The First World War accelerated many internal state and political processes in the countries of Europe and Asia. It pushed the formation of new political regimes, a modification of the legal-state structure in a direction characteristic of all modern times: for some it was the strengthening of government power, for others it was the democratization of the political system, for others it was the growth of political totalitarianism. The impact of the war on Asian countries was particularly significant. There, the formation of national states, the collapse of semi-feudal monarchies, and liberation from colonial rule began at an accelerated pace.
The First World War brought an end to the European supranational empires of Russia and Austria-Hungary. On their ruins - both in the state and in the geopolitical sense - up to a dozen new independent states emerged. Including a qualitatively new type with a socialist legal-state structure - the RSFSR (since 1922 - the USSR).
The World War, especially for countries that emerged from it defeated or half-defeated (Germany, Italy, Russia), also entailed significant deformations of state and legal structures. As a result social phenomena, which existed before the war in a purely ideological field (fascism, totalitarian democracy, socialized state), came to the field of practical politics and state building, eventually forming regimes of military dictatorships or even a special party-totalitarian state.
Changes in Western government organization
During the First World War, partly as a result of adaptation to the new conditions of state regulation of society, partly as a result of the use of emerging state and legal problems by individual ruling groups in their political interests, new features appeared in the state organization of many Western countries. These features reflected important patterns in the evolution of government power and central administration, as well as legal policy, both in parliamentary republics and in constitutional monarchies that emerged during the 19th century.
The First World War caused significant militarization of government in most countries, and even in some, the militarization of the entire legal-state structure. This was due not only to the quantitative growth of the army (the number of active armies reached 30 million people, in total up to 74 million people were put “under arms”), the expansion of the military organization, the increase in the weight of the economy serving the military needs and, accordingly, the sphere management. Military discipline was introduced into public administration, military-administrative responsibility of officials for the execution of cases was established. All this contributed to a small extent to the reduction of corruption and embezzlement, but took state building far away from generally accepted parliamentary procedures. Military control began to dominate in the general political, national sphere; this was accompanied by a reduction in the state role of parliamentary and constitutional institutions. The most demonstrative option for the militarization of the state was Germany. With the outbreak of war, in August 1914, the emperor’s declaration was made public that “all power” in the country had passed to him. In reality, the last powers of the Reichstag were exercised when voting on confidence in the government and on the provision of military loans. Germany's military failures were used by the Supreme Military Command (General Staff) to directly subordinate the main civilian departments to it. Since 1915, departments and directorates arose in the structure of the Military Military Commission, parallel to civilian departments, but managed on a military model: internal affairs, press, economics, agriculture, etc. They interfered in the activities of civilian ministers, issuing directives. Thus, by 1916, in the reality of the political-administrative system, the dictatorship of the VVK was established, almost equivalent to the power of the monarch. Undermining “trust” in the IHC began to be regarded as a crime.
During the war there was a significant increase redistribution of state powers in favor of government institutions. In most warring European states, parliaments granted emergency powers to governments through special laws (in Germany - by the law of August 4, 1914, in Great Britain - by the Defense Act of 1914, etc.). In accordance with these acts, governments even received the authority to restrict civil rights and certain aspects of the operation of constitutions, in particular “to prohibit any public activity deemed dangerous”, any organizations and corporations. It was during the First World War that the establishment of the institution of delegated legislation was completed in the form of not just individual cases, but general rule government activities (the right to issue legislative and regulatory acts in some area or on some issue on the basis of a special instruction from parliament). The bulk of laws began to consist of government acts. On the one hand, this was a natural manifestation of an increase in the level of centralization and efficiency of government activities (which is natural for the war period). On the other hand, this was a manifestation of trends in the evolution of state activity towards the predominance of government power over parliamentary-legislative power, which had already been identified since late XIX V.
The war also contributed restrictions on political rights and civil liberties, even based on the accepted constitutional framework. Military censorship was introduced everywhere, which extended its activities not only to purely military matters, but also to political issues, to the possibility of criticizing the activities of governments. Restrictions on the freedom of movement of citizens were introduced, and rallies and meetings not authorized by the government were prohibited.
During the First World War, the level of the economic regulatory role of the state increased significantly, up to the transition to a direct distribution system based on administrative regulation. Specialized regulatory bodies arose (such as the Supreme Economic Council in Germany), which either coordinated their work on managing the private economy with military authorities, or were directly subordinate to them. In the interests of overcoming military difficulties, coordinating bodies and government departments were ordered to carry out “any economic measures to restore damage to the economy.” One of the most typical was the forced cartelization of enterprises belonging to military or especially economically important industries. To manage state-owned industries, special ministries were created (for example, in Norway - the Ministry of Food, 1916; the Ministry of Industrial Supply, 1917). The circulation of essential goods, mainly food, was subject to special state control. With the outbreak of war in Sweden, for example, the right to compulsory requisition of private property in food products was legally established (October 1914), and licensing and quotas were introduced for the export of food abroad. In Norway, a unified law was issued (1917) on state price regulation. In the vast majority of warring countries, monopolies were introduced on the sale of certain products. In some cases, quota distribution of certain food products among the population was introduced (card and coupon systems) with parallel restrictions on the free market.
The regulatory role of the state extended to the social and labor sphere. During the war years, restrictions on the right to strike and a system of forced state arbitration in labor disputes with entrepreneurs became more widespread. Often the recruitment of workers and production procedures were subject to military rules.
Collapse of the Empire in Europe
The First World War accelerated the internal processes of the state-political disintegration of two supranational empires in Europe - Austria-Hungary and Russia. The defeats and economic difficulties caused by the war provoked powerful social conflicts, stimulated ideological and political aspirations for the national isolation of peoples who became part of these states in different ways. The result turned out to be the same for both empires: in place of Austria-Hungary in its entirety and the western part of the Russian Empire, about ten new nation states, and some of these peoples previously did not have their own historical tradition of statehood.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire (which maintained an unchanged political system in the form of a semi-absolutist monarchy since 1867, after granting state autonomy to Hungary) took the side of the Triple Alliance (together with Germany) in the First World War. Defeat in the war and significant military losses for the country prompted revolutionary actions in democratic basis in Austria (October-November 1918). The result was the overthrow of the Habsburg monarchy and proclamation of the republic(November 12, 1918). Simultaneously with the fall of the centralized monarchy, there was a fragmentation of a single state in which the majority of the population belonged to the Slavic peoples and did not enjoy political rights on an equal basis with the dominant Austrians and Germans. National contradictions have become an additional accelerator of the desire to revive their own statehood. The National Assembly, convened in October 1918, proclaimed the self-determination of the Czech Republic and Slovakia; in November 1918, the People's Assembly of the Yugoslav peoples declared their complete separation from the empire and annexation to Serbia, which had restored its independence; At the same time, the independent Hungarian Republic became independent.
Austria was finally constituted into a separate state in 1919, after the decisions of the Constituent Assembly convened on the basis of universal suffrage. The Constitution of 1920*, adopted soon, secured broad democratic rights and freedoms of citizens, and a political system in the form of a presidential-parliamentary republic, in which the head of state was elected by parliament. The Austrian Republic was transformed into a territorial federation, in which the interests of the states were represented by the upper house of parliament; individual states received their own governments and their own Landtags.
* The Austrian Constitution of 1920, with minor amendments in 1929, remained in force throughout the 20th century.
Hungary was proclaimed a republic in 1918, but in the context of a civil war initiated by pro-socialist and communist workers' organizations, there was an evolution towards an anti-democratic regime. In 1920, a kind of parliamentary monarchy without a monarch was proclaimed there; Rear Admiral M. Horthy installed himself as temporary regent (a year later Horthy transformed his power into lifelong and irremovable). The constitutional system was determined by laws adopted from 1848 (on the government) to 1926 (on the establishment of a bicameral State Assembly). The political regime established by Horthy quickly transformed the monarchy into a special form of military dictatorship.
Czechoslovakia(as the country began to be called after the Slovak regions joined the historical Czech Republic in 1918) during 1918 - 1920. became a democratic republic. Universal suffrage was introduced here, and socially oriented agrarian and labor laws were implemented. The Constitution of 1920 (adopted after the Provisional Constitution of 1918) established a presidential republic - with the strong power of a president elected by both houses of parliament, whose powers were similar to those of the US President. The state institutions of Czechoslovakia, formed by the Constitution of 1920, were distinguished by a high degree of democratic guarantees of the system, in particular, here, for the first time in European parliamentarism, effective constitutional justice was introduced (in the form of the Constitutional Court, the rights of which were devoted to a special law). The organization of local administration was also distinguished by a high degree of self-government.
Around Serbia (formed as an independent state in 1829 and occupied by Austria during the First World War), the regions of Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, etc. were united. Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes(1918) under the leadership of the Serbian Karageorgievic dynasty. According to the Vidovdan Constitution of 1921, the Kingdom became a constitutional monarchy on the model of pre-war Germany - with strong governmental authority of the king. (In 1929 the kingdom was transformed into Yugoslavian.)
Although the Russian Empire was not one of the countries that suffered military defeat in the First World War and even formally belonged to the victorious alliance - the Entente, the consequences of the war and its unsuccessful course (together with internal complications) led to the fall of the monarchy (February 1917). ). The revolution that took place in October 1917 consolidated the geopolitical collapse of the empire, in to the greatest extent affecting the western, European regions.
Finland, which was part of the empire in a special position of state autonomy since 1905, consolidated its isolation. In July 1917, under pressure from the Social Democratic Party, parliament declared complete independence from Russia; in December 1917, independence was recognized by the new socialist authorities of Soviet Russia. Under the pressure of foreign policy circumstances, especially under German influence, in 1918 the Finnish parliament decided to constitute the country into a monarchy on the German model. However, soon the new constitution of the country (July 17, 1919) secured the creation of a presidential republic - with a unicameral parliament and with the strong power of a president elected by the population of the country *.
* The Finnish Constitution of 1919 also remained in force throughout the 20th century.
Due to the collapse of Austria-Hungary and the division of Russia, it was revived Polish state(1918). The basis of the territory of the state was formed by the regions that were part of Russia, Austria-Hungary, as well as the western Russian regions, torn away from Soviet Russia after the unsuccessful Soviet-Polish war of 1920 (as they were part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until the partitions of the 18th century). The leader of the revival was the prominent military figure J. Pilsudski, who consolidated his status as “chief of state” in the transitional Small Constitution of 1919. According to the new Constitution of 1921, Poland was constituted as a presidential republic - with a bicameral parliament and presidential powers on the model of the German constitution of 1919. The Polish constitution established a high level of citizen democracy, political and social freedoms, and a special social regulatory role of the state (also modeled on the German constitution - see § 81).
The former Baltic provinces of the Russian Empire, which were part of it from the beginning of the 18th century, in the context of German occupation and revolutionary unrest in Russia, proclaimed the formation of their own national states. In 1920 – 1921 Soviet Russia recognized the independence and sovereignty of these states - the first historically for the Eastern Baltic peoples. Lithuania and Estonia were constituted (in 1920 and 1922, respectively) as parliamentary republics - with unicameral parliaments and governments responsible to them. Although at first there were attempts to establish a monarchy in Lithuania by inviting a German prince to the throne. (The attempts, apparently, were not accidental and resulted in the establishment of a military dictatorship in Lithuania from 1926). Latvia(formed in February 1918) established the system of a presidential republic, using the constitutional experience of Poland and other Western states.
Socialist revolutionary movement
As a result of the First World War, the military hardships that followed during it for most peoples, the growth of internal social contradictions, in most participating countries the socialist ideological and political movement (which grew from the Second half of the 19th century century, especially in France, Germany, etc.) has become an independent historical factor in state reorganization and legal reforms. Attempts to direct the social protest of the masses towards the creation of a class state based on the principles of the socialist utopia of Marxism and the deformed principles of pseudo-self-government were a natural continuation of the policies of many socialist parties that became mass, popular at the beginning of the 20th century, as well as the ideological and political delusions of the “middle class” Western democracies.
The main impetus was the socialist revolution in the largest European-Asian state - Russia (October 1917), which culminated in the creation there of a special socialist state of the Soviet type, built on the principles of totalitarianism and one-party dictatorship. The influence of the socialist revolution in Russia directly affected the wave of political uprisings (similar to the Paris Commune of 1871 in France - see § 63) that swept through the countries of Central Europe. The uprisings were additionally initiated by international socialist associations in order to create a supposedly pan-European movement of the “world revolution”, with the onset of which the theorists of socialism and Marxism solely associated the possibility of a state victory of the class interests of workers and workers’ parties.
In Germany, a series of revolts was particularly stimulated by the political chaos in the period following the military defeat, the fall of the monarchy and therefore the weakening of governance. The revived desire for the isolation of individual German regions (formerly independent monarchies and cities) also played a role. The radical left movement, as well as the organizational efforts of emissaries from Russia, had an active influence on attempts to form a self-governing pseudo-state on the basis of class democracy. The most significant were the riots in Bremen and Munich. As a result of the first, a temporary Bremen Soviet Republic(January 10 - February 4, 1919), which declared independence from the all-German government and created its own administration in the form of the Council of People's Commissars. As a result of the second it turned out Bavarian Soviet Republic(April 7 – May 8, 1919), founded under the influence of semi-anarchist movements. The creation of supposedly independent republics was a natural continuation of the movement towards the widespread formation in Germany of councils of workers' and soldiers' deputies, which tried to take government powers, especially over the distribution of food resources, into the hands of only the lower social classes. The republics extended their influence (like the Paris Commune) to the city and the surrounding district and limited themselves mainly to the creation of elected representatives from the population, who were simultaneously entrusted with government functions, and the proclamation of populist economic measures. These “republics” had no objective grounds for becoming full-fledged statehood. Both of them fell under the pressure of punitive operations of the all-German government, sometimes (as in Munich) quite bloody (up to 1 thousand dead).
The socialist rebellion in Hungary became somewhat longer lasting. In the context of the collapse of Austria-Hungary, the actual acquisition of independence by the former state autonomy, the resulting government (October 31, 1918) was unable to fully maintain control over the country. A significant Communist Party took shape in Hungary. In an atmosphere of incessant workers' strikes, the party leaders initiated the resignation of the government, declaring the establishment of “the power of the proletariat.” Hungarian Soviet Republic(March 21 - August 1, 1919) was constituted on the model of the party-Soviet state: at first it was led by the Revolutionary Council, merging with the leadership of the Communist Party, then the Constitution of 1919 was adopted, repeating the Constitution of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic of 1918. The only real institutions of the new government were the Red Army , built on the militia principle from the working population, and revolutionary courts-tribunals that unleashed extra-legal terror against the “bourgeoisie”. The scope of the activities of the socialist government was significant; its economic decrees (on the nationalization of land, confiscation of housing, privileged supplies of workers) provoked an open civil war. The suppression of Soviet power took place in an atmosphere of bloody military terror. This became another source of the rapid evolution of the Hungarian statehood to a semi-monarchical military dictatorship.
In the very first years after the end of the World War, the socialist movement turned from an ideological movement into a state-revolutionary one. This stimulated the transformation of many former socialist parties into communist ones. During 1918-1921. in most European and then Asian countries independent communist parties who have set themselves the goal of achieving socialist revolutions in their countries and the creation of statehood of class democracy on the principles of the doctrine of Leninism. Over the next decades, these parties became significant figures in the socio-political life of their countries and parliamentary struggle. Communist organizations of minor influence emerged even in Latin America and in the USA. In 1919, most of the communist parties united into the so-called. The 111th International is headquartered in Moscow. III International became not only a coordinating body of the world communist movement, but also an instrument of subversive political activity in some European countries, which for various reasons were of particular interest to the socialist government in Russia in order to promote the “world revolution”. Initiated by the Third International in the 1920s. internal crises and even armed rebellions have become important factor the rejection of the population in Western countries from the communist movement, as well as the general evolution of regimes towards authoritarianism.
The birth of the fascist movement. Authoritarianism
Another important state-political result of the First World War was the emergence fascist movement- initially in the form of political parties of a new totalitarian type, then in the form of a special legal-state structure that established itself in a number of European countries.
The historical and social roots of fascism were essentially the same as those of the movement towards socialist statehood. The source was the desire to build a “people's state” (which would guarantee the social and legal unification of the nation), which gradually dominated the political evolution of Western countries throughout the 19th century. The widespread approval since the 1900s also played a role. and especially after the First World War, universal suffrage. The history of the transformation of parliamentary systems into various types of authoritarian regimes during the 19th century. has consistently demonstrated that the main political source of authoritarianism was the institutions of direct broad democracy, not supported by other constitutional checks and guarantees. The social basis of fascism was also similar to the movement towards socialist statehood - in particular the presence of an influential layer of the peasantry.
Almost immediately after the end of the First World War, political parties of the fascist type were formed in a number of European countries: the National Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (1920), the National Fascist Party of Italy (1921), the Spanish Phalanx, etc.* The parties used socialist ideas in their programs (especially economic and legal), and various kinds of geopolitical, nationalist and racial dogmas that spread in Western Europe during the First World War (including those that represented the most refined research in the field of politics from the position of the spiritual aristocracy). Basically, the programs of the fascist parties started from theses about the preference of the interests of the nation over the rights of the individual, about the unconditional tasks of uniting the nation and “defending its interests,” about the state as a purely national organism based on strong power and totalitarian aspirations to fulfill a certain “mission of the nation.” In the socio-legal sphere, the revolutionary transformations of fascism included a preference for small and medium-sized property, the transformation of private property into a kind of “family property”, widespread nationalization and total state control, and the formation of a “class world”. An important motive was the open anticlericalism of fascist programs and ignorance of the Christian worldview.
* In the proper sense fascist there was only an Italian movement of fasci Italian combat units! di combattimento (program made public on March 23, 1919). Later, the name became conditionally generalizing, typological.
The birthplace of the organized fascist movement was Italy, where in 1919 the former activist of the Socialist Party B. Mussolini formed the “Italian Union of War Participants,” which proclaimed a consistently fascist program of state transformation. In October 1922, in a climate of social discontent and using methods of military rebellion, Mussolini's organization was brought to power. A totalitarian state-political regime was established in Italy (which lasted until 1943). The institutions of the parliamentary monarchy, established in the country since its national unification in the middle of the 19th century, were transformed in the spirit of a military dictatorship with strong government power, replacing democratic republican institutions with a system of social corporations, the leading core of which was represented by the fascist party.
The fascist movement in Germany acquired the greatest scope and global significance, which soon led to the creation of a completely totalitarian state with a special legal structure (see § 82).
Aspirations for political totalitarianism also spread to a number of other European states. In 1926, a military coup took place in Poland. The country’s later amended constitution (modeled in 1935) concentrated practically “single and indivisible power” in the hands of the president, who is responsible “before God and history for the fate of the state.” At the same time, in Lithuania, the institutions of the parliamentary republic were deformed by the de facto military dictatorship of A. Smetona, who concentrated the main state powers. The reforms of the government of General Rivera in Spain, which came to power after the military coup he organized (1923), led to the practical elimination of civil liberties and parliamentary democracy.
By the mid-1930s. Fascist-type movements already existed in 39 countries, mainly in Europe and Latin America. A kind of fascist international took shape, the first congresses of which were held in 1934-1935 in order to develop unity of action.
The desire for state-political authoritarianism, in combination with a special program of social reforms, became one of the most important factors in the entire world state and legal process between the First and Second World Wars, although their direct impact on state institutions in different countries was different.
Omelchenko O.A. General history of state and law. 1999
History of modern times
Yushchenko Olga Ivanovna
Teacher requirements:
· Automatically based on attendance (3 absences allowed)
· Classic test
History of modern times - 20-21 centuries.
1918 is the year of the end of the First World War, the beginning of modern history.
Results and consequences of the First World War (1914-1918)
Two warring blocs: the German bloc (Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria, Germany) and the Entente (Russia, France, England).
Causes of the war:
· Franco-German conflict
· Anglo-German conflict
· Russian-German conflict.
The result is a victory for the Entente, but without the participation of Russia. In 1917, Russia emerged from the war (as a result of revolutions).
Geopolitical results:
· 4 empires collapsed (Russian, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, German)
· New states have appeared on the political map (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia)
· Japan and the USA suffered minimal losses in the war and received maximum benefits
· India and China gained independence
· The era of Eurocentrism is beginning to decline, the world has become multipolar, new states are entering the world stage.
Socio-economic consequences of the war:
· Depletion of resources (financial, human)
· Economic crises
· Social problems (cards, conscription)
· Revolutions (in Russia, in Germany, in the Ottoman Empire, in Austria-Hungary)
· Post-war reforms
· Changing the role of the state in socio-economic life (the state takes on broader functions - regulation, control, distribution). Direct regulation(individual enterprises, industries, industry, government orders) and indirect regulation(tax, budget, social policy).
· Since the 20s, all countries have had a controlled economy (in some places more, in others less).
Socio-political consequences of the war:
· Disillusionment with liberal values
· The emergence of extreme political movements (extreme right - communism, extreme left - fascism)
· Politicization of the masses.
The war became a huge moral shock for people.
4 years of war – a whole lost generation. Loss of values, orientation. We are used to killing. Mass unemployment, lack of prospects.
The role of women has changed. The war greatly affected her status and sense of self. Women were forced to work, to replace men in factories and factories. The woman became the breadwinner of the family. The war even changed the appearance of women (corsets disappeared, skirts became shorter, women's trousers appeared, and short women's haircuts appeared). Women received political rights on an equal basis with men and received the right to vote.
To sum up the results of the war, the Paris Peace Conference was created; the “meeting” lasted a year and a half. Russia was not invited. The formal reason is the civil war in Russia. All issues were resolved by representatives of three states - England, France, and the USA. The remaining countries were presented with a fait accompli and simply received peace treaties.
Wilson ran for leadership of the United States. The doctrine of “America for Americans” is strong, but supporters of a different approach have already appeared. The American market was still wide, and the American bourgeoisie did not need external economic expansion.
The League of Nations was created - the winners of the war. The League's mission is peacekeeping.
The United States suffered a diplomatic defeat in the war. America did not receive a single colony; its interests were not taken into account. The United States refused to join the League of Nations. Wilson lost the election.
The Treaty of Versailles was a fatal decision. He contributed to the prosperity of fascism in Germany.
The Treaty of Versailles identified Germany as the sole culprits of the war and was obliged to pay compensation to all participants. The amount was unaffordable for Germany. Germany was obliged to pay it until 1988. The demand was perceived as humiliation.
Germany lost 1/8 of its territory, which went to its neighbors, and lost all its colonies. A tenth of the German population lived in this territory; after the loss of this territory, national minorities appeared. Germany was prohibited from uniting with Austria. The German coal deposit was taken over by special bodies created to control Germany. Now Germany is a completely controlled country.
Germany could not have an army of more than 100,000 volunteers, the General Staff was dissolved, military schools were closed, the navy, aviation and artillery were banned. For the Germans it was a huge psychological shock. The Treaty of Versailles was perceived as insulting and humiliating for Germany. The slogan “Down with Versailles!”
However, Germany did not feel like a defeated country and did not sign capitulation. Its territory was not occupied, there were no active hostilities on it, there was no feeling of active war. And after Versailles, Germany thirsted for revenge. Throughout the 20s, Russia and Germany were partners under the anti-Versailles slogan.
Lecture 2
According to the sample Treaty of Versailles Treaties were also drawn up with Germany’s allies - with Austria, Turkey, etc. Here, too, military actions are locked, etc.
A lot of questions arose: national minorities arose. A third of the Hungarians ended up in neighboring countries - Romania and Yugoslavia. Many Germans ended up in Poland and Czechoslovakia. And after the 30s, local border conflicts took place. National feelings were damaged, authoritarian regulations emerged.
Division of the colonies (Ottoman Empire and German Empire). The winners of the war resolved this issue this way: most of the colonies went to the strongest - England, France, the remaining lands (minority) went to other countries. The Americans did not receive a single colony and felt disadvantaged.
Washington Conference for Solutions to the Pacific Rim Issue. From November 1921 to February 1922. Soviet Russia was not invited again, although it was a Pacific power. In the Far East, hostilities had not yet ended, and this was the formal reason not to invite Russia.
There were a total of 9 participants at the Washington Conference. The Treaty of Four (on the inaccessibility of borders), the Treaty of Five (a treaty limiting the arms race, the first in history), and the Treaty of Nine came out.
Great Britain's position strengthened, but by the end of the war England's debt to the United States amounted to 4 million. And the role of the leading power passed to the United States. US rivalry with Japan (navy). This confrontation continued into World War II.
A series of treaties were signed, the League of Nations was created, the possessions of former empires were divided, and new states were sanctioned. The Versailles-Washington system of international relations was formed, designed to regulate life after the war. But this system turned out to be fragile.
There is an opinion that in the 20th century there was one world war - from 1918 to 1945 with a respite.
The contradictions between the victors of the First World War were smoothed over only temporarily. The main contradictions arose between the founders of the Versailles Conference - many were dissatisfied. France wanted to weaken Germany even more, France was mortally afraid of the revival of Germany. By weakening France, Germany wanted to become the strongest power and establish hegemony. But this desire was not fulfilled; France’s ambitions did not come true.
Italy considered itself insulted (it violated the peace and took the side of the Entente in order to gain land). After the end of the war, Italy received a small part of the promised lands (Italy did not make a big contribution to the victory of the Entente). The Italian soldiers received the nickname "pasta" and were among the vanquished victors.
The Japanese population was perceived by Americans as a threat to their interests. Contradictions between the victors are the first reason for the weakness of the Treaty of Versailles. The second reason is disagreements between the winners and losers. Rejection of contracts, sabotage of reservations. The treaty was especially painfully accepted by Germany (the Nazi movement was born). The shortsightedness of the victors - the beginning of the war in one regime, the end in another. The third reason is the violation of the principle of a nation’s right to self-determination, which gave rise to a lot of national conflicts. Local conflicts, local wars.
The winners did not live up to their promises regarding India and China. India was the power of England, China had its own interests as a power. But after the war, the interests of these countries were ignored.
Ineffectiveness of the League of Nations. The principle of collective responsibility for peace and security. The decisions of the League of Nations were made by the leading powers based on their national or selfish interests, and not for the common good. The principle of equality was purely formal. World politics was determined by several world powers. The decisions of the League of Nations were not binding, so few people followed them. The League of Nations proved ineffective, and the entire post-war system was fragile.
England and France are the two main winners who decided issues of world politics.
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Introduction
1. Russia in the First World War: the beginning of its descent into the abyss.
1.1 War plans of the main warring powers.
2 Missed opportunities 1914
3 1915: retreat.
4 1916: lost victory. Alarming results.
5 Contemporaries about the First World War.
Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets. First decrees. Constitution of the RSFSR 1918
Russia's exit from the First World War. Peace of Brest-Litovsk.
The first Soviet socio-economic and political transformations.
Chairman 4th State Duma M. Rodzianko about the socio-economic situation of the country.
Conclusion
List of used literature
INTRODUCTION
At the beginning of the 20th century. contradictions between the leading powers intensified in the process of struggle for the redivision of the world, which ultimately led to a brutal war between two coalitions - the German-Austrian bloc and the Entente.
A clash between these groups seemed inevitable, but hardly anyone could then imagine what catastrophic consequences it would lead to. Twenty million killed, hundreds of millions maimed, once flourishing cities and villages razed to the ground - this was the result of the First World War. No less impressive were its social and political consequences - four once powerful empires disappeared from the world map: Russian, German, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman, and Russia, Germany, Hungary, Finland and some others European countries shocked by bloody revolutions and fratricidal civil wars.
The global crisis that humanity faced at the beginning of the last century hit Russia hardest; it was Russia that turned out to be the “weakest link” of Europe - it was the first to embark on the path of revolution, the first to conclude a separate peace and left the war when its outcome was already virtually predetermined . By 1917, the Russian political elite had completely degraded and showed their absolute inability to control the internal political situation in the country, and the people of Russia had lost historical ground under their feet, lost faith in age-old moral principles and traditional way of life, had lost faith in the Tsar and God, and began to worship other idols who promised paradise not in heaven, but on earth.
How it all ended is well known.
1. Russia in the First World War: the beginning of its descent into the abyss
The contradictions between the imperialist powers intensified, and Germany, which was more developed economically, moved to one of the first places in the world. The struggle between the leading capitalist countries for colonies has intensified. Germany sought to divide its spheres of influence differently. England owned significant territories of Asia, Africa, Australia and Oceania; therefore, the struggle for the redivision of the world was directed primarily against it. Anglo-German contradictions stood at the center of international relations at the beginning of the twentieth century. Two groupings of European powers emerged: in 1891 - the Triple Alliance (Austria - Hungary, Germany, Italy) and in 1904 - the alliance between France, England and Russia (Entente). In 1907, a new bloc was created between them, to which was joined by 33 more states.
Russia's goal is to seize the Black Sea straits. France and England wanted to crush Germany with the hands of Russia and prevent a new division of the world. 1914 - the beginning of the war (the reason was the assassination of Erz - Duke Franz Ferdinand). Austria declared war on Serbia on July 15. Russia declared total mobilization; in response, Germany declared war on Russia, then France and England. The First World War began. Germany fought a war on two fronts: against France and against Russia. Russia, having launched an offensive in East Prussia, despite the defeat of the armies of Samsonov and Renenkampf, diverted the main forces of Germany to itself.
The Russians defeated the Austrian army on the southwestern front in September 1914 and occupied Galicia (Lvov, Przemysl, Chernivtsi). Türkiye entered the war and was defeated in Transcaucasia. Germany was forced to go on the defensive on all fronts.
In 1915, German-Austrian forces began a breakthrough in the Gorlitsa area on the Russian front, and in July - in Poland. The Russians retreated to the Riga-Pinsk-Dubno line. The continuation of hostilities in 1916 caused tension on both sides. Russia wanted to launch an offensive in the Balkans. In February, the Germans launched offensives on the Western Front at Verdun. The Russians again diverted the blow to themselves. In May, the army under the command of General A.A. Brusilova made a powerful breakthrough on a wide front, defeated two Astro-Hungarian armies, and captured almost all of Bukovina. But the inaction of the Russian command and allies did not consolidate the success of General Brusilov. However, the clear advantage in favor of the Russians after the breakthrough in Galicia brought Germany on the eve of 1917 to the brink of defeat.
The Russian economy was not ready to carry out military tasks. The war affected production - coal and oil production and metal production decreased. The army was not fully equipped with everything necessary. Transport turned out to be unsuitable for military transportation and supplying the army. In agriculture, due to a lack of workers, acreage and crop yields have decreased. The number of cattle has decreased. Speculation in essential goods grew. Allied assistance increased Russia's national debt (by 1917 it increased to 33 billion rubles). The war, however, accelerated the development of capitalism: the concentration of production and capital increased, trusts and concerns were created instead of syndicates. Financial capital, which headed the paramilitary industry, grew.
The bourgeoisie creates organizations to distribute military orders and supplies. The United Committee of Unions (“Zemgor”) emerges to supply the army with equipment. In 1915, the Central Military-Industrial Committee was created (similar committees were created locally) to organize military production. The government, trying to limit the scope of activity of the bourgeoisie, formed in 1915 government special meetings on defense, fuel, food, transportation and much more, where capitalists participated along with government officials. Thus, during the war, a system of state-monopoly capitalism was created, where the state played the role of customer and regulator of private capitalist production.
Difficulties and economic ruin led to the aggravation of social contradictions both in the city and in the countryside. The Bolshevik Party of the RSDLP, led by Lenin, opposed the war. She propagated the slogan “Defeat your government in the imperialist war.” Almost all parties of the 2nd International came out in support of the war, for the slogan “war to a victorious end.”
The Bolsheviks fought in the 4th State Duma to end the war. During the war, opposition to the autocracy intensified. The Bolsheviks and parties close to them took advantage of the comprehensive economic, social and political crisis in the country and used it to seize power in 1917.
Unlike Russo-Japanese War, the First World War was perceived by the people with understanding: the factor of Germany declaring war on Russia played a role. In the first days of the war, 96% of those subject to conscription showed up at mobilization points. If, before the announcement of general mobilization, the number armed forces Russia was 1,423,000 people, then after its implementation and additional conscription, by the end of 1914 there were over 6.5 million people in the ranks. The composition of the Russian army was predominantly peasant. The village sent 12.8 million of its best workers to the front. The political sentiments of the many millions of soldiers in the first years of the war fit well into the formula “For Faith, Tsar and Fatherland.” In the wake of anti-German sentiment in society, even St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd by decree of the Tsar.
1.1 War plans of the main belligerent powers
The German General Staff developed a war plan in advance, the main idea of which was to prevent a war on two fronts. To this end, it was planned to defeat France within 6-8 weeks with a swift, massive strike, and then turn German troops towards Russia.
The French war plan was designed primarily for the interaction of the French and Russian armies. At the same time, the main bet was that the Russian army, with its immediate offensive in the east, would thwart the German plan for a rapid attack on Paris.
The Russian General Staff considered the main task to be the defeat of Austria-Hungary. Therefore, it was initially planned to concentrate the main forces on the Southwestern Front, leaving only one army on the Northwestern Front against Germany. However, at the insistent demand of France, this plan had to be changed, providing for an almost simultaneous offensive of Russian troops on all fronts. The military plans of Austria-Hungary had no alternative: the entire power of the Danube Empire was supposed to fall on Russia. Moreover, all the warring powers expected to implement their military plans within 3-4 months. However, from the very first days the war went differently than the leading military strategists expected. First of all, the calculations for the lightning-fast nature of the war collapsed.
1.2 Missed opportunities of 1914
On August 1914, German troops, violating the neutrality declared by Belgium, began an attack on Paris through its territory, bypassing the main group of French troops concentrated on the French-German border. Contrary to German expectations, the small Belgian army put up desperate resistance. And instead of the planned 2-3 days, German troops advanced to the Belgian-French border for 15 days. During this time, England, which entered the war, was able to land its troops on the continent. And although the Anglo-French troops were defeated in the ensuing border battle, the lightning-fast attack on Paris was thwarted.
At the same time, at the insistent demand of France, Russian troops went on the offensive on the eastern front.
In August, the first Russian army under the command of General Rennenkampf, going on the offensive in the Kovno-Suwalki region, broke the German defense and in three days of fighting advanced deep into East Prussia, completely destroying several German divisions.
August, the second Russian army under the command of General Samsonov began an offensive from the southern border of East Prussia, trying to cut off the retreating German troops. There was a real threat of the capture of East Prussia by Russian troops.
The German General Staff was forced to urgently withdraw two army corps and a cavalry division from the Western Front and send them to the east. The reserve corps was also transferred here.
Under these conditions, the command of the first Russian army, instead of consolidating the success of its troops and continuing the offensive, decided to stop pursuing the enemy and stop for rest.
This made it possible for the German command to regroup the troops located in East Prussia and unleash the full power of their attacks on the second army. Two corps of Samsonov's army were surrounded, 20 thousand Russian soldiers fell on the battlefield, more than 30 thousand were captured. General Samsonov himself shot himself. After this, the German army, reinforced by corps transferred from the Western Front, attacked Rennenkampf’s troops and drove them out of East Prussia in mid-September.
However, the transfer of German troops from the Western to the Eastern Front significantly weakened German positions in France, which made it possible for Anglo-French troops to win the Battle of the Marne River in September 1914. The plan for the lightning defeat of France finally collapsed.
Events developed differently on the Southwestern Front, where, from August 23, fierce battles between Russian and Austrian troops in Galicia.
September 1914, as a result of a successful offensive, the Russian army occupied the city of Lvov, blocked the largest Austrian fortress of Przemysl and drove enemy forces across the San River. In these battles, Austria-Hungary lost about 400 thousand soldiers and officers, almost half of the combat personnel stationed here. Austria-Hungary faced a real threat of capitulation.
But even in this direction, the success of the Russian army was not consolidated. At the insistence of the Allies, the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief began to prepare an operation for the offensive of Russian troops in the Warsaw-Berlin direction. Therefore, the transfer of part of the Russian troops from the San River to Poland began. The German command was forced to get ahead of the planned attack and come to the aid of its Austrian ally. The 9th German Army was transferred to the Eastern Front. At the end of September, the combined Austro-German forces launched an offensive in Poland. In November 1914, as a result of bloody battles near Warsaw and Ivangorod, Russian troops completely defeated the first Austrian army and put the ninth German army in danger of encirclement. However, in the future, the Russian command again did not dare to conduct active offensive operations, having lost the strategic initiative in this sector of the front.
After the Battle of the Marne and Russian victories in Galicia, Germany began to rush Turkey into entering the war in order to draw Russian forces to the Caucasus and British forces to Egypt. In October 1914, the German-Turkish fleet attacked Russian ships in the Black Sea, fired at Sevastopol, Feodosia, Novorossiysk, and Odessa. In December, the Turkish army began offensive operations against Russian troops in the Sarykamysh direction. But despite the numerical superiority of the Turkish troops, they were unable to achieve success. At the end of December, Russian formations launched a counteroffensive, inflicting a crushing defeat on the Turkish army. The Turks were forced to retreat to Erzurum.
Thus, the main result of the military campaign of 1914 was the disruption by the Entente countries of the German plan for a lightning war. The war became protracted. Germany was forced to conduct active military operations simultaneously on two fronts. For Russia, the first year of the war was a year of missed opportunities.
1.3 1915: retreat
Summing up the results of 1914, the German command developed a new military plan for 1915. It provided for a transition to strategic defense on the Western Front while concentrating forces and resources on the Eastern Front, with the goal of quickly defeating the Russian army and withdrawing Russia from the war.
To implement its strategic plans, Germany transferred a huge number of troops and equipment to the Eastern Front.
Concentrating on the Eastern Front large number troops, having provided them with the necessary weapons and reinforced with artillery, the German-Austrian army began offensive operations. In February, in the northwestern direction, the German offensive was carried out from East Prussia. Despite the significant superiority in forces, the offensive developed sluggishly and was often interrupted by Russian counterattacks. In May 1915, having gained an even greater advantage due to divisions arriving from the Western Front, the German army managed to begin major operation in a southwestern direction.
Russian troops experienced an acute shortage of weapons and ammunition. There weren't enough rifles. The soldiers had to make special forays to the front line - to collect the rifles of their killed comrades.
At the beginning of July, the German command tried to take the Russian armies in Poland in a giant pincer, launching a simultaneous offensive on the left and right flanks. On July 22, Russian troops left Warsaw.
Increasing their success, the enemy troops launched an offensive in the northwestern direction. On August 9, the Kovno Fortress was surrendered. At the end of August, the Germans broke through the Russian front and occupied Vilna. By the end of 1915, the front border ran along the line Riga - Dvinsk - Baranovichi - Pinsk - Dubno. Russian troops were driven out of Galicia, Poland, parts of the Baltic states and Belarus. Territorial losses were accompanied by huge casualties. The morale of the Russian army fell sharply. The Allies, who received a temporary respite due to the intensification of military operations on the Eastern Front, were in no hurry to help the Russian army, and did not organize a single major military operation on the Western Front in order to distract the German armies, as Russia did repeatedly in 1914.
4 1916: lost victory. Alarming results
By 1916 the war had become protracted. The front in the west and east has stabilized. But the German high command understood that prolonging the war would lead Germany to disaster, because the material and human resources of the Austro-German bloc were immeasurably less than the potential of the Entente. At the same time, Germany was pleased with the results of 1915. It seemed to its leadership that the German troops, although they had not completely defeated the Russian army, had completely deprived it of the ability to conduct serious offensive operations. Therefore, German generals hoped to spend 1916 under the sign of major victories on the Western Front. The German command set purely defensive tasks for its eastern group.
In February 1916, the German army launched a broad offensive against the French fortified area with the Verdun fortress, which opened a direct road to Paris. A large number of German divisions were thrown into the attack. At the persistent request of the allies, in order to divert enemy forces from France, the Russian command urgently developed an offensive plan, the main burden of which fell on the troops of the Southwestern Front, commanded by General A.A. Brusilov.
May 1916, after a massive artillery strike, Russian troops went on the offensive and in a number of places immediately broke through the Austrian positions. On May 25, Russian troops occupied Lutsk, and on June 5 they captured Chernivtsi. In these battles, the Austrians suffered heavy losses.
By 1917, Russia had lost about 2 million people killed, about 5 million wounded, and about two million captured. The qualitative composition of the army, especially officer cadres, has also changed radically. During the war years, the main backbone of the Russian officers began to consist of graduates of short-term officer schools and especially distinguished soldiers promoted to officers. Many units changed their composition several times. Fraternization and desertion became widespread. The army, like the home front, was infected with discontent and suspicion towards the ruling elite. The main mood of the army became the desire for peace, a speedy end to a long and bloody war alien to the people.
russia first world war
1.5 Contemporaries about the First World War
I was firmly convinced that a world war was inevitable, and, according to my calculations, it was supposed to begin in 1915...
My calculations were based on the fact that although all the great powers were hastily arming themselves, Germany was ahead of everyone and should have been fully prepared by 1915, while Russia half-heartedly expected to prepare for this great test of people's power by 1917, and France is far from completing its preparations.
A.A. Brusilov*
History will account for the military command of France and England, which in its selfish stubbornness doomed its Russian comrades in arms to death, while England and France could so easily have saved the Russians and thus would have helped themselves best of all.
D. Lloyd George, Prime Minister of Great Britain
* Alexey Alekseevich Brusilov (1853-1926) - Russian general. His life path was difficult. Being a career military man (during the World War he commanded the 8th Army, from 1916 - commander-in-chief of the Southwestern Front. In a difficult situation in 1917 (May-June) he found himself as commander of the troops of the Provisional Government. After the October Revolution in the military-political did not actively participate in activities, but from 1920 to 1924 he served in the Red Army as a military inspector of cavalry.
2. SECOND ALL-RUSSIAN CONGRESS OF SOVIETS. FIRST DECREES. CONSTITUTION OF THE RSFSR 1918
At the 2nd Congress of Soviets on October 25, 1917, the first steps were taken towards the formation of the Bolshevik dictatorship. The leaders of the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries who left the congress gave the Bolsheviks the opportunity to form a one-party government - the Council of People's Commissars (SNK). Its chairman was V.I. Lenin, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs - L.D. Trotsky, People's Commissar for Nationalities - I.V. Dzhugashvili (Stalin). The Council of People's Commissars was the executive branch, the All-Russian Congress of Soviets was considered legislative, and at a time when it did not work, it was replaced by the All-Russian Central Executive Commission (VTsIK). It was headed by L.B. Kamenev.
The first legislative acts adopted by the 2nd Congress of Soviets were the “Decree on Peace” and the “Decree on Land,” created on the basis of the Socialist Revolutionary program. The primary tasks of the Soviet government were the destruction of the previous statehood and the creation of Soviet public institutions. Locally, the Soviets took power into their own hands. Factory committees and trade unions established control over production.
In December 1917, the Labor Code was approved, in January 1918 a decree on freedom of conscience was issued, and inequality of women was eliminated. These transformations were of a general democratic nature. However, from the first days the Bolsheviks showed themselves to be opponents of political pluralism. Already on October 27, a decree on the press was issued, which marked the beginning of the strangulation of the opposition press, first “bourgeois” and then socialist. On November 28, a decree of the Council of People's Commissars was adopted, declaring the cadets a “party of enemies of the people” and demanding the arrest of their leaders. On December 7, 1917, the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage (VChK) was created, headed by F.E. Dzerzhinsky. In December 1918, the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party adopted a decision on the “infallibility of the body (VChK), whose work takes place in especially difficult conditions”; on February 11, 1918 it was restored death penalty.
January 1918, the 3rd All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies opened. This completed the unification of the Soviets into a single state system. The congress adopted the “Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People,” Russia was proclaimed a Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. The All-Russian Congress of Soviets was recognized as the highest body of power, and in the intervals between congresses - the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, which was elected at the All-Russian Congress of Soviets. Executive branch was assigned to the Council of People's Commissars. Representatives of the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries took part in the congress. They also entered new line-up All-Russian Central Executive Committee.
On July 10, 1918, the 5th All-Russian Congress of Soviets took place in Moscow, which adopted the first Soviet Constitution - the Constitution of the RSFSR, which was based on the “Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People.”
3. RUSSIA’S EXIT FROM THE FIRST WORLD WAR. BREST PEACE.
One of the most complex issues Russian reality was a question of war. The Bolsheviks promised the people its speedy completion. However, there was no unity in the party itself on this issue, since it was closely connected with the idea of world revolution, the essence of which was that the victory of the revolution in Russia could be ensured only if similar revolutions took place in developed capitalist countries. countries. Therefore, it was initially planned that the Bolsheviks would offer all the warring powers to conclude a democratic peace, and in case of refusal, they would start a revolutionary war with world capital.
November 1917 L.D. Trotsky addressed the governments of all the warring powers with a proposal to conclude a general democratic peace. However, consent to begin negotiations was received only from Germany. On December 4, 1917, a truce was concluded with the Germans and peace negotiations began. But taking advantage of the fact that the Entente ignored the peace proposal, the Austro-German delegation proposed its own conditions. The separation of Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia from Russia was envisaged. Regarding the German ultimatum of January 5, 1918, three positions arose in the Bolshevik Party: Leninist - it is necessary to sign peace, since Russia cannot fight; Trotsky - we are not signing peace, we are not stopping the war, but we are demobilizing the army (since Germany is not capable of conducting large offensive operations), thus saving our revolutionary prestige; Bukharin or the “left communists” - to wage a revolutionary war. The majority supported Trotsky's position. On January 28, 1918, the Soviet delegation announced the rupture of negotiations. On February 18, the Germans launched an offensive on the Eastern Front and, without encountering serious resistance from Russian troops, began to rapidly advance into the interior of the country. On February 23, the Soviet government received a German ultimatum. The peace conditions proposed in it were much more difficult than the previous ones. After discussions and Lenin’s ultimatum on his withdrawal from the Central Committee and the Council of People’s Commissars, on March 3, 1918, a separate peace treaty was signed in Brest-Litovsk between Russia and Germany. Under the terms of the Brest Peace Treaty, Poland, the Baltic states, part of Belarus, Ardahan, Kars and Batum departed from Russia. Ukraine and Finland were recognized as independent. Soviet Russia pledged to pay a huge indemnity and demobilize the army and navy.
4. THE FIRST SOVIET SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL TRANSFORMATIONS.
November 1917 a decree and the “Regulations on Workers’ Control” were adopted. The nationalization of private banks in Petrograd began. A unified people's bank of the Russian Republic was created.
In November-December 1917, the factory of the Likinsky Manufactory Partnership, several enterprises in the Urals and the Putilov plant in Petrograd were nationalized. However, nationalization was dictated not by economic expediency, but by political motives.
In the first half of Soviet power, economic ties between city and countryside were built on the basis of commodity exchange. The People's Commissar for Food had at his disposal industrial production items and, under certain conditions, sent them to the villages, thereby stimulating the delivery of grain. However, in conditions of widespread instability, the peasants were in no hurry to give the government grain.
On May 1918, a decree was adopted “On granting the People's Commissar of Food emergency powers to combat the rural bourgeoisie hiding grain reserves and speculating on them.” On the basis of this decree, the Bolsheviks switched from a policy of commodity exchange to a policy of forcible seizure. To carry out this task, armed work detachments were created throughout the country. On June 11, 1918, a decree was issued on the formation of committees of the rural poor, which were entrusted with the function of assisting local food authorities in identifying and confiscating grain surpluses “from the kulaks and the rich.”
The economic policy of the new Bolshevik government in the first period of its existence went from “socialization of the land” and “workers’ control” to food dictatorship, committees of poor people, widespread nationalization and strict centralization.
On December 1918, a decree was promulgated on the dissolution of the Pobedy Committees.
This decision had both political and economic reasons. Calculations that the committees would help increase the supply of bread did not materialize. On January 11, 1919, a decree was issued on the allocation of grain and fodder. According to this decree, the state communicated in advance the exact figure of its grain needs. Then this amount was distributed among the provinces, districts, volosts and peasant households. Fulfillment of the grain procurement plan was mandatory. Later, the surplus appropriation system extended to potatoes, vegetables and other agricultural products.
Having proclaimed the slogan “He who does not work, neither does he eat,” the Soviet government introduced universal labor conscription and labor mobilization of the population to carry out work of national importance: logging, road construction, construction, and so on.
The introduction of labor service influenced the solution to the wage problem. The first experiments of the Soviet government in this area were canceled out by inflation. To ensure the existence of the worker, the state tried to compensate wages “in kind”, issuing food rations, food coupons in the canteen, and basic necessities instead of money. Then fees for housing, transport, utilities and other services were abolished. The logical continuation of this economic policy was the actual abolition of commodity-money relations. First, the free sale of food was prohibited, then other consumer goods. However, despite all the prohibitions, illegal market trade continued to exist.
Such a policy required the creation of special super-centralized economic bodies, providing accounting and distribution of all available products. The central boards (or centers) created under the Supreme Economic Council controlled the activities of certain industries, were in charge of their financing, material and technical supplies, and distribution of manufactured products.
The entire set of these emergency measures was called the policy of “war communism.”
5. Chairman of the 4th State Duma M. Rodzianko on the socio-economic situation of the country
The situation in Russia now is catastrophic and at the same time tragic. Her army is not defeated; it is supplied with weapons more than ever, but behind the army, in the rear, there is such a collapse that threatens to make all the sacrifices, all the shed blood pointless...
The country's food supply is in a catastrophic situation... For at least three months, we should expect an extreme aggravation in the food market, bordering on an all-Russian hunger strike. Not better position with fuel... Many enterprises, even those working for defense, have already stopped or will soon stop... City hospitals are closing one after another... A lot of diseases have developed in the city: influenza and pneumonia, and due to malnutrition - gastric and intestinal disorders.
Conclusion
The First World War was an event of enormous significance. In terms of its scale and consequences, it had no equal in the entire previous history of mankind.
In the First World War, the governments of the opposing powers mobilized millions of people, used sophisticated deadly weapons never seen before, and destroyed prosperous cities to the ground. The disastrous consequences of wars global character were revealed to the world with all their cruelty, ugliness and barbarity. The war destroyed three great illusions: that humanism is the natural state of humanity and man; that there is an inevitable rapprochement ahead of peoples renouncing nationalist self-affirmation; that science is an absolute benefit for humanity mastering it . As a result of the First World War, Russia lost 28 million citizens, 817 thousand square kilometers of territory, 10 percent of all railway lines. The war revealed all the weak political sides of the state. Here are a few figures that give an idea of the internal situation of the country after the First World War: the total volume of industrial production fell 7 times. Pig iron smelting was 2 times less than in 1862. Due to the lack of fuel, most enterprises were inactive. Cotton fabrics were produced 20 times less than in 1913. Devastation also reigned in agriculture. Grain production was halved. The number of livestock has decreased significantly. The country lacked bread, potatoes, meat, butter, sugar, and other necessary food products. The irreparable human losses were enormous: since 1914, 19 million people have died.
Russia experienced a horrific, nationally traumatic catastrophe and plunged into voluntary self-isolation for seventy years.
But Russia survived!
List of used literature
Sokolov V.V. Domestic history. T.2. Imperial Russia. Soviet Russia. Russia is changing. Textbook - St. Petersburg: publishing house RGGMU, 2005. - 562 p.
Kosulina L.G., Danilov A.A. History of Russia, 20th century: Textbook. allowance for 9th grade. general education institutions. - 2nd ed. - M.: Education, 1996.-366 p.
Shumilov M.I. History of Russia: end of 19th beginning of 21st centuries. - St. Petersburg, 2008.
Documents
Nikolenko.A.V. Memoirs of General A.A. Brusilov about Russian foreign policy (late XIX - early XX centuries) / A.V. Nikolenko // Clio: a magazine for scientists. - 2010. - No. 2. - P. 11-16. (0.8 p.l.).
Journal article
Nikolenko.A.V. Foreign policy of Russia at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. in the memoirs of A.I. Denikin / A.V. Nikolenko // Voice of the past: Kuban historical journal. - Krasnodar, 2008. - No. 3-4. - P. 103-112. (0.6 p.l.).
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The First World War of 1914-1918 radically changed the appearance and future fate old Europe. It was this bloody, destructive and unprecedented conflict at the time of its end that finally determined the end of the old order that emerged after the Napoleonic conquests and became an important factor in the outbreak of the Second World War. What were the consequences of World War 1?
Parties to the conflict
During the First World War, the confrontation unfolded between the military-political bloc "Atlanta", which included Great Britain, France and the Russian Empire (later the Republic), and the allies (more than twenty states were on the side of "Atlanta") on one side and the powers of the Quadruple Alliance (Second Reich, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Third on the other. European countries Albania, Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and several other countries maintained their neutrality.
Brief summary
The results of the conflict were disappointing for everyone. The consequences of World War 1 (briefly) are as follows:
- Human losses: Atlanta - 5.6 million out of 45 million mobilized, civilians - 7.9 million; opponents - 4.4 million out of 25.9 million soldiers, civilians - 3.4 million.
- The main territorial consequences of World War 1 were the redistribution of borders and the cessation of the existence of four powerful empires.
- Political results - the establishment of the United States as a world leader, the transition to a new legal system.
- Economic consequences - decline of the national economy, loss of national wealth. Against the backdrop of the conflict, only two countries managed to improve their economic situation.
Casualties of the Quadruple Alliance
Austria-Hungary, after declaring war, mobilized 74% of the male population from 15 to 49 years old. For every thousand soldiers, on average, about 122 were killed by Atlanta and died from other causes on the battlefield. Human losses in terms of the entire population of the empire amounted to 18 people per thousand citizens.
In Germany, the number of those mobilized amounted to 81% of the total male population from 15 to 49 years old. Most of the losses were among young people born in 1892-1895; thousands of Germans returned from the war disabled. Per thousand soldiers, the losses of the Second Reich were approximately 154 people, and if calculated for the entire population - 31 people per 1000 citizens of the empire. In 1916, female mortality in Germany increased by 11% from the pre-war level, and by 1917 - by 30%. The main causes of death were diseases caused by chronic malnutrition.
Of the 685 thousand Bulgarian soldiers, 88 thousand died. The Ottoman Empire mobilized almost three million men (out of a population of 21.3 million), and one in four of them died. In total, the powers of the Quadruple Alliance sent almost 26 million males to war, and every sixth man died on the battlefields (almost four and a half million men).
Casualties of Atlanta and allies
British casualties - more than seven hundred thousand soldiers out of almost five million; France - 1.3 million out of 6.8; Italy - 462 thousand out of almost six million; USA - 116 thousand out of 4.7 million; Russian Empire - 1.6 million people out of 15.3 million mobilized.
Damage to the world economy
The consequence of World War I was a reduction in sown areas by more than 22%, and grain harvests by 37% of the pre-war years. In France alone, for example, almost eight thousand railway lines, almost five thousand bridges, twenty thousand factories and more than three hundred thousand residential buildings were destroyed during military operations.
Metal smelting decreased by 43% of pre-war levels, and other areas of industry suffered significantly. Germany's public debt has grown 63 times, Great Britain's - almost nine times. In 1921, three years after the establishment of peace, twenty thousand German marks were given for one pound sterling.
Territorial losses
The results and consequences of World War I are also expressed in a large-scale redistribution of the borders of the Old World. The Second Reich lost more than 13% of its territories, the Ottoman Empire (more precisely, no longer an empire, but Turkey) - 68%. Austria-Hungary ceased to exist altogether. Subsequently, Hungary was located on 13% of the territory of the empire, Austria - on 12%. The remaining territories became part of Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Romania. Only 7% were “plucked off” from Bulgaria.
Russia, which was part of Atlanta, lost 15% of its territories. Some of them went to Poland, some went to Latvia, Finland and Romania. Part of these lands in 1939-1940. returned to the Soviet Union.
Political results
As a result of the First World War, new states appeared on the map, and the United States became the leader. Europe, as the center of the colonial world, no longer existed, as four powerful empires disappeared: German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman. It was after the First World War that a new legal system was established in the world, class, ethnic and interstate contradictions intensified, and social processes that arose at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were frozen.
Economic consequences
The economic consequences of World War I weighed heavily on both the winners and the losers. Direct military losses amounted to more than two hundred billion US dollars, which was twelve times the gold reserves of European states. A third of the national wealth of the Old World was destroyed.
Only the United States and Japan increased their incomes during the years of conflict. Japan established a monopoly on trade in southeast Asia, and the United States established itself as a leader on the international stage. The national wealth of the States in 1914-1918 increased by 40% of pre-war levels, trade volumes with other countries doubled, and the value of export products tripled.
The social consequences of World War 1 were hunger, crime, fatherlessness, increased rates of alcohol consumption and frequent illness.
Introduction
1. The beginning of the war.
2. Causes and nature of the war.
4. Attitude to the war of various classes and parties in Russia.
5. Results of the First World War.
Conclusion.
Introduction
There are many reasons why the First World War began, but various scientists and various records of those years tell us that the main reason is that Europe was developing very rapidly at that time. At the beginning of the twentieth century, there were no longer any territories around the world that were not captured by capitalist powers. During this period, Germany surpassed all of Europe in terms of industrial production, and since Germany had very few colonies, it sought to capture them. By capturing them, Germany would have new markets. At that time, England and France had very large colonies, so the interests of these countries often clashed.
I chose this topic because I decided to figure out why the war started? What was the reason for this? What technological advances occurred during the war? Consequences of the First World War for Russia?
It seems to me that this topic in itself is very interesting. During the First World War, it is possible to trace how the technical and economic development of each country developed. During the four years of war, we find how new technical means influence the course of the war, how the war helps scientific progress. The greater the economic and technological progress, the more murder weapons appear, the bloodier the war itself becomes, and the more countries become participants in this war.
1. The beginning of the war
The immediate reason for the outbreak of hostilities was the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne in Sarajevo. The Austrian-Hungarian government, with German approval, presented an ultimatum to Serbia, demanding freedom to interfere in Serbia's internal affairs. Despite Serbia's acceptance of almost all conditions. Austria-Hungary declared war on her on July 28. Two days later, the Russian government, in response to the opening of hostilities by Austria-Hungary, announced general mobilization. Germany used this as a pretext and launched a war against Russia on August 1, and against France on August 3. England declared war on Germany on August 4. At the end of August, Japan took the side of the Entente, which decided to take advantage of the fact that Germany would be pinned down in the west and seize its colonies in the Far East. On October 30, 1914, Türkiye entered the war on the side of the Entente.
In 1914, Italy did not enter the war, declaring its neutrality. She began military operations in May 1915 on the side of the Entente. In April 1917, the United States entered the war on the side of the Entente.
Military operations that began in August 1914 unfolded in several theaters and continued until November 1918. Based on the nature of the tasks being solved and the military-political results achieved, the First World War is usually divided into five campaigns, each of which includes several operations.
2. Causes and nature of the war.
The First World War arose as a result of the intensification of the political and economic struggle between the largest imperialist countries for markets and sources of raw materials, for the redistribution of an already divided world. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the division of the world had already been completed, there were no territories left on the globe that had not yet been captured by the capitalist powers, there were no more so-called “free spaces” left. “It has arrived,” V.I. pointed out. Lenin, “inevitably the era of monopoly ownership of colonies, and, consequently, of a particularly intensified struggle for the division of the world.”
As a result of the uneven, spasmodic development of capitalism in the era of imperialism, some countries that took the capitalist path of development later than others, in short term caught up and surpassed in technical and economic terms such old colonial countries as England and France. Particularly indicative was the development of Germany, which by 1900 had surpassed these countries in terms of industrial production, but was significantly inferior in the size of its colonial possessions. Because of this, the interests of Germany and England collided most often. Germany openly sought to capture British markets in the Middle East and Africa.
Germany's colonial expansion was met with resistance from France, which also had huge colonies. Very sharp contradictions between the countries existed over Alsace and Lorraine, captured by Germany back in 1871.
With its penetration into the Middle East, Germany created a threat to Russian interests in the Black Sea basin. Austria-Hungary, allied with Germany, became a serious competitor to Tsarist Russia in the struggle for influence in the Balkans.
The aggravation of foreign policy contradictions between the largest countries led to the division of the world into two hostile camps and the formation of two imperialist groupings: the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy) and the Triple Agreement, or Entente (England, France, Russia).
The war between the major European powers was beneficial to the US imperialists, since as a result of this struggle, favorable conditions emerged for the further development of American expansion, especially in Latin America and the Far East. American monopolies relied on maximizing benefits from Europe.
In preparing for war, the imperialists saw in it not only a means of resolving external contradictions, but also a means that could help them cope with the growing discontent of their population own countries and suppress the growing revolutionary movement. The bourgeoisie hoped during the war to destroy the international solidarity of the workers, to physically exterminate the best part of the working class, for the socialist revolution.
Due to the fact that the war for the redivision of the world affected the interests of all imperialist countries, most of the world's states gradually became drawn into it. The war became global, as if in its own way political purposes, and in scale.
By its nature, the war of 1914-1918 was imperialistic, aggressive, unfair on both sides. It was a war over who could plunder and oppress more. The majority of the parties of the Second International, betraying the interests of the working people, advocated war in support of the bourgeoisie and the governments of their countries.
The Bolshevik Party led by V.I. Lenin, having determined the nature of the war, called for a fight against it, for turning the imperialist war into a civil war.
3. Armed forces and plans of the parties.
In my opinion, the strengths of each side were very important. By the beginning of the war, all large European states, except for England, had standing armies, recruited on the basis of universal conscription. In England the army was mercenary. Only after the outbreak of war did the British government introduce universal conscription.
The main branch of troops in the armies of all states was infantry. The ground forces included cavalry and artillery. Special troops had a very insignificant share (about 2%).
The infantry division had from 16 to 21 thousand people, 36-48 guns and about 30 machine guns.
The regiment, as a rule, did not have standard artillery. The artillery was at the disposal of the division commander. By the beginning of the war, the Russian armed forces had 263 aircraft, Germany - 232, England - 258, France - 156. The army corps included detachments of 3-6 aircraft intended for reconnaissance. All armies had armored cars and armored trains in small quantities. By 1914, the armed forces of Germany had about 4000 vehicles, Russia - 4500, England - 900, France - 6000.1
The main burden of the fight continued to fall on the infantry armed with rifles. The political and military leaders of the countries participating in the war were unable to correctly foresee the nature of the future war and determine the amount of forces and means required to wage it. On the eve of the First World War, bourgeois military theorists saw the highest achievement of military thought in reproducing examples of Napoleon's military leadership. The experience of later wars was not taken into account sufficiently. Changes in the methods of combat that occurred in these wars were considered a random phenomenon, caused either by the characteristics of the theater of military operations, or by poor training of troops, or by erroneous actions of commanders. The emergence of a positional front during the Russo-Japanese War was considered an accident. Therefore, the problem of breaking through positional defenses was not even theoretically studied. All attention was paid to attacking shallow focal defenses. The main form of combat formation of troops was considered to be a rifle chain.
The military action plans of the main participants in the war did not sufficiently take into account the increased role of economic and moral factors and were designed to conduct battles only at the expense of mobilization reserves accumulated in peacetime. It was believed that the war would be short-lived.
The essence of the German plan was the desire to beat the opponents consistently and thus avoid a war on two fronts. It was planned to first strike France and defeat its army, then transfer the main forces to the east and defeat the Russian army. This circumstance determined the choice of the strategic form of the offensive - a flank bypass and encirclement of the main enemy forces. In order to bypass and encircle the French army, a flank maneuver was planned to be carried out through Belgium, bypassing the main forces of the French army from the north. In the east, it was planned to deploy 15-16 divisions, which were supposed to cover East Prussia from a possible invasion of Russian troops. Active operations at this time were to be carried out by Austro-Hungarian troops.
The main flaw of the German plan was to overestimate the enemy's strength.
The Austro-Hungarian war plan was strongly influenced by the demand of the German General Staff to pin down the Russian armies during the period when Germany delivered the main blow to France. In this regard, the Austro-Hungarian general staff planned active actions against Russia, Serbia and Czechoslovakia. The main blow was planned to be delivered from Galicia to the east and northeast. The Austro-Hungarian plan was built without real consideration of the country's economic and moral capabilities. This clearly demonstrated the influence of the German military school - underestimating the enemy’s forces and overestimating one’s own forces. The available forces did not correspond to the assigned tasks.