During the 19th century, virtually all the major states of the world were in a state of open confrontation, as a result of which the future of not only Europe was being decided. The leading states: England, France, Russia, Germany, and a little later, Austria-Hungary - were not satisfied with their economic situation, and no one was going to compromise.
The development of events did not stop even close blood relations - the rulers of Russia, England and Germany were relatives. At that time, national interests were put above all else.
It so happened that the main allies of Russia in the First World War were Great Britain and France.
Foreseeing a critical situation, many states have converted factories for military needs. Weapons, gunpowder, shell, cartridge,shipbuilding and other industrial facilities.
Russian national interests
As you know, the reason for the start of the war was the murder of Archduke F. Ferdinand and his wife by a Serbian nationalist in 1914 in Sarajevo.
But of course that wasn't the real reason.
For Russia, there is a need to regulate economic relations with Europe, which was largely facilitated by the development of trade between Germany and Austria-Hungary. Industrial goods from Germany "moved" Russia from its traditional trading positions and, moreover, began to fill the country's domestic market.
This state of affairs could not but cause alarm among the large landowners of our country and the industrial magnates living in it. In particular, these concerns were supported by St. Petersburg.
At the same time, Germany was actively developing allied relations with Austria-Hungary. It was with this power that Russia fought for superiority in the Balkans among the Slavic states. But Berlin did not seek to develop political relations with Russia, which drove it into unfavorable economic conditions.
Russia's allies in WWI
Against the backdrop of such economic and political events, Russia was forced to enter into a military alliance with France and Great Britain. And this association became known as the Entente.
So, here is the full list of Russia's allies in World War I:
- Andorra;
- Belgium;
- Bolivia;
- Brazil;
- China;
- Costa Rica;
- Cuba;
- Ecuador;
- Greece;
- Guatemala;
- Haiti;
- Honduras;
- Italy (since May 23, 1915);
- Japan;
- Liberia;
- Montenegro;
- Nicaragua;
- Panama;
- Peru;
- Portugal;
- Romania;
- San Marino;
- Serbia;
- Siam;
- USA;
- Uruguay.
Agreement on maritime influence
Actually, Russia's interests were reduced to the weakening of the influence of Germany and Austria-Hungary. There was also a claim to a number of German lands and the need to gain control over the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, which belonged to Turkey.
After Turkey took the side of Germany in 1914, already in 1916 the Entente countries signed an agreement on the division of interests in the Middle East. Thus, it was determined which allies Russia would have in World War I.
Victory and failure in 1914
After the defeat in the war with Japan, Russia was able to draw conclusions about the state of its armed forces. And by 1914, preparations for combat were much better.
But Russia's allies in the First World War did not take into account the factors of a long military conflict. All this could not but complicate the relations between these states. For an early victory, Russia sought to coordinate actions, but at the same time, it could not even allow the defeat of the allies. And given such factors, our country had to meet the needs of other members of the Entente in everything.
In yearsDuring the First World War, it was Russia that had very large human and food resources. If taken as a percentage, then it was her troops that accounted for about 40% of all Entente armies.
The task of forge and attract the armed forces of the Germans and Bulgarians fell to the share of the Russian army. In addition, she took more prisoners than the countries of Russia's military allies (about 2.2 million soldiers), which amounted to about 60% of the total number of prisoners of war.
Start of war
With the German offensive against France in August 1914, the First World War began. Hoping to win by blitzkrieg, the main forces of Germany rushed to France. At the same time, the militarily weak East Prussian 8th Army was deployed in the east.
Despite the fact that Russia's allies in the First World War were more than twenty states, Austria-Hungary was going to take active actions against the Russian group.
But Russia launched an offensive, and by mid-September, during the Battle of Galicia, the armies of the Southwestern Front defeated the main forces of their opponents. In this battle, the Austrians lost 400,000 people, while the Russian army left 100,000 captured soldiers and about 400 guns in captivity. Eastern Galicia was lost.
As a result of this victory, the position of the Serbian army was greatly facilitated.
At the same time, Russia's military allies were successfully fighting in East Prussia. Above all, the desire to maintain an offensive impulse and startattack on Berlin. On August 20 of the same year, the German army was defeated in the battle of Gumbinnen, and Russia was able to control almost 2/3 of the enemy's territory.
But the Entente's success was prevented by serious miscalculations in the command, and the Russian troops suffered several major defeats and moved back to the border.
The success of the enemy armies, however, impressed the command of the German coalition. This forced him to divert part of the troops from the French front line and thereby transfer the fighting forces to the east. And this made it possible to ease the pressure on Russia's allies. Such tactical movements of the German command were not ignored by Russia's allies in the First World War. Major victories were won at the Marne.
Amid such stunning defeats, the German plan for a lightning war with France failed. Germany's hopes for a quick victory were dashed.
Turkey's entry into the war
By the beginning of October, German troops, together with the Austrians, launched offensive operations on the eastern front, but the Warsaw-Ivangorod battle predetermined the complete victory of the Russians. As a result, the German-Austrians were forced to retreat to their borders again.
Our troops attempted to break through to central Germany, but it turned out to be unsuccessful. Such activity of the Russian troops, however, had a positive effect on the outcome of the battles in Ysere and Ypres.
Already by December of the same year, the Germans had to double the number of their troops on the eastern front. This was done taking into account how the military allies fought. Russia.
Turkey entered the fighting by November 1914. At first, some success was planned on the Caucasian front, but already at the end of December, the 3rd Turkish army suffered a crushing defeat in the battle of Sarykamysh.
Germany is fighting on two fronts
After major defeats, Germany concentrated all its forces on how to withdraw Russia from the war. In this regard, the Eastern Front has become the main one.
Due to the delay in the supply of ammunition, rifles, artillery shells and general food problems, Russia has suffered a series of defeats. And there was a threat of encirclement of Russian troops in Poland.
But the talented General M. V. Alekseev managed to take advantage of the enemy's mistakes and frustrate the plan of the German command. For this, a number of territories had to be left - Russian Poland, part of Belarus and a number of the B altic states. This made it possible to get out of the threatening situation and gain a foothold on new frontiers.
Russia's military allies, as a result of the battles on the eastern front, were finally able to get a breather, strengthen their forces and strengthen their position.
At the same time, on the Turkish front, our army continued to successfully conduct offensive operations, while inflicting a series of defeats on the enemy. The Russian troops in the Turkish direction were commanded by the brilliant commander N. N. Yudenich. Such successes had a positive impact on the position of the allies on the Mesopotamian front.
I must say that the successful actions of the Russian corps under the command of Baratov in Persia prevented thefor Tehran to fall into the hands of our enemies. At the same time, the successes of the Russian army in Turkey saved the lives of thousands of Armenians who suffered from the Turkish genocide.
War at sea
While World War 1 could have started, Russia's allies did not have sufficient forces at sea. But the Black Sea Fleet of Russia had a significant advantage over the enemy in terms of combat training and combat experience, which was owned by most naval officers and sailors.
The fleet included 6 battleships of the old type, 2 cruisers, 17 destroyers, 12 destroyers, 4 submarines.
During the war, they were joined by 9 more destroyers, 2 air transports (prototypes of modern aircraft carriers) and 10 submarines.
The fleet was located at the main base in the Black Sea (in Sevastopol) and had shipyards in Sevastopol and Nikolaev.
Despite Germany's assistance to Turkey, Russia's allies (army and navy) had a significant advantage in the Black Sea.
In the course of combat battles with the Turkish fleet, Russia applied new methods and tactical innovations received from heterogeneous power units. Special crews of ships were created to constantly support troops on land and escort transport ships that transported military supplies.
Landing craft were also used in combat battles together with air support. The adjustment of fire on coastal targets using ship radios also looked unusual.
Newmartial skills
During the blockade of the Bosporus and the Coal Region, Russia's allies (army and navy) ensured extensive interaction of submarines and naval ships. Another interesting fact was the cooperation of submarines and aviation to fight enemy submarines.
The fighting of the Russian fleet on the Black Sea in the 1916 campaign was especially intense. I had to act simultaneously in several directions and solve a variety of tasks using ships, aircraft and submarines.
But the Russian fleet and the command managed to do it and were able to inflict significant damage on the German-Turkish fleet.
Interaction within the Entente
Germany in 1916 failed to achieve a strategic victory over Russia and shifted all its attention to the western front.
The plans of the German command was to cause as much damage as possible to the Anglo-French troops. The battle of Verdun was especially significant for the battles that abounded in the First World War. Russia's allies were able to get a breather and time to prepare for hostilities when the Russian army launched an offensive near Lake Naroch.
And although this battle ended in failure, it had a positive effect on the situation of the allied forces.
At the same time, the success of our armies in Turkey was noted. First, Yudenich took the fortress of Ezerum, and then Trebizond.
Remarkably, the greatest success was achieved by Russia in the summer of 1916. During the general offensive of the South-Western Front, it was undertaken as followscalled the Brusilovsky breakthrough, in which the Austrian army was again defeated. Only the intervention of Germany could rectify the situation, which made it possible to stop the advance of the Russian troops. As a result, the battles near Kovel ended in complete failure for our armies.
Revolution in Russia
New major offensives were also planned for 1917, in which the First World War could and would end. Russia's allies also made their offensive plans. But those plans remained just plans. The reasons why they broke are varied. But basically these are socio-economic problems that have accumulated and matured in Russia for a long time. And against the backdrop of a drop in morale in military units due to high losses, these contradictions escalated even more.
Socialist propaganda, political destabilization and active agitation against the current government also intensified. All this together led to revolutionary upheavals that broke the existing socio-political system in 1917.
They completely destroyed all the efforts and successes that were achieved by Russia.
Although it should be remembered that even under these conditions, the situation at the front for the allies could be much more difficult. Only Russia pulled over even in these conditions more than a third of the German troops. Also, Austrian divisions were drawn to it and remained in battle formations.
Now that this is history, we need to remember more than just which Russian allies participatedin that war, but also the fact that it was our armies, staffed precisely by our ancestors, who helped the Entente win.
