Entente participating countries and their goals. Military-political coalitions on the eve of the First and Second World Wars: a comparative analysis. Entente - who was part of it and how it was formed

Soldiers of the First World War

“Everyone is looking and not finding the reason why the war started. Their search is in vain; they will not find this reason. The war did not begin for any one reason, the war began for all reasons at once” (Thomas Woodrow Wilson). First world war covers the period from July 28, 1914 to November 11, 1918. It was a large-scale armed conflict. The war divided world history for two eras, opening a completely new page of it, filled with social explosions and upheavals.
This name for the war became established in historiography after the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Previously, the name " Great War"(English) TheGreatWar, fr. La grande guerre), V Russian Empire it was called the “Second Patriotic War,” and also informally (both before the revolution and after) - "German"; then to the USSR - "imperialist war".

For almost the entire 19th century, the major powers were heading towards open conflict, as a result of which the fate of not just Europe, but the entire world, was to be decided. England, France, Russia, and a little later Germany and Austria-Hungary were not going to compromise.

The threat of war could not be prevented either by the numerous alliances formed, since almost all of them turned out to be fictitious, or even by the close relationship of almost all the reigning families. In fact, future enemies - the rulers of Russia, England and Germany - were cousins. But national interests for them stood above reason and family ties.

38 people were involved in a military conflict on a global scale. independent states out of 59 existing at that time. And each side had its own reasons for participating in the war.

The First World War was a war between two coalitions of powers: the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria) and the Entente (Russia, France, Great Britain, Serbia, later Japan, Italy, Romania, USA, etc.).

World at the turn of the century

At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. capitalism developed into imperialism. The world was almost completely divided between the largest powers. But this section could not be final. There were always parts of disputed territories, remnants of crumbling empires (for example, the Portuguese possessions in Africa, which, according to a secret agreement concluded by Great Britain and Germany in 1898, were to be divided between the two powers; the Ottoman Empire slowly collapsed throughout the 19th century and represented tasty pieces for young predators). Having colonies means not only having markets and sources of raw materials, but also being a great and respected power.

The beginning of the 20th century was also marked by the emergence of a number of unifying trends: pan-Germanism, pan-Slavism, etc. Each of these movements demanded a vast, homogeneous space for itself and sought to break up the existing heterogeneous formations, primarily Austria-Hungary, a mosaic state united only by the belonging of each part to the Habsburg dynasty.

The global confrontation between the great powers, primarily England and Germany, has intensified, and a struggle has begun for the redistribution of the world, including the redistribution of colonies.

Contradictions appeared in certain regions: the confrontation in the Balkans between Russia and its ally Serbia and Austria-Hungary, together with allied Bulgaria, became particularly acute. The situation was aggravated by the fact that England, Germany, France and Italy also pursued their interests here. By 1914, Germany had become the dominant military power in the Balkan region, bringing the army under control Ottoman Empire. Russia's desire to master the Black Sea straits was now blocked not only by England, but also by the German-Turkish military alliance.

The new superpowers, the USA and Japan, sought to spread their influence in the Middle and Far East.

In Europe, the political and economic rivalry between Germany and France was obvious, as they fought for hegemony in the field of production and sales in Europe.

Interests of countries

Great Britain (as part of the Entente)

She was afraid of a potential German threat, so she switched to the policy of forming an anti-German bloc of states.

She did not want to put up with German penetration into areas that she considered “hers”: East and South-West Africa. She also wanted to take revenge on Germany for supporting the Boers in the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902. Therefore, in fact, it was already waging an undeclared economic and trade war against Germany and was actively preparing for war with it.

France (part of the Entente)

She wanted to get even for the defeat inflicted on her by Germany in Franco-Prussian war 1870. She wanted to return Alsace and Lorraine, separated from France in 1871. It fought with Germany for markets, but at the same time feared German aggression. It was also important for France to preserve its colonies (North Africa).

Russia (as part of the Entente)

The main interest for Russia was control over the Dardanelles Strait; it wanted to have free passage for its fleet in the Mediterranean Sea.

In the construction of the Berlin-Baghdad railway (1898), Russia saw an unfriendly act on the part of Germany, an encroachment on its rights in Asia, although in 1911 these differences with Germany were resolved by the Potsdam Agreement.

Austria's influence was growing in the Balkans, which Russia also did not want to put up with, as well as the fact that Germany was gaining strength and began to dictate its terms in Europe.

Russia considered itself the main one among the Slavic peoples, and tried to support the anti-Austrian and anti-Turkish sentiments of the Serbs and Bulgarians.

Serbia (as part of the Entente)

She wanted to establish herself in the Balkans as the leader of the Slavic peoples of the peninsula, to form Yugoslavia, including all the Slavs living in the south of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Unofficially supported nationalist organizations that fought against Austria-Hungary and Turkey.

German Empire (Triple Alliance)

Strove for military, economic and political dominance on the European continent. She sought equal rights in the colonial possessions of England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal.

In the Entente she saw an alliance against herself.

Austria-Hungary (Triple Alliance)

Due to its multinationality, it played the role of a constant source of instability in Europe. She tried to hold on to Bosnia and Herzegovina, which she captured in 1908. It opposed Russia because Russia took on the role of protector of all Slavs in the Balkans, and Serbia.

USA before the First World War they were the world's largest debtor, and after the war they became the world's sole creditor.

Preparing for war

The state had been preparing for a world war as a means of resolving external and internal contradictions for many years, and the creation of a system of military-political blocs began. This began with the Austro-German treaty of 1879, the participants of which pledged to provide assistance to each other in the event of war with Russia. In 1882, Italy joined them, seeking support in the fight against France for the possession of Tunisia. Thus arose the Triple Alliance of 1882, or the alliance of the Central Powers, directed against Russia and France, and later against Great Britain. In contrast to him, another coalition of European powers began to take shape. The Russian-French alliance of 1891-93 was formed, which provided joint action these countries in the event of aggression from Germany or aggression from Italy and Austria-Hungary, supported by Germany. The growth of Germany's economic power at the beginning of the 20th century. forced Great Britain to gradually abandon the traditional policy of “splendid isolation” and seek rapprochement with France and Russia. Anglo-French agreement of 1904 Disputes between Great Britain and France on colonial issues were settled, and the Anglo-Russian agreement of 1907 cemented the agreement between Russia and Great Britain regarding their policies in Tibet, Afghanistan, and Iran. These documents formalized the creation of the Triple Entente, or Entente- a bloc of Great Britain, France and Russia that opposed the Triple Alliance. In 1912, the Anglo-French and Franco-Russian maritime conventions were signed, and in 1913 negotiations began on concluding an Anglo-Russian maritime convention.

In preparation for a world war, states created a powerful military industry, the basis of which was large state factories: weapons, powder, shells, cartridges, shipbuilding, etc. Private enterprises were involved in the production of military products: in Germany - Krupp factories, in Austria-Hungary - Skoda , in France - Schneider-Creuzot and Saint-Chamon, in Great Britain - Vickers and Armstrong-Whitworth, in Russia - the Putilov plant, etc. The achievements of science and technology were put in the service of preparing for war. More advanced weapons appeared: repeating rapid-fire rifles and machine guns, which greatly increased the firepower of the infantry; In artillery, the number of rifled guns of the latest systems has sharply increased.

The development was of great strategic importance railways, which made it possible to significantly accelerate the concentration and deployment of large military masses in theaters of military operations and to ensure uninterrupted supply of active armies with human replacements and all types of material and technical support. began to play an increasingly important role road transport. Military aviation emerged. The use of new means of communication in military affairs (telegraph, telephone, radio) facilitated the organization of command and control of troops. The number of armies and trained reserves increased rapidly. In the field of naval armaments there was persistent rivalry between Germany and Great Britain. Since 1905, a new type of ship was built - dreadnoughts. By 1914, the German fleet was firmly in second place in the world after the British fleet. Other states also sought to strengthen their navies.

Ideological preparations for war were also carried out: the people were instilled with the idea of ​​its inevitability through propaganda.

It is known that the reason for the outbreak of hostilities in 1914 was the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo by the Serbian nationalist, a member of the Young Bosnia organization Gavrilo Princip. But that was just an excuse. As one historian put it, this murder can be called setting fire to the fuse, behind which there was a barrel of gunpowder.

cordial consent" (from the French Entente cordiale), - the imperialist bloc of England, France and Tsarist Russia(otherwise known as the “Triple Entente”), which took shape in 1904-07 and during the First World War 1914-18, grouped against the Germans. coalition of a number of states, including the United States (together with members of A. 25 states). After Oct. Revolution A., together with the United States, organized a counter-revolution. intervention against the Soviets. state Aggravation of international contradictions in pre-imperialist and imperialistic periods associated with the struggle for the division and repartition of the world led at the end of the 19th - beginning. 20th centuries to the formation of opposing military-political. groupings of powers. Germany, whose role in Europe increased significantly after the Frankfurt Peace of 1871, concluded an alliance with Austria-Hungary in 1879 (see Austro-German Treaty of 1879), and Italy joined in 1882, which marked the beginning of the Triple Alliance of 1882. The first response to the creation of an aggressive bloc led by Germany was the Franco-Russian alliance of 1891-93. During the 80-90s. 19th century and at the very beginning of the 20th century. England continued to adhere to its traditions. foreign policy course of “brilliant isolation” (Splendid isolation) and remained aloof from the blocs, hoping to achieve their goals by playing on the contradictions between both unions, etc. retain its role as an international arbitrator However, the change in the balance of forces that occurred during the era of imperialism made the Anglo-Germans the main ones. contradictions that pushed into the background the clashes of interests of England with France and Russia on the basis of colonial rivalry. The rise of Anglo-German. antagonism and failure of English attempts. diplomacy in 1898-1901 to achieve a compromise agreement with Germany prompted England to rapprochement with France, and then, after the Russian-Japanese. war of 1904-05, and with Russia, which resulted in the signing of the Anglo-French agreement of 1904 and the Anglo-Russian agreement of 1907, which actually formalized the creation of A. However, unlike Triple Alliance, which in the initial stage represented a close military-political. bloc with certain military. obligations for all its participants, A. due to the position taken by the English. pr-vom, was a military-political. grouping - “consent”, in which not all countries had specific military forces. obligations. Russia and France were allies bound by mutual wars. obligations defined by the military. convention of 1892, and subsequent decisions of the general staffs of both states. At the same time, English pr-in, despite contacts between the English. and French general staffs and naval command, established respectively in 1906 and 1912, refused to accept certain military orders. obligations. A.'s education softened the differences between its participants, but did not eliminate them. These disagreements have been revealed more than once (such as, for example, friction between England and Russia in Iran at the beginning of the 20th century, between England and France, on the one hand, and Russia, on the other, during the Bosnian crisis of 1908-09 and Balkan Wars 1912-13, etc.), which Germany took advantage of when trying to tear Russia away from Africa (see Bjork Treaty of 1905, Potsdam Agreement of 1911). However, financial the dependence of the tsarist government on France and the invaders. German plans imperialism towards Russia doomed these German attempts to failure. In turn, the countries of Austria, preparing for war with Germany and its allies, took steps to separate Italy and Austria-Hungary from the Triple Alliance (see Barrera-Prinetti agreement of 1902). Although Italy formally remained part of the Triple Alliance before the outbreak of World War I, the ties of the countries of A. with it grew stronger, and in May 1915 Italy went over to the side of A. Since the beginning of World War I, unleashed by Germany, the countries of A. together. On Sept. 1914 in London, an agreement was signed between England, France and Russia on the non-conclusion of a separate peace, replacing the allied war. contract In Oct. Japan joined this agreement in 1915, back in August. 1914 declared war on Germany. During the war. actions against weapons. Austro-German forces bloc's real participation, the size of the casualties suffered in the war and the significance of the military. The efforts for a victorious outcome of the war by the member countries of Azerbaijan were different. The hardships of the war fell most heavily on Russia, as well as on France and the territory. of which the main ones were deployed. military operations. Rus. The army played a decisive role in the collapse of the Germans. plan for a fleeting war (see Schliefen plan) and helped prevent war. defeat of France (see East Prussian operation of 1914, Breakthrough of the Austro-German front of 1916). During the war, new states gradually joined Armenia. By the end of the war, the states of the anti-German coalition (not counting Russia, which withdrew from the war after the October Revolution) included: England, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Haiti, Guatemala, Greece, Honduras, China, Cuba, Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru , Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Siam, USA, France, Uruguay, Hijaz, Ecuador, Japan. A. became a general designation for states that fought against Germany and its allies. Just as Germany and its allies developed an imperialist program for the redivision of the world, the main participants of A. - England, France and Russia, from the first days of the war, also entered into secret negotiations on the goals of the war, which were in direct contradiction with the official. statements about defense nature of the war and were aimed at seizing foreign territories. The Anglo-French-Russian agreement of 1915, which provided for the transfer of the Black Sea straits to tsarist Russia, the London Treaty of 1915 between Africa and Italy, which determined the territory. the acquisition of Italy at the expense of Austria, Turkey and Albania, the Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916 on the division of the Asian possessions of Turkey between England, France and Russia and certain other agreements determined the carefully hidden but real imperialist. war program of participants A. After Vel. Oct. socialist imperialist revolutions circles of the countries of Azerbaijan and the USA organized weapons. intervention against the Soviets. state with the aim of overthrowing the Soviets. power, the dismemberment of Russia and its transformation into a colony of imperialists. It's already December 23rd. 1917 England and France signed an agreement on joint intervention against the Soviet Union. Russia and its subsequent division. In March 1918, A.'s intervention began; The USA and a number of other states actively participated in it, together with the countries of Azerbaijan proper. However, A.'s campaigns against the Sov. state (see Civil war and foreign military intervention in the USSR 1918-20) were defeated by the Soviets. people led by the Communist. party. The failure of the antis. Azerbaijan's policies deepened the contradictions of capitalism and led Azerbaijan to complete collapse. In the vast bourgeois The historiography of A., with many shades, two directions are clearly visible. The first of these directions, represented by German. memoirists and historians (B. Bülow, Likhnovsky, Tirpitz, Erzberger, Hartung, Oncken, Brandenburg, Rachfal, Plehn, etc.) and some Amer. historians (S. Fey, Langer, etc.), seeking to rehabilitate Germany and relieve it of responsibility for the outbreak of the World War in 1914, have a negative attitude towards Germany, seeing in it a means of “encircling Germany.” The second direction - Ch. arr. French memoirists and historians (R. Poincaré, J. Caillot, Paleologue, Deschanel, Pinon, Renouvin, etc.) and English. publicists and historians (E. Gray, Buchanan, Lloyd George, G. Nicholson, etc.) - on the contrary, blaming Germany, trying to justify the creation of A. by the aggressiveness of the Germans. ruling circles. Truly scientific. coverage of the issue of history. the role of A. is given in the works of V.I. Lenin. Sov. ist. science gave scientific development of a number of problems related to the history of Azerbaijan and its influence on the development of international. relations at the end of the 19th century - the beginning. 20th centuries Publ.: International relations in the era of imperialism. Documents from the archives of the Tsarist and Provisional Governments of 1878-1917, M., 1931-40; Sat. agreements between Russia and other states. 1856-1917, (M.), 1952; Doc-you ext. politics of the USSR (vol. 1-3), M., 1957-59; British documents on the origins of the war 1898-1914, ed. by G. P. Gooch and H. Temperley, v. 1-11, L., 1926-38; Documents diplomatiques fran?ais (1871-1914), ser. 1-3, P., 1929-60; Die grosse Politik der Europ?ischen Kabinette 1871-1914, Bd 1-40, V., 1922-27. Lit.: Lenin V.I., Letters from Afar. Letter 4. How to achieve peace?, Works, 4th ed., vol. 23; his, Letter to the workers of Europe and America, ibid., vol. 28; his, Report at the II All-Russian Congress of Communist Organizations of the Peoples of the East on November 22, 1919, ibid., vol. 30; his, Political Report of the Central Committee on December 2 (at the VIII All-Russian Conference of the RCP (b) on December 2-4, 1919), ibid.; History of diplomacy, vol. 2-3, M. - L., 1945; Tarle E.V., Europe in the era of imperialism 1871-1919, Soch., vol. 5, M., 1958; Erusalimsky A.S., Ext. German politics and diplomacy imperialism at the end of the 19th century, M. - L., 1948; Manfred A.Z., Ext. politics of France 1871-91, M., 1952; Romanov B. A., Essays on diplomatic issues. history of the Russian-Japanese war 1895-1907, 2nd ed., M. - L., 1955; Stein B. E., “The Russian Question” at the Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920), (M.), 1949; Renouvin P., Rr?clin E., Hardy G., La paix arm?e et la grande guerre (1871-1919), P., 1947. A. Z. Manfred. Moscow.

On July 28, 1914, one of the largest scale conflicts in Earth's history began. 38 of the 59 states that existed at that time became participants in the First World War of 1914-1918. This war changed forever political map world and the course of human history.

Countries participating in the First World War

It is difficult for a modern person to imagine how many countries participated in the First World War. To do this, we will get to know all the participating countries, dividing them into opposing sides.

Rice. 1. Flag of the Entente.

Triple Alliance

  • German Empire . During the war years, more than 13.25 million people were mobilized.
  • Austria-Hungary . During the entire war, more than 7.8 million people were mobilized to fight for the emperor of the “patchwork empire”.
  • Ottoman Empire . During the entire war, more than 3 million soldiers loyal to the Sultan stood up to defend the Sublime Porte.
  • Bulgaria fielded more than 1.2 million of its soldiers and officers against the Entente.

Rice. 2. Countries of the Triple Alliance.

In total, the Triple Alliance mobilized more than 25 million bayonets and sabers, not counting the rear units.

Entente and its allies

  • During the war years, the Russian Empire mobilized over 12 million people.
  • The British Empire and France fielded approximately the same amount - more than 8.5 million soldiers each.
  • Italy, which fled from the Triple Alliance to the Entente, fielded 5.6 million bayonets and sabers.
  • The United States has mobilized more than 4.7 million soldiers since entering the war
  • Romania was able to field more than 1.2 million people.
  • The armies of other states had less than a million soldiers.

Rice. 3. Entente countries.

Although officially the Entente included only three countries (France, Russia, Britain), by the beginning of the war more than 12 states had gathered under its wing, and the term “Entente” began to be used for the entire coalition against the Triple Alliance.

Neutral countries

Throughout the war, there were states that could have taken part in the war, but avoided it. Thus, Albania, Luxembourg and Persia were officially neutral, although there were wars on their territories fighting. Argentina had several incidents with both sides of the conflict, but never entered the war on either side.

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In addition to these four countries, the following remained neutral from the beginning to the end of the war: Afghanistan, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Norway, Paraguay, Spain, Sweden, Tibet, Venezuela and what later became traditional supporter world wars Switzerland.

Chronology of entry into the war

As you know, after the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28 and Russia immediately declared mobilization, for which it received an ultimatum from Germany to stop it. On August 1, Germany declares war on Russia, and on August 3 on France. A day later, Berlin also entered the war with Belgium, and Britain with Germany.

On August 12, Britain and Austria-Hungary became enemies, and the day before, France did the same. So the main participants in the First World War officially declared each other enemies.

British statesman Neville Chamberlain after Russian events 1917 said: “Russia has collapsed. One of the goals of the war has been achieved."

England, France, Russia, Italy, the USA were actively looking for allies in case of war. This ultimately led to the formation of military-political groups opposing each other. Germany was the first to take this path. After the completion of the unification of the country and the formation of Germany. In 1879, Germany signed a treaty of alliance with Austria-Hungary. The agreement was clearly anti-Russian in nature. Article one stated that if one of the contracting parties is attacked from outside, the others are obliged to come to the aid of each other with all their armed forces and not make peace without mutual consent. At the same time, article two provided that if one of the contracting parties is attacked not by Russia, but by some other power, the parties are only obliged to maintain neutrality, and only if Russia intervenes in the conflict will paragraph one of the treaty come into force. The contract, initially concluded for a period of 5 years, was then extended several times. The Austro-German Treaty was the first step towards the creation of a military bloc led by Germany. After Italy joined the treaty in 1882, the Triple Alliance was formed. Thus began the division of Europe into two warring camps, which was one of the main reasons for the future world war. After the formation of the Triple Alliance, countries that were opponents of Germany began to formalize their military obligations. At the end of the 80s. XIX century There was a sharp deterioration in Franco-German relations, which forced France to look for ways of rapprochement with Russia. For its part, the Russian government was also interested in rapprochement with France and Europe. When the threat of German aggression against France arose in 1887, she

appealed to Russia. German Chancellor Bismarck demanded guarantees of neutrality from Russia in the event of a war over the disputed border territories between Germany and France. Russia refused, and Bismarck was forced to retreat. Further developments brought France even closer to Russia, as Germany increasingly tried to influence European conflicts. The tension between the countries grew more and more.

For example, Russian-German contradictions led to the so-called “customs war.” At the same time, the Triple Alliance again extended its agreements against Russia. There were even rumors about England joining it due to disputes with Russia over territories in the Middle East. Thus the ground arose for the conclusion of a Russian-French agreement. The parties agreed to consult in case of danger and take joint measures in the event of a threat of attack from Germany and its allies. Later, this agreement was supplemented by strictly defined military circumstances. According to the military convention, the parties pledged to act so that in the event of war Germany would have to fight simultaneously in both the east and the west. The final step in formalizing the Franco-Russian alliance was the ratification of the military convention in 1893. The political rapprochement between Russia and France was reinforced by closer financial relations. The next step in formalizing the Entente was the signing of the Anglo-French agreement of 1904. By signing the agreement of 1904, the parties mutually recognized the rights of England in Egypt and France in Morocco, and did not rule out annexation (i.e. complete seizure) of these territories . And finally, the Anglo-Russian agreement of 1907 was the final step in uniting countries against the Triple Alliance and in creating the Entente (England, France, Russia). The Tsarist government, weakened Russo-Japanese War and the revolution of 1905-1907, alarmed by the growth of German militarism, sought support from England. However, the negotiations were difficult and were on the verge of breakdown more than once. The English side tried not to yield to Russia in dominance over the countries of the Middle East. The negotiations concerned Tibet, Afghanistan and Iran, where Anglo-Russian contradictions were especially strong. The Anglo-Russian agreement of 1907 turned out to be the most important stage in the final design of the Entente, called the Triple Entente - as opposed to the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy).

(fr. ententeagreement), a military-political bloc of states - Great Britain, France and Russia, otherwise called the “Triple Entente”; formed mainly in 1904-1907 and completed the delimitation of the great powers on the eve of the First World War.

The term arose in 1904 initially to refer to the Anglo-French alliance, using the expression l'entente cordiale ("cordial agreement") in memory of the short-lived Anglo-French alliance in the 1840s, which bore the same name. The creation of the Entente was a reaction to the creation of the Triple Alliance and the general strengthening of Germany and an attempt to prevent its hegemony on the continent, initially from Russia (France initially took an anti-German position), and then from England. The latter, in the face of the threat of German hegemony, was forced to abandon the traditional policy of “brilliant isolation” and move to - however, also traditional - a policy of blocking against the strongest power on the continent. A particularly important stimulus for this choice of England was the German naval program, as well as the colonial claims of Germany. In Germany, for its part, this turn of events was perceived as “encirclement” and served as an incentive for new military preparations, which were perceived as purely defensive.

1891–93 imprisonment Russian-French alliance in response to the creation of the Triple Alliance of 1882, a military bloc led by Germany.

in 1904 an Anglo-French agreement was signed. followed by Russian-English

in 1907 Russian-English.

These agreements actually formalized the creation of the Entente.

Military-political alliances in Europe before the outbreak of the First World War.

By the end of the war, the states of the anti-German coalition (not counting Russia, which left after October Revolution from the war) included: England, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras, Greece, Italy, China, Cuba, Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Romania, San Domingo, San Marino, Serbia, Siam , USA, France, Uruguay, Montenegro, Hijaz, Ecuador, Japan.

After the victory over Germany, the Supreme Council of the Entente practically performed the functions of a “world government”, organizing the post-war order. However, the failure of the Entente's policy in Russia and Turkey revealed the limit to its power, undermined by internal contradictions between the victorious powers. In this political capacity of “world government,” the Entente ceased to exist after the formation of the League of Nations, while militarily a new, post-war system of alliances emerged.

The Bolshevik revolution in Russia initially interested the Entente primarily in the sense of catastrophic military prospects for it (Russia's exit from the war and its transformation into a raw material appendage of Germany); Subsequently, the issue of overthrowing the Bolshevik government was understood as a matter of principle - “defense of civilization.” Of course, this did not exclude the possibility that the main powers participating in the intervention also pursued pragmatic political and economic interests. Already on December 23, 1917, England and France signed an agreement on joint intervention in Russia. On March 9, 1918, the British, under the pretext of a (however real) German threat to Murmansk, landed the first detachment there; On August 1, they occupied Arkhangelsk. The Czechoslovak legions, which rebelled in May 1918, were also officially considered part of the Entente forces and were directly subordinate to its Supreme Council. After the defeat of Germany in November 1918, the Entente is trying to fill the military-political vacuum created with the withdrawal of German (and Turkish - in Transcaucasia) troops, occupying the Black Sea cities: Odessa, Sevastopol, Novorossiysk, as well as Transcaucasia. The interventionist troops consisted of catchphrase one of the most active adherents of the intervention, Winston Churchill, from representatives of 14 states; first of all, these were: England, France, USA, Serbia, Greece, Romania, Italy; Poland, Finland, Latvia and Estonia did not participate in the landings, but fought against Lenin's government. In the Far East, Japan actively acted on behalf of the Entente, pursuing its own interests, but, however, restrained in this regard by the Americans. In Transcaucasia, the Entente, represented by England, had almost complete control, which, however, cannot (contrary to the Soviet historical tradition) be considered an intervention in Russia, since Transcaucasia was not part of Russia at that time. However, having discovered that maintaining a presence in Russia is impossible without large-scale military operations, and without having real opportunities for a new one great war with goals unclear to the masses, the Entente countries were forced in the spring of 1919 to withdraw their troops from most of the occupied areas (except for the Far East). Active material, economic and partly still military (volunteer) assistance White movement continued until the beginning of 1920, when its futility became obvious. The idea of ​​overthrowing the Bolshevik government was replaced by the idea of ​​a “cordon sanitaire”, and the Polish-Soviet war of 1920, which Poland fought with the active support of France, can be considered the last major anti-Bolshevik enterprise associated with the Entente.



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