In the study of human history, much attention is paid to military losses. This theme is stained with blood and reeks of gunpowder. For us, those terrible days of severe battles are a simple date, for warriors - a day that completely turned their lives upside down. Wars in Russia in the 20th century have long turned into textbook entries, but this does not mean that they can be forgotten.

General characteristics

Today it has become fashionable to accuse Russia of all mortal sins and call it an aggressor, while other states "simply protect their interests" by invading other powers and carrying out mass bombing of residential areas in order to "protect citizens." In the 20th century, there were indeed many military conflicts in Russia, but whether the country was an aggressor still needs to be sorted out.

What can be said about the wars in Russia in the 20th century? The First World War ended in an atmosphere of mass desertion and the transformation of the old army. During the Civil War, there were many bandit groups, and the fragmentation of the fronts was a matter of course. The Great Patriotic War was characterized by the conduct of large-scale hostilities, perhaps for the first time the military faced the problem of captivity in such a broad sense. It is best to consider in detail all the wars in Russia in the 20th century in chronological order.

War with Japan

At the beginning of the century, a conflict broke out between the Russian and Japanese empires over Manchuria and Korea. After a break of several decades, the Russo-Japanese War (period 1904-1905) became the first confrontation with the use of the latest weapons.

On the one hand, Russia wanted to secure its territory in order to trade all year round. On the other hand, Japan needed new industrial and human resources for further growth. But most of all, European states and the United States contributed to the outbreak of war. They wanted to weaken their competitors in the Far East and manage on the territory of Southeast Asia on their own, so they clearly did not need the strengthening of Russia and Japan.

Japan was the first to start hostilities. The results of the battle were sad - the Pacific Fleet and the lives of 100 thousand soldiers were lost. The war ended with the signing of a peace treaty, according to which Japan received South Sakhalin and part of the Chinese Eastern Railway from Port Arthur to the city of Changchun.

World War I

First World War was the conflict that revealed all the shortcomings and backwardness of the troops of tsarist Russia, which entered the battle without even completing rearmament. The allies in the Entente were weak, only thanks to the talent of military commanders and the heroic efforts of the soldiers, the scales began to tilt towards Russia. The battles were fought between the Triple Alliance, which included Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary, and the Entente with Russia, France and England in the composition.

The reason for the hostilities was the assassination in Sarajevo of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, which was committed by a Serbian nationalist. Thus began the conflict between Austria and Serbia. Russia joined Serbia, Germany joined Austria-Hungary.

The course of the battle

In 1915, Germany carried out a spring-summer offensive, having won back from Russia the territories conquered by it in 1914, the honor of the lands of Poland, Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic states.

The battles of the First World War (1914-1918) were fought on two fronts: Western in Belgium and France, Eastern - in Russia. In the autumn of 1915, Turkey joined the Triple Alliance, which greatly complicated the position of Russia.

In response to the approaching defeat, the military generals of the Russian Empire developed a plan for a summer offensive. On the Southwestern Front, General Brusilov managed to break through the defenses and inflict serious damage on Austria-Hungary. This helped the Russian troops to advance significantly to the West and at the same time save France from defeat.

truce

On October 26, 1917, at the Second All-Russian Congress, a Decree on Peace was adopted, all the warring parties were invited to start negotiations. On October 14, Germany agreed to negotiate. A temporary truce was concluded, but Germany's demands were rejected, and its troops launched a full-scale offensive along the entire front. The signing of the second peace treaty took place on March 3, 1918, Germany's conditions became more stringent, but for the sake of peace, they had to agree.

Russia was supposed to demobilize the army, pay financial indemnity to Germany and transfer the ships of the Black Sea Fleet to her.

Civil War

When the battles of the First World War were still going on, the Civil War in Russia (1917-1922) began. The beginning of the October Revolution was marked by fighting in Petrograd. The reasons for the rebellion were sharp political, social and ethnic contradictions, which aggravated after February Revolution.

The nationalization of production, the ruinous Brest peace for the country, tense relations between the peasantry and food detachments, the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly - these actions of the government, together with a strong desire to retain power, caused burning discontent.

Stages of the revolution

Mass discontent resulted in a revolution in 1917-1922. The civil war in Russia took place in 3 stages:

1. October 1917 - November 1918. The main fronts were established and formed. The Whites fought the Bolsheviks. But since this was in the midst of the First World War, neither side had an advantage.
2. November 1918 - March 1920. The turning point in the war - the Red Army gained control of the main part of the territory of Russia.
3. March 1920 - October 1922. The fighting migrated to the border areas, the Bolshevik government was no longer in danger.

The result of the Russian Civil War in the 20th century was the establishment of Bolshevik power throughout the country.

Opponents of Bolshevism

Not everyone supported the new government that emerged as a result of the Civil War. The soldiers of the "White Guard" found refuge in Fergana, Khorezm and Samarkand. At that time, the military-political and / or religious movement in Central Asia was called Basmachi. The White Guards were looking for disgruntled Basmachi and incited them to resist the Soviet Army. The struggle against Basmachism (1922-1931) lasted almost 10 years.

Here and there pockets of resistance appeared, and it was difficult for the young Soviet Army to put down the uprisings once and for all.

USSR and China

During the time of Tsarist Russia, the Chinese Eastern Railway was an important strategic object. Thanks to the CER, wild territories could develop, moreover, Russia and the Celestial Empire divided the income from the railway in half, as they managed it jointly.

In 1929, the Chinese government noticed that the USSR had lost its former military power, and in general, due to constant conflicts, the country was weakened. Therefore, it was decided to take away from the Soviet Union its part of the CER and the territories adjacent to it. Thus began the Soviet-Chinese military conflict in 1929.

However, this idea was not crowned with success. Despite the numerical advantage of the troops (5 times), the Chinese were defeated in Manchuria and near Harbin.

The little-known war of 1939

These events not covered in the history books are also called the Soviet-Japanese war. The fighting near the Khalkin-Gol River in 1939 continued from spring to autumn.

In the spring, numerous Japanese troops set foot on Mongolian territory to mark a new border between Mongolia and Manchukuo, which would run along the Khalkhin Gol River. At this time, Soviet troops came to the aid of friendly Mongolia.

Futile attempts

The combined army of Russia and Mongolia gave a powerful rebuff to Japan, and in May the Japanese troops were forced to retreat to the territory of China, but did not give up. The next blow from the Land of the Rising Sun was more thoughtful: the number of soldiers increased to 40 thousand, heavy equipment, aircraft and guns were brought to the borders. The new military formation was three times larger than the Soviet-Mongolian troops, but after three days of bloodshed, the Japanese troops were again forced to retreat.

Another offensive took place in August. By that time, the Soviet Army had also strengthened and unleashed all its military might on the Japanese. Half of September, the Japanese invaders tried to take revenge, but the outcome of the battle was obvious - the USSR won this conflict.

winter war

On November 30, 1939, a war broke out between the USSR and Finland, the purpose of which was to secure Leningrad by moving the northwestern border. After the USSR signed a non-aggression pact with Germany, the latter started a war with Poland, and relations in Finland began to heat up. The pact assumed the expansion of the influence of the USSR on Finland. The government of the Soviet Union understood that Leningrad, which was located 30 kilometers from the border with Finland, could fall under artillery fire, and therefore it was decided to move the border to the north.

The Soviet side first tried to negotiate peacefully by offering Finland the lands of Karelia, but the country's government did not want to negotiate.

As the first stage of the battle showed, the Soviet Army was weak, the leadership saw its real combat power. Starting the war, the government of the USSR naively believed that it had a strong army at its disposal, but this was not so. During the war, many personnel and organizational changes were carried out, thanks to which the course of the war also changed. It also made it possible to prepare a combat-ready army for the Second World War.

Echoes of World War II

1941-1945 is a battle between Germany and the USSR within the boundaries of World War II. The battle ended with the victory of the Soviet Union over fascism and put an end to World War II.

After Germany lost the First World War, its economic and political situation was very unstable. When Hitler came to power, the country managed to build up military power. The Fuhrer did not want to admit and wanted to take revenge.

But the unexpected attack on the USSR did not give the desired result - the Soviet Army turned out to be better equipped than Hitler expected. The campaign, which was designed for several months, stretched out for several years and lasted from June 22, 1941 to May 9, 1945.

After the end of the Great Patriotic War, the USSR did not conduct active military operations for 11 years. Later there was (1969), fighting in Algeria (1962-1964), Afghanistan (1979-1989) and the Chechen wars (already in Russia, 1994-1996, 1999-2009). And only one question remains unresolved: were these ridiculous battles worth the human cost? It is hard to believe that people in the civilized world have not learned to negotiate and compromise.

World War I

The birth of fascism. The world on the eve of World War II

The Second World War

The world wars of the 20th century brought the world civilization to the brink of death, they were a severe test for humanity, humanistic values ​​developed throughout its entire previous history. At the same time, they were a reflection of the fundamental changes that had taken place in the world, one of the terrible consequences of the very process of the development of civilization.

causes of world wars

Since wars in our century have acquired a global scale, it is more logical to start with an analysis of the causes of a global nature, and above all with a description of the state of Western civilization, the values ​​of which dominated and continue to play the same role in the modern world, determining the general direction of human development.

By the beginning of our century, the crisis phenomena that accompanied the industrial stage of the development of the West throughout the 19th century resulted in a global crisis, which actually continued throughout the first half of the 20th century. The material basis of the crisis was the rapid development of market relations based on industrial production, technical progress in general, which, on the one hand, allowed Western society to make a sharp leap forward in comparison with other countries, and on the other, gave rise to phenomena that threaten Western civilization with rebirth. Indeed, the filling of markets with goods and services more and more fully satisfied the needs of people, but the retribution for this was the transformation of the overwhelming mass of workers into an appendage of machine tools and mechanisms, a conveyor, a technological process, more and more gave labor a collective character, etc. This led to the depersonalization of a person, which was clearly manifested in the formation of the phenomenon of mass consciousness, which displaced individualism, personal interests of people, i.e. values ​​on the basis of which the humanistic Western civilization actually arose and developed.

With the development of industrial progress, humanistic values ​​increasingly gave way to corporate, technocratic, and finally, totalitarian consciousness with all its known attributes. This trend was clearly manifested not only in the spiritual sphere in the form of a reorientation of people to new values, but contributed to an unprecedented strengthening of the role of the state, which turned into a bearer of a national idea that replaced the ideas of democracy.

This most general characteristic of the historical and psychological changes underlying the phenomenon of world wars we are considering can be a kind of background when considering their geoistrian, socio-economic, demographic, military-political and other causes.

The First World War, which began in 1914, engulfed 38 states in Europe, Asia and Africa. It was conducted on a vast territory, which amounted to 4 million square meters. km and involved more than 1.5 billion people, i.e. more than 3/4 of the world's population.

The reason for the war was the tragic shot in Sarajevo, but its true causes were rooted in complex contradictions between the participating countries.

It was said above about the growing global crisis of civilization as a result of industrial progress. By the beginning of the XX century. The logic of socio-economic development led to the establishment of a monopolistic regime in the economies of industrial countries, which affected the domestic political climate of countries (the growth of totalitarian tendencies, the growth of militarization), as well as world relations (intensified struggle between countries for markets, for political influence). The basis of these tendencies was the policy of the monopolies, with their exclusively expansionist, aggressive character. At the same time, there was a merging of monopolies with the state, the formation state-monopoly capitalism, which gave government policy an increasingly expansionist

character. This, in particular, was evidenced by: the widespread growth of militarization, the emergence of military-political alliances, the increased frequency of military conflicts, which until then were local in nature, the strengthening of colonial oppression, etc. The aggravation of rivalry between countries was also determined to a large extent by the relative unevenness of their socio-economic development, which influenced the degree and forms of their external expansion.

15.1. World War I

The situation on the eve of the war

At the beginning of the XX century. the formation of blocs of countries participating in the First World War took place. On the one hand, these were Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, which took shape in Triple Alliance(1882), and on the other - England, France and Russia, who created Entente(1904-1907). The leading role in the Austro-German and Romano-British blocs was played by Germany and England, respectively. The conflict between these two states was at the heart of the future world war. At the same time, Germany sought to win a worthy place in the sun, while England defended the established world hierarchy.

At the beginning of the century, Germany took second place in the world in terms of industrial production (after the USA) and first place in Europe (in 1913, Germany smelted 16.8 million tons of pig iron, 15.7 million tons of steel;

England - 10.4 million tons and 9 million tons, respectively (for comparison, France - 5.2 million and 4.7 million tons, respectively, and Russia - 4.6 million tons and 4.9 million tons) . Other spheres of the national economy of Germany, science, education, etc. developed quite rapidly.

At the same time, the geopolitical position of Germany did not correspond to the growing power of its monopolies and the ambitions of a growing state. In particular, Germany's colonial possessions were quite modest in comparison with other industrialized countries. Of the 65 million square meters. km of the total colonial possessions of England, France, Russia, Germany, the USA and Japan, in which 526 million natives lived, Germany had 2.9 million square meters by the beginning of the First World War. km (or 3.5%) with a population of 12.3 million people (or 2.3%). It should be borne in mind that the population of Germany itself was the most numerous of all countries. Western Europe.

Already at the beginning of the XX century. German expansion in the Middle East is intensifying in connection with the construction of the Baghdad railway; in China - in connection with the annexation of the port of Jiaozhou (1897) and the establishment of its protectorate over the Shandong Peninsula. Germany also establishes a protectorate over Samoa, the Caroline and Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean, acquires the colonies of Togo and Cameroon in East Africa. This gradually aggravated the Anglo-German, German-French and German-Russian contradictions. In addition, German-French relations were complicated by the problem of Alsace, Lorraine and the Ruhr; German-Russian - Germany's intervention in the Balkan issue, its support there for the policies of Austria-Hungary and Turkey. German-American trade relations in the field of exports of engineering products to Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East also escalated (at the beginning of the century, Germany exported 29.1% of world exports of machinery, while the US share was 26.8%. The First World War was the Moroccan crises (1905, 1911), the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), the capture of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica by Italy, the Italo-Turkish War (1911-1912), the Balkan Wars (1912-1913 and 1913).

On the eve of the First World War, the propaganda of militarism and chauvinism intensified sharply in almost all countries. She lay down on the fertile ground. Developed industrial states, having achieved a tangible superiority in economic development in comparison with other peoples, began to feel their racial, national superiority, the ideas of which had already been around since the middle of the 19th century. cultivated by individual politicians, and by the beginning of the 20th century. become an essential component of the official state ideology. Thus, the Pan-German Union, created in 1891, openly proclaimed the main enemy of the peoples of England included in it, calling for the seizure of its territories, as well as Russia, France, Belgium, Holland. The ideological basis for this was the concept of the superiority of the German nation. In Italy, there was propaganda for the expansion of dominance in the Mediterranean; in Turkey, the ideas of pan-Turkism were cultivated, pointing to the main enemy - Russia and pan-Slavism. At the other extreme, the preaching of colonialism flourished in England, the army cult flourished in France, and the doctrine of the defense of all Slavs and pan-Slavism under the auspices of the empire flourished in Russia.

Preparing for war

At the same time, military-economic preparations were made for a world massacre. Yes, since the 1990s. By 1913, the military budgets of the leading countries had grown by more than 80%. The military defense industry developed rapidly: 115 thousand workers were employed in Germany, 40 thousand in Austria-Hungary, 100 thousand in France, 100 thousand in England, and 80 thousand in Russia. By the beginning of the war, the production of military products in Germany and Austria-Hungary was only slightly inferior to those in the Entente countries. However, the Entente received a clear advantage in the event of a protracted war or the expansion of its coalition.

Given the latter circumstance, German strategists have long been developing a blitzkrieg plan (A. Schliefen(1839-1913), X Moltke (1848-1916), 3. Schlichging, F. Bernardi and etc.). The German plan provided for a lightning-fast victorious strike in the West with simultaneous deterrent, defensive battles on the eastern front, followed by the defeat of Russia; The Austro-Hungarian headquarters planned a war on two fronts (against Russia and in the Balkans). The plans of the opposing side included the offensive of the Russian army in two directions at once (north-western - against Germany and south-western - against Austria-Hungary) with a force of 800 thousand bayonets with the passive wait-and-see tactics of the French troops. German politicians and military strategists pinned their hopes on the neutrality of England at the beginning of the war, for which in the summer of 1914 they pushed Austria-Hungary into a conflict with Serbia.

The beginning of the war

In response to the assassination on June 28, 1914 of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, Austria-Hungary immediately opened hostilities against Serbia, in support of which on July 31, Nicholas II announced a general mobilization in Russia. Russia refused Germany's demand to stop mobilization. On August 1, 1914, Germany declared war on Russia, and on August 3, France. Germany's hopes for the neutrality of England, which issued an ultimatum in defense of Belgium, did not materialize, after which she began military operations against Germany at sea, officially declaring war on her on August 4.

At the beginning of the war, many states declared neutrality, including Holland, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Romania, the USA, and Sweden.

Military operations in 1915-1918

Military operations in 1914 on the Western European Front were offensive on the part of Germany, whose troops, having passed Belgium from the north, entered the territory of France. In early September, a grandiose battle took place between the cities of Verdun and Paris (about 2 million people participated), lost by "German troops. The Russian army was advancing in the East European direction: the troops of the North-Western and Western fronts (under the command of General Raninkampf and general Samsonov) were stopped by the Germans; the troops of the Southwestern Front achieved success by occupying the city of Lvov. At the same time, hostilities unfolded on the Caucasian and Balkan fronts. On the whole, the Entente managed to frustrate the blitzkrieg plans, as a result of which the war acquired a protracted, positional character, and the scales began to tilt in its direction.

In 1915, there were no major changes on the Western European front. Russia as a whole lost the 1915 campaign, surrendering Lvov to the Austrians, and Liepaja, Warsaw, Novogeorgievsk to the Germans.

Contrary to pre-war obligations, in 1915 Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary, as a result of which a new Italian front was opened, where military operations did not reveal a clear advantage for the parties. This advantage in favor of the Entente in the south of Europe was neutralized by the registration in September 1915. Quadruple Austrian-German-Bulgarian-Turkish Union. One of the results of its formation was the defeat of Serbia, followed by the evacuation of its army (120 thousand people) to the island of Corfu.

In the same year, actions on the Caucasian front were transferred to the territory of Iran with the participation of not only Russia and Turkey, but also England; after the landing of the Anglo-French troops in Thessaloniki, the Thessaloniki Front took shape, the British occupied the territory of South-West Africa. The most significant naval battle of 1915 was the battle for the control of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles.

1916 on the Western European Front was marked by two major battles: near the city of Verdun and on the river Somme where 1 million 300 thousand people were killed, wounded and taken prisoner on both sides. The Russian army this year carried out offensive operations on the Northwestern and Western fronts in support of the allies, during the battle of Verdun. In addition, a breakthrough was made on the Southwestern Front, which went down in history.

Military operations on the Eastern and Western fronts (1914-1918gg.)

Military operations on the Eastern Front in 1914-1917.

Military operations on the Western Front in 1914

by the name of the general A, Brusilova(1853-1926), as a result of which 409 thousand Austrian soldiers and officers were captured and an area of ​​​​25 thousand square meters was occupied. km.

In the Caucasus, parts of the Russian army occupied the cities of Erzerum, Trapezund, Ruvanduz, Mush, Bitlis. England won the North Sea in the largest naval battle of the First World War (Jutland battle).

AT In general, the successes of the Entente provided a turning point in the course of hostilities. German command (generals Ludendorff(1865-1937) and Hindenburg) passed from the end of 1916 to defense on all fronts.

However, the next year, Russian troops left Riga. The weakened positions of the Entente were reinforced by the entry into the war on its side of the United States, China, Greece, Brazil, Cuba, Panama, Liberia and Siam. On the Western Front, the Entente failed to gain a decisive advantage, while on the new Iranian front the British occupied Baghdad, and in Africa they secured victory in Togo and Cameroon.

In 1918, a single allied command of the Entente countries was created. Despite the absence of the Russian front, the Germans and Austrians still kept up to 75 divisions in Russia, playing a difficult game in the prevailing conditions after the October Revolution. The German command launched a major offensive on the river. Somme, which ended in failure. The Allied counteroffensive forced the German General Staff to request an armistice. It was signed on November 11, 1918 in Compiègne, and on January 18, 1919. A conference of 27 allied countries opened at the Palace of Versailles, which determined the nature of the peace treaty with Germany. The agreement was signed on June 28, 1919, Soviet Russia, which concluded a separate peace with Germany in March 1918, did not participate in the development of the Versailles system.

The results of the war

By Treaty of Versailles the territory of Germany was reduced by 70 thousand square meters. km, she lost all the few colonies; military articles obligated Germany not to introduce military service, to dissolve all military organizations, not to have modern types of weapons, to pay reparations. The map of Europe was fundamentally redrawn. With the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian dualistic monarchy, the statehood of Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia was formalized, the independence and borders of Albania, Bulgaria, and Romania were confirmed. Belgium, Denmark, Poland, France and Czechoslovakia regained the lands occupied by Germany, having received part of the original German territories under their control. Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine were separated from Turkey and transferred as mandated territories to England and France. The new western border of Soviet Russia was also determined at the Paris Peace Conference (Curzon Line), while the statehood of parts of the former empire was consolidated:

Consequences of the First World War

Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland and Estonia. The First World War demonstrated the crisis state of civilization. Indeed, in all the warring countries, democracy was curtailed, the sphere of market relations narrowed, giving way to strict state regulation of the sphere of production and distribution in its extreme statist form. These tendencies contradicted the economic foundations of Western civilization.

No less striking evidence of a deep crisis were cardinal political changes in a number of countries. Thus, following the October Revolution in Russia, socialist revolutions swept through Finland, Germany, and Hungary; in other countries there was an unprecedented rise in the revolutionary movement, and in the colonies - anti-colonial. This, as it were, confirmed the prediction of the founders of the communist theory about the inevitable death of capitalism, which was also evidenced by the emergence of the Communist 3rd International, the advent of the Socialist International, the coming to power in many countries of the socialist parties and, finally, the lasting conquest of power in Russia by the Bolshevik party.

World War I was the catalyst for industrial development. During the war years, 28 million rifles, about 1 million machine guns, 150 thousand guns, 9200 tanks, thousands of aircraft were produced, a submarine fleet was created (more than 450 submarines were built in Germany alone during these years). The military orientation of industrial progress became obvious, the next step was the creation of equipment and technologies for the mass destruction of people. However, already during the First World War, monstrous experiments were carried out, for example, the first use of chemical weapons by the Germans in 1915 in Belgium near Ypres.

1 Etatism - the active participation of the state in the economic life of society, mainly using direct methods of intervention.

The consequences of the war were catastrophic for the national economy of most countries. They resulted in widespread long-term economic crises, which were based on the gigantic economic disproportions that arose during the war years. Only the direct military spending of the warring countries amounted to 208 billion dollars. Against the backdrop of a widespread decline in civilian production and the standard of living of the population, there was a strengthening and enrichment of the monopolies associated with military production. Thus, by the beginning of 1918, the German monopolies accumulated 10 billion gold marks as profits, the American - 35 billion gold dollars, etc. Having strengthened during the war years, the monopolies increasingly began to determine the paths of further development, leading to the catastrophe of Western civilization. . This thesis is confirmed by the emergence and spread of fascism.

15.2. The birth of fascism. The world on the eve of World War II

Fascism was a reflection and result of the development of the main contradictions of Western civilization. His ideology absorbed (bringing to the grotesque) the ideas of racism and social equality, technocratic and statist concepts. An eclectic intertwining of various ideas and theories resulted in the form of accessible populist doctrine and demagogic politics. The National Socialist Workers' Party of Germany grew out of the Free Workers' Committee for a Good Peace, a circle founded in 1915 by workers Anton Drexler. At the beginning of 1919, other organizations of the National Socialist persuasion were created in Germany. In November 1921, a fascist party was created in Italy, with 300,000 members, 40% of them workers. Recognizing this political force, the king of Italy ordered in 1922 the leader of this party Benito Mussolini(1883-1945) to form a cabinet of ministers, which since 1925 becomes fascist.

According to the same scenario, the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933. Party leader Adolf Gitler(1889-1945) receives the position of Reich Chancellor from the hands of the President of Germany Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934).

From the first steps, the fascists proved themselves to be irreconcilable anti-communists, anti-Semites, good organizers, capable of reaching out to all segments of the population, and revanchists. Their activities could hardly have been so rapidly successful without the support of the revanchist monopoly circles in their countries. The presence of their direct ties with the Nazis is beyond doubt, if only because next to the dock in Nuremberg in 1945 were the leaders of the criminal regime and the largest economic magnates of Nazi Germany (G. Schacht, G. Krupp). It can be argued that the financial resources of the monopolies contributed to the fascisization of countries, the strengthening of fascism, designed not only to destroy the communist regime in the USSR (anti-communist idea), inferior peoples (the idea of ​​racism), but also to redraw the map of the world, destroying the Versailles system of the post-war system (revanchist idea).

The phenomenon of fascisization of a number of European countries has even more clearly demonstrated the critical state of the entire Western civilization. In essence, this political and ideological trend represented an alternative to its foundations by curtailing democracy, market relations and replacing them with a policy of etatism, building a society of social equality for the chosen peoples, cultivating collectivist forms of life, inhumane treatment of non-Aryans, etc. True, fascism did not imply total destruction of Western civilization. Perhaps, to a certain extent, this explains the relatively loyal attitude of the ruling circles of democratic countries towards this formidable phenomenon for a long time. In addition, fascism can be attributed to one of the varieties of totalitarianism. Western political scientists have proposed a definition of totalitarianism based on several criteria that have received recognition and further development in political science. Totalitarianism characterized by: 1) the presence of an official ideology, covering the most vital areas of human life and society and supported by the overwhelming majority of citizens. This ideology is based on the rejection of the hitherto existing order and pursues the task of rallying society to create a new way of life, not excluding the use of violent methods; 2) the dominance of a mass party built on a strictly hierarchical principle of government, as a rule, with a leader at the head. Party - performing the functions of control over the bureaucratic state apparatus or dissolving in it; 3) the presence of a developed system of police control, penetrating all public aspects of the life of the country; 4) the almost complete control of the party over the media; 5) full control of the party over law enforcement agencies, primarily the army; 6) management of the central government of the economic life of the country.

A similar characterization of totalitarianism is applicable both to the regime that has developed in Germany, Italy and other fascist countries, and in many respects to the Stalinist regime that has developed in the 30s in the USSR. It is also possible that such a similarity of various guises of totalitarianism made it difficult for politicians who were at the head of democratic countries in that dramatic period of modern history to realize the danger posed by this monstrous phenomenon.

Already in 1935, Germany refused to comply with the military articles of the Treaty of Versailles, which was followed by the occupation of the Rhine demilitarized zone, withdrawal from the League of Nations, Italy's assistance in the occupation of Ethiopia (1935-1936), intervention in Spain (1936-1939), Anschluss (or accession) of Austria (1938), the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia (1938-1939) in accordance with the Munich Agreement, etc. Finally, in April 1939, Germany unilaterally terminates the Anglo-German naval agreement and the non-aggression pact with Poland, so the casus arose belli (cause for war).

15.3. The Second World War

Foreign policy of countries before the war

Finally, the Versailles system fell with the outbreak of World War II, for which Germany was quite thoroughly prepared. So, from 1934 to 1939, military production in the country increased 22 times, the number of troops - 35 times, Germany came second in the world in terms of industrial production, etc.

Currently, researchers do not have a unified view of the geopolitical state of the world on the eve of World War II. Some historians (Marxists) continue to insist on a two-state characterization. In their opinion, there were two socio-political systems in the world (socialism and capitalism), and within the framework of the capitalist system of world relations - two centers of a future war (Germany - in Europe and Japan - in Asia). A significant part of historians believe that on the eve of World War II there were three political systems: bourgeois-democratic, socialist and fascist-militarist. The interaction of these systems, the alignment of forces between them could ensure peace or disrupt it. A possible bloc between the bourgeois-democratic and socialist systems was a real alternative to the Second World War. However, a peaceful alliance did not work out. “The bourgeois-democratic countries did not agree to create a bloc before the start of the war, because their leadership continued to consider Soviet totalitarianism as the greatest threat to the foundations of civilization (the result of revolutionary changes in the USSR, including the 30s) than its fascist antipode, which openly proclaimed a crusade against communism.The USSR's attempt to create a system of collective security in Europe ended with the signing of treaties with France and Czechoslovakia in 1935. But even these treaties were not put into effect during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia due to the "appeasement policy" opposing them, pursued at that time by the majority European countries in relation to Germany.

Germany, in October 1936, formalized a military-political alliance with Italy ("Berlin-Rome Axis"), and a month later, the Anti-Comintern Pact was signed between Japan and Germany, to which Italy joined a year later (November 6, 1937). The creation of a revanchist alliance forced the countries of the bourgeois-democratic camp to become more active. However, only in March 1939 did Britain and France begin negotiations with the USSR on joint actions against Germany. But the agreement was never signed. Despite the polarity of interpretations of the reasons for the failed union of anti-fascist states, some of which shift the blame for the unbridled aggressor onto the capitalist countries, others attribute it to the policy of the leadership of the USSR, etc., one thing is obvious - the skillful use by fascist politicians of the contradictions between anti-fascist countries, which led to to grave consequences for the whole world.

Soviet policy on the eve of the war

The consolidation of the fascist camp against the background of the policy of appeasement of the aggressor pushed the USSR into an open struggle against the spreading aggressor: 1936 - Spain, 1938 a small war with Japan near Lake Khasan, 1939 - the Soviet-Japanese war at Khalkhin Gol. However, quite unexpectedly, on August 23, 1939 (eight days before the start of the world war, the Non-Aggression Pact between Germany and the USSR (called the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) was signed). The secret protocols to this pact delimiting the spheres of influence of Germany and the USSR in the north that became known to the world community and the south of Europe, as well as the partition of Poland, forced to take a fresh look (especially domestic researchers) at the role of the USSR in the anti-fascist struggle on the eve of the war, as well as its activities from September 1939 to June 1941, at the history of the opening of the second front and much more.

There is no doubt that the signing of the Soviet-German non-aggression pact dramatically changed the balance of power in Europe:

The USSR avoided a seemingly inevitable clash with Germany, while the countries of Western Europe found themselves face to face with the aggressor, whom they continued to pacify out of inertia (an attempt by England and France from August 23 to September 1, 1939 to come to an agreement with Germany on the Polish issue on like the Munich Agreement).

Beginning of World War II

The immediate pretext for the attack on Poland was a rather frank provocation by Germany on their joint border (Gliwitz), after which, on September 1, 1939, 57 German divisions (1.5 million people), about 2500 tanks, 2000 aircraft invaded the territory Poland. The Second World War began.

England and France declared war on Germany already on September 3, without providing, however, real assistance to Poland. From 3 to 10 September, Australia, New Zealand, India, Canada entered the war against Germany; The United States declared neutrality, Japan declared non-intervention in the European war.

Thus, World War II began as a war between the bourgeois-democratic and fascist-militarist blocs. The first stage of the war dates from September 1, 1939 - June 21, 1941, at the beginning of which the German army until

First stage of the war

On September 17, it occupied part of Poland, reaching the line (the cities of Lvov, Vladimir-Volynsky, Brest-Litovsk), marked by one of the mentioned secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

Until May 10, 1940, England and France did not practically conduct military operations with the enemy, therefore this period was called the "strange war". Germany took advantage of the passivity of the allies, expanding its aggression, occupying Denmark and Norway in April 1940 and going on the offensive from the shores of the North Sea to the Maginot Line on May 10 of the same year. During May, the governments of Luxembourg, Belgium, and Holland capitulated. And already on June 22, 1940, France was forced to sign an armistice with Germany in Compiègne. As a result of the actual surrender of France, a collaborationist state was created in its south, headed by Marshal A. Peten(1856-1951) and the administrative center in Vichy (the so-called "Vichy regime"). France resisting was led by a general Charles de Gaulle ( 1890-1970).

On May 10, there were changes in the leadership of Great Britain; Winston Churchill(1874-1965), whose anti-German, anti-fascist and, of course, anti-Soviet sentiments were well known. The period of the "strange war" is over.

From August 1940 to May 1941, the German command organized systematic air raids on the cities of England, trying to force its leadership to withdraw from the war. As a result, during this time, about 190 thousand high-explosive and incendiary bombs were dropped on England, and by June 1941, a third of the tonnage of its merchant fleet was sunk at sea. Germany also increased its pressure on the countries of South-Eastern Europe. The accession to the Berlin Pact (the agreement of Germany, Italy and Japan of September 27, 1940) of the Bulgarian pro-fascist government ensured the success of the aggression against Greece and Yugoslavia in April 1941.

Italy in 1940 developed military operations in Africa, advancing on the colonial possessions of England and France (East Africa, Sudan, Somalia, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia). However, in December 1940, the British forced the Italian troops to surrender. Germany rushed to the aid of an ally.

The policy of the USSR at the first stage of the war did not receive unified assessment. A significant part of Russian and foreign researchers tend to interpret it as an accomplice in relation to Germany, which is based on the agreement between the USSR and Germany within the framework of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, as well as the fairly close military-political and trade cooperation between the two countries until the beginning of Germany's aggression against the USSR. In our opinion, in such an assessment, a strategic approach at the pan-European, global level prevails to a greater extent. At the same time, the point of view, which draws attention to the benefits received by the USSR from cooperation with Germany at the first stage of World War II, somewhat corrects this unambiguous assessment, allowing us to speak about the well-known strengthening of the USSR within the time it won to prepare to repel imminent aggression, which ultimately ensured the subsequent Great Victory over fascism of the entire anti-fascist camp.

In this chapter, we will confine ourselves to this preliminary assessment of the participation of the USSR in World War II, since the rest of its stages are considered in more detail in Chap. 16. Here, it is advisable to dwell only on some of the most important episodes of the subsequent stages.

The second stage of the war (June 22, 1941 - November 1942) was characterized by the entry of the USSR into the war, the retreat of the Red Army and its first victory (the battle for Moscow), as well as the beginning of the intensive formation of the anti-Hitler coalition. So, on June 22, 1941, England declared its full support for the USSR, and the United States almost simultaneously (June 23) expressed its readiness to provide it with economic assistance. As a result, on July 12, a Soviet-British agreement was signed in Moscow on joint actions against Germany, and on August 16, trade turnover between the two countries was signed. In the same month, as a result of the meeting of F. Roosevelt(1882-1945) and W. Churchill was signed Atlantic Charter, to which the USSR joined in September. However, the United States entered the war on December 7, 1941 after the tragedy at the Pacific naval base Pearl Harbor. Developing the offensive from December 1941 to June 1942, Japan occupied Thailand, Singapore, Burma, Indonesia, New Guinea, and the Philippines. On January 1, 1942, in Washington, 27 states that were at war with the countries of the so-called "fascist axis" signed a declaration of the United Nations, which completed the difficult process of creating an anti-Hitler coalition.

Second phase of the war

The Second World War. Military operations from January 1, 1939 to June 22, 1941

Third stage of the war

The third stage of the war (mid-November 1942 - late 1943) was marked by a radical turning point in its course, which meant the loss of the strategic initiative by the countries of the fascist coalition on the fronts, the superiority of the anti-Hitler coalition in the economic, political and moral aspect. On the Eastern Front, the Soviet Army won major victories at Stalingrad and Kursk. Anglo-American troops successfully advanced in Africa, liberating Egypt, Cyrenaica, and Tunisia from German-Italian formations. In Europe, as a result of successful operations in Sicily, the Allies forced Italy to capitulate. In 1943, the allied relations of the countries of the anti-fascist bloc strengthened: at the Moscow Conference (October 1943), England, the USSR and the USA adopted declarations on Italy, Austria and general security (signed also by China), on the responsibility of the Nazis for the crimes committed.

On the Tehran Conference(November 28 - December 1, 1943), where f. Roosevelt, I. Stalin and W. Churchill, it was decided to open a Second Front in Europe in May 1944 and a Declaration was adopted on joint actions in the war against Germany and post-war cooperation. At the end of 1943, at a conference of the leaders of Britain, China and the USA, the Japanese question was similarly resolved.

Fourth stage

At the fourth stage of the war (from the end of 1943 - to May 9, 1945) there was an active process of liberation by the Soviet Army of the western regions of the USSR, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, etc. In Western Europe with some delay (June 6, 1944 d.) the Second Front was opened, the countries of Western Europe were being liberated. In 1945, 18 million people, about 260 thousand guns and mortars, up to 40 thousand tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts, over 38 thousand aircraft took part on the battlefields in Europe at the same time.

On the Yalta Conference(February 1945) the leaders of England, the USSR and the USA decided the fate of Germany, Poland, Yugoslavia, discussed the issue of creating United Nations(created on April 25, 1945), signed an agreement on the entry of the USSR into the war against Japan.

The result of joint efforts was the complete and unconditional surrender of Germany on May 8, 1945, signed on the outskirts of Berlin by Karl-Horst.

Fifth stage of the war

The final, fifth stage of the Second World War took place in the Far East and Southeast Asia (from May 9 to September 2, 1945). By the summer of 1945, allied troops and forces of the national resistance had liberated all the lands occupied by Japan, and American troops occupied the strategically important islands of Irojima and Okinawa, inflicting massive bombing attacks on the cities of the island state. For the first time in world practice, the Americans carried out two barbaric atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima (August 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (August 9, 1945).

After the lightning defeat of the Kwantung Army by the USSR (August 1945), Japan signed an act of surrender (September 2, 1945).

Results of World War II

The Second World War, planned by the aggressors as a series of small lightning wars, turned into a global armed conflict. From 8 to 12.8 million people, from 84 to 163 thousand guns, from 6.5 to 18.8 thousand aircraft simultaneously participated in its various stages from both sides. The total theater of operations was 5.5 times larger than the territories covered by the First World War. In total, during the war of 1939-1945. 64 states with a total population of 1.7 billion people were drawn in. The losses incurred as a result of the war are striking in their scale. More than 50 million people died, and if we take into account the constantly updated data on the losses of the USSR (they range from 21.78 million to about 30 million), this figure cannot be called final. In the death camps alone, 11 million lives were destroyed. The economies of most of the warring countries were undermined.

It was these terrible results of the Second World War, which brought civilization to the brink of destruction, that forced its viable forces to become more active. This is evidenced, in particular, by the fact of the formation of an effective structure of the world community - the United Nations (UN), which opposes totalitarian tendencies in development, the imperial ambitions of individual states; the act of the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials that condemned fascism, totalitarianism, and punished the leaders of criminal regimes; a broad anti-war movement that contributed to the adoption of international pacts banning the production, distribution and use of weapons of mass destruction, etc.

By the time the war began, perhaps only England, Canada and the United States remained the centers of the reservation of the foundations of Western civilization. The rest of the world was slipping more and more into the abyss of totalitarianism, which, as we tried to show by the example of the analysis of the causes and consequences of world wars, led to the inevitable death of mankind. The victory over fascism strengthened the position of democracy and provided the way for the slow recovery of civilization. However, this path was very difficult and long. Suffice it to say that only since the end of the Second World War until 1982 there have been 255 wars and military conflicts, until recently the destructive confrontation between political camps, the so-called "cold war", humanity has repeatedly stood on the verge of a nuclear war, etc. Yes, even today we can see in the world the same military conflicts, bloc feuds, remaining islands of totalitarian regimes, etc. However, it seems to us that they no longer determine the face of modern civilization.

Questions for self-examination

What were the causes of the First World War? What stages are distinguished during the First World War, what groupings of countries participated in it? How did the First World War end, what consequences did it have?

Reveal the reasons for the emergence and spread of fascism in the 20th century, give its characteristics, compare it with totalitarianism. What caused the Second World War, what was the alignment of the countries participating in it, what stages did it go through and how did it end? Compare the human and material losses in the First and Second World Wars.

Reference tables contain all the main wars of Russia from the 10th to the 21st centuries (campaigns, battles) and their a brief description of- periods, dates, participants, opponents, allies, goals, main battles, commanders, peace agreements and the results of these wars.

Table of the war of Russia from the 10th to the 17th century briefly

Battles, campaigns, wars of Russia	Dates, years	Participants (rulers, countries, peoples)
Oleg's campaign against Tsargrad			An agreement was concluded with Byzantium beneficial for Russia
Igor's campaign against Tsargrad			Failed
War with Byzantium (Danube campaigns)		Svyatoslav, I. Tzimischiy	Successful, (the death of Svyatoslav 972)
War with the Polovtsy		Vladimir Monomakh	The defeat of the Polovtsians
Campaign against the Polovtsy		Prince Igor	Unsuccessful (Igor captured)
Battle on the Kalka River		Russian princes (Mstislavs) Cumans, Mongols	The defeat of the Russians and Polovtsians
Mongol invasion of North-Eastern Russia		Khan Batu	The defeat and ruin of Ryazan, Vladimir, and other cities
Battle of the River Sit		Yuri Vsevolodovich against the Mongols	Ended with the defeat of the Russian army
Mongol invasion of South Russia		Khan Batu	The establishment of the Mongol yoke in Russia
Invasion of the Swedish crusaders "Battle of the Neva"		J. Birger, Alexander Nevsky	The defeat of the Swedes
The invasion of the German knights "Battle on the Ice"		Alexander Nevskiy	The defeat of the knights
Battle on the Vozha River		Dmitry Ivanovich, Moscow prince	Ended with the defeat of the Mongols, the cessation of paying tribute to the Horde
Battle of Kulikovo		Russians: Dmitry Ivanovich, Dmitry Bobrok, Vladimir Serpukhovsky, Peresvet, Sergius of Radonezh Mongols: Mamai, Chelubey	Ended with the defeat of the Mongols
Tokhtamysh's campaign against Moscow		Khan Tokhtamysh	The destruction of Moscow. Restoration of tribute payments
Battle on the Shelon River		against Ivan 3 and the Novgorodians	Ended with the defeat of Novgorod
Standing on the river Ugra		Ivan 3, Khan Akhmat	The overthrow of the Horde yoke
Capture of Kazan		Ivan 4 the Terrible	Annexation of Kazan
Capture of Astrakhan		Ivan 4 the Terrible	annexation of Astrakhan
Livonian War		Ivan 4 the Terrible, Sigismund 2, Stefan Batory	1582 - Yam-Zapolsky peace Russia lost Polotsk, Livonia, 1583 - Plyusskymir Russia gave Sweden Yam, Koporye Ivangorod. Later, according to the Tyavzinsky world, she returned the cities
Annexation of Siberia		Ivan 4 the Terrible, Ermak Timofeevich, Kuchum	Accession to Russia of Siberia
Battle of Dobrynich		False Dmitry 1, Prince Mstislavsky	It ended with the defeat of the troops of False Dmitry 1
Siege of Moscow		Bolotnikov, Jan Sapieha, False Dmitry 2	Moscow failed to take
Fight on the girl's field		Prince Minin, Dmitry Pozharsky, Poles	Expulsion of the Poles
The end of the turmoil		Russia-Sweden, Russia-Poland	Stolbovsky peace (Novgorod went to Russia). Deulinsky truce 14.5 years (Poland withdrew Smolensk and Chernihiv)
Smolensk-Russian War		Russia - Poland	Polyanovsky peace (Russia returnedPoland land, but Vladislav renounced claims to the Russian throne)
Azov campaign		Don Cossacks	The capture of the fortress of Azov, but without the support of Azov was returned to Turkey
Russian-Polish war		Russia-Poland	Andrusovsky truce - Russia received Smolensk, Kyiv, Left-Bank Ukraine, secured by the Eternal Peace with Poland in 1686.
Russo-Swedish War		Russia, Sweden	Treaty of Cardis, restoration of pre-war borders
Chigirinsky campaigns		Russia, Turkey	1681 - Bakhchisarai truce for 20 years
Crimean campaigns	1687, 1689	V. Golitsyn	Unsuccessful, Crimea was not annexed
Azov campaigns	1695, 1697	Russia, Turkey	1700 - Constantinople peace (Russia received Taganrog, Azov), in 1711. according to the Prut peace, everything was returned to Turkey

Table of the Russian war in the first half of the 18th century

Allies	Opponents		Main battles	Russian commanders	Peaceful agreement
Northern War 1700-1721 (+)
Denmark, Saxony, Rzeczpospolita		Access to the Baltic Sea, increased foreign policy status	11/19/1700 - defeat near Narva	S. De Croa	Peace of Nystadt
			1701 - 1704 - Derpt, Narva, Ivangorod, Nienschanz, Koporye were taken 05/16/1703 - St. Petersburg was founded	Peter I, B.P. Sheremetev
			09/28/1708 - victory near the village of Lesnoy
			06/27/1709 - the defeat of the Swedes at Poltava	Peter I, A.D. Menshikov and others.
			07/27/1714 - victory of the Russian fleet at Cape Gangug	F.M. Apraksin
			07/27/1720 - victory of the Russian fleet near the island of Grengam	MM. Golitsyn
Prut campaign 1710-1711
	Ottoman Empire	Repel the onslaught of the Turkish Sultan, incited to war by France, unfriendly Russia.	07/09/1711 - the Russian army is surrounded at Stanilesti		Prut Peace
Russo-Persian War 1722-1732 (+)
		Strengthening positions in the Middle East. Maybe infiltrating India.	08/23/1722 - the capture of Derbent. In 1732, Anna Ioannovna interrupted the war, not considering its goals important for Russia and returning all the gains.		Resht treaty
War of the Polish Succession 1733 - 1735 (+)
August III of Saxony Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (Austria)	Stanislav Leshchinsky (protege of France)	Control over Poland	February 23 - July 8, 1734 - Siege of Danzig	B.K. Minich
Russian-Turkish war 1735-1739 (+/-)
	Ottoman Empire	Revision of the Prut Treaty and access to the Black Sea	08/17/1739 - victory near the village of Stavuchany August 19 - Khotyn fortress was taken	B.K. Minich	Belgrade peace
Russo-Swedish War 1741 - 1743 (+)
		Repel the attack of the Swedish revenge-seekers, with the covert support of France, who demanded a revision of the Nystadt decisions	08/26/1741 - victory at the fortress of Wilmanstrand	P.P. Lassi	Abo world

Table of the Russian war in the second half of the 18th century

Allies	Opponents		Main battles	Russian commanders	Peaceful agreement
Seven Years' War 1756- 1762 (+)
Austria, France, Spain, Sweden, Saxony	Prussia, Great Britain, Portugal, Hanover	Prevent further strengthening of the aggressive Prussian King Frederick II	08/19/1756 - success in the battle of the village of Gross-Egersdorf.	S.F. Apraksin, P.A. Rumyantsev	The war was interrupted by the ridiculous decision of Peter 3 on a truce with Prussia, the return of conquered territories to it, and even the provision of military assistance
			08/14/1758 - equality of forces in a fierce battle near the village of Zorndorf.	V.V. Fermor
			07/12/1759 - victory at the city of Palzig. July 19 - Frankfurt am Main is occupied. August 1 - victory at the village of Kunersdorf.	P.A. Saltykov
			09/28/1760 - demonstrative action of the robbery of Berlin	3. G. Chernyshev
First Polish War 1768- 1772
	Bar Confederation	Defeat the anti-Russian gentry opposition in Poland	1768 - 69 - the Confederates are defeated in Podolia and flee for the Dniester.	N.V. Repnin	Petersburg convention
			05/10/1771 - victory at Landskrona September 13 - Hetman Oginsky defeated at Stolovichi 25.01 - 12.04 - successful siege of Krakow	A.V. Suvorov
Russian-Turkish war 1768 - 1774 (+)
	Ottoman Empire, Crimean Khanate	Repel Turkish aggression provoked by France in order to force Russia to fight on two fronts	07/07/1770 - victory on the river Larga July 21 - the defeat of the 150,000-strong army of Khal Il Pasha on the Kagul River	P.A. Rumyantsev	Kyuchuk-Kaynarji world
			November 1770 - Bucharest and Iasi taken	P.I.Panin
			24-26.06.1770 - the victory of the Russian fleet in the Strait of Chios and the Battle of Chesme	A.G. Orlov, G.A. Spiridov, S.K. Greig
			06/09/1774 - enchanting victory near the town of Kozludzha	A.V. Suvorov
Russian - Turkish war 1787- 1791 (+)
	Ottoman Empire	Repel Turkish aggression, defend the annexation of Crimea to Russia and a protectorate over Georgia	10/1/1787 - when trying to land on the Kinburn Spit, a Turkish landing was defeated	A.V. Suvorov	Peace of Jassy
			07/03/1788 - the defeat of the Turkish squadron by the ships of the Black Sea Fleet	M.I. Voinovich, F.F. Ushakov
			12/6/1788 - Ochakov fortress was taken	G.A. Potemkin
			07/21/1789 - victory near the village of Fokshany. September 11 - victory on the Rymnik River. 12/11/1790 - the impregnable fortress of Izmail was taken	A.V. Suvorov
			07/31/1791 - the Turkish squadron was defeated at Cape Kaliakria	F.F. Ushakov
Russian-Swedish war 1788- 1790 (+)
		Repel the revanchist attempt of King Gustav III to return the former Baltic possessions of Sweden	Already on 07/26/1788, the Swedish ground forces began to retreat. 07/06/1788 - victory in the Gogland naval battle	S.K. Greig	Verel peace
Second Polish War 1794- 1795 (+)
	Polish patriots under the leadership of T. Kosciuszko	Do not allow Poland to strengthen the political regime, prepare the third partition of Poland	09/28/1795 - a crushing defeat was inflicted on the rebels at Majcestovitsy, Kosciuszko was captured	I.E. Fersen	Petersburg convention
			12.10 - victory at Kobylka. 24.10 - the insurgent camp in Prague is taken October 25 - Warsaw fell	A.V. Suvorov
Russian-French war 1798- 1799 (+/-)
England, Austria		Conducted by Russia as part of the 11th anti-French coalition	04/17/18/1798 - Milan is taken. May 15 - Turin. All Northern Italy cleared of French forces. June 7 - 8 - General MacDonald's army arrived in time on the Trebbia River. August 4 - in the Battle of Novi, the same fate awaited the reinforcements of General Joubert.	A.V. Suvorov	War interrupted due to the unreliability of the allies and due to foreign policy thaw in relations with France
			18-20.02.1799 assault and capture of the island fortress of Corfu	F.F. Ushakov
			September - October - an unforgettable passage of Russian troops through the Alps to Switzerland	A.V. Suvorov

Table of the Russian war of the 19th - early 20th century

Russian wars of the 20th and 21st centuries	date, period	Participating countries	Results, peace conditions, results
Civil war and foreign intervention	1918 - 1920s	Russia, England, France, USA, Germany, Japan, Poland	The Reds defeated the Whites. The Genoa Conference is Russia's recognition of tsarist debts, in exchange for the recognition of the Bolshevik government by other countries.
Soviet-Polish war	1919 - 1921	Russia, Poland	Soviet Russia lost the West: Ukraine and Belarus. Riga Peace Treaty
Soviet-Finnish War		Russia, Finland	The USSR took control of the entire water area of ​​Lake Ladoga and created a security zone for Murmansk. Moving the border deep into Finland Moscow peace treaty
Great Patriotic War		USSR vs Germany	The victory of the Soviet people. On May 8, the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany was signed. Division of the state into 4 occupation zones, payment of reparations to the USSR
Soviet-Japanese War (within World War II)		USSR, Japan	Victory over militaristic Japan.
"Cold War"	1946 - 1992	Confrontation between NATO and the Warsaw Pact blocs Camp David Accords	1992 - Signing of the Camp David Accords to end the Cold War.
Afghan war	1979 - 1989	Geneva Accords	Withdrawal of OKSVA from Afghanistan.
1st Chechen war	1994 - 1996 1994 - Capture of Budennovsk, Kizlyar, Pervomaisk	Russia, Chechnya	Khasavyurt agreements. The withdrawal of the federal army from Chechnya.
2nd Chechen war	1999-2000 - Carrying out an anti-terrorist operation	Russia, Chechnya	The destruction of the militants, the election of President KadyrovA. Restoration of the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation.
Georgian-Ossetian war	Aug 8 2008 - The invasion of Georgian troops into Ossetia (carrying out a provocation in order to discredit Russia, accusing it of aggression against Georgia)	Russia, Georgia, Ossetia	"Plan Medvedev - Sarkozy" Recognition of the Russian Federation independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Russian military operation in Syria	2015 by our time	Russia, Syria, ISIS	Treaty on Friendship and Cooperation between the USSR and the SAR. Destruction of ISIS (DAISH) and other terrorist entities.

Source of information: History in tables and diagrams. / Edition 2e, St. Petersburg: 2013.

A small victorious war, which was supposed to calm the revolutionary moods in society, is still regarded by many as aggression on the part of Russia, but few people look into the history books and know that it was Japan that unexpectedly started hostilities.

The results of the war were very, very sad - the loss of the Pacific Fleet, the lives of 100 thousand soldiers and the phenomenon of complete mediocrity, both the tsarist generals and the most royal dynasty in Russia.

2. World War I (1914-1918)

The long-awaited conflict of the leading world powers, the first large-scale war, which revealed all the shortcomings and backwardness of tsarist Russia, which entered the war without even completing rearmament. The allies in the Entente were frankly weak, and only the heroic efforts and talented commanders at the end of the war made it possible to begin to tilt the scales towards Russia.

However, society did not need the "Brusilovsky breakthrough", it needed change and bread. Not without the help of German intelligence, a revolution was made and peace was achieved, on very difficult conditions for Russia.

3. Civil War (1918-1922)

The Time of Troubles of the 20th century continued for Russia. The Russians defended themselves from the occupying countries, the brother went against the brother, and indeed these four years were one of the most difficult, along with the Second World War. It makes no sense to describe these events in such material, and military operations took place only on the territory of the former Russian Empire.

4. The fight against Basmachi (1922-1931)

Not everyone accepted the new government and collectivization. The remnants of the White Guard found refuge in Fergana, Samarkand and Khorezm, easily knocked out the disgruntled Basmachi to resist the young Soviet army and could not calm them down until 1931.

In principle, this conflict again cannot be regarded as external, because it was an echo of the Civil War, the “White Sun of the Desert” will help you.

Under tsarist Russia, the CER was an important strategic facility in the Far East, facilitating the development of wild territories and being jointly controlled by China and Russia. In 1929, the Chinese decided that it was time for the weakened USSR railway and adjacent territories to select.

However, the Chinese grouping, which outnumbered it by 5 times, was defeated near Harbin and in Manchuria.

6. Providing international military assistance to Spain (1936-1939)

Russian volunteers in the amount of 500 people went to wrestle with the nascent fascist and General Franko. The USSR also delivered to Spain about a thousand units of ground and air combat equipment and about 2 thousand guns.

Repulse of Japanese aggression at Lake Khasan (1938) and fighting near the Khalkin-Gol River (1939)

The defeat of the Japanese by small forces of the Soviet border guards and subsequent major military operations were again aimed at protecting the state border of the USSR. By the way, after the Second World War, 13 military leaders were executed in Japan for unleashing a conflict near Lake Khasan.

7. Campaign in Western Ukraine and Western Belarus (1939)

The campaign was aimed at protecting the borders and preventing hostilities from Germany, which had already openly attacked Poland. The Soviet Army, oddly enough, in the course of hostilities, repeatedly encountered resistance from both Polish and German forces.

The unconditional aggression on the part of the USSR, which hoped to expand the northern territories and cover Leningrad, cost the Soviet army very heavy losses. Having spent 1.5 years instead of three weeks on hostilities, and having received 65 thousand killed and 250 thousand wounded, the USSR pushed back the border and provided Germany with a new ally in the coming war.

9. Great Patriotic War (1941-1945)

The current rewriters of history textbooks scream about the insignificant role of the USSR in the victory over fascism and the atrocities of the Soviet troops in the liberated territories. However, adequate people still consider this great feat a war of liberation, and they advise to look at least at the monument to the Soviet soldier-liberator, erected by the people of Germany.

10. Fighting in Hungary: 1956

The entry of Soviet troops to maintain the communist regime in Hungary was undoubtedly a show of strength in the Cold War. The USSR showed the whole world that it would be extremely cruel measures to protect its geopolitical interests.

11. Events on Damansky Island: March 1969

The Chinese again took up their old ways, but 58 border guards and the UZO "Grad" defeated three companies of Chinese infantry and discouraged the Chinese from challenging the border territories.

12. Fighting in Algeria: 1962-1964

Help with volunteers and weapons to the Algerians, who fought for independence from France, was again confirmation of the growing sphere of interests of the USSR.

What follows is a list of combat operations involving Soviet military instructors, pilots, volunteers, and other reconnaissance groups. Undoubtedly, all these facts are interference in the affairs of another state, but in essence they are a response to exactly the same interventions from the United States, England, France, Great Britain, Japan, etc. Here is a list of the largest arenas of Cold War confrontation.

• 13. Fighting in the Yemen Arab Republic: from October 1962 to March 1963; November 1967 to December 1969
• 14. Fighting in Vietnam: from January 1961 to December 1974
• 15. Fighting in Syria: June 1967: March - July 1970; September - November 1972; March - July 1970; September - November 1972; October 1973
• 16. Fighting in Angola: from November 1975 to November 1979
• 17. Fighting in Mozambique: 1967-1969; November 1975 to November 1979
• 18. Fighting in Ethiopia: from December 1977 to November 1979
• 19. War in Afghanistan: December 1979 to February 1989
• 20. Fighting in Cambodia: from April to December 1970
• 22. Fighting in Bangladesh: 1972-1973 (for personnel of ships and auxiliary vessels of the USSR Navy).
• 23. Fighting in Laos: from January 1960 to December 1963; from August 1964 to November 1968; November 1969 to December 1970
• 24. Fighting in Syria and Lebanon: July 1982

25. The entry of troops into Czechoslovakia 1968

The Prague Spring was the last direct military intervention in the affairs of another state in the history of the USSR, which received loud condemnation, including in Russia. The "swan song" of the powerful totalitarian government and the Soviet Army turned out to be cruel and short-sighted, and only accelerated the collapse of the Internal Affairs Directorate and the USSR.

26. Chechen wars (1994-1996, 1999-2009)

The brutal and bloody civil war in the North Caucasus happened again at a time when the new government was weak and was only gaining strength and rebuilding the army. Despite the coverage of these wars in the Western media as aggression on the part of Russia, most historians consider these events as the struggle of the Russian Federation for the integrity of its territory.

Throughout the 19th century, Russia rose to prominence on the world stage. This era is rich in international contradictions and conflicts, and our country has not remained aloof from them. The reasons are varied - from expanding borders to protecting their own territory. During the 19th century, there were 15 wars involving Russia, 3 of which ended in defeat for her. Nevertheless, the country withstood all the severe tests, strengthening its own position in Europe, as well as drawing important conclusions from defeats.

Map: Russian empire in the first half of the 19th century

Enemies and their commanders:

Goals of the war:

• to strengthen Russia's influence in the Caucasus, Georgia and Azerbaijan;
• resist Persian and Ottoman aggression.

Battles:

Peaceful agreement:

On October 12, 1813, the Gulistan peace treaty was signed in Karabakh. Its terms:

• Russia's influence in Transcaucasia is preserved;
• Russia could maintain a navy in the Caspian;
• add. export tax to Baku and Astrakhan.

Meaning:

In general, the outcome of the Russian-Iranian war for Russia was positive: the expansion of influence in Asia and another access to the Caspian Sea gave the country tangible advantages. However, on the other hand, the acquisition of the Caucasian territories turned into a further struggle for the autonomy of the local population. In addition, the war marked the beginning of the confrontation between Russia and England, which continued for another hundred years.

Wars of anti-French coalitions 1805-1814.

Enemies and their commanders:

War of the Third Coalition 1805-1806	France, Spain, Bavaria, Italy	Austria, Russian Empire, England, Sweden
	Pierre-Charles de Villeneuve Andre Massena	Mikhail Kutuzov Horatio Nelson Archduke Karl Carl Mack
War of the Fourth Coalition 1806-1807	France, Italy, Spain, Holland, Kingdom of Naples, Confederation of the Rhine, Bavaria, Polish legions	Great Britain, Prussia, Russian Empire, Sweden, Saxony
	L. N. Davout	L. L. Benningsen Carl Wilhelm F. Brunswick Ludwig Hohenzollern
War of the Fifth Coalition 1809	France, Duchy of Warsaw, Confederation of the Rhine, Italy, Naples, Switzerland, Netherlands, Russian Empire	Austria, UK, Sicily, Sardinia
	Napoleon I	Karl Louis Habsburg
War of the Sixth Coalition 1813-1814	France, Duchy of Warsaw, Confederation of the Rhine, Italy, Naples, Switzerland, Denmark	Russian Empire, Prussia, Austria, Sweden, England, Spain and other states
	N. Sh. Oudinot L. N. Davout	M. I. Kutuzov M. B. Barclay de Tolly L. L. Benningsen

War Goals:

• liberate territories captured by Napoleon;
• to restore the former, pre-revolutionary regime in France.

Battles:

Victory of the troops of the anti-French coalitions	The defeat of the troops of the anti-French coalitions
War of the Third Coalition 1805-1806
10/21/1805 - Battle of Trafalgar, victory over the fleet of the French and Spaniards	10/19/1805 - the battle of Ulm, the defeat of the Austrian army
	12/02/1805 - the battle of Austerlitz, the defeat of the Russian-Austrian troops
On December 26, 1805, Austria concluded the Treaty of Pressburg with France, under the terms of which it renounced many of its territories and recognized the seizures of the French in Italy.
War of the Fourth Coalition 1806-1807
	10/12/1806 - the capture of Berlin by Napoleon
	10/14/1806 - the battle of Jena, the defeat of the Prussian troops by the French
1806 - Russian troops enter the war
December 24-26, 1806 - battles near Charnovo, Golymini, Pultuski did not reveal winners and losers
	February 7-8, 1807 - Battle of Preussisch-Eylau
	06/14/1807 - Battle of Friedland
On July 7, 1807, the Treaty of Tilsit was concluded between Russia and France, according to which Russia recognized the conquests of Napoleon and agreed to join the continental blockade of England. Also, a pact on military cooperation was concluded between the countries.
War of the Fifth Coalition 1809
	04/19-22/1809 - Bavarian battles: Teugen-Hausen, Abensberg, Landshut, Ekmuhl.
May 21-22, 1809 - Battle of Aspern-Essling	07/5-6/1809 - battle of Wagram
On October 14, 1809, the Schönbrunn Peace Agreement was concluded between Austria and France, according to which the former lost part of its territories and access to the Adriatic Sea, and also pledged to enter into a continental blockade of England.
War of the Sixth Coalition 1813-1814
1813 - Battle of Lützen	October 30-31, 1813 - Battle of Hanau. Austro-Bavarian army is defeated
10/16-19/1813 - the battle of Leipzig, known as the Battle of the Nations	01/29/1814 - Battle of Brienne. The forces of Russia and Prussia are defeated
03/09/1814 - Battle of Laon (French north)	10-14.02.1814 - battles at Champaubert, Montmiral, Chateau-Thierry, Voshan
05/30/1814 - The Treaty of Paris, according to which the Bourbon royal dynasty was restored, and the territory of France was designated by the borders of 1792.

Meaning:

As a result of the wars of the anti-French coalitions, France returned to its former borders and to the pre-revolutionary regime. She returned most of the colonies lost in the wars. In general, the Napoleonic bourgeois empire contributed to the invasion of capitalism in the feudal order of Europe in the 19th century.

For Russia, the forced break in trade relations with England after the defeat of 1807 was a big blow. This led to a deterioration in the economic situation and a fall in the authority of the tsar.

Russo-Turkish War 1806-1812

Enemies and their commanders:

Goals of the war:

• the Black Sea straits - the Turkish Sultan closed them to Russia;
• influence in the Balkans - Turkey also claimed it.

Battles:

Russian troops victories	Defeats of Russian troops
1806 - the capture of fortresses in Moldavia and Wallachia
1807 - military operations at Obilemti
1807 - naval battles at the Dardanelles and Athos
1807 - naval battle at Arpachai
1807-1808 - truce
1810 - Battle of Batino, the expulsion of the Turks from northern Bulgaria
1811 - the successful outcome of the Ruschuk-Slobodzu military operation

Peaceful agreement:

05/16/1812 - Bucharest Peace was adopted. Its terms:

• Russia received Bessarabia, as well as the transfer of the border from the Dniester to the Prut;
• Turkey recognized Russia's interests in Transcaucasia;
• Anapa and the Danube principalities went to Turkey;
• Serbia became autonomous;
• Russia patronized Christians living in Turkey.

Meaning:

The peace of Bucharest is also generally a positive decision for the Russian Empire, despite the fact that some of the fortresses have been lost. However, now, with the increase in the border in Europe, Russian merchant ships were given greater freedom. But the main victory was that the troops were freed to conduct a military campaign against Napoleon.

Anglo-Russian War 1807-1812

Enemies and their commanders:

Goals of the war:

• Repel aggression directed at Denmark - an ally of Russia

Battles:

There were no large-scale battles in this war, but only single naval clashes:

• in June 1808 near Fr. Nargen was attacked by a Russian gunboat;
• the largest defeats for Russia ended in naval battles in the Baltic Sea in July 1808;
• on the White Sea, the British attacked the city of Kola and fishing settlements on the coast of Murmansk in May 1809.

Peaceful agreement:

On July 18, 1812, the opponents signed the Treaty of Örebrus, according to which friendly and commercial cooperation was established between them, and they also pledged to provide military support in the event of an attack on one of the countries.

Meaning:

The "strange" war without bright battles and events, which sluggishly proceeded for 5 years, was ended by the same person who provoked it - Napoleon, and the Treaty of Erebro laid the foundation for the formation of the Sixth Coalition.

Russo-Swedish War 1808-1809

Enemies and their commanders:

Goals of the war:

• the capture of Finland in order to secure the northern border;
• oblige Sweden to terminate allied relations with England

Battles:

Peaceful agreement:

September 5, 1809 - Friedrichsham Peace Treaty between Russia and Sweden. According to it, the latter undertook to join the blockade of England, and Russia received Finland as a part (as an autonomous principality).

Meaning:

The interaction between the states contributed to their economic development, and the change in the status of Finland led to its integration into the economic system of Russia.

Patriotic War of 1812

Enemies and their commanders:

Goals of the war:

• drive the invaders out of the country;
• save the territory of the country;
• enhance the authority of the state.

Battles:

Peaceful agreement:

09.1814 - 06.1815 - The Congress of Vienna proclaims complete victory over Napoleon's army. Russia's military goals have been achieved, Europe is free from the aggressor.

Meaning:

The war brought human losses and economic ruin to the country, but the victory contributed to a significant increase in the authority of the state and the tsar, as well as to unite the population and increase its national self-consciousness, which led to the emergence of social movements, including the Decembrists. All this had an impact on the sphere of culture and art.

Russo-Iranian War 1826-1828

Enemies and their commanders:

Goals of the war:

• resist aggression

Battles:

Peaceful agreement:

02/22/1828 - the Turkmenchay peace was concluded, according to which Persia agreed with the terms of the Gulistan Treaty and did not claim the lost territories and undertook to pay an indemnity.

Meaning:

The accession to Russia of a part of eastern Armenia (Nakhichevan, Erivan) freed the Caucasian peoples from the threat of enslavement by eastern despots, enriched their culture and provided the population with personal and property security. No less important is the recognition of Russia's exclusive right to have a navy in the Caspian.

Russo-Turkish War 1828-1829

Enemies and their commanders:

Goals of the war:

• to assist the Greeks who rebelled against the Turks;
• get the opportunity to control the Black Sea straits;
• strengthen the position on the Balkan Peninsula.

Battles:

Peaceful agreement:

09/14/1829 - according to which territories on the eastern coast of the Black Sea departed to Russia, the Turks recognized the autonomy of Serbia, Moldavia, Wallachia, as well as the lands conquered by Russia from the Persians, and were obliged to pay indemnity.

Meaning:

Russia achieved control over the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, which at that time were of the most important military and strategic importance throughout the world.

Polish uprisings of 1830, 1863

1830 - the national liberation movement begins in Poland, but Russia prevents this and introduces troops. As a result, the uprising was suppressed, the Kingdom of Poland became part of the Russian Empire, the Polish Sejm and the army ceased to exist. The unit of administrative-territorial division becomes the province (instead of voivodeships), the Russian system of weights and measures and the monetary system are also introduced.

The uprising of 1863 was caused by the dissatisfaction of the Poles with Russian control in the territory of Poland and the Western Territory. The Polish national liberation movement is making attempts to return its state to the borders of 1772. As a result, the uprising was defeated, and the Russian authorities began to pay more attention to these territories. Thus, the peasant reform was carried out in Poland earlier and on more favorable terms than in Russia, and attempts to reorient the population were manifested in the enlightenment of the peasantry in the spirit of the Russian Orthodox tradition.

Crimean War 1853-1856

Enemies and their commanders:

Goals of the war:

• win priority in the Balkan Peninsula and the Caucasus;
• to consolidate positions on the Black Sea straits;
• to support the Balkan peoples in the struggle against the Turks.

Battles:

Peaceful agreement:

March 6, 1856 - Treaty of Paris. Russia left Kars to the Turks in exchange for Sevastopol, renounced the Danubian principalities, refused patronage to the Slavs living in the Bakany. The Black Sea was declared neutral.

Meaning:

The authority of the country has fallen. The defeat revealed the weaknesses of the country: diplomatic mistakes, the unsuitability of the high command, but most importantly, the technical backwardness due to the failure of feudalism as an economic system.

Russian-Turkish war 1877-1878

Enemies and their commanders:

Goals of the war:

• a final solution to the Eastern Question;
• restore lost influence over Turkey;
• to assist the liberation movement of the Balkan Slavic population.

Battles:

Peaceful agreement:

02/19/1878 - the conclusion of the San Stefano peace agreement. The south of Bessarabia retreated to Russia, Turkey undertook to pay an indemnity. Bulgaria was granted autonomy, Serbia, Romania and Montenegro received independence.

07/01/1878 - Congress of Berlin (due to dissatisfaction of European countries with the results of the peace treaty). The size of the indemnity decreased, Southern Bulgaria came under the rule of Turkey, Serbia and Montenegro lost part of the conquered territories.

Meaning:

The main outcome of the war was the liberation of the Balkan Slavs. Russia managed to partially restore its authority after the defeat in the Crimean War.

Numerous wars of the 19th century, of course, did not pass without a trace for Russia in economic terms, but their significance can hardly be overestimated. The Eastern question was practically resolved, for the Russian Empire, expressed in a long confrontation with Turkey, new territories were acquired, the Balkan Slavs were liberated. The major defeat in the Crimean War, however, revealed all internal imperfections and clearly proved the need to abandon feudalism in the near future.

Map: Russian Empire in the 19th century