Russia in the First World War: briefly about the main events. Important dates and events of World War I When did World War I begin?

First World War is one of the greatest tragedy in the history of the world. Millions of victims who died as a result of the geopolitical games of the powerful. This war has no clear winners. Completely changed political map, four empires collapsed, in addition, the center of influence shifted to the American continent.

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Political situation before the conflict

Five empires existed on the world map: the Russian Empire, the British Empire, the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires, as well as such superpowers as France, Italy, Japan, tried to take their place in world geopolitics.

To strengthen their positions, the states tried to form unions.

The most powerful were the Triple Alliance, which included the central powers - the German, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, and the Entente: Russia, Great Britain, France.

Background and objectives of the First World War

Main background and goals:

1. Alliances. According to the treaties, if one of the countries of the union declared war, then others should take their side. Behind this stretches a chain of involvement of states in the war. This is exactly what happened when the First World War began.
2. Colonies. Powers that did not have colonies or did not have enough of them sought to fill this gap, and the colonies sought to free themselves.
3. Nationalism. Each power considered itself unique and the most powerful. many empires claimed world domination.
4. Arms race. Their power had to be backed up by military power, so the economies of the major powers worked for the defense industry.
5. Imperialism. Every empire, if not expanding, is collapsing. There were five then. Each sought to expand its borders at the expense of weaker states, satellites and colonies. Especially the young German Empire, which was formed after the Franco-Prussian war, aspired to this.
6. Terrorist attack. This event was the reason for the global conflict. The Austro-Hungarian Empire annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina. The heir to the throne, Prince Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sofia arrived in the acquired territory - Sarajevo. There was a fatal assassination attempt by a Bosnian Serb, Gavrilo Princip. Because of the assassination of the prince, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, which led to a chain of conflicts.

Speaking briefly about the First World War, US President Thomas Woodrow Wilson believed that it did not start for any reason, but cumulatively for all at once.

Important! Gavrilo Princip was arrested, but the death penalty could not be applied to him, because he was not 20 years old. The terrorist was sentenced to twenty years in prison, but he died of tuberculosis four years later.

When did World War I start

Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to Serbia to purge all authorities and the army, eliminate persons with anti-Austrian convictions, arrest members of terrorist organizations, and also allow the Austrian police to enter Serbia for investigation.

Two days were given to fulfill the ultimatum. Serbia agreed with everything except the admission of the Austrian police.

July 28th, under the pretext of not complying with the ultimatum, Austro-Hungarian Empire declares war on Serbia. From this date officially count down the time when the First World War began.

The Russian Empire has always supported Serbia, therefore it began to mobilize. On July 31, Germany delivered an ultimatum to stop mobilization, and gave 12 hours to complete. The response announced that the mobilization was taking place exclusively against Austria-Hungary. Despite the fact that Wilhelm ruled the German Empire, a relative of Nicholas the Emperor of the Russian Empire, August 1, 1914 Germany declares war on the Russian Empire. Then Germany concludes an alliance with the Ottoman Empire.

After the German invasion of neutral Belgium, Britain did not remain neutral, declaring war on the Germans. August 6 Russia declares war on Austria-Hungary. Italy is neutral. August 12 Austria-Hungary begins to fight with Britain and France. Japan opposes Germany on August 23. Further along the chain, more and more new states are involved in the war, one after another, all over the world. The United States of America enters only on December 7, 1917.

Important! England first used tracked fighting vehicles, now known as tanks, during the First World War. The word "tank" means tank. So British intelligence tried to disguise the transfer of equipment under the guise of tanks with fuel and lubricants. Subsequently, this name was assigned to combat vehicles.

The main events of the First World War and the role of Russia in the conflict

The main battles are unfolding on the western front, in the direction of Belgium and France, as well as the East - from Russia. With the accession of the Ottoman Empire began a new round of operations in the eastern direction.

Chronology of Russia's participation in the First World War:

• East Prussian operation. The Russian army crossed the border of East Prussia towards Königsberg. 1st Army from the east, 2nd - from the west of the Masurian Lakes. The Russians won the first battles, but misjudged the situation, which led to a further defeat. A large number of soldiers became prisoners, many died, so had to fight back.
• Galician operation. Huge scale battle. Five armies were involved here. The front line was oriented towards Lvov, it was 500 km. Later, the front broke up into separate positional battles. Then began the rapid offensive of the Russian army against Austria-Hungary, its troops were pushed back.
• Warsaw show. After a series of successful operations from different sides, the front line became crooked. There were many forces thrown to her alignment. The city of Lodz was alternately occupied by one or the other side. Germany launched an attack on Warsaw, but it was unsuccessful. Although the Germans failed to capture Warsaw and Lodz, the Russian offensive was thwarted. Russia's actions forced Germany to fight on two fronts, thanks to which a large-scale offensive against France was thwarted.
• The entry of Japan to the side of the Entente. Japan demanded that Germany withdraw its troops from China, after the refusal it announced the start of hostilities, taking the side of the Entente countries. it significant event for Russia, since now there was no need to worry about the threat from Asia, besides, the Japanese helped with provisions.
• The accession of the Ottoman Empire to the side of the Triple Alliance. The Ottoman Empire hesitated for a long time, but nevertheless took the side of the Triple Alliance. The first act of her aggression was the attacks on Odessa, Sevastopol, Feodosia. After that, on November 15, Russia declared war on Turkey.
• August operation. It took place in the winter of 1915, and received its name from the city of Augustow. Here the Russians could not resist, they had to retreat to new positions.
• Carpathian operation. There were attempts on both sides to cross the Carpathian mountains, but the Russians failed to do so.
• Gorlitsky breakthrough. The army of Germans and Austrians concentrated their forces near Gorlitsa, in the direction of Lvov. On May 2, an offensive was carried out, as a result of which Germany was able to occupy Gorlitsa, Kielce and Radom provinces, Brody, Ternopil, Bukovina. The second wave of the Germans managed to recapture Warsaw, Grodno, Brest-Litovsk. In addition, it was possible to occupy Mitava and Courland. But off the coast of Riga, the Germans were defeated. To the south, the offensive of the Austro-German troops continued, Lutsk, Vladimir-Volynsky, Kovel, Pinsk were occupied there. By the end of 1915 the front line has stabilized. Germany threw the main forces in the direction of Serbia and Italy. As a result of great failures at the front, the heads of the army commanders "flew". Emperor Nicholas II, took over not only the management of Russia, but also the direct command of the army.
• Brusilovsky breakthrough. The operation is named after the commander A.A. Brusilov, who won this fight. As a result of a breakthrough (May 22, 1916) the Germans were defeated they had to retreat with huge losses, leaving Bukovina and Galicia.
• Internal conflict. The Central Powers began to become significantly exhausted from waging war. The Entente with the allies looked more profitable. Russia at that time was on the winning side. She invested a lot of effort and human lives for this, but she could not become a winner because of an internal conflict. It happened in the country, because of which Emperor Nicholas II abdicated the throne. The Provisional Government came to power, then the Bolsheviks. To stay in power, they took Russia out of the theater of operations by making peace with the central states. This act is known as Brest Treaty.
• Internal conflict of the German Empire. On November 9, 1918, a revolution took place, which resulted in the abdication of the throne by Kaiser Wilhelm II. The Weimar Republic was also formed.
• Treaty of Versailles. Between the winning countries and Germany On January 10, 1920, the Treaty of Versailles was signed. Officially the first world war ended.
• The League of nations. The first assembly of the League of Nations was held on November 15, 1919.

Attention! The field postman wore a lush mustache, but during the gas attack, the mustache prevented him from wearing a gas mask tightly, because of this the postman was severely poisoned. I had to make a small antennae so as not to interfere with wearing a gas mask. The postman was called.

Consequences and results of the First World War for Russia

The results of the war for Russia:

• For a step away from victory, the country made peace, stripped of all privileges like a winner.
• The Russian Empire ceased to exist.
• The country voluntarily gave up large territories.
• Undertook to pay an indemnity in gold and products.
• It was not possible to establish a state machine for a long time due to an internal conflict.

Global consequences of the conflict

Irreversible consequences occurred on the world stage, the cause of which was the First World War:

1. Territory. 34 out of 59 states were involved in the theater of operations. This is more than 90% of the Earth's territory.
2. human sacrifice. Every minute 4 soldiers were killed and 9 were injured. In total, about 10 million soldiers; 5 million civilians, 6 million died from epidemics that flared up after the conflict. Russia in World War I lost 1.7 million soldiers.
3. Destruction. A significant part of the territories where fighting, were destroyed.
4. Cardinal changes in the political situation.
5. Economy. Europe lost a third of its gold and foreign exchange reserves, which led to a difficult economic situation in almost all countries except Japan and the United States.

The results of the armed conflict:

• The Russian, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and German empires ceased to exist.
• The European powers lost their colonies.
• Such states as Yugoslavia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland, Austria, Hungary appeared on the world map.
• The United States of America became the leader of the world economy.
• Communism has spread in many countries.

The role of Russia in the 1st world war

Results of the First World War for Russia

Conclusion

Russia in the First World War 1914-1918 had victories and defeats. When the First World War ended, she received the main defeat not from an external enemy, from herself, an internal conflict that put an end to the empire. Who won the conflict is unclear. Although the Entente with its allies is considered the winner, but their economic condition was deplorable. They did not have time to recover, even before the start of the next conflict.

To maintain peace and consensus among all states, the League of Nations was organized. She played the role of an international parliament. Interestingly, the United States initiated its creation, but they themselves refused membership in the organization. As history has shown, it became a continuation of the first, as well as a revenge of the powers offended by the results of the Versailles Treaty. The League of Nations here proved to be an absolutely ineffective and useless body.

The First World War was the largest military conflict of the first third of the twentieth century and all the wars that took place before that. So when did World War I start and in what year did it end? The date July 28, 1914 is the beginning of the war, and its end is November 11, 1918.

When did World War I start?

The beginning of World War I was the declaration of war by Austria-Hungary on Serbia. The reason for the war was the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown by the nationalist Gavrilo Princip.

Speaking briefly about the First World War, it should be noted that the main reason for the outbreak of hostilities was the conquest of a place in the sun, the desire to rule the world with a balance of power, the emergence of Anglo-German trade barriers, such a phenomenon in the development of the state as economic imperialism and territorial claims that reached the absolute. one state to another.

On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Serb of Bosnian origin, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in Sarajevo. On July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, starting the main war of the first third of the 20th century.

Rice. 1. Gavrilo Princip.

Russia in the First World

Russia announced mobilization, preparing to defend the fraternal people, thereby incurring an ultimatum from Germany to stop the formation of new divisions. On August 1, 1914, Germany officially declared war on Russia.

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In 1914, military operations on the Eastern Front were conducted in Prussia, where the rapid advance of the Russian troops was driven back by the German counteroffensive and the defeat of Samsonov's army. The offensive in Galicia was more effective. On the Western Front, the course of hostilities was more pragmatic. The Germans invaded France through Belgium and moved to Paris at an accelerated pace. Only in the Battle of the Marne was the offensive stopped by the Allied forces and the parties switched to a long trench war, which dragged on until 1915.

In 1915, Germany's former ally, Italy, entered the war on the side of the Entente. Thus was formed the southwestern front. Fighting unfolded in the Alps, giving rise to mountain warfare.

On April 22, 1915, during the Battle of Ypres, German soldiers used chlorine poison gas against the Entente forces, which was the first gas attack in history.

A similar meat grinder happened on the Eastern Front. The defenders of the Osovets fortress in 1916 covered themselves with unfading glory. The German forces, several times superior to the Russian garrison, could not take the fortress after mortar and artillery fire and several assaults. After that, a chemical attack was applied. When the Germans, walking in gas masks through the smoke, believed that there were no survivors left in the fortress, Russian soldiers ran out to them, coughing up blood and wrapped in various rags. The bayonet attack was unexpected. The enemy, many times superior in number, was finally driven back.

Rice. 2. Defenders of Osovets.

In the Battle of the Somme in 1916, tanks were used for the first time by the British during an attack. Despite frequent breakdowns and low accuracy, the attack had more of a psychological effect.

Rice. 3. Tanks on the Somme.

In order to distract the Germans from the breakthrough and draw forces away from Verdun, the Russian troops planned an offensive in Galicia, the result of which was to be the surrender of Austria-Hungary. This is how the “Brusilovsky breakthrough” occurred, which, although it moved the front line tens of kilometers to the west, did not solve the main task.

At sea, a pitched battle took place between the British and the Germans in 1916 near the Jutland peninsula. The German fleet intended to break the naval blockade. More than 200 ships took part in the battle, with a majority of the British, but during the battle there was no winner, and the blockade continued.

On the side of the Entente in 1917, the United States entered, for which entry into the world war on the side of the winner at the very last moment became a classic. The German command from Lans to the River Aisne erected a reinforced concrete "Hindenburg Line", behind which the Germans retreated and switched to a defensive war.

The French General Nivel developed a plan for a counteroffensive on the Western Front. Massive artillery preparation and attacks on different sectors of the front did not give the desired effect.

In 1917, in Russia, during two revolutions, the Bolsheviks came to power, by which the shameful separate Brest peace was concluded. On March 3, 1918, Russia withdrew from the war.
In the spring of 1918, the Germans launched their last "spring offensive". They intended to break through the front and withdraw France from the war, however, the numerical superiority of the Allies did not allow them to do so.

Economic exhaustion and growing dissatisfaction with the war forced Germany to sit down at the negotiating table, during which a peace treaty was concluded at Versailles.

What have we learned?

Despite who fought with whom and who won, history has shown that the end of the First World War did not solve all the problems of mankind. The battle for the redivision of the world did not end, the allies did not finish off Germany and its allies completely, but only economically exhausted, which led to the signing of peace. The Second World War was only a matter of time.

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How the 1st World War began. Part 1.

Sarajevo murder

On August 1, 1914, the First World War began. There were many reasons for it, and all that was needed was an excuse to start it. This occasion was the event that occurred a month before - June 28, 1914.

The heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne Franz Ferdinand Karl Ludwig Joseph von Habsburg was the eldest son of Archduke Karl Ludwig, brother of Emperor Franz Joseph.

Archduke Karl Ludwig

Emperor Franz Joseph

The aged emperor ruled by that time for the 66th year, having managed to outlive all the other heirs. The only son and heir of Franz Joseph, Crown Prince Rudolf, according to one version, shot himself in 1889 in Mayerling Castle, having killed his beloved Baroness Maria Vechera before that, and according to another version, he became the victim of a carefully planned political assassination that simulated the suicide of the only direct heir to the throne. In 1896, Franz Joseph's brother Karl Ludwig died after drinking water from the Jordan River. After that, the son of Karl Ludwig Franz Ferdinand became the heir to the throne.

Franz Ferdinand

Franz Ferdinand was the main hope of the decaying monarchy. In 1906, the Archduke drew up a plan for the transformation of Austria-Hungary, which, if implemented, could prolong the life of the Habsburg Empire, reducing the degree of interethnic conflicts. According to this plan, the Patchwork Empire would turn into a federal state of the United States of Greater Austria, in which 12 national autonomies would be formed for each of the large nationalities living in Austria-Hungary. However, this plan was opposed by the Prime Minister of Hungary, Count István Tisza, since such a transformation of the country would put an end to the privileged position of the Hungarians.

Istvan Tisza

He resisted so much that he was ready to kill the hated heir. He spoke about this so frankly that there was even a version that it was he who ordered the assassination of the Archduke.

On June 28, 1914, Franz Ferdinand, at the invitation of the viceroy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Feldzeugmeister (that is, general of artillery) Oscar Potiorek, arrived in Sarajevo for maneuvers.

General Oskar Potiorek

Sarajevo was the main city of Bosnia. Before the Russian-Turkish war, Bosnia belonged to the Turks, and as a result, it was supposed to go to Serbia. However, Austro-Hungarian troops were brought into Bosnia, and in 1908 Austria-Hungary officially annexed Bosnia to its possessions. Neither the Serbs, nor the Turks, nor the Russians were satisfied with this situation, and then, in 1908-09, because of this accession, a war almost broke out, but the then Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Petrovich Izvolsky warned the tsar against rash actions, and the war took place a little later.

Alexander Petrovich Izvolsky

In 1912, the Mlada Bosna organization was created in Bosnia and Herzegovina to liberate Bosnia and Herzegovina from occupation and unite with Serbia. The arrival of the heir was most welcome for the Young Bosnians, and they decided to kill the Archduke. Six Young Bosnians suffering from tuberculosis were dispatched for the assassination attempt. They had nothing to lose: in the coming months, death awaited them anyway.

Trifko Grabetsky, Nedeljko Chabrinovich, Gavrilo Princip

Franz Ferdinand and his morganatic wife Sophia-Maria-Josephina-Albina Hotek von Hotkow und Wognin arrived in Sarajevo early in the morning.

Sofia-Maria-Josephina-Albina Hotek von Hotkow und Vognin

Franz Ferdinand and Duchess Sophie of Hohenberg

On the way to the town hall, the couple was subjected to the first assassination attempt: one of these six Nedeljko Chabrinovich threw a bomb on the route of the cortege, but the fuse turned out to be too long, and the bomb exploded only under the third car. The bomb killed the driver of this car and wounded its passengers, the most significant person of which was Piotrek's adjutant Erich von Merizze, as well as a policeman and passers-by from the crowd. Chabrinovich tried to poison himself with potassium cyanide and drown himself in the Milyatsk River, but neither of them worked. He was arrested and sentenced to 20 years, but he died a year and a half later from the same tuberculosis.

Upon arrival at the town hall, the Archduke delivered a prepared speech and decided to go to the hospital to visit the wounded.

Franz Ferdinand was dressed in a blue uniform, black trousers with red stripes, a high cap with green parrot feathers. Sofia was wearing a white dress and a wide hat with an ostrich feather. Instead of the driver, Archduke Franz Urban, the owner of the car, Count Harrach, sat behind the wheel, and Potiorek sat to his left to show the way. A Gräf & Stift car raced along the Appel embankment.

Diagram of the murder scene

At the Latin Bridge junction, the car braked slightly, downshifting, and the driver began to turn right. At this time, having just drunk coffee in Stiller's shop, one of the same tubercular six, 19-year-old high school student Gavrilo Princip, went out into the street.

Gavrilo Princip

He was just walking along the Latin Bridge and saw the turning Gräf & Stift quite by accident. Without a moment's hesitation, Princip pulled out Browning and pierced the archduke's stomach with the first shot. The second bullet went to Sofia. He wanted to spend the Third Principle on Potiorek, but did not have time - the people who had run away disarmed the youth and began to beat him. Only the intervention of the police saved Gavrila's life.

Browning Gavrilo Princip

Arrest of Gavrilo Princip

As a minor, instead of the death penalty, he was sentenced to the same 20 years, and during his imprisonment they even began to treat him for tuberculosis, extending his life right up to April 28, 1918.

The site where the Archduke was killed today. View from the Latin bridge.

For some reason, the wounded Archduke and his wife were taken not to the hospital, which was already a couple of blocks away, but to the residence of Potiorek, where, under the howling and lamentations of the retinue, both died of blood loss, without receiving medical care.

Everyone knows what followed: since the terrorists were Serbs, Austria delivered an ultimatum to Serbia. Russia stood up for Serbia, threatening Austria, and Germany stood up for Austria. As a result, a month later, a world war broke out.

Franz Joseph survived this heir, and after his death, the 27-year-old Karl, the son of the imperial nephew Otto, who died in 1906, became emperor.

Karl Franz Joseph

He had to rule for a little less than two years. The collapse of the empire found him in Budapest. In 1921 Charles tried to become king of Hungary. Having organized a rebellion, he, with troops loyal to him, reached almost all the way to Budapest, but was arrested and on November 19 of the same year he was taken to the Portuguese island of Madeira, designated to him as a place of exile. A few months later, he died suddenly, allegedly from pneumonia.

The same Gräf & Stift. The car had a four-cylinder 32-horsepower engine, which allowed it to develop a 70-kilometer speed. The working volume of the engine was 5.88 liters. The car did not have a starter and was started by a crank. It is located in the Vienna Military Museum. It even retained a number plate with the number "A III118". Subsequently, one of the paranoid deciphered this number as the date of the end of the First World War. In accordance with this decoding, it means "Armistice", that is, a truce, and for some reason in English. The first two Roman units mean "11", the third Roman and the first Arabic units mean "November", and the last unit and eight indicate the year 1918 - it was on November 11, 1918 that the Compiègne truce took place, which put an end to the First World War.

World War I could have been avoided

After Gavrila Princip assassinated the heir to the Austrian throne Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo, the possibility of preventing the war remained, and neither Austria nor Germany considered this war inevitable.

Three weeks elapsed between the day the Archduke was assassinated and the day Austria-Hungary announced the ultimatum to Serbia. The alarm that arose after this event soon subsided, and the Austrian government and personally Emperor Franz Joseph hastened to assure St. Petersburg that they did not intend to take any military actions. The fact that Germany was not thinking of fighting at the beginning of July is also evidenced by the fact that a week after the assassination of the Archduke, Kaiser Wilhelm II went on a summer vacation to the Norwegian fjords

Wilhelm II

There was a political lull, usual for the summer season. Ministers, members of parliament, high-ranking government and military officials went on vacation. The tragedy in Sarajevo didn't particularly alarm anyone in Russia either: most politicians were immersed in the problems of domestic life.

Everything was ruined by an event that happened in mid-July. In those days, taking advantage of the parliamentary recess, the President of the French Republic, Raymond Poincare, and the Prime Minister and, at the same time, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, René Viviani, paid an official visit to Nicholas II, arriving in Russia aboard a French battleship.

French battleship

The meeting took place on July 7-10 (20-23) at the Tsar's summer residence, Peterhof. In the early morning of July 7 (20) the French guests moved from the battleship anchored in Kronstadt to the royal yacht, which took them to Peterhof.

Raymond Poincaré and Nicholas II

After three days of negotiations, banquets and receptions, interspersed with visits to the traditional summer maneuvers of the guards regiments and units of the St. Petersburg Military District, the French visitors returned to their battleship and departed for Scandinavia. However, despite the political lull, this meeting did not go unnoticed by the intelligence of the Central Powers. Such a visit unequivocally testified: Russia and France are preparing something, and this something is being prepared against them.

It must be frankly admitted that Nikolai did not want war and tried his best to prevent it from starting. In contrast, the highest diplomatic and military officials were in favor of military action and tried to put the strongest pressure on Nicholas. As soon as on July 24 (11), 1914, a telegram arrived from Belgrade stating that Austria-Hungary had presented an ultimatum to Serbia, Sazonov joyfully exclaimed: “Yes, this is a European war.” On the same day, at breakfast with the French ambassador, which was attended by the British ambassador, Sazonov called on the allies to take decisive action. And at three o'clock in the afternoon, he demanded to convene a meeting of the Council of Ministers, at which he raised the question of demonstrative military preparations. At this meeting, it was decided to mobilize four districts against Austria: Odessa, Kyiv, Moscow and Kazan, as well as the Black Sea, and, strangely, the Baltic Fleet. The latter was already a threat not so much to Austria-Hungary, which had access only to the Adriatic, as against Germany, the sea border with which passed exactly along the Baltic. In addition, the Council of Ministers proposed to introduce from July 26 (13) throughout the country a "regulation on the preparatory period for war."

Vladimir Alexandrovich Sukhomlinov

On July 25 (12) Austria-Hungary announced that it refused to extend the deadline for Serbia's response. The latter, in its response on the advice of Russia, expressed its readiness to satisfy the Austrian demands by 90%. Only the demand for the entry of officials and the military into the country was rejected. Serbia was also ready to refer the case to the Hague International Tribunal or to the consideration of the great powers. However, at 6:30 p.m. that day, the Austrian envoy in Belgrade notified the Serbian government that its response to the ultimatum was unsatisfactory, and he, along with the entire mission, was leaving Belgrade. But even at this stage, the possibilities for a peaceful settlement were not exhausted.

Sergei Dmitrievich Sazonov

However, through the efforts of Sazonov, it was reported to Berlin (and for some reason not to Vienna) that on July 29 (16) the mobilization of four military districts would be announced. Sazonov did everything possible to offend Germany as much as possible, which was bound to Austria by allied obligations. And what were the alternatives? some will ask. After all, it was impossible to leave the Serbs in trouble. That's right, you can't. But the steps that Sazonov took led precisely to the fact that Serbia, which had neither sea nor land connections with Russia, found itself face to face with the furious Austria-Hungary. The mobilization of four districts could not help Serbia in any way. Moreover, the notification of its beginning made Austrian steps even more decisive. It seems that Sazonov wanted a declaration of war on Serbia by Austria more than the Austrians themselves. On the contrary, in their diplomatic moves, Austria-Hungary and Germany maintained that Austria was not seeking territorial gains in Serbia and was not threatening its integrity. Its sole purpose is to ensure its own peace and public safety.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire (1910-1916) Sergei Dmitrievich Sazonov and German Ambassador to Russia (1907-1914) Count Friedrich von Pourtales

The German ambassador, trying to somehow even out the situation, visited Sazonov and asked if Russia would be satisfied with the promise of Austria not to violate the integrity of Serbia. Sazonov gave the following written answer: “If Austria, realizing that the Austro-Serbian conflict has acquired a European character, declares its readiness to exclude from its ultimatum items that violate the sovereign rights of Serbia, Russia undertakes to stop its military preparations.” This answer was tougher than the position of England and Italy, which provided for the possibility of accepting these points. This circumstance indicates that the Russian ministers at that time decided to go to war, completely disregarding the opinion of the emperor.

The generals hastened to mobilize with the greatest noise. On the morning of 31 (18) July, announcements printed on red paper appeared in St. Petersburg, calling for mobilization. The excited German ambassador tried to get explanations and concessions from Sazonov. At 12 o'clock in the morning Pourtales visited Sazonov and, on behalf of his government, gave him a statement that if Russia did not start demobilization at 12 o'clock in the afternoon, the German government would give the order for mobilization.

It was worth canceling the mobilization, and the war would not have started.

However, instead of announcing mobilization after the expiration of the term, as Germany would have done if she really wanted war, the German Foreign Ministry several times demanded that Pourtales seek a meeting with Sazonov. Sazonov deliberately delayed the meeting with the German ambassador in order to force Germany to be the first to take a hostile step. Finally, at the seventh hour, the Minister of Foreign Affairs arrived at the Ministry building. Soon the German ambassador was already entering his office. In great agitation, he asked if Russian government respond to yesterday's German note in a favorable tone. At that moment, it depended only on Sazonov whether or not there would be a war.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire (1910-1916) Sergei Dmitrievich Sazonov

Sazonov could not but know the consequences of his answer. He knew that three years remained before the full implementation of our military program, while Germany completed its program in January. He knew that the war would hit foreign trade, cutting off our export routes. He also could not help but know that the majority of Russian manufacturers were opposed to the war, and that the sovereign himself and the imperial family were opposed to the war. If he had said yes, peace would have continued on the planet. Russian volunteers through Bulgaria and Greece would get to Serbia. Russia would help her with weapons. Meanwhile, conferences would be convened that, in the end, would be able to extinguish the Austro-Serbian conflict, and Serbia would not be occupied for three years. But Sazonov said his "no". But this was not the end. Pourtales again asked if Russia could give Germany a favorable answer. Sazonov again firmly refused. But then it was not difficult to guess what was in the pocket of the German ambassador. If he asks the same question a second time, it is clear that something terrible will happen if the answer is no. But Pourtales asked this question for the third time, giving Sazonov one last chance. Who is this Sazonov to make such a decision for the people, for the thought, for the tsar and for the government? If history forced him to give an immediate answer, he had to remember the interests of Russia, whether she wanted to fight in order to work off Anglo-French loans with the blood of Russian soldiers. And still Sazonov repeated his "no" for the third time. After the third refusal, Pourtales took from his pocket a note from the German embassy, ​​which contained a declaration of war.

Friedrich von Pourtales

It seems that individual Russian officials did everything possible to start the war as soon as possible, and if they did not, then the First World War could, if not be avoided, then at least postponed until a more convenient time.

As a sign of mutual love and eternal friendship, shortly before the war, the “brothers” changed their dress uniforms.

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