Sheet number 29. THE FIRST WORLD IMPERIALIST WAR
The poster shows a map of military operations in the Eastern European theater in 1914-1915.
The headquarters of the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian troops was at the beginning of the war in the city of Baranovichi, and then in Mogilev.
The supreme commander was appointed grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, and General Yanushkevich was the chief of staff.
For the conduct of military operations, two fronts were created: northwestern and southwestern.
On the northwestern front, commanded by General Zhilinsky, the Russians deployed two armies against Germany: General Rennenkampf's 1st Army (6½ infantry and 5½ cavalry divisions) on the Neman River in the Kovno region; 2nd Army of General Samsonov (11 infantry and 3 cavalry divisions) on the Nareva River - between Grodno and Lomzha. Against the Russian northwestern front, the Germans deployed in East Prussia the 8th Army of General Pritwitz (15 infantry and 1 cavalry division).
On the southwestern front, commanded by General Ivanov, the Russians deployed four armies against Austria-Hungary: General Salz's 4th Army (6 ½ infantry and 3 ½ cavalry divisions) in the Lublin region; 5th Army of General Plehve (8 infantry and 3 cavalry divisions) in the Kholm-Vladimir-Volynsky area; The 3rd Army of General Ruzsky (12 infantry and 3 cavalry divisions) in the Lutsk - Dubno - Kremenets region; General Brusilov's 8th Army (8 infantry and 3 cavalry divisions) in the Proskurov area.
The troops of the southwestern front were opposed by the following Austrian armies: 1st (9 infantry and 2 cavalry divisions) and 4th (9 infantry and 2 cavalry divisions) on the front from Sandomierz to Przemysl; 3rd (6 infantry and 3 cavalry divisions) in the Lvov-Sambir region; the army group of General Keves, which was part of the 2nd Austrian army in the region south-west of Lvov - Tarnopol - Chernivtsi; on the left flank, in the area of \u200b\u200bKrakow, Kummer's group was concentrated (3 infantry and 1 cavalry division).
In Silesia, for communication with the Austro-Hungarian armies, the Germans concentrated the Voyrsha Landwehr Corps (2 divisions).
As the hostilities developed, the enemy's forces increased significantly.
The Russian front played an outstanding role in the First World War. At the most critical moment of the struggle in the Western European theater, when the fate of France was being decided in the August days of 1914, both Russian armies of the northwestern front approached the German border and on August 17-20 began an offensive into East Prussia. It developed successfully. By noon on August 20, the 1st Russian army won a major victory at Gumbinen. Failure befell the Germans and Goldap. In the rear of the retreating 8th German army, Samsonov's army advanced. Fearing the loss of the entire East Prussia, the German command was forced to take 2 ½ army corps from the shock wing of the armies advancing on Paris and transfer them to East Prussia. This weakened the German forces in the West, contributing to the success of the Allies in the general battle on the Marne. Despite a number of major tactical successes, offensive Russian northwestern front ultimately ended in failure. The Allied success on the western front in 1914 was bought in the blood of Russian soldiers.
Simultaneously with the offensive in East Prussia on August 18, 1914, the 8th Army of General Brusilov went on the offensive against Austria-Hungary, and in the following days the rest of the armies of the southwestern front. The Galician operation lasted more than a month and ended in a brilliant victory for the Russian troops. Almost all of Galicia was occupied by Russian troops. In pursuit of the Austro-Hungarian armies, the Russians push them back across the Dunajec River and to the Carpathians. The fortress of Przemysl with a garrison of 120,000 was surrounded by Russian troops and on March 22, 1915, it capitulated. The defeated Austro-Hungarian troops were not capable of further decisive operations. The Germans were forced to save the day. Fearing an invasion of Russian troops into upper Silesia and Poznan, they transfer several corps from the western front to the left bank of the Vistula and, together with the 1st Austro-Hungarian Army, went on the offensive.
From the end of September to November, one of the largest battles for the possession of the Middle Vistula lasted (Ivangorod-Warsaw operation), and although it ended successfully for the Russian armies, the command was unable to use this success.
In mid-November 1914, the Russians intended to launch a decisive offensive along the entire front. However, the Germans warned the Russians with an offensive in the Lodz area. Trying to surround the Russian troops, the Germans themselves were surrounded, from where they got out at the cost of heavy losses.
The fighting in Western Poland continued until the end of 1914 and played an important role. During the most intense period of the fighting in Flanders, the Russian front diverted German forces from the West, thereby making it easier for the Allies to repel a new German onslaught.
Having failed to achieve victory in the West, the German command decided in 1915 to postpone its main blow against Russia. It concentrates the best corps and new formations on the eastern front. In May 1915, the Germans broke through the Russian front near Gorlitsy. Under the pressure of the many times superior German forces, Russian soldiers were forced to retreat. On June 22, the Russians surrendered Lviv.
On the northern wing of the Russian front, Warsaw was surrendered to the Germans in early August, and then Novogeorgievsk. By the fall of 1915, having suffered heavy losses, the Russian armies left Poland, Lithuania, part of Latvia and Volyn.
The Russian soldier paid with his blood for the industrial and military-technical backwardness of tsarist Russia, for the mediocrity of its generals and the lack of assistance from France and England. By the end of 1915, trench warfare began. The front stretched out in an almost straight line from the borders of Romania to the Gulf of Riga.
The inset shows a map of military operations on the Caucasian-Turkish front. On October 29, 1914, the Turkish fleet bombarded the southern Russian cities. Tied by a military alliance with Germany, Turkey entered the war with Russia. In the battle of Sarikamish in December 1914, the Russians won a major victory, they managed to surround and almost completely destroy two Turkish corps. In the future, Russian troops on the Turkish front are slowly moving forward. In difficult winter mountainous conditions Russian troops on February 16, 1916 win a major victory. They took a Turkish fortress and an important road junction - Erzurum. On April 18, as a result of combined operations of land and sea forces, the Russians occupied Trebizond. (S. 56-59).
Sheet number 31. BRUSILOVSKY BREAKTHROUGH 1916
In the summer of 1916, Russian troops under the command of General A.A. Brusilov, whose portrait is given on the poster, won a major victory over the Austro-German troops. Brusilov was an outstanding military leader. During his many years of service in the army as a division and corps commander, assistant commander of the district troops, and during the world war as a commander of the 8th Army, he perfectly studied the Russian soldier, loved him, believed in the heroism and valor of the Russian troops and himself enjoyed exceptional popularity and sympathy in the army. In March 1916, Brusilov was appointed commander-in-chief of the troops of the southwestern front.
On April 1 (14), 1916, a meeting of the Military Council was held in Mogilev, where the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Nicholas II was located. The poster contains a photograph of this meeting. The king presided; participated in the meeting: Chief of Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief General Alekseev, commanders-in-chief of the fronts - Brusilov (southwestern), Evert (western), Kuropatkin (northwestern), chiefs of staff of the fronts, Minister of War Shuvaev, Inspector General of Artillery Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich and Adjutant General Ivanov. The plan of offensive actions of the Russian army in 1916 was discussed in accordance with the all-Union plan. The main blow was supposed to be delivered on the Russian western front (formed after the division of the northwestern front in the fall of 1915 into the northern and western ones) from the Molodechno area to Oshmyany - Vilna, the armies of the northwestern front were to deliver an auxiliary strike. The Southwestern Front, which was deemed incapable of an offensive, was assigned a passive defensive role by the high command. Kuropatkin and Evert stated that they did not believe in the success of the offensive and believed that it would be better to continue to adhere to a defensive course of action. Brusilov had a different opinion. He believed that the southwestern front not only could but should also advance. “We have every chance for success, of which I am personally convinced,” he ardently argued to the hesitant, indecisive generals and the mediocre, stupid Nicholas II. “I think,” Brusilov continued, “that the disadvantage that we have suffered so far is that we do not pounce on the enemy with all fronts ...”. [Cm. map]
The representative of the high command, Alekseev, had no choice but to agree in principle with Brusilov's weighty arguments. But he warned Brusilov that, in addition to the forces at his disposal, the southwestern front would receive neither troops, nor artillery, nor shells. Brusilov replied that he was not asking for anything, he would be content with what he had, but he and the troops of the southwestern front would know that their activities served the general benefit and made the work of their comrades easier, giving them the opportunity to break the enemy. After that, Kuropatkin and Evert had to declare that they could also attack, but they did not guarantee success. As a result of the conference, it was decided to attack the enemy with the armies of all three fronts, delivering the main blow with the western front, the auxiliary - with the southwestern one, and, if the situation is favorable, go over to decisive actions on the northern front.
Not expecting serious active operations on the part of the Russian troops, which suffered a heavy defeat in 1915, the Germans transferred their main efforts against France at the beginning of 1916, and the Austro-Hungarian armies attacked Italy. Italy's position has become critical. The Anglo-French and Italian command demanded immediate assistance from Russia. Russia launched an offensive ahead of schedule with the forces of the southwestern front.
On June 4, 1916, all four armies (11, 7, 9, and 8) of the southwestern front launched an offensive known as the Brusilov Breakthrough. By using a new breakthrough technique, precisely by means of simultaneous blows crushing the front, it was immediately possible to shatter the front of the opposing enemy armies. The map-diagram placed on the poster gives an idea of \u200b\u200bthe direction of the attacks of the armies and the advancement of the troops of the southwestern front in different periods of the offensive. From the very first days, the offensive was successful. The greatest success was achieved by the 8th Army, which captured Lutsk, and the 9th Army, which advanced into Bukovina. As a result of the Brusilov breakthrough, the entire Austro-Hungarian front was disorganized.
However, the mediocre high command was not able to immediately properly assess the significance of the success achieved by the southwestern front, showed extreme indiscriminateness and was unable to ensure interaction and mutual assistance between the fronts. The commander-in-chief of the western front, General Evert, criminally thwarted the offensive. All this made it possible for the enemy to freely transfer troops from the Russian and other fronts and concentrate large forces in the south. In August, Brusilov's troops fought unsuccessfully on the Stokhod River, and in September the front, as we see on the map, stabilized along the Stokhod, Zlochev River, west of Galich and Stanislavov. The troops of the southwestern front occupied the whole of Bukovina, part of southern Galicia and reached the mountain passes of the Carpathians; defeated a significant part of the Austro-German armies, captured 450 thousand soldiers and officers and seized a large amount of military property. The offensive of the troops of the southwestern front, forcing the Austro-Germans to transfer their troops to the East, saved Italy from defeat, eased the position of the French at Verdun and prompted Romania to enter the war on the side of the Entente.
The Brusilov breakthrough created a turning point in the course of the war, the strategic situation changed in favor of the allies, and the preconditions for the decisive defeat of the German coalition were created. And if the German coalition suffered a complete defeat in 1918, and not earlier, then the slow strategy of the Allies was to blame. (S. 62-65).
// Album of visual aids on the history of the USSR. Issue 9: Tsarist Russia during the period of imperialism and the bourgeois-democratic revolutions of 1900-1917: explanatory text / comp. G.M. Derenkovsky. - [M] .: Gospolitizdat, 1948. - 91 p.
3.1. Gas attack
On April 22-25, the second battle of Ypres took place, during which the German 4th Army launched a counterattack on the Ypres salient and occupied most of it.
On the first day of the operation, after a two-day bombing raid, on April 22, the Germans used chemical weapons (chlorine) on a large scale for the first time. As a result of the gas attack, about 6 thousand people were killed within a few minutes.
Two days later, a second gas attack was organized, but its effectiveness was low due to countermeasures taken by the allies (gas masks, etc.).
3.2. Air battles
French aerial photography, 1916
At the beginning of the war, aviation was used for aerial reconnaissance, then aircraft were used for military purposes. On April 1, 1915, the French pilot Roland Garros used a machine gun behind the lead screw for an air attack.
On April 18, Garros was shot down, and his plane was hijacked and handed over to the Dutch engineer Anthony Fokker. He significantly improved the design, being the first to put into practice a synchronizer, which made it possible to fire a machine gun through the propeller disk when its blades were not in the line of fire. The development was used in the Fokker E.I fighter - the first high-speed single-seat fighter with effective weapons.
The First World War gave impetus to the development of aviation: both sides began to develop new engines, aircraft structures and materials. Ace pilots became popular, although most of the aircraft were shot down not by fighters, but by air defense forces.
The production of aircraft grew at a high rate: if at the beginning of the war, England and France had 186 aircraft, Germany and Austria-Hungary - 297, then by the end of the war the parties had, respectively, 5,079 and 3352 aircraft (27 and 11 times more).
3.3. Further hostilities
Ruins of Karensey after the capture by the French
Disguise the position of the machine gun. 1915
Armored car "Peugeot" 18CV, 1916
The last Allied attack in the spring of 1915 was the Battle of Artois to capture the Vimy ridge. The French 10th Army, after a six-day bombardment, launched an offensive on May 9 and advanced 5 km. However, the troops retreated after the use of artillery by the Germans. By May 15, the offensive was terminated.
In September, the Allies launched a major offensive (Third Battle of Artois): French troops in Champagne and British troops in Los. During the summer, the French were preparing for a future offensive. On September 22, the bombing of objects began, the location of which was determined using aerial photography. The main offensive began on September 25 and developed successfully, despite the presence of barbed wire and machine-gun points. However, the Germans, anticipating this attack, strengthened their defenses and were able to repel the attack, which continued until November.
On September 25, British forces launched an offensive against Los to support the action in Champagne. The attack was preceded by a 4-day artillery bombardment and chlorine was used. Two corps were involved in the attack, two more carried out sabotage missions in Ypres. During the attack, the British suffered heavy casualties, especially from machine guns. Having captured a limited area, they retreated. On October 13, the offensive resumed.
In December 1915, General Douglas Haig took over as Commander of the British Expeditionary Force in place of John French.
4. Campaign of 1916: bleeding the troops
According to the plan of the Chief of the General Staff Erich von Falkenhain, Germany was to conduct the main military operations in 1916 with France, forcing her to surrender.
Two strategies were adopted. The first provided for the unlimited use of the submarine fleet to cut off foreign supplies. The aim of the second strategy was to deliver a pinpoint strike against the enemy ground forces instead of a large-scale breakthrough of the front. To inflict maximum losses, it was planned to organize an attack on important strategic positions. The target of the main attack was the Verdun ledge, which was the mainstay of the French front, located near the border with Germany and threatening German communications. The operation was planned with the expectation that the French, out of a sense of patriotism, would defend the city to the last soldier.
4.1. Battle of Verdun
To carry out the operation, Germany concentrated 6.5 divisions against 2 French divisions in a 15-kilometer sector of the front. The operation began on February 21. During the offensive, the French lost almost all of their forts by February 25, but the front did not break through. The Naroch operation of the Russian troops on the Eastern Front eased the position of the French troops; the "sacred road" of Bar-le-Duc - Verdun was organized to supply the troops.
Since March, the German troops moved the main blow to the left bank of the river, but by May they had advanced only 6-7 km. A counterattack by French forces in May was unsuccessful.
The actions of Russian troops in the east and the Allied operation on the Somme River allowed the French troops to launch an offensive in October, and by the end of December the situation was largely restored. Both sides suffered huge losses in the battle of Verdun (about 300 thousand people each), the plan of the German command to break through the French front was not implemented.
4.2. Battle of the Somme
In the spring of 1916, the large losses of French troops began to cause concern among the Allies, in connection with which the original plan of the operation on the Somme was changed: the main role in the operation was to be played by British troops. The operation was supposed to help the French and Russian troops.
On July 1, after a week of artillery barrage, British divisions in Picardy launched an offensive against well-fortified German positions near the Somme River, supported by five French divisions on the right flank. The French troops were successful, but the British artillery was not effective enough. On the first day of the offensive, the British suffered the largest losses in the history of the British army (total losses of 57 thousand people, of which 21.5 thousand died and went missing).
After analyzing the air battles over Verdun, the allies in the battles on the Somme began to adhere to new tactics, the goal of which was complete air superiority over the enemy. The skies over the Somme were cleared of German aircraft, and the Allied success led to the reorganization of German aircraft, and both sides began to use large air force units instead of individual pilot actions.
British infantry advance near Zenshi
The battle continued in July and August with some success for the British, despite the strengthening of the German defensive line. By August, the British command decided to switch from front-line breakthrough tactics to a series of operations conducted by small military units to straighten the front line, which was necessary to prepare for a massive bombardment.
On September 15, the British first used tanks in battle. The Allies were planning an attack involving 13 British divisions and four French corps. With the support of tanks, the infantry advanced only 3-4 km due to the low efficiency and unreliability of the vehicles.
In October-November, the last phase of the operation took place, during which the Allies captured a limited territory at the cost of heavy losses. Due to the rains that began on November 13, the offensive was stopped.
The result of the battle was the advance of the allied forces by 8 km with losses of 615 thousand people, the Germans lost about 650 thousand people (according to other sources, 792 thousand and 538 thousand, respectively - the exact numbers are unknown). The main goal of the operation was never achieved.
Equipment and weapons of the allies during the Battle of the Somme
British military motorcyclists, 1916
British hospital briefing, 1916
Bath car of the French army, 1916
French armored train, 1916
British heavy cannon shell, 1916
4.3. Hindenburg Line
In August 1916, Paul von Hindenburg became the Chief of the General Staff instead of Erich von Falkenhain, Erich Ludendorff became the first Quartermaster General of the General Staff (deputy chief). The new military leadership soon realized that the offensive capabilities of the German army in the battles of Verdun and the Somme had been exhausted. It was decided on the Western Front to go over to strategic defense in 1917.
During the Battle of the Somme and in winter, the Germans set up defensive positions behind the front line from Arras to Soissons, called the "Hindenburg Line". It made it possible to shorten the length of the front, freeing up troops for other operations.
5. Campaign of 1917: the transfer of the offensive initiative to the Allies
1917 Campaign Map
In December 1916, Robert Nivel became the commander-in-chief of the French army instead of Joseph Joffre, who developed a new plan for the offensive of the French troops on the Noyon salient. British Prime Minister Lloyd George supported Nivelle, instructing him to command British forces in a joint operation. Nivelle's plans became known to the German command, which decided to forestall the planned attack, and on February 23, the retreat of German troops to the prepared and well-fortified "Hindenburg line" began, which ended by March 17.
5.1. "Unlimited Submarine Warfare"
Back in 1915, Germany launched an "unlimited submarine war", but after the sinking of the steamers Lusitania and Arabik, there was a danger of the United States entering the war, and the submarine war was waged only against warships. In 1917, according to the plans of the German command, the ground forces were to go on the defensive, and at sea it was decided to start an "unlimited war" again (declared on February 1). Its goal was the economic blockade of Great Britain and, as a result, its withdrawal from the war within six months, while US troops could play a significant role on the Western Front only in a year.
On March 16-18, 1917, German submarines sank three American merchant ships. US President Woodrow Wilson, supported by public opinion, declared war on Germany on April 6.
By mid-1917, the actions of German submarines caused serious economic damage to Great Britain, but the creation of an anti-submarine defense system reduced the losses of the merchant fleet, and "unlimited war" did not bring the desired result.
5.2. Nivelle offensive
By April, the Allies had concentrated significant military resources for an offensive operation: 110 divisions, over 11,000 guns, 200 tanks, and about 1,000 aircraft. The total number of Allied troops on the Western Front was about 3.9 million people against 2.5 million German troops.
Despite the retreat of the Germans behind the "Hindenburg Line" in April, a large-scale Allied offensive began under the Nivelle plan. On April 9, British troops launched an offensive in the Arras region (see: Battle of Arras (1917)), on April 12 - at Saint-Quentin, on April 16 - French troops in the Reims area, the offensive continued until the end of April - early May. After the capture of two lines of defense, the offensive was stopped, the losses of the Allies amounted to over 200 thousand people, of which 120 thousand were in the French troops. The unsuccessful offensive undermined the morale of the French troops, in which mutinies began, which engulfed 54 divisions, 20 thousand people deserted. The soldiers heeded the calls for patriotism and a sense of civic duty and returned to defensive positions, but they refused to go on the attack. In France itself, a wave of public indignation arose, and on May 15, Nivelle was replaced as commander-in-chief by Henri Petain.
In the winter of 1916-1917, Germany's tactics in conducting air battles changed significantly, a training school was opened in Valenciennes, and new aircraft models entered the troops. The result was Germany's superiority over the Allies in aerial combat, especially over the poorly trained British using obsolete aircraft. During the air battle over Arras, the British for the month that went down in history as "Bloody April" (eng. "Bloody April"), lost 245 aircraft and 316 pilots, the Germans - 66 aircraft and 114 pilots.
5.3. Further hostilities
On June 7, British forces began an offensive in the Messina area, south of Ypres, to reclaim territory lost during the first battle of Ypres in 1914. Since 1915, engineers have dug tunnels under enemy positions and laid 455 tons of ammonite in 21 mines. After 4 days of bombing, 19 mines were blown up, the losses of the Germans amounted to 10 thousand people killed. Another offensive of the allies followed, but it was not possible to dislodge the enemy from their positions. Although the initially successful offensive slowed down in difficult terrain, the operation ended on June 14 with an Allied victory.
On July 12, the Germans first used a new chemical weapon in the Ypres region - mustard gas, dubbed mustard gas. Subsequently, mustard gas was widely used by both the German troops and the Allied troops.
On June 25, the first US military units began to arrive in France, forming the American Expeditionary Force. However, their influence on military operations in 1917 - early 1918 was insignificant due to the small number of troops (in March 1918 there were only 85 thousand American soldiers in France, but by September their number had reached 1.2 million).
July 31 - November 6, in the Ypres region, the allies carried out an operation (Third Battle of Ypres), the initial goal of which was to break through the German front to submarine bases on the Belgian coast, but then the goal was to occupy the heights around Ypres in order to gain superiority over German artillery. On October 30, at the cost of 16,000 casualties, the allies captured the village of Paschendale. The offensive was complicated by the difficult terrain. Both sides suffered heavy losses (allies - 448 thousand, Germans - 260 thousand), the battle became another example of senseless casualties with insignificant results achieved.
5.4. Battle of Cambrai
French heavy gun shell, caliber 400 mm
On 20 November, British forces launched the first ever massive attack using tank units. 324 tanks took part in the attack. Fascines were attached to the front of the vehicles to overcome the German trenches and 4-meter anti-tank ditches. The surprise (lack of artillery preparation) and superiority in forces and means led to the rapid development of the attack, the British advanced in 6 hours the same distance that the troops advanced in the operation at Ypres in 4 months, breaking through the German defenses and losing 4 thousand people.
However, as a result of the rapid attack, the infantry lagged behind, and the tanks advanced far ahead, suffering serious losses. On November 30, German 2nd Army launched a surprise counterattack, pushing the Allied forces back to their original lines. Despite repelling the attack, tanks proved their effectiveness in battle, and the battle itself marked the beginning of the widespread use of tanks and the development of anti-tank defense.
Although the allies did not break through the front, the result of the 1917 campaign was the collapse of the plans of the German command to achieve victory through "unlimited submarine war" and its transition to strategic defense. The offensive initiative was taken over by the Allied forces.
6. Campaign of 1918: defeat of Germany
1918 Campaign Map
After the signing of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty with revolutionary Soviet Russia on March 3, 1918 and its withdrawal from the war on the Eastern Front, 44 divisions were released, which were transferred to Western front... Having created an advantage on the Western Front in manpower and equipment (the number of divisions increased from 146 to 192 against 173 allied divisions, the number of German troops increased by 570 thousand people), the German command decided to go on the offensive in order to defeat the Entente army before the United States could to increase its presence in Europe.
According to Ludendorff's plan, the German troops were to launch an offensive in the area of \u200b\u200bthe city of Amiens and cut off the British troops from the French, pushing them back to the North Sea coast.
6.1. German offensive
The first German offensive began on March 21st. The superiority in forces (62 divisions, 6824 guns and about 1000 aircraft against 32 divisions, about 3000 guns and about 500 aircraft from the British) allowed the German troops to advance 60 km in the first 8 days of fighting. In response, the allies brought in reserve troops into battle and by April 4 threw back the German troops, inflicting losses on them 230 thousand people.
On April 14, Ferdinand Foch was appointed Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, which made it possible to better coordinate the actions of the British and French armies.
German troops also conducted offensives in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Lis River (April 9 - May 1), the Aisne River (May 27 - June 13), between Mondidier and Noyon (June 9-13). Each time the initially successful development of the attacks of the German troops ended in failure: having advanced several tens of kilometers, they could not overcome the allied defenses.
On July 15, the last major German offensive began on the Marne River (see: Battle of the Marne (1918)). The troops of the 1st and 3rd armies crossed the river, but were able to advance only 6 km. At the same time, the troops of the 7th Army unsuccessfully attacked the 6th French Army at Reims. On July 17, the allied forces stopped the advance of the German armies and on July 18 launched a counteroffensive, pushing the Germans back to their original positions by August 4.
6.2. Allied counteroffensive
Belgian machine gunner on the front line in 1918
On August 8-13, the Allies with the forces of the 4th British, 1st and 3rd French armies conducted the Amiens operation, during which the Amiens salient occupied by the 2nd and 18th German armies was eliminated.
The operation began suddenly, without artillery preparation; with the support of artillery, the infantry and tanks of the allies advanced 11 km during the first day of the offensive. Ludendorff called August 8 "the black day of the German army." Over the next five days of the operation, the front line was pushed back by another 8-9 km.
On September 12-15, American forces successfully carried out the first major operation - the attack on the Saint-Miyel salient. In the summer of 1918, 300,000 American soldiers arrived in Europe every month. By September, their number had reached 1.2 million people, and by the end of the war - 2.1 million, which made it possible to eliminate the advantage of Germany in manpower, which transferred additional formations from the east.
On September 26, having an advantage over the German forces (202 divisions against 187), the Allies launched a general offensive along the entire front from Verdun to the North Sea. Exhausted by a four-year war, German troops began to surrender. In October, Ludendorff was replaced by Wilhelm Gröner. As a result of the offensive, the front line was pushed back to 80 km in depth by November, to the border with Belgium, in the north - to the Gent-Mons line.
In November, the November Revolution took place in Germany, a new government came to power, the Council of People's Representatives, which on November 11, a day after its election, concluded the Compiegne Armistice, which provided for an immediate cessation of hostilities, the withdrawal of German troops from the occupied territories, the creation of a demilitarized one on the right bank of the Rhine. zones. The war on the Western Front is over.
7. Results of campaigns on the Western Front
The Allied victory over Germany on the Western Front led to the dominant role of Great Britain, France and the United States in working out the terms of peace agreements at the Paris Peace Conference. On June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed.
Under the terms of the treaty, Germany lost part of its territory, all of its colonies, the number of its land army was limited to 100 thousand, most of the fleet was transferred to the winners, Germany was obliged to compensate for losses incurred as a result of hostilities. The Versailles Treaty formed the basis of the Versailles-Washington system.
8. In fiction
Corporal Hitler, writers Remarque, Barbusse and Aldington, Russian poet Nikolai Gumilyov fought on the Western Front.
Erich Maria Remarque. All Quiet on the Western Front.
Richard Aldington. Death of a Hero.
Henri Barbusse. "The fire".
William Faulkner. "Parable".
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Commander-in-Chief of the Southwestern Front, in fulfillment of a common mission " to defeat the Austro-Hungarian armies, meaning to prevent the withdrawal of significant enemy forces to the south beyond the river. Dniester and west to Krakow", decided to go over to a general offensive on August 18-21, setting the following particular tasks for the armies: the 8th Army was the first to launch an offensive from August 18 to the Khodorov-Galich front, trying to prevent the enemy from retreating beyond the Dniester River. The Dniester detachment, judging its actions with the 8th Army, at the same time went over to the offensive between the Dniester and Prut rivers.The 3rd Army from August 19 began an offensive against Lvov, on the Kulikov-Mikolaev front, helping to fulfill the mission of the 8th Army.
Southwestern Front 1914.
The 4th and 5th armies, which were late in their deployment (partly brought in from the Moscow and Kazan military districts), from August 21, began to move only their vanguards to the Vilkolaz - Izbitsa - Grubeshov - Vladimir-Volynsky line, pulling up the main forces of the corps, respectively, with the vanguards ... On August 23, both armies launched a general offensive: the 4th Army - in the general direction of Przemysl, while keeping in mind to prevent the enemy from retreating to the west to Krakow, and the 5th Army - to the Moscisk - Lvov front, facilitating the implementation of task 4 th army. In addition, the 4th Army was tasked with operating on the left bank of the river. Vistula, where it was ordered to monitor the enemy troops and provide both their right flank and the flank of the entire front.
In setting this decisive task, the front headquarters did not ensure overall superiority in forces; in addition, on the most important section of the front between pp. Vistula and Bug of the 4th and 5th armies, consisting of 16.5 infantry. and 6.5 cav. divisions actually performed a supporting role. The main blow was delivered by 22 infantry. and 8 cav. divisions of the 3rd and 8th armies from the east, from Volyn and Podolia. At the same time, the plan did not use the advantageous operational direction along the left bank of the river. Vistula to block the enemy's retreat to Krakow.
Turning to the consideration of the Austro-Hungarian plan, it is necessary to take into account that the delay in the concentration of the 2nd army, transported to Galicia from the Serbian front, made the Austrians fear that the initiative of action could go over to the side of the Russians, whose forces were increasing every day to a greater extent than their own. Therefore, the Austrians, who, moreover, were forced by allied obligations to begin the operation by invading Poland, decided to send the main mass of their forces assembled in Galicia - 21.5 of 33 divisions - to defeat the 4th and 5th Russian armies, which had not yet completed their concentration between pp. Vistula and Bug. At the same time, Konrad hoped, as was promised to him in peacetime, for a joint offensive by German troops from East Prussia in the general direction of Sedlec.
The initial plan of the Austro-Hungarian command set the following particular tasks for the armies: the 1st Army (Dunkl) by August 21 was to take its starting position on the line from the mouth of the river. San to r. Tanev, north of Tarnograd, having a strong left flank, from where the army's attack on Lublin was planned from August 23. The troops of the Kummer army group were supposed to provide on the left bank of the river. Hanging up the holding of the latter and pulling up to the left flank of the 1st Army during its further advance. The 4th Army (Auffenberg) was concentrated by 23 August in its initial position in the Tereshpol-Potylich region, from where it was planned to advance, together with the 1st Army, to the north in the general direction of Kholm-Grubeshov, as soon as the concentration of the 3rd Army near Lvov. The 3rd Army received the task of holding the Lvov area and repelling a possible enemy invasion from the Sokal-Brody front. On August 23, the III corps, concentrated to the southeast of Lvov, passed into its structure. The army group of Keves was supposed to delay the enemy offensive in the Tarnopol direction, covering the crossings across the river. Dniester and the concentration of the VII and IV corps of the 2nd army. South of the r. Dniester to r. The Prut area was covered by the 43rd Landsturmist Division and the 35th Landsturmist Brigade.
In general, having sent the 2nd Army to the Serbian Front, the Austrians were not able to create an overwhelming superiority of forces in the 1st and 4th armies by the beginning of the operation in the direction of the main attack between pp. Vistula and Bug, neither have sufficient forces in the screen, providing the main operation to the north.
In accordance with the outlined plans and the grouping of both opponents, a rapprochement began on August 18 - 19, which gradually, from August 23, turned into a grandiose 33-day oncoming collision between pp. Vistula and Dniester 8 armies on the front 320 km. This battle in the history of the World War is called the Battle of Galicia and is a complex strategic operation.
This general operation can be divided into two particular ones: 1) the invasion of Poland by two Austrian armies, covering the oncoming battles at Krasnik between the 1st Austrian and 4th Russian armies, and the Tomashevsky battle between the 4th Austrian and 5th Russian armies; 2) the invasion of the 3rd and 8th Russian armies into Galicia, which led first to a counter battle on the Golden Lipa (from 26 to 28 August), and then to a battle on the river. Rotten Linden (29 to 31 August).
From September 1, the Austrians regroup their forces, allocating the 4th army to the south, which leads to the Gorodok battle (from September 5 to 12) west of Lvov and the second offensive of the 9, 4 and 5 Russian armies, the success of which forces the Austrians September 12 to begin the departure for the river. San.
During deployment, the 8th Army was concentrated backward with a ledge and, having started the offensive only a day earlier than the 3rd, it would not have had time to advance enough to cut off the retreat path beyond the river. Dniester.
During the war between Germany and France in 1871, the Germans conquered Alsace and Lorraine. The French dreamed of getting even and returning their lands, which could not but push the two great nations into a new battle.
Western Front during the First World War
German General Schlieffen developed a plan for a quick strike against France, leading the offensive through Belgium and Luxembourg. With the attack on these countries on August 2, 1914, hostilities began on the Western Front of the First World War.
Thanks to siege artillery, the main impregnable fortress, Liege, surrendered almost immediately. Then the Germans occupied Brussels, and then a forced attack on Paris began.
In September 1914, a general battle took place between British-French and German troops on the Marne River. The soldiers were brought up by any transport, even by taxi. During the battle, the allies counter-attacked the weakened positions of the Germans, who transferred part of the troops to Prussia, where Russia entered the war. Having reached a balance of power, the parties began to dig trenches and trenches.
Figure: 1. French soldiers in the First World War.
By 1915, the Western Front of the First World War was a huge area, indented by trenches, trenches and various earthworks. Enemies fought artillery fire, and offensives were impossible due to the powerfully fortified positions.
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Twice (in spring and autumn) the Allies tried to break through the front, but both attempts were unsuccessful.
In 1915, Italy entered on the side of the Entente, forming the southwestern front, which ran in the Alps. The fighting took place in the mountains and foothills.
In the spring of 1916, the Germans made an attempt to break through the Allied front in the area of \u200b\u200bthe city of Verdun, pulling up their large-caliber artillery there. Such powerful shelling has not yet happened during the entire war, for which the soldiers dubbed this battle the "Verdun meat grinder".
To pull German forces away from Verdun, Russia again had to help the allies by organizing a special operation that would later be called the "Brusilov Breakthrough". Although Austria-Hungary did not manage to withdraw from the war, the Germans were forced to transfer their troops to the east to prevent this.
Battle of the Somme and further developments
In July 1916, an important event in military history took place - on the Somme, during the battle of the same name, Britain used tanks during the offensive. This is the first time in world history. Cars broke down quickly and drove slowly, but psychologically instilled fear in the Germans.
Figure: 2. Tanks on the Somme.
At this time, during 1916-1917, the Germans built a chain of reinforced concrete fortifications, called the Hindenburg Line. All German troops in 1917 were ordered to retreat behind this line and take up defenses. The war could again become protracted.
To exclude this possibility was General Nivelles, who developed a plan for an allied counteroffensive, in which more than 4 million people took part against 2.7 million Germans. However, the front practically did not change, as well as the alignment of forces.
Figure: 3. Hindenburg Line.
The position of the allies worsened after Russia left the war. On March 21, 1918, the "Spring Offensive" began, during which the German army tried to use its last chance to win the war. Economic and humanitarian exhaustion forced the Germans to sit down at the negotiating table, which subsequently led to the Peace of Versailles.
Disaster on the Southwestern Front
It seemed to Kerensky that he had already coped with the uprising of the Bolsheviks, and the free soldiers were about to strike another blow at the enemy, inspired by the fiery appeals of his speeches. In fact, on the German-Austrian front, the time of success was drawing to a close. The almost complete lack of coordination in the actions of the enemy allowed the Germans to freely dispose of their reserves and concentrate their free forces on the Tarnopol direction. On July 19, 9 German divisions under the command of General von Winkler launched a powerful counterattack between the Seret and Strypa rivers. After recent rains, they spilled over, providing an excellent defense for the flanks of the German offensive. It began between Zborov and Seret, in the sector of the second division. She ran, dragging others with her. What followed that shocked not only the Russian command. The Germans who were pursuing our troops were held back only by the actions of Russian artillery 2.
It is characteristic that on this day the official organ of the War Ministry published the following analysis of the state of affairs: “The transition to the offensive of a huge mass of troops after a long period of seemingly hopeless passivity proved the power of the spirit of the reviving revolutionary army and by his example he acted to heal the rest of the troops of the Russian armies, enticing them to active activity and thus bringing closer the time to achieve a lasting peace ”3. The Germans' counterattack was a test of these words. The entire 11th Army, abandoning positions, spontaneously fled to the rear. In this army, things went so far that two infantry divisions (the 126th and the 2nd Finland) fled at the sight of three German companies. At first, the Austrians and Germans advanced slowly, which made it possible for small units that kept order to destroy warehouses abandoned by alarmists when rumors about the enemy's proximity 5. Soon the commander had to admit that no one can say with certainty what and where is happening to his subordinates.
A difficult task fell to the cavalry covering the retreat. “It was scary and creepy, and at the same time it was painfully insulting to watch,” recalled the commander of the 1st Trans-Baikal Cossack Division, “as the stocks of shells and foodstuffs, which had been so hard prepared for the anticipated spring general offensive, perished” 7. There was no time for evacuation. It was enough for the Germans to fire a few shots from their guns, and the democratic Russian infantry began to withdraw from their positions and flee. On July 6–7 (19–20), the crisis in the Tarnopil direction was already quite clear 8.
Messages from the Southwestern Front have not yet been perceived in the center as evidence of a disaster that has begun. They were detained, hoping that they could still be fixed. On July 8 (21), the officialdom of the War Ministry was still praising the excellent new qualities of the revolutionary troops, in which many did not believe so recently: “Information coming from the front about combat episodes that took place in the area of \u200b\u200boffensive of the army corps of general. Kornilov, paint a truly heroic picture in the history of our revolutionary army. First of all, the amazing endurance of the troops and the ability for a long battle, exhausting the enemy and forcing him to introduce more and more reserves, are striking ”9. The reason for these praises for the achievements of the new order was simple. On July 7 (20), Kerensky left for the Western Front, which was about to go over to the offensive 10. Thus, the breakthrough of the Germans at Tarnopol had to turn into just a private and, therefore, correctable failure.
Nevertheless, this failure dramatically changed the attitude towards what was happening in the rear. On July 7 (20), before leaving for the front, Kerensky sent a telegram to Revel and Helsingfors, which was to be copied to everyone. It already contained completely different words about the Bolsheviks: “It became clear with certainty that the riots in Petrograd were organized with the participation of German government agents. The riots have now been completely stopped. Leaders and persons who have stained themselves with fraternal blood and crimes against the Motherland and the Revolution will be arrested ”11. On July 8 (21), the government adopted an appeal to the Army in the field: “Troops of the revolutionary armies! Your brothers, who have entered the battle with red banners, are calling you together with them to a united onslaught to defend freedom in the name of just conditions for a lasting peace. By the will of the Revolutionary people, at the first order of your military commanders, forward, in close ranks, without looking back at the cowards and traitors to the Motherland. Save freedom, save the Motherland! " 12
On July 8 (21), the Headquarters reported: “Our troops in mass, not showing due persistence, and in places not fulfilling combat orders, continue to retreat ...” On July 15, 1917, Hoffman notes in his diary: “Everything is developing according to plan. I would like more prisoners. These guys are running so energetically that we cannot catch someone. To date, there are only 6,000 and only 70 guns ”16. “The armies were retreating in complete disarray,” Denikin recalled. - The very armies that a year ago, in their victorious march, took Lutsk, Brody, Stanislavov, Chernivtsi ... retreated in front of the very Austro-German armies that a year ago were defeated and strewn with fugitives the fields of Volhynia, Galicia, Bukovina, leaving we have hundreds of thousands of prisoners in our hands ”17.
On July 8 (21) Kerensky again met with the troops in Molodechno and again to applause and shouts of "Hurray!" urged them to go on the offensive. “Is it possible,” he asked the Siberian riflemen, “the free troops of the revolution can be weaker than the troops of the soulless tsar” 18. "You can safely go forward, there will be no more traitors behind." - assured the soldier Kerensky. Before leaving for Headquarters, he explained to the audience the basic principles of his leadership of the country: "I will demand from everyone the complete unquestioning fulfillment of their duty to the Motherland and the Revolution." On the same day, the head of the government arrived in Mogilev 20.
The results of the exactingness promised to the soldiers were not long in coming. The leapfrog in the high command continued. On July 8 (21), 1917, General A.E. Gutor was dismissed, who managed to command the 11th Army for only a few months and for a short time - the front. He was replaced by Kornilov 21. On the same day, the new commander-in-chief, who clearly did not yet know about the changes in the government, telegraphed Lvov: “Received the front in extremely difficult conditions of the enemy's breakthrough, due to the decay and collapse caused by the fall of discipline in the armies, which resulted in the unauthorized withdrawal of regiments from their positions, refusal in immediate support. The balance of forces is approximately one enemy in five of ours, which is striking proof of the above. This state of affairs is fraught with extremely formidable and grave consequences. I find it absolutely necessary to address the Provisional Government and the Council with a completely frank and direct statement about the use of exceptional measures up to the introduction of the death penalty in the theater of operations, otherwise all responsibility lies with those who think with words to rule in those fields where death and shame of betrayal reign. cowardice and selfishness "22. The appeals expected by the general did not follow.
On July 8 (21), attempts began to attack on the North, on July 9 (22) - on the Romanian fronts. There was no coordinated action, although preparations for them were very active 23. On the Western Front, near Krevo, where on July 21, after three days of artillery preparation, which was very effective, the infantry initially occupied the enemy trenches with almost no losses. Some of the regiments, such as the 42nd Siberian, honestly did their duty. However, in other units, things were not so good. In one of the regiments, the soldiers left their positions, and about 50 soldiers and several senior officers remained in the trenches 10 km away. They went on the attack. “The attackers,” recalls Dovbor-Musnitsky, “did not remain on the first line (of the enemy's trenches. - AND. O.), and went further, to seek death or bondage. Honor them! " 24 Death threatened the attackers from their own trenches, from where they were often shot in the back. It remains only to be surprised that, despite the harsh conditions, the attackers managed to achieve some success.
Ludendorff noted: “The Russians broke through the Landwehr division there, which defended unusually bravely, but was stretched out on a very wide front. For several days the situation was very serious, until our reserves and our artillery fire recovered the situation. The Russians cleared our trenches. These were no longer the former Russian soldiers ”26. The memoirs of Dovbor-Musnitsky are almost literally repeated in his diary by a contemporary and eyewitness to these events, Lieutenant Colonel Maitland-Edwards: “The only saving picture from everything that we had to see in the Russian army is the bravery, mostly useless, of those Russian officers who nobly remained at their posts on the front line, which emerged from the trenches on September 1 with the firm intention never to return alive. This is the only picture that gives me the opportunity to think that someday Russia can take a place among worthy nations ”27.
On the Western Front, after the Russian attacks, German counterstrikes also followed. The effect was the same as at Tarnopol. Whole divisions began to withdraw from positions. "Heroic efforts, - read the message of the Headquarters on July 10 (23), - it is worth the officers to keep the soldiers from leaving the rear on a massive scale." The heroic self-sacrifice of the officers was the basis of the Russian offensive, according to the British military attaché 29. This remark is fully supported by statistics. If in 1916 there were 1.5 officers and 6.9 soldiers for every 10 killed and wounded, then in 1917 these figures increased almost seven times for soldiers and less than twice for officers. The difference between the indicators of officers and soldiers, which in 1916 was 1.8, in 1917 increased to 4.6 30. As N. N. Golovin noted: “At the turn of the winter campaign of 1916–1917. and the summer campaign of 1917, a new sharp turn occurs in the relationship between bloody losses and prisoners, but this time for the worse. There can be no doubt that here we are dealing exclusively with the corrupting influence of the revolution. The mass of Russian soldiers does not want to fight, and for every ten heroes who shed blood for their homeland, twelve-thirteen those who dropped their weapons ”31.
The disruption of the strike at Kreva, which Kerensky had the audacity to attribute to the pessimism of General Denikin, who allegedly left Front 32, greatly facilitated the task of defense for the Germans; several coordinated strikes were not possible. It was precisely in the absence of coordinated action on the Russian side that Ludendorff saw the reason that the Russian offensive did not become a real threat to the German-Austrian Eastern Front. The retreat of the armies of the Southwestern Front quickly turned into a flight, accompanied by massive looting and violence. The units, loyal to the Oath and maintaining discipline, covered the flight, having to pay for the calls of the revolutionary demagogues and the actions of their listeners. The chief of staff of Wrangel describes what features the "army of free Russia" took: "The army, mainly the infantry, restrained by their officers, at first retreated as if with battles, and then simply started to run, throwing their guns. The infantry, it's hard to believe, made transitions 60 versts a day, just to get to the Russian border as soon as possible. The cavalry faced a difficult task, and they fought bravely, holding back the advancing enemy. Retreating, the soldiers plundered and burned everything that came to their hand, their own and that of others. Warehouses, villages, haystacks were burning, and whole houses were set on fire in cities without any sense ”35.
“The tactical counterstrike turned into a major operation,” Ludendorff recalled. - The collapse of the Russian front spread more and more to the south. The southern, 3rd and 7th Austro-Hungarian armies, which included a particularly large number of German troops, went on the offensive. The Eastern Front went into motion, capturing even part of Bukovina. The Russian army retreated in disarray - its brain was obsessed with the disease of the revolution ”36. The chief of the Imperial General Staff of Great Britain these days wrote: “The Germans simply carried out a counterattack as the usual and best means of stopping the Russian advance and then, perhaps to their surprise, the Russians broke down, as a result of which three Russian armies, numbering 60 to 70 divisions, were good equipped with artillery and ammunition, they are now fleeing from some 18 Austrian and German divisions ”37.
An ordinary soldier agreed to go into battle not in order to achieve victory in a separate sector of the front, but in order to achieve peace. When this goal was not achieved through complete victory, it collapsed. Since the desired peace could not be conquered, it could be achieved simply by stopping the fighting. These sentiments emerged after the failure of the offensive. AM Vasilevsky recalled: “The fermentation among the privates especially intensified at the end of June, when the offensive of the troops of the Southwestern Front near Lvov failed. The Socialist-Revolutionary-Menshevik delegates who came to us
The First All-Russian Congress of Soviets in vain called for the continuation of the war. The soldiers were rushing home ”38.
Individual units maintained order and remained combat-ready: as a rule, these were artillerymen, who often detained the Germans and Austrians who were no longer expecting any resistance. It is characteristic that it was they and the aviators who became the targets of German-Austrian propaganda, which, since the spring of 1917, had called upon the infantry to deal with them. Sometimes other pockets of resilience arose. On July 8 (21), the Transbaikalians covering the escape from Tarnopol met with the only combat-ready infantry formation. It was the Petrovskaya brigade of the 1st Guards Division - the Transfiguration and Semenovites. Then they acted together 41. On July 11–12 (24–25), 1917, west of Tarnopol, the Petrovsk brigade successfully repelled the attack of the Prussian Guard with bayonet counterattacks. The losses were very significant: the Preobrazhensky regiment under the command of Colonel A.P. Kutepov lost about 1300 people, but the guards did their duty and stopped the enemy offensive for 48 hours and thus made it possible to withdraw the carts and heavy artillery from the threat 42. "This was the last fighting tension of the Russian guard," recalled the chief of staff of the 11th Army, "the last effort of officers and non-commissioned officers who overcame the revolutionary relaxation of the soldier masses."
It was very difficult to do this, since most of the soldiers of even these regiments agreed to fight only on their own territory: this was the result of the popularity of the slogan "without annexations and indemnities" 44. Nevertheless, officers and non-commissioned officers still remained in the brigade, the internal cohesion of the units had not yet been completely broken, and normal, trusting relations between soldiers and officers were preserved. Edit general position this battle could no longer be at the front. The enemy occupied Tarnopol, threatening the flank and rear of the neighboring 8th Army of General Kornilov. On July 20, Chernivtsi fell, where the headquarters of the 8th Army was located for a year 46.
The heroic death of the shock battalions, composed mostly of officers, was in vain. The "democratized army", not wanting to shed its blood to "save the gains of the revolution," fled like a flock of sheep. " In the last stages, only artillery held the defense, holding back the Germans and covering the flight of the former guards infantry. "It was unbearably difficult to observe the dull indifference on the faces of the soldiers," recalled one of the gunners, "to see the unfortunate officers chained to the ranks of these once glorious regiments." Some units, having thrown their weapons, with detached attention, disdainfully followed what was happening as if everything that happened did not concern them at all. “We are passing the nearest place,” one of the artillery officers noted in his diary on 12 (25) July. “It is teeming with those who shamefully left the trenches and betrayed their comrades. They look at us indifferently and gnaw seeds. The land around the huts is strewn with husks ”49.
This was not the case in the Russian army in its most difficult days. “Having lost all human form,” the cavalry officer recalled, “crushing the innocent population on its way, abandoning artillery, carts, shells, throwing the wounded out of sanitary trains, the distraught armies of the Southwestern Front fled. Not only were all the trains coming from the front packed full of deserters, but the highways and country roads were also full of them. The outfits at the stations were doubled, but, despite this, it was impossible to cope with this human avalanche ”50. The 40-kilometer road from Kalush to Stanislavov was completely packed with fugitives and looters. “What, what parts and who, who was not here ?! - recalled the cornet of the Tekinsky cavalry regiment, moving with its riders to the rear to guard Kornilov's headquarters. - A huge amount of artillery, transport, ambulance and quartermaster carts blocked the path, not allowing the foot to go forward, not to mention the horse. All these carts and the path were covered by comrades fleeing from the front, who had huge bundles of good on their shoulders. ”51
The scale of the flight can be judged by the fact that in one night alone, in the vicinity of the town of Volochisk, the shock battalion detained about 12 thousand deserters. In Shepetivka, in one day, the detachments of the guards cavalry detained 2,340 fugitives, in Kazatin - 1,518. At the railway stations there were not enough rooms for the detainees, and they had to be released. The only thing that the commanders of the barrage detachments could do was to disarm the fleeing, liberated and democratized masses. For the civilian population, it proved to be more dangerous than the advancing enemy 52.
In this situation, they had to resort to tried and tested, albeit unpleasant, means. After L.G. Kornilov's order of July 9 (22), which allowed executions, the running mass of the "freest people", that is, deserters and robbers, began to lose their leaders and become calmer. The junker shock battalion, formed from volunteers to participate in the front breakthrough, arrived at the South-Western Front with a delay and was sent to restore order at the Proskurov railway station. Here, the cadets were shot in two days by 3 people - two railway workers who refused to obey the orders of their superiors and even beat them up, and one soldier-agitator in a large group of deserters 53.
The executive committee of the Southwestern Front, the 11th Army's army committee and its commissar sent a telegram to the government describing the complete collapse of the army: “There is no longer any talk of power and obedience, persuasions and convictions have lost their force, they are answered with threats and sometimes with execution. Some units leave their positions without permission, without even waiting for the enemy's approach. There were cases that the order given to hastily come out for support was discussed for hours at rallies, why support was delayed by a day. At the first shots of the enemy, units often abandon their positions. For hundreds of miles to the rear, there are lines of fugitives with and without guns, healthy, cheerful, who have lost all shame, feeling completely unpunished. Sometimes whole parts leave like that. The members of the army and frontline committees and the commissars unanimously acknowledge that the situation requires the most extreme measures and efforts, for one cannot stop at anything to save oneself from death. Today, the commander-in-chief of the Southwestern Front and the commander of the 11th Army, with the consent of the commissars and committees, have been given orders to fire at the fleeing. Let the whole country know the whole truth about the events taking place here, let it shudder and find in itself the determination to ruthlessly fall upon all who with cowardice ruins and betrays Russia and the revolution ”54.
The changes taking place in the capital set General MV Alekseev in a sad mood. On July 9 (22), 1917, he wrote to Vice Admiral A. I. Rusin: “The claims of the socialist ministers will be hastily implemented; the whole government will become socialist. Russia will have to go through this last and bitter misfortune. Not yet ready for the accomplishment of new, dangerous and extremely harmful figures who plunge the state into the abyss of disasters, we officers must now show our will, especially if we are required to take an oath to the new state system. This construction was declared in violation of all human laws, in violation of the obligations assumed by the Provisional Government, no matter who it was. The dispersal of the Duma is a violation of the rights of the people. Playing on the bad instincts of the masses by unjustly solving the land question. If we were united, we could refuse the oath (or rather, we should have). A crime against Russia cannot be encouraged by a new agreement with him. Circumstances call for accelerated action, even with full awareness that the masses are being bribed and bought by the socialists. Probably, the action itself will have to be performed in Petrograd, since only impetuosity will have to influence the imagination. Defeat at the front complicates the whole matter. In itself, it is a new grief for Russia and an ordeal sent to her. But how could our leaders have missed it? How hard it is to worry these days when, if possible, at least by participating in work, to soften the grief of an event. It seems to me that even in the difficult days of 1915 there was no such dangerous strategic position, especially in the presence of the criminal behavior of the troops; what is needed is power, strength, and not the cheating, which our leaders are intensively engaged in. The salvation of the army also cannot be postponed for a long time. ”55
The public was shocked by the incident. The flight of the armies after the much-touted success of the early days of the offensive caused a severe shock. In the rear, they started talking about the possibility of the fall of Minsk, Moscow and even Petrograd 56. Kerensky decided not to postpone the salvation of the army and dealt with it in his own way. “Much more than the Southwestern Front was shaken by Kerensky himself, whom they barely had time to proclaim the organizer of the victory in Petersburg, when these laurels crumbled to dust,” recalled General Gerua. - Of course, the generals were declared guilty. Displacement and reshuffling began. ”57 On July 10 (23) and 11 (24), two more commanders of the armies of the Southwestern Front were replaced. They were simply reversed. The government feared the top of its own army. The new leapfrog of the senior command personnel could have only one goal - to prevent the generals from gaining firm control over their subordinates. In this respect, he went hand in hand with those circles in the soldiers' councils who least of all desired the restoration of discipline. It is quite symptomatic that the officers who managed to restore discipline among their subordinates and resist the advancing enemy became their victims on the ground after the end of the flight from the Austrians.
The allies looked at these processes in Russia with apprehension. "Kerensky's reprisals against Russian generals, whom he treated with disdain, constantly moved from one command to another," recalled the Russian diplomatic representative in England, "the introduction of committees in the army, the systematic destruction of discipline gave representatives of the allied armies full reason to fear the collapse of the army." But Kerensky was not afraid of this. Apparently, his predecessor was not afraid of this either. In his farewell interview, Lvov expressed his complete conviction that everything will end very well soon. In his opinion, confidence in the future was fully justified. “My optimism is especially strengthened,” he said, “by the events of the last days inside the country. Our deep breakthrough on Lenin's front is, in my deep conviction, incomparably more important for Russia than the breakthrough of the Germans on our Southwestern Front. ”60
Judging by the actions of the government, it already considered this breakthrough on the "home front" a final victory. On July 10 (23), the criminal investigator P. A. Aleksandrov received an order from the prosecutor of the Petrograd Court of Justice N. S. Karinsky to proceed with the investigation "on the July 3-5 uprising" 61. At the same time, the process of liberating a number of prominent Bolsheviks and their supporters began almost simultaneously. For example, on July 11 (24), O. M. Nakhamkes (Yu. M. Steklov) was released from arrest 62. He was arrested after the July events by counterintelligence for active participation in the preparation of the rebellion. He behaved defiantly, since he had no doubt that he would be released, which happened with the most active participation of Chkheidze 63. On July 12 (25), 51 of the 67 arrested members of the Baltic Fleet delegation were released 64. On the same day, the government demanded that the population of Petrograd and the district carry out disarmament within three days, promising that from July 16 (29) it would consider the possession of military firearms and melee weapons as theft 65. Disarmament was not nearly as intense as liberation. By the end of August, over 140 people arrested in connection with an attempted coup d'etat were released 66.
The mood of the front and the capital was completely different. On July 11 (24), the commissar of the armies of the Southwestern Front Savinkov, his assistant V.P. Gobechia and the commissar of the 11th Army M.M. Filonenko demanded the introduction of the death penalty at the front “those who refuse to risk their lives for the Motherland for land and will "67. Even Brusilov supported this demand, although he did it in his cautious and ambiguous manner. Thanking Savinkov “as a citizen”, he declared that he “shared” his opinion 68. The general remained true to himself. The only thing he allowed in these difficult days was to issue an order on July 10 (23) banning rallies and meetings at the front 69.
Sober assessments and fears of an imminent catastrophe were already loudly heard in the press. One of the articles of “Russkiye Vedomosti” came out with a very symptomatic heading - “We've Got Game”. Its author summed up the achievements of the new system: “An indelible shame at the front, a cruel lesson in Petrograd - these are the results of four months of the revolution, such is the result of Russian freedom. And in the long term - the inevitable and rapid collapse, the disintegration of all state adhesions, complete anarchy, the collapse of the entire revolution ”70.
From the book Berlin 45: Battles in the Lair of the Beast. Parts 4-5 author Isaev Alexey ValerievichChanges on the Western Front When the forward detachments of the armies of the 1st Belorussian Front captured the bridgeheads on the Oder, the difference between the position of the Soviet and Anglo-American troops was enormous. Allies of the USSR in anti-Hitler coalition just recovered from
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From the book Basic training Special Forces [Extreme Survival] author Ardashev Alexey NikolaevichChanges on the Western Front in 1915. The situation on the Western Front is gradually stabilizing, and a positional confrontation begins. Both sides of the front have actually been turned into gigantic, deeply echeloned fortresses. Opponents grind thousands and thousands
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From the book Participation Russian Empire in the First World War (1914-1917). 1917 year. Decay author Airapetov Oleg RudolfovichDisaster on the Southwestern Front 1 Wildman K. Op. cit. Princeton, New Jersey. 1987. Vol. 2. The road to Soviet power and peace. P. 116.2 Gerua B.V. Decree. op. Paris. 1970. T. 2. S. 201–202.3 Army and Fleet of Free Russia. 6 (19) July 1917 No. 155. P. 2.4 Golovin N.N. War effort. P. 367.5 The Times History and Encyclopedia of the War. Part 170. Vol. 14, Nov. 20, 1917. P. 29.6