Cossacks before the World War
In the 1894 year, after the death of the tsar-peacemaker Alexander III, his son Nicholas II took the throne, and his reign was the end of the three-hundred-year Romanov dynasty. Objectively, nothing foreshadowed such an outcome. According to the custom of the dynasty, Emperor Nicholas II received an excellent education and upbringing. At the turn of the century, Russia developed rapidly in all areas of national life: economic, cultural, public education, transport and finance. The country's powerful domestic growth caused fear among its neighbors and everyone expected what policy would be adopted by the new reign. In the West, Nicholas II continued to strengthen the Franco-Russian alliance. In the Far East, the country's interests clashed with the interests of Japan and England. In 1895, Japan attacked China, seized Korea, Kwantung and began to threaten the Russian Far East. Russia defended China, managed to draw Germany and France into a coalition against Japan.
The allies threatened Japan with a sea blockade and forced her to leave the Asian continent and be satisfied with the island of Formosa (Taiwan). Russia for this service to China received a concession for the construction of the Sino-Eastern Railway (CER) with the right to own Manchuria and lease the Kwantung Peninsula with a military base in Port Arthur and the commercial port of Dalniy (Dalian). With the Siberian railway, Russia was firmly established on the Pacific coast. But in relation to Japan, a number of mistakes, miscalculations and underestimations were made, which allowed the Japanese to create a powerful fleet and ground forces, significantly exceeding the fleet and army of the Russian empire in the Pacific Ocean. One of the main mistakes was that the Minister of Finance, Count Witte, allocated a huge loan to China, due to which the Chinese immediately paid Japan their debts. The Japanese used this money for construction fleet and strengthening the country's military power. This and other errors led to the war with Japan, which was able to decide on a war, only given Russia's weakness in the Far East. The Russian public saw the causes of the war in the machinations of private commercial dealers who managed to influence the emperor and even involve members of the imperial family in forest concessions. Even then, the tsarist government showed a narrow approach and neglect of national interests. The real cause of the Russo-Japanese war was the increased economic importance of the Pacific, and its importance became no less important than the Atlantic. Russia, while gaining a foothold in the Far East, continued to pay its main attention to the West and kept a close eye on Manchuria, in the event of a conflict, hoping to cope with Japan without difficulty. Japan carefully prepared for war with Russia and concentrated all its attention on the military theater of Manchuria. In addition, in the brewing conflict, the anti-Russian influence of England came to light more and more clearly.
The war began without an announcement by the Japanese fleet attacking the Russian fleet in Port Arthur on the night of 3 on 4 February 1904 of the year. The forces that Russia had in the Far East were defined in 130 thousands of people, including 30 thousands in the Vladivostok area and 30 thousands in Port Arthur. Strengthening the army was supposed to be due to new formations and sending corps from central Russia. Russian troops were well armed, the quality of the rifled weapons and the artillery was higher than the Japanese, but there were not enough mountain cannons and mortars. In Japan, universal military service was introduced in the 70 of the 19 century and by the beginning of the war it had up to 1,2 million military servicemen, including up to 300 thousands of permanent and trained personnel. The most important property of the theater of operations was the connection of troops with the rears, and in this respect the position of both sides was the same. For the Russian army, the only railway from Syzran to Liaoyang served as a link to the rear, because of its incomplete load, cargo had to be transshipped across Lake Baikal. Communication of the Japanese army with the metropolis was exclusively sea and could be carried out only in conditions of the domination of the Japanese fleet at sea. Therefore, the Japanese plan’s first goal was to lock up or destroy the Russian fleet in Port Arthur and to ensure the neutrality of third countries. By the end of February, the Russian fleet suffered significant losses, the Japanese seized domination of the sea and ensured the possibility of landing the army on the mainland. The first to land in Korea was General Kuroki’s army, followed by General Oka’s army. The Russian command stupidly slept the beginning of the Japanese landing operation, when a small Japanese bridgehead was the most vulnerable. Under these conditions, the task of the Russian army was to draw all Japanese forces to itself and pull them away from Port Arthur.
There was no firm command in the Russian army. The general leadership of the conduct of the war lay on the governor-general in the Far East, General Alekseev, and the Manchurian army was commanded by General Kuropatkin, i.e. The control system was similar to the control system in conquering Black Sea at the end of the 18 century. The trouble was different. Kuropatkin was not Suvorov, Alekseev was not Potemkin, and Nicholas II was not fit even in the shoes of Empress Catherine II. Due to the lack of unity and leadership skills that were adequate to the spirit of their time, from the very beginning of the war operations began to be spontaneous. The first major battle occurred on April 18 between the eastern detachment of the Kuropatkin army and the Kuroki army. The Japanese had not only a numerical, but also a tactical advantage, since the Russian army was completely unprepared for a modern war. In this battle, the Russian infantry fought without digging in, and the batteries fired from open positions. The battle ended in great losses and indiscriminate retreat of the Russian troops, Kuroki advanced and secured the landing of the second army on the Korean coast, then headed for Port Arthur. The defense of the sea fortress Port Arthur was no less sad than the hostilities on the mainland. Generals Stoessel and Smirnov - the head of the fortified area and the commandant of the fortress - ignored each other on the basis of personal enmity. In the garrison reigned squabbles, gossip, mutual resentment. The atmosphere in the leadership of the defense of the fortress was completely different from that in which Kornilov, Nakhimov, Moller and Totleben in besieged Sevastopol created their immortal bastions from nothing. In May, another Japanese army landed in Dogushan and the Japanese ousted the eastern group of the Russian army from the Korean peninsula. By August, the eastern and southern groups of the Russian army were drawn to Liaoyanu and Kuropatkin decided to give battle there. On the Russian side, the battalion 183, 602 guns, 90 hundreds of Cossacks and dragoons took part in the battle, which significantly exceeded the strength of the Japanese. The attacks of the Japanese were repulsed with great losses for them, but the fate of the battle was decided on the left flank of the Russian army.
The division of General Orlov, consisting of unexploded reservists, guarded the left flank of the army. In the thickets of Gaulian, she was attacked by the Japanese and fled without resistance, opening the flank of the army. Kuropatkin was terribly afraid of the encirclement and on the night of August 19 ordered the army to retreat to Mukden. The withdrawal of the Russian army by several hours ahead of the decision of the Japanese army to retreat, but the Japanese troops were so upset by the previous battles that they did not pursue the retreating Russian troops. This case clearly demonstrated the almost complete absence of military intelligence and the gift of foresight from the command of the Russian army. Only in September, the Japanese troops, having received the reserves, were able to advance to Mukden and occupy the front there. In late October, the Russian army went on the offensive, but did not succeed, both sides suffered heavy losses. At the end of December, Port Arthur fell, and in January 1905, the Russian army launched a new offensive, hoping to smash the enemy from the Port Arthur approach. However, the offensive ended in complete failure. In February, the battles of Mukden ended in the indiscriminate retreat of the Russian army. Kuropatkin was dismissed, a new commander Linevich was appointed. But neither he nor the Japanese after the heavy losses near Mukden had the courage to attack.
In the battles with the Japanese, the Cossack units took an active part, they made up most of the cavalry. The Trans-Baikal Cossack army set up 9 cavalry regiments, 3 foot battalions and 4 equestrian batteries. Amur Cossacks put up an 1 regiment, UNSHY, a Siberian - 1 regiment, Orenburg - NNXX reg. , Terskoe - 1 shelf and 6 horse battery. Total 5 regiment, 2 division, 4 battalions and 2 batteries. As the Cossacks arrived in the Far East, they immediately received their baptism of fire. Participated in the battles of Sandepu, in the 2 kilometer raid on the Japanese units in Honghe, Nanzhou, Yingkou, in the battles near the village of Sumanu, in the raid on the Japanese units in the area on Haicheng and Dantuko, distinguished themselves in the raid on Fakumin, in the attack on the enemy near the village Donsjazo. In July, the 6-I Don Cavalry Division, the 1-i Don Cossack Artillery Division and the 2 sanitary trains from the 1 Cossack line were mobilized in July 32. The emperor himself escorted the Cossacks to the front, who arrived specially for this on Don 1 August 9 of the year. In early October, the Cossacks arrived at the front and took part in the raid of the cavalry group of General Mishchenko in the rear of the enemy. For several reasons, the raid failed, and after heavy fighting, the division was relegated to the rear for replenishment, then sent to Mongolia to protect the CER and fight Hunghuz (Chinese bandit) gangs led by Japanese officers. Among the Cossacks of this division, Mironov FK, the future famous red cavalry and commander of the 8 Cavalry Army, who was shot by the Trotskyists in the 500 year, bravely fought a dashing upward approach. For the Russian-Japanese war, he deserved the 1904 Order. In the same division, a young contractor 4 of the Cossack regiment, SM Budyonny, the future legendary commander of the 3 th Cavalry Army, began his military activity.
Fig. 1 Cossacks fight with the Hunhuz
The Cossacks, like cavalry, did not play their former eminent role in this war. There were many reasons for this: the increased strength of the gun and artillery fire, the deadly machine-gun fire, the extraordinary development of artificial obstacles, and the weakness of the enemy cavalry. There were no big cavalry cases, the Cossacks were actually made dragoons, i.e. infantry mounted on horses. As infantry, the Cossacks acted very well, especially when defending passes. Cavalry affairs were also there, but not on the former scale and not with the previous successes. Let us recall, for example, the case at Anchu of the Trans-Baikal brigade of General Mishchenko, the case of the Siberians under Wah-go-go, a raid on the rear of the Kuroki army in Korea, etc. With all the failures that relentlessly pursued our army, it was only thanks to the presence of the Cossacks that the Japanese could not advance north of Kuanchenzi and take Vladivostok.
Fig. 2 Battle of the Cossacks with the Japanese cavalry with Wah-Fang-go
Fig. 3 Reid Cossacks in the rear of the Japanese army
14 May 1905 in the Tsushima Strait suffered a complete defeat sent to the Baltic Sea Russian squadron Rozhestvensky and Nebogatova. The Russian Pacific Fleet was completely destroyed, and this was a decisive moment during the war. Victims of the parties in the Russian-Japanese war were great. Russia lost about 270 thousands of people, of which 50 thousands were killed, Japan lost 270 thousands of people, had 86 thousands killed. In late July, peace negotiations began in Portsmouth. Under the Portsmouth Treaty, Russia retained northern Manchuria, ceded half of Sakhalin Island to Japan, and expanded its sea fishing zone for it. The unsuccessful war on land and at sea spurred unrest inside the country and morally exhausted Russia to the extreme. During the war, the forces of the 5 columns of all stripes intensified in the country. In the difficult moments of military failures on the fronts of Manchuria, the most “progressive” part of the Russian public filled restaurants and drank champagne for the success of the enemy. The Russian liberal press of those years sent the entire stream of criticism to the army, considering it the main culprit for the defeat. If the criticism of the high command was correct, then with regard to the Russian soldier and officer she wore a very bad character and was only partly correct. There were writers and journalists who in the Russian soldier were looking for the culprit for all the failures in this war. Got everything: infantry, artillery, navy and cavalry. But most of all the mud went to the Cossacks, who made up the majority of the Russian cavalry in the Manchurian army.
The revolutionary part of the party groupings also rejoiced at the failures, seeing in them a means of fighting the government. Already at the very beginning of the 4 war in February of 1904, the Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, the Moscow governor-general, was killed. Under the influence of revolutionary propaganda with the beginning of the war, peasant pogroms began in Ukraine (traditionally the weakest link of the empire). In 1905, workers in factories joined the peasant pogroms. The revolutionary movement was promoted by industrialists who released funds for the publication of revolutionary literature. All Russia was gradually gripped by the unrest of the peasants and workers. The revolutionary movement touched the Cossacks. They had to act as suppressors of revolutionaries and rebels. After all the unsuccessful attempts to involve the Cossacks in the revolutionary movement, they were considered the “stronghold of tsarism”, “royal satrap” and according to party programs, decisions and literature, the Cossack regions were to be destroyed. Indeed, all the Cossack regions did not suffer from the main lack of peasantry — landlessness and demonstrated stability and order. But in the land issue and in the Cossack regions, all was not well. The fact that it was only in the bud when settling the Cossack lands, at the turn of the century was a completely complete fact. The former foreman turned into gentlemen, in the nobility. Back in the 1842 position of the year, one of such advantages of a foreman was recorded for the first time. In addition to the usual Cossack land rights in the number of 30 tithes per Cossack, the Cossack foremen were granted for life use: 1500 tithes per general, 400 tithes per head officer and 200 tithes per senior officer. After 28 years, the new position of 1870 of the year, the lifelong use of officer sites was replaced by hereditary, private property was made of military property.
And after some time, a part of this property had already passed into the hands of other owners, often not Cossacks, to whom Cossack officers and their descendants sold their plots. Thus, a strong nest of the kulaks was built on these military lands and, having arranged such an economically important foothold, the kulaks (being often Cossacks themselves) were picking up those Cossacks whose ancestors gave the land to charters of military troop property. As you can see, with regard to stories development of Cossack land ownership, then on this account the Cossacks were "not all very good". This, of course, indicates that the Cossacks were people and that, as people, nothing human was alien. There were harassment, there was a seizure, there was a struggle, there was a disregard for the common good and the interests of the neighbor. The Cossack made mistakes, fell into hobbies, but that was life itself, that was its gradual complication, without which the history of the development of the phenomena under consideration would be unthinkable. Behind the general fact of land troubles there was another fact that prevailed over these troubles, the existence and development of communal-land Cossack property. It was already important that Cossack communities and in fact, and the law approved land rights. And since the Cossack had land, it means that the Cossack had the opportunity to be a Cossack, support his family, support the economy, live in prosperity and be equipped for service.
Fig. 4 Cossacks on the mowing
The special position of internal governance, based on the principles of Cossack democracy, in the Cossack regions was maintained that they are a special, privileged class among the Russian people, and among the Cossack intelligentsia, the isolation of Cossack life was confirmed and explained by references to Cossack history. In the inner life of the Cossacks, despite government changes in the life of the country, the old Cossack life was maintained. The authorities and the authorities manifested themselves only in service or in order to suppress mischief, and the authorities consisted of their own Cossack environment. The non-resident population in the Cossack regions engaged in trade, crafts, or peasantry, often lived in separate settlements and did not participate in Cossack social life, but grew steadily. For example, the population of the Don region at the beginning of the reign of Nicholas II was: 1 022 086 Cossacks and 1 200 667 not Cossacks. A significant part of the non-Kazak population was residents of the cities of Rostov and Taganrog connected to the Don and workers of the Donetsk coal mines. The total land area of the Don Cossacks was 15 020 442 tithing and was distributed as follows: 9 XyNMS 316 149 1 143 454 1 110 805 53 586 3 370 347 15 30 1836 1860 1900 100 3 1904 1906 XNUMX XNUMX XNUMX XNUMX XNUMX XNUMX XNUMX , XNUMX XNUMX XNUMX in the holdings of officers and officials. As you can see, in the Don Army, the Cossack accounted for an average of XNUMX tithe of land, i.e. half the size of the XNUMX-tithe plot, determined by the laws of XNUMX and XNUMX. The Cossacks continued to carry out the polls, although they enjoyed certain privileges that excused them from service in peacetime due to their marital status and education. All equipment and a horse were purchased on the personal funds of the Cossacks, which was very expensive. Since XNUMX, in support of the cost of equipping the Cossack to the service, the government began to let XNUMX rubles go to the Cossack. The habitual image of communal land use increasingly came into conflict with life. Cultivation of land was conducted in the old manner, when there was a lot of free land and it was virgin. The redistribution of land took place every XNUMX of the year, even an enterprising Cossack could not and did not want to invest capital expenditures on the fertilization of land. It was also difficult to give up the old Cossack custom, equal plots for everyone, because it undermined the foundations of the Cossack democracy. Thus, the general situation and conditions in the country led to the fact that the Cossack life required substantial reforms, but there were no efficient, constructive and productive proposals. The revolutionary movement of XNUMX-XNUMX's put the Cossacks in an exceptional position. The government, considering the Cossacks to be faithful servants of the Fatherland, decided to use them to pacify the rebellion. Initially, all the regiments of the first stage were attracted for this, then after mobilization many regiments of the second stage, then part of the regiments of the third stage. All the regiments were distributed throughout the provinces that were the most overwhelmed by the insurrection, and brought order.
Fig. 5 Cossack patrol on Nevsky Prospect, 1905 year
The situation was aggravated by the fact that there were unrest in the army and in the navy, one after another terrorist attacks everywhere. Under these conditions, politicians, the public and the government sought a way out of this situation. The political parties of the constructive opposition were weak and unauthorized and were only companions to popular unrest. The real leaders of the destructive revolutionary activity were the party leaders of the parties of socialists, populists and Marxists of various trends and shades who challenged each other's primacy. Their activity was not reduced to the improvement of the people's everyday life, not to the solution of the vital issues of the state and society, but to the fundamental ruin of everything that exists. For the people, they used to throw up ancient primitive slogans, understandable, as in the days of Pugachev and easily applied in practice with comma authorities. The future of the country and people by these leaders seemed very vague, depending on the taste, fantasies and desires of every leader, not excluding promises, for especially those who wish, and earthly paradise. The public was completely at a loss and did not find the material, moral and ideological support for consolidation. The government’s attempt to take the workers' movement into their own hands and lead them ended in the tragedy of the Bloody Resurrection of 5 in January of 1905. Military failures in Manchuria and the catastrophe of the fleet in the Pacific Ocean have done the job.
A real idea was created about the royal power as a herd of not frightened idiots: a neznaek, dumb wagons and fools who don’t take it, everything falls out of their hands. Under these conditions, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich proposed to bestow a constitution and convene the State Duma without the right to restrict autocracy. October 17 The 1905 of the year a manifesto was issued, and the 22 of April 1906 of the year ended the election of members of the State Duma. In the anxious time of 1904-1906, the Cossacks fulfilled their duty to the Motherland, the insurgency was stopped and the government, to the beginning of the Duma’s work, felt more confident. However, the elected Duma at the first meeting demanded the resignation of the government, changes to the fundamental laws of the Empire, deputies from the podium with impunity delivered pogrom speech. The government saw that with such a composition of the State Duma, the state was threatened and the 10 of June the emperor dissolved the Duma, at the same time appointing P.A. Stolypin. The second Duma opened 20 February 1907 of the year. While reading the supreme edict, the left factions and the cadets sat. By June, it turned out that the Social Democratic faction was carrying out illegal work in military units, preparing a military coup. Prime Minister Stolypin proposed to exclude 55 deputies involved in this case from the Duma.
The proposal was rejected, and the Duma was dismissed that day. In total in the IV Russian Dumas from 1906 to 1917. 85 Cossack deputies were elected. Of these, in the I Duma - 25 people, in II - 27 people, in III - 18 and in IV-15 people. Some deputies were elected several times. Thus, prominent Cossack public figures of democratic orientation - Don Cossack V.A. Kharlamov and the Kuban Cossack K.L. Bardij - were the deputies of the Duma of all four convocations. Don Cossacks - MS Voronkov, I.N. Efremov and the Ural Cossack - FA Eremin - deputies of three Doom. Tersky Cossack - MA Karaulov, Siberian Cossack - I.P. Laptev, Don Cossack - MP Arakantsev and Transbaikalian - S.A. Taskin was elected to the Duma twice. At the same time, it should be noted that from the 85 Cossack deputies 71 people delegated Cossack regions, and 14 were elected deputies from the non-Kazakh provinces of Russia. Despite the difficult experience of bringing representatives of the people to the state life, the latter’s lack of experience in state work and responsibility, Russia in the reign of Nicholas II began to have two legislative institutions: the State Duma and the State Council. These institutions were limited in their activities by the power of the autocracy, but these restrictions were only marginally greater than in Austria, Germany or Japan. There is no responsibility of ministries to the people in modern America, where the president is an autocrat. The reign of Nicholas II was a time of economic and cultural development. The population increased from 120 to 170 million people, cash deposits from the population increased from 300 million to 2 billion rubles, the bread harvest almost doubled, coal production more than six times increased, oil production doubled and the length of railways. The law practically prohibited the import of railway equipment, which led to the development of metallurgy and transport engineering. The national education was intensively developed, the number of pupils and students reached 10 millions. The inner life of Russia after the unrest of 1907, came to rest.
International politics was mainly determined by relations between the European powers and complicated by strong competition in foreign markets. Germany, compressed by the Allied powers of France and Russia on the mainland and by England on the seas, sought to occupy a dominant position along the paths of the Near and Middle East. Having failed to gain a foothold in Tunisia and in North Africa, she began to build a railway to Baghdad, heading for Turkey, Persia and India. In addition to economic reasons, the foreign policy of Germany was also determined by the psychology of its people. Prussian militarism, which in the 19 century managed to unite scattered Germanic nationalities into a single state, was brought up by German philosophy in a spirit of superiority over other nations and pushed Germany to world domination. Its weapons rapidly developed and forced other nations to also arm themselves. Military budgets of countries accounted for 30-40% of national expenditures. The plans of military training included the political aspect, the excitement in the countries of the enemy discontent and revolutionary action. To stop the arms race and avoid international conflict, Emperor Nicholas II proposed that European nations establish an arbitration court for the peaceful resolution of conflicts. An international conference was convened in The Hague for this purpose. But this idea was met with sharp opposition from Germany. Austria-Hungary gradually fell under the influence of Germany and formed an indissoluble bloc with it. In contrast to the Austro-Prussian Union, to which Italy adjoined, the Franco-Russian alliance, to which England leaned, began to strengthen.
Russia was developing rapidly, and with 170 a million people, it was quickly becoming a giant country. In 1912, a large program of comprehensive improvement of the country was planned in Russia. Stolypin's firm control, who managed to curb the revolutionary forces in the country, created him many enemies not only among the underground workers, but also the "progressive" part of society. The agrarian reform undertaken by Stolypin attacked the communal land tenure and aroused hatred on both sides. The people's democrats saw in the community the standard and pledge of the future classless state, while the large landowners saw in the private peasant land ownership a campaign against large-scale land ownership. Stolypin was hit from two sides, right and left. For the Cossacks, the Stolypin reforms also had no positive significance. In fact, by equating the Cossacks with the peasants in the economic situation, they only slightly alleviated the burden of military service. In 1909, the total service life for the Cossacks was reduced from 20 to 18 years by reducing the “preparatory” level to one year. The reforms actually eliminated the privileged position of the Cossacks and in the future had great negative consequences for the tsarist government and Russia. Caused by pre-war reforms and the failures of the First World War, the indifference of the Cossacks to the royal power later gave the Bolsheviks a break and an opportunity to gain a foothold in power after the October Revolution, and then the opportunity to win the civil war.
In 1911, Kiev celebrated the millennium for the adoption of Christianity in Russia. Stolypin arrived in Kiev, accompanying the sovereign. Under the most careful control of the police, a terrorist agent Bagrov infiltrated the Kiev opera and fatally wounded Stolypin. With his death, the country's domestic and foreign policy has not changed. The government firmly ruled the country, there was no open rebellion. The leaders of the destructive parties, hiding their time, hid abroad, published newspapers and magazines, maintained contacts with like-minded people in Russia, without disdaining in their lives and activities with sponsorship from the special services of geopolitical opponents of Russia and various organizations of the international bourgeoisie. In foreign policy, Russia focused its main attention on the mainland of Europe and strengthened its alliance with France. For its part, it was firmly holding on to Russia and releasing loans to strengthen its military power, primarily on the development of railways towards Germany. The dominant idea in foreign policy again, as under Alexander II, was the Pan-Slavic question and the Balkan Slavs. This was a global strategic error, which subsequently led to disastrous consequences for the country and the ruling dynasty. Objectively, the growth of the economy and foreign trade was pushing Russia towards the Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal, which is why the Slavic question assumed such importance. But the Balkan Peninsula at all times was a "powder magazine" of Europe and was fraught with the danger of a constant explosion. Southern Europe and now has little economic and political importance, and at that time was completely out of place. The main Russian political idea of "pan-Slavism" was based on the ephemeral notions of "Slavic brotherhood" and at that time fatally connected with the center of permanent international conflict and instability. In the Balkans, the paths of Pan-Slavism, Pan-Germanism and the forces guarding the Bosphorus, Gibraltar and Suez were crossed.
The situation was complicated by the internal political forces of the young Balkan countries, which were not distinguished by great state experience, wisdom and responsibility. In 1912, Serbia, in alliance with Bulgaria, declared war on Turkey in order to undermine its influence in Albania and Bosnia. The war was successful for the Slavs, but the winners soon after the victory had fought each other, demonstrating to the whole world their extreme state immaturity and the monstrous lightness of the decisions. This is their frivolous behavior alerted politicians of neighboring countries, including in Russia, but to a completely insufficient extent. The military analyzed only military experience and conducted large maneuvers of troops. A military thunderstorm had not yet been foreseen, and there seemed to be no obvious reason for a European geopolitical catastrophe. But in the military and political centers the microbe of international disruption persistently cultivated. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the armies of the main European countries concentrated such destructive technical means that each country considered itself invincible and was ready to take the risk of military clashes with the enemy. There was a treaty of the Hague Conference, signed by all the powers of Europe who have committed themselves to dismantle all political conflicts by means of arbitration courts. But in the current political circumstances, when each country was morally ready for war, this treaty was just a piece of paper, which no one thought to reckon with. To start the war, only an excuse was needed, and with these complex political relations he was quickly found. 28 June 1914 in Sarajevo, by a Serbian nationalist, was killed by the Crown Prince of Austria Franz Ferdinand, who arrived in Bosnia with an inspection and peacekeeping mission. Austria, not trusting the Serbian authorities, demanded an investigation into the territory of Serbia, which violated its sovereignty. The Serbian government turned to Russia and France for help. But the Austrian ultimatum was supported by Germany, she firmly insisted on her and began to concentrate troops on the borders of Serbia.
In St. Petersburg, in order to strengthen the Franco-Russian alliance, French President Poincaré and Defense Minister Joffre were on a visit at this time. The murder of the crown prince accelerated their departure to France, they left, accompanied by Emperor Nicholas II, who was going to meet at sea with Emperor Wilhelm and settle the conflict. At first it seemed that it was possible. But the political atmosphere became more and more heated, in each of the countries the “party of war” gained more and more influence and the negotiations became more and more irreconcilable. Partial mobilizations were carried out, first in Austria, then in Russia, France and Germany. Then Austria declared war on Serbia and moved troops to its borders. To keep her from decisive action, Emperor Nicholas II sent a letter to Kaiser Wilhelm, but Austrian troops invaded Serbia. On the demand of Russia to stop the war, Austria declared war on Russia. Then Germany declared war on Russia, and then on France. Three days later, England acted on the side of Russia and France. Russia boldly and resolutely stepped into the trap, but in spite of this was swept by universal euphoria. It seemed that the decisive hour had come in the centuries-old struggle of the Slavs with the Germans. So began the world war, which lasted from the end of June 1914 to November 1918. With the declaration of war, the 104 Cossack Regiment and the 161 separate mobilized into the Russian army. The ensuing war was very different in character from previous and subsequent ones. The previous decades before the war in military affairs were characterized primarily by the fact that in their development the defense weapon sharply advanced compared with the offensive weapon. On the battlefield, a rapid-fire magazine rifle, a rapid-fire rifled breech-loading gun, and of course a machine gun began to dominate. All of these weapons were well combined with powerful engineering preparation of defensive positions: solid trenches with communications, thousands of kilometers of barbed wire, minefields, strong points with dugouts, pillboxes, bunks, forts, fortified areas, roadways, etc.
Under these conditions, any attempt by the troops to attack ended in a catastrophe such as the defeat of the Russian armies at the Masurian Lakes or turned into a merciless meat grinder, as under Verdun. The war for many years has become less manoeuvrable, trench, positional. With the increase in firepower and damaging factors of new types of weapons, the centuries-old glorious military fate of the Cossack cavalry, whose element was a raid, detour, reach, breakthrough, offensive, came to an end. This war turned into a war of exhaustion and survival, led to the economic undermining of all the warring countries, claimed millions of human lives, led to global political upheavals and completely changed the map of Europe and the world. Unprecedented losses and several years of great trench sitting also led to the demoralization and decomposition of the existing armies, then led to mass desertion, riots and revolutions, and eventually ended with the collapse of the powerful empires of the Russian, Austro-Hungarian, German, and Ottoman. And, despite the victory, apart from them, 4 mighty colonial empires, British and French, began to collapse and began to collapse.
But the real winner in this war was the United States of America. They profited unspeakably on military supplies, not only swept clean all the gold reserves and budgets of the Entente powers, but also imposed on them enslaving debts. Having entered the war at the final stage, the United States grabbed not only a substantial share of the laurels of victors, but also a bold piece of reparations and indemnities from the vanquished. It was America's finest hour. Only a century ago, US President Monroe proclaimed the doctrine of "America for Americans" and the United States entered into a stubborn and merciless struggle to squeeze the European colonial powers from the American continent. But after the Versailles Peace, no single power could do anything in the Western Hemisphere without the permission of the United States. It was a triumph of visionary strategy and a decisive step towards world domination.
War culprits, as a rule, remain defeated. Germany and Austria became such, and all the costs of restoring the military destruction were imposed on them. Under the terms of the Versailles Peace, Germany had to pay the Allies 360 billion francs and restore all the provinces of France destroyed by the war. Heavy indemnity was imposed on the German allies, Bulgaria and Turkey. Austria was divided into small national states, part of its territory was annexed to Serbia and Poland. Russia on the eve of the end of the war, because of the revolution, came out of this international conflict, but because of the anarchy that had come, plunged itself into a much more destructive civil war and was deprived of the opportunity to attend the peace congress. France got back Alsace and Lorraine, England, having destroyed the fleet of Germany, retained dominance in the seas and in colonial politics. The secondary consequence of the First World War was the even more destructive and prolonged Second World War (some historians and politicians do not even share these wars). But that's another story.
Materials used:
Gordeev A.A. - History of the Cossacks
Mamonov V.F. and others. - History of the Cossacks of the Urals. Orenburg-Chelyabinsk 1992
Shibanov N.S. - Orenburg Cossacks of the XVIII - XIX centuries
Ryzhkova N.V. - Don Cossacks in the wars of the early twentieth century-2008
The allies threatened Japan with a sea blockade and forced her to leave the Asian continent and be satisfied with the island of Formosa (Taiwan). Russia for this service to China received a concession for the construction of the Sino-Eastern Railway (CER) with the right to own Manchuria and lease the Kwantung Peninsula with a military base in Port Arthur and the commercial port of Dalniy (Dalian). With the Siberian railway, Russia was firmly established on the Pacific coast. But in relation to Japan, a number of mistakes, miscalculations and underestimations were made, which allowed the Japanese to create a powerful fleet and ground forces, significantly exceeding the fleet and army of the Russian empire in the Pacific Ocean. One of the main mistakes was that the Minister of Finance, Count Witte, allocated a huge loan to China, due to which the Chinese immediately paid Japan their debts. The Japanese used this money for construction fleet and strengthening the country's military power. This and other errors led to the war with Japan, which was able to decide on a war, only given Russia's weakness in the Far East. The Russian public saw the causes of the war in the machinations of private commercial dealers who managed to influence the emperor and even involve members of the imperial family in forest concessions. Even then, the tsarist government showed a narrow approach and neglect of national interests. The real cause of the Russo-Japanese war was the increased economic importance of the Pacific, and its importance became no less important than the Atlantic. Russia, while gaining a foothold in the Far East, continued to pay its main attention to the West and kept a close eye on Manchuria, in the event of a conflict, hoping to cope with Japan without difficulty. Japan carefully prepared for war with Russia and concentrated all its attention on the military theater of Manchuria. In addition, in the brewing conflict, the anti-Russian influence of England came to light more and more clearly.
The war began without an announcement by the Japanese fleet attacking the Russian fleet in Port Arthur on the night of 3 on 4 February 1904 of the year. The forces that Russia had in the Far East were defined in 130 thousands of people, including 30 thousands in the Vladivostok area and 30 thousands in Port Arthur. Strengthening the army was supposed to be due to new formations and sending corps from central Russia. Russian troops were well armed, the quality of the rifled weapons and the artillery was higher than the Japanese, but there were not enough mountain cannons and mortars. In Japan, universal military service was introduced in the 70 of the 19 century and by the beginning of the war it had up to 1,2 million military servicemen, including up to 300 thousands of permanent and trained personnel. The most important property of the theater of operations was the connection of troops with the rears, and in this respect the position of both sides was the same. For the Russian army, the only railway from Syzran to Liaoyang served as a link to the rear, because of its incomplete load, cargo had to be transshipped across Lake Baikal. Communication of the Japanese army with the metropolis was exclusively sea and could be carried out only in conditions of the domination of the Japanese fleet at sea. Therefore, the Japanese plan’s first goal was to lock up or destroy the Russian fleet in Port Arthur and to ensure the neutrality of third countries. By the end of February, the Russian fleet suffered significant losses, the Japanese seized domination of the sea and ensured the possibility of landing the army on the mainland. The first to land in Korea was General Kuroki’s army, followed by General Oka’s army. The Russian command stupidly slept the beginning of the Japanese landing operation, when a small Japanese bridgehead was the most vulnerable. Under these conditions, the task of the Russian army was to draw all Japanese forces to itself and pull them away from Port Arthur.
There was no firm command in the Russian army. The general leadership of the conduct of the war lay on the governor-general in the Far East, General Alekseev, and the Manchurian army was commanded by General Kuropatkin, i.e. The control system was similar to the control system in conquering Black Sea at the end of the 18 century. The trouble was different. Kuropatkin was not Suvorov, Alekseev was not Potemkin, and Nicholas II was not fit even in the shoes of Empress Catherine II. Due to the lack of unity and leadership skills that were adequate to the spirit of their time, from the very beginning of the war operations began to be spontaneous. The first major battle occurred on April 18 between the eastern detachment of the Kuropatkin army and the Kuroki army. The Japanese had not only a numerical, but also a tactical advantage, since the Russian army was completely unprepared for a modern war. In this battle, the Russian infantry fought without digging in, and the batteries fired from open positions. The battle ended in great losses and indiscriminate retreat of the Russian troops, Kuroki advanced and secured the landing of the second army on the Korean coast, then headed for Port Arthur. The defense of the sea fortress Port Arthur was no less sad than the hostilities on the mainland. Generals Stoessel and Smirnov - the head of the fortified area and the commandant of the fortress - ignored each other on the basis of personal enmity. In the garrison reigned squabbles, gossip, mutual resentment. The atmosphere in the leadership of the defense of the fortress was completely different from that in which Kornilov, Nakhimov, Moller and Totleben in besieged Sevastopol created their immortal bastions from nothing. In May, another Japanese army landed in Dogushan and the Japanese ousted the eastern group of the Russian army from the Korean peninsula. By August, the eastern and southern groups of the Russian army were drawn to Liaoyanu and Kuropatkin decided to give battle there. On the Russian side, the battalion 183, 602 guns, 90 hundreds of Cossacks and dragoons took part in the battle, which significantly exceeded the strength of the Japanese. The attacks of the Japanese were repulsed with great losses for them, but the fate of the battle was decided on the left flank of the Russian army.
The division of General Orlov, consisting of unexploded reservists, guarded the left flank of the army. In the thickets of Gaulian, she was attacked by the Japanese and fled without resistance, opening the flank of the army. Kuropatkin was terribly afraid of the encirclement and on the night of August 19 ordered the army to retreat to Mukden. The withdrawal of the Russian army by several hours ahead of the decision of the Japanese army to retreat, but the Japanese troops were so upset by the previous battles that they did not pursue the retreating Russian troops. This case clearly demonstrated the almost complete absence of military intelligence and the gift of foresight from the command of the Russian army. Only in September, the Japanese troops, having received the reserves, were able to advance to Mukden and occupy the front there. In late October, the Russian army went on the offensive, but did not succeed, both sides suffered heavy losses. At the end of December, Port Arthur fell, and in January 1905, the Russian army launched a new offensive, hoping to smash the enemy from the Port Arthur approach. However, the offensive ended in complete failure. In February, the battles of Mukden ended in the indiscriminate retreat of the Russian army. Kuropatkin was dismissed, a new commander Linevich was appointed. But neither he nor the Japanese after the heavy losses near Mukden had the courage to attack.
In the battles with the Japanese, the Cossack units took an active part, they made up most of the cavalry. The Trans-Baikal Cossack army set up 9 cavalry regiments, 3 foot battalions and 4 equestrian batteries. Amur Cossacks put up an 1 regiment, UNSHY, a Siberian - 1 regiment, Orenburg - NNXX reg. , Terskoe - 1 shelf and 6 horse battery. Total 5 regiment, 2 division, 4 battalions and 2 batteries. As the Cossacks arrived in the Far East, they immediately received their baptism of fire. Participated in the battles of Sandepu, in the 2 kilometer raid on the Japanese units in Honghe, Nanzhou, Yingkou, in the battles near the village of Sumanu, in the raid on the Japanese units in the area on Haicheng and Dantuko, distinguished themselves in the raid on Fakumin, in the attack on the enemy near the village Donsjazo. In July, the 6-I Don Cavalry Division, the 1-i Don Cossack Artillery Division and the 2 sanitary trains from the 1 Cossack line were mobilized in July 32. The emperor himself escorted the Cossacks to the front, who arrived specially for this on Don 1 August 9 of the year. In early October, the Cossacks arrived at the front and took part in the raid of the cavalry group of General Mishchenko in the rear of the enemy. For several reasons, the raid failed, and after heavy fighting, the division was relegated to the rear for replenishment, then sent to Mongolia to protect the CER and fight Hunghuz (Chinese bandit) gangs led by Japanese officers. Among the Cossacks of this division, Mironov FK, the future famous red cavalry and commander of the 8 Cavalry Army, who was shot by the Trotskyists in the 500 year, bravely fought a dashing upward approach. For the Russian-Japanese war, he deserved the 1904 Order. In the same division, a young contractor 4 of the Cossack regiment, SM Budyonny, the future legendary commander of the 3 th Cavalry Army, began his military activity.
Fig. 1 Cossacks fight with the Hunhuz
The Cossacks, like cavalry, did not play their former eminent role in this war. There were many reasons for this: the increased strength of the gun and artillery fire, the deadly machine-gun fire, the extraordinary development of artificial obstacles, and the weakness of the enemy cavalry. There were no big cavalry cases, the Cossacks were actually made dragoons, i.e. infantry mounted on horses. As infantry, the Cossacks acted very well, especially when defending passes. Cavalry affairs were also there, but not on the former scale and not with the previous successes. Let us recall, for example, the case at Anchu of the Trans-Baikal brigade of General Mishchenko, the case of the Siberians under Wah-go-go, a raid on the rear of the Kuroki army in Korea, etc. With all the failures that relentlessly pursued our army, it was only thanks to the presence of the Cossacks that the Japanese could not advance north of Kuanchenzi and take Vladivostok.
Fig. 2 Battle of the Cossacks with the Japanese cavalry with Wah-Fang-go
Fig. 3 Reid Cossacks in the rear of the Japanese army
14 May 1905 in the Tsushima Strait suffered a complete defeat sent to the Baltic Sea Russian squadron Rozhestvensky and Nebogatova. The Russian Pacific Fleet was completely destroyed, and this was a decisive moment during the war. Victims of the parties in the Russian-Japanese war were great. Russia lost about 270 thousands of people, of which 50 thousands were killed, Japan lost 270 thousands of people, had 86 thousands killed. In late July, peace negotiations began in Portsmouth. Under the Portsmouth Treaty, Russia retained northern Manchuria, ceded half of Sakhalin Island to Japan, and expanded its sea fishing zone for it. The unsuccessful war on land and at sea spurred unrest inside the country and morally exhausted Russia to the extreme. During the war, the forces of the 5 columns of all stripes intensified in the country. In the difficult moments of military failures on the fronts of Manchuria, the most “progressive” part of the Russian public filled restaurants and drank champagne for the success of the enemy. The Russian liberal press of those years sent the entire stream of criticism to the army, considering it the main culprit for the defeat. If the criticism of the high command was correct, then with regard to the Russian soldier and officer she wore a very bad character and was only partly correct. There were writers and journalists who in the Russian soldier were looking for the culprit for all the failures in this war. Got everything: infantry, artillery, navy and cavalry. But most of all the mud went to the Cossacks, who made up the majority of the Russian cavalry in the Manchurian army.
The revolutionary part of the party groupings also rejoiced at the failures, seeing in them a means of fighting the government. Already at the very beginning of the 4 war in February of 1904, the Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, the Moscow governor-general, was killed. Under the influence of revolutionary propaganda with the beginning of the war, peasant pogroms began in Ukraine (traditionally the weakest link of the empire). In 1905, workers in factories joined the peasant pogroms. The revolutionary movement was promoted by industrialists who released funds for the publication of revolutionary literature. All Russia was gradually gripped by the unrest of the peasants and workers. The revolutionary movement touched the Cossacks. They had to act as suppressors of revolutionaries and rebels. After all the unsuccessful attempts to involve the Cossacks in the revolutionary movement, they were considered the “stronghold of tsarism”, “royal satrap” and according to party programs, decisions and literature, the Cossack regions were to be destroyed. Indeed, all the Cossack regions did not suffer from the main lack of peasantry — landlessness and demonstrated stability and order. But in the land issue and in the Cossack regions, all was not well. The fact that it was only in the bud when settling the Cossack lands, at the turn of the century was a completely complete fact. The former foreman turned into gentlemen, in the nobility. Back in the 1842 position of the year, one of such advantages of a foreman was recorded for the first time. In addition to the usual Cossack land rights in the number of 30 tithes per Cossack, the Cossack foremen were granted for life use: 1500 tithes per general, 400 tithes per head officer and 200 tithes per senior officer. After 28 years, the new position of 1870 of the year, the lifelong use of officer sites was replaced by hereditary, private property was made of military property.
And after some time, a part of this property had already passed into the hands of other owners, often not Cossacks, to whom Cossack officers and their descendants sold their plots. Thus, a strong nest of the kulaks was built on these military lands and, having arranged such an economically important foothold, the kulaks (being often Cossacks themselves) were picking up those Cossacks whose ancestors gave the land to charters of military troop property. As you can see, with regard to stories development of Cossack land ownership, then on this account the Cossacks were "not all very good". This, of course, indicates that the Cossacks were people and that, as people, nothing human was alien. There were harassment, there was a seizure, there was a struggle, there was a disregard for the common good and the interests of the neighbor. The Cossack made mistakes, fell into hobbies, but that was life itself, that was its gradual complication, without which the history of the development of the phenomena under consideration would be unthinkable. Behind the general fact of land troubles there was another fact that prevailed over these troubles, the existence and development of communal-land Cossack property. It was already important that Cossack communities and in fact, and the law approved land rights. And since the Cossack had land, it means that the Cossack had the opportunity to be a Cossack, support his family, support the economy, live in prosperity and be equipped for service.
Fig. 4 Cossacks on the mowing
The special position of internal governance, based on the principles of Cossack democracy, in the Cossack regions was maintained that they are a special, privileged class among the Russian people, and among the Cossack intelligentsia, the isolation of Cossack life was confirmed and explained by references to Cossack history. In the inner life of the Cossacks, despite government changes in the life of the country, the old Cossack life was maintained. The authorities and the authorities manifested themselves only in service or in order to suppress mischief, and the authorities consisted of their own Cossack environment. The non-resident population in the Cossack regions engaged in trade, crafts, or peasantry, often lived in separate settlements and did not participate in Cossack social life, but grew steadily. For example, the population of the Don region at the beginning of the reign of Nicholas II was: 1 022 086 Cossacks and 1 200 667 not Cossacks. A significant part of the non-Kazak population was residents of the cities of Rostov and Taganrog connected to the Don and workers of the Donetsk coal mines. The total land area of the Don Cossacks was 15 020 442 tithing and was distributed as follows: 9 XyNMS 316 149 1 143 454 1 110 805 53 586 3 370 347 15 30 1836 1860 1900 100 3 1904 1906 XNUMX XNUMX XNUMX XNUMX XNUMX XNUMX XNUMX , XNUMX XNUMX XNUMX in the holdings of officers and officials. As you can see, in the Don Army, the Cossack accounted for an average of XNUMX tithe of land, i.e. half the size of the XNUMX-tithe plot, determined by the laws of XNUMX and XNUMX. The Cossacks continued to carry out the polls, although they enjoyed certain privileges that excused them from service in peacetime due to their marital status and education. All equipment and a horse were purchased on the personal funds of the Cossacks, which was very expensive. Since XNUMX, in support of the cost of equipping the Cossack to the service, the government began to let XNUMX rubles go to the Cossack. The habitual image of communal land use increasingly came into conflict with life. Cultivation of land was conducted in the old manner, when there was a lot of free land and it was virgin. The redistribution of land took place every XNUMX of the year, even an enterprising Cossack could not and did not want to invest capital expenditures on the fertilization of land. It was also difficult to give up the old Cossack custom, equal plots for everyone, because it undermined the foundations of the Cossack democracy. Thus, the general situation and conditions in the country led to the fact that the Cossack life required substantial reforms, but there were no efficient, constructive and productive proposals. The revolutionary movement of XNUMX-XNUMX's put the Cossacks in an exceptional position. The government, considering the Cossacks to be faithful servants of the Fatherland, decided to use them to pacify the rebellion. Initially, all the regiments of the first stage were attracted for this, then after mobilization many regiments of the second stage, then part of the regiments of the third stage. All the regiments were distributed throughout the provinces that were the most overwhelmed by the insurrection, and brought order.
Fig. 5 Cossack patrol on Nevsky Prospect, 1905 year
The situation was aggravated by the fact that there were unrest in the army and in the navy, one after another terrorist attacks everywhere. Under these conditions, politicians, the public and the government sought a way out of this situation. The political parties of the constructive opposition were weak and unauthorized and were only companions to popular unrest. The real leaders of the destructive revolutionary activity were the party leaders of the parties of socialists, populists and Marxists of various trends and shades who challenged each other's primacy. Their activity was not reduced to the improvement of the people's everyday life, not to the solution of the vital issues of the state and society, but to the fundamental ruin of everything that exists. For the people, they used to throw up ancient primitive slogans, understandable, as in the days of Pugachev and easily applied in practice with comma authorities. The future of the country and people by these leaders seemed very vague, depending on the taste, fantasies and desires of every leader, not excluding promises, for especially those who wish, and earthly paradise. The public was completely at a loss and did not find the material, moral and ideological support for consolidation. The government’s attempt to take the workers' movement into their own hands and lead them ended in the tragedy of the Bloody Resurrection of 5 in January of 1905. Military failures in Manchuria and the catastrophe of the fleet in the Pacific Ocean have done the job.
A real idea was created about the royal power as a herd of not frightened idiots: a neznaek, dumb wagons and fools who don’t take it, everything falls out of their hands. Under these conditions, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich proposed to bestow a constitution and convene the State Duma without the right to restrict autocracy. October 17 The 1905 of the year a manifesto was issued, and the 22 of April 1906 of the year ended the election of members of the State Duma. In the anxious time of 1904-1906, the Cossacks fulfilled their duty to the Motherland, the insurgency was stopped and the government, to the beginning of the Duma’s work, felt more confident. However, the elected Duma at the first meeting demanded the resignation of the government, changes to the fundamental laws of the Empire, deputies from the podium with impunity delivered pogrom speech. The government saw that with such a composition of the State Duma, the state was threatened and the 10 of June the emperor dissolved the Duma, at the same time appointing P.A. Stolypin. The second Duma opened 20 February 1907 of the year. While reading the supreme edict, the left factions and the cadets sat. By June, it turned out that the Social Democratic faction was carrying out illegal work in military units, preparing a military coup. Prime Minister Stolypin proposed to exclude 55 deputies involved in this case from the Duma.
The proposal was rejected, and the Duma was dismissed that day. In total in the IV Russian Dumas from 1906 to 1917. 85 Cossack deputies were elected. Of these, in the I Duma - 25 people, in II - 27 people, in III - 18 and in IV-15 people. Some deputies were elected several times. Thus, prominent Cossack public figures of democratic orientation - Don Cossack V.A. Kharlamov and the Kuban Cossack K.L. Bardij - were the deputies of the Duma of all four convocations. Don Cossacks - MS Voronkov, I.N. Efremov and the Ural Cossack - FA Eremin - deputies of three Doom. Tersky Cossack - MA Karaulov, Siberian Cossack - I.P. Laptev, Don Cossack - MP Arakantsev and Transbaikalian - S.A. Taskin was elected to the Duma twice. At the same time, it should be noted that from the 85 Cossack deputies 71 people delegated Cossack regions, and 14 were elected deputies from the non-Kazakh provinces of Russia. Despite the difficult experience of bringing representatives of the people to the state life, the latter’s lack of experience in state work and responsibility, Russia in the reign of Nicholas II began to have two legislative institutions: the State Duma and the State Council. These institutions were limited in their activities by the power of the autocracy, but these restrictions were only marginally greater than in Austria, Germany or Japan. There is no responsibility of ministries to the people in modern America, where the president is an autocrat. The reign of Nicholas II was a time of economic and cultural development. The population increased from 120 to 170 million people, cash deposits from the population increased from 300 million to 2 billion rubles, the bread harvest almost doubled, coal production more than six times increased, oil production doubled and the length of railways. The law practically prohibited the import of railway equipment, which led to the development of metallurgy and transport engineering. The national education was intensively developed, the number of pupils and students reached 10 millions. The inner life of Russia after the unrest of 1907, came to rest.
International politics was mainly determined by relations between the European powers and complicated by strong competition in foreign markets. Germany, compressed by the Allied powers of France and Russia on the mainland and by England on the seas, sought to occupy a dominant position along the paths of the Near and Middle East. Having failed to gain a foothold in Tunisia and in North Africa, she began to build a railway to Baghdad, heading for Turkey, Persia and India. In addition to economic reasons, the foreign policy of Germany was also determined by the psychology of its people. Prussian militarism, which in the 19 century managed to unite scattered Germanic nationalities into a single state, was brought up by German philosophy in a spirit of superiority over other nations and pushed Germany to world domination. Its weapons rapidly developed and forced other nations to also arm themselves. Military budgets of countries accounted for 30-40% of national expenditures. The plans of military training included the political aspect, the excitement in the countries of the enemy discontent and revolutionary action. To stop the arms race and avoid international conflict, Emperor Nicholas II proposed that European nations establish an arbitration court for the peaceful resolution of conflicts. An international conference was convened in The Hague for this purpose. But this idea was met with sharp opposition from Germany. Austria-Hungary gradually fell under the influence of Germany and formed an indissoluble bloc with it. In contrast to the Austro-Prussian Union, to which Italy adjoined, the Franco-Russian alliance, to which England leaned, began to strengthen.
Russia was developing rapidly, and with 170 a million people, it was quickly becoming a giant country. In 1912, a large program of comprehensive improvement of the country was planned in Russia. Stolypin's firm control, who managed to curb the revolutionary forces in the country, created him many enemies not only among the underground workers, but also the "progressive" part of society. The agrarian reform undertaken by Stolypin attacked the communal land tenure and aroused hatred on both sides. The people's democrats saw in the community the standard and pledge of the future classless state, while the large landowners saw in the private peasant land ownership a campaign against large-scale land ownership. Stolypin was hit from two sides, right and left. For the Cossacks, the Stolypin reforms also had no positive significance. In fact, by equating the Cossacks with the peasants in the economic situation, they only slightly alleviated the burden of military service. In 1909, the total service life for the Cossacks was reduced from 20 to 18 years by reducing the “preparatory” level to one year. The reforms actually eliminated the privileged position of the Cossacks and in the future had great negative consequences for the tsarist government and Russia. Caused by pre-war reforms and the failures of the First World War, the indifference of the Cossacks to the royal power later gave the Bolsheviks a break and an opportunity to gain a foothold in power after the October Revolution, and then the opportunity to win the civil war.
In 1911, Kiev celebrated the millennium for the adoption of Christianity in Russia. Stolypin arrived in Kiev, accompanying the sovereign. Under the most careful control of the police, a terrorist agent Bagrov infiltrated the Kiev opera and fatally wounded Stolypin. With his death, the country's domestic and foreign policy has not changed. The government firmly ruled the country, there was no open rebellion. The leaders of the destructive parties, hiding their time, hid abroad, published newspapers and magazines, maintained contacts with like-minded people in Russia, without disdaining in their lives and activities with sponsorship from the special services of geopolitical opponents of Russia and various organizations of the international bourgeoisie. In foreign policy, Russia focused its main attention on the mainland of Europe and strengthened its alliance with France. For its part, it was firmly holding on to Russia and releasing loans to strengthen its military power, primarily on the development of railways towards Germany. The dominant idea in foreign policy again, as under Alexander II, was the Pan-Slavic question and the Balkan Slavs. This was a global strategic error, which subsequently led to disastrous consequences for the country and the ruling dynasty. Objectively, the growth of the economy and foreign trade was pushing Russia towards the Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal, which is why the Slavic question assumed such importance. But the Balkan Peninsula at all times was a "powder magazine" of Europe and was fraught with the danger of a constant explosion. Southern Europe and now has little economic and political importance, and at that time was completely out of place. The main Russian political idea of "pan-Slavism" was based on the ephemeral notions of "Slavic brotherhood" and at that time fatally connected with the center of permanent international conflict and instability. In the Balkans, the paths of Pan-Slavism, Pan-Germanism and the forces guarding the Bosphorus, Gibraltar and Suez were crossed.
The situation was complicated by the internal political forces of the young Balkan countries, which were not distinguished by great state experience, wisdom and responsibility. In 1912, Serbia, in alliance with Bulgaria, declared war on Turkey in order to undermine its influence in Albania and Bosnia. The war was successful for the Slavs, but the winners soon after the victory had fought each other, demonstrating to the whole world their extreme state immaturity and the monstrous lightness of the decisions. This is their frivolous behavior alerted politicians of neighboring countries, including in Russia, but to a completely insufficient extent. The military analyzed only military experience and conducted large maneuvers of troops. A military thunderstorm had not yet been foreseen, and there seemed to be no obvious reason for a European geopolitical catastrophe. But in the military and political centers the microbe of international disruption persistently cultivated. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the armies of the main European countries concentrated such destructive technical means that each country considered itself invincible and was ready to take the risk of military clashes with the enemy. There was a treaty of the Hague Conference, signed by all the powers of Europe who have committed themselves to dismantle all political conflicts by means of arbitration courts. But in the current political circumstances, when each country was morally ready for war, this treaty was just a piece of paper, which no one thought to reckon with. To start the war, only an excuse was needed, and with these complex political relations he was quickly found. 28 June 1914 in Sarajevo, by a Serbian nationalist, was killed by the Crown Prince of Austria Franz Ferdinand, who arrived in Bosnia with an inspection and peacekeeping mission. Austria, not trusting the Serbian authorities, demanded an investigation into the territory of Serbia, which violated its sovereignty. The Serbian government turned to Russia and France for help. But the Austrian ultimatum was supported by Germany, she firmly insisted on her and began to concentrate troops on the borders of Serbia.
In St. Petersburg, in order to strengthen the Franco-Russian alliance, French President Poincaré and Defense Minister Joffre were on a visit at this time. The murder of the crown prince accelerated their departure to France, they left, accompanied by Emperor Nicholas II, who was going to meet at sea with Emperor Wilhelm and settle the conflict. At first it seemed that it was possible. But the political atmosphere became more and more heated, in each of the countries the “party of war” gained more and more influence and the negotiations became more and more irreconcilable. Partial mobilizations were carried out, first in Austria, then in Russia, France and Germany. Then Austria declared war on Serbia and moved troops to its borders. To keep her from decisive action, Emperor Nicholas II sent a letter to Kaiser Wilhelm, but Austrian troops invaded Serbia. On the demand of Russia to stop the war, Austria declared war on Russia. Then Germany declared war on Russia, and then on France. Three days later, England acted on the side of Russia and France. Russia boldly and resolutely stepped into the trap, but in spite of this was swept by universal euphoria. It seemed that the decisive hour had come in the centuries-old struggle of the Slavs with the Germans. So began the world war, which lasted from the end of June 1914 to November 1918. With the declaration of war, the 104 Cossack Regiment and the 161 separate mobilized into the Russian army. The ensuing war was very different in character from previous and subsequent ones. The previous decades before the war in military affairs were characterized primarily by the fact that in their development the defense weapon sharply advanced compared with the offensive weapon. On the battlefield, a rapid-fire magazine rifle, a rapid-fire rifled breech-loading gun, and of course a machine gun began to dominate. All of these weapons were well combined with powerful engineering preparation of defensive positions: solid trenches with communications, thousands of kilometers of barbed wire, minefields, strong points with dugouts, pillboxes, bunks, forts, fortified areas, roadways, etc.
Under these conditions, any attempt by the troops to attack ended in a catastrophe such as the defeat of the Russian armies at the Masurian Lakes or turned into a merciless meat grinder, as under Verdun. The war for many years has become less manoeuvrable, trench, positional. With the increase in firepower and damaging factors of new types of weapons, the centuries-old glorious military fate of the Cossack cavalry, whose element was a raid, detour, reach, breakthrough, offensive, came to an end. This war turned into a war of exhaustion and survival, led to the economic undermining of all the warring countries, claimed millions of human lives, led to global political upheavals and completely changed the map of Europe and the world. Unprecedented losses and several years of great trench sitting also led to the demoralization and decomposition of the existing armies, then led to mass desertion, riots and revolutions, and eventually ended with the collapse of the powerful empires of the Russian, Austro-Hungarian, German, and Ottoman. And, despite the victory, apart from them, 4 mighty colonial empires, British and French, began to collapse and began to collapse.
But the real winner in this war was the United States of America. They profited unspeakably on military supplies, not only swept clean all the gold reserves and budgets of the Entente powers, but also imposed on them enslaving debts. Having entered the war at the final stage, the United States grabbed not only a substantial share of the laurels of victors, but also a bold piece of reparations and indemnities from the vanquished. It was America's finest hour. Only a century ago, US President Monroe proclaimed the doctrine of "America for Americans" and the United States entered into a stubborn and merciless struggle to squeeze the European colonial powers from the American continent. But after the Versailles Peace, no single power could do anything in the Western Hemisphere without the permission of the United States. It was a triumph of visionary strategy and a decisive step towards world domination.
War culprits, as a rule, remain defeated. Germany and Austria became such, and all the costs of restoring the military destruction were imposed on them. Under the terms of the Versailles Peace, Germany had to pay the Allies 360 billion francs and restore all the provinces of France destroyed by the war. Heavy indemnity was imposed on the German allies, Bulgaria and Turkey. Austria was divided into small national states, part of its territory was annexed to Serbia and Poland. Russia on the eve of the end of the war, because of the revolution, came out of this international conflict, but because of the anarchy that had come, plunged itself into a much more destructive civil war and was deprived of the opportunity to attend the peace congress. France got back Alsace and Lorraine, England, having destroyed the fleet of Germany, retained dominance in the seas and in colonial politics. The secondary consequence of the First World War was the even more destructive and prolonged Second World War (some historians and politicians do not even share these wars). But that's another story.
Materials used:
Gordeev A.A. - History of the Cossacks
Mamonov V.F. and others. - History of the Cossacks of the Urals. Orenburg-Chelyabinsk 1992
Shibanov N.S. - Orenburg Cossacks of the XVIII - XIX centuries
Ryzhkova N.V. - Don Cossacks in the wars of the early twentieth century-2008
- Sergey Volgin
- Siberian Cossack Epic
Old Cossack ancestors
Cossacks and the annexation of Turkestan
Education Volga and Yaitsky Cossack Troops
Cossacks in Time of Troubles
Seniority (education) and the formation of the Don Cossack troops in the Moscow service
Azov seat and the transition of the Don troops in the Moscow service
Formation of the Dnieper and Zaporizhia troops and their service to the Polish-Lithuanian state
The transfer of the Cossack army hetman to the Moscow service
Treason of Mazepa and the pogrom of Cossack liberties by Tsar Peter
The uprising of Pugachev and the elimination of the Dnieper Cossacks by Empress Catherine
Cossacks in World War 1812 of the year. Part I, pre-war
Cossacks in World War 1812 of the year. Part II, the invasion and expulsion of Napoleon
Cossacks in World War 1812 of the year. Part III, foreign campaign
Formation of the Kuban Army
The feat of the young Platov (Battle of the Kalalah on the third of April, 1774)
Education Orenburg Cossack troops
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