Throughout its history, the Russian state took part or started many bloody wars, the result of which was an incredible expansion of the influence and borders of the empire, as well as the ambiguous attitude of other countries and their peoples. How many wars has Russia participated in its current form?
World War I
The First World War turned into a collapse of the empire for Russia. Together with extremely rare successes at the front, the number of victims among the Russian soldiers was huge, the lack of equipment, medicine and food was fatal. The beginning of the war was with varying success, and already 1915 marked a series of defeats of the Russian army - the empire lost part of Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states, completely lost control of Poland. 1916 gave hope for an early victory over Germany, but the war dragged on. This contributed to a new wave of defeats in 1917. The level of discontent in the country itself grew rapidly and contributed to the start of a new war, but already within the country. Russia participated in the First World War precisely at a time when it was least prepared for it. Many demanded an end to the war with Germany. Thus, the Brest Peace was signed in March 1918 by the efforts of the new government. It was the end of World War I, where Russia participated.
Civil War 1917-1922
Russia in the modern sense, both the Russian people and the state, was formed after the revolution, and subsequently the war between the socialists - the "red" Bolsheviks - and the imperialists - the "white" Mensheviks. The rapidly growing degree of tension due to defeats at the front during the First World War, along with mediocre government, contributed to the emergence of socialist political forces that subsequently seized power in the Russian Empire, turning it at the end of the Civil War into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, formed 29 December 1922 The class war provoked a lot of persecution - the "red" and "white" terror, the mass extermination of opponents of a particular regime, which left a huge and bloody imprint on the entire history of Russia. The newly formed state pursued an aggressive policy and gave rise to the polarization of the world.
Soviet-Polish war 1920
The new Russian state, as expected, sought to expand its influence in its region as much as possible. The foundation was laid in the war with Poland. Like all the wars in which Russia participated, or rather, started, the goal was to expand the influence of the state and increase the coverage of territories. In the Russian chronicle, the clash is called the Polish Front.
The prerequisite and preparation of the soil was the breakdown of all treaties and pacts with post-war Poland on August 29, 1919 by Vladimir Lenin. After the political vacuum created due to the First World War, the Soviets decided to fill it.
After prolonged hostilities in Belarus, Polish troops won. Russia lost a part of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus and was obliged to pay 18 million rubles of reparations.
Winter war 1939-1940
Some sources attribute it to the First World War. The Soviet government, under the pretext of the invasion of Germany by Finland, demands to deploy Red Army troops on the territory of the latter. Also, according to negotiations in the autumn of 1939, an exchange of territories was to take place. Finland would receive more land, but less significant. After the refusal, both sides began to prepare for war.
As an excuse, Russia chose to fire at its units, while blaming the Finnish side. By the war, the Soviets tried to get what they couldn’t peacefully, and at the cost of life 25 thousand Finnish and 120 thousand Soviet soldiers of the USSR received the necessary territories.
The Great Patriotic War
The largest and most bloody war, which claimed the lives of more than 27 million Soviet citizens. The Soviet Union could not agree on areas of influence with Nazi Germany over the territories of the Baltic states and the Balkan Peninsula, and without declaring war on June 22, 1941, the Germans attacked the USSR. If Russia participated in World War I without sufficient preparation, then Russia was already more or less ready for this war.
Until now, this war has caused a lot of controversy, but everyone agrees that this monstrous event, which claimed millions of victims, should never happen again. The Soviet Union paid too high a price for the victory, but this provided an end to the development of fascism throughout the world.
These were the most large-scale wars in which Russia participated.
Russia's participation in local conflicts
The wars in which Russia participated outside its territory are numerous, but not large-scale. Their goal was to support forces loyal to her. There were about 50 of them:
- The fighting in Spain 1936-1939 Military experts of the USSR arrived to help the republican government. They were engaged in equipping the army, some Soviet troops directly participated in the hostilities. The assistance was mainly aimed at sending specialists to the republic, which contributed to an increase in the production of military equipment. A total of 648 aircraft and 347 tanks were delivered.
- A huge number of conflicts with the Basmachi in 1922-1931. The result is the complete elimination of Basmachism in Central Asia.
- The Soviet-Japanese border conflicts of 1938, also called the Khasan battles, the pretext of which was a disputed territory near Lake Hassan. The reason was political and diplomatic support for China. The result was the preservation of the borders of 1860.
- Khalkhin-Gol war of 1939. An undeclared conflict at the border of the Mongolian People's Republic and Manzhou-go. Another skirmish of the USSR and Japan. The defeat of Japan was the main reason for the attack on the Soviet Union during World War II.
- The unification of Western Ukraine, Western Belarus and the USSR in 1939. This was the main consequence of the signed non-aggression pact of Molotov-Ribbentrop and the annexation of Poland. After the collapse of the USSR, these territories remained behind Ukraine and Belarus.
- The fighting in China. As early as the 1920s, the Soviet Union actively provided support to the Chinese Communist Party. So the Russian side sent its military specialists and weapons in the period 1924-1927. A lot of clashes with the Japanese army took place in China, but they were unsuccessful. In total, according to various estimates, about 20 conflicts, including border ones.
- Hungarian Revolution 1956. Armed rebellion against the socialist system of the people's republic. In November, it was crushed by the Soviet army.
- Algeria, 1962-1964. The Soviet Union supported the national liberation movement, supplying resources, military equipment and military specialists.
- Among the eastern conflicts there were a huge number of wars of Egypt in the period 1962-1974. The Russian side did not participate directly, but only supplied the necessary resources and a limited number of troops. In total, there are about 6 wars in which Russia participated.
Hostilities in Africa and the Far East
In the period 1962-1989, the Soviet Union participated in more than 30 local conflicts. These are the wars in the Yemen Arab Republic, more than 10 years of conflict in Vietnam, military operations in Syria, Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, another 10-year war in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Laos.
Wars of the Russian Federation
The Russian Federation waged the Chechen war in 1994-1996, the counter-terrorism war in the North Caucasus, fought in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
It is rather difficult to say in which wars Russia participated. The number of local conflicts in each period is huge, and participation is either controversial or silent.