The allies of Russia in the First World War were who?

During the XIX century, almost all the major states of the world were in a state of open confrontation, as a result of which the future of not only Europe was being decided. Leading states: Britain, France, Russia, Germany, and later Austria-Hungary - did not like their economic situation, and no one was going to compromise.

The development of events did not stop even close blood relations - the rulers of Russia, Britain and Germany were relatives. Above all at that time, national interests were raised.

It so happened that the main allies of Russia in the First World War were Britain and France.

Anticipating the critical situation, many states refurbished factories for military needs. Weapons, powder, shells, cartridges, shipbuilding and other industrial facilities worked for the supply of troops.

National interests of Russia

As you know, the occasion for the beginning of the war was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand Ferdinand and his wife by a Serbian nationalist in 1914 in Sarajevo.

But, of course, this was not the real reason.

For Russia there is a need to settle economic relations with Europe, which was to a large extent promoted by the development of trade between Germany and Austria-Hungary. Industrial goods from Germany "pushed" Russia from its traditional trading positions and, moreover, began to fill the domestic market of the country.

This state of affairs could not but alarm the big landowners of our country and the industrial tycoons living in it. In particular, these fears were supported by Petersburg.

At the same time, Germany actively developed allied relations with Austria-Hungary. It was with this power that Russia fought for supremacy in the Balkans among the Slavic states. But Berlin also did not seek to develop political relations with Russia, which drove it into unfavorable economic conditions.

Allies of Russia in the First World War

Against the backdrop of such economic and political events, Russia was forced to enter into a military alliance with France and Britain. And this association began to be called the Entente.

So, we give a complete list of allied countries of Russia in the First World War:

• Andorra;
• Belgium;
• Bolivia;
• Brazil;
• China;
• Costa Rica;
• Cuba;
• Ecuador;
• Greece;
• Guatemala;
• Haiti;
• Honduras;
• Italy (c 23 May 1915);
• Japan;
• Liberia;
• Montenegro;
• Nicaragua;
• Panama;
• Peru;
• Portugal;
• Romania;
• San Marino;
• Serbia;
• Siam;
• USA;
• Uruguay.

Agreement on maritime influence

Actually, Russia's interest was reduced to weakening the influence of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Also, a claim was made to a number of German lands and the need to gain control over the sea straits of the Bosporus and Dardanelles that belonged to Turkey.

After Turkey took the side of Germany in 1914, as early as 1916 the Entente countries signed an agreement on the division of interests in the Middle East. Thus, it was determined which allies Russia will have in the First World War.

Victory and failure in 1914

After the defeat in the war with Japan, Russia was able to draw conclusions about the state of its armed forces. And by 1914 the preparation for the fighting was much better.

But the allies of Russia in the First World War did not take into account the factors of a prolonged military conflict. All this could not but complicate relations between these states. For an early victory, Russia sought to coordinate actions, but it could not prevent the defeat of the Allies. And taking into account such factors, our country should have met all other members of the Entente in every way.

During the First World War, it was Russia that had very large human and food resources. If we take as a percentage, then it was its troops that accounted for about 40% of all Entente armies.

The share of the Russian army had the task of shackling and attracting the armed forces of the Germans and Bulgarians. In addition, she took more prisoners than the country's military allies of Russia (about 2.2 million soldiers), which amounted to about 60% of the total number of prisoners of war.

The War Begins

Since the German offensive against France in August 1914, the First World War began. Hoping to win a blitzkrieg victory, the main forces of Germany rushed to France. At the same time in the east, the militarily weak 8th Army of East Prussia was involved.

Despite the fact that there were more than twenty states in the First World War with Russia's allies, Austria-Hungary intended to conduct active operations against the Russian group.

But Russia began the offensive, and by mid-September under the Galician battle, the armies of the South-Western Front routed the main forces of their opponents. In this battle, the Austrians lost 400,000 people, while the Russian Army retained 100,000 captured soldiers and about 400 guns. Eastern Galicia was lost.

As a result of this victory, the situation of the Serbian army became much easier.

At the same time, Russia's military allies successfully fought in the territory of East Prussia. Above all, the desire was to maintain an offensive impulse and launch an attack on Berlin. On August 20 of the same year, the German army was defeated in the Battle of Gumbinnen, and Russia was able to control almost 2/3 of the enemy's territory.

But the Entente success was prevented by serious miscalculations in the command, and Russian troops suffered several major defeats and moved back to the border.

The success of the enemy's armies, however, impressed the command of the German coalition. This forced him to divert some of the troops from the French front line and thereby to move the fighting forces to the east. And this has allowed to ease pressure on allies of Russia. Such tactical movements of the German command were not ignored by Russia's allies in the First World War. Major victories were won near Marne.

Against the background of such tremendous defeats, the German plan for a lightning war with France failed. Germany's hopes of a quick victory were destroyed.

Turkey's entry into the war

By early October, the German troops, together with the Austrians, launched offensive operations on the eastern front, but the Warsaw-Ivangorod battle predetermined the complete victory of the Russians. The German-Austrians were forced to withdraw to their borders again as a result.

Our troops attempted to break through into central Germany, but it proved to be unsuccessful. Such activity of the Russian troops, however, positively affected the outcome of the battles in Isere and Ypres.

By December of the same year, the Germans had to double the number of their troops on the eastern front. This was done taking into account how the military allies of Russia fought.

Turkey joined the fighting by November 1914. On the Caucasian front, at first, there was some success, but at the end of December the Third Turkish Army suffered a crushing defeat in the battle of Sarykamysh.

Germany fights on two fronts

After major defeats, Germany concentrated all its efforts on getting Russia out of the war. In this respect, the Eastern Front became the main one.

Due to the delay in the supply of ammunition, rifles, artillery shells and general food problems, Russia suffered a series of defeats. And there was a threat of encirclement of Russian troops in Poland.

But the talented General MV Alekseev managed to take advantage of the enemy's mistakes and frustrate the plan of the German command. To do this, we had to leave a number of territories - Russian Poland, part of Belarus and a number of Baltic states. This allowed to get out of the threatening situation and gain a foothold on new frontiers.

The military allies of Russia as a result of battles on the eastern front could finally get a breather, strengthen their strength and consolidate the situation.

At the same time, on the Turkish front, our army continued to successfully carry out offensive operations, while inflicting a series of defeats on the enemy. Russian troops in the Turkish direction were commanded by the brilliant military leader N. Yudenich. Such successes had a positive effect on the position of the Allies on the Mesopotamian front.

I must say that the successful actions of the Russian corps under the command of Baratov in Persia did not allow Tehran to take place in the hands of our enemies. At the same time, the successes of the Russian army in Turkey saved the lives of thousands of Armenians who suffered from the Turkish genocide.

War on the sea

While the First World War could begin, the allies of Russia did not have sufficient forces at sea. But the Black Sea Fleet of Russia had a weighty advantage over the enemy in combat training and in the experience of conducting combat operations, which was held by most naval officers and sailors.

As part of the fleet were 6 battleships still old type, 2 cruisers, 17 destroyers, 12 torpedo boats, 4 submarines.

During the war, they were joined by 9 more destroyers, 2 air transport (prototypes of modern aircraft carriers) and 10 submarines.

The fleet was located on the main base in the Black Sea (in Sevastopol) and had shipbuilding yards in Sevastopol and Nikolaev.

Despite Turkey's assistance provided by Germany, Russia's allies (army and navy) had a significant advantage on the Black Sea.

In the course of combat battles with the Turkish fleet, Russia used new methods and tactical innovations received from diverse power divisions. Special crews of ships were created for constant support of troops on land and escort of transport vessels that transported military cargoes.

In addition to the air support, amphibious ships were also used in combat battles. Unusual and looked like adjusting the fire for coastal purposes using ship radios.

New fighting skills

During the blockade of the Bosphorus and the Ugolny region, the allies of Russia (the army and navy) ensured a wide interaction of submarines and naval ships. Another interesting fact was the cooperation of submarines and aviation to combat enemy submarines.

Especially intense were the fighting of the Russian fleet on the Black Sea in the campaign of 1916. It was necessary to act simultaneously in several directions and solve a variety of diverse tasks involving the use of ships, aircraft and submarines.

But the Russian fleet and command coped and were able to cause tangible damage to the German-Turkish fleet.

Interaction within Entente

Germany in 1916 could not achieve victory over Russia in a strategic plan and shifted all its attention to the Western Front.

The plans of the German command were as much damage as possible to the Anglo-French troops. The Battle of Verdun was especially significant for the battles that the First World War replete with. Allies of Russia were able to get a breather and time to prepare for the fighting, when the Russian army launched an offensive near Lake Naroch.

And although this battle ended in failure, it positively affected the position of the Allied forces.

At the same time, the success of our armies in Turkey was noted. First, Yudenich took the fortress of Ezerum, and then Trabzon.

What is remarkable, the greatest success was achieved by Russia in the summer of 1916. In the general offensive of the South-Western Front, the so-called Brusilov breakthrough was undertaken , in which the Austrian army was again defeated. The only way to rectify the situation was Germany's intervention, which stopped the advance of Russian troops. As a result, the fighting near Kovel ended in complete failure for our armies.

Revolution in Russia

New major offensives were planned for 1917, in which the First World War could and will end. Allies of Russia also built their plans for the offensive. But these plans remained so. The reasons for which they fell are varied. But mostly these are social and economic problems that have accumulated and matured in Russia for a long time. And against the backdrop of a fall in morale in the military units due to high losses, these contradictions have become even more acute.

Socialist propaganda, political destabilization and active agitation against the current government also intensified. All this combined resulted in revolutionary upheavals that broke the existing social and political system in 1917.

They completely destroyed all the efforts and successes that were achieved by Russia.

Although it should be remembered that even under these conditions the situation at the front for the Allies could be much more difficult. Only Russia delayed even in these conditions more than a third of the German troops. Also, Austrian divisions were drawn to it and stayed in combat order.

Now, when this has already become history, we must remember not only what allied countries of Russia participated in that war, but also that it was our armies, staffed by our ancestors, that helped the Entente to win.