Colonial contradictions before the First World War. July crisis before the First World War

Before the First World War, Germany was among the most industrialized countries in Europe in a number of economic and political indicators. Ultimately, military construction and the active offensive foreign policy of Wilhelm II and his entourage largely contributed to the slide of the state to the World War

Otto von Bismarck, who created the Second Reich with “iron and blood” (a small one without Austria), to a large extent satisfied the long-standing need to unite the Germans under one roof. After that, his task was to eliminate the danger of a war on two fronts, which he considered obviously losing for the state. He was haunted by the nightmare of coalitions, which he tried to eliminate by a categorical refusal to acquire colonies, which would inevitably significantly increase the risk of armed conflict in clashes with the interests of the colonial powers, primarily with England. He considered good relations with her a guarantee of Germany's security, and therefore directed all his efforts to solving internal problems.

Bismarck, like Stein, Metternich and Leibniz before him, felt responsible for the course of history and understood the dangers of total war. But this was not perceived by him or his supporters as a need to change the status quo, but only as a threat to this order.

In 1888, Emperor Wilhelm I died and his son, a supporter of the English constitutional order, a liberal-minded Angloman Frederick III, who was married to the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria, took his place. He was terminally ill with throat cancer and ruled for only 99 days. Nietzsche rightly considered his death "the greatest and fatal misfortune for Germany." With the death of Frederick III, hopes for a peaceful and liberal Germany in the center of Europe disappeared.

Friedrich was replaced by the neurotic, poseur and visionary Wilhelm II, who hated his mother and everything English so much that immediately after the death of his father he put his mother under house arrest. He was convinced of his historical significance and, moreover, devoid of a sense of proportion, full of pompous arrogance and petty nitpicking. Wilhelm was unable to take advantage of the traditional British policy of isolationism (en. Splendid Isolation). His uncle, King Edward VII of Britain, called him "the most brilliant loser in all German history."

Wilhelm, at the beginning of his career as head of state, claimed the title of "social emperor" and was even going to organize an international conference to discuss the condition of the workers. He was convinced that a mixture of social reforms, Protestantism and, in a certain proportion, anti-Semitism could distract the workers from socialist influence. Bismarck opposed this course because he believed that trying to make everyone happy all at once was absurd. However, the universal suffrage he introduced led to the fact that not only socialists, but also the majority of officials, politicians, military and businessmen did not support him, and on March 18, 1889, he resigned. Initially, society was encouraged by the words of the Kaiser: “The course remains unchanged. Full speed ahead." However, soon many began to realize that this was not so, and disappointment set in, and the personality of the Iron Chancellor, even during his lifetime, began to acquire mythical features.

The era that began under Wilhelm I is called in the West "Wilhelmine" (German: Wilgelminische Ära) and was based on the unshakable foundation of the monarchy, the army, religion and faith in progress in all areas.

Wilhelm willingly supported Tirpitz, not only because his activities fully corresponded to his global claims, but also because they were directed against parliament, or rather its left wing. Under him, the country continued the seizure of territories that had begun under Bismarck and against his will, mainly in Africa, and showed interest in South America.

At the same time, Wilhelm came into conflict with Bismarck, whom he fired in 1890. Lieutenant General von Caprivi became Chancellor. (Leo von Caprivi), head of the admiralty. He did not have enough political experience, but he understood that a powerful fleet was suicide for the state. He intended to follow the path of social reforms, limiting imperialist tendencies, and reducing the outflow of emigrants, mainly to the United States, which amounted to 100,000 people a year. He tried in every possible way to promote the export of manufactured goods, including to Russia in exchange for grain. In this way, he aroused the dissatisfaction of the agrarian lobby, which was the backbone of the German economy and insisted in the time of Bismarck on a protectionist policy.

The policy pursued by the chancellor was dissatisfied with the imperialist layers, who questioned the expediency of exchanging Zanzibar for Helgoland, carried out by Bismarck.

Caprivi made attempts to reach a consensus with the socialists, primarily with the influential SPD party in the Reichstag. Due to the resistance of the extreme right and the Kaiser, he failed to integrate the Social Democrats (whom Wilhelm called "a gang of bandits who do not deserve to be called Germans"), into political life empire.

In 1892, a rapprochement between Russia and France began, initially on military issues, and the following year a trade agreement was concluded. Russia stated that for those states that do not grant Russia the status of a most favored nation country, import tariffs will be raised by 20 to 30 percent. In response, the upper house of the German parliament raised tariffs on Russian goods, including grain, by 50%. In turn, Russia practically closed its ports to German ships, significantly raising port dues. The Russian fleet visited Toulon in 1893, and after that a military treaty was concluded with France. Since Germany was Russia's most important trading partner, this tariff war hurt the economies of both countries, and therefore, already in 1894, it ended with a mutual agreement on granting each other the most favored nation treatment. But the military alliance with France remained in force.

In 1892, the Prussian Minister of Education introduced a proposal to reform the school by increasing the influence of the church, which reflected the opinion of the Kaiser and the parties of the center and was aimed at maintaining traditional values against newfangled trends such as socialism. But the liberals managed to win under the flag of the struggle against the infringement of academic freedom. This cost Caprivi his post as prime minister, and Botho Wendt August Graf zu Eulenburg, an extreme conservative, became prime minister. The order that existed under Bismarck to combine the posts of chancellor and prime minister was violated, which led to fatal consequences.

Two years later, Eulenburg submitted to the upper house (Bundesrat) the "Anti-Revolutionary Bill", which obviously could not pass in the Lower House (Reichstag). The Kaiser, who feared a palace coup, dismissed both. This Bill provoked a fierce debate in the newly built Reichstag building (1894) between representatives of the authoritarian state and the liberal right wing on the one hand and supporters of the democratic style of government characteristic of parliamentary democracy on the other. At the same time, this meant that Wilhelm no longer portrayed himself as a "social Kaiser" and stood on the side of the representatives of industrial capital, who disposed of his enterprises in the same way as a junker disposed of on his estate. Strikers were subject to imprisonment and any movement towards socialism was suppressed. Anti-socialists and anti-Semites entrenched in the government.

However, there was no unity among the right. Finance Minister Miquel created a coalition of right-wing forces under the slogan of "concentration policy" (Sammlungspolitik) of farmers and industry representatives, who often had different goals. So industrial circles supported the construction of canals, which Wilhelm himself was a supporter of, but this was opposed by the agrarians, who feared that cheap grain would flow through these channels. These disagreements served as an argument in favor of the fact that Germany needed socialists, if only to ensure the passage of laws in the Reichstag.

Significant differences with the traditions of Bismarck became apparent in the field foreign policy that accompanied the rise of German imperialism. Bernhard von Bülow, who became foreign minister in 1897, declared in parliament:

The time when the Germans left Germany, leaving for neighboring countries, and left only the sky over their heads as their property, is over ... We are not going to keep anyone in the shade, but we ourselves demand a place in the sun.

Having become chancellor in 1900, he managed to get funding from the parliament for the construction program of the navy. In 1895, the construction of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal (Kiel Canal) was completed and the German fleet was able to quickly move to the Baltic Sea from the North Sea and back.

In 1906, the British built the battleship Dreadnought. Immediately made the battleships of the whole world obsolete. At the same time, the Kiel Canal became too narrow for dreadnought-type ships. And this put the German navy in an exceptionally difficult position.

Tension began to arise in society, caused, on the one hand, by an uncritical faith in unlimited technical progress and a fear deeply rooted in the ideology of the bourgeoisie that the situation could suddenly and in the near future change for the worse, on the other.

(small - without Austria), to a large extent satisfied the long-standing need to unite the Germans under one roof. However, the period of increased economic activity caused by the victory over France ended quickly. Already in 1873, the country's economy faced difficulties. Agrarians and industrialists began to express dissatisfaction with the liberal policy of free trade pursued by Bismarck and began to insist on the implementation of a policy of protectionism. A variety of influential groups and associations began to be created in the country to protect their group interests, operating outside of parliament. Lobbyist interests began to be especially clearly traced in his activities, and public opinion turned out to be very prone to becoming an object of manipulation.

Bismarck believed that Germany should not seek dominance in Europe, but be satisfied with what has been achieved and respect the interests of its neighbors. He expressed his foreign policy as follows:

A strong Germany wishes to be left in peace and to develop peacefully for this to be possible Germany had to maintain a strong army since one does not attack someone whose dagger is loose in the sheath

A strong Germany wants to be left alone and allowed to develop in the world, for which she must have a strong army, because no one dares to attack one who has a sword in a sheath

At the same time, Bismarck seriously counted on the fact that European powers with conflicting interests would be interested in Germany:

all the powers with the exception of France need us, and as far as possible will be stopped from forming coalitions against us as a result of their relations one with another

All states, with the exception of France, need us and, as far as possible, will refrain from forming coalitions against us as a result of the existing contradictions between them.

Juggling five balls

In his bet on divisions in the rival camp, Bismarck relied on facts. After the purchase by France of shares in the Suez Canal, problems arose in its relations with England. Russia competed with Turkey on the Black Sea, and its interests in the Balkans dictated the need for rapprochement with Germany and, at the same time, conflicted with the interests of Austria-Hungary. According to the figurative expression of the historian, Bismarck found himself in the position of a juggler with five balls, three of which he had to constantly keep in the air.

Despite the fact that during this war Bismarck strongly objected to Austrian proposals to involve Germany in military operations against Russia, he signed the Treaty of Berlin with representatives of the great powers on July 3, 1878, which established new frontiers in Europe. Austria was promised Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Russia was supposed to return part of the territories conquered from it to Turkey. Romania, Serbia and Montenegro were recognized as independent countries. England received Cyprus. IN Ottoman Empire an autonomous Slavic principality was created - Bulgaria.

In the Russian press, after this, the pan-Slavists launched a campaign against Germany, which greatly alarmed Bismarck. Again, there was a real threat of an anti-German coalition with the participation of Russia. Russia withdrew from the Union of Three Emperors, created in 1873. . On October 7, 1879, despite the objections of Emperor Wilhelm I, who adhered to the pro-Russian orientation, traditional for Prussia since the time of the Napoleonic wars, Bismarck concluded an alliance with Austria, the "Mutual Treaty" (Dual Alliance). This was Bismarck's fatal mistake, which destroyed the close relations between Russia and Germany. A fierce tariff struggle began between the two countries. Since that time, the General Staffs of both countries began to develop plans for a preventive war against each other. And in 1879, due to the aggravation of Franco-German relations, Russia demanded in an ultimatum from Germany not to start a new war. .

New direction in politics

Wilhelm at the beginning of his reign claimed the role of "social emperor" and was even going to organize an international conference to discuss the situation of the workers. He was convinced that social reforms, Protestantism and patriotism could distract the workers from the influence of the socialists. Bismarck opposed this course, not believing in its effectiveness. Initially, society was encouraged by the words of the new Kaiser: “The course remains unchanged. Full speed ahead." However, soon many began to realize that this was not so, and disappointment set in, and the personality of the Iron Chancellor, even during his lifetime, began to acquire mythical features.

The era that began under William I is called in the West "Wilhelmine" (German: Wilgelminische Ära) and was based on the unshakable foundation of the monarchy, the army, religion and faith in progress in all areas.

Wilhelm's global claims were supported by Admiral Tirpitz (1849-1930), who was fascinated by the idea of competing with the "mistress of the seas" Great Britain. He was a capable, knowledgeable, energetic officer with the gift of a demagogue. He organized an unparalleled, nation-wide company to build a navy that was to be twice the size of Britain's fleet and oust her from world trade. All classes of the country supported this idea, including the socialists, since it guaranteed many jobs and relatively high wages. Wilhelm willingly supported Tirpitz, not only because his activities fully corresponded to his global claims, but also because they were directed against parliament, or rather its left wing. Under him, the country continued the seizure of territories that had begun under Bismarck (and against his will), mainly in Africa, and showed interest in South America.

At the same time, Wilhelm came into conflict with Bismarck, whom he fired in 1890. Lieutenant General von Leo von Caprivi, head of the admiralty, became chancellor. He did not have sufficient political experience for his post, but he understood that a naval arms race with Britain was suicide for the state. Instead, Caprivi was going to follow the path of social reforms, limiting imperialist tendencies and reducing the outflow of emigrants, mainly to the United States, which amounted to 100,000 people a year. He tried in every possible way to promote the export of manufactured goods, including to Russia in exchange for grain. By this, Caprivi provoked the dissatisfaction of the influential agrarian lobby, which was the backbone of the German economy and insisted on a protectionist policy even in the days of Bismarck. The policy pursued by the chancellor was also dissatisfied with the imperialist layers, who questioned the expediency of exchanging Zanzibar for Helgoland, carried out by Bismarck.

Caprivi made attempts to reach a consensus with the socialists, primarily with the influential Social Democratic Party in the Reichstag. Due to the resistance of the extreme right and the Kaiser, he failed to integrate the Social Democrats, whom Wilhelm called "a gang of bandits who do not deserve to be called Germans," into the political life of the empire.

In 1890, the Kaiser refused to extend the "Reinsurance Treaty" concluded with Russia. As a result, the rapprochement between Russia and France began. Already in 1891, an agreement was reached on the creation of the Franco-Russian Union. August 17, 1892 Russia and France sign a secret military convention. And in 1893, a Russian-French trade agreement was concluded. St. Petersburg declared that in relation to those states that do not grant Russia the most favorable trade regime, import tariffs will be raised from 20 to 30%. In response to this, the upper house of the German parliament (the Union Council - the Bundesrat) raised tariffs on Russian goods, including grain, by 50%. In turn, Russia practically closed its ports to German ships, significantly raising port dues. In 1893, the Russian fleet visited French Toulon, and after that a defensive alliance between Russia and France was concluded. Since Germany was Russia's most important trading partner, this tariff war hurt the economies of both countries, and therefore, already in 1894, it ended with a mutual agreement on granting each other the most favored nation treatment. But the military alliance with France remained in force.

In 1892, the Prussian Minister of Education made a proposal to reform the school by increasing the influence of the church, which reflected the opinion of the Kaiser, who hoped in this way to use traditional values in the fight against newfangled trends such as socialism. The project was supported by the Catholic parties, usually in opposition to the imperial authorities. Liberals came out against it, launching a struggle against the strengthening of church circles under the flag of defending academic freedom. As a result, the project was rejected by the majority of deputies. This led to the resignation of Caprivi. The new chancellor was a conservative, Count Boto zu Eulenburg (German. Botho Wendt August Graf zu Eulenburg), cousin of Count Philipp of Eulenburg, a childhood friend of Wilhelm. The procedure that existed under Bismarck for combining the posts of Chancellor of the German Empire and Minister-President of Prussia was violated, which led to fatal consequences.

Two years later, Eulenburg introduced the Anti-Revolutionary Bill to the Bundesrat, which obviously could not pass in the lower house (Reichstag). The Kaiser, who feared a palace coup, dismissed the Chancellor. This Bill caused a fierce debate in the newly built Reichstag building between opponents and supporters of parliamentary democracy. At the same time, this meant that Wilhelm no longer portrayed himself as a "social Kaiser" and stood on the side of the representatives of industrial capital, who disposed of his enterprises in the same way as a junker disposed of on his estate. Otny participants of the strikes were subject to imprisonment, any movement towards socialism was suppressed. Anti-socialist and anti-Semitic forces entrenched in the government.

However, there was no unity among the right. The Minister of Finance of Prussia, Johann Mikel, created a coalition of right-wing agrarians and industrialists under the slogan of "concentration policy" (German: Sammlungspolitik), but its members often had different goals. So industrial circles supported the construction of canals, which Wilhelm himself was a supporter of, but this was opposed by the agrarians, who feared that cheap grain would flow through these channels. These disagreements served as an argument in favor of the fact that Germany needed socialists, if only to ensure the passage of laws in the Reichstag.

Significant divergences from the traditions of Bismarck became apparent in the field of foreign policy, which accompanied the formation of German imperialism. In the middle of the century, Germany, together with England, Ireland and Scandinavia, was among the countries that gave the largest number of emigrants to America, especially the United States and Canada. It is no coincidence that one of the provinces of Canada received the name "New Brunswick". Bernhard von Bülow, who became foreign minister in 1897, declared in parliament:

The time when the Germans left Germany, leaving for neighboring countries, and left only the sky over their heads as their property, is over ... We are not going to keep anyone in the shade, but we ourselves demand a place in the sun.

Having become chancellor in 1900, he managed to achieve in parliament an increase in funding for programs for the construction of the navy. Even earlier, in 1895, construction was completed

12. Germany in the late XIX - early XX centuries. imperialist stage of development.

12.5. Germany before the First World War (1900-1914).

In 1900, another economic crisis began, which led to an acceleration of concentration in industry and banking. By this time, the capitalist monopolies in Germany began to completely determine the development of the economy and politics. Imperialism has become the dominant system. In the competitive struggle, the German industry by the 10s of the twentieth century had already outstripped the English. Let's take just one example. In 1892, 5 million tons of pig iron were smelted in Germany, and almost 7 million tons in England, and in 1912 this ratio was 17.6 million tons against 9 million tons.

In 1900 Bülow was appointed Chancellor, succeeding Hohenlohe. In June of the same year, the Reichstag adopted a naval program that called for doubling the size of the German navy and making it the most powerful navy in the world after the English. This task was set by Emperor Wilhelm II.

The first foreign policy action of the Bülow government was to send troops to China to suppress the uprising of the so-called Yihetuan. So the members of the secret society Yihetuan were called, which in Chinese means "Fist in the name of peace and justice." The Yihetuan rose up against "foreign barbarians" and at the same time against reforms, or rather, attempts at reforms in the country that destroy ancient Chinese traditions. We are talking about attempts to carry out reforms in order to establish a parliamentary monarchy in China. When the rebels, along with government troops entered Beijing, they began to smash the embassies of European states. Some diplomats, among them the German envoy, were killed. The Yihetuan entered the capital with the permission of the then ruler of China, Empress Cixi, who wanted to use them in the fight against the Western powers. Upon the arrival of the rebels in Beijing, Empress Cixi declared war on the European powers. In response, eight states: Germany, Japan, England, USA, Russia, France, Italy and Austria-Hungary sent their troops to suppress the uprising. The fighting that began was marked by brutal cruelty on both sides. The Yihetuan uprising was crushed and on August 14, 1900, foreign troops occupied Beijing. In 1901, an unequal treaty was concluded with China, according to which the country had to pay huge indemnities to foreign powers. China was also forced to agree to the stay of foreign troops on its territory for an indefinite period. China has become a semi-colony of Western powers.

In 1904-1907 the German armed forces were again tested in action. This time in South-West Africa, over which she established a protectorate in the late 80s of the 19th century. Here, in January 1904, an uprising began for the freedom and independence of local tribes. Herero and Hottengots. Herero rose to fight almost without exception. Their detachments with a total number of about 7 thousand soldiers were armed with 2-3 thousand obsolete guns, the rest were spears and bows. But in the first months of the uprising, the Herero defeated several German detachments, using the surprise of the attack. Only after the arrival of reinforcements from Germany, machine guns and cannons, the Herero were defeated and fled to the north and east. On the way of their escape lay waterless deserts. Herero losses in battles with German punishers were significant, but the losses of these people from thirst many times exceeded combat losses. The number of the Herero people decreased from 70-80 thousand to 15-16 thousand people. When someone tried to tell Kaiser Wilhelm II that the actions of the armed forces in Africa were contrary to Christian morality, he arrogantly declared that Christian commandments did not apply to pagans and savages.

Before the German troops had time to deal with the remnants of the Herero rebels in the north of the country, in the south in October 1904 almost all the Hottengott tribes rose to fight. They fought bravely and skillfully. Even the German officers paid tribute to the skillful disguise of the Hottengots and the sudden actions of their small groups. Turning to partisan actions, the Hottengots resisted for almost two more years. It wasn't until 1907 that the uprising was crushed, and the natives were herded onto reservations. The entire territory of South West Africa became a German colony.

The suppression of the uprising of the Herero and Hottengot tribes took place already in the conditions of the economic crisis of 1907. The crisis accelerated the further growth of monopolies. By this time, all the material resources of Germany were concentrated in the hands of 300 magnates of capital. The creation of monopoly unions dividing the internal and external markets has also accelerated.

Despite the rise of the labor movement, which put forward both economic and political demands, Chancellor Bülow managed to create a Junker-bourgeois bloc in the Reichstag elections of 1907 under the slogans of an active colonial policy. This bloc, which voted for the allocation of funds for the suppression of uprisings in South-West Africa, was then called the "Hottengot bloc".

Germany's course to prepare for war provoked responses from neighboring states. Recall that after the signing in May 1882 of the union treaty between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, known as Triple Alliance, as a response, Russia and France in 1893 entered into a military alliance.

In April 1904, an agreement was concluded between the governments of England and France on the division of spheres of influence in Africa. So the so-called "cordial agreement" was reached - Entente(from the French word "consent"), which opened up the possibility of a joint struggle against Germany.

In the prewar years, the diplomatic activity of European states noticeably intensified. In 1907, England and Russia agree to resolve disputes in Iran, Afghanistan and Tibet. The Anglo-Russian Treaty of 1907, like the Anglo-French Treaty of 1904, laid the foundation Triple Entente or Triple Entente opposing the German-Austrian alliance. This meant that two military-political blocs hostile to each other appeared in Europe.

A few words about the policy of England. In tragically ended for Russia Russo-Japanese War In 1904-1905, Russia actually had two opponents: Japan and England. No, England did not send her ships and her soldiers against the Russian troops, but she gave money to Japan for waging this war. British subsidies accounted for about half of Japan's military spending. England succeeded in weakening Russia, but she did not lessen the danger to herself from Germany. Rather the opposite. Who, besides Russia, could be a reliable partner of England in the struggle against the German policy of dividing the world? And England was forced to conclude in 1907 with Russia an agreement on the division of spheres of influence in Asia. The contradictions between the two powers were eliminated, and the conditions for the unification of France, Russia and Great Britain into a common allied bloc - the Entente were created.

The rapprochement between Italy and France and the Anglo-French treaty of 1904, which marked the beginning of the Entente, led to the political isolation of Germany. Therefore, Germany immediately began to make attempts to undermine the Russian-French alliance and prevent the creation of an Entente bloc. In the autumn of 1904, negotiations between the German government and the Russian government were devoted to this goal, with an unsuccessful attempt to conclude a Russian-German alliance. Germany also tried to pursue a policy of dragging out the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, in which it also played a certain role.

In March 1905, Kaiser Wilhelm II arrived in Tangier to oppose French policy in Morocco and thereby try to upset the Anglo-French Entente. But nothing came of this attempt. Realizing that in this difficult international situation, Germany was not yet fully prepared for war, Wilhelm considered it good to make concessions to France and recognized France's "special interests" in Morocco.

In 1906, at the Algeciras Conference, German diplomacy made another attempt to break off relations between Russia and France, as well as to eliminate the Anglo-French agreement of 1904, but did not achieve success. And the Tripartite Alliance began to disintegrate after the conclusion of the Italo-French treaties of 1900 and 1902. Despite this, Germany continued to actively prepare for war in order to expand the "living space" of the German nation.

Chancellor von Bülow resigned in the summer of 1909. About a year before his resignation, at one of the meetings in the Reichstag, he said: “The times have passed when other peoples divided land and water among themselves, and we Germans were content with only blue sky... We also demand a place under the sun for ourselves.

The new chancellor, Bethmann-Hollweg, began to pursue basically the same domestic and foreign policy as his predecessor.

Russian Revolution 1905-1907 had a definite influence on the labor movement in Germany and on the policy of the German government. As soon as the Russian revolution began, the German government stopped the policy of dragging out the Russo-Japanese war and took the necessary measures to prepare for a counter-revolutionary intervention in Russia in order to protect the tsarist monarchy. Unfortunately, things did not come to the practical steps of the Germans, because the Russian revolution soon began to decline and in the end was defeated. And we used the interjection "unfortunately" here because after the shameful defeat in the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905. the autocracy showed its complete failure and became completely hated by the people. Not glorious Russian sailors in the Tsushima battle and not heroic Russian soldiers on the fields of Manchuria and in Port Arthur were defeated. Russian tsarism was defeated.

Under the influence of the Russian revolution of 1905-1907. workers demonstrated in Germany in solidarity with the Russian working class. Strikes were organized at enterprises, in particular, in the mines of the Ruhr basin.

During these years, the future leader of the October 1917 revolution in Russia and the future leader and teacher of the world proletariat Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin) lived and worked in Germany and neighboring Switzerland. He was deeply annoyed by the fact that the German workers, led by Social Democratic leaders, did not want to follow the Russian revolution in an armed uprising in Germany, but preferred to seek a solution to their social problems by peaceful means, adhering to simple worldly wisdom - they do not seek good from good . The Congress of the German Social Democrats in Jena in the autumn of 1905 adopted a resolution in which the mass political strike was recognized as a method of revolutionary struggle. But the congress ignored the question of an armed uprising. Yes, and the resolution on political strikes was actually annulled by the decision of the Mannheim Congress of 1906. Party Social Democratic leaders and trade union leaders in Germany resolutely renounced revolutionary methods of struggle. Even without a revolution, the German workers, albeit slowly, but achieved concrete results in the struggle for their rights. For example, in 1906 universal suffrage was introduced in Bavaria and Württemberg.

But Lenin was extremely distressed by the state of affairs. Indeed, where does this fit: opportunists and revisionists of all stripes spoil the whole picture of the revolutionary struggle for socialism, betray the vital interests of the working class, postpone the world revolution for an indefinite time. Lenin cannot agree with this and therefore exposes the criminal activities of the Social Democracy in his famous work What Is to Be Done?

At the same time, militaristic and chauvinistic propaganda, the general orientation of Germany's policy towards war did their job. At the Essen Congress of the Social Democratic Party in 1907, a decision was made to "defend the fatherland" in the impending imperialist war. Public opinion in Germany was preparing for the perception of war as a necessity.

In 1908, the Reichstag adopted a law on the allocation of additional budgetary funds for the construction of a new type of warships - dreadnoughts. Large armored ships of this type were already being built in England, and Germany, of course, did not want to lag behind in this type of weaponry. It is clear that the main burden of these military orders fell on the shoulders of the working people.

From the beginning of 1910 the working-class movement in Germany acquired a wide scope. The new chancellor, Bethmann-Hollweg, began his work precisely with the suppression of workers' uprisings. On March 6, 1910, government troops and mounted police were involved in dispersing a workers' demonstration in Berlin. Then this day was called “German Bloody Sunday” for a long time.

Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg made an attempt in 1911 to tear Russia away from the Entente, but his diplomatic maneuvers did not produce results. German and French interests clashed in Africa in connection with the seizure of Morocco by France. After lengthy negotiations, in November 1911, Germany recognized the protectorate of France over Morocco, but received part of the French Congo as compensation. The social democratic leaders of Germany put forward a rather original slogan: "for the equality of all states in the colonies", which actually justified the aggressive policy of the German Empire. Against such a policy last years neither the Social Democrats nor the trade unions spoke before the war in Germany. The Social Democratic leaders, having almost half of the seats in the Reichstag, did not even use the parliamentary platform to criticize the aggressive policy of the government, but on the other hand, regularly, starting from 1910, they unanimously and disciplinedly voted for the ever-increasing spending on the army and navy.

Growing military spending worsened the material situation of the working masses, caused them dissatisfaction with government policy, which increased the general internal instability in the country. Under these conditions, the ruling circles of Germany considered it desirable to hasten the start of the war. As if in response to these innermost desires of the German imperialists, events took place in the Balkans in the summer of 1914 that hastened the start of the world war.

History of Russia from ancient times to the end of the 20th century Nikolaev Igor Mikhailovich

The international position of Russia before the First World War

In 1905–1914 there was a further aggravation of contradictions between the leading world powers. The German threat to the colonial possessions of England and France contributed to the strengthening of the Franco-Russian alliance and forced England to seek rapprochement with Russia. In the ruling circles of Russia, two groups have formed on foreign policy issues - pro-German and pro-British. Nicholas II showed indecision. Ultimately, he supported the line of rapprochement with England, which was largely facilitated by the influence of France - Russia's ally and main creditor, as well as Germany's claims to Polish and Baltic lands. In February 1907, three conventions between Russia and England were signed in St. Petersburg, delimiting spheres of influence in the East. These agreements, in fact, completed the formation of the military-political bloc of the countries of the Triple Entente (Entente) - France, England, Russia. At the same time, Russia did not want an aggravation of relations with Germany. In July 1907, a meeting took place between Nikolai and Wilhelm, at which it was decided to maintain the status quo in the Baltic Sea. In 1910, at the next meeting, a verbal agreement was reached that Russia would not support the anti-German actions of England, and Germany would not support the anti-Russian steps of Austria-Hungary. In 1911, a Russian-German agreement was signed on the delimitation of spheres of influence in Turkey and Iran. The Balkan Wars (1912-1913) exacerbated the contradictions between the Triple Alliance and the Entente, which fought for allies in the Balkan Peninsula. The Entente supported Serbia, Greece, Montenegro and Romania, the Austro-German bloc - Turkey and Bulgaria. Relations between Serbia and Austria-Hungary became especially aggravated. The first was supported by Russia, the second by Germany.

The last pre-war years were marked by an unprecedented arms race. Germany completed its military program by 1914. After another coup in Turkey, pro-German forces came to power, which led to the strengthening of German positions in this region. Germany began to actually control the Black Sea straits. In mid-June 1914, Emperor Wilhelm advised Franz Joseph to take advantage of any opportunity and attack Serbia. The Austro-German bloc counted on Russia's unpreparedness for war and on England's neutrality. The reason for the unleashing of a world war was the murder of the heir to the Austrian throne by Serbian nationalists.

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World War I. The armed forces of the parties before the start of the war

Land armies

To characterize the military power of the belligerents, it would be necessary to evaluate the totality of the means that each state that took an active part in the war had at the time of its outbreak in August 1914. Such a task in its entirety is hardly feasible in the limited size of this work.

The data given below give only some initial data on the size of the ground armed forces of both alliances at the beginning of the war, based on the latest statistical information. In reality, the military power of any country is made up of a number of factors, among which the bare number of manpower alone does not give a complete picture of the power of the state. And by the beginning of the world war, not a single state foresaw the size of the coming struggle, especially its duration. As a result, the belligerents, having only peacetime ammunition, encountered during the war itself a whole series of surprises, which had to be overcome hastily in the course of the struggle.

Russian army

Ten years before the start of the World War, of the great powers, only Russia had a combat (and unsuccessful) experience of war - with Japan. This circumstance was supposed to have, and in fact had, an impact on the further development and life of the Russian armed forces.

Russia managed to heal its wounds and take a big step forward in terms of strengthening its military power. The mobilized Russian army in 1914 reached a grandiose figure of 1816 battalions, 1110 squadrons and 7088 guns, 85% of which, according to the prevailing situation, could be moved to the Western theater of operations. The expansion of re-recruitment of replacements for training, as well as a number of verification mobilizations, improved the quality of the replacements and made all mobilization calculations more reliable.

In the Russian army, under the influence of the Japanese war, training was improved, battle formations expanded, their elasticity began to be put into practice, attention was paid to the importance of fire, the role of machine guns, the connection between artillery and infantry, individual training of an individual fighter, to the training of junior commanders and especially officers and to educate the troops in the spirit of active decisive action. But, on the other hand, the significance put forward by the Japanese war in the field battle of heavy artillery was left without attention, which, however, should be attributed to the errors of all other armies, except for the German one. Neither the enormous expenditure of ammunition nor the importance of technology in a future war were sufficiently taken into account.

Reversing great attention for the training of troops and for the improvement of junior officers, the Russian General Staff completely ignored the selection and training of senior officers: the appointment of people who spent their whole lives after graduating from the academy in an administrative chair, immediately to the post of division chief and corps commander was not uncommon. The General Staff was cut off from the troops, limiting in most cases its acquaintance with them to a brief qualified command. The implementation of the idea of maneuver in the troops was limited only by regulations and small military formations, but in practice, large military commanders and large military formations did not practice its application. As a result, the Russian impulse forward was groundless and clumsy, divisions and corps walked slowly in the theater of operations, did not know how to perform maneuvers in large masses, and at a time when the German corps easily passed 30 km in such an environment for many days in a row, the Russians hardly made 20 km. Defense issues were neglected. Encounter combat began to be studied by the entire army only with its appearance in the field manual of 1912.

A monotonous understanding of military phenomena and a uniform approach to them was not achieved either in the Russian army or in its General Staff. The latter, starting from 1905, received an autonomous position. He did very little to put into practice a unified view of modern military art in the army. Having managed to destroy the old foundations, he could not give anything solid, and his youngest and most energetic representatives split, following the German and French military thought. With such discord in the understanding of military art, the Russian General Staff entered into world war. In addition, the Russian army began the war without a sufficiently well-trained officer and non-commissioned officer staff, with a small reserve of personnel for new formations and for training conscripts, with a sharp, compared to the enemy, lack of artillery in general and heavy artillery in particular, very poorly equipped with all with technical means and ammunition and with a poorly trained senior command staff, having in its rear a country and its military administration unprepared for waging a big war and completely unprepared for the transition to work for military needs.

In general, the Russian army went to war with good regiments, with mediocre divisions and corps, and with bad armies and fronts, understanding this assessment in the broad sense of training, but not of personal qualities.

Russia was aware of the shortcomings of its armed forces and from 1913 began to carry out a large military program, which by 1917 was to greatly strengthen the Russian army and largely make up for its shortcomings.

In terms of the number of aircraft, Russia, with 216 aircraft, was in 2nd place, following Germany.

French army

For more than forty years the French army had been under the impression of being defeated by the Prussian army and was preparing for an undoubted future clash with its enemy neighbor for life and death. The idea of revenge and defense of its being a great power at first, the struggle with Germany for the world market subsequently forced France to treat the development of its armed forces with special care, placing them, if possible, on an equal footing with its eastern neighbor. For France, this was especially difficult, in view of the difference in the size of her population compared to Germany and the nature of the government of the country, due to which the concerns about her military power increased and decreased.

The political tension of the last years before the war forced the French to show increased concern for their army. The military budget has increased greatly.

France was especially concerned about the growing difficulties in developing its forces: in order to keep up with Germany, it was necessary to increase the annual call-up of recruits, but this measure was not feasible due to the weak population growth. Shortly before the war, France decided to switch from 2-year to 3-year active service, which increased the size of the standing army by 1/3 and facilitated its transition to a mobilized state. On August 7, 1913, a law was introduced on the transition to 3-year service. This measure made it possible in the autumn of 1913 to call two ages under the banner at once, which gave a contingent of recruits of 445,000 people. In 1914, the standing army, excluding colonial troops, reached 736,000. Special attention was also paid to the increase in native troops in the French colonies, which had rendered such a significant benefit to their mother country. The strong staffs of the French regiments contributed to the speed and strength of the new formations, as well as the speed and ease of mobilization, especially the cavalry and border troops. The French army of 1914 cannot be called widely provided with all the means of technology of that time. First of all, draws attention in comparison with Germany and Austria-Hungary complete absence heavy field artillery, and compared to Russia and the absence of light field howitzers; light field artillery was very poorly supplied with communications equipment, the cavalry did not have machine guns, etc.

As for aviation, by the beginning of the war, France had only 162 aircraft.

The French corps, like the Russians, were, in comparison with the Germans, more poorly supplied with artillery; only recently, before the war, attention was drawn to the importance of heavy artillery, but by the beginning of the war nothing had yet been done. With regard to the calculation of the necessary availability of ammunition, France was as far from the actual requirement as other countries.

The command staff was at the height of the requirements of modern warfare, and great attention was paid to their training. There was no special staff of the General Staff in the French army; persons with higher military education alternated their service between the ranks and headquarters. Special attention was paid to the training of high command officials. Troop training was at a high level of that time. The French soldiers were individually developed, skillful and well prepared for field and trench warfare. The army was thoroughly preparing for mobile warfare; special attention was paid to the practice of marching movements of large masses.

French military thought worked independently and resulted in a definite doctrine, opposite to the views of the Germans. The French developed the 19th century method of conducting operations and battles from the depths and, at the right moment, maneuvered large forces and reserves at the ready. They did not strive to create a continuous front, but to enable the entire mass to maneuver, leaving sufficient strategic gaps between the armies. They carried out the idea of the need to initially clarify the situation and then lead the main mass for a decisive counterattack, and therefore, during the period of strategic preparation for operations, they located very deep ledges. Meeting combat in the French army was not only not cultivated, but it was not even in the field regulations.

The French guaranteed their method of ensuring the maneuvering of mass armies from the depths with a powerful network of rail tracks and an understanding of the need for widespread use of vehicles in the theater of war, on the path of development of which they were the first of all European powers and in which they achieved great results.

In general, the Germans quite rightly considered the French army their most dangerous enemy. Its main drawback was the indecisiveness of the initial actions up to and including the Marne victory.

English army

The nature of the English army differed sharply from the armies of other European powers. The English army, intended mainly for service in the colonies, was completed by the recruitment of hunters with a long active service. Parts of this army, located in the metropolis, constituted a field expeditionary army (6 infantry divisions, 1 cavalry division and 1 cavalry brigade), which was intended for the European war.

In addition, a territorial army was created (14 infantry divisions and 14 cavalry brigades), intended to protect their country. According to the German General Staff, the British field army was quoted as a worthy adversary with good combat practice in the colonies, with a trained command staff, but not adapted to waging a major European war, since the high command did not have the necessary experience for this. In addition, the British command failed to get rid of the bureaucracy that reigned in the headquarters of the higher formations, and this caused a lot of unnecessary friction and complications.

Unfamiliarity with other branches of the army in the army was amazing. But long periods of service, the fortress of tradition was created by tightly soldered parts.

The training of the individual soldier and units up to the battalion was good. The individual development of an individual soldier, the implementation of campaigns and shooting training were at a high level. Armament and equipment were quite up to par, which made it possible to highly cultivate the art of shooting, and indeed, according to the testimony of the Germans, the machine-gun and rifle fire of the British at the beginning of the war was unusually well-aimed.

The shortcomings of the English army were sharply revealed in the very first clash with the German army. The British failed and suffered such losses that in the future their actions were distinguished by excessive caution and even indecision.

Serbian and Belgian armies

The armies of these two states, like all their people, experienced during the war the most difficult fate of the first blow of neighboring colossi and the loss of their territory. Both of them were distinguished by high fighting qualities, but otherwise there is a noticeable difference between them.

Belgium, provided with "eternal neutrality", did not prepare its army for a big war, and therefore it did not have characteristic, well-established features. The long absence of combat practice left a certain imprint on her, and in the first combat clashes she showed a natural inexperience in waging a big war.

The Serbian army, on the contrary, had a great and successful combat experience of the Balkan war of 1912-1913. and represented, as a solid military organism, an impressive force, quite capable, as it was in reality, of diverting the enemy troops outnumbered.

german army

The German army, after the success of its weapons in 1866 and especially in 1870, enjoyed the reputation of the best army in Europe.

The German army served as a model for a number of other armies, most of which were under its influence and even exactly copied its structure, German regulations, and followed German military thought.

With regard to organizational issues, the German military department, through the consistent development of personnel in quantitative and quality relations and by maintaining reserves in the sense of training and education has reached the possibility of developing its armed forces to the maximum use of the male population. At the same time, he managed to maintain the almost complete uniformity of the combat qualities of the newly formed units with personnel. Exploring the experiences of each war, the German General Staff cultivated this experience in its army. Germany turned out to be more ready for war than her enemies. The stronghold of the German army was a close-knit, monotonous and well-trained officer and non-commissioned officer staff. It was so numerous that during the war it could partly serve the allied armies.

In the training of the army, not only in theory, but also in practice, the principle of activity, audacity and mutual assistance and assistance was widely carried out. It cannot be said that the center of gravity in the training of troops was an individual fighter: discipline, turning into drill, attacking in thick chains were characteristic of the German army in 1914. Involvement and tight formations, together with German punctuality, made it the most capable of maneuvering and marching in large masses. The main type of battle was considered to be the oncoming battle, in the principles of which the German army was mainly trained.

At the same time, more than other armies, it paid attention to tactical defense.

German military thought crystallized into a very definite and clear doctrine, which ran like a main thread through the entire command staff of the army.

The last teacher of the German army before the world war, who managed to carry out his teaching with energy into the thickness of the army, was the chief of the German General Staff, Schlieffen, a great admirer of flank operations with double envelopment (Cannes). Schlieffen's idea was that modern battles should be reduced to a fight for the flanks, in which the winner would be the one who would have the last reserves not behind the middle of the front, but on its extreme flank. Schlieffen proceeded from the conclusion that in the coming battles the natural desire to secure oneself, in connection with the desire to use the full power of modern weapons, would lead to an enormous lengthening of the fronts of the battle, which would have a completely different extent than before. In order to achieve a decisive result and defeat the enemy, it is necessary to conduct an offensive from two or three sides, that is, from the front and from the flanks. At the same time, the means necessary for a strong flank attack can be obtained by weakening, as far as possible, the front, which in any case should also participate in the offensive. All troops that were previously held up for use at a decisive moment must now be moved from their place to battle; the deployment of forces for battle should begin from the moment the troops are unloaded from the railways.

The German Great General Staff, promoted by the concerns of Field Marshal Moltke the Elder to a dominant position in the construction of the armed forces of the empire and in preparation for war, has preserved the traditions of its founder. The connection of the officers of the General Staff with the formation, the detailed study of all elements of the war, the practical conclusions from this study, the monotonous approach to understanding them and the well-established technique of staff service were his positive side.

In technical terms, the German army was well-supplied and differed in a favorable direction in relation to its enemies by the comparative wealth of field, not only light, but also heavy artillery, the significance of which she understood better than others.

Austro-Hungarian army

The Austro-Hungarian army occupied one of the last places among the original participants in the war. The actual composition of the military units was very weakened (60, later 92 people in the company); to bring the field troops to full combat strength, there was not enough stock of trained people; Landwehr until 1912 did not have any artillery. Although the principles laid down in the basis of the charters fully corresponded to the times, the teaching was lame, and the senior military commanders had no experience in command and control of the troops.

A distinctive feature of the Austro-Hungarian army was its multinational character, since it consisted of Germans, Magyars, Czechs, Poles, Rusyns, Serbs, Croats, Slovaks, Romanians, Italians and Gypsies, united only by officers. According to the German General Staff, the Austro-Hungarian army, being simultaneously busy fighting on two fronts, could not free the German forces gathered on the Russian border, and its numerical strength, degree of training, organization and partly weapons left much to be desired. In terms of speed of mobilization and concentration, the Austro-Hungarian army was superior to the Russian one, against which it had to act.

Comparison of both sides

Comparing the armed forces of the first-class powers that clashed in 1914, one can come to the following conclusion.

1. In terms of the size of the army and manpower, the Entente, thanks to Russia, was in a more advantageous position than the Central Powers. However, the slowness of the mobilization and concentration of the Russian army, as well as the lack of railways in Russia, which makes it difficult to transfer troops from one theater to another, greatly diminished, and in the early days of the war completely destroyed this advantage.

2. The development of the armed forces during the war to the limit corresponding to the size of the population was quite achievable in Germany and France, less achievable in Austria and turned out to be beyond the power of Russia, constrained by personnel, reserves, the presence of a large territory and the weakness of the rail network. This condition was especially unfavorable for the Entente, since Russia represented a large share in it.

3. The training of all armies was carried out in one direction, but for the better it distinguished the French and especially the German armies; the Russian army, which made great improvements in this respect after the Japanese war, did not manage to reach the limit of desirable perfection by 1914. The Austro-Hungarian army was inferior in this respect to the Russian.

4. The highest command staff in their total mass stood at the proper height only in the German and French armies.

5. Military thought in a crystallized form resulted in French and German military doctrines.

6. The speed of mobilization and deployment was on the side of the Central Powers.

7. With regard to the supply of artillery, especially heavy artillery, the German and partly the Austro-Hungarian armies stood out in a favorable direction.

8. In the matter of supplying equipment, the Russian army lagged far behind all the rest; followed by the Austro-Hungarian.

9. Both sides began the war on the offensive, and the idea of bold action became the guiding principle for both sides. But in the sense of preparing for the implementation of this idea, its passage through the entire thickness of the army was achieved by constant and methodical work only in the German army, which distinguished it in a positive direction compared to the Entente.

10. The German army went to war, intoxicated by the successes of the Austro-Prussian wars of 1866 and the Franco-Prussian wars of 1870-1871.

11. Both sides were preparing for the inevitable war in order to come out fully armed. If France and Germany achieved this, then the big military program, which was supposed to strengthen the power of the Russian army, ended in 1917, and in this respect the outbreak of war in 1914 was extremely beneficial for the Central Powers. With such an approximate equality of the armed forces of the warring parties and, if it was necessary to wage war until the complete annihilation of the enemy, it was difficult to count on a quick end to the war, unless an exceptional case of lightning crushing of one of the main components of the coalition intervened. Based on such a case, the Germans, as we will see below, built their plan, but their card was beaten.

The degree of preparation of the parties for the conduct of modern war

But if all states prepared their armed forces with particular effort for the inevitable war, the same cannot be said about preparing them for the proper nourishment of modern war. This is due to the general disregard for the nature of the coming war in the sense of: 1) its duration, since everyone proceeded from the calculation of its brevity, believing that modern states cannot withstand a long war; 2) the tremendous expenditure of ammunition and 3) the enormous consumption of technical means and the need to procure various pieces of equipment, especially weapons and ammunition, on an unexpectedly large scale during the course of the war itself. All states, not excluding Germany, faced a sad surprise in this regard and during the war itself were forced to correct the shortcomings of peaceful preparation. France and England, with their extensive development of heavy industry and comparatively free transportation thanks to their dominance of the sea, easily coped with this matter. Germany, surrounded by enemies on all sides and deprived of sea communications, suffered from a lack of raw materials, but coped with this matter with the help of her firm organization and maintaining communication with Asia Minor through the Balkan Peninsula. But Russia, with a poorly developed industry, with a bad administration, cut off from its allies, with a huge expanse of its territory with a poorly developed network of railroad tracks, began to cope with this shortcoming only towards the end of the war.

It remains to note one more feature that sharply distinguished Russia from other belligerent powers - this is poverty in the railroad tracks. If France was militarily fully provided with a richly developed network of railways, supplemented on a large scale by motor transport, if Germany, just as rich in railroads, built special lines in the last years before the war in accordance with the war plan established by her, then Russia was provided with railways. roads in a size completely inconsistent with the conduct of a major war.

Naval Forces of the Warring Powers

The decade preceding the World War can be marked in the development of naval forces by three facts: the growth of the German military fleet, the restoration of the Russian fleet after its catastrophic defeat during the Japanese war, and the development of the submarine fleet.

Naval preparations for war in Germany were carried out in the direction of building a fleet of large warships (7.5 billion marks in gold were spent on this in a few years), which caused strong political excitement, especially in England.

Russia developed its fleet exclusively with active defensive tasks in the Baltic and Black Seas.

The greatest attention was paid to the submarine fleet in England and France; Germany transferred the center of gravity of the naval struggle to it already during the conduct of the war itself.

The distribution of the naval forces of both sides before the start of the war

In the overall balance of the naval forces of the belligerent states, the British and German fleets dominated in terms of their power, a combat meeting of which was expected with special alarm throughout the world from the first day of the war. Their clash could immediately have very serious consequences for one of the parties. On the eve of the declaration of war, there was a moment when, according to some assumptions, such a meeting was included in the calculations of the British Admiralty. Starting from 1905, the British naval forces, until then scattered along the most important sea routes, began to be drawn to the coast of England as part of three "home" fleets, that is, intended for the defense of the British Isles. During mobilization, these three fleets were combined into one "Big" fleet, which in July 1914 totaled 8 squadrons of battleships and 11 cruiser squadrons - in total, together with small vessels, 460 pennants. On July 15, 1914, an experimental mobilization was announced for this fleet, which ended with maneuvers and a royal review on July 20 at the Spitgad roadstead. In connection with the Austrian ultimatum, the demobilization of the fleet was suspended, and then on July 28 the fleet received orders to move from Portland to Scapa Flow (Strait) near Orkney off the northern coast of Scotland.

At the same time, the German High Seas Fleet was cruising in Norwegian waters, from where it was returned on July 27-28 to the coast of Germany. The English fleet went from Portland to the north of Scotland not along the usual route - to the west of the island, but along the east coast of England. Both fleets passed in the North Sea in opposite directions.

By the beginning of the war, the English Grand Fleet was located in two groups: in the far north of Scotland and in the English Channel near Portland.

In the Mediterranean Sea, according to the Anglo-French agreement, Entente naval dominance was entrusted to the French fleet, which, as part of its best units, was concentrated near Toulon. His responsibility was to provide communications with North Africa. Off the island of Malta was an English cruiser squadron.

English cruisers also carried the security service sea routes in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Australia, and, in addition, significant cruising forces were located in the western Pacific Ocean.

In the English Channel, in addition to the second English fleet, a light squadron of French cruisers was concentrated near Cherbourg; it consisted of armored cruisers supported by a flotilla of minecraft and submarines. This squadron guarded the southwestern approaches to the English Channel. IN pacific ocean Indochina had 3 light French cruisers.

The Russian fleet was divided into three parts.

The Baltic Fleet, immensely inferior in strength to the enemy, was forced to take an exclusively defensive course of action, trying at the Revel-Porkallaud line to delay, as far as possible, the advance of the enemy fleet and landing deep into the Gulf of Finland. In order to strengthen themselves and even out the chances of a battle, equipment was planned in this area for a fortified mine position, by the time the war began, far from being completed (or rather, had just begun). On the flanks of this so-called central position, on both sides of the bay, on the islands of Makilota and Nargen, batteries of large-caliber long-range guns were installed, and minefields were placed in several lines throughout the entire position.

The Black Sea Fleet remained in the Sevastopol roadstead and was inactive, unable even to properly lay minefields at the entrance to the Bosphorus. However, one cannot fail to take into account the entire difficulty of the position of the Black Sea Fleet, not only in relation to the insufficiency of combat forces, but also in the sense of the absence of other operational bases, except for Sevastopol. It was very difficult to be based on Sevastopol to observe the Bosphorus, and operations to block the enemy's entry into the Black Sea under these conditions were completely unsecured.

The Far Eastern squadron - from its composition 2 light cruisers ("Askold" and "Pearl") tried to cruise off the southeastern coast of Asia.

The German High Seas Fleet consisted of 3 squadrons of battleships, a cruiser squadron and a fighter flotilla. After cruising off the coast of Norway, this fleet returned to its shores, with 1 linear and cruising squadrons stationed off Wilhelmshafen in the roadstead, under the cover of the batteries of Helgoland Island, and 2 other linear squadrons and a fighter flotilla - off Kiel in the Baltic Sea. By this time, the Kiel Canal had been deepened for the passage of dreadnoughts, and thus the squadrons from Kiel could join the squadrons of the North Sea if necessary. In addition to the aforementioned High Seas Fleet, along the coast of Germany there was a defensive fleet of a large composition, but from already obsolete ships. The German cruisers "Goeben" and "Breslau" skillfully slipped into the Black Sea past the English and French cruisers, which later caused enough trouble to the Russian Black Sea Fleet and the coast. In the Pacific, German ships were part of their base - Qingdao, near Kiao-chao, and Admiral Spee's light squadron of 6 new cruisers was cruising near the Caroline Islands.

The Austro-Hungarian fleet was concentrated on the raids of Paul and Catarro in the Adriatic Sea and was hiding behind the coastal batteries from the cruisers and minecraft of the Entente.

Comparing the naval forces of both coalitions, the following can be noted:

1. The forces of England alone outnumbered the strength of the entire fleet of the Central Powers.

2. Most of the naval forces were concentrated in the European seas.

3. The English and French fleets had every opportunity to act together.

4. The German fleet could get freedom of action only after a successful battle in the North Sea, which it would have to give in the most unfavorable balance of forces, i.e., in fact, the German surface fleet was locked in its territorial waters, having the opportunity to undertake offensive operations only against the Russian Baltic Fleet.

5. The naval forces of the Entente were the actual masters of all water spaces, with the exception of the Baltic and Black Seas, where the Central Powers had a chance of success - in the Baltic Sea in the struggle of the German fleet with the Russian and in the Black - in the struggle of the Turkish fleet with the Russian.