Wars of Russia XVII-XX centuries.

Invaders came from both the West and the East. They spoke different languages, they had different weapons. But their goals were the same - to ruin and plunder the country, to kill or take away its inhabitants into captivity and slavery.

Today, in connection with this holiday, we decided to recall the most significant battles in the history of our Fatherland. If we forgot something, you can write in the comments.

1. The defeat of the Khazar Khaganate (965)

The Khazar Khaganate has long been the main rival of the Russian state. The unification of Slavic tribes around Russia, many of which had previously been dependent on Khazaria, could not but increase tension in relations between the two powers.

In 965, Prince Svyatoslav subjugated the Khazar Khaganate to his power, and then organized a campaign against a strong tribal union of the Vyatichi, who paid tribute to the Khazars. Svyatoslav Igorevich defeated the army of the kagan in battle and went through a raid throughout his state, from the Volga to North Caucasus. Important Khazar cities were attached to Russia - the Sarkel (Belaya Vezha) fortress on the Don, which controlled the route from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea (now at the bottom of the Tsimlyansk reservoir), and the port of Tmutarakan on the Taman Peninsula. The Black Sea Khazars fell into the sphere of Russian influence. The remains of the Kaganate on the Volga were destroyed in the XI century by the Polovtsy.

2. Neva Battle (1240)

The prince of Novgorod was only 19 years old when, in the summer of 1240, Swedish ships, probably led by Birger Magnusson, entered the mouth of the Neva. Knowing that Novgorod was deprived of the support of the southern principalities, the Swedes, instructed from Rome, hoped, at a minimum, to seize all the lands north of the Neva, simultaneously converting both pagans and Orthodox Karelians to Catholicism.

The young Novgorod prince led a lightning attack of his squad and defeated the Swedes' camp before they had time to strengthen it. Going on a campaign, Alexander was in such a hurry that he did not gather all the Novgorodians who wished to join, believing that speed would be of decisive importance, and he turned out to be right. In the battle, Alexander fought in the forefront.

A decisive victory over superior forces brought Prince Alexander great fame and the honorary title - Nevsky.

However, the Novgorod boyars feared the growing influence of the prince, and tried to remove him from the management of the city. Soon Alexander left Novgorod, but a year later the threat of a new war forced the Novgorodians to turn to him again.

3. Battle on the Ice (1242)

In 1242, German knights from the Livonian Order captured Pskov and approached Novgorod. The Novgorodians, who had quarreled with Prince Alexander a year before, turned to him for help and again transferred power to him. The prince gathered an army, expelled the enemies from the Novgorod and Pskov lands and went to Lake Peipsi.

On the ice of the lake in 1242, in a battle known as the Battle of the Ice, Alexander Yaroslavich destroyed an army of German knights. Russian arrows, despite the onslaught of the Germans, breaking through the regiments in the center, courageously resisted the attackers. This courage helped the Russians to surround the knights from the flanks and win. Pursuing the survivors for seven miles, Alexander showed the firmness of the Russian army. The victory in the battle led to the signing of a peace agreement between Novgorod and the Livonian Order.

4. Battle of Kulikovo (1380)

The Battle of Kulikovo, which took place on September 8, 1380, was a turning point that showed the strength of the united Russian army and the ability of Russia to resist the Horde.

The conflict between Mamai and Dmitry Donskoy escalated more and more. The Moscow principality strengthened, Russia won many victories over the troops of the Horde. Donskoy did not listen to Mamai when he gave Prince Mikhail of Tverskoy a label for Vladimir, and then stopped paying tribute to the Horde. All this could not help but lead Mamai to the idea of ​​the need for a quick victory over the enemy that was gaining strength.

In 1378 he sent an army against Dmitry, but it was defeated on the Vozha River. Soon Mamai lost influence on the Volga lands due to the invasion of Tokhtamysh. In 1380, the Horde commander decided to attack the Donskoy army in order to finally defeat his forces.

On September 8, 1380, when the armies clashed, it became clear that there would be a lot of losses on both sides. The legendary exploits of Alexander Peresvet, Mikhail Brenk and Dmitry Donskoy were described in The Tale of the Battle of Mamaev. The turning point for the battle was the moment when Bobrok ordered to delay the ambush regiment, and then cut off the retreat of the Tatars, who had broken through to the river, with his forces. The Horde cavalry was driven into the river and destroyed, meanwhile the rest of the forces mixed the other enemy troops, and the Horde began to retreat randomly. Mamai fled, realizing that he no longer had the strength to continue the fight. According to various estimates, September 8, 1380 in decisive battle converged from 40 to 70 thousand Russians and from 90 to 150 thousand Horde troops. The victory of Dmitry Donskoy significantly weakened the Golden Horde, which predetermined its further disintegration.

5. Standing on the Ugra (1480)

This event marks the end of the Horde's influence on the politics of the Russian princes.

In 1480, after Ivan III tore the khan's label, Khan Akhmat, having concluded an alliance with the Lithuanian prince Casimir, moved to Russia. In an effort to connect with the Lithuanian army, on October 8 he approached the Ugra River, a tributary of the Oka. Here he was met by the Russian army.

Akhmat's attempt to force the Ugra was repulsed in a four-day battle. Then the Khan began to expect the Lithuanians. Ivan III, in order to gain time, began negotiations with him. At this time, the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray, an ally of Moscow, attacked the lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which did not allow Casimir to help Akhmat. On October 20, the regiments of his brothers, Boris and Andrei Bolshoi, came to reinforce Ivan III. Upon learning of this, Akhmat turned his army back to the steppe on November 11. Soon Akhmat was killed in the Horde. So Russia finally broke the Horde yoke and gained independence.

6. Battle of Molodi (1572)

On July 29, 1572, the Battle of Molodi began - a battle whose outcome was decided by the course of Russian history.

The situation before the battle was very unfavorable. The main forces of the Russian army got stuck in a fierce struggle in the west with Sweden and the Commonwealth. Only a small zemstvo army and guardsmen under the command of Prince Mikhail Ivanovich Vorotynsky and governor Dmitry Ivanovich Khvorostinin were able to assemble against the Tatars. They were joined by a 7,000-strong detachment of German mercenaries and Don Cossacks. The total number of Russian troops amounted to 20,034 people.

To fight the Tatar cavalry, Prince Vorotynsky decided to use the "walk-city" - a mobile fortress, behind the walls of which archers and gunners hid. Russian troops not only stopped the six times superior enemy, but also put him to flight. The Crimean-Turkish army of Devlet Giray was almost completely destroyed.

Only 20 thousand horsemen returned to the Crimea, and none of the Janissaries escaped. The Russian army also suffered heavy losses, including oprichnina army. In the autumn of 1572, the oprichnina regime was abolished. The heroic victory of the Russian army in the Battle of Molodin - the last major battle between Russia and the Steppe - was of great geopolitical significance. Moscow was saved from complete annihilation, and the Russian state from defeat and loss of independence. Russia retained control over the entire course of the Volga - the most important trade and transport artery. The Nogai horde, convinced of the weakness of the Crimean Khan, broke away from him.

7. Moscow battle (1612)

The Moscow battle was the decisive episode of the Time of Troubles. The occupation of Moscow was removed by the forces of the Second Militia, led by Prince Dmitry Pozharsky. Completely blocked in the Kremlin and Kitai-Gorod, the garrison, having received no help from King Sigismund III, began to experience an acute shortage of provisions, it even came to cannibalism. On October 26, the remnants of the occupation detachment surrendered to the mercy of the winner.

Moscow was liberated. “The hope of taking possession of the whole Muscovite state was irrevocably destroyed,” wrote the Polish chronicler.

8. Battle of Poltava (1709)

On June 27, 1709, a general battle of the Northern War took place near Poltava with the participation of 37,000 Swedish and 60,000 Russian armies. Little Russian Cossacks participated in the battle on both sides, but most fought for the Russians. The Swedish army was almost completely defeated. Charles XII and Mazepa fled to Turkish possessions in Moldavia.

The military forces of Sweden were undermined, and its army was forever out of the best in the world. After the Battle of Poltava, the superiority of Russia became obvious. Denmark and Poland resumed participation in the Northern Alliance. An end was soon put to Swedish dominance in the Baltic.

9. Chesme battle (1770)

Decisive naval battle in the Chesme Bay took place at the height of the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774.

Despite the fact that the balance of forces in the battle was 30/73 (not in favor of the Russian fleet), the competent command of Alexei Orlov and the valor of our sailors allowed the Russians to take strategic superiority in the battle.

The flagship of the Turks "Burj-u-Zafer" was set on fire, and after it many more ships of the Turkish fleet took up fire.

Chesmen became a triumph for the Russian fleet, secured the blockade of the Dardanelles and seriously disrupted Turkish communications in the Aegean Sea.

10. Battle of Kozludzhi (1774)

During the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774, Russia won another major victory. The Russian army under the command of Alexander Suvorov and Mikhail Kamensky near the city of Kozludzha (now Suvorovo in Bulgaria), with an unequal balance of forces (24 thousand against 40 thousand), was able to win. Alexander Suvorov managed to drive the Turks off the hill and put them to flight without even resorting to a bayonet attack. This victory largely predetermined the outcome of the Russian-Turkish war and forced the Ottoman Empire to sign a peace treaty.

11. Capture of Ishmael (1790)

On December 22, 1790, Russian troops under the command of Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov stormed the hitherto impregnable Turkish fortress of Izmail.

Shortly before the war, with the help of French and German engineers, Izmail was turned into a fairly powerful fortress. Defended by a large garrison, he withstood two sieges undertaken by Russian troops without much difficulty.

Suvorov took command only 8 days before the final assault. He devoted all the remaining time to the training of soldiers. The troops trained to overcome obstacles and ramparts specially created near the Russian camp, practiced hand-to-hand combat techniques on stuffed animals.

A day before the assault, a powerful artillery shelling of the city from all guns began. He was shelling both from land and from the sea.

At 3 am, long before dawn, a flare was launched. It was a sign of preparation for the assault. Russian troops left the location and lined up in three detachments of three columns.

At half past six the soldiers went on the attack. The fortress was attacked from all sides at once. By four o'clock the resistance was finally crushed in all parts of the city - the impregnable fortress fell.

The Russians lost over 2,000 soldiers killed and about 3,000 wounded in the battle. Significant losses. But they could not be compared with the losses of the Turks - they only lost about 26,000 people killed. The news of the capture of Ishmael spread like lightning throughout Europe.

The Turks realized the complete futility of further resistance and signed the Iasi peace treaty the following year. They abandoned their claims to the Crimea and the protectorate over Georgia, ceded part of the Black Sea territories to Russia. The border between the Russian and Ottoman empires moved to the Dniester. True, Ishmael had to be returned back to the Turks.

In honor of the capture of Izmail, Derzhavin and Kozlovsky wrote the song "Thunder of victory, resound!". Until 1816, it remained the unofficial anthem of the Empire.

12. Battle of Cape Tendra (1790)

The commander of the Turkish squadron, Hassan Pasha, managed to convince the Sultan of the imminent defeat of the Russian navy, and at the end of August 1790 advanced the main forces to Cape Tendra (not far from modern Odessa). However, for the anchored Turkish fleet, the rapid approach of the Russian squadron under the command of Fyodor Ushakov was an unpleasant surprise. Despite the superiority in the number of ships (45 versus 37), the Turkish fleet tried to flee. However, by that time, Russian ships had already attacked the front line of the Turks. Ushakov managed to withdraw all the flagships of the Turkish fleet from the battle and thereby demoralize the rest of the enemy squadron. The Russian fleet did not lose a single ship.

13. Battle of Borodino (1812)

On August 26, 1812, in the battle near the village of Borodino, 125 kilometers west of Moscow, significant forces of the French and Russian armies converged. The regular troops under the command of Napoleon numbered about 137 thousand people, the army of Mikhail Kutuzov with the Cossacks and militia who joined it reached 120 thousand. The rugged terrain made it possible to quietly move reserves, and install artillery batteries on the hills.

On August 24, Napoleon approached the Shevardinsky redoubt, which stood near the village of the same name, three versts in front of the Borodino field.

The battle of Borodino began a day after the battle at the Shevardinsky redoubt and became the largest battle in the war of 1812. The losses on both sides were colossal: the French lost 28 thousand people, the Russians - 46.5 thousand.

Although Kutuzov after the battle gave the order to retreat to Moscow, in a report to Alexander I, he called the Russian army the winner in the battle. Many Russian historians think so too.

French scientists see the battle at Borodino differently. In their opinion, "in the battle near the Moscow River" Napoleonic troops won. Napoleon himself, comprehending the results of the battle, said: "The French in it showed themselves worthy of victory, and the Russians acquired the right to be invincible."

14. Battle of Elisavetpol (1826)

One of the key episodes of the Russian-Persian war of 1826-1828 was the battle near Elisavetpol (now the Azerbaijani city of Ganja). The victory then gained by the Russian troops under the command of Ivan Paskevich over the Persian army of Abbas Mirza became a model of military leadership. Paskevich managed to use the confusion of the Persians who fell into the ravine to launch a counterattack. Despite the superior forces of the enemy (35 thousand against 10 thousand), the Russian regiments began to push the army of Abbas Mirza along the entire front of the attack. The losses of the Russian side amounted to 46 killed, the Persians missed 2000 people.

15. Capture of Erivan (1827)

The fall of the fortified city of Erivan was the culmination of numerous attempts by Russia to establish control over the Transcaucasus. Built in the middle of the 16th century, the fortress was considered impregnable and more than once became a stumbling block for the Russian army. Ivan Paskevich managed to competently besiege the city from three sides, placing cannons around the entire perimeter. “The Russian artillery acted beautifully,” recalled the Armenians who remained in the fortress. Paskevich knew exactly where the Persian positions were located. On the eighth day of the siege, Russian soldiers broke into the city and dealt with the garrison of the fortress with bayonets.

16. Battle of Sarykamysh (1914)

By December 1914, during the First World War, Russia occupied the front from the Black Sea to Lake Van with a length of 350 km, while a significant part of the Caucasian army was pushed forward - deep into Turkish territory. Turkey had a tempting plan to outflank the Russian forces, thereby cutting the Sarykamysh-Kars railway.

The persistence and initiative of the Russians defending Sarakamysh played a decisive role in the operation, the success of which literally hung in the balance. Unable to take Sarykamysh on the move, two Turkish corps fell into the arms of an icy cold, which became fatal for them.

Turkish troops in just one day on December 14 lost 10 thousand people frostbitten.

The last attempt of the Turks to take Sarykamysh on December 17 was repulsed by Russian counterattacks and ended in failure. At this, the offensive impulse of the Turkish troops, suffering from frost and poor supplies, was exhausted.

The turning point has arrived. On the same day, the Russians launched a counteroffensive and drove the Turks back from Sarykamysh. The Turkish commander Enver Pasha decided to strengthen the frontal onslaught and transferred the main blow to Karaurgan, which was defended by parts of the Sarykamysh detachment of General Berkhman. But here, too, the fierce attacks of the 11th Turkish Corps, advancing on Sarykamysh from the front, were repelled.

On December 19, the Russian troops advancing near Sarykamysh completely surrounded the Turkish 9th Corps, frozen by snow storms. Its remnants after stubborn three-day fighting capitulated. Parts of the 10th Corps managed to retreat, but were defeated near Ardagan.

On December 25, General N. N. Yudenich became commander of the Caucasian Army, who gave the order to launch a counteroffensive near Karaurgan. Having thrown back the remnants of the 3rd Army by 30-40 km by January 5, 1915, the Russians stopped the pursuit, which was carried out in a 20-degree cold. And there was almost no one to follow.

Enver Pasha's troops lost 78 thousand people killed, frozen, wounded and captured (over 80% of the personnel). Russian losses amounted to 26 thousand people (killed, wounded, frostbite).

The victory near Sarykamysh stopped the Turkish aggression in Transcaucasia and strengthened the positions of the Caucasian army.

17. Brusilovsky breakthrough (1916)

One of the most important operations on the Eastern Front in 1916 was the offensive on the Southwestern Front, designed not only to turn the tide of hostilities on the Eastern Front, but also to cover the Allied offensive on the Somme. The result was the Brusilovsky breakthrough, which significantly undermined the military power of the Austro-Hungarian army and pushed Romania to enter the war on the side of the Entente.

The offensive operation of the Southwestern Front under the command of General Alexei Brusilov, carried out from May to September 1916, became, according to the military historian Anton Kersnovsky, "a victory that we have not yet won in a world war." The number of forces that were involved on both sides is also impressive - 1,732,000 Russian soldiers and 1,061,000 soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian and German armies.

18. Khalkhin-Gol operation

Since the beginning of 1939, in the border area between the Mongolian People's Republic (on whose territory, in accordance with the Soviet-Mongolian protocol of 1936, there were Soviet troops) and the puppet state of Manchukuo, which was actually controlled by Japan, several incidents occurred between the Mongols and the Japanese-Manchus. Mongolia, backed by the Soviet Union, announced the passage of the border near the small village of Nomon-Khan-Burd-Obo, and Manchukuo, backed by Japan, drew the border along the Khalkhin Gol River. In May, the command of the Japanese Kwantung Army concentrated significant forces near Khalkhin Gol. The Japanese managed to achieve superiority in infantry, artillery and cavalry over the Soviet 57th separate rifle corps deployed in Mongolia. However, the Soviet troops had an advantage in aviation and armored forces. Since May, the Japanese held the eastern bank of Khalkhin Gol, but in the summer they decided to force the river and seize a bridgehead on the "Mongolian" bank.

On July 2, Japanese units crossed the "Manchu-Mongolian" border officially recognized by Japan and tried to gain a foothold. The command of the Red Army put into action all the forces that could be delivered to the conflict area. Soviet mechanized brigades, having made an unprecedented march through the desert, immediately entered the battle in the region of Mount Bain-Tsagan, in which about 400 tanks and armored vehicles, over 300 guns and several hundred aircraft participated on both sides. As a result, the Japanese lost almost all of their tanks. During a 3-day bloody battle, the Japanese managed to push back across the river. However, now Moscow was already insisting on a forceful solution of the issue, especially since there was a threat of a second Japanese invasion. G.K. Zhukov was appointed commander of the rifle corps. Aviation was reinforced by pilots with combat experience in Spain and China. On August 20, Soviet troops went on the offensive. By the end of August 23, the Japanese troops were surrounded. An attempt to release this group, made by the enemy, was repulsed. Surrounded fought fiercely until 31 August. The conflict led to the total resignation of the command of the Kwantung Army and the change of government. The new government immediately asked the Soviet side for an armistice, which was signed in Moscow on 15 September.

19. Battle for Moscow (1941-1942)

The long and bloody defense of Moscow, which began in September 1941, from December 5 passed into the offensive phase, which ended on April 20, 1942. On December 5, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive and German divisions rolled west. The plan of the Soviet command to encircle the main forces of Army Group Center east of Vyazma was not fully implemented. The Soviet troops lacked mobile formations, and there was no experience of a coordinated offensive of such masses of troops.

However, the result was impressive. The enemy was thrown back from Moscow by 100–250 kilometers, and the immediate threat to the capital, which is the most important industrial and transport hub, was eliminated. In addition, the victory near Moscow was of great psychological significance. For the first time in the entire war, the enemy was defeated and retreated tens and hundreds of kilometers. German General Gunther Blumentritt recalled: “Now it was important for the political leaders of Germany to understand that the days of blitzkrieg had sunk into the past. We were confronted by an army far superior in its fighting qualities to all other armies with which we had ever had to meet.

20. Battle of Stalingrad (1942-1943)

The defense of Stalingrad became one of the most fierce operations of that war. By the end of the street fighting, which lasted from August to November, Soviet troops held only three isolated bridgeheads on the right bank of the Volga; in the divisions of the 62nd Army, which defended the city, there were 500-700 people left, but the Germans did not succeed in throwing them into the river. Meanwhile, since September, the Soviet command had been preparing an operation to encircle the German group advancing on Stalingrad.

On November 19, 1942, Soviet troops went on the offensive north of Stalingrad, and the next day, south of it. November 23 impact wedges Soviet troops met near the city of Kalach, which marked the encirclement of the Stalingrad grouping of the enemy. 22 enemy divisions (about 300 thousand people) were in the ring. This was the turning point of the entire war.

In December 1942, the German command tried to release the encircled group, but the Soviet troops repelled this onslaught. Fighting in the area of ​​Stalingrad continued until February 2, 1943. Over 90 thousand enemy soldiers and officers (including 24 generals) surrendered.

Soviet trophies were 5,762 guns, 1,312 mortars, 12,701 machine guns, 156,987 rifles, 10,722 machine guns, 744 aircraft, 166 tanks, 261 armored vehicles, 80,438 cars, 10,679 motorcycles, 240 tractors, 571 tractors, 3 armored trains and other military equipment .

21. Battle of Kursk (1943)

The Battle of Kursk is one of the greatest in the history of the Great Patriotic War, which marked a radical turning point in hostilities. After it, the strategic initiative completely passed into the hands of the Soviet command.

Building on the success achieved at Stalingrad, Soviet troops launched a large-scale offensive on the front from Voronezh to the Black Sea. Simultaneously, in January 1943, besieged Leningrad was released.

Only by the spring of 1943 did the Wehrmacht manage to stop the Soviet offensive in Ukraine. Although units of the Red Army occupied Kharkov and Kursk, and the advanced units of the Southwestern Front were already fighting on the outskirts of Zaporozhye, German troops, transferring reserves from other sectors of the front, pulling up troops from Western Europe, actively maneuvering mechanized formations, launched a counteroffensive and occupied Kharkov again. As a result, the front line on the southern flank of the confrontation acquired a characteristic shape, which later became known as the Kursk salient.

It was here that the German command decided to inflict a decisive defeat on the Soviet troops. It was supposed to cut it off with blows to the base of the arc, surrounding two Soviet fronts at once.

The German command planned to achieve success, including through wide application latest types military equipment. It was on the Kursk Bulge that heavy German Panther tanks and Ferdinand self-propelled artillery guns were first used.

The Soviet command knew about the plans of the enemy and deliberately decided to cede the strategic initiative to the enemy. The idea was to wear out the shock divisions of the Wehrmacht in pre-prepared positions, and then go on the counteroffensive. And it must be admitted that this plan was successful.

Yes, not everything went as planned, and on the southern face of the arc, German tank wedges almost broke through the defenses, but on the whole, the Soviet operation developed according to the original plan. One of the largest tank battles in the world took place near the Prokhorovka station, in which more than 800 tanks took part simultaneously. Although the Soviet troops also suffered heavy losses in this battle, the offensive potential of the Germans was lost.

More than 100 thousand participants in the Battle of Kursk were awarded orders and medals, more than 180 were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In honor of the victory in the Battle of Kursk, an artillery salute sounded for the first time.

22. Capture of Berlin (1945)

The assault on Berlin began on April 25, 1945 and continued until May 2. The Soviet troops had to literally gnaw through the enemy defenses - the battles went for every intersection, for every house. The garrison of the city consisted of 200 thousand people, who had at their disposal about 3000 guns and about 250 tanks, so the assault on Berlin was an operation comparable to the defeat of the encircled German army near Stalingrad.

On May 1, the new Chief of the German General Staff, General Krebs, informed the Soviet representatives about Hitler's suicide and offered a truce. However, the Soviet side demanded unconditional surrender. In this situation, the new German government set a course to achieve an early surrender to the Western allies. Since Berlin was already surrounded, on May 2, the commander of the city garrison, General Weindling, capitulated, but only on behalf of the Berlin garrison.

Characteristically, some units refused to comply with this order and tried to break through to the west, but were intercepted and defeated. Meanwhile, negotiations between German and Anglo-American representatives were going on in Reims. The German delegation insisted on the surrender of troops on the western front, hoping to continue the war in the east, but the American command demanded unconditional surrender.

Finally, on May 7, the unconditional surrender of Germany was signed, which was supposed to come at 23.01 on May 8. From the USSR, this act was signed by General Susloparov. However, the Soviet government considered that the surrender of Germany should, firstly, take place in Berlin, and secondly, be signed by the Soviet command.

23. Defeat of the Kwantung Army (1945)

Japan during the Second World War was an ally of Nazi Germany and waged a war of conquest with China, during which all known species weapons of mass destruction, including biological and chemical weapons.

Marshal Vasilevsky was appointed commander-in-chief of the Soviet troops in the Far East. In less than a month, Soviet troops defeated the million-strong Kwantung Army stationed in Manchuria and liberated all of Northern China and part of Central China from Japanese occupation.

A highly professional army fought against the Kwantung Army. It was impossible to stop her. The military textbooks included the operation of the Soviet troops to overcome the Gobi Desert and the Khingan Range. In just two days, the 6th Guards Tank Army crossed the mountains and found itself deep behind enemy lines. During this outstanding offensive, about 200 thousand Japanese were taken prisoner, many weapons and equipment were captured.

The heroic efforts of our fighters also took the heights of "Acute" and "Camel" of the Khutous fortified area. The approaches to the heights were located in hard-to-reach wetlands and were well protected by scarps and barbed wire. The firing points of the Japanese were cut down in a granite rock massif.

The capture of the Khutou fortress cost the lives of over a thousand Soviet soldiers and officers. The Japanese did not negotiate and rejected all calls for surrender. During the 11 days of the assault, almost all of them died, only 53 people surrendered.

As a result of the war, the Soviet Union returned to its territory the territories lost by the Russian Empire in 1905 as a result of the Treaty of Portsmouth, but the loss of the South Kuriles by Japan has not been recognized to this day. Japan capitulated, but the peace treaty with the Soviet Union was not signed.

The topic of the section is the wars in the history of Russia and their results. The dates of the wars in which our state participated and their main results are presented to your attention. It will be about how known wars, and about those that are practically unknown to a wide range of history buffs.

1605 - 1618 - Russian-Polish war. One of the most difficult wars in our history, since there was a time of troubles in Russia then. The impostor False Dmitry I came to the Russian throne by deceit, but a year later, during the uprising, he was killed. But the turmoil did not end, many robber mines formed on the territory of Russia, which acted independently and to the detriment of Moscow, the Cossacks also acted, over whom at that time there was no control. In 1610 the Poles entered Moscow, in 1611 the Poles stormed Smolensk. In 1612 Russian civil uprising Minin and Pozharsky defeated the Polish-Lithuanian army and drove them out of Moscow. After that, the Russians were already willing to recapture Smolensk, but this enterprise ended in failure. In 1617, the Poles moved to Moscow, but also failed.
In 1618, a truce was signed between the Russians and the Poles, according to which Russia lost Smolensk.

XVII - XX centuries. - During this interval, they often flared up Russian-Turkish wars. The last of which took place in the framework of the First World War, which will be described below. .

1632 - 1634 - Smolensk war. Russia tried to recapture Smolensk from Poland, but it failed. Smolensk remained with the Poles.

1654 - 1667 - Russian-Polish war. For Russia, this confrontation, on the one hand, was a logical continuation of previous wars with the Poles, but the uprising of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks led by Bogdan Khmelnitsky in 1648 played a very important role here. The Russians supported the fraternal people, who were under the rule of the Polish king. The confrontation went on with varying success, but still the Russians and the Cossacks eventually won a victory over the Poles. The result of the war - Smolensk and all the lands lost in troubled times, Left-Bank Ukraine and Kyiv, went to Russia. The Commonwealth suffered a very serious defeat from Moscow Russia and was very weakened and subsequently could not recover.

1700 - 1721 - North War. The fighting went between Russia and Sweden. Our state won and annexed part of Finland, the Baltic States and gained access to the Baltic Sea.

1722 - 1723 - Russo-Persian War. The victory in the confrontation between Persia and Russia was won by the latter. Thanks to this, our state received in its possession the Caspian lands with the cities of Derbent, Baku, Rasht. Later, the government of the Russian Empire returned this territory to the Persians due to the difficult foreign policy situation in the south of the country.

1757 - 1762 - Seven Years' War. Almost all European states took part in it. For Russia, this war was, by and large, like a war with Prussia, whose emperor was Frederick II. Russian troops achieved great success in this confrontation. They occupied East Prussia, temporarily occupied Berlin and were very close to the complete defeat of the Prussian army, but in 1762 Elizabeth died, and Peter III, which Frederick II considered his idol. In 1762, a peace treaty was signed between Russia and Prussia, and all the conquests of Russia were returned to Friedrich.

1796 - Russo-Persian War. The Russians won, captured Derbent, Cuba and Baku. However, after the death of Catherine II, Paul ascended the throne. After that, the war was stopped, and the occupied territories were returned to the Persians.

1804 - 1813 - Russo-Persian War. The result of a long war was the victory of Russia. According to the Gulistan Peace Treaty, Persia recognized the inclusion of Eastern Georgia, Northern Azerbaijan, Imeretia, Guria, Mengrelia and Abkhazia into the Russian Empire.

1805 - 1807 - 3rd and 4th coalitions. During this period of the Napoleonic Wars, 4 major battles took place between Russia and France. 2 of which ended in a draw, and 2 in the defeat of the Russian army. After the defeat of Russia from France near Friedland in 1807, the Treaty of Tilsit was signed between these two powers.

1808 - 1809 - Finnish war. The confrontation between the Russian Empire and Sweden, in which the latter suffered a crushing defeat. The result of the war was the accession of Finland to Russia.

1812 - Patriotic War . Russia fought in this confrontation France. Almost all of Europe fought in the ranks of the latter, as it was captured by the French emperor Napoleon. The war ended with the retreat of the French from Russian possessions.

1813 - 1814 - Foreign campaigns of the Russian army. These campaigns took place as part of the war with France, which ended in 1814 with the capture of Paris by Russian and allied troops. As a result, France lost all the lands in Europe that she had captured. Russia annexed part of Poland along with Warsaw.

1826 - 1828 - Russo-Persian War. Old enemies fought for dominance in the Transcaucasus and the Caspian. Once again, the Russian Empire won this confrontation and eventually included the Erivan and Nakhichevan khanates in its composition under the Turkmanchay peace treaty.

1914 - 1918 - World War I. The Russian Empire fought against Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. Our allies were the French and the British. In 1917, two revolutions took place in Russia. With the coming to power of the Bolsheviks in October 1917, Russia actually withdrew from the war, and in February 1918 did so officially.

1941 - 1945 - The Great Patriotic War. The USSR and Germany fought in this confrontation and it took place within the framework of the Second World War. The Great Patriotic War ended in victory Soviet army and the capture of Berlin. As a result, Germany was split into the GDR and the FRG. Germany lost East Prussia, part of which went to the USSR (Koenigsberg and its environs), and part to Poland. The Soviet state also secured Galicia.

To be continued! The section is filling up.

10

• Number of dead: 3,500,000 people
• The date: November 1799 - June 1815
• Place: Europe, Atlantic Ocean, Rio de la Plata, Indian Ocean
• Outcome: victory of the anti-Napoleonic coalition, Congress of Vienna

The wars that Napoleon Bonaparte waged with various states of Europe from 1799 to 1815 are usually called the Napoleonic Wars. The gifted commander began to redistribute the political map of Europe even before he made the coup of 18 Brumaire and became the First Consul. Hanover campaign, the War of the Third Coalition or the Russian-Austrian-French War of 1805, the War of the Fourth Coalition, or the Russian-Prussian-French War of 1806-1807, which ended with the famous Peace of Tilsit, the War of the Fifth Coalition, or the Austro-French War of 1809, Patriotic the war of 1812 and the war of the Sixth Coalition of European Powers against Napoleon and, finally, the campaign of the Hundred Days era, which ended with the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, claimed the lives of at least 3.5 million people. Many historians double this figure.

9

• Number of dead: 10,500,000 people
• The date: 1917 - 1923
• Place: territory of the former Russian Empire
• Outcome: Victory of the Red Army, Formation of the USSR

Civil War was the result of the revolutionary crisis that struck Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, which began with the revolution of 1905-1907, aggravated during the world war and led to the fall of the monarchy, economic ruin, deep social, national, political and ideological split Russian society. The apogee of this split was a fierce war throughout the country between the armed forces of the Soviet government and the anti-Bolshevik authorities.

During the Civil War, from hunger, disease, terror and in battles (according to various sources) from 8 to 13 million people died, including about 1 million Red Army soldiers. Up to 2 million people emigrated from the country. The number of street children increased sharply after the First World War and the Civil War. According to some data, in 1921 there were 4.5 million homeless children in Russia, according to others, in 1922 there were 7 million homeless children. The damage to the national economy amounted to about 50 billion gold rubles, industrial production fell to 4-20% of the 1913 level.

8

• Number of dead: 8 to 15 million people
• The date: 1862 - 1869
• Place: Shaanxi, Gansu
• Outcome: uprising crushed

In 1862, the so-called Dungan uprising against the Qing Empire began in northwestern China. Chinese and non-Chinese Muslim national minorities - Dungans, Uighurs, Salars - rebelled, as the Great Soviet Encyclopedia writes, against the national oppression of the Chinese-Manchu feudal lords and the Qing dynasty. English-speaking historians do not fully agree with this and see the origins of the uprising in racial and class antagonism and in the economy, but not in religious strife and rebellion against the ruling dynasty. Be that as it may, but which began in May 1862 in Weinan County, Shaanxi Province, the uprising spread to the provinces of Gansu and Xinjiang. There was no single headquarters of the uprising, and in the war of all against all, according to various estimates, from 8 to 15 million people suffered. As a result, the uprising was brutally suppressed, and the Russian Empire sheltered the surviving rebels. Their descendants still live in Kyrgyzstan, South Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

7

• Number of dead: 13,000,000 people
• The date: December 755 - February 763 BC
• Place: Tang China

The era of the Tang Dynasty is traditionally considered in China to be the period of the highest power of the country, when China was far ahead of the contemporary countries of the world. And the civil war at that time was to match the country - grandiose. In world historiography, it is called the Ai Lushan uprising. Thanks to the location of Emperor Xuanzong and his beloved concubine Yang Guifei, the Turk (or Sogdian) in the Chinese service, Ai Lushan concentrated enormous power in the army in his hands - under his command were 3 out of 10 border provinces of the Tang Empire. In 755, Ai Lushan rebelled and the following year proclaimed himself emperor of the new Yan Dynasty. And although already in 757 the sleeping leader of the uprising was stabbed to death by his trusted eunuch, it was possible to pacify the rebellion only by February 763. The number of victims is amazing: according to the smallest account, 13 million people died. And if you believe the pessimists and assume that the population of China decreased at that time by 36 million people, then you have to admit that the rebellion of Ai Lushan reduced the population of the world at that time by more than 15 percent. In this case, if you count by the number of victims, it was the largest armed conflict in the history of mankind until World War II.

6

• Number of dead: 15 to 20 million people
• The date: 14th century
• Place: Iran, Transcaucasia, India, Golden Horde, Ottoman Empire
• Outcome: Tamerlane's empire stretched from Transcaucasia to Punjab

Tamerlane (or Timur) is a Central Asian Turkic commander and conqueror who played a significant role in the history of Central, South and Western Asia, as well as the Caucasus, the Volga region and Russia. Commander, founder of the Timurid Empire (1370) with its capital in Samarkand.

For 45 years of aggressive campaigns, Tamerlane put, no less, more than 3.5% of the population the globe second half of the 14th century. At least - 15 million, and even all 20!

5

• Number of dead: 22,000,000 people
• The date: July 28, 1914 - November 11, 1918
• Place: Europe, Africa and the Middle East (briefly in China and the islands Pacific Ocean)
• Outcome: Entente victory. February and October revolutions in Russia and the November revolution in Germany. The collapse of the Russian, German, Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires

The hero of Francis Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby called it "a belated migration of the Teutonic tribes." It was called the war against war, the Great War, the European War. The name with which she lived in history was coined by the military columnist for The Times, Colonel Charles Repington: The First World War.

The starting shot of the world meat grinder was the shot in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. From that day until the armistice on November 11, 1918, more than 10 million soldiers and about 12 million civilians died by the most modest measure. If you come across the number 65 million, don’t be alarmed: it also included all those who died from the Spanish flu, the most massive flu pandemic in the history of mankind. In addition to the mass of victims, the result of World War I was the liquidation of four empires: Russian, Ottoman, German and Austria-Hungary.

4

• Number of dead: 20 to 30 million people
• The date: 1850 - 1864
• Place: China
• Outcome: defeat of the rebels

The Taiping state occupied a significant part of southern China, under its jurisdiction there were about 30 million people. The Taipings tried to carry out radical social transformations, replacing traditional Chinese religions with a specific "Christianity", while Hong Xiuquan was considered the younger brother of Jesus Christ. The Taipings were called "long-haired" because they rejected the braids adopted in the Qing state by the Manchus, they were also called hairy bandits.

The Taiping rebellion sparked a series of local uprisings in other parts of the Qing Empire, which fought against the Manchu authorities, often proclaiming their own states. Foreign states also got involved in the war. The situation in the country became catastrophic. The Taipings occupied large cities (Nanjing and Wuhan), rebels sympathizing with the Taipings occupied Shanghai, and campaigns were made against Beijing and other parts of the country.

The Taipings were crushed by the Qing army with the support of the British and French. The war led to a huge number casualties are estimated at 20 to 30 million. Mao Zedong viewed the Taipings as revolutionary heroes who rose up against a corrupt feudal system.

3

• Number of dead: 25,000,000 people
• The date: 1644 - 1683
• Place: China
• Outcome:

25 million victims, or almost 5% of the inhabitants of the planet, is the price of creating an empire founded in 1616 by the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan in Manchuria, that is, present-day northeastern China. Less than three decades later, all of China, part of Mongolia and a large piece of Central Asia were under its rule. The Chinese Ming Empire weakened and fell under the blows of the Great Pure State - Da Qing-guo. What was won with blood held out for a long time: the Qing Empire was destroyed by the Xinhai Revolution of 1911-1912, the six-year-old emperor Pu Yi abdicated the throne. However, he will still be destined to lead the country - the puppet state of Manchukuo, created by the Japanese invaders on the territory of Manchuria and existed until 1945.

2

• Number of dead: 30,000,000 people
• The date: XIII - XV centuries
• Place: Asia, part of Europe
• Outcome: territory Mongol Empire became the largest in world history and stretched from the Danube to the Sea of ​​Japan and from Novgorod to Southeast Asia

The number of people who died during the formation of the Mongol Empire, existence and collapse, will also not leave indifferent: according to the most optimistic estimates, it is no less than 30 million. Pessimists count all 60 million. True, we are talking about a significant historical period - from the first years of the XIII century, when Temuchin united the warring nomadic tribes into a single Mongolian state and received the title of Genghis Khan and up to standing on the Ugra in 1480, when the Muscovite state under Grand Duke Ivan III was completely freed from Mongol-Tatar yoke. During this time, from 7.5 to more than 17 percent of the world's population died.

1

• Number of dead: 40 to 72 million people
• The date: September 1, 1939 - September 2, 1945
• Place: Eurasia, Africa, World Ocean
• Outcome: Victory anti-Hitler coalition. Creation of the UN. Prohibition and condemnation of the ideologies of fascism and Nazism. The USSR and the USA become superpowers. Reducing the role of Great Britain and France in global politics. The split of the world into two camps; starts cold war. Decolonization of vast colonial empires

The most terrible records are held by the Second World War. It is also the most bloody - the total number of its victims is carefully estimated at 40 million, and carelessly at all 72. It is also the most destructive: the total damage of all the warring countries exceeded the material losses from all previous wars combined and is considered equal to one and a half, or even two trillion dollars. This war, and the most, so to speak, world war - 62 states out of 73 that existed at that moment on the planet, or 80% of the world's population, participated in it in one form or another. The war was on the ground, in the sky and at sea - the fighting was fought on three continents and in the waters of four oceans. It was the only conflict so far in which nuclear weapons were used.

The content of the article

WAR, armed struggle between large groups/communities of people (states, tribes, parties); regulated by laws and customs - a set of principles and norms of international law that establish the obligations of the belligerents (ensuring the protection of the civilian population, regulating the treatment of prisoners of war, prohibiting the use of especially inhuman types of weapons).

Wars in human history.

War is a constant companion of human history. Up to 95% of all societies known to us have resorted to it to resolve external or internal conflicts. According to scientists, over the past fifty-six centuries, there have been approx. 14,500 wars in which more than 3.5 billion people died.

According to an extremely common belief in antiquity, the Middle Ages and Modern Times (J.-J. Rousseau), primitive times were the only peaceful period in history, and primitive man (an uncivilized savage) was a creature devoid of any militancy and aggressiveness. However, the latest archaeological studies of prehistoric sites in Europe, North America and North Africa indicate that armed clashes (obviously between individuals) took place as early as the Neanderthal era. An ethnographic study of modern hunter-gatherer tribes shows that in most cases attacks on neighbors, the forcible seizure of property and women are the harsh reality of their lives (Zulus, Dahomey, North American Indians, Eskimos, tribes of New Guinea).

The first types of weapons (clubs, spears) were used by primitive man as early as 35 thousand BC, but the earliest cases of group combat date back only to 12 thousand BC. - only from now on can we talk about the war.

The birth of war in the primitive era was associated with the appearance of new types of weapons (bow, sling), which for the first time made it possible to fight at a distance; henceforth, the physical strength of the combatants was no longer of exceptional importance, dexterity and skill began to play an important role. The beginnings of a battle technique (coverage from the flank) arose. The war was highly ritualized (numerous taboos and prohibitions), which limited its duration and losses.

An essential factor in the evolution of warfare was the domestication of animals: the use of horses gave nomads an advantage over settled tribes. The need for protection from their sudden raids led to fortifications; first known fact- the fortress walls of Jericho (about 8 thousand BC). Gradually, the number of participants in wars increased. However, among scientists there is no unanimity about the size of prehistoric "armies": the numbers vary from a dozen to several hundred warriors.

The emergence of states contributed to the progress of military organization. The growth in the productivity of agricultural production allowed the elite of ancient societies to accumulate in their hands funds that made it possible to increase the size of armies and improve their fighting qualities; much more time was devoted to the training of soldiers; the first professional military formations appeared. If the armies of the Sumerian city-states were small peasant militias, then the later ancient Eastern monarchies (China, Egypt of the New Kingdom) already had relatively large and fairly disciplined military forces.

The main component of the ancient Eastern and ancient army was the infantry: initially operating on the battlefield as a chaotic crowd, it later turned into an extremely organized fighting unit (Macedonian phalanx, Roman legion). In different periods, other “arms of the armed forces” also gained importance, such as, for example, war chariots, which played a significant role in the Assyrian campaigns of conquest. The importance of military fleets also increased, primarily among the Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians; The first naval battle known to us took place ca. 1210 BC between the Hittites and the Cypriots. The function of the cavalry was usually reduced to auxiliary or reconnaissance. Progress was also observed in the field of weapons - new materials are used, new types of weapons are invented. Bronze ensured the victories of the Egyptian army of the era of the New Kingdom, and iron contributed to the creation of the first ancient Eastern empire - the New Assyrian state. In addition to the bow, arrows and spears, the sword, ax, dagger, and dart gradually came into use. Siege weapons appeared, the development and use of which reached a peak in the Hellenistic period (catapults, battering rams, siege towers). Wars acquired a significant scope, involving a large number of states into their orbit (the wars of the Diadochi, etc.). The largest armed conflicts of antiquity were the wars of the Neo-Assyrian kingdom (second half of the 8th–7th centuries), the Greco-Persian wars (500–449 BC), the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), the conquests of Alexander the Great (334–323 BC) and the Punic Wars (264–146 BC).

In the Middle Ages, the infantry lost its primacy to the cavalry, which was facilitated by the invention of stirrups (8th century). The heavily armed knight became the central figure on the battlefield. The scale of the war compared with the ancient era was reduced: it turned into an expensive and elite occupation, the prerogative of the ruling class and acquired a professional character (the future knight underwent a long training). Small detachments took part in the battles (from several dozen to several hundred knights with squires); only at the end of the classical Middle Ages (14th-15th centuries), with the emergence of centralized states, did the number of armies increase; the importance of the infantry increased again (it was the archers that ensured the success of the British in the Hundred Years War). Military operations at sea were of a secondary nature. But the role of castles has unusually increased; the siege became the main element of the war. The largest wars of this period were the Reconquista (718–1492), the Crusades, and the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453).

turning point in military history was widespread from the middle of the 15th century. in Europe, gunpowder and firearms (arquebuses, cannons) (); the first case of their use is the battle of Agincourt (1415). From now on, the level of military equipment and, accordingly, the military industry has become the unconditional determinant of the outcome of the war. In the late Middle Ages (16th - first half of the 17th century), the technological advantage of the Europeans allowed them to expand outside their continent (colonial conquests) and at the same time put an end to the invasions of nomadic tribes from the East. The importance of naval warfare increased sharply. Disciplined regular infantry ousted the knightly cavalry (see the role of the Spanish infantry in the wars of the 16th century). The largest armed conflicts of the 16th-17th centuries. were the Italian Wars (1494–1559) and the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648).

In the centuries that followed, the nature of warfare underwent rapid and fundamental changes. Military technology has progressed unusually rapidly (from the musket of the 17th century to nuclear submarines and supersonic fighters in the early 21st century). New types of weapons (missile systems, etc.) have strengthened the remote nature of the military confrontation. The war became more and more massive: the institution of recruiting and who replaced it in the 19th century. the institute of universal conscription made the armies truly nationwide (more than 70 million people participated in the 1st world war, over 110 million in the 2nd), on the other hand, the whole society was already involved in the war (women's and children's labor in military enterprises in the USSR and the USA during the 2nd World War). Human losses reached an unprecedented scale: if in the 17th century. they amounted to 3.3 million, in the 18th century. - 5.4 million, in the 19th - early 20th century. - 5.7 million, then in the 1st World War - more than 9 million, and in the 2nd World War - over 50 million. Wars were accompanied by a grandiose destruction of material wealth and cultural values.

By the end of the 20th century "Asymmetric wars" have become the dominant form of armed conflicts, characterized by a sharp disparity in the capabilities of the belligerents. In the nuclear age, such wars are of great danger, as they encourage the weak side to violate all established laws of war and resort to different forms deterrence tactics up to large-scale terrorist acts (the tragedy of September 11, 2001 in New York).

A change in the nature of the war and an intense arms race gave rise in the first half of the 20th century. a powerful anti-war trend (J. Jaures, A. Barbusse, M. Gandhi, general disarmament projects in the League of Nations), which especially intensified after the creation of weapons of mass destruction, which called into question the very existence of human civilization. The United Nations began to play a leading role in maintaining peace, proclaiming its task to "save future generations from the scourge of war"; in 1974 the UN General Assembly qualified military aggression as an international crime. Articles on the unconditional renunciation of war (Japan) or on the prohibition of the creation of an army (Costa Rica) were included in the constitutions of some countries.

Constitution Russian Federation does not give any state body the right to declare war; the president has only the right to impose martial law in the event of aggression or the threat of aggression (defensive war).

Types of wars.

The classification of wars is based on a variety of criteria. Based goals, they are divided into predatory (raids of the Pechenegs and Polovtsians on Russia in the 9th - early 13th century), aggressive (wars of Cyrus II 550–529 BC), colonial (French-Chinese war 1883–1885), religious (Huguenot wars in France 1562–1598), dynastic (War of the Spanish Succession 1701–1714), trade (Opium Wars 1840–1842 and 1856–1860), national liberation (Algerian War 1954–1962), patriotic (Patriotic War 1812), revolutionary (wars of France with the European coalition 1792-1795).

By the scope of hostilities and the number of forces and means involved wars are divided into local (waged on a limited territory and by small forces) and large-scale. The former include, for example, wars between ancient Greek city-states; to the second - the campaigns of Alexander the Great, the Napoleonic Wars, etc.

By the nature of the opposing sides distinguish between civil and foreign wars. The former, in turn, are subdivided into apex, waged by factions within the elite (the War of the Scarlet and White Roses 1455–1485) (LANCASTER), and interclass wars of slaves against the ruling class (Spartacus’s war 74–71 BC), peasants (Great peasant war in Germany 1524-1525), townspeople/bourgeoisie (civil war in England 1639-1652), social lower classes in general (civil war in Russia 1918-1922). Outer Wars are subdivided into wars between states (the Anglo-Dutch wars of the 17th century), between states and tribes (Caesar's Gallic Wars 58–51 BC), between coalitions of states (the Seven Years' War of 1756–1763), between metropolises and colonies (Indochinese war 1945–1954), world wars (1914–1918 and 1939–1945).

In addition, wars are distinguished by ways of doing- offensive and defensive, regular and partisan (guerilla) - and jurisdiction: land, sea, air, coastal, fortress and field, to which arctic, mountain, urban, desert wars, jungle wars are sometimes added.

The principle of classification is taken and moral criterion- just and unjust wars. A "just war" is a war waged to protect order and law and, ultimately, peace. Her mandatory conditions- it must have a just cause; it should be begun only when all peaceful means have been exhausted; it should not go beyond the achievement of the main task; the civilian population should not suffer from it. The idea of ​​a "just war", which goes back to the Old Testament, ancient philosophy and St. Augustine, received theoretical formalization in the 12th-13th centuries. in the writings of Gratian, the decretalists, and Thomas Aquinas. In the late Middle Ages, its development was continued by neo-scholastics, M. Luther and G. Grotius. It regained relevance in the 20th century, especially in connection with the emergence of weapons of mass destruction and the problem of "humanitarian military actions" designed to stop genocide in one country or another.

Theories of the origin of wars.

At all times, people have tried to comprehend the phenomenon of war, to reveal its nature, to give it a moral assessment, to develop methods for its most effective use (the theory of military art) and to find ways to limit or even eradicate it. The most controversial was and continues to be the question of the causes of wars: why do they happen if most people do not want them? It gives a variety of answers.

Theological interpretation, which has Old Testament roots, is based on the understanding of war as an arena for the realization of the will of God (gods). Its adherents see war as either a way of establishing the true religion and rewarding the pious (the conquest of the "Promised Land" by the Jews, the victorious campaigns of the Arabs who converted to Islam), or a means of punishing the wicked (the destruction of the kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians, the defeat of the Roman Empire by the barbarians).

Concrete-historical approach, dating back to antiquity (Herodotus), connects the origin of wars solely with their local historical context and excludes the search for any universal causes. At the same time, the role of political leaders and rational decisions taken by them is inevitably accentuated. Often the outbreak of war is perceived as the result of a random combination of circumstances.

Influential positions in the tradition of studying the phenomenon of war are occupied by psychological school. Even in ancient times, the belief (Thucydides) dominated that war is a consequence of bad human nature, an innate tendency to “do” chaos and evil. In our time, this idea was used by Z. Freud when creating the theory of psychoanalysis: he argued that a person could not exist if his inherent need for self-destruction (the death instinct) was not directed to external objects, including other individuals, other ethnic groups and other confessional groups. The followers of Z. Freud (L. L. Bernard) considered the war as a manifestation of mass psychosis, which is the result of the suppression of human instincts by society. A number of modern psychologists (E.F.M. Darben, J. Bowlby) reworked Freud's theory of sublimation in the gender sense: a tendency to aggression and violence is a property of male nature; suppressed in peaceful conditions, it finds the necessary exit to the battlefield. Their hope for the deliverance of mankind from war is associated with the transfer of control levers into the hands of women and with the assertion of feminine values ​​in society. Other psychologists interpret aggressiveness not as an integral feature of the male psyche, but as a result of its violation, citing as an example politicians obsessed with war mania (Napoleon, Hitler, Mussolini); they believe that for the onset of an era of universal peace, an effective system of civilian control is sufficient, which closes access to power for madmen.

A special branch of the psychological school, founded by K. Lorenz, is based on evolutionary sociology. Its adherents consider war to be an extended form of animal behavior, primarily an expression of male rivalry and their struggle for possession of a certain territory. They emphasize, however, that although war was of natural origin, technological progress has increased its destructive nature and brought it to a level unbelievable for the animal world, when the very existence of humanity as a species is threatened.

Anthropological school(E. Montague and others) resolutely rejects the psychological approach. Social anthropologists prove that the tendency to aggression is not inherited (genetically), but is formed in the process of education, that is, it reflects the cultural experience of a particular social environment, its religious and ideological attitudes. From their point of view, there is no connection between the various historical forms of violence, because each of them was generated by its own specific social context.

Political approach repelled from the formula of the German military theorist K. Clausewitz (1780-1831), who defined war as "the continuation of politics by other means." His numerous adherents, beginning with L. Ranke, deduce the origin of wars from international disputes and the diplomatic game.

An offshoot of the political science school is geopolitical direction, whose representatives see main reason wars in the lack of "living space" (K. Haushofer, J. Kieffer), in the desire of states to expand their borders to natural boundaries (rivers, mountain ranges, etc.).

Ascending to the English economist T. R. Malthus (1766–1834) demographic theory considers war as the result of an imbalance between population and the amount of means of subsistence, and as a functional means of restoring it by destroying demographic surpluses. Neo-Malthusians (W. Vogt and others) believe that war is immanent in human society and is the main engine of social progress.

The most popular in the interpretation of the phenomenon of war remains at present sociological approach. In contrast to the followers of K. Clausewitz, his supporters (E. Ker, H.-U. Wehler and others) consider war to be a product of internal social conditions and the social structure of the warring countries. Many sociologists are trying to develop a universal typology of wars, to formalize them taking into account all the factors influencing them (economic, demographic, etc.), to model trouble-free mechanisms for preventing them. The sociostatistical analysis of wars, proposed back in the 1920s, is actively used. L.F. Richardson; at present, numerous predictive models of armed conflicts have been created (P. Breke, participants in the Military Project, Uppsala Research Group).

Popular among specialists in international relations (D. Blaney and others) information theory explains the emergence of wars by a lack of information. According to its adherents, war is the result of a mutual decision - the decision of one side to attack and the decision of the other to resist; the losing side always turns out to be the one that inadequately assesses its capabilities and the capabilities of the other side - otherwise it would either renounce aggression or capitulate in order to avoid unnecessary human and material losses. Therefore, knowledge of the enemy's intentions and his ability to wage war (effective reconnaissance) is of decisive importance.

Cosmopolitan theory connects the origin of the war with the antagonism of national and supranational, universal, interests (N. Angel, S. Strechi, J. Dewey). It is used primarily to explain armed conflicts in the age of globalization.

Supporters economic interpretation consider war as a consequence of the rivalry of states in the sphere of international economic relations, anarchic in nature. They start a war to get new markets, cheap work force, sources of raw materials and energy. This position is shared, as a rule, by scientists of the left direction. They argue that the war serves the interests of the propertied strata, and all its hardships fall on the lot of the disadvantaged groups of the population.

Economic interpretation is an element Marxist approach, which interprets any war as a derivative of a class war. From the point of view of Marxism, wars are waged to strengthen the power of the ruling classes and to split the world proletariat through appeal to religious or nationalist ideals. Marxists argue that wars are the inevitable result of the free market and the system of class inequality, and that they will sink into oblivion after the world revolution.

Ivan Krivushin

APPENDIX

MAIN WARS IN HISTORY

28th century BC. - Pharaoh Snefru's campaigns in Nubia, Libya and Sinai

con. 24 - 1st floor. 23rd century BC. - wars of Sargon the Ancient with the states of Sumer

last third of the 23rd century BC. - wars of Naram-Suen with Ebla, Subartu, Elam and Lullubeys

1st floor 22nd century BC. - Gutian conquest of Mesopotamia

2003 BC Elamite invasion of Mesopotamia

con. 19 - beg. 18th century BC. - Campaigns of Shamshi-Adad I in Syria and Mesopotamia

1st floor 18th century BC. - Hammurabi's wars in Mesopotamia

OK. 1742 BC Kassite invasion of Babylonia

OK. 1675 BC - Conquest of Egypt by the Hyksos

OK. 1595 BC Hittite campaign in Babylonia

con. 16 - con. 15th c. BC. - Egyptian-Mitannian wars

early 15 - ser. 14th c. BC. - Hittite-Mitannian wars

ser. 15th c. BC. - Achaean conquest of Crete

ser. 14th c. BC. - the wars of the Kassite Babylon with Arraphu, Elam, Assyria and the Aramaic tribes; Hittite conquest of Asia Minor

1286–1270 BC - Wars of Ramesses II with the Hittites

2nd floor 13th c. BC. - Campaigns of Tukulti-Ninurta I in Babylonia, Syria and Transcaucasia

1240–1230 BC – Trojan War

early 12th c. BC. - Israeli conquest of Palestine

1180s BC. - invasion of the "peoples of the sea" in the Eastern Mediterranean

2nd quarter 12th century BC. - Elamite campaigns in Babylonia

con. 12 - beginning. 11th c. BC. - Campaigns of Tiglath-Pileser I in Syria, Phoenicia and Babylonia

11th c. BC. - Dorian conquest of Greece

883–824 BC - wars of Ashshurnatsirapal II and Shalmaneser III with Babylon, Urartu, the states of Syria and Phoenicia

con. 8 - beginning. 7th c. BC. - invasions of the Cimmerians and Scythians in Asia Minor

743–624 BC - conquest of the Neo-Assyrian kingdom

722–481 BC - the wars of the Spring and Autumn period in China

623–629 BC - Assyro-Babylonian-Medes War

607–574 BC - Campaigns of Nebuchadnezzar II in Syria and Palestine

553–530 BC - conquests of Cyrus II

525 BC - Persian conquest of Egypt

522–520 BC - civil war in Persia

514 BC – Scythian campaign of Darius I

early 6th c. – 265 BC - Roman conquest of Italy

500–449 BC - Greco-Persian wars

480–307 BC - Greco-Carthaginian (Sicilian) wars

475–221 BC - Warring States period in China

460–454 BC Inar's liberation war in Egypt

431–404 BC – Peloponnesian War

395–387 BC – Corinthian War

334–324 BC - conquests of Alexander the Great

323–281 BC - Wars of the Diadochi

274–200 BC - Syro-Egyptian wars

264–146 BC – Punic Wars

215–168 BC - Roman-Macedonian wars

89–63 BC - Mithridatic Wars

83–31 BC - civil wars in Rome

74–71 BC - War of slaves led by Spartacus

58–50 BC - Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars

53 BC - 217 AD - Roman-Parthian wars

66–70 - Jewish War

220-265 - War of the Three Kingdoms in China

291-306 - War of the Eight Princes in China

375–571 - Great Migration

533–555 Conquests of Justinian I

502-628 - Iranian-Byzantine wars

633–714 Arab conquests

718-1492 - Reconquista

769–811 - Wars of Charlemagne

1066 - Conquest of England by the Normans

1096–1270 – Crusades

1207–1276 - Mongol conquests

late XIII - ser. 16th century - Ottoman conquests

1337–1453 - Hundred Years' War

1455–1485 - War of the Scarlet and White Roses

1467-1603 - internecine wars in Japan (Sengoku era)

1487–1569 - Russian-Lithuanian wars

1494–1559 - Italian Wars

1496–1809 - Russian-Swedish wars

1519–1553 (1697) - Spanish conquest of Central and South America

1524–1525 - The Great Peasants' War in Germany

1546–1552 - Schmalkaldic Wars

1562–1598 - Wars of Religion in France

1569–1668 - Russian-Polish wars

1618–1648 - Thirty Years' War

1639-1652 - civil war in England (War of the Three Kingdoms)

1655–1721 - Northern Wars

1676–1878 - Russian-Turkish wars

1701–1714 - War of the Spanish Succession

1740–1748 - War of the Austrian Succession

1756–1763 - Seven Years' War

1775–1783 - American Revolutionary War

1792–1799 - French Revolutionary Wars

1799–1815 – Napoleonic Wars

1810-1826 - War of independence of the Spanish colonies in America

1853–1856 – Crimean War

1861–1865 - American Civil War

1866 - Austro-Prussian War

1870–1871 - Franco-Prussian War

1899–1902 - Boer War

1904–1905 - Russo-Japanese War

1912–1913 - Balkan Wars

1914–1918 – World War I

1918–1922 – Russian Civil War

1937–1945 - Sino-Japanese War

1936–1939 - Spanish Civil War

1939–1945 - World War II

1945–1949 - Chinese Civil War

1946–1975 – Indochinese wars

1948–1973 - Arab-Israeli wars

1950–1953 - Korean War

1980-1988 - Iran-Iraq war

1990-1991 - 1st Gulf War ("Desert Storm")

1991–2001 – Yugoslav Wars

1978–2002 - Afghan wars

2003 - 2nd Gulf War

Literature:

Fuller J.F.C. The conduct of war, 1789–1961: a study of the impact of the French, industrial, and Russian revolutions on war and its conduct. New York, 1992
Military Encyclopedia: in 8 vols. M., 1994
Asprey R.B. War in the Shadows. The Guerilla in History. New York, 1994
Ropp T. War in the modern world. Baltimore (Md.), 2000
Bradford A.S. With Arrow, Sword, and Spear: A History of Warfare in the Ancient World. Westport (Conn.), 2001
Nicholson H. Medieval Warfare. New York, 2004
LeBlanc S.A., Register K.E. Constant battles: the myth of the peaceful, noble savage. New York, 2004
Otterbein K.F. how war began. College station (Tex.), 2004



- We kidnapped you to study.
- You can not do it this way! People are reasonable, we fly into space!
- How many wars have you had in the last 1000 years?
- …
- Prepare anal probe

According to historians, in the entire history of mankind there have been more than 15 thousand wars, in which up to 3.5 billion people died. We can say that humanity has always been at war throughout its history. Historians have calculated that for 5.5 thousand recent years people were able to live in the world for only an insignificant 300 years, that is, it turns out that in each century a civilization lived in the world for only a week.

How many people died in the wars of the twentieth century?

It is not possible to accurately determine the number of those who died in wars, records were not kept in all cases, and estimates of the number of deaths are only approximate. It is also difficult to separate the direct victims of the war from the indirect ones. One attempt to estimate this number was made by the Russian historian Vadim Erlikhman in his work “Population Losses in the 20th Century”. Having compiled a list of wars, he tried to find data on the number of victims for each. According to his calculations, the human losses directly related to the wars of the 20th century amount to 126 million people worldwide (including death from disease, starvation and captivity). But this figure cannot be considered firmly established. Below is data from the same work.

Throughout its history, man has tried to destroy his own kind and has come up with more and more sophisticated methods for this. From a stone club, a spear and a bow to an atomic bomb, military gases and bacteriological weapons. All this is aimed at only one thing - to destroy in the most rational way as many of their own kind as possible. Only one thing can be said in the entire history of human civilization, violence, and especially armed violence, has played an important role and has even been a kind of engine of progress. Today, man continues the "glorious traditions": weapons are launched even before peaceful solutions have been exhausted.

They share several main stages in the development of wars and military art: five important stages of wars can be distinguished, although another classification can be applied: pre-nuclear and nuclear wars. The main milestones of the change of generations of wars coincided with qualitative leaps in the development of the economy, which led to the creation of new types of weapons, a change in the forms and methods of armed struggle.

The stages of wars of the pre-nuclear period are associated with the development of human society, its technological and correlates with leaps in the development of mankind itself. The first major leap in the development of military conflicts was the use of new types of edged weapons instead of the usual sticks and stones that were typical for people of the Stone Age. The bow, arrows, swords and spears enter the stage of history. With similar weapons, maybe only slightly modernized, people have been destroying each other for several thousand years. The wars of the first generation in historical terms already acted as a way to resolve contradictions, but they could also be of a pronounced political nature. Their origin should be attributed to the tribal, tribal and family-patriarchal stages of human development with their inherent exchange of the results of labor within the tribe, clan and the development of commodity relations into commodity-money.

The wars of the first generation took place in the slave and feudal period development of society, at a time when the development of production was very weak, but nevertheless, even then, wars were a means of implementing the policy of the ruling classes. The armed struggle in these wars was carried out at the tactical level of units of exclusively manpower - foot soldiers and cavalry equipped with edged weapons. The main goal of such hostilities was the destruction of enemy troops. In such wars, the warrior, his physical fitness, endurance, courage and fighting spirit came to the fore. This era occupies an important place in human history, it is sung in songs and fanned with legends. Time of heroes and myths. It was in this era that Leonidas and his three hundred Spartans fought, Alexander the Great and his Macedonians, Hannibal and Spartacus led their troops into battle. All these events are certainly beautifully described in books and Hollywood films, but it hardly looked beautiful in reality. Especially for those people who were directly involved in them or civilians who became victims of these conflicts. The peasants, whose crops were trampled by the knightly cavalry and who because of this were doomed to starvation, were hardly up to romance. This stage in the development of mankind lasted a very long time - this is probably the longest stage in the history of the development of wars and military art. From the very beginning of human history to the 12th-13th centuries new era and completed his new invention of the human mind - gunpowder. After that, it became possible to recruit larger armies with less trained fighters - to own a musket or an arquebus, many years of training were not required, which went into training a master swordsman or archer.

The forms and methods of warfare of the second generation were driven by the developmental revolution in military affairs. material production in a feudal society. In the 12th-13th century, firearms came to the forefront of history - various muskets, arquebuses, cannons and squeaks. At first, this weapon was bulky and imperfect. But its appearance immediately led to a real revolution in military affairs - now the fortress walls of feudal castles could no longer be reliable protection- siege weapons swept them away. For example, it was thanks to huge siege weapons that the Turks were able to take Constantinople in 1453, a city that had successfully repulsed all attacks on its walls for almost a thousand years. The firearms of this era, especially its beginnings, were very inefficient, they were smooth-bore, so there is simply no need to talk about shooting accuracy, very large and difficult to manufacture. In addition, it had a very low rate of fire. The bow fired much faster and more accurately. But it took years to train an archer, and a musket could be put into the hands of a former peasant and as soon as possible prepare a musketeer out of him. In addition, at this time, the value of heavy armor immediately drops - firearms easily pierced any armor. We can say that the brilliant time of the knights has sunk into oblivion. Typical representatives of this era include D'Artagnan and his three comrades, as well as Ukrainian Cossacks, their weapons and battle tactics are typical for that era and for the second stage of armed conflicts.

The third stage in the development of military affairs is directly related to the capitalist, industrial system, which replaced the feudal system in the countries of the Old World. It was he who contributed to the progress in technology, the emergence of new means of production and new scientific inventions, which restless humanity immediately put on a war footing. The next stage in armed conflicts is also associated with firearms, or rather in its further improvement and improvement. There are rifling in the bore, thereby significantly increasing the accuracy of fire, increasing the range of guns and their rate of fire. Many iconic inventions were made that remain in demand today - a cartridge with a sleeve was invented, loading from the breech of a weapon, and others. It is to this period that the inventions of a machine gun, a revolver and many other iconic weapons are attributed. The weapon became multiply charged and one warrior could destroy at once a large number of enemies. Wars began to be fought from trenches and other hiding places and required the creation of armies of many millions. The bloody madness of the First World War became the bloody apotheosis of this stage in the development of wars.

The further development of weapons and the emergence of new types of them - combat aircraft and tanks, as well as the improvement of communications, improved logistics and other innovations led to the transition of hostilities to new stage- so the wars of the fourth generation arose - prominent representative which is World War II. In principle, many features of this war have retained their relevance for the actions ground forces and for today. But in addition, the end of World War II was marked by the invention of nuclear weapons. Many experts take a war involving such weapons out of the classification altogether, because in nuclear war There will simply be no winners and losers. Although other military analysts attribute nuclear weapons to fifth-generation wars. Their signs include the development of nuclear weapons and their means of delivery to the target.

Sixth generation wars are associated with the development of precision weapons and the ability to kill at a distance, the so-called non-contact war. In addition, in many cases, not enemy troops are destroyed, but the entire infrastructure of the state. This is what we saw in Serbia and in Iraq. With the help of aviation and cruise missiles, air defense systems are destroyed, and then life support facilities on the territory of the state are systematically destroyed. The concept of "rear" at this stage of wars and with such tactics is simply absent. Communications, bridges, industrial facilities are being destroyed in the state. The economy is in decline. The strikes are accompanied by powerful information pressure and political provocations. The state with its institutions simply ceases to exist.

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