(2002- 1 1-28 12: 10:50)
The First World War was a hegemony war between capitalist countries due to the unbalanced political and economic development, and it was an unprecedented disaster in human history. Peace and development are two major themes in today's world. In order to strive for peace and promote development, people try to draw lessons from historical disasters as a warning, which urges historians to strengthen their research on the history of war, and the history of the First World War is an important part of scholars' research. This paper intends to give a brief introduction to the study of the history of the First World War in China.
First, about the origin and responsibility of war.
1. The origin of the war:
(1) On the Principal Contradictions between Britain and Germany: Struve believes that the contradiction between Britain and Germany in the redistribution of world issues is the principal contradiction in capitalist countries in the early 20th century and one of the main reasons for the outbreak of the First World War [1]. Zhao Huijie believes that 18 The evolution of the relationship between Britain and Germany since the 1970s shows that although the role played by the conflict between Britain and Germany in the outbreak of World War I is not unique, it cannot be underestimated. Naval competition and the formation and development of allies are two main manifestations of the contradiction between Britain and Germany. They were interrelated and influenced each other, and eventually became the main factor leading to the outbreak of the First World War.
(2) The Main Theory of Franco-German Contradiction: Chen believes that from the actual situation, the Main Theory of Franco-German Contradiction is not comprehensive. Britain regards Germany as its main rival, while Germany does not regard Britain as its main enemy in national policy, but only in specific policies and naval competition. So the contradiction between the two countries does not constitute the main contradiction. Germany's biggest enemy is France, no matter from the hegemonic position of Europe or the development of Germany. 〔3〕
(3) On the Principal Contradictions between Russia and Germany: Zhang thinks that the Principal Contradictions between Britain and Germany are totally inconsistent with historical facts. Before the First World War, there was no irreconcilable contradiction or serious conflict between Britain and Germany on the colonial issue. The contradiction between Russia and Germany is far sharper and more prominent than that between Britain and Germany. If World War I was caused by the struggle for colonies and spheres of influence, it is obvious that the contradiction between Russia and Germany is a more direct cause [4].
2. War responsibility:
Luo believes that the responsibility of the state in these two groups is different. Although France can't say "innocence", it is at least passive; Russia and Britain contributed to the outbreak of war; Italy should not take any responsibility for the outbreak of World War I; Austria-Hungary is more responsible for the direct cause of the war than the above-mentioned countries. Germany is the most enthusiastic country to wage war, and Kaiser Wilhelm II is the chief culprit of World War I. [5]
Pan and Li Julian believe that the origin and responsibility of war should be viewed from three levels: times, pattern and people. From the perspective of "times", the hegemonism of big countries under modern conditions and the rapid improvement of economy and technology of major capitalist countries are the conditions for the possibility of a world war at the beginning of the 20 th century; Judging from the "pattern", the formation of two opposing alliance systems and a new pattern of military groups in the early 20 th century laid a curse for the evolution from local wars to total wars; From the perspective of "people", the road to World War I is very spontaneous, which is related to the decision-making actions of powerful people in big countries and the handling of crises. Rigid policies and actions, lack of necessary compromise and appeasement, contributed to the rapid head-on collision between the two groups. 〔6〕
Second, about World War I and America.
1. Neutrality and participation of the United States: Shi Xuguang believes that whether the United States is neutral or involved in World War I depends on whether it can safeguard its "interest line". That is, using the war situation in wartime to obtain excess profits in a neutral position and take the opportunity to expand globally; After the war, he can recover the war loan and then gain the right to control international affairs as an arbitrator. The direct reason why the United States entered the war was that the neutral country's interest line was broken, so it could only enter the war to obtain the interests that the neutral country could no longer have. 〔7〕
2. American mediation diplomacy: Ray Wu and Yang Chunlong believed that mediation diplomacy was an important part of American policy toward Europe during World War I, and the United States maintained the pattern of confrontation and containment between the two groups through mediation and compromise until the war broke out, paving the way for world domination. 〔8〕
Three, about China's participation in the war and the Paris Peace Conference.
1. On China's participation in the war
(1) On Japan's Influence: Ray Wu believes that the dispute over China's participation in the war by the Northern Warlords during World War I, that is, the "official court dispute", is essentially a reflection of the US-Japan struggle for control of China. As a result, the warring factions represented by Duan won, that is, the Japanese invaders won. 〔9〕
(2) "The theory of joint influence of the United States and Japan": Li Zixiong believed that China's participation in the war was the result of joint influence of the United States and Japan. American diplomatic activities broke the diplomatic deadlock of China's participation in the war and laid an objective foundation for China's participation in the war. The Japanese manipulated the warlords in China politically and bought the warlords in China economically, making them agree to participate in the war. Both the United States and Japan played an important role in China's war. 〔 10〕
2. Evaluation of China's participation in World War I and the Paris Peace Conference.
Historians hold a negative attitude on this issue. On the other hand, Yuan Jicheng and Wang Hailin believe that this cannot be completely denied. If we calmly put China's participation in World War I and the Paris Peace Conference in the long history of China's modern struggle to get rid of semi-colonial and semi-feudal state and strive for national independence, we will feel that China's participation in the war is not unreasonable. China gained and lost at the Paris Peace Conference: first, he took back the privilege of Deao in China; Secondly, it signed treaties on Austria, Hungary and Bulgaria and became a member of the League of Nations. Third, China's protest at the peace conference not only reflected the indignation of the Chinese nation, but also promoted the new awakening and new struggle of the Chinese nation. 〔 1 1〕
Fourth, about the relationship between war and revolution.
Whether the relationship between World War I and revolution can be explained by the formula "War leads to revolution, and revolution stops war" has different opinions in historians.
1. Affirmation: Shi Sen believes that the important role of revolutionary struggle in stopping the war cannot be denied. War and revolution are both forms of class struggle. Although war is not the fundamental cause of revolution, it is often an important condition for accelerating revolution. When the revolutionary force is strong, it is possible to delay and stop the outbreak of war. Although the revolutionary movements in Germany and other countries failed to stop the First World War, they played an important role in accelerating the end of the war. Yao Hai believes that the most basic feature of the October Revolution was caused by World War I [13]. Pan Liming believes that World War I is the primary factor for the smooth realization of the February Revolution and the October Revolution in Russia. Both revolutions took place during World War I, and international imperialism had no time to take care of them, thus making the revolutions successful. 〔 14〕
2. Negative opinion: Mao Haijian believes that there is no direct and inevitable causal relationship between revolution and war. World War I did not stop because of the revolution, but ended after the victory of the October Revolution in Russia, when revolutionary movements in various countries were in the ascendant. These revolutions have played a certain role in accelerating the end of the war, but they are not the main factors, let alone the only factors. The war mainly ended in military victory or defeat. [15] Xia Ting thinks that it is correct for Soviet Russia to withdraw from World War I after the October Revolution, but one of its objective consequences is not to accelerate but to delay the end of the war. On the one hand, the Soviet Union and Russia made many concessions in exchange for Germany to stop attacking, which was of great benefit to Germany in military, political and economic aspects. The Allies were in a difficult situation and delayed Germany's surrender. On the other hand, the main reason for Germany's failure is its failure on the battlefield. The October Revolution only had a certain impact on the German people's anti-war struggle, which was only secondary to the benefits brought to Germany by the withdrawal of Soviet Russia from the war. 〔 16〕
Verb (abbreviation of verb) on the influence and position of the First World War
1. World War I
Gong Min believed that the First World War was a world-scale war, which had a far-reaching worldwide impact on the international political and economic structure. [17] Li Zhifang believes that there are four reasons for making World War I a world war: First, several major capitalist countries that rule the world control several colonies and dependent countries, and a country's participation in the war also means that its colonies and dependent countries participate in the war; Second, World War I was to carve up the world again, and the warring sides fought for it in the world. Third, in order to defeat their opponents, both warring parties tried their best to attract other countries to join; Fourth, the world has been United economically, and capital output and economic interests will inevitably affect the attitudes of countries to war. 〔 18〕
2. The impact of the First World War:
Lu Wenpu believes that the influence of World War I on the modern historical process of the world is no less than that of the October Revolution, which is closely related to it. Therefore, these two events can be regarded as a sign that world history has entered a new era, namely, the era of imperialism and proletarian revolution. [19] Xia Ting and Zhang Qinxian believe that World War I had a far-reaching and extensive impact on modern world history and should be included in the category of modern world history. 〔20〕
In addition to the above problems, some scholars have made textual research on the number of countries participating in World War I. Some people think that the number of countries participating in World War I is 39 [2 1], some people think it is 36 [22], and others think it should be 37 [23].
The Second World War
1939 to 1945, the fascist countries of Germany, Italy and Japan launched the second world war on an unprecedented scale in human history. There are 6 1 countries and regions with a population of more than 2 billion, and 51200,000 soldiers and civilians have died. Finally, Germany, Italy and Japan are three fascist countries.
The outbreak of World War II had a series of political, economic, military and historical reasons. After the First World War, none of the basic contradictions inherent in the imperialist era have been resolved, and the contradictions between capitalism and socialism, between victorious countries and defeated countries, and between imperialist victorious countries have increased. With the aggravation of the imbalance of economic, political and military development among imperialist countries, Germany, Italy and Japan, whose military strength is developing rapidly, demand a new division of the world sphere of influence, which further intensifies the contradictions between imperialism.
The world economic crisis of 1929- 1933 further aggravated this contradiction.
Germany, Italy and Japan, which embarked on the path of militarism in order to get rid of the crisis, successively launched local wars of aggression, which eventually led to the outbreak of World War II.
It was Japanese imperialism that first started the war. /KOOC-0/93/KOOC-0/September/KOOC-0/8, the Japanese Kwantung Army entrenched in Shenyang, China launched an attack on the local China garrison. 1933+ 10, the Japanese army began to invade north China. 1On July 7th, 937, the Japanese army launched an attack on China troops stationed in Lugouqiao, a southwest suburb of Beiping, and the people of China launched a full-scale War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression for eight years.
The full-scale start of World War II was Germany's invasion of Poland and even Western European countries. The war is divided into five stages.
The first stage of the war (1939 September 1 to 194 1 June 2 1), 1939 September 1, fascist Germany invaded Poland, and World War II broke out in an all-round way. On September 3, Britain and France declared war on Germany, and the dominions and colonies of the British Empire joined the Anglo-French Union (on September 3, Australia, New Zealand and India joined; On September 6, South Africa joined; September 10, Canada joined). Because Poland was almost unprepared for the war and the strength of the two sides was very different, Poland was quickly occupied by the Germans and the country perished. On September 17, Soviet troops marched into Poland and occupied western Ukraine and western Belarus. On September 28th, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a "demarcation" treaty, delineating their respective occupied areas in Poland.
From the outbreak of the war to May 1940, Britain and France pursued a pre-war foreign policy in an attempt to lead the disaster of German aggression to the Soviet Union. Fascist Germany, on the other hand, took advantage of the strategic pause and actively prepared to attack western European countries.
1940 On April 9, the fascist German army invaded Denmark and occupied the country's territory without declaring war. At the same time, began to invade Norway. With the help of pro-fascist elements headed by Gysling (the so-called "fifth column"), the fighting action of fascist Germans in Norway ended in occupying the whole territory within two months.
The military and political leaders of fascist Germany began to implement the "Yellow Plan" long before the end of the Norwegian campaign, stipulating that lightning attacks should be carried out on France through Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. The attack began at dawn on May 1940. At first, the airport was heavily raided and airborne. The main assault of the fascist German army made a detour from the north to "maginot line" and crossed the northern part of France. The commander-in-chief of the French army, who firmly adhered to the defense strategy, deployed a large number of troops in "maginot line" without establishing deep strategic reserves. Fascist German tank soldiers arrived in the English Channel on May 20th after breaking through the defense in Sedang area. /kloc-in may of 0/4, the Dutch armed forces surrendered. The Belgian army, the British Expeditionary Force and a French army were divided in the Flanders Plain. On May 28th, Jun Bi surrendered. British troops and a French army were stuck in Dunkirk, abandoned all heavy military technical equipment and then withdrew to Britain. At the beginning of June, the fascist Germans broke through the defense lines hastily established by the French army on the Somme and Aina rivers. 10 In June, the French government abandoned Paris. 1940 On June 22nd, the military action ended with the signing of the French surrender, the so-called Compiegne Armistice Agreement (1940).
On June 1940, Italy joined the war against Britain and France. In August, Italian troops invaded British Somalia, Kenya and Sudan, and in mid-September, they invaded Egypt from Libya in an attempt to March on Suez. The Greek army broke the Italian army's attempt to attack Greece from Albania. 19411-in may, the British imperial army drove the Italian army out of British Somalia, Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Italy, Somalia and Eritrea, and the Italian fleet suffered heavy losses in the Mediterranean. 194 1 At the beginning of the year, the German army formed an "African Army" and headed for North Africa under the command of General Rommel. The German-Italian Coalition forces turned to attack on March 3 1 and arrived at the Libyan-Egyptian border in the second half of April.
At the same time of the European War, the Japanese imperialist aggression against China also expanded further. The Japanese army attacked Chinese mainland and began to occupy South China, and occupied the northern part of French Indian zhina.
1940 July 16, Hitler gave the order to invade Britain (the Battle of the Sea Lions). 1In August, 940, German aviation began intensive raids on British cities.
When Germany invaded Britain, its attention had turned to the east. Closely related to the plan to invade the Soviet Union is the strengthening of the aggression alliance of Germany, Italy and Japan. In the process of preparing to invade the Soviet Union, fascist Germany invaded the Balkans, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Greece, and seized Crete.
Fascist Germany's military victory in the first stage of the war was largely due to its opponents' failure to unite their own forces and establish a unified military leadership system. By the end of the first stage of the war, almost all western and central European countries were occupied by fascist Germany and Italy or became vassals, and their economies and resources were used to prepare for the war of invading the Soviet Union.
The second stage of the war (194 1 June 22,1June 22, 942,1kloc-0/June 22, 8, 194 1 June 22, 2008) On the 22nd and 24th, Churchill and Roosevelt respectively issued statements on behalf of the British and American governments and concluded agreements to support the Soviet Union's struggle against fascist aggression.
The Soviet-German battlefield, which became the main battlefield of the Second World War, was extremely fierce from the beginning of military operations. In the first few months, the Germans occupied a large area of Russian territory. The fascist "Blitzkrieg" plan was completely bankrupt because of the Soviet Union's counterattack near Moscow and the winter general attack during1941-kloc-0/942.
19411On February 7th, Japan suddenly attacked Pearl Harbor, an American military base in the Pacific Ocean, and provoked a war against the United States. On February 8, 65438, the United States, Britain and other countries declared war on Japan. 65438+February 1 1, fascist Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.
After extensive preparations, the high command of fascist Germany began the Battle of Stalingrad, one of the biggest battles of the Second World War (1942- 1943). In the Pacific Ocean, Japan seized the sea power and occupied Hong Kong, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore Fortress, Philippines, Indonesia and other important islands. The British-American-Dutch joint fleet was hit hard, and Japan's position in the Pacific theater was strengthened, which made the United States and Britain lose all naval and air bases in the western Pacific. From the first half of 1942, the influence of the United States in the Pacific began to increase, and the Japanese fleet suffered considerable losses in the Battle of Coral Sea (May 7-8) and the Battle of Midway Island (June). By the end of 1942, it turned to Pacific defense. The Japanese imperialists were forced to give up their plans to fight the Soviet Union.
The third stage of the war (1942165438+10/9 to1943 65438+February 3 1),1942 6550. After the Soviet army seized the initiative, in the winter of 1942 and the spring of 1943, it made a devastating assault on the enemy in the battlefield areas such as North Caucasus, Donbass and Leningrad, repelling the enemy by 500- 1300 km and liberating a large territory with a population of more than 40 million before the war. Defeat the enemy's 2 18 division, destroying about 5000 guns, 7000 tanks and 65438+4000 planes. Fascist Germany was unable to make up for these heavy losses. These victories fundamentally destroyed Germany's military strength and changed the military and political situation in all battlefields of World War II. From June 194 1 to February 1943, the number of countries that declared war on Germany increased from 15 to 36.
Since the autumn of 1942, the struggle between Britain and the United States has become more active. Allied strategic aviation with larger forces was adjusted to bomb German cities, industrial targets and military targets. The efficiency against German submarines in the Atlantic traffic line has also improved. Under the unified command of General Eisenhower, the Allied High Command showed considerable enthusiasm in military operations in North Africa. In July 1943, 10, American and British troops (13 division) landed in Sicily and captured the island. At the beginning of September, they sent landing troops to land on Apennine Peninsula, but there was no great resistance from Italian army. The attack of British and American troops in Italy coincided with the anti-fascist struggle of the broad masses of people led by italian communist party, which led to the serious crisis of Mussolini system. On July 25th, Mussolini's government was overthrown. Marshal Badoglio became the head of the new government and signed an armistice agreement with the United States and Britain on September 3. The fascist group began to disintegrate.
In the fourth stage of the war (1 944 65438+1October1May 9, 945), the American and British armies launched attacks in the Pacific Ocean and Asia. In the summer and autumn of 1944, the Soviet army carried out several large-scale offensive campaigns. The Finnish government signed an armistice agreement with the Soviet Union on September 1944, withdrew from the fascist group and declared war on Germany on March 4 1945. Due to the Battle of Belarus (1944), the whole territory of Belarus and most parts of Lithuania were liberated. In late July, the Soviet army and the Polish First Army liberated Poland. 1944, the whole Moldavia and most parts of Romania were liberated. The entry of Soviet troops into Bulgaria accelerated the brewing people's uprising in that country. On September 9, the uprising broke out, overthrew the fascist monarchy, established the government of the motherland front and declared war on Germany. On August 29th, an armed uprising broke out in Slovakia. At the same time, the Yugoslav People's Liberation Army liberated Belgrade with the participation of Soviet troops. 1944 10 10 In October, Budapest was liberated after the counter-offensive of the fascist Germans in Lake Balaton was repelled. Soviet troops helped the Norwegian people and liberated northeastern Norway from fascist German aggressors.
On June1945+1October1February-June 14, the headquarters of the Soviet Supreme Command launched an attack on the Vistula River and East Prussia, crushing the fascist German group between the Vistula River and the Oder River and liberating most of Poland's territory. The storm occupied Konigsberg and wiped out the enemy's Zemland Group. In the first half of April, the German heavy groups in East Pomerania and Silesia were annihilated one after another, but the Baltic coast between Ze and Oder was liberated. In order to coordinate anti-fascist Germany's actions and solve the problems of post-war European arrangements, a summit meeting of the Soviet Union, the United States and Britain was held in Yalta on February 4-11. At the beginning of April, the allied forces surrounded about 20 divisions of fascist Germans in Ruhr. The Germans on the western front actually stopped resisting. From the second half of April to the beginning of May, the Allies reached the Elbe River, occupied erfurt and Nuremberg, and entered Czechoslovakia and western Austria. British troops arrived in Schwelien, Lubeck and Hamburg. On may 2, the german army group c in Italy surrendered. On April 16, three Soviet troops launched a massive and extremely tense battle in Berlin, in which the German Berlin Group was in the battle.
Surrounded by panic.
After the conquest of Berlin, there was a large-scale surrender on the western front. After Hitler committed suicide (April 30th), the patchwork Deng Nici government reached a partial surrender agreement with the United States and Britain without stopping fighting the Soviet Union. At midnight on May 8, representatives of the German high command, headed by Marshal keitel, signed the unconditional surrender of the fascist Germans in the Soviet-occupied Berlin suburb of Karhorst. Entrusted by the Soviet government, Soviet Marshal zhukov accepted unconditional surrender with the representatives of the United States, Britain and France.
In the fifth stage of the war (1May 9 to September 2, 945), during the periods of 1944 and 1945, the allied armed forces carried out naval campaigns and landing campaigns in the Pacific theater to smash the islands occupied by the Japanese fleet and the Japanese People's Liberation Army. 1945 In May, among the aggressor countries that started the war, only Japan continued to fight. On August 9, the Soviet armed forces began to take military action against the Japanese Kwantung Army assembled in Manchuria. On August 10, the People's Republic of Mongolia took part in the war against Japan. The kwantung army was completely defeated in a short time. Northeast China, Korea, South sakhalin island (South sakhalin island) and Thousand Islands were all liberated. The Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army led by China have won a series of great victories against Japan in various battlefields. The United States dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, which accelerated the failure of Japan's war of aggression. 1September 2, 945, the signing ceremony of the Japanese surrender was held. World War II is over.
The Second World War had a great impact on human destiny and was a major turning point in human history. World War II was launched by the fascist countries of Germany, Japan and Italy. Their purpose is not only to compete for colonies, but also to establish their own world hegemony and enslave people all over the world. The victory of the anti-fascist war saved all countries from fascist slavery and the destruction of world civilization. This is a blessing in disguise.
The collapse of international fascist forces fundamentally changed the distribution of world political forces and determined the development of the whole post-war world. Many nations and countries have won independence and liberation. The people of Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, the German Democratic Republic, the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam, China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and other countries, under the leadership of * * * and the Workers' Party, overthrew the rule of the bourgeoisie and landlords, completed profound social and political changes and economic life changes, and embarked on the road of socialist development. The establishment of the world socialist system has become the biggest event with world historical significance after the victory of the great October Revolution.
As the biggest armed struggle in human history, World War II has the characteristics of huge scale of military action, unprecedented development of military production and heavy losses of personnel and materials. The total war lasted 2 194 days (6 years); Military operations cover Europe, Asia and Africa, as well as the vast sea areas of the Atlantic Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean.
The number of conscripts has reached 1. 1 100 million. During the war years, the anti-Hitler countries alone produced 588,000 planes, 236,000 tanks and 6,543.8+0.47 million cannons.
Germany produces about 109000 aircraft, 46000 tanks, more than 435000 guns, mortars and other weapons.
World War II was the most destructive war in history. In Europe alone, the material losses caused by war damage (according to incomplete statistics) reached $260 billion (calculated by value 1938); The direct military expenditure of each belligerent country accounts for 60-70% of its gross national income. The army died169,000 people, and the residents died 34.3 million people, with a total death of 5120,000 people, and the Soviet Union alone reached more than 20 million people. This is a great destruction of human material civilization.
Radar and other radio electronic equipment, rockets, the first jet plane, cruise missiles and ballistic rockets were used for the first time in World War II, and nuclear weapons and radar were used in the final stage of the war. The role of air force, national air defense force, diving fleet, airborne troops, engineers and technicians has been enhanced. These have had a far-reaching and significant impact on the military thinking, war thinking and army building of post-war countries.