During the 19th century, practically 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 decided. Leading states: England, France, Russia, Germany, and a little later, Austria-Hungary, did not like their economic situation, and no one was going to compromise.
The development of events was not stopped even by close blood relations - the rulers of Russia, England and Germany were relatives. Above all, at that time national interests were put.
It so happened that Britain and France were the main allies of Russia in the First World War .
Anticipating a critical situation, many states have converted factories to military needs. Weapons, gunpowder, shell, cartridge, shipbuilding and other industrial facilities worked to supply troops.
National interests of Russia
As you know, the reason for the outbreak of war was the assassination of Archduke F. Ferdinand and his wife, a Serbian nationalist in 1914 in Sarajevo.
But, of course, this was not the real reason.
For Russia, the need has arisen to regulate economic relations with Europe, which was greatly facilitated by the development of trade in Germany and Austria-Hungary. Industrial goods from Germany “pushed” Russia from its traditional trading positions and also began to fill the country's domestic market.
This state of affairs could not but cause concern among the large landowners of our country and the industrial magnates living in it. In particular, these concerns were supported by Petersburg.
At the same time, Germany was actively developing allied relations with Austria-Hungary. It was with this power that Russia fought for supremacy 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.
Allies of Russia in the First World War
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 began to be called the Entente.
So, here is the full list of allied countries of Russia in the First World War:
- Andorra
- Belgium;
- Bolivia;
- Brazil;
- China;
- Costa Rica;
- Cuba;
- Ecuador;
- Greece;
- Guatemala;
- Haiti;
- Honduras;
- Italy (May 23, 1915);
- Japan;
- Liberia;
- Montenegro
- Nicaragua;
- Panama;
- Peru;
- Portugal;
- Romania;
- San Marino
- Serbia
- Siam
- USA;
- Uruguay.
Maritime Impact Agreement
Actually, interesting Russia was reduced to weakening the influence of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Claims were also made on a number of German lands and the need to gain control over the Turkish Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits belonging to Turkey.
After Turkey sided with 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 will have in the First World War.
Victories and Failures in 1914
After losing the war with Japan, Russia was able to draw conclusions about the state of its armed forces. And by 1914, preparations for hostilities were much better.
But the allies of Russia in World War I did not take into account the factors of a prolonged military conflict. All this could not but complicate the relationship between these states. For a speedy victory, Russia sought to coordinate actions, but at the same time, it could not even allow the defeat of the allies. And taking into account such factors, our country had to go towards everything to the other members of the Entente.
During the First World War, it was Russia that had very large human and food resources. If taken in percentage terms, it was precisely its troops in numbers that accounted for about 40% of all the Entente armies.
The task of the Russian army was to forge and attract the armed forces of Germans and Bulgarians. In addition, she took more prisoners than the country's military allies of Russia (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 in France in August 1914, the First World War began. Hoping to win the blitzkrieg, the main forces of Germany rushed to France. At the same time, the militarily weak 8th army of East Prussia was engaged in the east.
Despite the fact that more than twenty states were Russia's allies in the First World War, Austria-Hungary was going to conduct 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 100,000 captured soldiers and about 400 guns were captured by the Russian army. Eastern Galicia was lost.
As a result of this victory, the situation of the Serbian army was greatly eased.
At the same time, Russia's military allies successfully fought on the territory of East Prussia. Above all, the desire was set to maintain an offensive impulse and launch an attack on Berlin. On August 20 of that 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 success of the Entente was prevented by serious miscalculations in 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 throw military forces to the east. And this helped ease the pressure on Russia's allies. Such tactical movements of the German command were not left unattended by the allies of Russia in the First World War. Major victories were won near Marne.
Against the backdrop of such terrific defeats, the German plan for a lightning war with France failed. Germany's hopes of a quick victory were shattered.
Turkey joining the war
By early October, German forces, together with the Austrians, launched offensive operations on the eastern front, but the Warsaw-Ivangorod battle predetermined the complete victory of the Russians. German-Austrians were therefore forced to again retreat to their borders.
An attempt was made by our troops to break into central Germany, but it was unsuccessful. Such activity of the Russian troops, however, had a positive effect on the outcome of the fighting in Ysera and Ypres.
By December of that year, the Germans had to double the size of their troops on the eastern front. This was done taking into account how the military allies of Russia fought.
Turkey entered the fighting by November 1914. Some success was initially planned on the Caucasus 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 efforts on leading Russia out of 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 suffered a series of defeats. And there was a threat of the encirclement of Russian troops in Poland.
But the talented general M.V. Alekseev managed to take advantage of the mistakes of the enemy and disrupt the plan of the German command. For this, it was necessary to leave a number of territories - Russian Poland, part of Belarus and a number of Baltic states. This allowed us to get out of a threatening position and gain a foothold at new frontiers.
As a result of battles on the eastern front, Russia's military allies were finally able to take a break, 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 brilliant military commander N.N. Yudenich commanded the Russian troops in the Turkish direction. Such successes had a positive effect 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 did not allow 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 Turkish genocide.
War at sea
While the First World War could begin, the allies of Russia did not possess sufficient forces at sea. But the Black Sea Fleet of Russia had a significant advantage over the enemy in combat training and in the experience of warfare, 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 another 9 destroyers, 2 aircraft (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 the help of Turkey provided by Germany, Russia's allies (army and navy) had a significant advantage in the Black Sea.
During combat battles with the Turkish Navy, Russia applied new methods and tactical innovations received from diverse power units. Special ship crews were created to constantly support troops on land and escort transport ships that transported military cargo.
Landing ships in conjunction with aviation support were also used in combat battles. Unusual looked and adjustment of fire on coastal targets using ship radio stations.
New combat skills
Under the blockade of the Bosphorus and the Coal region, Russia's allies (army and navy) ensured the wide interaction of submarines and naval ships. Another interesting fact was the cooperation of submarines and aviation to combat 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 many diverse problems using ships, aircraft and submarines.
But the Russian fleet and command managed and were able to inflict tangible damage to the German-Turkish fleet.
Interaction within the Entente
Germany in 1916 was unable to achieve victory over Russia in a strategic plan and shifted all its attention to the western front.
The plans of the German command were to inflict as much damage as possible on the Anglo-French troops. The battle of Verdun was especially significant for the battles that abounded in World War I. The allies of Russia were able to get a break and time to prepare for hostilities when the Russian army launched an offensive near Lake Naroch.
And although this battle ended in failure, it positively affected the position 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.
What is noteworthy, the greatest success was achieved by Russia in the summer of 1916. During the general offensive of the South-Western Front, the so-called Brusilovsky breakthrough was made , in which the Austrian army was again defeated. Only the German intervention was able to rectify the situation, which allowed to stop the advance of the Russian troops. As a result of this, the battles near Kovel ended for our armies with complete failure.
Revolution in Russia
New major offensives were planned for 1917, in which the First World War could and could end. The allies of Russia also built their offensive plans. But these plans have remained so. The reasons why they broke are diverse. But basically these are socio-economic problems that have accumulated and matured in Russia for a long time. And against the backdrop of a decline 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 of this taken together led to revolutionary upheavals that broke the existing socio-political system in 1917.
They completely destroyed all those efforts and successes that were achieved by Russia.
Although it should be remembered that even in these conditions, the situation at the front for the Allies could be much more difficult. Only Russia was pulling on itself, even under these conditions, more than a third of German troops. Also, Austrian divisions were attracted to it and remained in battle formations.
Now that this has already become history, we must remember not only which allied countries of Russia participated in that war, but also the fact that it was our armies, equipped precisely with our ancestors, that helped the Entente to defeat.