World War I World War Ⅰ
1914-1918 The First World War war between the Allies and the Allies Group to re-dividate colonies and spheres of influence and fight for world hegemony. This imperialist war lasted for 4 years and 3 months. The war burned across the European continent and extended to Africa and Asia. Fierce naval battles occurred in the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the southern waters of the Pacific Ocean. There are 33 countries involved in this war, with a population of more than 1.5 billion.
1. The roots and causes of the war
World War I was a product of the imperialist system and was a strength contest between capitalism from the stage of free competition to the period of monopoly, and financial oligarchs from various countries were engaged in order to obtain greater profits and plunder other countries' wealth. It is a decisive battle between the rising imperialist countries in order to re-dividate the world and compete for world hegemony.
1.1. Economic and political roots
The late 19th century and the early 20th century, the economy of the world's capitalist powers developed rapidly. In 1900, the world's steel production increased by 54 times compared with 1870, the total length of railways increased by nearly 3 times, and the oil production increased by 1.5 times. The world's total industrial output value doubled, and heavy industry surpassed light industry to dominate. New heavy industry sectors such as chemistry, electricity, oil, and automobiles have emerged one after another.
The production and capital concentration of major capitalist powers have reached a very high level, and various forms of monopoly organizations such as cartels, syndicates, and trusts have already dominated the economy. Bank capital and industrial capital integrate each other to form financial capital and financial oligarchy. With its strong capital power, financial oligarchs in various countries have actually become rulers of these countries. Governments representing the interests of financial capital groups, in order to obtain the maximum monopoly profit, plunder the wealth of other countries, actively implement policies of foreign expansion and aggression, which has led to the sharpening of contradictions between imperialist countries.
various capitalist powers compete for colonies by force all over the world. By 1900, 90.4% of the African continent, 56.6% of Asia, 27.2% of the Americas, and Oceania had all become colonies of Britain, Russia, France, Germany and other countries, and the world's territory was completely divided.
But the colonies occupied by the imperialist powers are very unbalanced. The old colonial empires, Britain, Russia and France, occupied most of the world's colonies. In 1914, the total area of the British colonies was about 33.5 million square kilometers, 110 times the area of the British mainland. The colonial territory occupied by Tsarist Russia reached 17.4 million square kilometers, second only to Britain. France has a colony of 10.6 million square kilometers and is the third colonial empire in the world. The three late imperialist countries, Germany, the United States and Japan, had no colonies before the 1880s. By 1914, the German colonies had only 2.9 million square kilometers, while the United States and Japan each had 300,000 square kilometers. However, the economic development speed of Germany, the United States and Japan and the strength of the country quickly caught up and surpassed several old imperialist countries such as Britain, France and Russia. Germany, the United States and Japan were not satisfied with this situation and demanded that the colonies be divided again by force.
1898-1905, the Spanish-American-American-British War, the British-British War and the Russo-Japanese War, were the first few imperialist wars carried out by imperialist countries to re-dividate the world. The periodic economic crisis of capitalism and the sharpening of domestic class contradictions have made the rule of imperialist countries unstable. In order to pass on the crisis, imperialist countries have stepped up their military expansion and prepared for war, attempting to launch a war of foreign aggression to resolve the domestic crisis.
1.2. The formation of two major military groups
18 After the 1870s, the contradictions between Germany and France, Britain, and Russia and Austro-Hungary and intensified. Germany defeated France in the French-Prussian War from 1870 to 1871 and quickly developed into a European power. Germany is worried about France's revenge and strives to win over Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and isolate France. In 1873, Germany, Austria and Russia established the Three Emperors Alliance. After the Russian-Turkish War in 1877, Russia's influence in Baryu increased, which aroused dissatisfaction with Germany, Austria and Britain. German Prime Minister O. von Bismarck presided over the Berlin Conference in 1878, which damaged Russia's vested interests in the Balkans and caused Russia's resentment towards Germany.The Three Emperors Alliance broke down.
1879, Germany further approached Austro-Hungary and formally concluded a military alliance. In 1882, France and Italy had conflicts in the expansion of North Africa, and Germany took the opportunity to support and win over Italy. On May 20 of the same year, Germany, Austria and Italy signed an alliance treaty in Vienna. After the establishment of the Three Kingdoms Alliance, the competition between Russia and Germany in trade intensified, and the contradiction between Russia and Austria in the Balkans became increasingly sharp, prompting Russia and France to get closer. From 1891 to 1894, France and Russia concluded military agreements, and the French-Russian alliance was established.
Britain has long pursued a diplomatic policy of balanced power to avoid direct involvement in conflicts on the European continent. By the early 20th century, as Germany's rise threatened Britain's hegemony in the colonies and maritime positions in the Middle East, Africa, and Far East, Britain finally gave up its "glorious isolation" policy.
In 1902, Britain signed an alliance with Japan, attempting to use Japan to deal with France and Russia to protect its Far Eastern interests. In 1904, Britain and France signed an agreement to recognize their respective spheres of influence, and the British-France Alliance relations were established. The British-Russia Agreement was signed in 1907. From then on, the two major military groups, including allies dominated by Germany, Austria and Hungary, and the Allies dominated by Britain, France and Russia, were officially formed. This is an important step for the imperialist countries to prepare for the world war.
1.3. Arms Race
After the two major military groups were formed, countries have stepped up their pace of expanding their arms preparations. Germany is at the forefront in the arms race. From 1893 to 1913, the German Parliament passed many bills to expand the army, manufacture new field artillery and guns, and expand the new Navy ship , more than doubled the number of German Army and Navy ships. Military expenditure was 430 million marks in 1879 and increased to 2.1 billion marks in 1913. In 1905, German Chief of Staff A. von Schliffen presided over the formulation of a plan to fight against France and Russia, calling the "Schliffen Plan". Its strategic dominant idea is that once a war breaks out, Germany should concentrate its superior forces, defeat France first with a quick decisive battle, and then return to the east to defeat Russia, so as to get rid of the situation of fighting at the same time on both the east and west sides. The Austro-Hungarian Empire followed Germany and stepped up its military plans to fight against Russia and Serbia.
In order to maintain its maritime overlordship, Britain accelerated its construction of the navy, in 1906, the first 18,000-ton giant armored ship, the "Dreadnought", was launched. Then Britain and Germany launched a competition to create dreadnoughts. While expanding the navy, the UK also expanded its army and established an expeditionary force of 100,000 people, preparing to go to Europe for combat. British military expenditure doubled from 1898 to 1913, with a total of 86 million pounds.
France has also passed military bills many times to manufacture new 75mm field artillery equipment for the army. In 1913, its standing army expanded to 800,000 people, and in 1914, military expenditure increased to 1.5 billion francs, accounting for 38% of France's total national budget.
Tsarist Russian government has also stepped up its reorganization of its troops since 1910. In 1913, the number of active-duty soldiers reached 1.3 million, while accelerating the construction of strategic railways and naval construction to Germany.
The two major military groups have made the war risk increasingly dangerous. As the anti-war movements of the people in various countries continue to strengthen, imperialist countries have to propose on the surface to discuss peace and limit arms in order to deceive the people. Two peace meetings in The Hague were held in 1899 and 1907, but the conventions concluded at the meeting were of no use to preventing war.
1.4. Local War
1905-1913, the two major military groups created a series of international crises in order to compete for strategic locations and caused local wars.
The Mediterranean coast and the Balkans are the focus of competition between Britain, France, Russia and Germany and Austria. In 1905 and 1911, Germany and France caused two Moroccan crises in order to compete for the key points of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean. From 1908 to 1909, Russia, Austria and Germany caused the Bosnian crisis in order to compete for the strategic points of the Balkan Peninsula. The Austro-Hungarian Empire annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina was opposed by Serbia. After 1912, Italy gradually approached France, trying to get along well between Germany and France and benefit from it.
1911-1912, with the acquiescence of France and Russia, Italy sent troops to invade Tripoli in North Africa, which belongs to , Turkey, and the Italian-Turkey War broke out.In 1912, the four kingdoms of the Balkans, including Bulgaria, Greece, , Serbia and Negoro, formed an alliance to launch the First Balkan War, which jointly opposed Turkey. Later, internal strife broke out among the Balkan League countries and the Second Balkan War broke out. The great powers such as Russia, Austria, Germany and Britain took advantage of the ethnic conflicts of the Balkan countries to fight fiercely. After the Austro-Hungarian Empire annexed Bosnia, it tried to annex Serbia. In order to curb Austro-Hungary and seize the Dardanelles and Bosphorus controlled by Türkiye, Russia incited the Balkan countries to oppose the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Türkiye. Britain, France and Germany each compete for their political and economic advantages in Turkey and are involved in profits. These crises and conflicts have made the contradictions between the two imperialist groups increasingly acute and the struggle has become more intense.
1.5. The outbreak of the July crisis and war
On June 28, 1914, the crown prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Grand Duke Franz Ferdinand went to Bosnia to review the army in Sarajevo by Serbian "Young Bosnia" member G. Principe. This incident became the fuse of the war.
On June 29, the Austro-Hungarian Empire government made a decision to "liquidate" Serbia and sought the opinions of its ally Germany in a note. The next day, the German Emperor expressed his support for Austro-Hungary to take firm action and said: "Either liquidate immediately or never." On July 4, Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I wrote a letter to explore the German Emperor. If Russia assisted Serbia in the war, what is Germany's attitude? German Emperor William II said that if a war broke out between Russia and Austria, Germany will fulfill its treaty obligations of the Allies.
German believes that Russia was not ready for war at that time. If the war begins, Britain will temporarily remain neutral, Germany and Austria will be able to quickly defeat Russia and France. To this end, the German ambassador to London met with the British Foreign Secretary to test the UK's attitude towards the Sarajevo incident. Britain expressed to the German ambassador to do everything possible to prevent war between major powers and indicated that Britain was unwilling to be involved in the war. This gave Germany an illusion that Britain would take a silence towards the European incident in the early days of the war.
Germany is trying hard to encourage Austro-Hungary to launch a war. On the afternoon of July 23, Austro-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia. The Tsarist Russian government immediately convened a meeting of ministers to discuss countermeasures. France expressed support for Russia. The UK suggests that Germany, France, Britain and Italy hold a meeting to mediate the Olympic and Serbia disputes. But Germany and Austria have made preparations and are determined to start a war.
On July 28, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia. In diplomatic history, June 28 to July 28, 1914 was called the July crisis stage. Russia supported Serbia in accordance with the secret treaty and announced a general military mobilization on July.
htmlOn August 1, Germany declared war on Russia. On the same day, Germany issued an ultimatum to France, demanding that France reply within 18 hours whether it will remain neutral in the German and Russian wars. France refused to accept the ultimatum. On August 3, Germany declared war on France. The day before, on August 2, the German army entered Luxembourg . On the night of the 3rd, the German army invaded Belgium .Britain had assumed a guarantee obligation to Belgium neutrality and declared war on Germany on the 4th. On the 5th, Austro-Hungary declared war on Russia. Subsequently, Britain and France declared war on Austro-Hungary. Serbia and Montenegro (Negoro of the Gate) declared war on Germany and Austro-Hungary. In this way, all the imperialist powers in Europe, except Italy, were involved in this long-planned world war.
2. The course of the war
After the outbreak of the war, the Austro-Hungarian army attacked Serbia, and the German army quickly detoured Belgium to attack France. The war was first ignited on the European continent and soon spread to some parts of the Middle East, the Far East and Africa.
main battlefields are in Europe, and Europe includes the Western Front battlefield, Eastern Front battlefield , Balkan battlefield, and Italian battlefield. The French battlefield on the Western Front of Europe is the main battlefield that determines the overall situation. Britain, Germany, Russia, France and Japan also held many naval battles, with the North Sea as the main battlefield at sea. The Air Force was used in actual combat for the first time in the war. The entire war is generally divided into three stages.
2.1. The first stage (1914)
① Western Front battlefield.After the outbreak of the war, the German Chief of Staff H.J.L.von Moltke (or Moltke ) ordered the German army to attack the Liège Fortress in Belgium on August 4, breaking into France from the north, attempting to attack the main force of the French army from behind to achieve the strategic goal of defeating France with a quick decisive battle. On the 16th, the German army conquered fortress . French and German troops fought fiercely on the French border, known in history as the "Border War".
From August 14 to 25, the French commander-in-chief J.-J.-C. Xiafei ordered the French army to invade the Alsace-Lorraine area and attacked the German army in the Sambur River area. British Expeditionary Force Commander J.D.P. French led the British army to fight against the German army at Mons. These short border battles are in fierce battles, and the two sides have invested a total of 3.5 million troops. The French and British troops were forced to retreat south, and the Germans invaded France and advanced towards their heart.
From September 5 to 9, the main force of the French army counterattacked the German army on the 200-kilometer front of the Marne River 6 area, forcing the German First Army, which rashly advanced south, to retreat north of the Marne River to the front line of Verdun. The Battle of Marne failed to make the German plan to encircle the French army, and Germany's quick decision to break the bankruptcy. The Chief of Staff was employed by Emperor William II of Germany and was replaced by E. von Farkingham.
After the Battle of the Marne River, the French and British Allied Forces launched several attacks on the German army near the Aina River and and Ypres, but failed to break through the opponent's position. In mid-November, the two sides entered a stalemate and began a positional war. A stable front line extending from Verdun to both sides, reaching Noiron to the coast in the west and reaching the Swiss border in the south, without much movement in the next few years.
②Balkan battlefield and Eastern Front battlefield. On July 28, Austria-Hungarian army bombarded Serbian capital Belgrade , killing more than 5,000 peaceful residents. Later attacked Serbia. Serbia rose to resist. On August 19, the Serbian army broke through the Austro-Hungarian front north of Loznica, forcing it to retreat across the board, capturing more than 50,000 enemies.
Austro-Hungarian army launched another attack on the Serbian army in September. Due to insufficient ammunition, the Serbian army once gave up Belgrade and retreated into the central plateau. In mid-December, the Serbian army received weapons, ammunition and food provided by the Allies, quickly recovered Belgrade and drove the Austro-Hungarian army out of the border.
1914's victory of the Serbian army dealt a major blow to the Austro-Hungarian army, thwarted Germany and Austria's invasion plan in the Balkans, and restrained some of the troops of the same country.
is on the eastern front, forming another major battlefield from the Baltic coast to the Romanian border. The focus of Germany's combat is on the Western Front. It only has one Eighth Army on the Eastern Front. It is located in East Prussia , plus the Konesburg Fortress Guard troops, with a total of 300,000 troops. The Russian Supreme Command decided to use its Northwest Front to attack the East Prussian Germans and the Southwest Front to attack the Austro-Hungarian Army.
On August 17, 1914, the Russian army attacked the German Eighth Army. Under the attack of Russian superior forces, the German army retreated to the lower reaches of the Vislun River. The German army appointed P.von Hindenburg as commander of the Eighth Army and E. Rudendolf as chief of staff to strengthen the forces on the Eastern Front and launched an attack on both wings of the Russian army on August 26. After more than 20 days of fierce fighting, the Russian army was defeated, losing 250,000 troops, and retreated to the area of Neman River and Bobl River. In order to achieve this local victory, Germany dispatched troops from the Western Front to reinforce the Eastern Front, expanding the scale of the war on the Eastern Front, and falling into an unfavorable situation of fighting at the same time on both fronts.
In the Galician region bordering the Austro-Hungarian Empire with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Russian Southwest Front fought fiercely with the Austro-Hungarian army, saying that the Galician Battle was . From mid-August to late September, Russian and Austrian troops entered the battle across the entire line on a more than 300 kilometers between the Transnistria River and the Vistula River. The troops on both sides exceeded 100 divisions. After the Battle of Lublin-Helm, the Battle of Galic-Lemburg and the Battle of Gorodoc, the Austro-Hungarian army lost 400,000 troops and retreated to the Carpathian Mountains line.
In order to support the Austro-Hungarian army, the German army launched an attack on the Russian army in the middle of the Vistula River in late September, and the operation failed. In November, the German army launched a new attack in Warsaw and Rhodes areas. The Russian army resisted stubbornly, and neither side broke through the opponent's defense line.Through these battles, Germany realized that the Russian army on the Eastern Front was sufficient and played an important role in the German army's combat on the Western Front, and it was necessary to study new strategic plans.
③Japan and Türkiye participated in the war and the struggle between Britain, France and Germany in Africa. The imperialist powers also ignited war in Qingdao, China and some areas of Africa in eastern Asia. On August 6, 1914, the Chinese Beiyang warlord government declared neutrality and prepared to reclaim , the German leased in Jiaozhou Bay, Shandong and Qingdao. However, Japanese imperialism took advantage of the situation and attacked Qingdao, China, and seized Germany's rights and interests in China.
In early August, the Japanese government issued an ultimatum to Germany, demanding that Germany hand over the leased land in Jiaozhou Bay, China to Japan. Germany ignored it. In accordance with the treaty of the British-Japanese Alliance, Japan declared war on Germany on August 23. On September 2, more than 7,000 Japanese troops ignored the provisions of international law on not infringing on neutral country , landed in Longkou, north of China's Jiaodong Peninsula, occupied Laizhou , Pingdu , and Weixian . Later, they advanced to Jinan and invaded the entire line of Jiaoji Railway .
On October 10, the Japanese army increased its troops in Shandong, with a total force of more than 20,000. Britain sent thousands of Indian soldiers to cooperate with the Japanese army to attack Qingdao. On November 7, the German garrison surrendered to the Japanese-British Allied Forces. Qingdao then fell into the hands of Japan.
Türkiye has always been the target of Germany, Austria, Britain and France. On August 3, 1914, the Turkish government declared neutrality.
htmlOn August 10, the German warships "Geben" and "Breslau" escaped the pursuit of the British fleet and drove into the Dardanelles and arrived at the Turkish port. In October, Germany decided to lend Türkiye 100 million francs, on the condition that Türkiye will join the war immediately. On November 2, Türkiye announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Britain, France and Russia, and announced the "jihad" on the 12th. The Russian and Turkish armies immediately launched combat to form a Caucasus battlefield. The Russian Caucasian troops had unfavorable combat in the early stages. In January 1915, the Turkish Ninth Army was surrounded and annihilated, losing more than 70,000 people.Before the war, Germany occupied Southwest Africa (Namibia), Togo , Cameroon , German East Africa and other places in Africa. On August 8, 1914, the British and French coalition forces attacked the German troops stationed in Togo, and on August 26, the German troops surrendered to the British and French troops. Meanwhile, in Cameroon, the Allied Army was suddenly attacked by the German army and failed. Later, the British and French coalition forces launched an attack from the sea and shelled the Port of Douala, forcing the German troops stationed in Hong Kong to surrender.
The German army in Cameroon retreated to the northern region and was forced to surrender in February 1916. In German East Africa, the German army once repelled the British army that attacked Tanganyika . In September 1916, the British army captured Dar es Salaam, and some German troops retreated to Northern Rhodesia, and did not surrender until the armistice agreement was signed in 1918.
In Southwest Africa (Namibia), the British autonomous South African army fought against the German occupation forces. The German army surrendered in Korabu on July 9, 1915.
Africa colonies are all occupied by the Allies. Togo and Cameroon are divided between Britain and France. German Southwest Africa is classified as the British sphere of influence. Most of Germany's East Africa is classified as the United Kingdom, and a small part is classified as Belgium.
2.2. The second stage (1915-1916)
1914 Germany failed in a quick decisive battle, and the Western Front was in a stalemate. The warring sides revised their respective combat plans. Britain and France planned to send navies to the Dardanelles in 1915 to attack Türkiye and restrain the German and Austrian troops from the Balkans, carry out local attacks on the Western Front, and adjust the front line. In order to get rid of the situation of fighting on both sides, Germany decided to move the focus of the combat to the eastern front in 1915, focus on attacking Russia, force it to make peace, and then concentrate its forces against Britain and France.
① Eastern Front Battlefield. In early 1915, Germany added more troops to the eastern front, with a total of 65 divisions, plus the Austro-Hungarian army, a total of 107 divisions, divided into 12 armies, accounting for more than half of the total German and Austrian forces at that time. Russia assembled 11 armies to prepare to break into East Prussia and Galicia. In February, the German and Austrian troops launched a full-scale attack on the Russian army from the Baltic Sea to the Carpathian Mountains, with the aim of surrounding the main force of the Russian army in the "Polish pocket" and eliminating it.After more than eight months of war, the Russian army lost a large area of land west of Przemisher, Lemburg, Ivangorod, Warsaw, Brest, Virno and Riga, and retreated to a straight line from the Gulf of Riga to the Transnistria River. More than 1.7 million Russian troops were injured and captured. This was Russia's worst defeat in World War I.
②Western Front battlefield. 1915, the German army was in a strategic defense state on the Western Front, deploying 2 million troops. The French-British Allied Forces have a total of 3 million people, mainly the French army.
In the spring of 1915, the French and British Allied Forces launched attacks on the German army in Champagne, Aduwa and other areas, attempting to force the German army to retreat in order to relieve the German army's threat to Paris. The coalition forces suffered huge casualties and achieved little success.
In late April, the German army counterattacked the French and British Allied Forces and launched the Second Battle of Ypres. The German army used any means to place 6,000 poison gas tanks at the junction of the British and French troops north of Ypres, and used the northwest wind to release a large amount of chlorine to the British positions. 15,000 were poisoned, of which about 5,000 died. After the Battle of Ypres, both sides used chemical weapons. Because the army is equipped with gas masks, it is not very lethal. From September to November, the French and British Allied Forces launched continuous attacks under the unified command of French general F. Foch, but only advanced 2 to 4 kilometers forward, with huge losses and forced to stop the attack. The two sides confronted each other on positions and were in a stalemate again.
③ Italy and Bulgaria participated in the war. 1915 In April, in order to win Italy to join the war after the outbreak of the war, so that it could attack and restrain Austro-Hungary from southern Europe, it signed a secret agreement in London, agreeing to Italy's territorial demands on the west coast of the Balkans, Trieste, , Istria and Dalmatia, and grant a loan of 50 million pounds in exchange for Italy to withdraw from the German-Australia alliance and declare war on Austro-Hungary.
On May 23, Italy officially declared war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Italian-Austrian front was opened up. In order to cooperate with the Russian army in fighting on the Eastern Front, in June 1915, the Italian army gathered 39 divisions to launch an attack on the Austro-Hungarian army along the Isonzo River and in the Transtino area. The Italian army has made many attacks without major results. By the end of 1915, the Italian-Austrian front had entered a positional confrontation. After the outbreak of the war, both sides of the war launched diplomatic activities to win the Balkan countries to join their own war. Bulgaria has an important strategic position and has a large army. Russia, Britain, Germany and Austria have negotiated many conditions for participating in the war.
In the early days of the war, the prevailing declaration of neutrality was actually inclined toward Germany and Austria. In September 1915, Bulgaria signed military treaties with Germany, Austria and Turkish on the condition of obtaining part of the territory of Macedonia and Serbia, respectively, forming a military alliance between Germany, Austria, Turkish and Poland. On October 14, Bulgaria officially declared war and immediately launched a large-scale attack on Serbia. Serbia only used 200,000 poorly equipped troops to resist the attack of more than 600,000 troops from Germany, Austria and Bao. In late October, the Serbian army was defeated, and some of them were transferred to the Adriatic coast and then to Greece. The entire territory of Serbia was occupied by the protection army and the German and Austrian army.
④The Battle of Verdun. According to the plan of the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, Xia Fei, the Allied Forces decided to launch a coordinated attack on the allies on the Western Front, Eastern Front and Italian fronts in 1916. On the allies, Germany decided to turn the offensive focus to the western front again in 1916, trying to defeat France. The German Command chose the French Verdun Fortress as the target of the offensive.
Valdun is the prominent part of the Allied Army's defense line, posing a great threat to the German army's deep entry into France and Belgium. It is also a strong stronghold to Paris and a hub for the French front. On February 21, 1916, the German army began the Battle of Verdun, which lasted for more than 10 months with fierce shelling.
It concentrated all the cannons on the front line to bombard the narrow triangle near Verdun for more than 10 hours, razing the forests, hills and trenches of this small area to the ground, and then advanced with 6 divisions of troops. The French commander-in-chief Xia Fei sent additional reinforcements, appointed H.P. Betton as the commander of Verdun area, and organized the French army to resist to the death. The German army attacked many times, only occupied the two forts, Dumeng and Fuao, and advanced 5 to 6 dry meters. Both sides dispatched aircraft to conduct air combat and bomb each other's airports and supply lines. The German army used phosgene suffocation bombs for the first time, killing a large number of French troops and causing panic.From February to July, the German army launched three attacks and failed to win. After that, the German offensive weakened and the two sides held their positions to engage in a war of attrition.
French-British Allied Forces launched a strong offensive against the German positions in the Somme from the end of June to mid-November. The British army used the newly invented tanks for the first time, and the German army resisted tenaciously and defended the defense line. From October to December, the French army mobilized troops at Verdun and began to counterattack, recapturing the Vaux, Dumont Fort and most of the lost ground. The German strategic offensive finally failed.
The Battle of Verdun was a decisive battle in the middle of the war and a turning point in the First World War. Germany's strategic plan to annihilate the main force of the French army and force France to surrender was not realized. From then on, the German and Austrian army turned to defense, the German morale fell, the domestic anti-war wave rose, and the internal contradictions of the German ruling class became sharp. German Emperor William II also dismissed the position of Chief of Staff of Farkinhan and changed his position as Chief of Staff of Hindenburg, and Rudendolf was his deputy.
⑤ Romania and Greece participated in the war. On August 27, 1916, Romania declared war on Austro-Hungary after a long wait and see. The Allies agreed to transfer Transylvania , Bukovina and Banachi to Romania as compensation for participating in the war. The Luo Army Command launched an attack with the main goal of recapturing Transylvania occupied by Hungary. In order to support their ally Bulgaria, Germany and Austria sent troops to attack Romania. Under the attack of the German and Austrian Turkish Alliance, the Luo army was defeated, with 250,000 casualties. Most of Romania's territory, including the capital Bucharest, was occupied by the Allies. After the outbreak of the
war, Greece's domestic attitude towards the Allies and the Allies was divided into two factions. King Constantine I is a pro-German faction, and Prime Minister E. Venizelos (1864-1936) is a pro-German faction. In March 1915, Venizelos was removed from office. He received support from the Allies and established a government in Thessalonika to confront the king. In early June 1917, Constantine I was taken to Switzerland by French militants, and his second son Alexander ascended the throne, and Venizelos became prime minister again. At the end of June, Greece declared war on its allies.
⑥Maritime battles and the battles of the Air Force. Britain was the world's number one naval power at that time. The German Navy ranked second. On August 28, 1914, the British fleet entered the North Sea to engage in naval battles with the German fleet in the western waters of Helgoland.
Three German cruisers were sunk and several destroyers were severely damaged. Subsequently, the British Navy imposed a maritime blockade on Germany. The British and German fleets also had many naval battles in the waters of the Antilles, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Southern Atlantic Ocean. The biggest battle was the Battle of Jutland.
On May 31, 1916, the commander of the British Fleet, R. Jellico, led more than 150 ships of various types to fight fiercely with the main force of the German high seas fleet on the Jutland Sea. Britain lost 14 ships of all sizes and 11 were sunk in Germany.
blockade against the British Navy, Germany launched two "unlimited submarine warfare" in 1915 and 1917. Its submarines attacked the ships of the Allies and neutral countries in the North Sea and the Atlantic, sinking many merchant ships from Britain, the United States and other countries, posing a certain threat to the Allies, but failed to reverse the passive situation at sea. During the
war, the Air Force developed rapidly and was used in actual combat. During the Battle of the Somme from July to November 1916, Britain and Germany continued to dispatch aircraft and air battles to compete for air supremacy. At the end of the war, Germany and Austria had 3,300 aircraft and the Allies had more than 8,000 aircraft.
2.3. The third stage (1917)
① Battlefield situation. After two and a half years of war, Germany consumed severe manpower and material resources. The military strength was greatly weakened, but the Allies had strengthened their strength. In early 1917, Britain sent a large number of expeditionary forces to fight on the European continent, and its troops increased to 1.2 million from 65 divisions. In addition, the French army was 2.6 million, the Belgian army was more than 100,000, and the total strength of the Allied Army was nearly 4 million. Germany has only 2.5 million troops on the Western Front.
In order to avoid a decisive battle, the German army retreated to the Hindenburg defense line fortification. From April to May 1917, French Commander-in-Chief R.G. Nevel ordered the French army to launch an attack in the Aine River area. The German army learned about the information in advance and strengthened its defense. The French army invested a large number of tanks and was hit by German anti-tank artillery. 132 tanks were damaged and more than 100,000 casualties were killed or killed. Nevel was defeated and removed from office. Betton was appointed commander-in-chief of the French army and F. Foch was appointed chief of staff.From July to December, the British army launched two battles in Ypres and Combreh 6 areas, mobilizing a large number of aircraft and tanks to cooperate in the attack. Although they broke through some of the German defense lines, the British army lacked various forces and failed to expand the results. The battle on the Western Front is still in a stalemate.
In August 1917, the Italian army launched several attacks on the Austro-Hungarian army in the Isongzo River, but no progress was made. In October, the German and Austrian army broke through the Italian defense line in Capoleto. The Italian army retreated on its entire line, with 335,000 captured and 130,000 casualties. The Italian-Austrian front moved westward for more than 100 kilometers. The Italian P. Boseli government was forced to resign, and V.E. Orlando formed a cabinet.
②Russia withdrew from the war. is on the Eastern Front battlefield. On March 12, 1917 (February 27), the February Revolution broke out in Russia and the Tsarist regime was overthrown. Russian front-line soldiers were war-weary and anti-war sentiment increased. The bourgeois provisional government decided to continue the war. In early July, he launched an attack on Germany and Austria on the southwest front. The German and Austrian coalition forces dispatched 16 divisions to counterattack, and Russian soldiers retreated on their own, and the entire Galicia and Bukovina were occupied by the German and Austrian troops. In September, the German army launched a powerful offensive against the Russian northwest defense line in the Gulf of Riga and occupied Riga.
1917 November 7 (Russian calendar month 25) The Russian proletariat held an armed uprising and won the victory of the October Revolution. The Soviet government decided to withdraw from the imperialist war and signed the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty with Germany and its allies in March 1918, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Turkey and Bulgaria, and Russia completely withdrew from the war.
③The United States participated in the war. 1914 after the outbreak of the war, the United States declared neutrality. The monopoly bourgeoisie used the war to sell arms and supplies to both sides, and made great progress. In March 1917, the US government launched an anti-German wave in the pretext that Germany announced the resumption of "unrestricted submarine warfare" and Germany's secret telegrams Mexico attempted to form a German-Mexico alliance to anti-US, setting off an anti-German wave at home. On April 6 of the same year, the United States declared war on Germany.
The United States' participation in the war had an impact on the situation of the war that was beneficial to the Allies. In 1917, countries that joined the Allies after the United States declared war on Germany were Brazil, Cuba, Panama, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Haiti, Honduras, Costa Rica, Liberia, Siam (Thailand), Hanzhi (now western Satchi Arabia).
The United States sent 34 warships to participate in anti-submarine warfare on the Atlantic Ocean and sent an army led by General J.J. Pershing to Europe for combat. By the end of the war, 2 million American troops were sent to the front line one after another. In terms of Zezheng and military supplies, the United States has become the pillar and main base of the Allies. During the war, the United States provided the Allies with arms, various materials and direct loans totaling nearly $10 billion.
④China participates in the war. The government of the Beiyang warlord Duan Qirui had a "controversy" on the issue of participating in the war. The State Council, headed by pro-Japanese leader Duan Qirui, advocated participating in the war quickly in order to obtain loans from the Allies and Japan. The pro-American faction headed by President Li Yuanhong advocates suspending participation in the war to observe the United States.
In February 1917, after the United States broke off diplomatic relations with Germany, it was recommended that China take concerted action.
British and France also encouraged China to participate in the war. Japan was worried that China would be on an equal position with itself in the war and lost the opportunity to inherit Germany's rights and interests in Shandong, China, and once tried hard to prevent China from participating in the war. Later, it signed a secret treaty with Britain, France and Russia, and obtained the commitment of the major European countries to Japan to inherit Germany's original rights and interests in China, and instead supported China in the war.
On August 14, 1917, the Beiyang warlord government of China officially declared war on Germany and Austria. After joining the war, hundreds of thousands of young and middle-aged Chinese people were transported to the European battlefield to serve as laborers.
3. End of the War
1918 After Soviet Russia withdrew from the war, Germany concentrated its troops on the Western Front and prepared to fight the decisive battle against the Allies. The German Command decided to defeat the French and British Allied Forces before a large number of US troops arrived in Europe and strive to end the war in the summer. From March to July 1918, the German army launched five large-scale attacks, but none of them made important progress. At this time, hundreds of thousands of American troops arrived in Europe to participate in the war. The German army is no longer able to organize an attack.
From late July to the end of August, the Allied coalition launched continuous attacks on the German army, capturing the Marne River protrusion, the Amiens protrusion and the Saint-Mierre protrusion occupied by the German army. The German army suffered heavy losses and retreated to the Hindenburg defense line and was in a passive situation.
On September 26, 1918, the Allied Alliance launched a general attack on the German army in accordance with the combat plan formulated by Commander-in-Chief Foch. The German army was unable to resist, and the Hindenburg defense line collapsed in full swing. On September 29, German Emperor William II convened a former meeting, and German commander Hindenburg and Chief of Staff Rudendolf admitted that they were unable to continue the war.
Anti-war sentiment among the people and soldiers in Germany is growing. The German Emperor reorganized the cabinet. Prince Maximilian of Baden was appointed as prime minister and requested a truce to the Allies. At the same time, from the end of September to the beginning of November, Bulgaria, Türkiye and Austro-Hungarian Empire surrendered one after another under the attack of the Allied forces.
The oppressed nations in the Austro-Hungarian Empire quickly launched a revolutionary movement, demanding to get rid of the rule of the Habsburg dynasty and achieve national independence. On October 11, 1918, the Polish parliament announced that Polish territory was separated from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. On October 28, the Czech Republic and Slovakia merged to form an independent republic. On October 30, Hungarian workers and soldiers held an armed uprising and announced the establishment of a democratic republic on November 2. On October 28, a general strike of workers and demonstrations of soldiers broke out in Vienna, forcing the Austrian Emperor to abdicate. The Austrian Republic was established on November 12. Germany is already in a completely isolated situation. In early November, the November Revolution broke out in Germany. On the 9th, Emperor William II abdicated and the Social Democratic Party formed a temporary government and announced the establishment of a republic.
In the early morning of November 11, German government representatives, M. Erzberger, and Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Alliance, signed an armistice agreement at the Thunderway Station in the Compiène Forest in northeastern France, and Germany surrendered. According to the agreement, Germany must withdraw its troops from France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Alsace-Lorraine and the left bank of the Rhine within 15 days. At the same time, the troops must be withdrawn from Türkiye, Romania, Austro-Hungarian Empire and Africa. It is also necessary to hand over 5,000 cannons, 25,000 machine guns, 3,000 mortars, 1,700 aircraft, 5,000 train locomotives, 150,000 wagons and 5,000 trucks. The signing of the Compiècharin Armistice Agreement declared the complete defeat of the German, Austrian, Turkish and Baotung and the end of World War I.
4. The peace and contention against the defeated countries
Due to the changes in the strength comparison of imperialist powers after the war and their respective plans for hegemony, the contradictions between them are complicated, and these contradictions are prominently reflected in resolving post-war problems.
On January 18, 1919, the Paris Peace Conference opened in the Hall of Mirror at the Palace of Versailles in Paris, France. On June 28, the victorious countries such as Britain, France, the United States, Japan and Italy signed the "Encort Treaty" with the defeated Germany, namely the "Peace of Versailles".
This is a treaty that nakedly enslaves and plunders several countries, and it is also a treaty that slaughteres and sacrifices the interests of weak nations. Although it temporarily adjusted the relationship between the victorious imperialists, it could not eliminate the contradictions between them. Instead, a new battle began due to the uneven distribution of spoils. After the signing of this peace treaty, the victorious countries and the former German allies successively concluded peace treaties. They are: the Treaty of Saint-Germain of the victorious country against Austria on September 10, 1919; the Treaty of Ney against Bulgaria on November 27, 1919; the Treaty of Trianon against Hungary on June 4, 1920; and the Treaty of Sefour against Turkey on August 10, 1920.
A treaty mainly based on the Treaty of Versailles constitutes a new system of European international relations after the war, namely the Versailles system, which has long affected the development of European international relations after the war.
5. Ending of the War
After the war, the balance of power between imperialist countries changed. Germany was defeated. By cede land and paying compensation, the Austro-Hungarian Empire completely collapsed; the Russian proletarian revolution was victorious and the Soviet regime was established; although Britain and France were victorious, they were weakened in the war; the United States made huge profits from the war and became a world economic power.
War did not eliminate the contradictions between imperialist countries. In Europe, the contradiction between Germany and France is sharp. In the Far East, conflicts between Japan and the United States intensify. These sow the sparks for the trigger of World War II. The war caused unprecedented disasters for the people of all countries. The warring sides mobilized more than 73.4 million troops, more than 29 million troops directly participated in the war, about 10 million people died on the battlefield, about 20 million people were injured, and the population affected by the war was more than 1.5 billion, accounting for about 75% of the world's total population at that time, and the economic losses caused by the war reached 270 billion US dollars.
Excerpted from: "China Encyclopedia (2nd Edition)" Volume 5, China Encyclopedia Publishing House, 2009
The Three Emperors Alliance broke down.1879, Germany further approached Austro-Hungary and formally concluded a military alliance. In 1882, France and Italy had conflicts in the expansion of North Africa, and Germany took the opportunity to support and win over Italy. On May 20 of the same year, Germany, Austria and Italy signed an alliance treaty in Vienna. After the establishment of the Three Kingdoms Alliance, the competition between Russia and Germany in trade intensified, and the contradiction between Russia and Austria in the Balkans became increasingly sharp, prompting Russia and France to get closer. From 1891 to 1894, France and Russia concluded military agreements, and the French-Russian alliance was established.
Britain has long pursued a diplomatic policy of balanced power to avoid direct involvement in conflicts on the European continent. By the early 20th century, as Germany's rise threatened Britain's hegemony in the colonies and maritime positions in the Middle East, Africa, and Far East, Britain finally gave up its "glorious isolation" policy.
In 1902, Britain signed an alliance with Japan, attempting to use Japan to deal with France and Russia to protect its Far Eastern interests. In 1904, Britain and France signed an agreement to recognize their respective spheres of influence, and the British-France Alliance relations were established. The British-Russia Agreement was signed in 1907. From then on, the two major military groups, including allies dominated by Germany, Austria and Hungary, and the Allies dominated by Britain, France and Russia, were officially formed. This is an important step for the imperialist countries to prepare for the world war.
1.3. Arms Race
After the two major military groups were formed, countries have stepped up their pace of expanding their arms preparations. Germany is at the forefront in the arms race. From 1893 to 1913, the German Parliament passed many bills to expand the army, manufacture new field artillery and guns, and expand the new Navy ship , more than doubled the number of German Army and Navy ships. Military expenditure was 430 million marks in 1879 and increased to 2.1 billion marks in 1913. In 1905, German Chief of Staff A. von Schliffen presided over the formulation of a plan to fight against France and Russia, calling the "Schliffen Plan". Its strategic dominant idea is that once a war breaks out, Germany should concentrate its superior forces, defeat France first with a quick decisive battle, and then return to the east to defeat Russia, so as to get rid of the situation of fighting at the same time on both the east and west sides. The Austro-Hungarian Empire followed Germany and stepped up its military plans to fight against Russia and Serbia.
In order to maintain its maritime overlordship, Britain accelerated its construction of the navy, in 1906, the first 18,000-ton giant armored ship, the "Dreadnought", was launched. Then Britain and Germany launched a competition to create dreadnoughts. While expanding the navy, the UK also expanded its army and established an expeditionary force of 100,000 people, preparing to go to Europe for combat. British military expenditure doubled from 1898 to 1913, with a total of 86 million pounds.
France has also passed military bills many times to manufacture new 75mm field artillery equipment for the army. In 1913, its standing army expanded to 800,000 people, and in 1914, military expenditure increased to 1.5 billion francs, accounting for 38% of France's total national budget.
Tsarist Russian government has also stepped up its reorganization of its troops since 1910. In 1913, the number of active-duty soldiers reached 1.3 million, while accelerating the construction of strategic railways and naval construction to Germany.
The two major military groups have made the war risk increasingly dangerous. As the anti-war movements of the people in various countries continue to strengthen, imperialist countries have to propose on the surface to discuss peace and limit arms in order to deceive the people. Two peace meetings in The Hague were held in 1899 and 1907, but the conventions concluded at the meeting were of no use to preventing war.
1.4. Local War
1905-1913, the two major military groups created a series of international crises in order to compete for strategic locations and caused local wars.
The Mediterranean coast and the Balkans are the focus of competition between Britain, France, Russia and Germany and Austria. In 1905 and 1911, Germany and France caused two Moroccan crises in order to compete for the key points of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean. From 1908 to 1909, Russia, Austria and Germany caused the Bosnian crisis in order to compete for the strategic points of the Balkan Peninsula. The Austro-Hungarian Empire annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina was opposed by Serbia. After 1912, Italy gradually approached France, trying to get along well between Germany and France and benefit from it.
1911-1912, with the acquiescence of France and Russia, Italy sent troops to invade Tripoli in North Africa, which belongs to , Turkey, and the Italian-Turkey War broke out.In 1912, the four kingdoms of the Balkans, including Bulgaria, Greece, , Serbia and Negoro, formed an alliance to launch the First Balkan War, which jointly opposed Turkey. Later, internal strife broke out among the Balkan League countries and the Second Balkan War broke out. The great powers such as Russia, Austria, Germany and Britain took advantage of the ethnic conflicts of the Balkan countries to fight fiercely. After the Austro-Hungarian Empire annexed Bosnia, it tried to annex Serbia. In order to curb Austro-Hungary and seize the Dardanelles and Bosphorus controlled by Türkiye, Russia incited the Balkan countries to oppose the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Türkiye. Britain, France and Germany each compete for their political and economic advantages in Turkey and are involved in profits. These crises and conflicts have made the contradictions between the two imperialist groups increasingly acute and the struggle has become more intense.
1.5. The outbreak of the July crisis and war
On June 28, 1914, the crown prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Grand Duke Franz Ferdinand went to Bosnia to review the army in Sarajevo by Serbian "Young Bosnia" member G. Principe. This incident became the fuse of the war.
On June 29, the Austro-Hungarian Empire government made a decision to "liquidate" Serbia and sought the opinions of its ally Germany in a note. The next day, the German Emperor expressed his support for Austro-Hungary to take firm action and said: "Either liquidate immediately or never." On July 4, Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I wrote a letter to explore the German Emperor. If Russia assisted Serbia in the war, what is Germany's attitude? German Emperor William II said that if a war broke out between Russia and Austria, Germany will fulfill its treaty obligations of the Allies.
German believes that Russia was not ready for war at that time. If the war begins, Britain will temporarily remain neutral, Germany and Austria will be able to quickly defeat Russia and France. To this end, the German ambassador to London met with the British Foreign Secretary to test the UK's attitude towards the Sarajevo incident. Britain expressed to the German ambassador to do everything possible to prevent war between major powers and indicated that Britain was unwilling to be involved in the war. This gave Germany an illusion that Britain would take a silence towards the European incident in the early days of the war.
Germany is trying hard to encourage Austro-Hungary to launch a war. On the afternoon of July 23, Austro-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia. The Tsarist Russian government immediately convened a meeting of ministers to discuss countermeasures. France expressed support for Russia. The UK suggests that Germany, France, Britain and Italy hold a meeting to mediate the Olympic and Serbia disputes. But Germany and Austria have made preparations and are determined to start a war.
On July 28, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia. In diplomatic history, June 28 to July 28, 1914 was called the July crisis stage. Russia supported Serbia in accordance with the secret treaty and announced a general military mobilization on July.
htmlOn August 1, Germany declared war on Russia. On the same day, Germany issued an ultimatum to France, demanding that France reply within 18 hours whether it will remain neutral in the German and Russian wars. France refused to accept the ultimatum. On August 3, Germany declared war on France. The day before, on August 2, the German army entered Luxembourg . On the night of the 3rd, the German army invaded Belgium .Britain had assumed a guarantee obligation to Belgium neutrality and declared war on Germany on the 4th. On the 5th, Austro-Hungary declared war on Russia. Subsequently, Britain and France declared war on Austro-Hungary. Serbia and Montenegro (Negoro of the Gate) declared war on Germany and Austro-Hungary. In this way, all the imperialist powers in Europe, except Italy, were involved in this long-planned world war.
2. The course of the war
After the outbreak of the war, the Austro-Hungarian army attacked Serbia, and the German army quickly detoured Belgium to attack France. The war was first ignited on the European continent and soon spread to some parts of the Middle East, the Far East and Africa.
main battlefields are in Europe, and Europe includes the Western Front battlefield, Eastern Front battlefield , Balkan battlefield, and Italian battlefield. The French battlefield on the Western Front of Europe is the main battlefield that determines the overall situation. Britain, Germany, Russia, France and Japan also held many naval battles, with the North Sea as the main battlefield at sea. The Air Force was used in actual combat for the first time in the war. The entire war is generally divided into three stages.
2.1. The first stage (1914)
① Western Front battlefield.After the outbreak of the war, the German Chief of Staff H.J.L.von Moltke (or Moltke ) ordered the German army to attack the Liège Fortress in Belgium on August 4, breaking into France from the north, attempting to attack the main force of the French army from behind to achieve the strategic goal of defeating France with a quick decisive battle. On the 16th, the German army conquered fortress . French and German troops fought fiercely on the French border, known in history as the "Border War".
From August 14 to 25, the French commander-in-chief J.-J.-C. Xiafei ordered the French army to invade the Alsace-Lorraine area and attacked the German army in the Sambur River area. British Expeditionary Force Commander J.D.P. French led the British army to fight against the German army at Mons. These short border battles are in fierce battles, and the two sides have invested a total of 3.5 million troops. The French and British troops were forced to retreat south, and the Germans invaded France and advanced towards their heart.
From September 5 to 9, the main force of the French army counterattacked the German army on the 200-kilometer front of the Marne River 6 area, forcing the German First Army, which rashly advanced south, to retreat north of the Marne River to the front line of Verdun. The Battle of Marne failed to make the German plan to encircle the French army, and Germany's quick decision to break the bankruptcy. The Chief of Staff was employed by Emperor William II of Germany and was replaced by E. von Farkingham.
After the Battle of the Marne River, the French and British Allied Forces launched several attacks on the German army near the Aina River and and Ypres, but failed to break through the opponent's position. In mid-November, the two sides entered a stalemate and began a positional war. A stable front line extending from Verdun to both sides, reaching Noiron to the coast in the west and reaching the Swiss border in the south, without much movement in the next few years.
②Balkan battlefield and Eastern Front battlefield. On July 28, Austria-Hungarian army bombarded Serbian capital Belgrade , killing more than 5,000 peaceful residents. Later attacked Serbia. Serbia rose to resist. On August 19, the Serbian army broke through the Austro-Hungarian front north of Loznica, forcing it to retreat across the board, capturing more than 50,000 enemies.
Austro-Hungarian army launched another attack on the Serbian army in September. Due to insufficient ammunition, the Serbian army once gave up Belgrade and retreated into the central plateau. In mid-December, the Serbian army received weapons, ammunition and food provided by the Allies, quickly recovered Belgrade and drove the Austro-Hungarian army out of the border.
1914's victory of the Serbian army dealt a major blow to the Austro-Hungarian army, thwarted Germany and Austria's invasion plan in the Balkans, and restrained some of the troops of the same country.
is on the eastern front, forming another major battlefield from the Baltic coast to the Romanian border. The focus of Germany's combat is on the Western Front. It only has one Eighth Army on the Eastern Front. It is located in East Prussia , plus the Konesburg Fortress Guard troops, with a total of 300,000 troops. The Russian Supreme Command decided to use its Northwest Front to attack the East Prussian Germans and the Southwest Front to attack the Austro-Hungarian Army.
On August 17, 1914, the Russian army attacked the German Eighth Army. Under the attack of Russian superior forces, the German army retreated to the lower reaches of the Vislun River. The German army appointed P.von Hindenburg as commander of the Eighth Army and E. Rudendolf as chief of staff to strengthen the forces on the Eastern Front and launched an attack on both wings of the Russian army on August 26. After more than 20 days of fierce fighting, the Russian army was defeated, losing 250,000 troops, and retreated to the area of Neman River and Bobl River. In order to achieve this local victory, Germany dispatched troops from the Western Front to reinforce the Eastern Front, expanding the scale of the war on the Eastern Front, and falling into an unfavorable situation of fighting at the same time on both fronts.
In the Galician region bordering the Austro-Hungarian Empire with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Russian Southwest Front fought fiercely with the Austro-Hungarian army, saying that the Galician Battle was . From mid-August to late September, Russian and Austrian troops entered the battle across the entire line on a more than 300 kilometers between the Transnistria River and the Vistula River. The troops on both sides exceeded 100 divisions. After the Battle of Lublin-Helm, the Battle of Galic-Lemburg and the Battle of Gorodoc, the Austro-Hungarian army lost 400,000 troops and retreated to the Carpathian Mountains line.
In order to support the Austro-Hungarian army, the German army launched an attack on the Russian army in the middle of the Vistula River in late September, and the operation failed. In November, the German army launched a new attack in Warsaw and Rhodes areas. The Russian army resisted stubbornly, and neither side broke through the opponent's defense line.Through these battles, Germany realized that the Russian army on the Eastern Front was sufficient and played an important role in the German army's combat on the Western Front, and it was necessary to study new strategic plans.
③Japan and Türkiye participated in the war and the struggle between Britain, France and Germany in Africa. The imperialist powers also ignited war in Qingdao, China and some areas of Africa in eastern Asia. On August 6, 1914, the Chinese Beiyang warlord government declared neutrality and prepared to reclaim , the German leased in Jiaozhou Bay, Shandong and Qingdao. However, Japanese imperialism took advantage of the situation and attacked Qingdao, China, and seized Germany's rights and interests in China.
In early August, the Japanese government issued an ultimatum to Germany, demanding that Germany hand over the leased land in Jiaozhou Bay, China to Japan. Germany ignored it. In accordance with the treaty of the British-Japanese Alliance, Japan declared war on Germany on August 23. On September 2, more than 7,000 Japanese troops ignored the provisions of international law on not infringing on neutral country , landed in Longkou, north of China's Jiaodong Peninsula, occupied Laizhou , Pingdu , and Weixian . Later, they advanced to Jinan and invaded the entire line of Jiaoji Railway .
On October 10, the Japanese army increased its troops in Shandong, with a total force of more than 20,000. Britain sent thousands of Indian soldiers to cooperate with the Japanese army to attack Qingdao. On November 7, the German garrison surrendered to the Japanese-British Allied Forces. Qingdao then fell into the hands of Japan.
Türkiye has always been the target of Germany, Austria, Britain and France. On August 3, 1914, the Turkish government declared neutrality.
htmlOn August 10, the German warships "Geben" and "Breslau" escaped the pursuit of the British fleet and drove into the Dardanelles and arrived at the Turkish port. In October, Germany decided to lend Türkiye 100 million francs, on the condition that Türkiye will join the war immediately. On November 2, Türkiye announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Britain, France and Russia, and announced the "jihad" on the 12th. The Russian and Turkish armies immediately launched combat to form a Caucasus battlefield. The Russian Caucasian troops had unfavorable combat in the early stages. In January 1915, the Turkish Ninth Army was surrounded and annihilated, losing more than 70,000 people.Before the war, Germany occupied Southwest Africa (Namibia), Togo , Cameroon , German East Africa and other places in Africa. On August 8, 1914, the British and French coalition forces attacked the German troops stationed in Togo, and on August 26, the German troops surrendered to the British and French troops. Meanwhile, in Cameroon, the Allied Army was suddenly attacked by the German army and failed. Later, the British and French coalition forces launched an attack from the sea and shelled the Port of Douala, forcing the German troops stationed in Hong Kong to surrender.
The German army in Cameroon retreated to the northern region and was forced to surrender in February 1916. In German East Africa, the German army once repelled the British army that attacked Tanganyika . In September 1916, the British army captured Dar es Salaam, and some German troops retreated to Northern Rhodesia, and did not surrender until the armistice agreement was signed in 1918.
In Southwest Africa (Namibia), the British autonomous South African army fought against the German occupation forces. The German army surrendered in Korabu on July 9, 1915.
Africa colonies are all occupied by the Allies. Togo and Cameroon are divided between Britain and France. German Southwest Africa is classified as the British sphere of influence. Most of Germany's East Africa is classified as the United Kingdom, and a small part is classified as Belgium.
2.2. The second stage (1915-1916)
1914 Germany failed in a quick decisive battle, and the Western Front was in a stalemate. The warring sides revised their respective combat plans. Britain and France planned to send navies to the Dardanelles in 1915 to attack Türkiye and restrain the German and Austrian troops from the Balkans, carry out local attacks on the Western Front, and adjust the front line. In order to get rid of the situation of fighting on both sides, Germany decided to move the focus of the combat to the eastern front in 1915, focus on attacking Russia, force it to make peace, and then concentrate its forces against Britain and France.
① Eastern Front Battlefield. In early 1915, Germany added more troops to the eastern front, with a total of 65 divisions, plus the Austro-Hungarian army, a total of 107 divisions, divided into 12 armies, accounting for more than half of the total German and Austrian forces at that time. Russia assembled 11 armies to prepare to break into East Prussia and Galicia. In February, the German and Austrian troops launched a full-scale attack on the Russian army from the Baltic Sea to the Carpathian Mountains, with the aim of surrounding the main force of the Russian army in the "Polish pocket" and eliminating it.After more than eight months of war, the Russian army lost a large area of land west of Przemisher, Lemburg, Ivangorod, Warsaw, Brest, Virno and Riga, and retreated to a straight line from the Gulf of Riga to the Transnistria River. More than 1.7 million Russian troops were injured and captured. This was Russia's worst defeat in World War I.
②Western Front battlefield. 1915, the German army was in a strategic defense state on the Western Front, deploying 2 million troops. The French-British Allied Forces have a total of 3 million people, mainly the French army.
In the spring of 1915, the French and British Allied Forces launched attacks on the German army in Champagne, Aduwa and other areas, attempting to force the German army to retreat in order to relieve the German army's threat to Paris. The coalition forces suffered huge casualties and achieved little success.
In late April, the German army counterattacked the French and British Allied Forces and launched the Second Battle of Ypres. The German army used any means to place 6,000 poison gas tanks at the junction of the British and French troops north of Ypres, and used the northwest wind to release a large amount of chlorine to the British positions. 15,000 were poisoned, of which about 5,000 died. After the Battle of Ypres, both sides used chemical weapons. Because the army is equipped with gas masks, it is not very lethal. From September to November, the French and British Allied Forces launched continuous attacks under the unified command of French general F. Foch, but only advanced 2 to 4 kilometers forward, with huge losses and forced to stop the attack. The two sides confronted each other on positions and were in a stalemate again.
③ Italy and Bulgaria participated in the war. 1915 In April, in order to win Italy to join the war after the outbreak of the war, so that it could attack and restrain Austro-Hungary from southern Europe, it signed a secret agreement in London, agreeing to Italy's territorial demands on the west coast of the Balkans, Trieste, , Istria and Dalmatia, and grant a loan of 50 million pounds in exchange for Italy to withdraw from the German-Australia alliance and declare war on Austro-Hungary.
On May 23, Italy officially declared war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Italian-Austrian front was opened up. In order to cooperate with the Russian army in fighting on the Eastern Front, in June 1915, the Italian army gathered 39 divisions to launch an attack on the Austro-Hungarian army along the Isonzo River and in the Transtino area. The Italian army has made many attacks without major results. By the end of 1915, the Italian-Austrian front had entered a positional confrontation. After the outbreak of the war, both sides of the war launched diplomatic activities to win the Balkan countries to join their own war. Bulgaria has an important strategic position and has a large army. Russia, Britain, Germany and Austria have negotiated many conditions for participating in the war.
In the early days of the war, the prevailing declaration of neutrality was actually inclined toward Germany and Austria. In September 1915, Bulgaria signed military treaties with Germany, Austria and Turkish on the condition of obtaining part of the territory of Macedonia and Serbia, respectively, forming a military alliance between Germany, Austria, Turkish and Poland. On October 14, Bulgaria officially declared war and immediately launched a large-scale attack on Serbia. Serbia only used 200,000 poorly equipped troops to resist the attack of more than 600,000 troops from Germany, Austria and Bao. In late October, the Serbian army was defeated, and some of them were transferred to the Adriatic coast and then to Greece. The entire territory of Serbia was occupied by the protection army and the German and Austrian army.
④The Battle of Verdun. According to the plan of the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, Xia Fei, the Allied Forces decided to launch a coordinated attack on the allies on the Western Front, Eastern Front and Italian fronts in 1916. On the allies, Germany decided to turn the offensive focus to the western front again in 1916, trying to defeat France. The German Command chose the French Verdun Fortress as the target of the offensive.
Valdun is the prominent part of the Allied Army's defense line, posing a great threat to the German army's deep entry into France and Belgium. It is also a strong stronghold to Paris and a hub for the French front. On February 21, 1916, the German army began the Battle of Verdun, which lasted for more than 10 months with fierce shelling.
It concentrated all the cannons on the front line to bombard the narrow triangle near Verdun for more than 10 hours, razing the forests, hills and trenches of this small area to the ground, and then advanced with 6 divisions of troops. The French commander-in-chief Xia Fei sent additional reinforcements, appointed H.P. Betton as the commander of Verdun area, and organized the French army to resist to the death. The German army attacked many times, only occupied the two forts, Dumeng and Fuao, and advanced 5 to 6 dry meters. Both sides dispatched aircraft to conduct air combat and bomb each other's airports and supply lines. The German army used phosgene suffocation bombs for the first time, killing a large number of French troops and causing panic.From February to July, the German army launched three attacks and failed to win. After that, the German offensive weakened and the two sides held their positions to engage in a war of attrition.
French-British Allied Forces launched a strong offensive against the German positions in the Somme from the end of June to mid-November. The British army used the newly invented tanks for the first time, and the German army resisted tenaciously and defended the defense line. From October to December, the French army mobilized troops at Verdun and began to counterattack, recapturing the Vaux, Dumont Fort and most of the lost ground. The German strategic offensive finally failed.
The Battle of Verdun was a decisive battle in the middle of the war and a turning point in the First World War. Germany's strategic plan to annihilate the main force of the French army and force France to surrender was not realized. From then on, the German and Austrian army turned to defense, the German morale fell, the domestic anti-war wave rose, and the internal contradictions of the German ruling class became sharp. German Emperor William II also dismissed the position of Chief of Staff of Farkinhan and changed his position as Chief of Staff of Hindenburg, and Rudendolf was his deputy.
⑤ Romania and Greece participated in the war. On August 27, 1916, Romania declared war on Austro-Hungary after a long wait and see. The Allies agreed to transfer Transylvania , Bukovina and Banachi to Romania as compensation for participating in the war. The Luo Army Command launched an attack with the main goal of recapturing Transylvania occupied by Hungary. In order to support their ally Bulgaria, Germany and Austria sent troops to attack Romania. Under the attack of the German and Austrian Turkish Alliance, the Luo army was defeated, with 250,000 casualties. Most of Romania's territory, including the capital Bucharest, was occupied by the Allies. After the outbreak of the
war, Greece's domestic attitude towards the Allies and the Allies was divided into two factions. King Constantine I is a pro-German faction, and Prime Minister E. Venizelos (1864-1936) is a pro-German faction. In March 1915, Venizelos was removed from office. He received support from the Allies and established a government in Thessalonika to confront the king. In early June 1917, Constantine I was taken to Switzerland by French militants, and his second son Alexander ascended the throne, and Venizelos became prime minister again. At the end of June, Greece declared war on its allies.
⑥Maritime battles and the battles of the Air Force. Britain was the world's number one naval power at that time. The German Navy ranked second. On August 28, 1914, the British fleet entered the North Sea to engage in naval battles with the German fleet in the western waters of Helgoland.
Three German cruisers were sunk and several destroyers were severely damaged. Subsequently, the British Navy imposed a maritime blockade on Germany. The British and German fleets also had many naval battles in the waters of the Antilles, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Southern Atlantic Ocean. The biggest battle was the Battle of Jutland.
On May 31, 1916, the commander of the British Fleet, R. Jellico, led more than 150 ships of various types to fight fiercely with the main force of the German high seas fleet on the Jutland Sea. Britain lost 14 ships of all sizes and 11 were sunk in Germany.
blockade against the British Navy, Germany launched two "unlimited submarine warfare" in 1915 and 1917. Its submarines attacked the ships of the Allies and neutral countries in the North Sea and the Atlantic, sinking many merchant ships from Britain, the United States and other countries, posing a certain threat to the Allies, but failed to reverse the passive situation at sea. During the
war, the Air Force developed rapidly and was used in actual combat. During the Battle of the Somme from July to November 1916, Britain and Germany continued to dispatch aircraft and air battles to compete for air supremacy. At the end of the war, Germany and Austria had 3,300 aircraft and the Allies had more than 8,000 aircraft.
2.3. The third stage (1917)
① Battlefield situation. After two and a half years of war, Germany consumed severe manpower and material resources. The military strength was greatly weakened, but the Allies had strengthened their strength. In early 1917, Britain sent a large number of expeditionary forces to fight on the European continent, and its troops increased to 1.2 million from 65 divisions. In addition, the French army was 2.6 million, the Belgian army was more than 100,000, and the total strength of the Allied Army was nearly 4 million. Germany has only 2.5 million troops on the Western Front.
In order to avoid a decisive battle, the German army retreated to the Hindenburg defense line fortification. From April to May 1917, French Commander-in-Chief R.G. Nevel ordered the French army to launch an attack in the Aine River area. The German army learned about the information in advance and strengthened its defense. The French army invested a large number of tanks and was hit by German anti-tank artillery. 132 tanks were damaged and more than 100,000 casualties were killed or killed. Nevel was defeated and removed from office. Betton was appointed commander-in-chief of the French army and F. Foch was appointed chief of staff.From July to December, the British army launched two battles in Ypres and Combreh 6 areas, mobilizing a large number of aircraft and tanks to cooperate in the attack. Although they broke through some of the German defense lines, the British army lacked various forces and failed to expand the results. The battle on the Western Front is still in a stalemate.
In August 1917, the Italian army launched several attacks on the Austro-Hungarian army in the Isongzo River, but no progress was made. In October, the German and Austrian army broke through the Italian defense line in Capoleto. The Italian army retreated on its entire line, with 335,000 captured and 130,000 casualties. The Italian-Austrian front moved westward for more than 100 kilometers. The Italian P. Boseli government was forced to resign, and V.E. Orlando formed a cabinet.
②Russia withdrew from the war. is on the Eastern Front battlefield. On March 12, 1917 (February 27), the February Revolution broke out in Russia and the Tsarist regime was overthrown. Russian front-line soldiers were war-weary and anti-war sentiment increased. The bourgeois provisional government decided to continue the war. In early July, he launched an attack on Germany and Austria on the southwest front. The German and Austrian coalition forces dispatched 16 divisions to counterattack, and Russian soldiers retreated on their own, and the entire Galicia and Bukovina were occupied by the German and Austrian troops. In September, the German army launched a powerful offensive against the Russian northwest defense line in the Gulf of Riga and occupied Riga.
1917 November 7 (Russian calendar month 25) The Russian proletariat held an armed uprising and won the victory of the October Revolution. The Soviet government decided to withdraw from the imperialist war and signed the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty with Germany and its allies in March 1918, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Turkey and Bulgaria, and Russia completely withdrew from the war.
③The United States participated in the war. 1914 after the outbreak of the war, the United States declared neutrality. The monopoly bourgeoisie used the war to sell arms and supplies to both sides, and made great progress. In March 1917, the US government launched an anti-German wave in the pretext that Germany announced the resumption of "unrestricted submarine warfare" and Germany's secret telegrams Mexico attempted to form a German-Mexico alliance to anti-US, setting off an anti-German wave at home. On April 6 of the same year, the United States declared war on Germany.
The United States' participation in the war had an impact on the situation of the war that was beneficial to the Allies. In 1917, countries that joined the Allies after the United States declared war on Germany were Brazil, Cuba, Panama, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Haiti, Honduras, Costa Rica, Liberia, Siam (Thailand), Hanzhi (now western Satchi Arabia).
The United States sent 34 warships to participate in anti-submarine warfare on the Atlantic Ocean and sent an army led by General J.J. Pershing to Europe for combat. By the end of the war, 2 million American troops were sent to the front line one after another. In terms of Zezheng and military supplies, the United States has become the pillar and main base of the Allies. During the war, the United States provided the Allies with arms, various materials and direct loans totaling nearly $10 billion.
④China participates in the war. The government of the Beiyang warlord Duan Qirui had a "controversy" on the issue of participating in the war. The State Council, headed by pro-Japanese leader Duan Qirui, advocated participating in the war quickly in order to obtain loans from the Allies and Japan. The pro-American faction headed by President Li Yuanhong advocates suspending participation in the war to observe the United States.
In February 1917, after the United States broke off diplomatic relations with Germany, it was recommended that China take concerted action.
British and France also encouraged China to participate in the war. Japan was worried that China would be on an equal position with itself in the war and lost the opportunity to inherit Germany's rights and interests in Shandong, China, and once tried hard to prevent China from participating in the war. Later, it signed a secret treaty with Britain, France and Russia, and obtained the commitment of the major European countries to Japan to inherit Germany's original rights and interests in China, and instead supported China in the war.
On August 14, 1917, the Beiyang warlord government of China officially declared war on Germany and Austria. After joining the war, hundreds of thousands of young and middle-aged Chinese people were transported to the European battlefield to serve as laborers.
3. End of the War
1918 After Soviet Russia withdrew from the war, Germany concentrated its troops on the Western Front and prepared to fight the decisive battle against the Allies. The German Command decided to defeat the French and British Allied Forces before a large number of US troops arrived in Europe and strive to end the war in the summer. From March to July 1918, the German army launched five large-scale attacks, but none of them made important progress. At this time, hundreds of thousands of American troops arrived in Europe to participate in the war. The German army is no longer able to organize an attack.
From late July to the end of August, the Allied coalition launched continuous attacks on the German army, capturing the Marne River protrusion, the Amiens protrusion and the Saint-Mierre protrusion occupied by the German army. The German army suffered heavy losses and retreated to the Hindenburg defense line and was in a passive situation.
On September 26, 1918, the Allied Alliance launched a general attack on the German army in accordance with the combat plan formulated by Commander-in-Chief Foch. The German army was unable to resist, and the Hindenburg defense line collapsed in full swing. On September 29, German Emperor William II convened a former meeting, and German commander Hindenburg and Chief of Staff Rudendolf admitted that they were unable to continue the war.
Anti-war sentiment among the people and soldiers in Germany is growing. The German Emperor reorganized the cabinet. Prince Maximilian of Baden was appointed as prime minister and requested a truce to the Allies. At the same time, from the end of September to the beginning of November, Bulgaria, Türkiye and Austro-Hungarian Empire surrendered one after another under the attack of the Allied forces.
The oppressed nations in the Austro-Hungarian Empire quickly launched a revolutionary movement, demanding to get rid of the rule of the Habsburg dynasty and achieve national independence. On October 11, 1918, the Polish parliament announced that Polish territory was separated from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. On October 28, the Czech Republic and Slovakia merged to form an independent republic. On October 30, Hungarian workers and soldiers held an armed uprising and announced the establishment of a democratic republic on November 2. On October 28, a general strike of workers and demonstrations of soldiers broke out in Vienna, forcing the Austrian Emperor to abdicate. The Austrian Republic was established on November 12. Germany is already in a completely isolated situation. In early November, the November Revolution broke out in Germany. On the 9th, Emperor William II abdicated and the Social Democratic Party formed a temporary government and announced the establishment of a republic.
In the early morning of November 11, German government representatives, M. Erzberger, and Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Alliance, signed an armistice agreement at the Thunderway Station in the Compiène Forest in northeastern France, and Germany surrendered. According to the agreement, Germany must withdraw its troops from France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Alsace-Lorraine and the left bank of the Rhine within 15 days. At the same time, the troops must be withdrawn from Türkiye, Romania, Austro-Hungarian Empire and Africa. It is also necessary to hand over 5,000 cannons, 25,000 machine guns, 3,000 mortars, 1,700 aircraft, 5,000 train locomotives, 150,000 wagons and 5,000 trucks. The signing of the Compiècharin Armistice Agreement declared the complete defeat of the German, Austrian, Turkish and Baotung and the end of World War I.
4. The peace and contention against the defeated countries
Due to the changes in the strength comparison of imperialist powers after the war and their respective plans for hegemony, the contradictions between them are complicated, and these contradictions are prominently reflected in resolving post-war problems.
On January 18, 1919, the Paris Peace Conference opened in the Hall of Mirror at the Palace of Versailles in Paris, France. On June 28, the victorious countries such as Britain, France, the United States, Japan and Italy signed the "Encort Treaty" with the defeated Germany, namely the "Peace of Versailles".
This is a treaty that nakedly enslaves and plunders several countries, and it is also a treaty that slaughteres and sacrifices the interests of weak nations. Although it temporarily adjusted the relationship between the victorious imperialists, it could not eliminate the contradictions between them. Instead, a new battle began due to the uneven distribution of spoils. After the signing of this peace treaty, the victorious countries and the former German allies successively concluded peace treaties. They are: the Treaty of Saint-Germain of the victorious country against Austria on September 10, 1919; the Treaty of Ney against Bulgaria on November 27, 1919; the Treaty of Trianon against Hungary on June 4, 1920; and the Treaty of Sefour against Turkey on August 10, 1920.
A treaty mainly based on the Treaty of Versailles constitutes a new system of European international relations after the war, namely the Versailles system, which has long affected the development of European international relations after the war.
5. Ending of the War
After the war, the balance of power between imperialist countries changed. Germany was defeated. By cede land and paying compensation, the Austro-Hungarian Empire completely collapsed; the Russian proletarian revolution was victorious and the Soviet regime was established; although Britain and France were victorious, they were weakened in the war; the United States made huge profits from the war and became a world economic power.
War did not eliminate the contradictions between imperialist countries. In Europe, the contradiction between Germany and France is sharp. In the Far East, conflicts between Japan and the United States intensify. These sow the sparks for the trigger of World War II. The war caused unprecedented disasters for the people of all countries. The warring sides mobilized more than 73.4 million troops, more than 29 million troops directly participated in the war, about 10 million people died on the battlefield, about 20 million people were injured, and the population affected by the war was more than 1.5 billion, accounting for about 75% of the world's total population at that time, and the economic losses caused by the war reached 270 billion US dollars.
Excerpted from: "China Encyclopedia (2nd Edition)" Volume 5, China Encyclopedia Publishing House, 2009
