to fight the invaders. On July 11, the deputies of parliament gathered in Vichy and handed over power to Marshal Philippe Pétain. The Vichy government held control over 2/5 of the country's territory (central and southern regions), while German troops occupied the entire north and the Atlantic coast. The Vichy government lasted until the Anglo-American invasion of North Africa in November 1942. After that, the Germans completely occupied France.

The Germans pursued a cruel policy in the occupied territory. The resistance movement, initially weak, intensified significantly when the Germans began to take the French for forced labor in Germany. Although the Resistance contributed to the liberation of France, the main role was played by combat operations the allies who landed in Normandy in June 1944 and on the Riviera in August 1944 and reached the Rhine by the end of the summer. The reconstruction of the country began under the leadership of General de Gaulle and the leaders of the Resistance, especially Georges Bidault and Guy Mollet, who represented respectively the liberal Catholic and socialist organizations.

The leaders of the Resistance called for the creation of a new society based on brotherhood and general economic equality, with the guarantee of genuine individual freedom. The Provisional Government began to implement the program social development based on a significant expansion of state ownership. The implementation of all these principles greatly complicated the unstable financial system of the country. To support it, it was necessary to restore, systematically develop and expand the industrial base of the economy. The corresponding plans were developed by a group of experts led by Jean Monnet.

Fourth Republic (1946-1958)[ | ]

In 1946, the Constituent Assembly adopted a draft of a new constitution, which eliminated a number of shortcomings of the Third Republic. General de Gaulle advocated the establishment of an authoritarian presidential regime. The Communists (who, thanks to their active participation in the Resistance, now played important role in government) made a proposal for a single Legislative Assembly. However, the majority of voters felt that the plan harbored the threat of a communist conspiracy and did not pass it in a general referendum. A compromise constitution was adopted in a second referendum, whereby a weak president and a deliberative advisory upper house were supplemented by a powerful National Assembly that oversaw the activities of the government. The similarities between the Fourth and Third Republics were obvious.

In 1947 the USA proclaimed an extensive program of economic assistance (the Marshall Plan) in order to prevent the disintegration of the economic and political structure of Europe and to speed up the reconstruction of its industry. The United States provided assistance on the condition that the Organization for European Economic Cooperation, which was being created, would lay the foundation for the integration of European states.

Meanwhile begins cold war, and in 1949 the United States created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to strengthen its position in Western Europe. France took part in the general activities under the treaty, although this weighed heavily on the country's budget and drained its military resources. Thus, an irresolvable conflict arose between the fulfillment of treaty obligations to NATO and the financial possibilities of France.

After World War II, the national liberation movement intensified in the countries of Southeast Asia, including the French protectorate of Indochina. Although de Gaulle's provisional government promised to grant political rights to all subjects, which was confirmed by the 1946 constitution, France supported the reactionary regime in Indochina, which opposed the forces of Vietnam, which had previously fought for the liberation of the country from the Japanese occupiers, and then received the support of China. After the armistice in Korea, it became clear that France would have to evacuate its troops from Vietnam.

During this period, in France itself, communist attempts to discredit American assistance or refuse it intensified, and de Gaulle's party, the Rally of the French People (RPF), wanting to save the country from communism, strove for power and a change in the political system. In the general elections of 1951, the party-political struggle reached its climax. The Communists and Gaullists won a significant number of votes. However, thanks to a change in the electoral law (abandoning the proportional electoral system and introducing a majority system), the Republican parties, united before the elections in a bloc called the Third Force, were able to win almost two-thirds of the seats in the National Assembly. This allowed them to form a coalition government.

Shortly after the complete defeat of the French army in Indochina, in the large-scale battle of Dien Bien Phu, Pierre Mendès-France was appointed the new prime minister. In the past, a financial expert with strong anti-colonialist views, he held peace negotiations and in July 1954 signed the Geneva Accords to end the war in Indochina. Although Mendes-France had own program, he immediately became involved in the struggle for the approval of the treaty on the organization of the European Defense Community (EDC) and for the inclusion of the FRG in its composition. In France, the opponents of the revival of the German army were so influential that this US-inspired treaty was never ratified. The failure of Mendès-France, who supported the EOC project, aroused hostility towards him from the People's Republican Movement led by Georges Bidault. As a result, the government was forced to resign.

In the mid-1950s, unrest began in North Africa - Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria (the first two were considered French protectorates, and the last - an overseas department of France). Tunisia gained independence in 1956 and Morocco in 1957. An army that had just returned from Indochina was deployed to Algiers to repel terrorist attacks by National Liberation Front (FLN) rebels. Although during the election campaign Mollet promised to negotiate peace with the rebels, in the spring of 1956 he announced a general mobilization in the country in order to pacify Algeria by force. Since Egypt supported the FLN, France sent troops in retaliation to help England in its campaign in the Suez Canal Zone in the autumn of 1956. By getting involved in this conflict, the French government lost the confidence of the people and political prestige, and also significantly depleted the treasury. French army in Algeria, with the instigation and support of the Europeans, who accounted for 10% of the total population of this country, in fact, ceased to obey the government.

Although big cities Algeria was pacified, and a wave of discontent was rising in France itself. The fact that the army clearly exceeded its authority did not relieve the government of moral responsibility. However, in the case of restoring order in the army, the country would lose effective strength and lose hope of victory. Incited by the Gaullist leaders, the army and the French colonists were in open defiance of the government. The stormy rallies and demonstrations that unfolded in Algeria spread to Corsica, the metropolis was under the threat of civil war or a military coup. On June 2, 1958, the Fourth Republic, torn by contradictions, transferred emergency powers to Charles de Gaulle, the only person who could save France.

Fifth Republic In 1961, an armed conflict broke out between Tunisia and France due to Bourguiba's demands for the immediate withdrawal of French troops from the base in Bizerte. As a result, Franco-Tunisian negotiations began on the evacuation of the French from Bizerte and the gradual withdrawal of French troops from the base. The French navy finally left Bizerte on October 15, 1963.

In July 2008, President Sarkozy put forward a draft constitutional reform, which received the support of Parliament. This reform of the Constitution was the most significant during the existence of the Fifth Republic: amendments were made to 47 of the 89 articles of the document.

Literature [ | ]