The root cause of the First World War was the aggravation of the unbalanced development of capitalism during the imperialist period, which led to the strong demand of the later imperialist countries to carve up the world again. 19 at the end of the 20th century, capitalism developed from the stage of free competition to the stage of imperialism characterized by monopoly. Governments, on behalf of their own monopoly capital groups, actively pursue the policy of foreign expansion and aggression and fight for colonies by force all over the world. Britain, Russia and France, the old colonial empires, occupy most of the colonies in the world, while Germany, Japan, the United States and other emerging imperialist countries with rapid economic development and rapid expansion of national strength have relatively few colonies. This imbalance between economic development and colonial land distribution has led to sharp contradictions among imperialist countries, and emerging imperialist countries strongly hope to carve up the colonies of old imperialist countries. Secondly, the periodic economic crisis in capitalist countries and the intensification of domestic class contradictions have also made the rule of imperialist countries unstable. Countries have expanded their troops to prepare for war and sought alliances in an attempt to ease domestic class contradictions by launching wars of aggression abroad.
As early as May 1882, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy signed an alliance treaty in Vienna, forming an aggressive military and political group-the Allies. During the period of 1892- 1907, Russia, France and Britain signed treaties one after another, and gradually formed treaty countries opposite to the allies. The opposition between the two major military blocs has accelerated the pace of both sides' expansion and preparation for war and their struggle for strategic positions. The Balkans and the Mediterranean Sea have become the focus of contention between the two sides. 1905- 19 13 two major military groups have created a series of international crises and even triggered local wars in order to compete for strategic positions. With the deepening of capitalist economic crisis and political crisis, imperialist groups are eager to find a way out from the war.
Before the war broke out, the two major military groups stepped up their armament expansion. Compared with the total economic and military strength of the warring parties, the Allies have an advantage. 19 14 years, the total population of Britain, France and Russia (including colonies) alone reached 704.5 million. When the mobilization was completed, the army strength reached 9.777 million; The total population of Germany and Austria (including German colonies) is only 65.438+0.3 billion. After mobilization, the army has 6.34 million troops. In terms of air force and naval power, the Allies are also obviously stronger than the Allies. There are 258 in Britain, 156 in France and 263 in Russia. There are only 232 military aircraft in Germany. Before the war began, there were 762 surface ships and 74 submarines in the naval establishment of the treaty countries; Germany and Austria-Hungary have 403 surface ships and 35 submarines.
The strategic policies of the main participating countries are all formulated according to their respective aggressive purposes, and their similarities are as follows: one-sided emphasis on strategic attack and contempt for defense; They all tried to rely on one or two decisive battles to decide the outcome of the war; Based on relying on pre-war material reserves to fight short-term wars, we failed to tap the economic potential to meet the needs of wars and prepare for long-term wars. Reflected in the war plan, all countries regard fighting a fast and short-term war as the premise of making war plans. In order to prevent the east and west lines from fighting at the same time, according to the famous Schrieffen Plan (or Schrieffen-Thumb Plan), Germany is prepared to conquer France in 6-8 weeks, then move eastward, and defeat Russia in a few months to end the war. In view of France's great desire to recapture alsace-lorraine, Germany's thinking of fighting against France is to contain and attract the main force of the French army with troops deployed on the German-French border, and at the same time, with a strong main attack group, suddenly transfer back to the hinterland of France through neutral Belgium and attack the main force of the French army from behind.
On the battlefield in eastern Europe, the Russian army was contained with a small number of troops. At sea, concentrate the main force of the navy against the British navy, and at the same time contain the Russian navy in the Baltic Sea with a small amount of troops.
The war plan of Austria-Hungary is controlled by Germany, and it is ready to fight with Russia as the main force, while fighting Serbia and Montenegro in the Balkans. France's battle plan is to concentrate its main forces in the northeast of France, attack alsace-lorraine area according to the development of the war situation, and counter the German invasion. The main task of the French navy is to ensure the maritime traffic in the Mediterranean and block the Austro-Hungarian navy in the Adriatic Sea. Russia's war plan is full of strong offensive colors, and it is ready to attack Germany's East Prussia and Austria-Hungary's Galicia at the same time. Britain plans to push the burden of land operations in the war to France and Russia, and only send a few expeditionary forces to cooperate with the French army. The navy is used to ensure the safety of the communication lines between Britain and the allied forces, destroy the maritime communication lines of Germany, block the German navy, and wait for an opportunity to compete with the enemy fleet for the total decisive battle for sea control.
Throughout the war plans of various countries, all countries have exaggerated the role of purely military factors, all of which are limited to competing for their own interests, fighting alone, and all services are also fighting alone. Therefore, countries do not coordinate the actions of the army and navy well. There is no general joint operation plan between the allies. 1965438+On June 28th, 2004, Flantz Ferdinand, Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary, was assassinated in Sarajevo to show off his force against Serbia.
This incident became the fuse of the First World War. On July 28th, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. According to relevant treaties, Russia announced the national general mobilization on July 30th to support Serbia. 1 In August, Germany declared war on Russia. On August 3rd, Germany declared war on France. On August 4th, Britain declared war on Germany. The war began in full swing.
The war that first started on the European continent quickly spread to the Middle East, the Far East and parts of Africa. Among them, the European battlefield is the main battlefield, which consists of the western battlefield, the eastern battlefield, the Balkan battlefield and the Italian battlefield. The participating countries also conducted many naval battles and used the air force in actual combat for the first time. According to the course of the war, World War I can be divided into the following stages: 19 14, the plan of quick victory between the two sides went bankrupt, and the western front changed from mobile warfare to positional warfare. After the war broke out, the German army as the main attack and the troops as the containment task acted as planned. On August 2 1-25, the Germans fought many battles with the French and British expeditionary forces on the northeast border of France, namely "19 14 border war". The Germans broke through France's defense and marched into the heart of France. In September, the French army organized the "Battle of the Marne River" to counter the Germans, forcing them to retreat south and disintegrating their quick-decision strategy. At this point, military operations in most parts of the western front began to form positional warfare.
However, from September to June of 10, in northern France, the German army and the British and French allied forces bypassed each other's flank and carried out continuous mobile operations. On the eastern front, the Germans in East Prussia defeated the attack of Russian superior forces, forcing Russian troops to retreat to Niemann River and Bo River. But the Russian army defeated the troops of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Galicia. In order to help Austria-Hungary, Germany launched a large-scale attack on the Russian army, and the Germans suffered heavy losses. The expansion of the Eastern Front War in Germany put it in a disadvantageous position to fight on two fronts at the same time.
In August 19 14, Japan took advantage of the situation in the Far East and declared war on Germany, seizing the opportunity to seize Germany's interests in China, and the battlefield in the Far East appeared. Turkey announced its joining the Allied Forces in June191411,which opened up a new battlefield in the Near East. The war situation has become more complicated. In addition, the competition between Britain, France and Germany in North Africa is also very fierce. At this stage, the naval battles between Britain and Germany were mainly two naval battles in August and 1 1 in Helgolan, North Sea, and the naval battle in Falkland Islands, South Atlantic in June of 5438+0. Around the blockade and anti-blockade, the two sides carried out a series of maritime battles of different scales.
19 15, the focus of the war shifted to the eastern front, and the eastern front battlefield entered a state of confrontation. The war made both sides consume huge manpower and material resources, and the reserve soldiers and logistics supplies of the army were seriously difficult, forcing countries to step up the general mobilization of the national economy. In order to recharge their batteries and regain their vitality, Britain and France basically turned to strategic defense in the western front. In order to relieve the pressure of the Germans on the western front, they asked Russia to strengthen its attack on the eastern front. Germany changed its strategic policy and concentrated its forces on attacking Russia in order to defeat Russia in one fell swoop and then Britain and France. 19151-In March, the Russian army launched two large-scale winter offensives against the German-Austrian Coalition forces, both of which were disastrous. Germany seized fighter planes and concentrated its superior forces. At the beginning of May, it launched the famous Battle of Gorcha in the middle of the Russian front, forcing the Russian army to retreat across the board and suffered heavy losses. The Germans went deep into Russia with victory in an attempt to force Russia out of the war. In May of the same year, Italy, a former member of the Allies, turned to declare war on Austria-Hungary, opening up a new war zone in the southeast of Austria-Hungary. 10 from September to June, the entire eastern front also changed from mobile warfare to positional warfare. In June 5438+10 of the same year, Bulgaria participated in the Allied War, and the German-Austrian Coalition forces occupied Serbia with superior forces.
This year, the war on the western front was relatively calm. Taking advantage of the eastward shift of the Germans, the British and French allied forces launched several small-scale offensive campaigns in an attempt to contain the Germans and reduce the pressure on the Russian front. The Germans also launched several partial counterattacks. Among them, during the battle of Hippert in April-May, the Germans used poison gas in large quantities for the first time.
19 16, the focus of the war shifted to the western front again, and the allies gradually gained the strategic initiative. 19 16, Germany once again turned its attack focus to the western front, striving to defeat France. From February1year, Germany and France launched the Battle of Verdun, which lasted for 10 months. Due to the shortage of troops, the Germans stormed and suffered heavy casualties, and gradually went to the final failure. At the same time, in order to relieve the pressure on Verdun, the British and French allied forces launched a fierce attack on the German solid defense line on the Somme, which was called the Battle of Somme in history.
In this campaign, the British army used tanks for the first time. According to the strategic policy of allied coordinated attack, the Russian army on the eastern front launched a large-scale attack on the German army in order to cooperate with the British and French allied forces on the western front, breaking through the defense lines of the Austro-Hungarian imperial army. During this period, the Italian army also carried out several offensive campaigns of different scales against the troops of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In August of the same year, Romania fought in the Allies. On the naval battle field of 19 16, from May 3 1 day to June 1 day, the main forces of the British and German navies carried out the largest naval battle in western jutland during the whole war.
19 17, Germany turned to full defense, Russia broke out in revolution, and the United States entered the war. After two and a half years of war, Germany consumed huge manpower and material resources, but the strength of the allied forces increased, and the battlefield situation became increasingly unfavorable to Germany. The Germans were forced to turn to the eastern and western defense, and at the same time hoped to launch an "unrestricted submarine war" at sea in an attempt to cut off the British-French maritime communication line. The United States, which made a fortune in the war, used Germany as an excuse to announce the resumption of "unrestricted submarine warfare" and attempted to form a German-Mexican anti-American alliance with Mexico, and declared war on Germany in April 19 17, becoming the pillar and direct participant of the Allies in finance and military supplies. At the same time, it also enables the United States to participate in re-dividing the world. 19 17, the main battle of the western front was the "Neville offensive" launched by the French army against the Germans from April to May. Due to the lack of preparation of the German army, the French attack suffered a fiasco and caused large-scale riots in the French army. In order to cooperate with the French army, the British army also launched several limited attacks respectively, and no significant progress was made. On the eastern front, in September of that year, the Germans launched the Riga campaign, which was the last large-scale military operation on the eastern front. 165438+ (Russian calendar 65438+1October 25th)1October 7th, October socialist revolution broke out in Russia, which opened a new era in human history. The Soviet government headed by Lenin announced its withdrawal from the just war of the Empire.
19 18, the allied forces launched a general attack and the allied forces collapsed. After Russia withdrew from the war, Germany got a breathing space. 19 18, Germany concentrated its forces on the western front in an attempt to force Britain and France to yield before the main American forces arrived in France. Britain and France decided to hold their ground on the western front and launch a general attack after the arrival of the main American forces. In order to achieve unified command, French general Fauci was appointed as the supreme military commander of the Allied Forces. From July to September, British and French troops launched local attacks and made progress. In September, the American Expeditionary Force led by Commander Pershing launched the Battle of Saint Michel. On September 26, the British, French and American allied forces launched a general attack. Under the pressure of allied forces, German hindenburg line completely collapsed. Bulgaria surrendered on September 29th, Turkey1October 30th,110, Austria-Hungary1October 30th. 165438+1At the beginning of October,1month revolution broke out in Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated, the Social Democratic Party formed an interim government, and announced the establishment of the Republic of China. On June165438+1October 1 1 day, the Comigne Forest Armistice Agreement was signed and Germany surrendered. World War I, which lasted four years and three months, ended in the victory of the Allies.
The First World War brought unprecedented disasters to people all over the world. During the war, the allied forces mobilized 42010.8 million troops, with losses of 22010.5 million, including deaths of 510.5 million. Allied forces mobilized 22.85 million troops, with losses of more than 6.5438+0.54 million, including 3.8 million deaths. The direct war cost of the warring parties is about 654.38 $+086.3 billion.
World War I changed the balance of power among imperialist countries. Germany was defeated and ceded land for compensation; The Austro-Hungarian Empire completely collapsed; Although Britain and France won, they were weakened and weakened in the war. The United States made huge profits in the war and became an economic power. After the war, imperialism enslaved and plundered defeated countries and slaughtered weak countries, such as the Treaty of Versailles. Although it temporarily adjusted the relationship between the victorious imperialist countries, it did not eliminate the fundamental contradiction between them, which laid the groundwork for the outbreak of the Second World War.
The First World War promoted the revolutionary movements in various countries. Under the influence of the Russian October Revolution, revolutions broke out in Germany, Hungary and other countries, and the colonial and semi-colonial national liberation movements flourished. 1919-1920 The Paris Peace Conference became a meeting for the imperialist powers to divide up the spoils. Soviet Russia was rejected and hostile; Small countries such as Serbia are discriminated against. As a member of the Allies, China did not taste the fruits of victory at the meeting, but became the target of being slaughtered by powerful people. Japan colluded with Britain, France, the United States and other countries in an attempt to force China to recognize the transfer of German rights and interests in Shandong, China to Japan, which aroused strong opposition from the people of China and led to the outbreak of the Great May 4th Movement.
The experience of the First World War had a great influence on the development of military art. The emergence of various military theories after the war, such as total war, blitzkrieg, tank winning theory and air force winning theory, summarized the proven achievements of the war from different angles.