August 1 - Day of Remembrance of Russian soldiers who died in the First World War
The First World War lasted from 1914 to 1918. On August 1, our country celebrates a memorable day in honor of those who fell on its fronts.
Almost two thirds of all independent states existing at that time - 38 countries of the world took part in this war. And although the most dramatic events took place on the European continent, the conflict very quickly took on a global character, engulfing a large part of Asia, engaging the African continent. The naval operations of the First World War took place in the waters of all four oceans of the Earth.
And although hostilities began on July 28, 1914, after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, the Russian Empire entered it four days later, on August 1, when German troops invaded its territory. This date was considered in Russia as a memorable day in honor of the fallen heroes of that war.
Even the approximate death toll in the First World War is unknown, because in our country it grew into two revolutions, and then into an even more bloody fratricidal Civil War. There was no time and no one to count. And it was difficult to understand in which particular war this or that citizen of our country died. So, according to various sources, the death toll in the First World War ranges from half a million to two million people.
Despite all the tragedy and scale of those events, in Soviet times it was undeservedly ignored, shamefully calling it imperialist. This is understandable, because the horror of this war in our country then did not stop in 1918, as in other European countries, but grew into another horror that lasted for at least four more years and almost led to the disintegration of Russia into small parts. But the country was able to bring together about the same forces that had previously participated in its collapse.
It is not surprising that under these conditions the heroes of the First World War were undeservedly forgotten. But they, despite all the complexity and ambiguity of what was happening, honestly performed their duty, defending their homeland from the enemy.
They were remembered relatively recently. On the territory of the former Bratsk cemetery, founded in 1915 in the village of Vsekhsvyatskoye near Moscow, which was subsequently swallowed up by the sprawling capital, a park appeared. In 1994 it was declared a monument stories and culture, subsequently, in 2004, creating a memorial complex of the Heroes of the First World War there. This place now hosts commemorative events. Over time, memorials began to be erected in memory of the events of 1914-1918 in other places in Russia.
And in 2014, a monument to the Heroes of the First World War appeared in Moscow on Poklonnaya Hill, in the opening of which Russian President Vladimir Putin took part.
It is good that they began to remember the fallen soldiers and officers of that distant war, undeservedly forgotten by the country for many decades. But better late than never, because they are also part of our history.
Eternal memory to all Russian soldiers who gave their lives for their Motherland in that very First World War.
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