Russian entry into World War I
The Russian Empire's entry into World War I unfolded gradually in the days leading up to July 28, 1914. The sequence of events began with Austria-Hungary's declaration of war on Serbia, a Russian ally. In response, Russia issued an ultimatum to Vienna via Saint Petersburg, warning Austria-Hungary against attacking Serbia. As the conflict escalated with the invasion of Serbia, Russia commenced mobilizing its reserve army along the border of Austria-Hungary. Consequently, on July 31, Germany demanded that Russia demobilize. When Russia did not comply, Germany declared war on Russia on August 1, 1914. According to its war plan, Germany prioritized its offensive against France, declaring war on August 3. Germany deployed its main armies through Belgium with the aim of encircling Paris. The imminent threat to Belgium prompted Britain to declare war on Germany on August 4.[1][2] The Ottoman Empire subsequently joined the Central Powers and engaged in warfare against Russia along their shared border.[3]
Historians studying the causes of World War I have often highlighted the roles of Germany and Austria-Hungary, while downplaying Russia's contribution to the outbreak of this global conflict. The prevailing scholarly view has focused on Russia's defense of Orthodox Serbia, its pan-Slavic aspirations, its treaty commitments with France, and its efforts to maintain its status as a major world power. However, historian Sean McMeekin emphasizes Russia's ambitions to expand its empire southward and to capture Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) as a gateway to the Mediterranean Sea.[4]
While Russia had no formal treaty obligation to Serbia, it emphasized its interest in controlling the
Russia's warnings to Germany led to military action by German forces, which carried out their mobilization and declared war on August 1, 1914. At the start of the conflict, Russian forces launched offensives against Germany and Austria-Hungary.[6]
Background
Between 1873 and 1887, Russia was allied with Germany and Austria-Hungary in the
Britain's isolation during the 1899–1902 Second Boer War and Russia's defeat in the 1905 Russo-Japanese War prompted both countries to seek allies. The Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 resolved disputes in Asia and paved the way for the establishment of the Triple Entente with France, although this alliance was largely informal. In 1908, Austria-Hungary annexed the former Ottoman province of Bosnia and Herzegovina, leading to the Russian-backed formation of the Balkan League aimed at preventing further Austrian expansion.[8]
During the 1912–1913 First Balkan War, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece seized most of the remaining Ottoman territories in Europe. Disagreements over their partition led to the Second Balkan War, where Bulgaria suffered a decisive defeat at the hands of its former allies. This defeat transformed Bulgaria into a resentful regional power, setting the stage for renewed attempts to achieve its national goals. As a result, Serbia emerged as the primary Russian ally in the region.
Russia's industrial base and railway network had significantly improved since 1905, albeit from a relatively low starting point.[
On July 30, Russia announced a general mobilization in support of Serbia. The following day, on August 1, 1914, Germany declared war on Russia, followed by Austria-Hungary on August 6. Russia and the Entente declared war on the Ottoman Empire in November 1914, prompted by Ottoman warships bombarding the Black Sea port of Odesa in late October.[10]
Major players
Many historians agree that Russia's top military leadership was generally regarded as incompetent.
Russian decision-making in July 1914 was more truly a tragedy of miscalculation... a policy of deterrence that failed to deter. Yet, like
St. Petersburg in July 1914.[11]
French ambassador Maurice Paléologue quickly gained influence by repeatedly pledging that France would go to war alongside Russia, aligning with President Raymond Poincaré's position.[12]
Serious planning for a future war was practically unattainable due to the intricate rivalries and preferences afforded to royalty. The primary criteria for high command were ties to royalty rather than expertise. While the General Staff possessed expertise, it was often overshadowed by the elite Imperial Guards, a favored stronghold of the aristocracy that prioritized ceremonial parades over strategic military planning. Consequently, the grand dukes inevitably ascended to high command positions.[13]
French alliance
Russia relied heavily on the French alliance, as Germany would face greater challenges in a two-front war compared to a conflict with Russia alone. French ambassador Maurice Paléologue harbored deep antipathy toward Germany and believed that when war broke out, France and Russia had to be staunch allies against Germany. His stance aligned with that of French President Raymond Poincaré. France pledged unconditional support to Russia in the unfolding crisis with Germany and Austria-Hungary. Historians debate whether Paléologue exceeded his instructions, but there is consensus that he failed to provide Paris with precise information, neglecting to warn that Russian mobilization could precipitate a world war.[14][15][16]
Beginning of the war
On June 28, 1914,
On July 25, 1914, Nicholas decided to intervene in the Austro-Serbian conflict, a move that escalated the situation towards a general war. He placed the Russian army on "alert" on July 25, although it was not a full-scale mobilization. This action raised concerns along the German and Austro-Hungarian borders, appearing as military preparations for war. However, the Russian Army had few viable plans and no contingency plans for a partial mobilization. On July 30, 1914, Nicholas took the momentous step of confirming the order for a general mobilization, despite his strong reluctance.[18]
On July 28, Austria-Hungary officially declared war on Serbia.
On July 30, Russia ordered a general mobilization but stated that it would not initiate an attack if peace negotiations commenced. In response to the discovery of Russian partial mobilization, which had been ordered on July 25, Germany announced a state of pre-mobilization, citing the imminent threat of war. Germany demanded that Russia demobilize within twelve hours. When the German ultimatum to Russia expired at 7 p.m. in
At the onset of the war, each European power started releasing curated, and at times misleading, collections of diplomatic correspondence. These publications aimed to justify their own entry into the war while attributing blame to other parties.
Military weaknesses
The outbreak of war on August 1, 1914, caught Russia severely unprepared.[28] The Allies relied heavily on the Russian army, which had a pre-war regular strength of 1,400,000 and added 3,100,000 reserves through mobilization. However, Russia was ill-equipped in other aspects for the war effort. Germany had ten times as much railway track per square kilometer, resulting in Russian soldiers traveling an average of 1,290 kilometers (800 mi) to reach the front, while German soldiers traveled less than a quarter of that distance. Russia's heavy industry was insufficient to equip the massive armies that the Tsar could mobilize, and its munitions reserves were limited. While the German army in 1914 was better equipped than any other on a per-person basis, the Russian army lacked sufficient artillery pieces, shells, motorized transports, and boots.[29]
Before the war, Russian planners overlooked the critical logistical challenge of how the Allies could transport supplies and munitions to Russia. With the Baltic Sea blocked by German U-boats and surface ships, and the Dardanelles obstructed by the guns of Germany's ally, the Ottoman Empire, Russia initially could only receive assistance through Arkhangelsk, which was frozen solid in winter, or Vladivostok, over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 mi) from the front line. In 1915, construction of a new rail line began, eventually providing access to the ice-free port of Murmansk by 1917.[30]
The Russian High Command suffered from internal strife due to the mutual animosity between War Minister Vladimir Sukhomlinov and Grand Duke Nicholas, who commanded the armies in the field. Despite this, an immediate attack was launched against the German province of East Prussia. The Germans swiftly mobilized and defeated the two invading Russian armies. The Battle of Tannenberg, in which the entire Russian Second Army was annihilated, cast a dark shadow over the empire's future. The loyal officers who perished were precisely those needed to safeguard the dynasty. While the Russian armies achieved some success against both the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman forces, they faced steady retreats against the German Army. In September 1914, to alleviate pressure on France, the Russians were compelled to halt a successful offensive against Austria-Hungary in Galicia and instead attack German-held Silesia.[31]
The primary Russian objective was focused on the Balkans, particularly the capture of Constantinople (Istanbul). The Ottoman Empire's entry into the war presented new opportunities, but Russia was too strained to capitalize on them. Instead, the government encouraged Britain and France to undertake the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign. Subsequently, Russia supported an Armenian rebellion, resulting in the Armenian genocide, one of the war's great atrocities. The combination of inadequate preparation and planning undermined the morale of Russian troops and laid the groundwork for the regime's collapse in early 1917.[32]
Gradually, a
The German heavy artillery swept away whole lines of trenches and their defenders with them. We hardly replied. There was nothing with which we could reply. Our regiments, although completely exhausted, were beating off one attack after another by bayonet... Blood flowed unendingly, the ranks became thinner and thinner and thinner. The number of graves multiplied.[33]
Legacy
Historians examining the origins of the First World War have primarily focused on the roles of Germany and Austria-Hungary. The scholarly consensus minimizes the mention of Russia, with only brief references to its defense of Serbia, its Pan-Slavic activities, its treaty commitments with France, and its efforts to maintain its status as a major power.[4]
However, historian Sean McMeekin has emphasized Russia's aggressive expansionist aspirations to the south. He contends that for Russia, the war was primarily about the Ottoman Empire, asserting that the Foreign Ministry and Army had been planning a war of aggression since at least 1908, and possibly as early as 1895. McMeekin highlights that the immediate objective was to capture Constantinople and control the Dardanelles and Bosporus straits to gain access to the Mediterranean.[34] Reviewers have generally been critical of McMeekin's revisionist interpretation.[35][36]
See also
- Foreign policy of the Russian Empire
- Allies of World War I
- Causes of World War I
- July Crisis
- Diplomatic history of World War I
- Historiography of the causes of World War I
- International relations of the Great Powers (1814–1919)
References
- ^ Reynolds; Churchill; Miller (February 19, 2016). The Story of the Great War. Vol. 4: The World War. VM eBooks.
- ^ Bloch, Ben. "100 years ago a book of the 50,000 UK Jews who fought in the WWI was presented to the King". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-801-35092-1.
- ^ a b McMeekin 2011, pp. 2–5
- ^ Clark 2013, p. 509.
- ^ Lincoln 1986, pp. 23–59.
- ISBN 978-0-719-56447-5.
- ^ Stowell 1915, p. 94.
- ^ Jelavich 2004, p. 262.
- ISBN 978-0-857-45310-5.
- ^ Stevenson 1988, pp. 31–32.
- ISBN 978-1-108-41704-4.
- ^ Gatrell 2015, pp. 674–677.
- ^ Hamilton & Herwig 2004, pp. 121–122.
- ^ Clark 2013, pp. 435–450, 480–484.
- ^ Fay 1930, pp. 443–446, Vol. II.
- ISBN 978-3-319-44641-7.
- ISBN 978-1-61530-013-6.
- ^ Strachan 2003, p. 85.
- ^ Hamilton, Richard F.; Herwig, Holger H., eds. (2003). Origins of World War One. p. 514.
- ISBN 978-0-679-64561-0.
- ISBN 978-1-68077-106-0.
- OCLC 769268852.
- OCLC 651023684.
- ^ JSTOR 20028790. Archived from the originalon November 25, 2018.
- ^ Schmitt 1937.
- OCLC 9427935. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
- ^ Wildman 1980.
- ^ Strachan 2004, pp. 297–316.
- ^ Pipes 2011, p. 207.
- ^ Strachan 2004, pp. 316–335.
- ^ McMeekin 2011, pp. 115–174.
- ISBN 0-330-02902-9.
- ^ McMeekin 2011, pp. 27, 29, 101.
- ^ Frary 2012.
- ^ Mulligan 2014.
Further reading
Books
- Albertini, Luigi (1953). The Origins of the War of 1914. Vol. 2. Translated by Massey, Isabella M. Oxford University Press.
- Aleksinsky, Grigory (1915). Russia and the great war. pp. 1–122.
- Bobroff, Ronald P. (2006). Roads to Glory: Late Imperial Russia and the Turkish Straits. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-350-17540-2.
- Bobroff, Ronald P. (2014). "War Accepted but Unsought: Russia's Growing Militancy and the July Crisis, 1914". In Levy, Jack S.; Vasquez, John A. (eds.). The Outbreak of the First World War. Cambridge University Press. pp. 227–251. ISBN 978-1-107-33699-5.
- Brandenburg, Erich (1933). From Bismarck to the World War: A History of German Foreign Policy 1870–1914. Archived from the original on March 19, 2017.
- Bury, J.P.T (1968). "Diplomatic History 1900–1912". In ISBN 978-0-521-04551-3.
- ISBN 978-0-061-14665-7.
- Clark. "Sleepwalkers". YouTube.
- Engelstein, Laura (2018). Russia in Flames: War, Revolution, Civil War, 1914-1921. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-199-79421-8.
- Fay, Sidney B. (1930). The Origins of the World War. Vol. I, II (2nd ed.).
- ISBN 978-0-375-41156-4.
- Fuller, William C. (October 1, 1998). Strategy and Power in Russia 1600–1914. Free Press. ISBN 978-0-684-86382-5.
- Geyer, Dietrich (1987). Russian Imperialism: The Interaction of Domestic and Foreign Policy, 1860–1914. ISBN 978-0-300-10545-2.
- Hamilton, Richard F.; ISBN 978-0-511-80485-4.
- Hewitson, Mark (2004). Germany and the Causes of the First World War. ISBN 978-1-859-73870-2. Archived from the originalon April 9, 2017. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-313-21356-4.
- Jelavich, Barbara (1974). St. Petersburg and Moscow: Tsarist and Soviet Foreign Policy, 1814–1974. ISBN 978-0-253-35050-3.
- Jelavich, Barbara (2004). Russia's Balkan Entanglements, 1806–1914. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-52250-2.
- ISBN 978-1-317-87535-2.
- Kennan, George Frost (1984). The Fateful Alliance: France, Russia, and the Coming of the First World War. Pantheon Books. ISBN 978-0-394-53494-7.
- Kennedy, Paul M., ed. (1979). The War Plans of the Great Powers: 1880-1914. Routledge. ISBN 9781317702511.
- Lieven, Dominic (2002). Empire: The Russian empire and its rivals. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09726-9.
- Lieven, D.C.B (1983). Russia and the Origins of the First World War. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-333-28369-1.
- Lincoln, W. Bruce (1983). In War's Dark Shadow: The Russians Before the Great War. ISBN 978-0-385-27409-8.
- Lincoln, W. Bruce (1986). Passage Through Armageddon: The Russians in War and Revolution, 1914-1918. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-671-55709-6.
- McMeekin, Sean (2011). The Russian Origins of the First World War. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-06320-4.
- McMeekin, Sean (April 29, 2014). July 1914: Countdown to War. ISBN 978-0-465-06074-0.
- MacMillan, Margaret (2013). The War That Ended Peace: The Road to 1914. Random House. ISBN 978-0-812-99470-4.
- Menning, Bruce (2009). "War planning and initial operations in the Russian context". In Hamilton, Richard F.; Herwig, Holger (eds.). War Planning, 1914. pp. 120–126. ISBN 978-0-511-64237-1.
- Otte, T. G. (2015). July Crisis: The World's Descent into War, Summer 1914. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-69527-6.
- Pipes, Richard (2011). The Russian Revolution. ISBN 978-0-307-78857-3.
- Rich, Norman (1992). Great Power Diplomacy: 1814-1914. ISBN 978-0-070-52254-1.
- ISBN 978-0-870-24128-4.
- Schmitt, Bernadotte E (1930). The coming of the war, 1914. Volume I Volume II
- Scott, Jonathan French (1927). "The psychotic explosion in Russian". Five Weeks: The Surge of Public Opinion on the Eve of the Great War. pp. 154–79. Archived from the original on July 21, 2019. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-198-22103-6.
- Soroka, Marina (2016). Britain, Russia and the Road to the First World War: The Fateful Embassy of Count Aleksandr Benckendorff (1903–16). Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-26120-4.
- Spring, D.W. (2001). "Russia and the Coming of War". In Evans, R. J. W. (ed.). Coming of the First World War. Oxford University Press. pp. 57–86. ISBN 978-0-198-22899-8.
- Stevenson, David (1988). The First World War and International Politics. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-198-20281-3.
- Stowell, Ellery Cory (1915). The Diplomacy of the War of 1914: The Beginnings of the War (2010 ed.). Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 978-1-165-81956-0.
- ISBN 978-0-199-26191-8.
- ISBN 978-0-670-03295-2.
- ISBN 978-0-198-22101-2.
- Tucker, Spencer C., ed. (1996). The European Powers in the First World War: An Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-815-30399-2.
- Vovchenko, Denis (2016). Containing Balkan Nationalism: Imperial Russia and Ottoman Christians, 1856-1914. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-190-27667-6.
- Wildman, Allan K. (1980). The End of the Russian Imperial Army. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-64355-7.
- Zuber, Terence (2002). Inventing the Schlieffen Plan: German War Planning, 1871-1914. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-199-25016-5.
Journals
- Dennis, Alfred L.P. (December 1922). "The Freedom of the Straits". The North American Review. 216 (805): 721–734. JSTOR 25112888.
- Frary, Lucien J. (February 2012). "Review of McMeekin, Sean, The Russian Origins of the First World War". H-Russia, H-Net Reviews.
- Gatrell, Peter (2015). "Tsarist Russia at War: The View from Above, 1914–February 1917". Journal of Modern History. 87 (3): 668–700. S2CID 146814733.
- Keithly, David M. (1987). "Did Russia Also Have War Aims in 1914?". East European Quarterly. 21 (2): 137+.
- Levy, Jack S.; Mulligan, William (2017). "Shifting power, preventive logic, and the response of the target: Germany, Russia, and the First World War" (PDF). S2CID 157837365.
- Marshall, Alex (2004). "Russian Military Intelligence, 1905–1917: The Untold Story behind Tsarist Russia in the First World War". War in History. 11 (4): 393–423. S2CID 159841077.
- Menning, Bruce (2015). "Russian Military Intelligence, July 1914: What St. Petersburg Perceived and Why it Mattered". Historian. 77 (2): 213–268. S2CID 142907210.
- Neumann, Iver B. (2008). "Russia as a great power, 1815–2007". Journal of International Relations and Development. 11 (2): 128–151. S2CID 143792013.
- Neilson, Keith (1985). "Watching the 'steamroller': British observers and the Russian Army before 1914". Journal of Strategic Studies. 8 (2): 199–217. .
- Olson, Gust; Miller, Aleksei I. (2004). "Between Local and Inter-Imperial: Russian Imperial History in Search of Scope and Paradigm". Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History. 5 (1): 7–26. S2CID 143042028.
- Renzi, William A. (1983). "Who Composed "Sazonov Thirteen Points"? A Re-Examination of Russia's War Aims of 1914". American Historical Review. 88 (2): 347–357. JSTOR 1865407.
- Sanborn, Josh (2000). "The mobilization of 1914 and the question of the Russian nation: A reexamination" (PDF). Slavic Review. 59 (2): 267–289. S2CID 153911953.
- Trachtenberg, Marc (1991). "The Meaning of Mobilization in 1914". International Security. 15 (3): 120–150. S2CID 155009450.
- Williamson Jr., Samuel R. (2011). "German Perceptions of the Triple Entente after 1911: Their Mounting Apprehensions Reconsidered". Foreign Policy Analysis. 7 (2): 205–214.
- Wohlforth, William C. (April 1987). "The Perception of Power: Russia in the Pre-1914 Balance". World Politics. 39 (3): 353–81. S2CID 53333300.
Historiography
- Cornelissen, Christoph; Weinrich, Arndt, eds. (2020). Writing the Great War - The Historiography of World War I from 1918 to the Present. Berghahn Books. ISBN 9781789204544.
- Horne, John (2012). A Companion to World War I.
- Kramer, Alan (February 2014). "Recent Historiography of the First World War (Part I)". Journal of Modern European History. 12 (1). Sage Publications: 5–28. S2CID 202927667.
- Kramer, Alan (May 2014). "Recent Historiography of the First World War (Part II)". Journal of Modern European History. 12 (2). Sage Publications: 155–174. S2CID 146860980.
- Mombauer, Annika (2015). "Guilt or Responsibility? The Hundred-Year Debate on the Origins of World War I". Central European History. 48 (4): 541–564. S2CID 151653269.
- Mulligan, William (2014). "The Trial Continues: New Directions in the Study of the Origins of the First World War". .
- Winter, Jay; Prost, Antoine, eds. (2005). The Great War in History: Debates and Controversies, 1914 to the Present.
Primary sources
- Gooch, G.P. (1928). Recent revelations of European diplomacy. Longmans, Green and Co. pp. 269–330.
- Major 1914 documents from BYU online
- United States. War Dept. General Staff (1916). Strength and organization of the armies of France, Germany, Austria, Russia, England, Italy, Mexico and Japan (showing conditions in July 1914). Washington, Govt. print. off.