Country losses
Changes in the borders of countries in Europe
German Army
On January 2, 1916, an airship conducted by a German officer Heinrich Maty was set on fire by incendiary bullets of British anti-aircraft gunners. Zeppelin fell in north London. The body of a German pilot was found in a field nearby. Apparently, he jumped out of the gondola so as not to burn alive in the hellish flame that engulfed the airship.
Army of France
Russian Army
Army of Britain
In 1915, during the First World War, the troops of the Union of South Africa (South Africa, South Africa - Dominion Kingdom of the British Commonwealth, since 1961 - South Africa) occupied the German colony of South-West Africa (future Namibia). Following the conclusion of the war, the League of Nations gave the SAS a mandate to administer the territory.
United States Army
The United States entered World War I on April 6, 1917. Before that, they remained neutral.
Turkish Army
When the Russian army reached the Istanbul suburb of San Stefano in 1877-1878, the Turks were forced to make a humiliating peace. To perpetuate their victory, the Russian authorities erected a monument there - a tomb temple.
The monument has long callowed the eyes of the Turkish Committee of Unity and Progress as a symbol of national humiliation. With the beginning of the First World War, the Young Turks could no longer put up with its existence. In early November, the Ottoman Empire entered the war, and on November 14, 1914, the monument was blown up.
Technologies
Tanks
Artillery
Ships
The famous giant bridge is visible in the background. Photo from the naval airship R9.]]
Submarines
Aircraft
In 1914, the Voisin III was released in France - a two-seat single-engine reconnaissance bomber, carrying in addition to a machine gun up to 150 kg of bombs.
In Russia, Voisens produced enterprises of Vladimir Alexandrovich Lebedev, Artur Antonovich Anatra and Moscow Dux; Boris Vasilievich Sergievsky, Mikhail Vasilievich Vodopyanov and other pilots flew on them.
AIR DEFENCE
The official date of appearance in the Russian armed forces of military air defense is considered to be December 26 (15), 1915: that day the formation of light batteries for firing at air targets began, which became relevant on the fields of the First World War.
Chemical weapons and chemical protection
Mines
From November 1915 to July 1, 1916, trying to maintain silence, the British carried out the construction of the so-called Lochnagar Mine, intended to destroy the German position known as Schvaben Hoehe, which dominated part of the low-lying region in the south. The mine was a tunnel at a depth of 15 meters, 270 meters long, closer to the German positions the tunnel was divided into two branches. The left branch of the tunnel approached 21 meters to the German trenches, the right 14 meters. In the left mine chamber, British sappers laid 16.3 tons of ammonal, in the right 10.9 tons.
On July 1, 1916, at 7-30, with the explosion of two closely spaced charges, an English offensive began.
In the photo, the funnel from the explosion of Mina Luahnogar with a diameter of 67 meters and a depth of 17 meters. The discarded soil formed an annular shaft around a crater 4.5 meters high. The outer boundary of the shaft runs within a radius of 70 meters from the center of the crater.
Communication
Flame throwers
Small arms
Helmets, masks and bulletproof vests
Masking
Espionage
Transport
Construction machinery
Medicine
Promotion
Battles
1914: Battle of Gubinnen-Goldap: Russian victory over Germans. Losses of 16 and 8 thousand people
On the eve of the battle of Gumbinnen in 2014, which went down in history as the Battle of Gubinnen-Goldap, units of the 28th Infantry Division of the Russian army stumbled upon well-fortified German positions in the Pokalnishken-Nibudshen area. The Russian military lost the local clash and were forced to retreat. The German command decided to go on the offensive, and early in the morning of August 20 (August 7 according to the old style), the German artillery began to bombard the 28th division of the Russian army, hoping to quickly attack the numerically inferior enemy. At the beginning of the battle, the Russian army was really inferior to the German - the ratio of forces was 63,800 bayonets from the Russian side against 74,400 German.
However, despite the advantage of Germany, the Russian army managed to mobilize and launch a counterattack, as a result of which the 1st and 17th German corps were defeated. By lunchtime on August 20, 1914, the outcome of the Battle of Gumbinno was predetermined - the German troops hastily retreated. The plans of the German command to destroy parts of the Russian army on the Eastern Front failed. The price for the successful outcome of the battle was significant: the Russian army lost 16 thousand people in the battle, Germany had almost half the losses - 8 thousand people.
An officer of the Russian army, Alexander Uspensky, in his memoirs of the Battle of Gumbinnensky wrote how the Germans' retreat in August 1914 looked like: "From our observation posts one could see an amazing picture of how the Germans fell from our fire in whole rows, like undermined, running along the highway and ditches with it! How they ran in disarray, throwing their weapons down the road... Instantly lost all their iron discipline! " Uspensky notes another interesting fact, testifying to the scale of the defeat of German troops near Gumbinnen - on the territory of East Prussia, where the battle took place, there were mainly luxurious estates of German landowners, former military men. It was to know and close to Emperor William himself. Therefore, the Germans were confident that the Kaiser would never allow the "Russians to capture this" pearl in his crown! "
When it became known about the order of the commander of the German army, General Pritwitz, to retreat beyond the Vistula River, so that East Prussia remained completely in the hands of the Russians, the rich and noble families hastily left their luxurious estates and fled. "All the roads to Berlin were clogged with these" refugees!, " Uspensky writes about the outcome of the Battle of Gumbinnensky.
Interestingly, on the part of the German command, the training of the Russian army was highly appreciated. German colonel Rudolf Franz subsequently wrote that "the Russians proved themselves to be a very serious opponent. Good soldiers in nature, they were disciplined, had good combat training and were well equipped. "
The German name of the city of Gumbinnen, which is located in the current territory of the Kaliningrad region, was renamed Gusev in 1946. This is the only Russian territory on which hostilities took place during the First World War. The memory of this significant battle, which determined the further course of the war events and all European history, in 2014 was immortalized by the sculptor Mikhail Shemyakin in a monument called "The Memory of the Forgotten War that Changed the Course of History."
In the center of the monumental composition is an open, as if moving backwards, wheel with a crucified figure of a soldier on it. The other two figures framing the central part of the sculpture are young and elderly women, probably a widow and mother. They represent the personal tragedy of each family and each individual person caught in the millstones of tragic historical events. In the author's plan, one can also find an allegorical resemblance to the classical Christian plot of Piet, that is, the mourning of the Mother of God of the crucified Jesus Christ.
This work also touches on the other side of the perception of war - it involves in the tragic flywheel of history not only the fate of individuals, but also of entire states. Mikhail Shemyakin embodied this idea of conjugality through the use of photographs of soldiers, maps and documents of various countries that took part in the First World War - the materials became part of the design of the pedestal of the sculptural group. The photographs were collected together with the Russian Military Historical Society, the sculptor found some of the pictures in France in the archives. All materials are printed on the pedestal by an innovative method - this technological development was proposed by GS-Group, which also initiated and became the main philanthropist of the construction of the monument "Memory of the Forgotten War."
March 3, 1918 - Brest Peace Treaty with Germany and Austria-Hungary on the withdrawal of the RSFSR from the First World War
November 11, 1918 - the end of the war
World War I ended at 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918.
world war. Antwerp, Belgium. November 11, 1918.]]
Consequences of the war
1918
Occupation of Constantinople by Entente forces
Main article: History of Turkey
The occupation of Constantinople by the Entente took place from November 13, 1918 to October 4, 1923.
Formation of Yugoslavia
During the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire on October 6, 1918, the People's Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs took power, occupying Zagreb. In the same way, without bloodshed, the People's Council took control of all Yugoslav lands within Austria.
On October 29, 1918, the legitimate parliament of the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia announced the termination of the 816-year union with the Kingdom of Hungary and the entry of Croatia into the existing State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (GSHS).
The next day, the Parliament of the Kingdom of Hungary also supported the severance of relations with the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia, which made the country's withdrawal from the Habsburg monarchy fully legitimate.
However, soon a political crisis began in the country. By mid-November, 12 local self-government bodies came out of obedience to the central authorities, an independent republic was created in Banja Luka, and complete anarchy reigned in a number of districts. Of great concern to the People's Council was the lack of security of borders. In Dalmatia, Italian forces seized one territory after another, citing the 1915 Treaty of London; Austrian troops concentrated on the border of Slovenia and Austria, Hungarian troops in Banat.
On November 5, 1918, the GSHS turned to Serbia for help.
At this time, the Serbian army occupied Vojvodina. Part of the territory of the unrecognized Republic of Banat was annexed to Serbia (its other part went to Romania), and later part of the unrecognized Serbian-Hungarian Republic of Baranya Baya.
On November 24, 1918, the People's Council, after much controversy, decided to unite the GSHS with Serbia and send a representative delegation to Belgrade.
On December 1, 1918, after a meeting of the authorities of the GSHS and Serbia in Belgrade, the unification of these states took place.
The unification of the Kingdom of Serbia and the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs created the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (KSKS).
On October 4, 1929, the kingdom was officially renamed the "Kingdom of Yugoslavia" (unofficially this name was used as early as 1918).
2022
Claims against Russia for $5 billion due to the return of gold to socialist Romania
In February 2022, Romania presented Russia claims for $5 billion. Bucharest estimates the value of the gold of the National Bank of the Romanian Kingdom exported to the Russian Empire during the First World War.
In February, the leadership of the Romanian Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador and informed him about the "inadmissibility of creating an erroneous opinion among the public." Representatives of the Romanian Foreign Ministry said that the issue with gold has not been resolved.
In 1916, Romania entered World War I on the side of the Entente. The National Bank froze the assets of depositors. A few weeks later, the Romanian army suffered a crushing defeat from the combined armies of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria.
Only the intervention of the Russian army saved Romania from complete collapse. The National Bank sent its gold and foreign exchange reserves for storage to Moscow. Later, the Soviet Union transferred the gold reserve of the Romanian National Bank (64 tons) back.
However, the Romanian Foreign Ministry argues that this is not the case. Bucharest insists that Moscow received not 64, but 120 tons of gold. And now it demands the return of 93.4 tons, which it estimates at $5 billion.
Romania refuses to recognize the return of gold bars during the existence of socialist Romania, calling the latter an "illegal" entity.
Greece demands €9.2 billion in reparations from Germany
In 2022, Greece demands from Germany 9.2 billion euros of reparations for the First World War. Berlin refuses to pay.
See also